fiction / contemporary women

"On a summer day on the Gulf of Mexico in 1988, two extraordinary things happen to twelve-year-old Maeve Donnelly. First, she is kissed by Daniel, the boy of her dreams. Then, she is attacked by a blacktip shark. Eighteen years later, Maeve is a world-traveling marine biologist studying and swimming with the very animals that once threatened her life. Known among her peers as the 'shark whisperer,' Maeve is fearless in the water. On land, however, Maeve is dogged by unresolved wounds and indecisive about the path her life will take. When she returns to the small island off Florida's coast where she grew up and to her childhood home--the legendarily charming and eccentric Hotel of the Muses, where she was raised by her grandmother--she finds that her twin brother may be about to make it big as novelist, using her love life as his jumping-off point."--Provided by publisher.

"When Lauren and Ryan's marriage reaches the breaking point, they come up with an unconventional plan. They decide to take a year off in the hopes of finding a way to fall in love again. One year apart, and only one rule: they cannot contact each other. Aside from that, anything goes. Lauren embarks on a journey of self-discovery, quickly finding that her friends and family have their own ideas about the meaning of marriage. These influences, as well as her own healing process and the challenges of living apart from Ryan, begin to change Lauren's ideas about monogamy and marriage. She starts to question: When you can have romance without loyalty and commitment without marriage, when love and lust are no longer tied together, what do you value? What are you willing to fight for?"--Publisher.

"Izzy Lane never thought of herself as a liar. In fact, she's always played by the rules. She's an excellent mother, has loyal friends, and a rich career as a school counselor. Fresh from a new divorce, however, Izzy feels like she needs a little fun. So when, on a whim, she starts a blog it seems like a rather benign indulgence. But as her online quips begin to gain traction, Izzy makes a slip. Somehow a new boyfriend winds his way into the picture. The problem? Izzy makes him up. What, at first, feels like a harmless fib quickly spins out of control and Izzy must figure out how to balance fantasy and reality. Keeping up appearances while managing an absent ex-husband, two very nosy friends, a toddler son, and full-time job soon prove impossible, and Izzy feels utterly lost.--Provided by publisher.

"To eight-year-old Grace Davitt, the world is full of strange wonders. Through the eyes of her mother, Anna--an ornithologist who speaks five languages--their small lakeside town in Vermont becomes a glittering mystery filled with secret tongues, monsters in the lake, and birthday parties for the Earth. Anna's untamed spirit stands in sharp contrast to Grace's father, a chemistry teacher who examines his surroundings through the lens of rationalism and order. As Grace's family begins to fall apart and she finds that she must choose between her parents, her conflicting loyalties take her on a remarkable journey that spans all corners of the country--and of her own boundless imagination"--Provided by publisher.

Selin, the daughter of Turkish immigrants, begins a correspondence with a mathematics student from Hungary, and the relationship creates a reckoning with life on the cusp of adulthood.

Journalist Leah Stevens decides to move to rural Pennsylvania with her old friend Emmy Grey for a new start, but her plans are threatened when a woman with an strange resemblance to Leah is assaulted nearby, and Emmy disappears days later. Leah pairs up with handsome police officer Kyle Donovan to investigate and the policeman begin to suspect that there is no Emmy Grey leaving Leah's credibility in question.

"Tells the story of Alice Conroe, a forty year old Texas barbecue owner who has the perfect life, except she and her husband long for a child. Unable to conceive, she's trying desperately to adopt but her destiny is quickly altered by a young woman she's never met. Fearless thirteen-year-old Carla Trujilio is being raised by her grandmother in Honduras along with her four year old twin brothers. Her mother is sending money home from Texas where she's trying to make a better life for her family, but she only has enough to bring one son to her. When Carla's grandmother dies, Carla decides to take her fate into her own hands and embarks on a dangerous journey across the border with Junior, the twin left behind."--Provided by publisher.

"Queenie Jenkins is a 25-year-old Jamaican British woman living in London, straddling two cultures and slotting neatly into neither. She works at a national newspaper, where she's constantly forced to compare herself to her white middle class peers. After a messy break up from her long-term white boyfriend, Queenie seeks comfort in all the wrong places . . . including several hazardous men who do a good job of occupying brain space and a bad job of affirming self-worth. As Queenie careens from one questionable decision to another, she finds herself wondering, 'What are you doing? Why are you doing it? Who do you want to be?'--all of the questions today's woman must face in a world trying to answer them for her"--OCLC.

"From the author of the "engrossing" (People) and "poignant" (Booklist) international bestseller The Room on Rue Amelie comes a remarkable and moving story of love, danger, and betrayal: two women in France in the darkest days of World War II and another in present-day America on a quest to uncover the secret that connects them. At the dawn of the Second World War, Ines is the young wife of Michel, owner of the House of Chauveau, a small champagne winery nestled among rolling vineyards near Reims, France. Marrying into a storied champagne empire was supposed to be a dream come true, but Ines feels increasingly isolated, purposely left out of the business by her husband; his chef de cave, Theo; and Theo's wife, Sarah. But these disappointments pale in comparison to the increasing danger from German forces pouring across the border. At first, it's merely the Nazi weinfuhrer coming to demand the choicest champagne for Hitler's cronies, but soon, there are rumors of Jewish townspeople being rounded up and sent east to an unspeakable fate. The war is on their doorstep, and no one in Ines's life is safe--least of all Sarah, whose father is Jewish, or Michel, who has recklessly begun hiding munitions for the Resistance in the champagne caves. Ines realizes she has to do something to help. Sarah feels as lost as Ines does, but she doesn't have much else in common with Michel's young wife. Ines seems to have it made, not least of all because as a Catholic, she's "safe." Sarah, on the other hand, is terrified about the fate of her parents--and about her own future as the Germans begin to rid the Champagne region of Jews. When Sarah makes a dangerous decision to follow her heart in a desperate bid to find some meaning in the ruin, it endangers the lives of all those she cares about--and the champagne house they've all worked so hard to save. In the present, Liv Kent has just lost her job--and her marriage. Her wealthy but aloof Grandma Edith, sensing that Liv needs a change of scenery before she hits rock bottom, insists that Liv accompany her on a trip to France. But the older woman has an ulterior motive--and some difficult but important information to share with her granddaughter. As Liv begins to uncover long-buried family secrets, she finds herself slowly coming back to life. When past and present intertwine at last, she may finally find a way forward, along a difficult road that leads straight to the winding caves beneath the House of Chauveau. Perfect for fans of Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale and Kate Quinn's The Alice Network, The Winemaker's Wife is an evocative and gorgeously wrought novel that examines how the choices we make in our darkest hours can profoundly change our lives--and how hope can come from the places we least expect"--.