In turn-of-the-century London, an exemplary Victorian wife begins a noble-minded project: writing letters to a lonely local prisoner. What happens next in this brilliantly crafted novel of literary suspense will change Emma Smith’s life forever—and ignite a dark, erotic drama of suspicion, loss, and awakening.In the year 1898, Emma makes a New Year’s resolution: to become a better person. So, under the tutelage of her novelist husband, she begins an innocent correspondence with Chance Wood, a man serving his sentence for the murder of his wife. But from the beginning, in words that shock and intrigue her, Chance dares Emma to unveil her unspoken thoughts and desires. And when Chance receives a pardon, Emma is set dangerously free. She will use her freedom—and Chance’s—to pursue the fantasies that have been swirling dizzily around her. Slowly, recklessly, Emma exchanges all that was familiar and safe for her new, dangerous double life. As...

A fake pregnancy, a real baby, and a madcap adventure: This follow-up to The Thin Pink Line is "even better than the first book" (Booklist). London editor Jane Taylor pretended to be pregnant for months. Now she has rescued an actual abandoned baby—which would have come in handy for keeping up her charade, except that the infant is black and Jane is white. Finally giving up her ruse, Jane comes clean to the people in her life—but she wants to keep this precious little one. To do that, she'll have to battle Social Services and take on anyone who tries to get in her way, with some help from her ex-boyfriend Tolkien. But as she tries to reassure others—and herself—that she would make a fit mother, it's clear that she'll always be crazy Jane . . . This is a delightfully comic and touching tale from an author with a "deft touch and sure eye for character" (Elizabeth Letts, New York...

All I remember is the sensation of things slipping away from me.... In one night Angel Hansen's life changes forever: She has sex for the first time. Not that she remembers the act itself — not the pain or the pleasure. But she is left with something that will never let her forget it: an unplanned pregnancy. Angel must make a choice. Abortion? Adoption? Keep it? None of these choices are easy and none of them are perfect. But there is one thing Angel is sure of. Whatever choice she makes, it must be the right one for her. Braced with that knowledge, Angel faces the toughest decision of her life.

The Sisters Eight are back in a new adventure! This time, Georgia gets her chance to be the hero—if she doesn't completely mess things up!In the first two installments of the Sisters Eight, we met the sisters (octuplets) and their eight cats. We discovered Mommy and Daddy disappeared (or died) and that to find out what happened to them, each girl must discover her power and gift. Annie and Durinda both found theirs. We also learned that the girls' nosy neighbor The Wicket is very interested in what Mommy was working on before she disappeared (or died).In this, the third book, the plot thickens: Mrs. McGullicudy, the girls' teacher, is AWOL, and the substitute teacher is too beautiful to be believed (in your narrator's humble opinion.) Does her beautiful facade hide an evil soul? (These are books. Of course it does.) And Georgia makes a blunder that could keep the girls' from ever finding their parents. Are the Sisters Eight doomed to live alone forever?

Some families you are born into. Some you choose. And some choose you.Four women have little in common other than where they live and the joyous complications of having sisters. Cindy waits for her own life to begin as she sees her sister going in and out of hospitals. Lise has made the boldest move of her life, even as her sister spends every day putting herself at risk to improve the lives of others. Diana is an ocean apart from her sister, but worries that her marriage is the relationship separated by the most distance. Sylvia has lost her twin sister to breast cancer, a disease that runs in the family, and fears that she will die without having ever really lived.When Diana places an ad in the local newsletter, Cindy, Lise, and Sylvia show up thinking they are joining a book club, but what they discover is something far deeper and more profound than any of them ever imagined.With wit, charm, and pathos, this mesmerizing tale of sisters, both born and built,...

In an explosion of his own making, Lucius blew his arms off. Now he has hooks. He chose hooks because they were cheaper. He chose hooks because he wouldn't outgrow them so quickly. He chose hooks so that everyone would know he was different, so he would scare even himself.Then he meets Aurora. The hooks don't scare her. They don't keep her away. In fact, they don't make any difference at all to her.But to Lucius, they mean everything. They remind him of the beast he is inside. Perhaps Aurora is his Beauty, destined to set his soul free from its suffering.Or maybe she's just a girl who needs love just like he does.

Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no! May is almost over and that means only one thing: Petal's month is about to begin. For most people, this would be a good thing. They would look forward to discovering their gift and their power. But not our dear Petal. As far as Petal is concerned, it could stay May forever.At least the sisters have some excitement in their future: The wedding of Aunt Martha and Uncle George will bring them, the Petes, and the cats to Paris, where fun—and a little bit of danger—will come as surely as the changing of the month."thrills, suspence and hijinks should satisfy adventure-seeking young readers." Kirkus Readers

"Hilarious and original." —PUBLISHERS WEEKLYA KIRKUS starred review.Jane Taylor is a slightly sociopathic Londoner who wants marriage and a baby in the worst way, and she's willing to go to over-the-top lengths to achieve her dream. When Jane thinks she's pregnant she tells everyone. When it turns out to be a false alarm, she assumes she'll just get pregnant, no one the wiser. But when that doesn't happen, well, of course she does what no one in her right mind would do: Jane decides to fake an entire pregnancy!

Broken, smashed and stomped in the mudThat's how Charlotte Bell's heart ended up the last time she let her emotions heat up on a nanny assignment. So taking a new position in frigid Iceland, working for Ambassador Edgar Rawlings, might be just what Charlotte needs in order to heal up--and chill out. This time, she's determined to be intrepid and courageous. She's even read all fifty-six original Nancy Drew books in preparation. Unfortunately, she's neglected to find out anything about Iceland or to look into the background of her oddly compelling employer. When Charlotte stumbles onto the trail of a mystery that only she can solve, she'll need every shred of Nancy's wisdom to keep her life--and her heart--safe!

Emily is sick and tired of being a middle sister. So when she gets an assignment to describe what she'd change about a classic novel, Emily pounces on Little Women. After all, if she can't change things in her own family, maybe she can bring a little justice to the March sisters. (Kill off Beth? Have cute Laurie wind up with Amy instead of Jo? What was Louisa May Alcott thinking?!) But when Emily gets mysteriously transported into the 1860s world of the book, she discovers that righting fictional wrongs won't be easy. And after being immersed in a time and place so different from her own, it may be Emily-not the four March sisters-who undergoes the most surprising change of all. Lauren Baratz-Logsted's winning confection will appeal to fans of Little Women as well as anyone who enjoys a modern twist on an old favorite.

Jackie's turn! Book four in this exciting new series!April has finally arrived. How lucky of Jackie to have such a lovely month to tell her story. It starts off with fun and laughter on April Fool's Day, and then all the beautiful flowers start to bloom and then . . . Wait a minute. April fifteenth. That's not a fun day. That's the day every adult dreads—Tax Day!The Eights have never had to worry about taxes. Their parents always took care of everything. But as we all know, their parents are gone (or dead). Who will take care of the taxes now?Luckily, the girls have Pete the Mechanic on their side. He'll help them. But what's really interesting is what the girls will discover while taking care of their parents' taxes—somewhere there are other Eights. Other Eights??

Women have been known to lament, "Always a bridesmaid, never a bride." For Johnny Smith, the problem is, "Always a Best Man, never a groom." At age 33, housepainter Johnny has been Best Man eight times. The ultimate man's man, Johnny loves the Mets, the Jets, his weekly poker game, and the hula girl lamp that hangs over his basement pool table. Johnny has the instant affection of nearly every man he meets, but one thing he doesn't have is a woman to share his life with, and he wants that desperately. When Johnny meets District Attorney Helen Troy, he decides to renounce his bro-magnet ways in order to impress her. With the aid and advice of his friends and family, soon he's transforming his wardrobe, buying throw pillows, ditching the hula girl lamp, getting a cat and even changing his name to the more mature-sounding John. And through it all, he's pretending to have no interest in sports, which Helen claims to abhor. As things heat up with Helen, the questions arise: Will Johnny finally get the girl? And, if he's successful in that pursuit, who will he be now that he's no longer really himself? THE BRO-MAGNET is a rollicking comedic novel about what one man is willing to give up for the sake of love.

A rather large problem has befallen the Huit girls. (Sisters, actually. Octuplets to be exact.) One particular New Year's Eve, the girls wait for their mommy to bring them hot chocolate and their daddy to return with more wood for the fire. But they don't. Mommy and Daddy, that is. They're gone. Poof! Maybe dead—no one knows for sure.You must see the problem here. Eight little girls on their own, no mommy or daddy to take care of them. This is not a good thing.So now these little girls, must take care of themselves. Get to school, cook the meals, feed the cats (eight of them, too), and pay the bills. They can't ask for help, oh no. Any self-respecting adult would surely call in social services, and those well-meaning people would have to split them up. After losing their parents, being split up would be completely unbearable.At the same time, the question remains:What happened to Mommy and Daddy? The Sisters Eight (as they are called, affectionately and...