Top 30 Contemporary Books
“Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life.”
Contemporary books dive into the tension, drama, and complexity of everyday life, usually with a fresh, intimate voice.
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⭐ Book Club Top Pick ⭐
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
Sybil Van Antwerp has throughout her life used letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. Most mornings, around half past ten, Sybil sits down to write letters—to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to audit a class she desperately wants to take, to Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter.
Sybil expects her world to go on as it always has—a mother, grandmother, wife, divorcee, distinguished lawyer, she has lived a very full life. But when letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life, she realizes that the letter she has been writing over the years needs to be read and that she cannot move forward until she finds it in her heart to offer forgiveness.
Filled with knowledge that only comes from a life fully lived, The Correspondent is a gem of a novel about the power of finding solace in literature and connection with people we might never meet in person. It is about the hubris of youth and the wisdom of old age, and the mistakes and acts of kindness that occur during a lifetime. Sybil Van Antwerp’s life of letters might be “a very small thing,” but she also might be one of the most memorable characters you will ever read.
My Friends by Fredrik Backman
Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise, and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.
Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier, telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love.
Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. She embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn how the painting came to be and to decide what to do with it. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more nervous she becomes about what she’ll find. Louisa is proof that happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art.
Life, and Death, and Giants by Ron Rindo
Gabriel Fisher was born an orphan, weighing eighteen pounds and measuring twenty-seven inches long.
No one in Lakota, Wisconsin, knows what to make of him. He walks at eight months, communicates with animals, and seems to possess extraordinary athletic talent.
But when the older brother who has been caring for him dies, Gabriel is taken in by his devout Amish grandparents who disapprove of all the attention and hide him away from the English world.
But it’s hard to hide forever when you’re nearly eight feet tall.
At seventeen, Gabriel is spotted working in a hay field by the local football coach. What happens next transforms not only Gabriel’s life but the lives of everyone he meets.
The River Is Waiting by Wally Lamb
Corby Ledbetter is struggling. New fatherhood, the loss of his job, and a growing secret addiction have thrown his marriage to his beloved Emily into a tailspin.
And that’s before he causes the tragedy that tears the family apart. Sentenced to prison, Corby struggles to survive life on the inside, where he bears witness to frightful acts of brutality but also experiences small acts of kindness and elemental kinship with a prison librarian who sees his light and some of his fellow offenders, including a tender-hearted cellmate and a troubled teen desperate for a role model.
Buoyed by them and by his mother’s enduring faith in him, Corby begins to transcend the boundaries of his confinement, sustained by his hope that mercy and reconciliation might still be possible.
Can his crimes ever be forgiven by those he loves?
The Second Chance Bus Stop by Ally Zetterberg
Edith has Alzheimer’s. The idea that she will someday forget her son, her life, even her self, plagues her constantly. So there is something important she must do beforehand: she has to find Sven, the love of her life she was supposed to meet on a bus bench twenty-seven years ago and run away with.
Her son, Blade, is struggling to keep an eye on her. His mother’s full-time caregiver, he resents the fact that he gave up most of his life to look after her. But what wouldn’t he do for his mother? Track down her decades-old flame before her mind fails her? Sure, he can do that.
Sophia is fiercely working to keep her business afloat. Her uncle left his flower shop to her and her brothers after he died, and she needs to show her family that the business is worth saving. So when an opportunity comes along that takes her all over Sweden, she can’t say no.
While Edith is desperately trying to hold on to her memories, she discovers friendship as she sits daily at the bus stop. While Blade is out looking for Sven, he learns to embrace his relationship with his mother more fully. While Sophia is fighting to keep her dream alive, she comes to terms with the therapies that were forced upon her in response to her autism diagnosis. Life is happening all around them, and like in life, there’s always still good to be found.
The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett
At sixty-three years old, million-dollar lottery winner PJ Halliday would be the luckiest man in Pondville, Massachusetts, if it weren’t for the tragedies of his life: the sudden death of his eldest daughter and the way his marriage fell apart after that. Since then, PJ spends both his money and his time at the bar, and he probably doesn’t have much time left—he’s had three heart attacks already.
But when PJ reads the obituary of his old romantic rival, he realizes his high school sweetheart, Michelle Cobb, is finally single again. Filled with a new enthusiasm for life, PJ decides he’s going to drive across the country to the Tender Hearts Retirement Community in Arizona to win Michelle back.
Before PJ can hit the road, tragedy strikes Pondville, leaving PJ the sudden guardian of his estranged brother’s grandchildren. Anyone else would be deterred from the planned trip, but PJ figures the orphaned kids might benefit from getting out of town. PJ also thinks he can ask Sophie, his adult daughter who’s adrift in her twenties, to come along to babysit. And there’s one more surprise addition to the roster: Pancakes, a former nursing home therapy cat with a knack of predicting death, who recently turned up outside PJ’s home.
This could be the second chance PJ has long hoped for—a fresh shot at love and parenting—but does he have the strength to do both those things again? It’s very possible his heart can’t take it.
The One and Only Vivian Stone by Melissa O'Connor
After her grandmother’s death, thirty-something Margot DuBois prepares to sell the house quickly so she can go back to her predictable life in Santa Barbara. There, no one knows she used to write and how not succeeding wrecked her confidence.
While cleaning out the attic, she comes across eight unlabeled cassette tapes. Unable to use the damaged tape player, she calls in a favor from Leo—her first love and first epic heartbreak—and they strike a deal: he’ll fix the player if he can hear what’s on the tapes. When they manage to listen, the two are shocked to hear the voice of comedic legend Vivian Stone. Why did she record these tapes and how did Margot’s grandmother get them?
Between listening to Vivian recount everything from her forbidden love for Hollywood’s leading actor, to working under a misogynistic exec, to her chemistry with her costar-turned-husband on TV, Margot and Leo fall down a memory lane of their own. Margot is inspired by Vivian’s tenacity and courage to keep fighting for the life she wants, but everything changes when Vivian reveals a secret tied to her past in this moving exploration of how it’s never too late to start over.
Slanting Towards the Sea by Lidija Hilje
Spanning twenty years and one life-altering summer in Croatia, Slanting Towards the Sea is at once an unforgettable love story and a powerful exploration of what it means to come of age in a country younger than oneself.
Ivona divorced the love of her life, Vlaho, a decade ago. They met as students at the turn of the millennium, when newly democratic Croatia was alive with hope and promise. But the challenges of living in a burgeoning country extinguished Ivona’s dreams one after another—and a devastating secret forced her to set him free.
Now Vlaho is remarried and a proud father of two, while Ivona’s life has taken a downward turn. In her thirties, she has returned to her childhood home to care for her ailing father. Bewildered by life’s disappointments, she finds solace in reconnecting with Vlaho and is welcomed into his family by his spirited wife, Marina. But when a new man enters Ivona’s life, the carefully cultivated dynamic between the three is disrupted, forcing a reckoning for all involved.
Set against the mesmerizing Croatian coastline, Slanting Towards the Sea is a cinematic, emotionally searing debut about the fragile nature of potential and the transcendence of love.
The Fourth Daughter by Lyn Liao Butler
Chef Liv Kuo’s star is on the rise…until a traumatic incident leaves her emotionally unable to venture outside her Manhattan apartment. But an unexpected reason to break free comes from Ah-Ma, Liv’s beloved grandmother in Taiwan.
Ah-Ma needs Liv’s help in finding her fourth daughter, taken from her when the girl was an infant. After all these years, it seems impossible. It’s also a Ah-Ma’s fourth daughter is an aunt Liv never even knew existed.
After landing in Taiwan, Liv hears the heartbreaking story of her grandmother’s plight in a country once under martial law, of choices made for her, and of the hopeful search for a lost girl that has endured for more than sixty years. Like the enriching food and traditions that bind Liv and Ah-Ma, their journey for answers brings them together.
And it’s a quest that turns up both a precious old cookbook and a tale of fatal betrayal that shakes everything Liv believed about her family—revelations that could also give her the courage to face the trauma she left behind.
A Girl Within a Girl Within a Girl by Nanda Reddy
A girl takes on a series of identities to survive, shrouding herself in layers of secrets, until years later when she is forced to reckon with her past.
On an ordinary day in an upscale Atlanta suburb, Maya is making breakfast for her two sons, when her husband drops a red-and-blue striped envelope on the counter and asks a devastating question: Who is Sunny?
Maya is sent reeling back to her childhood in Guyana―a time when Sunny was her only name.
Unbeknownst to her husband, Maya is not who she claims to be. The letter, from her long-lost sister Roshi, now threatens to expose her true identity and shatter the seemingly perfect existence Maya worked so hard to build.
As she frantically weighs the impact of the truth on her future, Maya relives the details of her childhood journey to America from Guyana–and the traumatic events that forced her to leave her past behind. Through the eyes of Maya’s innocent and scared younger self, we discover the power of hope, empathy, and the possibility of beginning again.
The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff
Ryan and Lillian Bright are deeply in love, recently married, and now parents to a baby girl, Georgette. But Lillian has a son she hasn’t told Ryan about, and Ryan has an alcohol addiction he hasn’t told Lillian about, so Georgette comes of age watching their marriage rise and fall.
When a shocking blow scatters their fragile trio, Georgette tries to distance herself from reminders of her parents. Years later, Lillian’s son comes searching for his birth family, so Georgette must return to her roots, unearth her family’s history, and decide whether she can open up to love for them—or herself—while there’s still time.
Told from three intimate points of view, The Bright Years is a tender, true-to-life novel that explores the impact of each generation in a family torn apart by tragedy but, over time, restored by the power of grace and love.
Lightning in a Mason Jar by Catherine Mann
Since Bailey Rae Rigby’s adoptive aunt Winnie passed, Bent Oak, South Carolina, doesn’t have much of a hold on her anymore. So it seems.
Bailey Rae aims to settle the small estate and, armed with her aunt’s inspiring personal cookbook, buy a food truck with an ocean view in Myrtle Beach. Everything goes awry when a distraught young mother arrives in town clutching a copy of that same cookbook. Embedded inside is a code that promises a safe place in Bent Oak for desperate women on the run. For Bailey Rae it opens up a world of questions. Who really was the beloved aunt she’s known most of her life?
Winnie Ballard’s story reaches back fifty years―one of a Southern debutante’s harrowing marriage, of her escape and reinvention, and the galvanizing friendship of three resilient women who overcame their traumas, created a shelter, and found purpose. But there’s more to Winnie’s deliverance and long-held secrets than Bailey Rae imagines.
With each revelation, Bailey Rae draws on her aunt’s courage to find purpose herself. For now, whatever threats may come, Bailey Rae isn’t going anywhere.
Everything Is Probably Fine by Julia London
Lorna Lott has been leaning into the awkward side of things most of her life. Her intensity and drive haven't earned her any friends, but at least her sales team is meeting their quotas. Why should she care that they call her King Kong when her promotion to senior vice president is within reach? Or it was--until she made a mistake that even apology donuts couldn't fix.
Now she's been mandated to attend a thirty-day wellness program, and everything is on the line. If she can't get her low-key rage thing under control, stop her eyes from leaking, and figure out how to be more likeable, she won't get a promotion or raise. Which means she won't be able to buy back her grandmother's house and reclaim the happiness she hasn't felt since childhood.
Cooperating with the program means coming to terms with her past. Mainly, how her older sister's substance abuse ruined Lorna's life--and her many regrets about the way she handled things. With the help of her oddly endearing eight-year-old neighbor and his equally charming father, she throws herself into the process of making amends. But as she begins to accept that there is nothing she could have done to change the course of her sister's life, Lorna faces her most challenging task yet: changing the course of her own.
Hope Street by Mike Gayle
The greatest adventure is coming back home.
Lila Metcalfe is a trainee journalist in Derby and she''s very used to being given the stories that no one else wants.
So, when her editor tells her that the city''s Cossington Park development is being held up by a solitary resident on Hope Street who is refusing to leave, she knows she is going to be the one sent to find out more.
And that''s how she meets Connor.
Twenty-something Connor is the sole resident of Hope Street and he is not at all what Lila is expecting. And he has a very clear reason not to move: he is waiting for his mum to come home.
Culpability by Bruce Holsinger
A suspenseful family drama about moral responsibility in the age of artificial intelligence.
When the Cassidy-Shaws’ autonomous minivan collides with an oncoming car, seventeen-year-old Charlie is in the driver’s seat, with his father, Noah, riding shotgun. In the back seat, tweens Alice and Izzy are on their phones, while their mother, Lorelei, a world leader in the field of artificial intelligence, is absorbed in her work. Yet each family member harbors a secret, implicating them all in the tragic accident.
During a weeklong recuperation on the Chesapeake Bay, the family confronts the excruciating moral dilemmas triggered by the crash. Noah tries to hold the family together as a seemingly routine police investigation jeopardizes Charlie’s future. Alice and Izzy turn strangely furtive. And Lorelei’s odd behavior tugs at Noah’s suspicions that there is a darker truth behind the incident—suspicions heightened by the sudden intrusion of Daniel Monet, a tech mogul whose mysterious history with Lorelei hints at betrayal. When Charlie falls for Monet’s teenaged daughter, the stakes are raised even higher in this propulsive family drama that is also a fascinating exploration of the moral responsibility and ethical consequences of AI.
Culpability explores a world newly shaped by chatbots, autonomous cars, drones, and other nonhuman forces in ways that are thrilling, challenging, and unimaginably provocative.
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A rising storm on the horizon.
Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore.
Isolation has taken its toll on the Salts, but as they nurse the woman, Rowan, back to strength, it begins to feel like she might just be what they need. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting herself, starts imagining a future where she could belong to someone again.
But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, they all must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late―and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together.
A novel of breathtaking twists, dizzying beauty, and ferocious love, Wild Dark Shore is about the impossible choices we make to protect the people we love, even as the world around us disappears.
Spectacular Things by Beck Dorey-Stein
What would you give up for the person you love most? What would you expect in return?
Mia and Cricket have always been close. The gifted daughters of a young single mother, the “Lowe girls” are well-known in the small Maine town they call home. Each sister has a role to fill: The responsible and academically minded Mia assumes the position of caregiver far too young, while Cricket, a bouncing ball of energy and talent, seems born for soccer stardom. But the cost of achieving athletic greatness comes at a steep price.
As Mia and Cricket grow up, they must grapple with the legacy of their mother’s secret past while navigating their own precarious future. Can Mia allow herself to fall in love at the risk of repeating a terrible history? Will Cricket’s relentless chase of a lifelong goal drive her sister away? When does loyalty become self-sabotage?
A sharply observed and tender portrait of sisters, love, and ambition, Spectacular Things is a sweeping story about the impossible choices we’re forced to make in pursuit of our dreams.
The Names by Florence Knapp
The extraordinary novel that asks: Can a name change the course of a life?
In the wake of a catastrophic storm, Cora sets off with her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, to register her son's birth. Her husband, Gordon, a local doctor, respected in the community but a terrifying and controlling presence at home, intends for her to name the infant after him. But when the registrar asks what she'd like to call the child, Cora hesitates...
Spanning thirty-five years, what follows are three alternate and alternating versions of Cora's and her young son's lives, shaped by her choice of name. In richly layered prose, The Names explores the painful ripple effects of domestic abuse, the messy ties of family, and the possibilities of autonomy and healing.
With exceptional sensitivity and depth, Knapp draws us into the story of one family, told through a prism of what-ifs, causing us to consider the "one . . . precious life" we are given. The book’s brilliantly imaginative structure, propulsive storytelling, and emotional, gut-wrenching power are certain to make The Names a modern classic.
I See You've Called in Dead by John Kenney
The Office meets Six Feet Under meets About a Boy in this coming-of-middle-age tale about having a second chance to write your life’s story.
Bud Stanley is an obituary writer who is afraid to live. Yes, his wife recently left him for a “far more interesting” man. Yes, he goes on a particularly awful blind date with a woman who brings her ex. And yes, he has too many glasses of Scotch one night and proceeds to pen and publish his own obituary. The newspaper wants to fire him. But now the company’s system has him listed as dead. And the company can’t fire a dead person. The ensuing fallout forces him to realize that life may be actually worth living.
As Bud awaits his fate at work, his life hangs in the balance. Given another shot by his boss and encouraged by his best friend, Tim, a worldly and wise former art dealer, Bud starts to attend the wakes and funerals of strangers to learn how to live.
Thurber Prize-winner and New York Times bestselling author John Kenney tells a funny, touching story about life and death, about the search for meaning, about finding and never letting go of the preciousness of life.
Lloyd McNeil’s Last Ride by Will Leitch
Lloyd McNeil has just learned he has months to live. He also learns that his twenty years as a beat cop in Atlanta haven’t earned him enough money to take care of his teenage son, Bishop, after he’s gone. But when Lloyd discovers his police benefits will increase exponentially if he dies in the line of duty, he comes up with a plan.
Lloyd begins to throw himself into one life-threatening situation after another to try to get himself killed and to provide for his son . . . but he keeps failing—and surviving. To his shock, his accidental heroics make him an inspirational icon in the community. But time is still running out for Lloyd to get his affairs in order, to teach Bishop the lessons he needs to be a good person, and to say goodbye.
Lloyd McNeil’s Last Ride is a surprising, unforgettable blend of suspense, humor, and compassion. It is a novel about what we leave behind and what we learn along the way, a bighearted and stirring story about the depths of a father’s love for his son.
Woman on the Verge by Kim Hooper
A sexy, propulsive meditation on modern motherhood, tracking the lives of three women as they struggle to define themselves in the face of new obligations and heightened expectations.
Some women, with their perfect children and pricey athleisure, make motherhood look easy. But not Nicole. She never wanted to be a stay-at-home parent―losing her job left her no choice. Now, between her toddlers’ demands, husband’s distance, and father’s deteriorating health, she’s pulled in every direction except her own.
Something has to give.
Katrina’s in the same dissatisfied boat. After flirting with a handsome stranger at a bar, she’s ready to choose pleasure over responsibility. But when her impulse goes surprisingly awry, she must reconcile her reawakened desires with the realities of home.
Housewife Rose battles the constraints of motherhood in the ’80s. Venting her growing restlessness into a diary of secret ambitions, she wonders whether it’s all worth it. Is an unhappy mother really better than a selfish one?
In a shocking twist, the women find their lives intertwined. But as they face their longings head-on, it’s unclear whether they’re destined for a breakthrough…or breakdown.
A Sky Full of Love by Lorna Lewis
After fifteen years in captivity, Nova Lefleur is free, back home, and reunited with her Louisiana family. Through her ordeal, she never forgot them. They never forgot her either. But things have changed since Nova’s been gone.
Nova and her encouraging seventeen-year-old daughter, Skye, are getting to know each other for the first time. Her husband, Quinton, is rebuilding a relationship with a wife he thought was gone forever. And Nova’s sister, Leah, is overjoyed—and overwhelmed.
Leah shares a secret with Quinton neither can bear to tell the woman they cherish. Not yet. Five years ago, bonding over grief and finding a reason to smile again, Quinton and Leah were married. When it’s time for the truth to come out, they could lose Nova all over again.
As Nova is eased back into a life both familiar and unfamiliar, she and her family must confront their deepest fears, the choices they made, and the choices to come that will reshape each of their lives forever.
Home of the American Circus by Allison Larkin
After an emergency leaves her short on rent, thirty-year-old Freya Arnalds bails on her lackluster life as bartender in Maine and returns to her suburban hometown of Somers, New York, to live in the house she inherited from her estranged parents.
Despite attempts to lay low, Freya encounters childhood friends, familial enemies, and old flames—as well as her fifteen-year-old niece, Aubrey, who is secretly living in the derelict home.
As they reconnect, Freya and Aubrey lean on each other, working to restore the house and come to terms with the devastating events that pulled them apart years ago.
Set in the birthplace of the American circus, this deeply moving novel is an exploration of broken families, the weight of the past, and the complicated journey of finding home.
Fun for the Whole Family by Jennifer E. Smith
The four Endicott siblings—Gemma, Connor, Roddy, and Jude—were once inseparable, a bond created by the absence of their dazzling, mercurial mother, who would return for a few weeks each summer to whisk them off on sprawling road trips around the country.
Decades later, the unthinkable has happened: the Endicotts haven’t spoken in years . . . until an out-of-the-blue text arrives from Jude, now a famous actress, summoning them to a small town in North Dakota. They’re each at a crossroads: Gemma, who put her own ambitions aside to raise the others, now isn’t sure if she wants to be a mother herself; Connor, a celebrated novelist, is floundering after his recent divorce and suffering from an epic case of writer’s block; and Roddy, at the tail end of a professional soccer career, is dangerously close to losing his future husband for the chance at one last season.
Jude is the only Endicott who seems to have it all together—but appearances can be deceiving. As the weekend unfolds, and the siblings wrestle with their shared past and uncertain futures, they’ll discover that Jude has been keeping three secrets . . . each of which could change everything.
A captivating journey and an ode to forgiveness that takes readers across all fifty states, Fun for the Whole Family brims with heart and resonates long after the final page.
Endling by Maria Reva
Ukraine, 2022. Yeva is a loner and a maverick scientist who lives out of her mobile lab.She scours the country’s forests and valleys, trying and failing to breed rare snails, while her relatives urge her to settle down and finally start a family of her own. What they don’t know: Yeva already dates plenty of men—not for love, but to fund her work—entertaining Westerners who come to Ukraine on guided romance tours believing they’ll find docile brides untainted by feminism and modernity.
Nastia and her sister, Solomiya, are also entangled in the booming marriage industry, posing as a hopeful bride and her translator while secretly searching for their missing mother, who vanished after years of fierce activism against the romance tours.
Together they embark across hundreds of miles: three angry women, a truckful of kidnapped bachelors, and Lefty, a last-of-his-kind snail with one final shot at perpetuating his species. But their plans come to a screeching halt when Russia invades.
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by Jessica Guerrieri
Leah O'Connor is torn between her current existence and the allure of a phantom life that can no longer be hers.
Swept off her feet by the gentle charm of Lucas O'Connor, Leah's unexpected pregnancy changes the course of her carefree and nomadic existence. Over a decade and three children later, Leah is unraveling. She resents the world in which her artistic aspirations have been sidelined by the overwhelming demands of motherhood, and the ever-present rift between herself and her mother-in-law, Christine, is best dulled by increasingly fuller glasses of wine.
Christine represents a model of selfless motherhood that Leah can neither achieve nor accept. To heighten the strain, Lucas's business venture, a trendy restaurant that honors his mother, has taken all his attention, which places the domestic demands squarely on Leah's shoulders. Seeking an ally in her sweet sister-in-law Amy, Leah shares a secret that, if made known to the wider family, could disrupt the curated ecosystems that keep the O'Connors connected.
As Leah dances with the devil while descending further into darkness, her behavior becomes more erratic and further alienates her from both Lucas and the wider family. Leah's drinking threatens the welfare of her family, prompting Amy to turn to Christine for support. A duel for loyalty ensues. When the inevitable waves come crashing down, it's the O'Connor women who give Leah a lifeline: the truth of what they've all endured. But Leah alone must uncover the villain of her own story, learn how to ask for help, and decide if the family she has rejected will be her salvation or ultimate undoing.
Frank and Red by Matt Coyne
Frank is a miserable old curmudgeon.
An agoraphobic recluse and widower whose only company is the 'ghost' of his wife, Marcie.
He is estranged from friends and family and is entirely cut off from the rest of the world.
That is until he meets Red.
Red is six years old. He's a funny, imaginative, and kind little boy who - following the separation of his parents - moves in next door.
Red is fascinated by his new neighbour and seemingly oblivious to Frank's grumpy demeanour and strange ways.
The Happiest Ever After by Milly Johnson
Polly Potter is surviving, not thriving. She used to love her job – until her mentor died and her new boss decided to make her life hell. She used to love her partner Chris – until he cheated on her, and now she can’t forget. The only place where her life is working is on the pages of the novel she is writing – there she can create a feistier, bolder, more successful version of herself – as the fictional Sabrina Anderson.
But what if it was possible to start over again? To leave everything behind, forget all that went before, and live the life you’d always dreamed of?
After a set of unforeseen circumstances, Polly ends up believing she really IS Sabrina, living at the heart of a noisy Italian family restaurant by the sea. Run by Teddy, the son of her new landlady Marielle, it’s a much-loved place, facing threat of closure as a rival restaurant moves in next door. Sabrina can’t remember her life as Polly, but she knows she is living a different life from the one she used to have.
But what if this new life could belong to her after all?
A Single Act of Kindness by Samantha Tonge
Tilda has done everything she can to make her life neat, protected, tidy. No longer the girl who was scared of everything, whose family pushed her away, who hit rock bottom.
Now she runs her life – as she does her successful business – with the utmost organization. As long as she keeps everyone at arm’s length, she will be fine. She will be safe.
But then a chance encounter with a man who’s fallen on hard times changes everything.
Milo needs a break, and self-contained Tilda surprises herself by deciding she should help him. Just for a while. A few days at the most.
Maybe all he needs is someone to organize him, to help him clean up his act? She is sure she knows how to kick-start Milo into turning his life around.
What Tilda doesn’t know is that – with this single act of kindness – it might actually be her own life that’s about to change forever…
The Secret Beach by Veronica Henry
Nikki kept her secret safe for twenty years. Now the tide is about to turn...
Nikki finally owns the little coastguard cottage of her dreams - and it's a few steps away from the hidden beach that means so much to her.
But when a handwritten note lands on her doorstep, she realises it's only a matter of time before the heartbreaking truth of her past is uncovered.
Twenty years ago, her whole world was turned upside-down when a terrible storm rolled into the small seaside town of Speedwell.
Ever since that night, Nikki has been keeping a secret. One she knows has the potential to destroy the lives of those she loves most.
Because as sure as the tide turns, there are no secrets in a small town...
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