Rafael de Bourbon recently married a wealthy English beauty and is days away from opening a luxury boutique hotel off the southern coast of Thailand. But when the Royal Thai Police storm the hotel and arrest him for blackmail and extortion, "Rafa" is thrown into Bangkok's most notorious jail. In desperation, he reaches out to the one man who can prove his innocence. Simon Riske, ex-con and now "private spy," owes Rafa his life. Once they were the closest of friends, until a woman came between them. Riske rushes to Bangkok to secure his friend's release, and overnight he finds himself caught up in a web of intrigue larger and more dangerous than he could imagine. In hours, it is Riske who finds himself the wanted man.
Destiny toys with us all, but Anita Garibaldi is a force to be reckoned with. Forced into marriage at a young age, Anita feels trapped in a union she does not want. But when she meets the leader of the Brazilian resistance, Giuseppe Garibaldi, in 1839, everything changes. Swept into a passionate affair with the idolized mercenary, Anita's life is suddenly consumed by the plight to liberate Southern Brazil from Portugal --- a struggle that would cost thousands of lives and span almost 10 bloody years. Little did she know that this first taste of revolution would lead her to cross oceans, traverse continents and alter the course of her entire life --- and the world.
Odessa Hardwicke's life is derailed when she's forced to turn her gun on her partner, Walt Leppo, a decorated FBI agent who turns suddenly, inexplicably violent while apprehending a rampaging murderer. The shooting, justified by self-defense, shakes the young FBI agent to her core. Devastated, Odessa is placed on desk leave pending a full investigation. But what most troubles her isn't the tragedy itself --- it's the shadowy presence she thought she saw fleeing the deceased agent's body after his death. A low-level assignment puts Odessa on the trail of a mysterious figure named Hugo Blackwood, who claims to have been alive for centuries, and who is either an unhinged lunatic, or humanity's best and only defense against unspeakable evil.
Twenty years ago in the dead of night, four seemingly random individuals pulled the ultimate heist and almost walked away with half a million dollars. But by daybreak, one of them was in the hospital, one was in jail, one was dead, and one got away with it. Arden Maxwell, the daughter of the man who disappeared all those years ago, has never reconciled with her father's abandonment of her and her sister. After countless personal setbacks, she decides to return to her family home near mysterious Caddo Lake and finally get answers to the many questions that torment her. Little does she know that two of her father's co-conspirators --- a war hero and a corrupt district attorney --- are watching her every move.
Reluctant psychic Claire Scanlan perceives spirits and strange energies that no one else can detect. At a preservation group’s fundraiser to save a grand San Francisco Victorian, Claire encounters a mysterious young woman, Roxane, who is invisible to everyone but her. Roxane flees into what she calls the Future House when she needs to escape the most brutal of the men who buy her favors. When the leader of the preservation group is murdered, Roxane is the only witness. Terrified, she returns to her own time and enlists the only true gentleman she has ever met to help her find justice for the victim. The prime suspect is Claire’s brother-in-law, Peter, who is having an affair with one of the mansion’s owners. To find Roxane and clear Peter’s name, Claire must risk venturing into a past century --- a perilous journey from which she may never return.
Danika Brown knows what she wants: professional success, academic renown and an occasional roll in the hay to relieve all that career-driven tension. So she asks the universe for the perfect friend-with-benefits. When big, brooding security guard Zafir Ansari rescues Dani from a workplace fire drill gone wrong, it’s an obvious sign: PhD student Dani and former rugby player Zaf are destined to sleep together. But before she can explain that fact to him, a video of the heroic rescue goes viral. Suddenly, half the internet is shipping #DrRugbae --- and Zaf is begging Dani to play along. Dani’s plan is simple: fake a relationship in public, seduce Zaf behind the scenes. The trouble is, grumpy Zaf is secretly a hopeless romantic --- and he’s determined to corrupt Dani’s stone-cold realism.
Samiah Brooks never thought she would be "that" girl. But a live tweet of a horrific date just revealed the painful truth: she's been catfished by a three-timing jerk of a boyfriend. Suddenly, Samiah --- along with his two other "girlfriends," London and Taylor --- have gone viral online. Now the three new besties are making a pact to spend the next six months investing in themselves. No men and no dating. For once Samiah is putting herself first, and that includes finally developing the app she's always dreamed of creating. Which is the exact moment she meets the deliciously sexy Daniel Collins at work. What are the chances? But is Daniel really boyfriend material, or is he maybe just a little too good to be true?
It’s 1986, the heart of the Cold War, and Marie Mitchell is an intelligence officer with the FBI. She’s brilliant, but she’s also a young black woman working in an old boys’ club. Her career has stalled out, she’s overlooked for every high-profile squad, and her days are filled with monotonous paperwork. So when she’s given the opportunity to join a shadowy task force aimed at undermining Thomas Sankara, the charismatic revolutionary president of Burkina Faso --- whose Communist ideology has made him a target for American intervention --- she says yes. In the year that follows, Marie will observe Sankara, seduce him and ultimately have a hand in the coup that will bring him down. But doing so will change everything she believes about what it means to be a spy, a lover, a sister and a good American.
Beauregard “Bug” Montage is an honest mechanic, a loving husband and a hard-working dad. Bug knows there’s no future in the man he used to be: known from the hills of North Carolina to the beaches of Florida as the best wheelman on the East Coast. He thought he'd left all that behind him, but as his carefully built new life begins to crumble, he finds himself drawn inexorably back into a world of blood and bullets. When a smooth-talking former associate comes calling with a can't-miss jewelry store heist, Bug feels he has no choice but to get back in the driver's seat. Haunted by the ghost of who he used to be and the father who disappeared when he needed him most, Bug must find a way to navigate this blacktop wasteland...or die trying.
While enjoying a sleigh ride with his children, Amish widower Adam Lengacher discovers a car stuck in a snowdrift and an unconscious woman inside. He calls upon Chief of Police Kate Burkholder for help, and she is surprised to recognize the driver: fellow cop and her former friend, Gina Colorosa. Years before, Kate and Gina were best friends at the police academy and patrol officers in Columbus, but time and distance have taken them down two very different paths. Now, Gina reveals a shocking story of betrayal and revenge that has forced her to run for her life. She’s desperate for protection, and the only person she can trust is Kate. But can Kate trust her? Or will Gina’s dark past put them all in danger?
Tell us about the books you’ve finished reading with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars. During the contest period from December 19th to January 9th at noon ET, three lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of THE FIRST TIME I SAW HIM by Laura Dave and SKYLARK by Paula McLain.
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Coming Soon
Curious about what books will be released in the months ahead so you can pre-order or reserve them? Then click on the months below.
December's Books on Screen roundup includes the films The Housemaid, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw, 100 Nights of Hero,The Chronology of Water and Not Without Hope; the series premiere of Paramount+'s "Little Disasters"; the season premiere of "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" on Disney+ and Hulu; the season finales of HBO's "IT: Welcome to Derry" and Apple TV+'s "Down Cemetery Road"; the midseason finales of "Tracker" and "Watson" on CBS; and the DVD/Blu-ray releases of Karen Kingsbury's The Christmas Ring and Black Phone 2.