Liza McCullen will never fully escape her past. But the unspoiled beaches and tight-knit community of Silver Bay offer the safety she craves --- if not for herself, then for her young daughter, Hannah. That is, until Mike Dormer, a mild-mannered Englishman with too-smart clothes and distracting eyes, shows up as a guest in her aunt’s hotel. His arrival could destroy everything Liza has worked so hard to protect.

Jason Fitger is a beleaguered professor at a small liberal arts college. His department is facing cuts and squalid quarters, while another department is getting lavishly remodeled offices. His writing career is in the doldrums, as is his romantic life. In short, his life is a tale of woe, and the vehicle this novel uses to tell that tale is a series of hilarious letters of recommendation that Fitger is endlessly called upon by his students and colleagues to produce.

When Eileen Tumulty meets Ed Leary, a scientist whose bearing is nothing like those of the men she grew up with in Woolside, Queens, she thinks she’s found the perfect partner to deliver her to the cosmopolitan world she longs to inhabit. They marry, and Eileen quickly discovers that Ed doesn’t aspire to the same, ever bigger, stakes in the American Dream. She encourages him to want more, but as years pass, it becomes clear that his growing reluctance is part of a deeper psychological shift.

Twelve-year-old Madan's father works for Avtaar Singh, who owns the largest factory in town and much of the land around it. When Madan’s father's misdeeds jeopardize his sister's life, Madan strikes his first bargain with Avtaar Singh to save her. Drawn into Avtaar Singh's violent world, Madan becomes his son in every way but by blood. Suddenly it looks as if everything will change for Madan and his family until a forbidden love affair has brutal consequences, and he is forced to leave behind all that is dear to him.

When Austin Voronko is wrongly accused of attending anarchist gatherings, his limited grasp of English condemns him to his fate as a deportee, retreating with his new bride to his home in Russia, where he and his young family become embroiled in the Civil War and must flee once again, to Mexico. While Julia and the children are eventually able to return to the U.S., Austin becomes indefinitely stranded in Mexico City because of the black mark on his record.

At a swim meet, Annie watches as her daughters glide through the water. However, her thoughts drift lazily to Paul, a swim-team parent who has taken notice of her. When a girl on the team is murdered at a nearby highway rest stop --- the same spot where Paul made a gruesome discovery years ago --- Annie and her fellow swim-parents find themselves adrift. With a serial killer too close for comfort, they must make choices about where their loyalties lie.

Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, who are determined that their middle daughter will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. However, when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together tumbles into chaos, forcing them to confront the long-kept secrets that have been slowly pulling them apart.

A treasure trove of information for a student, librarian, new parent, or anyone wondering about the post-Harry Potter book biz, WILD THINGS! draws on the combined knowledge and research of three respected and popular librarian-bloggers. It chronicles some of the feuds and fights, errors and secret messages found in children’s books and brings contemporary illumination to the warm-and-fuzzy bunny world we think we know.

When Eva's mother abandons her on her half-sister Iris's front porch, the girls don't seem to have much in common. Thrown together with no mothers to care for them and a father who could not be considered a parent, Eva and Iris become family. Iris wants to be a movie star, while Eva is her sidekick. The sisters look out for each other through good and bad, until unexpected events send Iris to London, leaving Eva with a responsibility she never could have imagined.

Mia Dennett is abducted one night by an enigmatic stranger named Colin Thatcher, whose job was to kidnap Mia as part of a wild extortion plot and deliver her to his employers. But the plan takes an unexpected turn when Colin suddenly decides to hide Mia in a secluded cabin. Mia's mother and detective Gabe Hoffman will stop at nothing to find them, but no one could have predicted the emotional entanglements that eventually cause this family's world to shatter.