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Winter Reading 2015

Winter Reading

Winter Reading 2015

At Bookreporter.com, we kicked off 2015 with our first annual Winter Reading Contests and Feature. We hosted a series of 24-hour contests spotlighting a book releasing this winter and gave five lucky readers a chance to win it.

Even though our contests have wrapped up, we encourage you to take a look at this year's featured titles, as these are the books you'll want to read during the winter months --- and into the warmer ones!

- Click here to see the winners of this year's Winter Reading Contests.

The Accident by Chris Pavone - Thriller


Literary agent Isabel Reed is turning the final pages of a mysterious, anonymous manuscript that contains explosive revelations about powerful people. Veteran CIA operative Hayden Gray, determined that this sweeping story be buried, is suddenly staring down the barrel of a gun. And the author himself is hiding in a shadowy expat life while always looking over his shoulder. Over the course of one long day, these lives collide as the book begins its dangerous march toward publication.

The Accidental Empress by Allison Pataki - Historical Fiction


The year is 1853, and the Habsburgs are Europe’s most powerful ruling family. With his empire stretching from Austria to Russia, from Germany to Italy, Emperor Franz Joseph is young, rich and ready to marry. Fifteen-year-old Elisabeth, “Sisi,” Duchess of Bavaria, travels to the Habsburg Court with her older sister, who is betrothed to the young emperor. But shortly after her arrival at court, Sisi finds herself in an unexpected dilemma: she has inadvertently fallen for and won the heart of her sister’s groom.

All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood by Jennifer Senior - Parenting/Sociology


Thousands of books have examined the effects of parents on their children. But almost none have thought to ask: What are the effects of children on their parents? In ALL JOY AND NO FUN, award-winning journalist Jennifer Senior analyzes the many ways children reshape their parents' lives. She argues that changes in the last half century have radically altered the roles of today's mothers and fathers, making their mandates at once more complex and far less clear.

Bettyville: A Memoir by George Hodgman - Memoir


When George Hodgman leaves Manhattan for his hometown of Paris, Missouri, he finds himself --- an unlikely caretaker and near-lethal cook --- in a head-on collision with his aging mother, Betty, a woman of wit and will. As these two unforgettable characters try to bring their different worlds together, Hodgman reveals the challenges of Betty’s life and his own struggle for self-respect, moving readers from their small town --- crumbling but still colorful --- to the star-studded corridors of Vanity Fair.

Broken Bonds: A Cold Creek Novel by Karen Harper - Romantic Suspense


The three Lockwood sisters are still recovering from the events that led to the destruction of their family when they were children. Determined to move forward, Tess and Kate are making fresh starts, and older sister Charlene is back in town as she figures out her next move. Char soon runs afoul of some locals who think she's sticking her nose where it doesn't belong. She is certain something sinister is being covered up, and when she witnesses Matt Rowan being run off the road, she knows she's right.

Crash & Burn by Lisa Gardner - Thriller


Nicole Frank shouldn’t have been able to survive the car accident, much less crawl up the steep ravine. But one thought allows her to defy the odds and flag down help: Vero. Sergeant Wyatt Foster is frustrated when even the search dogs can’t find any trace of the mysterious missing child. Until Nicky’s husband, Thomas, arrives with a host of shattering revelations: Nicole Frank suffers from a rare brain injury, and the police shouldn’t trust anything she says.

Crazy Love You by Lisa Unger - Psychological Thriller


Darkness has a way of creeping up when Ian is with Priss. Even when they were kids, playing in the woods of their small Upstate New York town, he could feel it. Still, Priss was his best friend, his salvation from the bullies who called him "loser" and "fatboy"...and from his family's deadly secrets. Now that they've both escaped to New York City, Ian no longer inhabits the tortured shell of his childhood. He is a talented and successful graphic novelist, and Priss...Priss is still trouble.

Descent by Tim Johnston - Literary Thriller


DESCENT is the story of a family undone by the disappearance of a daughter who went out for a morning run and didn’t come back. The girl’s vanishing is the beginning of the family’s harrowing journey down increasingly divergent and solitary paths, until all that continues to bind them to each other are the questions they can never bring themselves to ask: At what point does a family stop searching? At what point does a girl stop fighting for her life?

First Time in Forever by Sarah Morgan - Romance


It’s been a summer of firsts for Emily Donovan. From becoming a stand-in mom to her niece Lizzy to arriving on Puffin Island, her life has become virtually unrecognizable. And that’s before charismatic local yacht club owner Ryan Cooper kisses her. Ryan knows all about secrets. And it’s clear that newcomer Emily is hiding from something besides the crazy chemistry between them. So Ryan decides he’s going to make it his personal mission to help her unwind and enjoy the sparks!

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson - Psychological Thriller


On a night flight from London to Boston, Ted Severson meets the stunning and mysterious Lily Kintner. He talks about his marriage that’s going stale and his wife Miranda, who he’s sure is cheating on him. When Ted jokes that he could kill Miranda for what she’s done, Lily calmly states that she would like to help --- and they begin to plot Miranda's demise. Suddenly these co-conspirators are embroiled in a chilling game of cat-and-mouse, one they both cannot survive…with a shrewd and very determined detective on their tail.

The Last Good Paradise by Tatjana Soli - Fiction

On a small, unnamed coral atoll in the South Pacific, a group of troubled dreamers must face the possibility that the hopes they’ve labored after so single-mindedly might not lead them to the happiness they feel they were promised. By turns funny and tragic, THE LAST GOOD PARADISE explores our modern, complex and often self-contradictory discontents, crafting an exhilarating and darkly satirical story about our need to connect in an increasingly networked but isolating world.

The Magician's Lie by Greer Macallister - Historical Mystery


The Amazing Arden is the most famous female illusionist of her day, renowned for her notorious trick of sawing a man in half on stage. One night in Waterloo, Iowa, with young policeman Virgil Holt watching from the audience, she swaps her trademark saw for a fire ax. Is it a new version of the illusion, or an all-too-real murder? When Arden's husband is found lifeless beneath the stage later that night, the answer seems clear, and she has only one night to convince a small-town policeman of her innocence.

A Memory of Violets: A Novel of London's Flower Sellers by Hazel Gaynor - Historical Fiction


For years, Mr. Shaw’s Home for Watercress and Flower Girls has cared for London’s flower girls --- orphaned and crippled children living on the streets and selling posies of violets and watercress to survive. Assistant housemother Tilly Harper discovers a diary written by an orphan named Florrie, who died of a broken heart after she and her sister, Rosie, were separated. Moved by Florrie’s pain and all she endured in her brief life, Tilly sets out to discover what happened to Rosie.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah - Historical Fiction


France, 1939. In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn't believe that the Nazis will invade France...but invade they do. When a German captain requisitions Vianne's home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. As danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive. Vianne's sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious 18-year-old girl. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.

One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis - Psychological Thriller


A happy marriage. A beautiful family. A lovely home. So what makes Emily Coleman get up one morning and walk right out of her life? Emily now has become Cat, working at a hip advertising agency in London and living on the edge with her inseparable new friend, Angel. Cat has buried any trace of her old self so well, no one knows how to find her. But she can't bury the past --- or her own memories. And soon, she’ll have to face the truth of what she's done --- a shocking revelation that may push her one step too far.

One Wish by Robyn Carr - Romance

Grace Dillon was a champion figure skater until she moved to Thunder Point to escape the ruthless world of fame and competition. And though she's proud of the quiet, self-sufficient life she's created running a successful flower shop, she knows something is missing. When high school teacher Troy Headly suggests a little companionship with no strings attached, Grace is eager to take him up on his offer. But things get complicated when Grace's past catches up with her, and she knows that's not what Troy signed up for.

The Secrets of Midwives by Sally Hepworth - Fiction


THE SECRETS OF MIDWIVES tells the story of three generations of women devoted to delivering new life into the world --- and the secrets they keep. Neva, a third-generation midwife, is determined to keep the details surrounding her own pregnancy --- including the identity of the baby’s father --- hidden for as long as possible. Her mother, Grace, finds it impossible to let this secret rest. For Floss, Neva’s grandmother, Neva’s situation thrusts her back 60 years in time to a secret that eerily mirrors her granddaughter’s --- a secret that, if revealed, will change everything.

The Whites by Richard Price - Crime Fiction/Mystery


When Sergeant Billy Graves is called to a 4:00 a.m. fatal slashing of a man in Penn Station, his investigation of the crime moves beyond the usual handoff. And when he discovers that the victim was once a suspect in the unsolved murder of a 12-year-old boy, the bad old days are back in Billy's life with a vengeance, tearing apart enduring friendships forged in the urban trenches and even threatening the safety of his family.