Adult

Sara Foster runs away from home at 16, leaving behind the girl she once was, capable of trust and intimacy. Years later, in Los Angeles, she is a sought-after bartender, renowned as much for her brilliant cocktails as for the mystery that clings to her. Across the city, Emilie Dubois is in a holding pattern, yearning for the beauty and community her Creole grandparents cultivated but unable to commit. On a whim, she takes a job arranging flowers at the glamorous restaurant Yerba Buena. The morning Emilie and Sara first meet at Yerba Buena, their connection is immediate. But soon Sara's old life catches up to her, upending everything she thought she wanted, just as Emilie has finally gained her own sense of purpose. Will their love be more powerful than their pasts?

Desi is the mastermind behind her dream getaway house, which is full of secrets. Secrets about the man she longs for, a man who is not her husband. Secrets about the roots of her family that must never see the light of day. When Desi and her family arrive from Chicago to spend the summer in the mountains, the seeds for the tumultuous months to follow are planted --- her marriage on the rocks, not knowing which way they’ll go. Her daughter Jules, falling in love for the first time with a local boy --- and forging a new path that will take her to uncharted places. And Carter --- a man Desi knew long ago, before she expunged him from her life for good. All hurtling toward events none of them can undo.

Magic-less witch Violet Maxwell wants nothing to do with alpha wolf shifter Lincoln Thorne --- the man who broke her fragile, teenage heart. But when the two of them are forced by arcane Supernatural Laws to find mates, Violet and Lincoln agree to fake-date their way to a fake-mating in order to conjure themselves some time. The joke’s on them. When old feelings make a reappearance --- along with Violet’s magic --- they both realize there’s nothing fake about their feelings. But there are old secrets and looming threats that could snatch away their happily ever after again.

It was long ago, but not as long as it seems: The Berlin Wall fell and the Twin Towers collapsed. In between, one presidential election was allegedly decided by Ross Perot while another was plausibly decided by Ralph Nader. In the beginning, almost every name and address was listed in a phone book, and everyone answered their landlines because you didn’t know who it was. By the end, exposing someone’s address was an act of emotional violence, and nobody picked up their new cell phone if they didn’t know who it was. The ’90s brought about a revolution in the human condition we’re still groping to understand. Happily, Chuck Klosterman is more than up to the job.

Emily, a popular but bookish prep school senior, goes missing after a night out with friends. She was last seen leaving a party with Alex, a football player with a dubious reputation. But no one is talking. Now three mothers, friends turned frenemies, have their lives turned upside down as they are forced to look to their own children --- and each other’s --- for answers to questions they don’t want to ask. Each mother is sure she knows who is responsible, but they all have their own secrets to keep and reputations to protect. And the lies they tell themselves and each other may just have the potential to be lethal.

A young Italian woman arrives on the shores of America, her sights set on a better life. That same day, a young American woman reports to her first day of work at the immigration center. But Ellis Island isn't a refuge for Francesca or Alma, not when ships depart every day with those who are refused entry to the country and when corruption ripples through every corridor. While Francesca resorts to desperate measures to ensure she will make it off the island, Alma fights for her dreams of becoming a translator. As the two women face the misdeeds of a system known to manipulate and abuse immigrants searching for new hope in America, they form an unlikely friendship --- and share a terrible secret.

Spending her 30th birthday alone is not what dating columnist Cleo Wilder wanted, but she plans a solo retreat to a remote Irish island in the name of re-energizing herself and adding a new perspective to her column. With his life in Boston deteriorating in ways he can’t bring himself to acknowledge, Mack Sullivan’s soul-searching has brought him to the same Irish island to explore his roots and find some clarity. Unfortunately, a mix-up with the bookings means that both have reserved the same one-room hideaway on exactly the same dates. Cleo and Mack are instantly at odds. But as the days go by, they no longer seem to mind each other’s company quite as much as they thought they would.

In BLACK LEOPARD, RED WOLF, Sogolon the Moon Witch proved a worthy adversary to Tracker as they clashed across a mythical African landscape in search of a mysterious boy who disappeared. In MOON WITCH, SPIDER KING, Sogolon takes center stage and gives her own account of what happened to the boy, and how she plotted and fought, triumphed and failed as she looked for him. It’s also the story of a century-long feud --- seen through the eyes of a 177-year-old witch --- that Sogolon had with the Aesi, chancellor to the king. It is said that Aesi works so closely with the king that together they are like the eight limbs of one spider. It takes brains and courage to challenge him, which Sogolon does for reasons of her own.

Creamy risotto alla Milanese. Mussels in a hot, buttery broth. Chicken spiced with cinnamon and cloves. Joan Bergstrom and Imogen Fortier understand the key to a savored life --- delicious food. Young Joan is just discovering herself as a food writer in bustling Los Angeles, while experienced columnist Imogen is settled in her decades-long marriage on Camano Island outside Seattle. When Joan sends a fan letter to Imogen with an enclosed packet of saffron and a recipe, their journey of culinary exploration and soul-deep friendship begins. A long-lost flavor surfaces buried memories, and a quest to make carne asada opens the doors of a sheltered life. Into this beautiful, intimate world comes the ultimate test of their friendship, and of their belief that food and love can sustain us during our darkest hours.

Grand Duchess Olga Romanov comes of age amid a shifting tide for the great dynasties of Europe. But even as unrest simmers in the capital, Olga is content to live within the confines of the sheltered life her parents have built for her and her three sisters. Her only escape comes from the grand tea parties her aunt hosts amid the shadow court of Saint Petersburg. But as war approaches, the palaces of Russia are transformed. Olga and her sisters trade their gowns for nursing habits, assisting in surgeries and tending to the wounded bodies and minds of Russia’s military officers. When tensions run high and supplies run low, calls for revolution threaten to end 300 years of Romanov rule.