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Return of the Scot

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Return of the Scot by Eliza Knight
Format: Book
Who’s it for: New for Adults

Duke of Sutherland and war hero Lorne Gordon is ready to return home after ten years of being missing in action as a prisoner of war, but how is a Duke to return home when his title and estate have been sold out from under him? Business maven Jaime Anderson has little sympathy for the Duke presumed dead and is resolute to withhold her newly purchased property from the currently penniless Laird, but can she withhold her heart from the determined Duke despite their bitter past? An unlikely partnership and more than a few sparks might unite these stubborn Scots!

Eliza Knight’s first book of the Scots of Honor series is one more Highland romance to add to a historical romance lover’s “to be read” shelf. Family secrets, mysterious disappearances, and less than tactful proposals aren’t the only plot points to enjoy. Jaime and Lorne’s strong personalities and dialects make this prickly and utterly Scottish pair well-matched for their entertaining banter and slowly built tension. Cheeky cousins, blunt butlers, and detestable siblings are also in store for this novel that can be read alone or with the accompanying novels in the series.  Fans of Highland romances from authors like Lyndsay Sands and Lori Ann Bailey may enjoy this quick, lightly sensual read and it’s following novels in the trilogy. Find Return of the Scot by Eliza Knight and other authors in our catalog.

 

A Spindle Splintered

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A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
Format: Book
Who It’s for:  Adults

“Sleeping Beauty is the worst fairy tale, pretty much any way you slice it.” According to Zinnia Gray. It’s her twenty first birthday and  most likely she will not have any more birthdays. Zinnia has a rare condition that no one, who was ever diagnosed with it, has ever lived past 21. On her twenty first birthday, her best friend Charm surprises her with a party, where she surprisingly, indeed has a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia touches it and pricks her finger…she actually does find herself falling through some sort of time warp of worlds along with other sleeping beauties. When she stops falling past a thousand other girls reaching for the spindles point, she hears one say, “help!” That’s when she stops falling. Zinnia looks up to see her, this ridiculously beautiful princess who says to her “from whence have you come?” At which point she passes out.
Zinnia is definitely  not in the same world where she was.
Fairytales as we know them are challenged through this narrative of a classic story and a multi-universe, time traveling event with a very different ending.

Find A Spindle Splintered in the catalog!

Rabbits

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Rabbits by Terry Miles
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

There’s a game being played – an ancient and dangerous game – but the vast majority of us have no idea it exists. If you’ve ever noticed a strange coincidence – you check your clock twice in a day, and both times it’s 4:44 – or a discrepancy – you see a famous work of art in a museum, but were sure the house in the painting had 2 windows, not 3 – you probably experienced a brief moment of déjà vu, maybe the Mandela effect, then moved on with your life. People who obsess over these connections, and investigate these conspiracies, are playing the game, which is called Rabbits.

K is one of these people. In fact, K’s a bit of an expert on Rabbits, which is played in numbered iterations. K’s approached by mysterious billionaire Alan Scarpio, rumored winner of the sixth iteration. Scarpio tells K there’s a problem with the game, they need to fix it, and the world as we know it is at stake if they can’t. Within the next few days Scarpio is reported missing, and K is thrust deep into the latest iteration of the increasingly deadly game of Rabbits. Follow the clues to save the world with K in this unique and fast-paced thriller.

Find Rabbits in the catalog

Beautiful World, Where Are You

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Title of the novel, Beautiful World Where Are You.Title: Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
Format: Novel
Audience: Late Teens and Adults

Sally Rooney’s third novel is as much a Sally Rooney novel as she intends it to be – one where the author does not shy away from being who she is, nor does she pretend to be someone she is not. Beautiful World, Where Are You is a dialectical relationship to her prior works, and in following two critically acclaimed publications, Rooney has solved the burden of success insofar as by writing about the burden of success.

Readers who enjoyed Conversations with Friends and Normal People will certainly find fulfillment in Rooney’s newest work. Part epistolary, part an exploration of ideas, and part a telling of young love, this novel is a jostle of fascinating concepts that attempt to tackle both issues on a grander scale, and ones that hit too close to home. Set around four individuals who, while still young, feel life catching up to them, and whose relationships with one another are tangled together, all approach life in different ways, and it is their understanding of what they know they want compared to what they are unsure or, more possibly, unaware of, that spurs on the decisions they make, and the ramifications that follow.

From the dialogue that does not falter, to the prose that flows seamlessly from page to page, to the discussions of the environment we live in and the future we are to construct, Rooney has created a wonderful work that truly does ask the reader the question, where is this beautiful world?

 

Find Beautiful World, Where Are You in print via the catalog.

Find Beautiful World, Where Are You online via an eAudiobook and an eBook.

 

The Last Night in London

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The Last Night in London by Karen White
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

Journalist Maddie Warner didn’t know. She didn’t know how a woman’s account of life in wartime London could speak to her today.

Maddie flew to England to interview and photograph “Precious” Dubose and her beautiful collection of vintage fashionwear. Maddie didn’t anticipate running into Colin, the man she dated, liked, then avoided in college.

Ninety-nine year old Precious Dubose still had the grace of a model, yet she battled with her health. Between bouts of rest, Precious described her friendship and modeling career with roommate Eva in 1939, in the midst of glittering party life and escalating political turmoil.  Through her story, Precious introduced Maddie to tall and brave Graham St. John, yet dangerous, and alluring Alex and their roles in the war and in Precious and Eva’s lives.  Like Maddie, who grieved her mother, Precious seemed to be exude a private sorrow.  Was this why Precious clung to life to finish her interview with Maddie?  Along the way, Colin and Maddie began to search for lost people from the past and found some personal answers along the way.

I was immersed in this tale of life 50 years apart yet with common themes.  Karen White’s description of life in 1939 felt so authentic.  I was driven to find out what happened to Precious and Eva and and their circle of loved ones.  Yet when the author described Maddie and Colin in the present, that seemed real too.  The struggles of the characters was relatable.  While the romance between Maddie and Colin seemed inevitable, there was a twist conclusion to the story too.

Find The Last Night in London in the catalog.

The Housewives: The Real Story behind the Real Housewives

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The Housewives: The Real Story behind the Real Housewives by Brian Moylan
Format: Audiobook
Who it’s for: Adults

It is time to admit my biggest guilty pleasure: reality television. This book is narrated by the author and involves a deep dive into the world of The Real Housewives franchise on Bravo. I listened to this audiobook and as Brian, the author, chats about the history of The Real Housewives, it is just like having coffee with a friend the day after watching an episode. Although Bravo wouldn’t allow the author a lot of access to the housewives, Moylan did a great job giving readers and listeners the behind-the-scenes scoop on our favorite housewives moments. The book had a great mix of everything, the history of the show, who really pays for those housewives’ trips, and even an inside look at Moylan’s vacation with one of the housewives. This book is a must-read for anyone who loves reality shows and wants to get a small glimpse of the inside of the Bravo phenomenon.

Find The  Housewives in the catalog