Book Tastings - Past Titles: April 2023 - Kristen & Claire

Appetizer (Kristen)

• "Buried in a Book" by Lucy Arlington: Lila Wilkens accepts an internship at Novel Idea, a literary agency. Being paid to read seems perfect to Lila. But when a penniless aspiring author drops dead in the agency's waiting room - and Lila discovers a series of threatening letters - she's determined to find out who wrote him off.
• "The Book of Cold Cases" by Simone St. James: A true crime blogger gets more than she bargained for while interviewing the woman acquitted of two cold case slayings. For fans of Lucy Foley & Alice Feeney.
• "A Botanist's Guide to Parties & Poisons" by Kate Khavari: Newly minted research assistant Saffron Everleigh attends a dinner party and expects to engage in conversations about the university's large expedition to the Amazon, she doesn't expect Mrs. Henry, one of the professors' wives to drop to the floor, poisoned by an unknown toxin.

Entrée (Claire)

• "All That is Mine I Carry with Me" by William Landay: Jane Larkin disappeared without a trace in November 1976. When ten-year-old Miranda arrives home from school that autumn afternoon, finding her mother's pocketbook in its usual spot in the front hall, she assumes her mother will be back any minute. But as the hours tick by, alone in the house, Miranda becomes filled with a steady certainty that her mother will never come home again.
• "Bury Your Dead" by Louise Penny: An obsessive historian's quest for the remains of the founder of Quebec, Samuel de Champlain, ends in murder. Could a secret buried with Champlain for nearly 400 years be so dreadful that someone would kill to protect it?
• "The Thursday Murder Club" by Richard Osman: In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes: together they call themselves the Thursday Murder Club.

Dessert (New & Recent Releases)

• "The Golden Spoon" by Jessa Maxwell: A killer is on the loose when someone turns up dead on the set of a hit TV baking competition. Reminiscent of Agatha Christie's locked room mysteries.
• "Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone" by Benjamin Stevenson: Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I'm not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate.
• "The Soulmate" by Sally Hepworth: There's a cottage on a cliff. Gabe and Pippa's dream home in a sleepy coastal town. But their perfect house hides something sinister. The tall cliffs have become a popular spot for people to end their lives. Night after night Gabe comes to their rescue, literally talking them off the ledge. Until he doesn't.

Appetizer

• "One Night on the Island" by Josie Silver: Instantly at odds with each other, Cleo and Mac don't know how they're going to manage until the next weekly ferry arrives. But as the days go by, they no longer seem to mind each other's company quite as much as they thought they would...
• "It Happened One Summer" by Tessa Bailey: Tessa Bailey is back with a rom-com about a Hollywood "It Girl" who is cut off from her wealthy family and exiled to a small Pacific Northwest beach town...where she butts heads with a surly, sexy local who thinks she doesn't belong.
• "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers: California's gold country, 1850. A time when men sold their souls for a bag of gold and women sold their bodies for a place to sleep.

Entrée

• "Book Lovers" by Emily Henry: A by-the-book literary agent must decide if happily ever after is worth changing her whole life for in this insightful, delightful new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation.
• "Bridgerton: The Duke & I" by Julia Quinn: The rakish Duke of Hastings will stop at nothing to hold the marriage-mongers and matchmakers of his town at bay, even if it means pretending to be engaged to the lovely Daphne Bridgerton, but strong feelings soon intervene on both sides of this convenient arrangement.
• "The Romance Recipe" by Ruby Barrett: Amy will do anything to revive her ailing restaurant, including hiring a former reality-show finalist with good connections and a lot to prove. But her hopes that Sophie's skills and celebrity status would bring her restaurant back from the brink of failure are beginning to wane...Sophie just wants to cook.

Dessert (New & Recent Releases)

• "The Nanny" by Lana Ferguson: A woman discovers the father of the child she is nannying may be her biggest (Only)Fan in this steamy contemporary romance.
• "Romantic Comedy" by Curtis Sittenfeld: A comedy writer thinks she's sworn off love until a dreamily handsome pop star flips the script on all her assumptions.
• "Yours Truly" by Abby Jimenez: A novel of terrible first impressions, hilarious second chances, and the joy in finding your perfect match.

Appetizer (Kristen)

• "The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island.
• "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier: The unassuming young heroine of Rebecca finds her life changed overnight when she meets Maxim de Winter, a handsome and wealthy widower whose sudden proposal of marriage takes her by surprise. Rescuing her from an overbearing employer, de Winter whisks her off to Manderley, his isolated estate on the windswept Cornish coast but there things take a chilling turn.
• "The Lost Apothecary" by Sarah Penner: Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientèle. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary's fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries.

Entrée (Claire)

• "Dust Child" by Phan Qué̂ Mai Nguyẽ̂n: An American GI, two Vietnamese bargirls, and an Amerasian man are forced to make decisions during and after the Viet Nam War that will reverberate throughout one another's lives.
• "Stolen From Her Mother" by Rachel Wesson: With a broken heart, she sinks to the ground. Tears run down her face as the truth hits her. "You can't do this. She's my daughter, my flesh and blood. I'll never stop looking for her. Never. No matter what you say or do, I'll find her."
• "The Magnolia Palace" by Fiona Davis: Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue, returns with a tantalizing novel about the secrets, betrayal, and murder within one of New York City's most impressive Gilded Age mansions.

Dessert (New & Recent Releases)

• "The Irish Boarding House" by Sandy Taylor: The boarding house brings Mary Kate love and friendships she never dreamed of, but just as her heart is about to burst with joy, a new guest arrives. The stern older woman won't speak about her past, but when Mary Kate uncovers her story, it reveals a devastating secret about her mother. With her life in turmoil once more, can Mary Kate draw on the strength of the women in the house to help her face her past, or will the tragedy she uncovers spell disaster for them all?
• "Hang the Moon" by Jeannette Walls: Sallie Kincaid is the daughter of the biggest man in a small town, the charismatic Duke Kincaid. Born at the turn of the 20th century into a life of comfort and privilege, Sallie remembers little about her mother who died in a violent argument with the Duke. By the time she is just eight years old, the Duke has remarried and had a son, Eddie. While Sallie is her father's daughter, sharp-witted and resourceful, Eddie is his mother's son, timid and cerebral. When Sallie tries to teach young Eddie to be more like their father, her daredevil coaching leads to an accident, and Sallie is cast out.

Appetizer (Mystery)

• "Zero Days" by Ruth Ware: Hired by companies to break into buildings and hack security systems, Jack and her husband, Gabe, are the best penetration specialists in the business. But after a routine assignment goes horribly wrong, Jack arrives home to find her husband dead. To add to her horror, the police are closing in on their suspect - her. (June 2023)
• "Murder in the Book Lover's Loft" by Ellery Adams: Jane and her fiancé, Edwin, are headed to the North Carolina coast for a much-needed vacation. Their harborside loft has floor-to-ceiling bookcases and breathtaking views, but Jane's hopes of exploring the town with her man are stymied when Edwin steps on a stingray. Things take an even less romantic turn when Jane stumbles across a dead body... (July 2023)
• "The Daughters of Block Island" by Christa Carmen: After arriving on Block Island to find her birth mother, Blake Bronson becomes convinced she’s the heroine of a gothic novel—the kind that allowed her intermittent escape from a traumatic childhood. How else to explain the torrential rain, the salt-worn mansion known as White Hall, and the restless ghost purported to haunt its halls? But before Blake can discern the novel’s ending, she’s found dead, murdered in a claw-foot tub. The proprietress of White Hall stands accused. (Oct. 2023)

Entrée (Historical Fiction)

• "We Must Not Think of Ourselves" by Lauren Grodstein: On a November day in 1940, Adam Paskow becomes a prisoner in the Warsaw Ghetto, where the Jews of the city are cut off from their former lives and held captive by Nazi guards, and await an uncertain fate. Weeks later, he is approached by a mysterious figure with a surprising request: Will he join a secret group of archivists working to preserve the truth of what is happening inside these walls? (Nov. 2023)
• "The First Ladies" by Marie Benedict: This is the story of two different, yet equally formidable, passionate, and committed women, and the way in which their singular friendship helped form the foundation for the modern civil rights movement. (June 2023)
• "The Shakespeare Sisters" by Juliet Greenwood: Four motherless sisters, raised by a distant father in a crumbling, ivy-choked country estate. A terrible war is on the horizon that will tear an ancient family apart. (May 2023)

Dessert (Romance)

• "Must Love Flowers" by Debbie Macomber: Two women at different stages of life find themselves on a journey of renewal after undergoing hardships in this uplifting novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber. (July 2023)
• "Unfortunately Yours" by Tessa Bailey: #1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey returns with the hilarious follow-up to Secretly Yours, in which a down-on-her-luck Napa heiress suggests a mutually beneficial marriage of convenience to a man she can’t stand... only to discover there’s a fine line between love and hate. (June 2023)
• "The True Love Experiment" by Christina Lauren: The True Love Experiment is the book fans have been waiting for ever since Fizzy’s debut in the New York Times bestselling The Soulmate Equation. But when the lights come on and all eyes are on her, it turns out the happily ever after Fizzy had all but given up on might lie just behind the camera. (May 2023)