New Chick Lit

The Shark Club by Ann Kidd Taylor takes place amid the palm trees, calypso bands and pristine ocean views of Florida. When Maeve Donnally is young, she enjoys spending time near the ocean and is fascinated by sharks. One summer, two extraordinary things happen to her. First, Daniel--the boy she has a crush on--kisses her. Then, she is bitten by a black tip shark. She decides to throw herself into her work as a marine biologist traveling the world studying and teaching others about sharks. Fifteen years later, she returns to the Hotel of the Muses where she grew up under the watchful eye of her grandmother. Maeve has a chance meeting with a young girl on the beach who is as fascinated with the ocean as Maeve had been at that age. This meeting puts her at a crossroads: does she rekindle her romance with Daniel or does she pursue a new relationship with Nicholas--a colleague who is investigating a illegal shark-finning in the area?

It's 1952, but the post-war boom seems to be passing Hooper's Crossing, New York by in Dorothy Garlock's The Nearness of You. Lonely, sheltered librarian Lily Denton longs for adventure and the hustle and bustle of New York City, but, ever since her mother died, her father hasn't let her out of his sight. So, Lily spends her days in the library and her nights hoping that life won't pass her by. The cool, crisp air of autumn brings in tourists for the fall festival as well as a photographer with a knack for finding trouble. But when Boone Tatum snaps a photo of Lily, suddenly he isn't in a hurry to make his way out of town. When danger blows into town and marks Lily as its own, it will take all of her strength and courage to stand up for herself and the man she only just met, but can't live without.

The saga of the Crystal women is the focus of Mary B. Morrison's The One I've Waited For. Mercedes, Devereaux, Alexis, Sandara, and matriarch Blake have had their share of drama, but what happens next will push their bond to its limits and beyond. Mercedes forgave her philandering husband's last ego-boosting affair, but his new tryst, Arizona Remington, is proving to be a challenge. Arizona is determined to keep her wealthy husband as her own, but Mercedes buckles down and unleashes a take-no-prisoners campaign that inspires her sisters to do the same. Devereaux's show is the hottest thing on television and it takes up most of her time. She has been patient with her financially challenged fiance, but when Mercedes convinces Devereaux to do a background check on her man before walking down the aisle, it will take all of Devereaux's strength to let him go and not take him back. Alexis has her own troubles now that her lies are catching up to her; Sandara's babies' daddy is demanding part of her newfound fortune; and Momma Blake is struggling to get and keep her own happy ending.

In Secrets of the Tulip Sisters by Susan Mallery, sisters Kelly and Olivia Murphy have been estranged for ten long years; ever since their father sent Olivia away because of her affair with the town's bad boy. Kelly has lived by herself, tending the tulip farm and getting stuck in a rut of sorts. Now that Olivia is back and newcomer Griffith Burnett has caught her eye, Kelly is finding it hard to keep her secrets to herself. Which is much easier to do when you are alone. Olivia is determined not to let Kelly stand in the way of her homecoming and her mission to rekindle the flame with her man. When secrets start coming to light from both girls, will there be reconciliation or resentment?

Mama Cass before The Mamas and The Papas

California Dreamin' from Pénélope Bagieu depicts Mama Cass as you've never known her, in this poignant graphic novel about the remarkable vocalist who rocketed The Mamas & the Papas to stardom.

Before she was the legendary Mama Cass of the folk group The Mamas and the Papas, Ellen Cohen was a teen girl from Baltimore with an incredible voice, incredible confidence, and incredible dreams. She dreamed of being not just a singer but a star. Not just a star―a superstar. So, at the age of nineteen, at the dawn of the sixties, Ellen left her hometown and became Cass Elliot.

At her size, Cass was never going to be the kind of girl that record producers wanted on album covers. But she found an unlikely group of co-conspirators, and in their short time together this bizarre and dysfunctional band recorded some of the most memorable songs of their era. Through the whirlwind of drugs, war, love, and music, Cass struggled to keep sight of her dreams, of who she loved, and―most importantly―who she was.

Legal Thrillers for Your Enjoyment

The Most Dangerous Place is a Jack Swytek novel by James Grippando. According to the FBI, the most dangerous place for a woman between the ages of twenty and thirty is in a relationship with a man. Miami lawyer Jack Swytek is waiting at the airport for his old high school buddy, Keith Ingraham. The high powered banker and his wife Isabelle are based in Hong Kong, but they are coming to Miami so Keith's young daughter can have surgery. No sooner do they arrive than the police arrest Isabelle for conspiracy to murder the man who sexually assaulted her in college. Jack agrees to take her case, but the seasoned attorney doesn't know exactly what he has gotten himself into as he begins sifting through the secrets and half-truths surrounding the case.

Testimony by Scott Turow sees former prosecutor Bill ten Boom--now fifty--reflecting on all the things he loves: his law career, his wife, Kindle County, and his country. Bill is soon tapped to work on a case in front of the International Criminal Court based in Holland. It seems that more than ten years ago, in the chaos of the Bosnian war, an entire Roma refugee camp disappeared. Ferko Rincic has come forward as a witness claiming that a group of armed men marched the entire camp to a nearby cave during the night and blew the opening with a grenade burying 400 Gypsies alive. Ferko was the only survivor. Bill is now charged with finding out if Ferko's testimony is true and reliable. Bill sorts through a host of suspects including Serb paramilitaries, organized crime gangs, and even the U.S. government. He can't shake the feeling that Ferko knows a whole lot more than he is telling.

Things aren't going so well for Grayson Hernandez in The Outsider by Anthony Franze. Gray has just graduated from a fourth tier law school and he's drowning in debt. The only job he can get is as a messenger at the Supreme Court; which makes Gray sad because all he can do is watch the elite law graduates clerk for the justices of the nations highest court. One day, Gray comes to the aid of a man who is being violently mugged. Turns out the victim is none other than the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, so Gray finds himself as the newest--and unlikeliest--clerk at the court. Soon, the FBI approaches Gray and asks him to keep his eyes and ears open inside the court. It seems that a serial killer is connected to the court somehow. Eventually, Gray becomes a suspect; and he will stop at nothing to clear his name.

 August is Romance Awareness Month and we will be featuring a difference romance author everyday on our Facebook page including both old favorites and newcomers to our shelves.

Pick one up to enjoy today!

National Romance Awareness Month

According to www.NationalDayCalendar.com,  August is National Romance Awareness Month. Most people take this time to do something extra special for their partner or spouse--romantic getaways, couples massages, and candlelit dinners. It is also the time to indulge in reading some good ol' romance novels. To that end, we would like to highlight some of the new romance novels we offer here at the library.

First up is This is Our Song from the Shaughnessy Brothers series by Samantha Chase. Riley Shaughnessy knew that distinguishing himself from the rest of his large family would require him to do something big. He worked hard to make a name for himself as a musician and he's now a bona fide rock star. Unfortunately, he is in a bit of a slump and the relentless demands of his fans are not helping his creativity any. Savannah Daly is a hardline entertainment reporter who knows all about Riley's reputation. She is just there to get her interview so she can write her story, but she is spending an entire month with the Shaughnessy's and anything can happen--like falling for the guy behind the rock star persona.

Next, we have Talk Cowboy to Me by Carolyn Brown. The Fourth of July is coming up and there are definitely fireworks between Adele O'Donnell and Remington Luckadeau. These two are locked in a battle to buy the Double Deuce Ranch; and neither one is backing down. Adele is ready for a fresh start for herself--and her children--since her divorce. She fell in love with the Double Deuce the second she walked onto the property. Remington has decided to shed his carefree playboy persona and step-up to raise his orphaned nephews. He thinks the Double Deuce is just the place to raise two boys, but Adele is as determined as Remington to buy this ranch. Who knows what will happen when the sparks fly between these two.

The Most Dangerous Duke in London is a period romance by Madeline Hunter. Adam Penrose, Duke of Stratton is a dark and brooding member of London's elite Society of Decadent Dukes. He is said to have a thirst for vengeance and has set his romantic sites on Clara Cheswick, the beautiful daughter of his family's sworn enemy. There is a problem, however; Clara is more interested in publishing her women's journal than getting married--especially to a man said to be dead-set on revenge. Her reporter's instinct tell her there may be a story behind this supposed quest for justice, but Adam's persistence with a proposal of marriage seems to be unnerving the usually collected Clara. Could these two be courting danger?

Finally, we have an anthology by Julia Quinn, Elizabeth Boyle, Laura Lee Guhrke, and Stefanie Sloane called Four Weddings and a Sixpence. Four friends from Madame Rochambeaux's Gentle School for Girls find an old sixpence in their bedchamber and decide that this will be the lucky coin for each of their weddings. "Something Old" introduces Beatrice Heywood as well as the premise for the book. In "Something New," Anne Brabourne's ever-vigilant guardian decrees that she must marry by her twenty-first birthday, but love comes in the most unexpected of ways. Cordelia Padley has invented a betrothed to keep her family from constantly pestering her in "Something Borrowed." When they call her on her bluff, she will have to borrow a fiance that will convince them she is truly in love. "Something Blue" sees the sixpence stolen by a rake just before Lady Elinor Daventry has a chance to walk down the aisle. It will take all of her charms to convince the thief to give it back before her wedding. In "...and a Sixpence in Her Shoe," Beatrice Heywood never really believed in the power of the coin, but it seems to have worked for her friends, so she is willing to try to believe--if only it would stop sending her to the wrong man!