Historical Fiction

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

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Here are some of the new books coming to our shelves this week for you to add to your book list!

THE BREAKAWAY

While leading a group bike trip from NYC to Niagara Falls, 34-year-old Abby Stern, newly engaged, encounters Sebastian, the one-night stand she never thought she’d see again, and, determined to keep him at arm’s length over the next two weeks, finds her certainties about herself and the nature of love challenged.

GOOD BAD GIRL

When a baby is stollen from a stroller and someone at a nursing home is murdered, four women who distrust each other must investigate together, in the new novel by the best-selling author of Daisy Darker.

LEARNED BY HEART

Based on a true story and a five-million-word secret journal, this extraordinary work of fiction follows an orphaned heiress, banished from India to England, and a brilliant, troublesome tomboy who meet at the Manor School for young ladies in 1805 York where they fall secretly, deeply and dangerous in love.

HAPPINESS FALLS

Mia isn’t initially concerned when her family fails to return from a walk, until her mute brother Eugene, who suffers from a rare genetic condition, returns bloody and alone and is unable to describe what happened to their father.

THE GIRL IN THE EAGLE’S TALONS

Named guardian to her niece, whose mother has disappeared, Lisbeth Salander, while keeping the remarkably gifted teenager safe, comes to Mikael Blomkvist’s aid when rumors about the man his daughter is about to marry lead to violence, plunging them both into a world of conspiracy and betrayal in the ice-bound wilderness.

THE HIKE

When she and her three best friends go hiking in the stunning mountains of Norway, Liz, as they venture deeper into the wilderness, discovers this remote place hides secrets darker than they could’ve ever imagined and, if they aren’t careful, not all of them will make it out alive.

EIGHTEEN DAYS IN OCTOBER

This major new history of the Yom Kippur War draws on formerly classified records to tell the story of the 1973 war that shaped the modern Middle East. 

~Semanur

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

semanurLeave a comment

Here are some of the new books coming to our shelves this week for you to add to your book list!

LION & LAMB

Rival PIs, Veena Lion and Cooper Lamb work the same intense headline-making case involving an Eagles starting quarterback and his even more famous wife, a Grammy-winning singer, and together, knowing every secret in Philadelphia, prove how two wrongs can make a right.

THE INVISIBLE HOUR

Abandoning the rules of the Community, an oppressive cult in western Massachusetts where contact with the outside world is forbidden and books are considered evil, Mia Jacob, after secretly reading The Scarlet Letter, discovers the power of the written word, which leads her on a journey of love, heartbreak and self-discovery.

TIDES OF FIRE

When the Titan Project, an international research station off the coast of Australia, is attacked, setting in motion a large-scale geological disaster, Sigma Force races against time to stop the world from burning, uncovering something that will shake the very foundations of humanity.

THE TRADE OFF

The Globe’s rookie reporter, Jess, when the paper destroys the life of a celebrity, is determined to show the world what the tabloid is capable of by uncovering the truth, but she must watch her back because someone is prepared to kill to bury it.

THORNHEGDE

Returning to the human world to offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child, a mission that goes completely sideways, kind-hearted Toadling, centuries later, when a gentle knight arrives to break the curse, will do anything to uphold it.

BENEATH DARK WATERS

The public prosecutor working on a high-profile sexual assault case becomes desperate to keep his son safe after he is targeted in a kidnapping attempt in the latest novel of the series following Cold Blooded Liar.

THE PRESIDENT’S WIFE

When her husband, President Woodrow Wilson, starts losing concentration and becomes confused, Edith Bolling, unwilling to let his presidency fail, steps in behind the scenes, supporting him in every way while concealing his true condition.

~Semanur

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

semanurLeave a comment

Here are some of the new books coming to our shelves this week for you to add to your book list!

BEYOND THE STORY: 10-Year Record of BTS

After taking their first step into the world on June 13, 2013, BTS will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their debut in June 2023. They have risen to the peak as an iconic global artist and during this meaningful time, they look back on their footsteps in the first official book. In doing so, BTS nurtures the power to build brighter days and they choose to take another step on a road that no one has gone before.

OBSESSED

When a killer becomes obsessed with his oldest daughter, Detective Michael Bennett will do anything to keep his family safe as he races against time to crack this superstitious killer’s code.

MUST LOVE FLOWERS

Nursing student Maggie, to escape her alcoholic father, rents a room in Joan’s home and finds a glimmer of hope for a better life, including a new romance, while Joan doesn’t know what to make of the mysterious landscaper who’s been revitalizing her garden—and who seems as lost as she is.

FLAGS ON THE BAYOU

Accused of murder, an enslaved woman goes on the run with an abolitionist schoolteacher in the fall of 1863, dodging constables and slave catchers, in the new novel by the New York Times best-selling author of If I Disappear.

AN EVIL HEART

Painters Mill Police Chief Kate Burkholder investigates the violent, cross-bow shooting death of a hardworking, engaged young Amish man as her own wedding date draws near, in the fifteenth novel of the series following The Hidden One.

HELLO STRANGER

After a routine surgery a struggling artist loses the ability to see people’s faces but can still see animal faces in the new novel from the New York Times best-selling author of What You Wish For.

THE AIR RAID BOOK CLUB

In 1938 London as the Blitz begins, bookstore owner Gertie Bingham takes in a Jewish refugee, a headstrong teenage girl named Hedy, and together with neighbors and customers, they start an air raid book club to bolster people’s spirits and make connections to see them all through to brighter days.

~Semanur

Spectacular Historical Fiction

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It’s 1956, and 19-year-old Marion Brooks is living with her widowed father and sister in Bronxville, New York, teaching ballet to children. Marion has always dreamed of becoming a professional dancer but knows it is her father’s wish for her to marry and settle down. When she learns that Radio City Music Hall is looking for new Rockettes, Marion secretly auditions, is selected and decides to take the job – even though she is promptly kicked out of her father’s house. Work begins immediately and complex routines need to be learned and then performed, perfectly synchronized four times a day. Marion is exhausted but exhilarated, happy to be living her dream and making fast friends with her dance troupe. Deep down, though, she wishes for her family’s support.

Meanwhile, New York City is under attack. For sixteen years, the “Big Apple Bomber” has been planting bombs in crowded public places, causing mayhem, and eluding the police. The night the bomb explodes in Radio City Music Hall, Marion witnesses it firsthand from the stage as it takes away someone she loves. She also is witness to the suspicious man who she believes planted the bomb. When the police turn away her assistance, Marion enlists the help of her blind-date Peter Griggs, a psychiatric resident at a local hospital who is interested in the new art of criminal profiling, to find the bomber.

If you are in the mood for engrossing, well-researched historical fiction that brings the glitz and glamour of Radio City, theatre, and New York alive, pick up this perfect blend of family drama, a suspenseful murder mystery and a smidge of romance. Aptly named, The Spectacular by Fiona Davis is so good, it just might make you dance with joy.

-Carol

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

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Here are some of the new books coming to our shelves this week for you to add to your book list! Click on the book title to go to our catalog and place a hold!

ZERO DAYS

When a routine assignment goes horribly wrong, resulting in her husband’s murder, penetration specialist Jack, now the #1 suspect, goes on the run, deciding who she can trust as she races against time to clear her name and find the real killer.

THE ONLY ONE LEFT

In 1983, home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora Hope, helping her write about the events leading up to her family’s massacre in 1929 ,and soon discovers this seemingly harmless woman could be far more dangerous than she first thought.

WELCOME TO BEACH TOWN

Compelled to return to Alara Cove, the place where an accusation she made years ago sent her into exile, competitive surfer Nikki Graziola finds old friendships, rivalries and an unexpected romance drawing her back into the life of the beach town she’s never quite forgotten.

THE MISSUS

From the majestic mountains of Albania, through the rural idyll of the English countryside, to the shady glamour of contemporary London, The Missus is a spellbinding journey of love, longing, acceptance, and redemption.

THE HAPPINESS PLAN

Three best friends Heather, who finally sees the beauty of family; Daphne, who is trying to fix her marriage after an emotional affair; and Tori, who has fallen in love with a longtime friend navigate the joy, and heartache, of letting people into their hearts for the very first time.

THE QUIET TENANT

A kidnapper and serial killer, widower Aidan Thomas, a hardworking family man and beloved figure in his community, moves with his 13-year-old daughter to a new town, taking along Rachel, the woman he’s earmarked for death who tests the boundaries of her new living situation to escape.

REMEMBER ME

Lady Philippa Ware, arriving in London to meet the ton, encounters the one man who could ruin everything the detestable Marquess of Roath, and unfortunately for her, his grandparents, the Duke and Duchess of Wilby, have declared they are a perfect match and will not take no for an answer.

THE BRIGHTEST STAR

Arriving in Hollywood to become an actress, Anna May Wong discovers her beauty and talent aren’t enough to overcome the racism that relegates her to supporting roles and, over the years, fights to win lead roles, accept risqué parts and keep her illicit love affairs hidden even as she finds global stardom.

~Semanur

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

semanurLeave a comment

Here are some of the new books coming to our shelves this week for you to add to your book list!

CROSS DOWN

Detectives Alex Cross and John Sampson join forces again to protect the Cross family from a shadow force advancing on the nation’s capital, in the latest addition to the long-running, extremely popular series.

NEAR MISS

Stone Barrington faces down a deadly foe in the latest thrilling adventure in the #1 New York Times best-selling series. Following a string of adventures, Stone Barrington is enjoying some downtime in New York City when a chance encounter introduces him to a charming new companion. Too bad she also comes with the baggage of a persistent ex-boyfriend intent on retribution.

LADY TAN’S CIRCLE OF WOMEN

Sent into an arranged marriage, Tan Yunxian, forbidden to continue her work as a midwife-in-training as well as see her forever friend Meiling, is ordered to act like proper wife and seeks a way to continue treating women and girls from every level of society in 15th-century China.

THE WIND KNOWS MY NAME

Traces the ripple effects of war and immigration on two children 5-year-old Samuel, whose mother puts him on a Kindertransport train out of Nazi-occupied Austria to England in 1938, and 7-year-old Anita, who boards another train eight decades later to the U.S., where she’s separated from her mother.

THE SURVIVOR

Unearthing the perfectly preserved body of a female warrior in Southeast Asia, archeologist Riley Smith and Eve Duncan seek answers about this extraordinary past life, leading Riley to make a discovery that will change history if she can survive long enough to share it with the world.

THE PARIS DAUGHTER

As WWII ends, Elise returns to Paris to reunite with her daughter only to find her friend Juliette, the woman she entrusted her daughter with, has seemingly vanished without a trace, which leads Elise on a desperate search to New York and to Juliette one final, fateful time.

A LITTLE RAY OF SUNSHINE

A young man shocks his adoptive mother by flying to Cape Cod and walking unannounced into the bookstore owned by his birth mother and her grandfather and surprising them, forcing both women into addressing their assumptions about motherhood.

~Semanur

Book Review : The White Lady

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It’s 1947 and Rose and her husband Jim Mackie flee to the quiet country English village of Kent with their three-year-old daughter Susie, in search of a life away from London and Jim’s family of ne’er-do-wells. When they are offered work and a place to live by a local couple, Rose thinks they can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

A war-weary 41-year-old, former government operative, Elinor White is also looking to live out her days peacefully in Kent. Upon meeting newcomers, Elinor makes it her business to know their business. When she learns that the Mackie brothers have visited, threatening Rose and Susie if Jim doesn’t return to assist with their next big job, Elinor decides that violence against women and children just won’t do. Coming out of hiding, Elinor vows that she will protect the young family and uses her Home Office connections in to attempt to take on the dangerous and powerful London Mackies. Unfortunately, she may get more than she bargains for when events from her own past catch up to her along the way.

The White Lady by Jacqueline Winspear is a departure from her beloved Maisie Dobbs’ series. This mystery introduces readers to a deeply affected and damaged, yet likeable and intelligent character in Elinor White, a woman who began a life in espionage while still a teen in Belgium and who is conflicted about her need to commit violence in order to protect others.

Told through alternating time lines, The White Lady is emotional and suspenseful, well-researched historical fiction with plenty of twists that will keep you turning its pages. While the author has said this book is not the start a new series, this reader is left wishing for a bit more time spent with the fascinating Miss White.

Don’t believe me; investigate on your own! Place your hold on The White Lady today and see what you think.

-Carol

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

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Here some of the new exciting releases for you to take a look at this week!

IDENTITY

A woman discovers her apartment broken into and her roommate dead after meeting a cold-hearted con artist at the bar where she works in the new novel from the number-one best-selling author of more than 230 novels.

LIAR!

Justice seekers who always have each other’s backs, siblings Luna and her brother Cullen set out to unravel a cold case connected to a mysterious armoire.

ROGUE JUSTICE

Asked by a fellow law clerk to look into his boss’s death, Supreme Court clerk Avery Keene, after another shocking murder, is led to a list of names – all judges on the FISA Court, also known as America’s “secret court” – and must race the clock to stop an unprecedented national crisis.

THE SENATOR’S WIFE

Hiring a health aide to give her the support and independence she needs after hip replacement surgery, DC philanthropist and Senator’s wife Sloane Chase, as weeks go by and she becomes sicker, suspects her seemingly perfect employee is plotting to steal her husband, her reputation and even her life.

FLASH POINT

To stop an unseen enemy from destroying the Campus, Jack Ryan Jr. is led to the South China Sea where he, after a midair collision serves as a flash point, must put the pieces of a conspiracy together to stop the world’s two remaining super powers from going to war.

SUMMER STAGE

Working together to ensure their summer production at a storied Block Island theater is a success, former aspiring playwright Amy Trevino, her daughter Sam and her brother, a well-loved Hollywood actor, must grapple with their desires for fame and fortune and discover what they really want out of life.

THE POISONER’S RING

In 1869 Edinburgh, modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson, adjusting to her new life in Victorian Scotland as an undertaker’s assistant to Dr. Duncan Gray, investigates the case of a serial poisoner targeting men, and all signs point to the grieving widows, the latest of which is Gray’s older sister.

BRAVE THE WILD RIVER

The story of two pioneering female botanists and their historic 1938 boat trip down the Colorado River which led them to be the first to survey and catalog the plant life of the Grand Canyon.

I AM AYAH: THE WAY HOME

Shielding herself from the world behind the safety of her camera lens, photographer Ayah Fleming is pulled into the past when she returns home and uncovers the truth about her descendants with the help of a man who makes her long for a brighter future.

~Semanur

A Story You Can’t Refuse

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Five-year-old Dante, son of a wealthy family, is kidnapped from the town square in 1810 Palermo, Sicily, but the corrupt local police refuse to investigate. Gaetano Catalano, a young lawyer and member of the Beati Paoli, a secret society of aristocrats who work in the name of Saint Paul, decides to look for the child – in a search that consumes him for decades.

Meanwhile, power-hungry Franco Fiorvanti, the lemon grower who orchestrated Dante’s kidnapping at his boss’s behest, is tired of working for others. Franco dreams of owning his own orchard and invites his twin Roberto to work alongside of him. The two, along with a host of men who swear blood oaths to them begin to offer protection to orchard owners, becoming what we know today as the “Mafia.”

Set against the backdrop of a mostly lawless Sicily over two decades and starring a wide cast of characters whose lives are upended by the Fiorvanti’s family’s ruthlessness, Loyalty by Lisa Scottoline is well-written historical fiction to savor. This novel about heartbreak, loss, revenge and justice is a departure from Scottoline’s legal thrillers but contains all the trademarks her fans love, including interesting characters, the overarching theme of good versus evil, and a satisfying ending. Place your hold today and prepare to be swept away to another time and place.

-Carol