The Insomniacs<\/a><\/center>
In the city that never sleeps, it\u2019s not always easy to share what\u2019s on your mind with the people who know you best. Huddled in an all-night diner over coffee and pancakes, a lonely middle-aged mom, an injured baseball pro, an elusive retiree, and a young waitress examine the thoughts that plague them in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n
Empty-nester Sybil does what she does best: rolls up her sleeves and spearheads the efforts to turn this group of strangers into friends. Aimless after an injury threatens to ruin his career, Zeke finds genuine connection among the unlikely group. Tight-lipped Julian, who\u2019s seemingly adrift in retirement and attempting to rebuild a relationship with his daughter, expands their circle when he takes their cagey diner waitress, Betty, under his wing. Betty, cautious about strangers and uncertain about strokes of good luck, entertains the trio in an attempt to resolve her own problems, which she keeps close to the vest.<\/p>\n
Within a few restless months, the group of strangers have become a fragile family. And when one of them goes missing in the dead of night, they\u2019re thrust into a propulsive mystery pulled straight from the true-crime podcasts Sybil obsesses over. Though ill-prepared and unequipped for the job, they begin to piece together the clues left behind. In chasing down answers, they uncover a reason for their friend\u2019s disappearance, and are forced to wrestle with the question of how well you can really know anyone\u2014and once you do, how much are you willing to risk to save them? And in doing so, save yourself?<\/p>\n
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Japanese Gothic<\/a><\/center>
October, 2026: Lee Turner doesn\u2019t remember how or why he killed his college roommate. The details are blurred and bloody. All he knows is he has to flee New York and go to the one place that might offer refuge\u2014his father\u2019s new home in Japan, a house hidden by sword ferns and wild ginger. But something is terribly wrong with the house: no animals will come near it, the bedroom window isn’t always a window, and a woman with a sword appears in the yard when night falls.
October, 1877: Sen is a young samurai in exile, hiding from the imperial soldiers in a house behind the sword ferns. A monster came home from war wearing her father\u2019s face, but Sen would do anything to please him, even turn her sword on her own mother. She knows the soldiers will soon slaughter her whole family when she sees a terrible omen: a young foreign man who appears outside her window.
One of these people is a ghost, and one of these stories is a lie.
Something is hiding beneath the house of sword ferns, and Lee and Sen will soon wish they never unburied it.
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The Auction<\/a><\/center>
I was trained to be a pawn, but I will rise as a queen.<\/p>\n
My life has never been my own. After the death of my parents, I was saved by my grandfather, with the promise that he would turn me over to the Brotherhood on my twenty-first birthday.
I was kept away from the outside world so I could one day be sold to the highest bidder\u2014pure and unsullied. Penance for my parents\u2019 alleged crimes.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how I come to be sold at an auction. And who buys me but the reclusive billionaire, Lincoln Knight?<\/p>\n
Some say that he\u2019s a monster, more dangerous than any of the evil men from the Brotherhood. That he wears a mask to cover his scars. But I believe he\u2019s hiding more than just his face behind his mask.
My fate is sealed when he takes me to his crumbling mansion deep in the woods. I\u2019m trapped. Entirely at his mercy.<\/p>\n
I have to escape. But something here isn\u2019t what it seems. Lincoln isn\u2019t what he seems. Maybe he\u2019s not a monster at all. I\u2019m drawn to him in a way that I can\u2019t explain. Until I discover that his secrets go far beyond his mask. He\u2019s everything I\u2019ve been taught to fear, but what if everything I\u2019ve ever known has been a lie?<\/p>\n
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Happy Ending<\/a><\/center>
Thea and Alex have three things in common\u2014they love food, they hate where they live, and they\u2019re both divorced. Otherwise, they couldn\u2019t be more different.
Thea\u2019s never cooked a day in her life. Alex is a world-class chef. Alex resents feeling stuck in his hometown. Thea resents the town for not feeling more like home. Thea and her ex are in a contentious custody battle for their dog. Alex and his ex amicably coparent their daughter. Beyond a few friends in common, a couple small-world connections (welcome to life in a mid-size city), their lives look nothing alike. Fast forward two years, and they\u2019re truly the best of friends. No one would ever know their friendship began as a lie\u2026
Two years ago, their exes got together immediately following their divorces, and somehow, Thea and Alex found themselves spinning a spite-fueled story about being old friends and first loves. Two years later, what began as a ruse has grown into real friendship\u2014just friendship, despite what friends and family seem to think. But when their exes invite them on a two-week, \u201ctwo family\u201d beach vacation\u2014daughter and dog included\u2014Alex and Thea start to wonder if this story they\u2019ve spun might have gotten away from them, and if it\u2019s led them to the last place they ever thought it could: a happy ending.
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Pomona Afton Can Totally Catch a Killer<\/a><\/center>
Pomona Afton knows how to throw a memorable party. After all, for her twenty-fifth birthday, she hosted a global extravaganza that included a masquerade ball in a Scottish castle, clubbing in Ibiza, and skinny dipping on a private island. So, throwing a gala for her fledgling nonprofit should be a breeze.
Unfortunately, she has to navigate the high-stakes (and snobby) world of philanthropy, a beloved boyfriend who just can\u2019t seem to fit in, and of course, her dysfunctional family, all while planning a party that won’t only affect the future of her charity, but her own future in society.<\/p>\n
But Pom is no quitter. She pushes forward and perseveres\u2026until, right in the middle of her party, she discovers the body of one of her biggest donors. Suddenly all her hard work is going up in flames. If she\u2019s going to salvage her new life path, she must put on her (incredibly stylish) detective hat again and figure out who wants to bring her down. One more measly little murder mystery shouldn\u2019t be that hard, right?<\/p>\n
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The Faith of Beasts<\/a><\/center>
The monstrous Carryx empire was built by subjugation and war. Thousands of species are bound to their Sovran\u2019s command in an endless, blood-soaked test: be useful in the eternal conflict or be slaughtered.<\/p>\n
Dafyd Alkhor, highest among their human captives, is feared and despised by the very people he champions. Ruthless in carving out his niche in the eternal war machine of the empire, he will reshape human nature itself as a tool for their alien masters\u2019 use. But Dafyd\u2019s loyalty is not what it seems.
The Swarm, an agent of the Carryx\u2019s deathless enemy, has been smuggled into the Carryx world-palace along with the human slaves. Its mission: discover a way to bring down the empire\u2019s eternal reign. But the longer it lives among and within humanity, the more it forgets that it is a weapon.<\/p>\n
As the human captives spread through the battlefronts of empire, the awesome power of the Carryx becomes clear. And with it, a desperate plan for their destruction.<\/p>\n
But empires hide secrets, and even the deathless enemy may not be what it appears…<\/p>\n
Sources: 1<\/a>, 2<\/a>, 3<\/a>, 4<\/a>, 5<\/a>, 6<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n