New Release Adult Fiction: August 26, 2026
How to Find Romance in a Bookshop by Poppy Alexander
GENRE: Romance
THE SYNOPSIS: Petra doesn’t like books anymore—not since her career as a literary agent imploded after a social media typo went viral. Now she is stuck for six months, babysitting a little bookshop by the sea—surrounded by books that just remind her of her failure.
Ross McCloud’s award-winning debut novel blew the minds of the world’s literati, but that was five years ago. Now Ross and his keenly awaited second work have vanished. Something has gone wrong—horribly wrong—and Ross doesn’t want to talk about it.
Marooned in Capelthorne’s Bookshop miles from London, Petra can’t stop thinking about all the ways she has let people down. Then she discovers Ross lurking, incognito, in the second-hand books section. Misery loves company it seems, and a kinship tentatively forms.
In the meantime, the magic of the bookshop slowly begins to enchant Petra. Soon, her book recommendations assume legendary status; she is chairing the newly formed Beach Reads Book Club; leading a weekly writing group and hosting a series of popular talks and signings by local authors. She is even starting to read again.
Petra is also finding time to help her new best friend Jess—owner of a local telephone box library—to launch the inaugural Portneath Literary Festival. What better opportunity to put the Festival on the map—says Ross—than for Petra to unveil his second novel to the world there, before re-launching her career representing him at the Frankfurt book fair? What a comeback! But can Petra find the courage to help the man she loves?
Their love of books may be re-ignited, but is that enough to save them both from their own worst enemy—themselves?
CLICK BELOW TO BORROW “How to Find Romance in a Bookshop” by Poppy Alexander:
The House of Boleyn by Tracy Borman
GENRE: Historical Fiction
THE SYNOPSIS: When nobleman Thomas Boleyn, lord of Hever Castle, is called to London in 1509 to present himself to the newly-anointed eighteen-year-old king, Henry VIII, Thomas's young daughter, Anne, implores him not to leave. "Well, make sure the prize you bring me is worth it, Father," Anne demands of him. "I will try," he responds. "But I'll wager even a crown wouldn't satisfy you." Such premonitions resonate convincingly throughout Tracy Borman's rich and compelling novel. Blending the history she knows so well with the creativity of her imagination, Borman brings the Boleyn family's three-decade rise and precipitous fall to vivid life.
Borman surrounds the main dramatic events of the Boleyn saga with a colourful tableau in which servants play key roles, familial and inter-familial rivalries threaten, and true love often loses out to keen ambition. Anne's ever-loyal attendant Agnes Frideswide, and Thomas Boleyn's perfidious steward Robert Cranwell, are as memorable as Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell, or anyone in the increasingly dangerous orbit of Henry VIII's court, as he pursues Anne relentlessly, only to abandon her when she can't give him the son and heir he desperately seeks.
CLICK TO BORROW “The House of Boleyn” by Tracy Borman FROM THE LIBRARY
The Castle in the Glen by Rhys Bowen
GENRE: Historical Fiction
THE SYNOPSIS: Australian writer Emma Callander has been recruited to complete the final historical mystery in a series by celebrated author Iris Blackburn. It’s 1964, and Iris’s memory is fading. She’s certain that only Emma can do justice to her novel about a murder on the Isle of Skye. When Emma ventures to Scotland for research, she discovers it isn’t fiction at all, but rather a true crime unsolved for more than fifty years.
It was 1904 when a couple’s suspicious drowning led to the disappearance of a mysterious young woman the locals called the Wild Girl. To this day the mystery is unforgettable, especially among the descendants of an aristocratic family who’ll do anything to keep their secrets buried. From the misty Highlands to a medieval castle, Emma and Tony Gordon, Iris’s handsome lawyer, work ever more closely to uncover them.
But while Iris may be known for her fiendishly clever twists, there’s one not even Emma could have seen coming.
CLICK TO BORROW “The Castle in the Glen” by Rhys Bowen FROM THE LIBRARY
Eliza Sunshine by Michelle Good
GENRE: Literary Fiction
THE SYNOPSIS: Sometimes I feel that I wasn’t born at all, rather sculpted and formed by the storms of my grandmother’s life.
When Eliza comes home from her first year at residential school, she is barely recognizable to her Nohkum, Swan. Once bright-eyed and curious, Eliza is now stick-thin and silent, with roughly shorn hair and dull, listless eyes. Gathering bag in hand, Swan gently leads Eliza on long walks through untouched prairie grasses, harvesting medicines, certain that the power of the land will heal her. And as they walk, she shares stories of her own suffering when her traditional ways of being and living collided with the greed and violence of encroaching settlers. For Eliza, Swan's journey offers a master class on how to face unspeakable adversity and remain true to herself.
Decades later, Eliza and her daughter are at a crossroads. When Ella comes home from her first year at university wearing bell bottoms, braids and a beaded headband, Eliza is horrified. Eliza fought her whole life to be free of the oppression that comes with being Cree and she can’t fathom why her daughter would choose to proclaim her heritage so proudly, disregarding the consequences. With a steaming mug of tea in hand, Eliza follows in her grandmother’s footsteps, sharing with Ella the story of the adversities she faced in her own relentless pursuit of freedom.
But Ella's idea of freedom isn’t the same as Eliza’s. And when tragedy strikes, Ella must decide how to build her life in the aftermath, navigating how best to keep the stories of her family alive when the world around her seems to want them buried along with the legions of the missing and the dead.
CLICK TO BORROW “Eliza Sunshine” by Michelle Good FROM THE LIBRARY
Promise Me Never by Liv Constantine
GENRE: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense
THE SYNOPSIS: Aspiring writer Savannah’s scheme to meet superstar horror novelist Bennett Bryson turns out better than she ever imagined: not only does her charming and handsome literary idol offer to read her work, he is instantly smitten with her. After a whirlwind romance, Savannah says "yes" to marriage, and the two settle into Bennett's secluded upstate home.
But just as Savannah thinks she has it made, cracks appear in her perfect new life. Bennett's behavior becomes dark and controlling: he criticizes Savannah’s writing, dictates her permitted activities, and spends most of his time locked in his office, forbidding her from entering. And everywhere, Savannah cannot escape the shadow of Bennett's first wife, the free-spirited and passionate artist Poppy, who died in a tragic accident, but who seems still to be Savannah’s rival for Bennett's affection.
Then comes an enigmatic warning: Bennett is not who he seems. The women that came before Savannah have disappeared. And Savannah could be next.
Isolated and unsure whom to trust, Savannah tries to piece together the mystery of the man she married, and the woman he married first. But Savannah has no idea what her husband is really hiding. And someone out there knows Savannah has secrets of her own. As these two writers will learn the hard way—past really is prologue.
CLICK TO BORROW “Promise Me Never” by Liv Constantine FROM THE LIBRARY
Heart of Glass by Jennifer Hillier
GENRE: Thriller, Mystery
THE SYNOPSIS: Seaside is a small coastal town, known originally for the local amusement park. But twenty-five years ago, a serial killer dubbed The Carnival Killer confessed to the murder of a local high school girl. Now, he's recanted that confession.
Barb, Nicolette, and Lorelei were best friends - then they met "Sam" at Wonderland, the local amusement park. After hanging out with him there, and accompanying him to the drive-in movie, where the twenty-something handsome drifter made out with Lorelei in the backseat. That night was the last time Lorelei was seen alive, her murdered body surfacing a couple of days later in a local cranberry bog.
Barb's dreams of leaving Seaside and becoming a successful writer never materialized and she is a freelancer for the local newspaper and, secretly, writes anonymously about reality tv stars for a hugely successful gossip web-site called Reality Bitch. Specifically, she writes savagely about a long-running show set in Canada called Trophy Wives.
Nicolette left town shortly after Lorelei's body surfaced, never to return. Ultimately, she married a very rich man, moved to Toronto and rebranded herself as Cole Lennox, one of the stars of Trophy Wives.
With the amusement park about to reopen, revitalizing the dying town of Seaside, the Carnival Killer recants his confession about killing Lorelei, the dead body of young woman washes ashore, and the truth about what happened that night twenty-five years ago - and what is happening now - threatens not only the carefully constructed lives of Barb and Nicolette, but the very fabric of Seaside itself.
CLICK TO BORROW “Heart of Glass” by Jennifer Hillier FROM THE LIBRARY
When Lemons Give You Life by Anna Johnson
GENRE: Contemporary, Family
THE SYNOPSIS: Redemption is a dish best served warm . . .
Retired Michelin-star chef Griff Barlow has lost his appetite. He’s done with grief, guilt and the beige slop they dare call food at Sunny Glen Aged Care Facility, where he now resides.
Life’s given him all the lemons he can handle – so he breaks into the nursing home kitchen to bake himself one last tart. It’s supposed to be his final meal, but the act of cooking stirs a dormant joy. Soon, he’s regularly sneaking in after dark, serving up flavour and comfort to his fellow residents. Yet behind the apron is a lie so big it could destroy the one thing he has left to protect . . .
Meanwhile, Griff’s younger sister Lisa is navigating a new ADHD diagnosis and the spark of an unexpected romance. Despite their fractured sibling relationship, she dutifully visits Griff, though she knows hope of a reconciliation is gone, buried in the silence between them.
But the truth has a way of boiling over – and when secrets, soufflés and second chances collide, they may discover a recipe for forgiveness.
CLICK BELOW TO BORROW “When Lemons Give You Life” by Anna Johnson:
Stay Buried by Jennifer McMahon
GENRE: Thriller, Horror
THE SYNOPSIS: Some towns stay isolated for a reason.
1919: Frankie O’Massey has always been the black sheep of isolated Boone’s Ferry, Vermont. Her uncle, Dr. Thomas Endicott, has been training her in the science of medicine, something the townspeople are wary of. When a mysterious illness strikes the town, and the community suspects supernatural forces, the two desperately search for a logical explanation. Patient zero seems to be the town’s knackerman—a recluse who collects dead and dying farm animals to make use of their parts.
2016: Siblings Ashley and Malcolm lost their mother two years ago. When their grandmother dies, they inherit a property in Boone’s Ferry—a place they’ve heard of but their grandmother has always refused to talk about—and embark on a trip to their ancestral home. The idyllic town is full of autumnal décor, picturesque farmland, and small-town charm. But some of the townspeople aren’t very welcoming—and they have some unsettling traditions, like leaving offerings to a vengeful spirit four times a year.
CLICK TO BORROW “Stay Buried” by Jennifer McMahon FROM THE LIBRARY
The Boat House (Twin Lights #2) by Fern Michaels
GENRE:
THE SYNOPSIS: An unexpected inheritance from their late uncle brought Madison (Taylor) Wainwright and her brother Lincoln to Smuggler’s Cove. But it’s the quirky, close-knit locals who’ve convinced them to stay for the summer. The little town may be worlds away from the privileged existence the siblings knew before their father was arrested for fraud, but here, they’ve found a sense of belonging.
After renovating the dilapidated boat house that once served as a local marina for crabbers and clammers, Madison and Lincoln are settling in for a true Jersey Shore summer, complete with the town’s famous Seafood Festival. Visitors love learning about the area’s history—the tales of pirates and privateers, cryptic maps and buried treasure. Those stories seem like harmless fantasy until a seemingly worthless map is stolen from their boathouse.
Could their uncle’s rudimentary map show the true location of Captain Kidd’s treasure? Or was there another, more sinister motive behind the theft? As Madison and Lincoln dig deeper, they learn that the legends underpinning Smuggler’s Cove’s history may also have the power to tear it apart, unless they can quickly separate fiction from fact, and guilty from innocent…
CLICK BELOW TO BORROW “The Boat House (Twin Lights #2)” by Fern Michaels:
When She Was Ours by Anna Nordberg
GENRE: Contemporary, Family
THE SYNOPSIS: Thea Erickson, a renowned surgeon, is filled with both joy and grief as her family gathers at their home on a summer night in 1995. Her elder daughter Phoebe is getting married, but even the happiness of the day feels bittersweet, as Thea grapples with a terminal cancer diagnosis. She worries she won’t be around to support her younger daughter Astra, who’s still in college, but even Thea cannot foresee what is to come—a terrible accident the night of the wedding that changes Astra’s life forever.
In a last-ditch effort to protect her family, Thea arranges a secret meeting with an old family friend and extracts a promise that will reverberate long after she’s gone.
Years after her mother’s death, Astra has moved forward with a career and relationship, but she still struggles with her grief. When a man reaches out to her and Phoebe, offering a window into their mother’s past, Astra must make a choice, and her decision forces her to face what it means to love someone after they’re gone, who we decide to forgive, and how families reckon with the past.
CLICK TO BORROW “When She Was Ours” by Anna Nordberg FROM THE LIBRARY
The Truth About Ruby Cooper by Liz Nugent
GENRE: Mystery, Thriller
THE SYNOPSIS: If my sister hadn’t been beautiful, none of it would have happened.
Ruby Cooper and her sister, Erin, live an idyllic life in their close-knit church community in Boston. But when Ruby is sixteen, she is involved in an incident that causes her family’s world to implode.
Across decades, the fallout leaves a wake of destruction behind Ruby in Dublin and Erin in Boston.
Not that Ruby wants to think about the past.
But it can’t stay a secret forever.
CLICK TO BORROW “The Truth About Ruby Cooper” by Liz Nugent FROM THE LIBRARY
Delusional (Michael Bennett #18) by James Patterson
GENRE: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense
THE SYNOPSIS: In New York City, a series of deadly bombs explodes. Across the river, a military base is burglarized for munitions. In Montana, violence and arson rock a small town outside of Bozeman. Are the incidents related?
Bennett, Trilling, and the ATF investigate. A single-minded group angry with the government keep turning up in unexpected places, insisting that they’re only trying to make the world a better place. To law enforcement, their claims seem delusional.
Will words or gunpowder light the next fuse?
CLICK TO BORROW “Delusional (Michael Bennett #18)” by James Patterson FROM THE LIBRARY
They Say a Girl Died Here by Sarah Pinborough
GENRE: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense
THE SYNOPSIS: It’s happening again...
Anna Maybourne feels trapped in Harper’s Creek, a nowhere town of dusty farmland plagued by drought, known for the murders of two young women who died exactly three years apart. The presumed murderer, killed as he tried to escape the police, was known as the Farmhand. But Anna, new in town and caring for her grandmother with dementia, wonders if the closed case is actually unsolved.
As the three-year anniversary of the last Farmhand murders nears, Anna’s younger sister worries it could happen again and she and her friend might be next. Anna’s grandmother’s experiences odd paranoid episodes, and she claims to know things about the girls who died.
Anna begins to think her grandmother may be the key to discovering the truth about the murders. Something strange is happening in their old house, Grandma knows more than she should, and instead of being over, the mystery seems like it’s starting again.
CLICK TO BORROW “They Say a Girl Died Here” by Sarah Pinborough FROM THE LIBRARY
My Sister is Going to Kill Me by Nina Simon
GENRE: Mystery, Thriller
THE SYNOPSIS: Liv and Mandy Chisolm’s yearly sister trip is a sacred tradition, an attempt to bond as their lives increasingly diverge. Liv, the ever-practical older sister, packs the color-coded itineraries. Mandy, a bedazzled human tumbleweed, brings the spontaneity.
As they set out for this year’s trip, a rafting adventure through the breathtaking depths of the Grand Canyon with a group of strangers, they hope to revitalize their relationship. But beyond the terrors of whitewater rapids, sibling squabbles, and rogue reptiles, the ferocious beauty of the river carries a darker undercurrent, and an unexpected a murderer in their midst.
When a fellow traveler is found dead and another corpse hits the water, the rafting trip flips from idyllic sister vacation to high-stakes murder investigation. Every suspect has a secret, every clue is drenched in mystery, and Liv and Mandy can hardly trust each other, let alone their own instincts. With the river raging and danger around every bend, the Chisholm sisters must work together to catch a killer—and keep their relationship from capsizing—before it’s too late.
CLICK TO BORROW “My Sister is Going to Kill Me” by Nina Simon FROM THE LIBRARY
The Secrets We Hide (North Falls #2) by Karin Slaughter
GENRE: Thriller, Mystery, Crime
THE SYNOPSIS: Welcome to North Falls. A small town where everyone knows everyone. But nobody knows the truth.
1601 Iris Drive looks like any other house on the quiet, residential street. But rumors are rampant about the Vickery family, and what goes on behind closed doors.
When gunshots ring out, Sheriff Emmy Clifton and her sister, ex-federal agent Jude Archer, discover a devastating crime scene. Allison Vickery has been murdered in her own kitchen, and her teenage daughter is bleeding upstairs, left for dead.
Everyone thinks they know what happened. But secrets are buried everywhere in this small town.
And it’s up to Emmy Clifton to uncover the truth…
CLICK BELOW TO BORROW “The Secrets We Hide (North Falls #2)” by Karin Slaughter:
Big Little Truths (Big Little Lies #2) by Liane Moriarty
GENRE: Mystery, Thriller
THE SYNOPSIS: The last time we saw the women of Big Little Lies—Madeline, Celeste, Jane, Renata, and Bonnie—their children were five years old. If someone wasn’t invited to a child’s birthday party, feelings were hurt. But ten years have passed, and the kids are now in high school, with all of the drama that accompanies teendom (goodbye playdates, hello drugs, sex, and alcohol).
Now, after the principal of the high school receives a severed human finger in the mail, the parents are in an uproar. But Madeline, Celeste, Jane, Renata, and Bonnie have other things to worry about. Celeste’s mother-in-law, Mary Louise, is behaving oddly—is it old-age forgetfulness and forthrightness, or something more sinister? Madeline is facing perhaps the biggest challenge of her life, Jane is at a dangerous fork in her marriage, Bonnie has realized there’s only so much solace in yoga. And Renata? Renata is living her best life—revenge is sweet.
When a strange man begins lurking around the school asking supposedly innocent questions, this tightly connected group of women must finally face the full repercussions of the big little truths they have and haven’t shared with their kids. Because the stakes are now much higher than not being invited to an ice-skating show—and the ice has never been thinner for any of them.
CLICK TO BORROW “Big Little Truths (Big Little Lies #2)” by Liane Moriarty FROM THE LIBRARY
The True Meaning of Love by Danielle Steel
GENRE: Romance, War Story
THE SYNOPSIS: As Russian troops amass on Ukraine’s borders and the city of Kyiv swiftly comes under attack, the lives of four very different women change in an instant.
Tatyanna, the orphaned young ballerina who dances with the famous ballet school is devastated when her boyfriend and best friend are killed. She must now decide whether to stay and fight, or flee to safety and join a Paris ballet.
Yulya, the young wife and mother whose happy, normal life is destroyed by wartime forcing her to leave her husband and elderly parents to flee to another country to keep her children safe.
Sasha, the dedicated doctor who risks all to selflessly stay and save lives regardless of politics.
And Oxana, the elderly grandmother, too old to leave and devoted to her husband, is determined to stay in their home and care for him while life disintegrates around them.
The impact of war on these women and the people they love, and how they face the challenge to keep safe comes down to the true meaning of love . . .
CLICK TO BORROW “The True Meaning of Love” by Danielle Steel FROM THE LIBRARY
Time Travel for Beginners by Jaclyn Moriarty
GENRE: Magical Realism, Time Travel, Science Fiction
THE SYNOPSIS: Anna, Teddy, and Jade are on a collision course. The Agency is the cause. It is also the solution.
On a quiet road nestled within the bustle of Sydney lies a nondescript storefront known simply as the Time Travel Agency. At once a confounding mystery and a beacon of hope, the Agency seems to attract those who need it most. Single mother Anna is in desperate need of change, and the Agency gives her the chance to begin her career—and life—anew. Teddy is a genius at salvaging businesses but needs saving himself, and he’s drawn to the Agency hoping to travel back in time to untangle his troubled childhood and his recently imploded marriage. Jade has no interest in the Agency at all, because there’s no way people are literally time traveling, right? Jade’s present is challenging enough, with her spirited, increasingly bad-tempered daughter and a deeply buried secret too painful for words.
As Anna, Teddy, and Jade’s paths converge, the question of just how legitimate the Agency’s ventures into the past are becomes a mysterious, provocative, tantalising, and even heart-wrenching one to parse—but there is no denying that the ripple effects through all three of their lives are very, very real…
CLICK BELOW TO BORROW “Time Travel for Beginners” by Jaclyn Moriarty:
