Showing titles in Literature & Fiction

Nineteen-year-old Claire Pearson knows she needs a life. And new friends. But brittle, beautiful, and just a little bit too sassy for her own good sometimes, she no longer makes friends easily. And she has no clue where to start on the whole finding a life front, either. Not after a confidence-shattering year dogged by bad break-ups, friends who have become strangers, and her constant failure to meet her parents' sky-high expectations. Robbie and Mia seem the least likely people to help her find a life. But despite Claire's attempts to alienate them, an unexpected friendship develops.

‘Ambitious… brilliant… exhilarating… Custom-built for fans for The Thick of It, Succession and Industry, with a romance plot that could have been written by David Nicholls’ Johanna Thomas-Corr, Sunday Times ‘Smart, beautifully written, joyful and terrifying – without doubt...

Helen Swift is almost 50 and tired of her day job as a professor at Oxford University. She prefers to write cozy mysteries under a well-hidden pen name in her Cotswolds cottage. She's also far too busy to even consider romance. Posh girl, Victoria "Rory" Carlisle, is over the moon when she snags Helen as her DPhil supervisor, and not only because of Professor Swift's academic prowess. Rory takes an instant shine to Helen, who is far from charmed by her advances.

Fern's mother is a social climber and a former ballet dancer who lives a plush life in a London townhouse. Fern's father only climbs if there's a bottle at the top, has an IQ of 133 and lives hand-to-mouth in Californian motels. Aged 14, Fern has spent equal time with each of her parents. That is, until an unexpected visitor triggers a life-changing dilemma – whether she should get on a plane to London to be with her mother, or stay in California with her father. Here, Fern's narrative splices in two.

Rain Christiansen isn't sure he'll ever fully understand the supernatural. But he's finally finding his groove as a reluctant medium and cold-case detective. That's not to say everything is going smoothly—there's a wedding in the works, after all. At least work is keeping Rain and the PTU plenty busy. The latest case involves Hannah Caldwell, a silent ghost who can't—or won't—speak. She still manages to request that they find her dear friend, Cherry Parker, so that she can say goodbye. Piece of cake. But when it comes to ghosts, nothing is ever quite what it seems. 

Sunny, a working-class reporter at the trashy tabloid The Bulletin, dreams of writing hard-hitting stories that change the world. Ludo, a privileged musical theatre fanatic turned journalist at the prestigious Sentinel, can’t seem to enter a room without causing chaos. When an unexpected scoop lands in their laps at the same time, thrusting them into a web of political intrigue, these arch-nemeses find themselves reluctantly working together—and fighting an unexpected attraction.

Fair Play is a poignant portrayal of the intricacies of love and work through the lens of two women, both accomplished artists, whose intimate relationship defied societal norms. Set against the backdrop of Helsinki and summers on their remote island paradise, Jansson weaves together the nuanced details of the women's creative lives, offering a rich tapestry of their daily routines, artistic process, and innermost thoughts. Through the lens of their unique relationship, we witness a true example of progressive love, where generosity and respect are key to a beautiful and thriving partnership.

When ghostwriter Maz Amani inherits a house from an uncle he’s never heard of, he offers heartfelt thanks to the universe, packs up his car, his cat, and his skepticism about mysterious uncles leaving all their worldly goods to unknown nephews, and high-tails it to a small town halfway to the Oregon coast. Anything would be better than week after week of couch surfing his way around Portland. Even if the alleged house is a rundown shack ridden with termites, spiders, and—shudder—rats, he’ll deal. Because hey, he owns a house!

The streets have been my home for as long as I can remember. To get by, I use my magic tricks, bringing smiles to the faces of adults and children alike. As a warlock, my powers are limited. Nothing like a witch's magical skills. Basically, I'm a glorified magician as well as a second-class citizen. Fine. It doesn't get me down. I have my cat Fizz and Kylie Minogue's music to keep me going as I dream big. I know there's a better life out there for me.

His identity now revealed, Damen must face his master, Prince Laurent, as Damianos of Akielos, the man Laurent has sworn to kill. On the brink of a momentous battle, the future of both their countries hangs in the balance. In the south, Kastor's forces are massing. In the north, the Regent's armies are mobilizing for war. Damen's only hope of reclaiming his throne is to fight together with Laurent against their usurpers.

A fresh-faced newcomer arrives in an isolated, gang-run town and soon finds herself taking a job nobody else wants: bodyguard to a ghoul. Not just your average mindless, half-rotted shuffler, though. Lucille is a dancer who can still put on her own lipstick and whose shows are half burlesque, half gladiator match. But the stranger is no stranger to this particular ghoul. Both women are undercover in their own way. And both have something to lose if their connection comes to light.

Morgan Ashton-Drake hasn’t given his ancestral home in Yorkshire a second thought in decades. He has a great life in the States, running his stepfathers hotel empire with his brother. So what if he’s all work and no play? He’s not missing out on anything important. But when a suspicious death and rather public scandal at his childhood home forces Morgan to return to England for the first time in years, he’s not keen to confront his past. What he didn’t count on was the seriously cute little blonde disaster who seems to be single-handedly running his eccentric grandfather’s hotel.

Nobody would ever describe Scarlet Williams as a ray of sunshine, but that doesn’t mean she deserves the flood that wipes out her basement flat, making her temporarily homeless. Enter Joy Hudson, local mayor & sunshine specialist, who opens her house to flood refugees and ends up with Scarlet on her doorstep. Two more opposing characters you couldn’t fail to meet, and yet, somehow, they strike up a friendship. But when the rain stops and the sun comes out, could that friendship blossom into something more?

SOON TO BE A MAJOR BBC DRAMA, The Dream Lands, starring Anna Friel, Connor Swindells, Clara Ruggard, Katerine Parkinson and Golda Rosheuvel For fans of Children of Men, Years and Years & Station Eleven, a postcard from a future Britain that’s closer than we think. An Evening Standard 'Best New...

Human. Arlo Grey will do anything to fend off the sickness that longs to destroy him. To uphold the promise he made to his parents, ensuring the protection of his sister from the world and its dangers. Especially if the dangers come in the form of elves from a realm beyond that of the human world. Elf. Faenir Evelina is scorned for the murder of his family. Forced by the bitter Queen to partake in the Choosing, he discovers a single person who can resist the deadly grace of his touch.

I needed to get the hell out of Big City. The only reason I'm living in this American wasteland is because my mother insisted I reconcile with my estranged father. That the idea came to her while drunk on French bubbly should have been my sign to stay right where I belonged. Anywhere but here. Certainly somewhere more fabulous. When an international job opportunity arises, I jump on board. It's just a bonus that I'll be traveling with the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome. Make that muscular, morally gray, and hopefully, my next conquest.

Cold Case detective Cassidy Miller is no stranger to buried things—bodies, secrets, and memories she'd rather forget. Life with her fiancée, the brilliant but guarded defense attorney Julia Desjardin, is the closest thing she's felt to peace. But as Julia begins the emotional process of...

With no one to help her ring in the new year, Jane Lawless reluctantly agrees to accompany her good friend Cordelia Thorn to the wedding of Cordelias' estranged sister, Broadway star Octavia Thorn. Octavia getting married is no surprise - but her candidate for hubby number four certainly is. Roland Lester is a reclusive 83-year-old retired Hollywood director. No one can understand how the two met. When the bodies start to drop, Jane realizes it might not be love at all that brought the young diva and the aged director together, but something more sinister.

Bloomsbury presents Hideous Kinky, written and read by Esther Freud Quirky, charming and suffused the footloose spirit of the sixties, this is the irresistible story of an English woman who decides on a whim to move herself and her two young daughters to Morocco. The ensuing adventure takes them...

A 2023 Pick for Vulture Men's Health, IGN, Polygon, Goodreads, Nerd Daily, WeAreBookishBook, Riot, The Mary Sue & others Inspired by a classic of martial arts literature, S. L. Huang's The Water Outlaws are bandits of devastating ruthlessness, unseemly femininity, dangerous philosophies, and...