All Books Considered

Yes, Chef by Waitlyn Andrews Blurb from Goodreads : I' ve sworn off romantic relationships, stifling family expectations, and self-doubt. The trifecta, really.   Returning home to run the family business is inevitable, but that doesn't mean I can't spend some time carving out my own path to culinary success. In Paris. Because who doesn't love Paris? Because Paris has the best food scene in the world. And I want to earn this  my  way, damn it.   The first four months of living abroad go exactly as planned. Working at one of the chicest, up-and-coming restaurants in France—not to brag—I know a Michelin star is within reach if I keep my head down, focus, and work harder than I ever have. I go to the market every morning, I run my own schedule, and I don't have to think about my cheating ex or  Meredith-Blake-of-a-mother.  C...

A Fatal Groove (Record Shop Mystery #2) by Olivia Blacke Blurb from Goodreads : Second in the Record Shop series by Olivia Blacke, A Fatal Groove is a mystery for the record… It’s springtime in Cedar River, Texas. The annual Bluebonnet Festival is brewing and the whole town is in harmony. Juni Jessup and her sisters Tansy and Maggie thought opening Sip & Spin Records was going to be their biggest hurdle, but the Frappuccino hits the fan when the mayor drops dead—poisoned by their delicious coffee. Since Tansy was the one to brew the coffee, and Juni was the unfortunate citizen who stumbled upon the mayor’s body, the sisters find themselves in hot water. Family is everything to the Jessups, so with Tansy under suspicion, the sisters spring into action. Between the town festivities, a good old-fashioned treasure hunt, and an accidental cow in the ...

One Tough Cookie by Delise Torres Blurb from Goodreads : A Latina Fleabag committed to her carefree single life meets the sexy new mechanic determined to break through her defenses, in this humorous and heartfelt foodie women’s fiction set at a cookie company. All cookies are made with love—even if twenty-seven-year-old Karina Cortés doesn’t believe in the concept. For her, a simple life with no attachments is a good life. And her life is indeed good—even with her biggest accomplishment being passing the GED exam. Karina is able to secure an incredible and well-paying job at Singular Cookies, Inc., a small family-owned cookie manufacturing plant in Fort Pierce, Florida. And although the founders of the company treat her like family, Karina insists she doesn’t need or want one. Not after her mother chose a man over her own daughter, pushing the young Karina to move out and make it on her own. And she couldn’t be happie...

The Bitter Past (Porter Beck #1) by Bruce Borgos Blurb from Goodreads : In the tradition of Craig Johnson and C. J. Box, Bruce Borgos's The Bitter Past begins a compelling series set in the high desert of Nevada featuring Sheriff Porter Beck… Porter Beck is the sheriff in the high desert of Nevada, north of Las Vegas. Born and raised there, he left to join the Army, where he worked in Intelligence, deep in the shadows in far off places. Now he's back home, doing the same lawman's job his father once did, before his father started to develop dementia. All is relatively quiet in this corner of the world, until an old, retired FBI agent is found killed. He was brutally tortured before he was killed and clues at the scene point to a mystery dating back to the early days of the nuclear age. If that wasn't strange enough, a current FBI agent shows up to help Beck's investigation. In a case that unfolds in...

The Absolutes by Molly Dektar Blurb from Goodreads : A moving, suspenseful, beautifully atmospheric novel about a young woman's affair with an Italian aristocrat that leaves her spiraling in the face of love, danger, and obsession. When Nora, an anxious and withdrawn American teenager, is sent to live with relatives in Turin, she meets Nicola, the enigmatic son of the most powerful aristocratic family in Italy. They forge a sudden, powerful connection in a chairlift several hundred feet above the Alps, where Nicola, brimming with old-world wealth and secrets, eases Nora back from the verge of a panic attack. In an instant, Nora forgets the feelings she's been harboring for her host sister since arriving in Italy, and a sharper, more reckless feeling takes hold: blind trust and insatiable desire for Nicola. Years later in New York, when Nicola becomes enmeshed in a covert, high-stakes business venture at the...

Good Fortune by C.K. Chau Blurb from Goodreads : A whip-smart and charming debut novel that brilliantly reimagines Pride and Prejudice, set in contemporary Chinatown, exploring contemporary issues of class divides, family ties, cultural identity, and the pleasures and frustrations that come with falling in love. When Elizabeth Chen's ever-hustling realtor mother finally sells the beloved if derelict community center down the block, the new owners don't look like typical New York City buyers. Brendan Lee and Darcy Wong are good Chinese boys with Hong Kong money. Clean-cut and charismatic, they say they are committed to cleaning up the neighborhood. To Elizabeth, that only means one thing: Darcy is looking to give the center an uptown makeover. Elizabeth is determined to fight for community over profit, even if it means confronting the arrogan...

Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter Blurb from Goodreads : A year into her dream job at a cutthroat Silicon Valley startup, Cassie finds herself trapped in a corporate nightmare. In addition to the long hours, toxic bosses, and unethical projects, she struggles to reconcile the glittering promise of a city where obscene wealth lives alongside abject poverty. Ivy League grads complain about the snack selection from a conference room with a view of unhoused people bathing in the bay. Startup burnouts leap into the paths of commuter trains, and men set themselves on fire in the streets. Though isolated, Cassie is never alone. From her earliest memory, a miniature black hole has been her constant companion. It feeds on her depression and anxiety, its size changing in relation to her distress. The black hole watches, but it also waits. Its relentless pull draws Cassie ever-closer as the world around her unravels. When her CEO’s deman...

The Summer of Songbirds by Kristy Woodson Harvey Blurb from Goodreads : Four women come together to save the summer camp that changed their lives and rediscover themselves in the process in this heartwarming new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Veil. Nearly thirty years ago, in the wake of a personal tragedy, June Moore bought Camp Holly Springs and turned it into a thriving summer haven for girls. But now, June is in danger of losing the place she has sacrificed everything for—and begins to realize how much she has used the camp to avoid facing difficulties in her life. June’s niece, Daphne, met her two best friends, Lanier Bradley and Mary Stuart Harris, during a fateful summer at camp, and the three are inseparable even in their thirties. But when attorney Daphne discovers that Lanier’s fiancé—who just so happens to be her client—has done something highly illegal, she must choose betwe...