All Books Considered

The Half Life by Rachel Beanland Blurb from Goodreads : When twenty-three-year-old Eileen O’Malley meets charismatic naval officer Paul Archer in a Charleston department store, she doesn’t expect to fall so hard, so fast. But Paul is funny and ambitious, and soon, Eileen’s got a ring on her finger and is following him to the tiny, sun-drenched Mediterranean island of La Maddalena, where Paul will be heading up Radiological Controls aboard a submarine tender. In La Maddalena, Eileen joins a makeshift community of Navy wives, who are hell bent on making the island feel a little more like home. But for Eileen, whose brother died in Vietnam, home is a loaded word, and as she settles into life on the island—taking Italian lessons and learning to make culurgiones—she begins to love the place for all the ways it is not like where she comes from. Still, it doesn’t take long for Eileen to be confronted with the complexities of...

Last Night Was Killer by Mary Pauline Lowry,  Narrated by Helen Laser Blurb from Goodreads : When Tilly Turner signed up for an introductory pole-dancing class, she was looking for a distraction. Reeling from her mother’s passing, and with her career as a stand-up comedian in ruins, Tilly has just moved back to the Idaho hometown she was desperate to leave, with her twin daughters in tow. But Tilly gets more than she bargained for after a night out with her new pole-dancing pals. She wakes to a raging hangover, no memory of the evening before, and a dead body in the trunk of her car. Who was the dead man? And more importantly, who killed him? Tilly has no alibi and needs answers. But investigating a murder is complicated, especially with an old frenemy circling, childcare plans falling through, and pole-dancing classes to attend. And don’t even mention the sexy ATF agent who she’s trying (and failing) to keep at arm’...

The Simp: A Novel Without a Hero by Roshan Sethi Blurb from Goodreads : A novel without a hero. Hellscape with an infinity pool. Raj Ladlani is one of thousands in an unemployable actor. He has reasons to believe he is spectacularly talented (his beloved acting coach Anthony says so), a legend in every way but for the success. His anonymous life working at Yogurtland, obsessively reading Vanity Fair, and fantasizing about stardom, comes to an end when he answers a job ad detailing a relentless, laughable parade of menial responsibilities for a 'Hollywood Family'. So begins the astonishing decline and fall of Raj Ladlani. The Simp tells the story of Raj's momentous employment and the destruction that follows in the wake of his time with the with the H Jim, a macho director determined to prove himself as an artist; and Anna, his much youn...

The House Guest by Jennifer Pashley Blurb from Goodreads : An aspiring chef finds she has bitten off more than she can chew when her gig as a private cook to a bestselling author turns deadly in this propulsive, whip-smart suspense novel. Brett Novak is a young upstart chef, with real, raw talent—if only she could catch a break. After getting dumped by her married girlfriend and losing the perfect job offer, Brett accepts a temporary position as a live-in, personal chef of a reclusive, bestselling author, Carson Smart, who resides in a mansion on a secluded beach in Cape Cod. Carson immediately seduces her, but things get complicated when Carson's wife, Vera, arrives home from her trip, and the love/hate relationship between the two spouses erupts, leaving Brett caught in the middle. Brett, starved for attention, craves Carson's affection and ...

Helpless by Jessica Knoll Blurb from Goodreads : It’s been twelve years since Faye Heron broke Henry Spalding’s heart. Henry was her college boyfriend, her first intense love, but Faye was in danger of being subsumed by him. Now, Faye is one half of a power-producing duo with her Hollywood husband. Henry is a married father running the family business. Both of their lives have essentially gone to plan. When a former and beloved college professor suddenly passes away, Faye and Henry find themselves back on campus for the funeral, circling something old and dangerous. Something, if Faye is honest with herself, she has been trying to duplicate for years. But Henry is one of a kind. The kind who delivers a hypnotic apology for the way things ended. The kind who suggests they go back to the hotel for a drink. The kind who drugs and kidnaps her. When Faye...

Man Overboard! by Kathleen Rooney Blurb from Goodreads : Patrick “Kick” Kilpatrick hates the ocean. Has always been terrified of it. And now he’s in a real pickle. Drifting alone in the sea after falling (or jumping? He can’t remember as the all-inclusive drinks on the cruise he was taking with his extended family were, well, inclusive) Kick must survive. Breath by breath, hour by hour in the lonely sea. As the waves crash over him, so too do the thoughts and memories of just how he got there. A Thanksgiving cruise with an obnoxious brother-in-law he has to bite his tongue to keep from screaming at. A father who gives the Great Santini a run for his money. And a mother, who already left the family boat, so to speak, a long time ago. His family may be complicated, and the pains of life may seem unbearable—infuriating enough to leap from the deck—but ...