November 7, 2025
New Fiction
The Perfect Hosts by Heather Gudenkauf – Madeline and Wes Drake are planning the most anticipated event of the year: a “pistols and pearls” gender reveal party so sensational, it is sure to make headlines. But the party descends into chaos when the celebratory explosive misfires, leaving one woman dead and a trail of secrets. As the aftershocks of the bloody party ripple across the small town, Agent Jamie Saldano is brought on the scene to investigate, unearthing a web of deceit spun around the Drakes. The appearance of some unexpected houseguests only deepens the mystery. And as tensions mount, it becomes clear that the explosion wasn’t just an unlucky accident. But who was the target, and why? As the shadow of a killer looms, the happy parents-to-be must unravel the truth before it’s too late.
Otherwise Engaged by Susan Mallery – When Shannon gets engaged, her beloved mom, Cindy, is the first person she wants to tell – and the last. Cindy’s engaged, too, and has already hinted at a double wedding. The image of a synchronized bouquet toss with her mom fills Shannon with horror. She’ll keep her engagement a secret until Cindy’s “I dos” are done. Victoria has never been proper enough for her mother, Ava, so she stopped trying. She lives on her own terms and amuses herself by pushing Ava’s buttons. Ava loves but doesn’t understand her stuntwoman daughter. When a movie-set mishap brings Victoria home, Ava longs to finally connect. Chance brings the four women together at a wedding venue, where a shocking secret comes tumbling out. Twenty-four years ago, desperate teenager Cindy chose wealthy Ava to adopt her baby – then changed her mined at the very last second. The loss rocked Ava’s world, leaving her unable to open her heart to the daughter she did adopt, Victoria. As Shannon and Victoria deal with the fallout from the decisions their mothers made, they wrestle with whether who they are is different than who they might have become.
The Bridesmaid by Cate Quinn – When a celebrity bridesmaid is murdered weeks before an exclusive society wedding, forensic attorney Holly Stone is drafted as an unlikely undercover replacement. Working to unpick the secrets of the notoriously private Kensington family, glamour-averse Holly discovers a new worst enemy in bridezilla Adrianna. And beneath the veneer of sophistication, she realizes the Kensingtons have secrets worth killing for. As the wedding day gets closer, it seems clear that one of the hand-picked bridesmaids has committed murder – and the destination wedding is a perfect place to strike again.
Queen Esther by John Irving – Esther Nacht is born in Vienna in 1905. Her father dies on board a ship from Bremerhaven to Portland, Maine, and anti-Semites murder her mother in Portland. In St. Cloud’s, it’s clear to Dr. Larch, the orphanage physician and director, that the abandoned child not only knows she’s Jewish, but she’s familiar with the biblical Queen Esther she was named for. Dr. Larch knows it won’t be easy to find a Jewish family to adopt Esther, he doubts he’ll find any family to adopt her. When Esther is fourteen, soon to become a ward of the state, Dr. Larch meets the Winslows, a philanthropic family with a history of providing for unadopted orphans. The Winslows aren’t Jewish, but they detest anti-Semitism and similar prejudice. Esther’s gratitude to the Winslows is unending. As she retraces her steps to her birth city, Esther keeps loving and protecting the Winslows – even in Vienna. The final chapter of this historical novel is set in Jerusalem in 1981, when Esther is seventy-six.