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Reviews

Library Lines

April 17 2026

New Fiction

A Far-Flung Life by M.L. Stedman – Remote Western Australia, 1958: here, for generations, the MacBrides have lived on a vast sheep station, Meredith Downs.  It is a million acres, an ocean of arid land.  On an ordinary day, on a lonely road, under the unending blue sky, patriarch Phil MacBride swerves to avoid a kangaroo.  In seconds the lives of the entire MacBride family are shattered.  But instead of leaving them to heal, fate comes back for them in a twist of consequences that claims the life of one sibling and leads another to give up everything for the sake of an innocent child.  Matt, the youngest MacBride, is plunged into a moral and emotional journey for which there is no map, no guide.  The secrets at the heart of this gutting and beautiful story force him to choose between love and duty, sacrifice and happiness.

The Sisters of Book Row by Shelley Noble – 1915: Manhattan’s Book Row, an eclectic jumble of forty bookshops along Fourth Avenue, is the mecca for rare book buyers from around the world, and the haunt of locals looking for a bargain.  It is also the target of the most vicious censor in American history – Anthony Comstock.  And home to three sisters who vow to stop him.  For the three Applebaum sisters, the narrow, four-storied Arcadia Rare Bookshop is the only home they’ve ever known.  Olivia, the oldest, is an expert in restoring rare manuscripts.  Daphne, the outgoing middle sister, oversees the retail shop and is a favorite with their customers.  Celia, the youngest, is left to dust and catalogue, but often sneaks out to do heaven knows what.  Little do her sisters know, Celia has joined a group of young people who secretly print and distribute articles on women’s health by hiding them within the pages of ordinary cookbooks, household hints, and sewing patterns, despite the personal risk.  Meanwhile, the Comstock Laws threaten anybody who owns or circulates “obscene, lewd, or lascivious” publications.  Even classic literature or fine art could send a person to jail.  In the face of such oppression, Celia and the booksellers of Book Row band together.  But secrets and a mysterious stranger mean the fate of the famed Book Row is anything but secure.

Strangers in the Villa by Robyn Harding – Syndey Lowe’s life in New York is shattered when her husband, Curtis, admits to a meaningless affair.  Begging for forgiveness and vowing to prove his devotion, Curtis suggests the couple retreat to a remote hilltop house in Spain to repair their marriage.  High above the Mediterranean, Sydney and Curtis are working on the isolated property and their relationship when a pair of Australian travelers turns up at their door in dire need of help.  Lonely for companionship and desperate for free labor, Sydney and Curtis invite the attractive young couple to stay.  But as the days pass, dark secrets come to light, the Lowes’ bond is tested, and not everyone will leave the villa alive.

When I Kill You by B.A. Paris – Nell is certain someone is following her.  The hairs on the back of her neck rise when she travels to and from work, there are silent calls to her office, and a huge bouquet of flowers arrives without a card.  And Nell has a reason to be looking over her shoulder, because she has a secret that she’s hiding from everyone in her life, including her new partner, Alex.  But Alex also has secrets of his own.  Fourteen years earlier, when Nell went by the name Elle Nugent, she witnessed a student, Bryony Sanders, getting into a stranger’s car.  When Bryony was found murdered, Elle became obsessed with finding the person responsible.  She was convinced she knew who it was, and her fixation with Brett Parker, the man she accused, led her down a dangerous path.  Now, Nell tries to convince herself that this unnerving feeling of being watched is all in her mind.  Has someone from her past discovered her new identity?  Has the stalker become the stalked?  Or is there something even more deadly at play?

Krista Law