August 28, 2026

Library Corner

August 28, 2026

New Fiction

Promise Me Never by Liv Constantine – Aspiring writer Savannah’s scheme to meet superstar horror novelist Bennett Bryson turns out better than she ever imagined: Not only does her charming and handsome literary idol offer to read her work, he is instantly smitten with her.  After a whirlwind romance, Savannah says yes to marriage, and the two settle into Bennett’s secluded upstate home.  But just as Savannah thinks she has it made, cracks appear in her perfect new life.  Bennett’s behavior becomes dark and controlling: He criticizes Savannah’s writing, dictates her permitted activities, and spends most of his time locked in his office, forbidding her from entering.  And everywhere, Savannah cannot escape the shadow of Bennett’s first wife, the free-spirited and passionate artist Poppy, who died in a tragic accident but who still appears to be Savannah’s rival for Bennett’s affection.  Then comes an enigmatic warning: Bennett is not who he seems.  The women who came before Savannah have disappeared.  And Savannah could be next.

Dreamland by Olivie Blake – The headlines are calling it the “summer of exsanguination” in LA – girls are being murdered, the Santa Ana winds are blowing a strange energy into the city, and all signs point to fire season.  More pressing for Anya Morris, though, is the drudgery of living at home, working part-time at the family store, and contending with her mother’s disdain for the acting career Anya knows she’s destined for but that feels more impossible by the day.  It’s in this suffocating late-summer heat that Anya receives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, an invitation to work for the de Witt family, one of LA’s most influential film dynasties.  Soon, she’s spending her days and nights at their strange villa high in the Hollywood Hills, where she meets Jude, a recluse who is both the family’s heir apparent and its most closely guarded secret.  There’s a magnetism to Jude that Anya cannot resist, despite warning signs that scream like sirens in the night.  Because the villa holds generations of bloodstained history, and an occult family curse may even live within its walls – or within Jude himself.  In this city, everyone cuts a deal with the devil.  When Anya comes face-to-face with a devil of her own, she’ll learn just how far she’s willing to go to get everything she’s ever wanted.

The Wild Beneath by Kelly Anderson – Annie MacLeod always knew she was different, growing up on a sailboat in the Pacific Northwest, navigating by the stars and swimming in the ocean.  But when a tsunami shatters her world and her parents are swept away, Annie is stranded on land, grief-stricken and forced to confront just how unconventional she is, despite her enduring love for her childhood sweetheart, Evan.  In the wreckage, she rescues a wordless man named Walker, who emits a hum only she can hear.  Their connection is instant, elemental.  When Walker disappears – along with any explanation he might hold about who she really is – Annie is forced to decide between evacuating with Evan or staying to unlock a secret that feels vital to her survival.  Six years later, Annie has buried her past. But when Walker’s otherworldly sound returns, it forces a reckoning with the wild life she’s left behind.  Is the truth of the ocean more powerful than she knows?

Heart of Glass by Jennifer Hillier – Twenty-five years ago, a charming drifter met three inseparable teenage girls at the local amusement park.  Days later, one of them was found dead.  Barb and Nicolette were shocked to learn that the man they all met at Wonderland was the Carnival Killer.  After he was arrested for the murders of five young women – one of whom was their best friend, Lorelei – Nicolette moved to the city to pursue her dreams of being famous.  Barb stayed behind, eventually becoming a reporter for the local paper.  Their past safely behind them, they’ve both moved on with their lives.  But when the Carnival Killer recants his confession and a new body washes ashore on the eve of Wonderland’s grand reopening, the secrets that Barb and Nicolette have worked so hard to bury begin to resurface, threatening to destroy everything in their carefully constructed lives.