Death Row (Alibis collection)
With all hope of an appeal fading away, the fate of a condemned murderess takes a shocking turn in a breathtaking short story.
Talia Kemper is on death row for murdering her husband. She had an alibi and no known motive, yet Talia’s unwavering protestations of innocence have always been ignored. Then one day in the visiting area, she sees a recognizable stranger she’s certain is her husband. It turns out the man she’s been convicted of killing may not be dead after all. But as the days tick away toward Talia’s execution, what will it take for her to be believed?
Freida McFadden’s Death Row is part of Alibis, a collection of stories about lies, truth, and deception. It’s just a matter of what you can get away with. They can be read or listened to in one sitting.
Heartwood
Heartwood takes you on a journey as a search and rescue team race against time when an experienced hiker mysteriously disappears on the Appalachian Trail in Maine.
In the heart of the Maine woods, an experienced Appalachian Trail hiker goes missing. She is forty-two-year-old Valerie Gillis, who has vanished 200 miles from her final destination. Alone in the wilderness, Valerie pours her thoughts into fractured, poetic letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping.
At the heart of the investigation is Beverly, the determined Maine State Game Warden tasked with finding Valerie, who leads the search on the ground. Meanwhile, Lena, a seventy-six-year-old birdwatcher in a Connecticut retirement community, becomes an unexpected armchair detective. Roving between these compelling narratives, a puzzle emerges, intensifying the frantic search, as Valerie’s disappearance may not be accidental.

The Arrangement (The Arrangement #1)
Ainsley Greenburg is a fixer.
It’s what she prides herself on.
So, when she realizes her marriage is at its breaking point, she makes a decision to repair it, no matter the cost. Approaching her husband to propose the arrangement is supposed to be the hard part, but Peter agrees to the salacious plan almost immediately.
The rules are simple:
They will each date someone new once a week.
They will never discuss what happens on the dates.
Soon, though, the rules are broken, turning terrible mistakes into unspeakable consequences.
When the only person they can count on to keep their darkest secret is each other, new questions and deceits surface. Can they truly trust the person they share a life with, or will the vicious lies that have mounted over the years destroy everything they’ve built?
Once, Peter and Ainsley vowed to stand together forever, but as they push boundaries of deception, suspicion, and temptation, each begins to wonder if ’til death do us part may come sooner than they’d intended.

When the Tides Held the Moon
In Coney Island, true love rises to the surface. With lush illustrations and buoyant prose, Venessa Vida Kelley forges an unforgettable New York fairytale.
Benigno “Benny” Caldera knows an orphaned Boricua blacksmith in 1910s New York City can’t call himself an artist. But the ironwork tank he creates for famed Coney Island playground, Luna Park, astounds the eccentric sideshow proprietor who commissioned it. He invites Benny to join the show’s eclectic cast and share in their shocking secret: the tank will cage their newest exhibit, a live merman stolen from the salty banks of the East River.
More than a mythic marvel, Benny soon comes to know the merman Río as a kindred spirit, wise and more compassionate than any human he’s ever met. Despite their different worlds, what begins as a friendship of necessity deepens to love, leading Benny’s heart into uncharted waters where he can no longer ignore the agonizing truth of Río’s captivity—and his own.
Releasing Río could mean losing his found family, his new home, and his soulmate forever. Yet Benny’s courageous choice may just reveal a love strong enough to free them both.

Bearer of Bad News
Where’d You Go, Bernadette meets The Maid in this sharply funny and moving debut in which a young woman accepts a mysterious job that takes her though the Italian Dolomites and into an international mystery far greater—and more personal—than she could have ever expected.
For someone who hates secrets, Las Vegas hairdresser Lucy Rey is about to be faced with a whole bunch of them. After discovering that her fiancé has been cheating on her with someone from his improv class, Lucy finds herself short on funds and desperate for a change of scenery. Enter a most unusual job a Bearer of Bad News.
Sure, it’s a little weird, but Lucy’s employer is wealthy beyond compare, so who can blame her for wanting to outsource? Even if the job description is short on details and the bad news sounds more like a vaguely worded threat, Lucy can’t say no to the an-all-expenses-paid trip to the Italian Dolomites plus a generous bonus if she proves she’s found her client’s sister and delivered the message. Then she learns that her mission is just the tip of the iceberg.
Launched into a world of betrayal and greed involving eighty-year-old secrets, stolen jewels, and a World War II-era mystery, Lucy is in way over her head. And she’s connected to this story in ways she never could have imagined.
For fans of Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Kirstin Chen’s Counterfeit, Bearer of Bad News is an exhilarating romp that deftly explores the weight of secrets, the power of friendship, and how, by healing the wounds of the past, we can build a brighter tomorrow.

Two Seconds Too Late (Jeopardy Falls #2)
In the stark but beautiful wilds of northern New Mexico, a luxury spa and couple's retreat turns into a chilling nightmare when a woman vanishes without a trace, just hours after a public fight with her boyfriend. Worried something sinister has happened, her friends reach out to investigator Riley MacLeod, an expert skip tracer, for help. The assignment means going undercover at the retreat, which means pairing up with private investigator Greyson Chadwick. Their partnership ignites a tumultuous mix of attraction and distrust as Riley's unorthodox methods clash with Greyson's meticulous approach.
As they delve deeper into the case and a ruthless hitman is unleashed upon them, Riley and Greyson find themselves fighting not only for justice but for their very survival. Staying one step ahead of danger, the pair discovers a hidden truth that rocks them to the core. In their race against the clock, they can only hope that they're not too late.
With her signature pulse-pounding twists, Dani Pettrey weaves a gripping tale of love and survival in the face of unimaginable danger.

What a Time to Be Alive
‘A dark coming-of-age story set in Stockholm [with] a really light touch that makes it really beautiful’ – Natasha Brown, author of Assembly
‘A fresh, tender, and resonant bildungsroman from the wonderfully large-hearted Jenny Mustard’ – R. O. Kwon, author of Exhibit
‘Jenny Mustard writes with honesty and wit about the strange, mundane, and wondrous aspects of youth’ – Ayşegül Savaş, author of The Anthropologists
‘Enchanting and piercing, a dance and a delight. Mustard's prose captures the effervescent and the luminescent, a joy to read and share’ – Bryan Washington, author of Family Meal
Twenty-one, friendless, without money but not without hope, Sickan's arrival at Stockholm University represents a new start. Her lonely childhood in a small southern town has left her utterly unprepared for intimacy: for friends, for sex, for love even. But Sickan is determined to build a new version of herself from the ground up, to make up for lost time. To simply be normal.
Just as Sickan seems to be finding her first ever friends, in whose company she finally feels safe, she meets Abbe: beautiful, charming - and by some miracle he wants her too. Unlike Sickan, Abbe seems completely at ease in his own skin. A solid foundation then, on which to build a relationship? Maybe?
What a Time to Be Alive is a story of class, sex, loneliness, and the trials of young womanhood. But above all, it's a story of firsts: the first party you're actually invited to, the first moment you fall in love, the first time you betray a friend. The first time you ask yourself, how much of myself am I willing to sacrifice, to finally fit in?
‘A beautifully plangent coming-of-age novel, What a Time to be Alive is written with an openness and a melancholy that frequently catches you off guard, and will go straight to your heart.’ – Lucy Caldwell, author of These Days
‘I loved it … beautifully forthright, unexpected, and totally absorbing’ – Amina Cain, author of Indelicacy
‘Playful and witty, a charming meditation on coming-of-age, privilege, and grief. With her sharp prose, Mustard conveys a vivid sense of longing’ – Cecile Pin, author of Wandering Souls
‘Fresh, sharp, graceful... the work of such an original writer. I loved it’ – Wendy Erskine, author of The Benefactors
‘Reminiscent of the power and grace of writers like Rachel Cusk and Raven Leilani. Tender and enigmatic’ – Molly Aitken, author of Bright I Burn
‘Subtle, fresh and authentic. A coming-of-age without pretensions’ – Caoilinn Hughes, author of The Alternatives
