"Secret Staircase Construction is under attack, and Tempest Raj feels helpless. After former client Julian Rhodes tried to kill his wife, he blamed her "accident" on the home renovation company's craftsmanship. Now the family business - known for bringing magic into homes through hidden doors, floating staircases, and architectural puzzle walls - is at a breaking point. No amount of Scottish and Indian meals from her grandfather can distract Tempest...

Lexy Campbell is long overdue a trip to Scotland to see her parents, and an unexpected death in the extended Last Ditch Motel family makes Christmas in a bungalow in Dundee with nine others seem almost irresistible. But when Lexy and the Last Ditch crew hop across the Atlantic, there's a change of plan and they're whisked off to Mistletoe Hall in the pretty village of Yule, where the surprises continue. The news that a man disappeared from the crumbling...

In an isolated lighthouse on the California coast, Rowan Winterbourne lives a solitary life with only her secrets for company. For she has a mission that drives her--to avenge herself against Gregory Torval, the powerful drug and arms dealer who murdered her mother and vowed to eliminate everyone in her family. Then Joe Grantham arrives at her door and, for the first time, Rowan lets her guard down--a dangerous mistake when he blackmails her to go...

"In this long short story, or short novella, Dave Eggers gives us an unforgettable duo, Helen and Peter Mahoney, a homebody niece and her adventurous, almost-British uncle. Helen designs invitations to parties and galas to which she is not welcome, and is quite comfortable with that. One day, though, Peter wonders, "Why not print an extra invite and I'll be your plus one?" What starts out as an innocuous lark becomes much more -- a very funny and...

"An angry mother turns into a literal monster. A company in San Francisco can scrub your entire reputation and create a new one...for a price. A failed actor on a reality show turns into an unlikely world savior. And much more. Through each of these twelve interconnected stories, Katie Flynn masterfully blends people, places, and even realities. From a powerful and "radiant" (Kassandra Montag, author of After the Flood) new literary voice to be reckoned...

"Perhaps the best place in 1943 Hollywood to see the stars is the Hollywood Canteen, a club for servicemen staffed exclusively by those in show business. Murder mystery playwright Annie Laurence, new in town after a devastating breakup, definitely hopes to rub elbows with the right stars. Maybe then she can get her movie made. But Hollywood proves to be more than tinsel and glamour. When despised film critic Fiona Farris is found dead in the Canteen...

"Salena Barone has broken free of her family and moved into an apartment above the D'Angelos' restaurant, where she works as a manager--without a husband, thank you very much. But even on a restaurant salary, she soon finds herself strapped for cash. Salena's never been afraid of living on the wild side, though, so she takes on a side hustle that'll raise big bucks...and eyebrows, if anyone finds out. Tattooed biker Ryan is the youngest of the wealthy...

"Greed, corruption, and betrayal -- no murder is as simple as it seems. When a prominent Sacramento businessman is killed and his wife injured in a brutal home invasion, Detective Emily Hunter and her partner, Javier Medina, are called to investigate. At first glance, it seems like a crime of opportunity gone horribly wrong, but Emily soon finds there might be more to both the crime and the dead man. The high-stakes investigation also comes at a time...

"After an ultra-romantic honeymoon across Europe, Meddy Chan and her husband Nathan have landed in Jakarta to spend Chinese New Year with her entire extended family. Chinese New Year, already the biggest celebration of the Lunar calendar, gets even more festive when a former beau of Second Aunt's shows up at the Chan residence bearing extravagant gifts-he's determined to rekindle his romance with Second Aunt and the gifts are his way of announcing...

"Dancer Beth Spence finally gets a shot at her dream -- auditioning for the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. But her audition concludes with a torn Achilles tendon and possibly the end of her dance career. When her sister, Delaney, flies her to Meadow Valley, California to recuperate, she is reluctant to go, but out of options. Beth has no idea that Delaney has set her up with a job managing widower Eli Murphy's veterinary clinic while staying in...