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Feature and Contest

When the Men Were Gone by Marjorie Herrera Lewis

Football is the heartbeat of Brownwood, Texas. Every Friday night, for as long as assistant principal Tylene Wilson can remember, the entire town has gathered in the stands, cheering their boys on. But the war has changed everything. Most of the Brownwood men over 18 and under 45 are off fighting. Could this mean a season without football? No one counted on Tylene, who knows more about the game than most men and does the unthinkable, convincing the school to let her take on the job of coach. Faced with extreme opposition, Tylene remains resolute.

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In His Father's Footsteps by Danielle Steel

When U.S. troops occupy Germany, friends Jakob and Emmanuelle are saved from the terrible fate of so many in the camps. With the help of sponsors, they make their way to New York. In order not to be separated, they allow their friendship to blossom into love and marriage, and start a new life on the Lower East Side. Decades later, Jakob has achieved success in the diamond business, invested in real estate in New York, and shown his son, Max, that America is truly the land of opportunity. Max chooses a perfect bride to start the perfect American family.

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Sunburn by Laura Lippman

They meet at a local tavern in the small town of Belleville, Delaware. Polly is set on heading west. Adam says he’s also passing through. Yet she stays and he stays --- drawn to this mysterious redhead whose quiet stillness both unnerves and excites him. Over the course of a punishing summer, Polly and Adam abandon themselves to a steamy, inexorable affair. Still, each holds something back from the other --- dangerous, even lethal, secrets. Then someone dies. Was it an accident, or part of a plan?

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The Daisy Children by Sofia Grant

When Katie Garrett gets the unexpected news that she’s received an inheritance from the grandmother she hardly knew, it couldn’t have come at a better time. She flees Boston --- and her increasingly estranged husband --- and travels to rural Texas. There, she’s greeted by her distant cousin, Scarlett. Friendly, flamboyant and eternally optimistic, Scarlett couldn’t be more different from sensible Katie.

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Rainy Day Friends by Jill Shalvis

Six months after Lanie Jacobs’ husband’s death, it’s hard to imagine anything could deepen her sense of pain and loss. But then Lanie discovers that he left behind several other women who, like Lanie, each believe she was his legally wedded wife. Desperate to make a fresh start, Lanie impulsively takes a job at the family-run Capriotti Winery. With no real family of her own, she’s bewildered by how quickly they all take her under their wing and make her feel like she belongs. Everything is finally going well for her, but the arrival of River Green changes all that.

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Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis. Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

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Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson. Enter Mia Warren, who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter and rents a house from the Richardsons. But Mia carries a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this community. When family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that divides the town --- and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides.

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After Anna (Audiobook) by Lisa Scottoline

Dr. Noah Alderman has remarried a wonderful woman, Maggie Ippolitti. Despite her longing for the daughter she hasn’t seen since she was a baby, Maggie is happy too, and she’s even more overjoyed when she unexpectedly gets another chance to be a mother to the child she thought she'd lost forever: her only daughter, Anna. But events take a heartbreaking turn when Anna is murdered, and Noah is accused and tried for the heinous crime.

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Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions by Mario Giordano

On her 60th birthday, Auntie Poldi retires to Sicily, intending to while away the rest of her days with good wine, a view of the sea and few visitors. But Sicily isn’t quite the tranquil island she thought it would be, and something always seems to get in the way of her relaxation. When her handsome young handyman goes missing --- and is discovered murdered --- she can’t help but ask questions.

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The Brightest Sun by Adrienne Benson

Leona, an isolated American anthropologist, gives birth to a baby girl in a remote Maasai village and must decide how she can be a mother, in spite of her own grim childhood. Jane, a lonely expat wife, follows her husband to the tropics and learns just how fragile life is. Simi, a barren Maasai woman, must confront her infertility in a society in which females are valued by their reproductive roles. In this affecting debut novel, these three very different women grapple with motherhood, recalibrate their identities, and confront unforeseen tragedies and triumphs.

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