This Month From BookEnds- September 2019

  • By: BookEnds | Date: Sep 09 2019

We’re kicking off Fall the right way…. with a bunch of incredible new books! Take a look:

Monthly Spotlight:

The Secrets of Lost Stones by Melissa Payne (9/1) Barnes & Noble

A soul-stirring novel about the bonds between mother and child and the redemption that comes with facing the past and letting it go.

Thirty-two-year-old Jess Abbot has lost everything: her job, her apartment, and—most heart-wrenching—her eight-year-old son, Chance, to a tragic accident. Haunted by memories and grief, Jess packs what’s left and heads for the small mountain town of Pine Lake, where she takes a position as caregiver to an eccentric old woman.

A rumored clairvoyant, Lucy is strange but welcoming and immediately intuits Jess as a “loose end” in need of closure. But Jess isn’t the only guest in Lucy’s large Victorian home. There’s also Star, a teenage runaway with a secret too painful to share. And the little boy with heart-shaped stones, who comes with a hope for reconciliation—and a warning.

Soon Jess learns that she’s not the only lost soul running from the ghosts of the past. She and Star have been brought together for a reason: to be saved by the very thing that destroyed them.


Mystery

The Garden Club Murder by Amy Patricia Meade (9/1) Barnes & Noble

Literary caterer Letitia ‘Tish’ Tarragon is preparing her English Secret Garden-themed luncheon for Coleton Creek’s annual garden club awards, but when she is taken on a tour of some of the top contenders with the garden club’s president, Jim Ainsley, Tish is surprised at how seriously the residents take the awards – and how desperate they are to win. Wealthy, retired businessman Sloane Shackleford has won the coveted best garden category five years in a row, but he and his Bichon Frise, Biscuit, are universally despised. When Sloane’s bludgeoned body is discovered in his pristine garden, Tish soon learns that he was disliked for reasons that go beyond his green fingers. Have the hotly contested awards brought out a competitive and murderous streak in one of the residents?

A Night’s Tale by Sofie Kelly (9/3) Barnes & Noble

In the charming town of Mayville Heights, librarian Kathleen Paulson and her two cats pounce on clues to catch a killer, in the eleventh installment of this New York Times bestselling series.

Spring is coming to Mayville Heights, and Kathleen’s brother, Ethan, has arrived in town with his band, The Flaming Gerbils. But not everything goes as scheduled when one of Ethan’s bandmates gets into a fight with a man interested in investing in the town. When the businessman’s body is later found, Ethan’s friend is implicated in the crime.

Kathleen wants to help her brother by solving the case, but she has no shortage of suspects from which to choose. Prior to his death, the investor was fighting like cats and dogs with lots of people. If this librarian wants more than a whisker’s chance of solving the case, she will need to rely on her trusty feline sidekicks, Owen and Hercules.

A Curio Killing by Mary Ellen Hughes (9/8) Barnes & Noble

Callie finds treble in Keepsake Cove when her ex-boyfriend is framed for murder

Callie Reed is looking forward to her first Keepsake Cove spring festival. But her excitement dims considerably when she learns that her ex-boyfriend, Hank, will be performing with one of the hired country-western bands. Callie vows to keep her distance, but that changes when the band’s manager, Bobby Linville, is found dead, killed with the music box Hank bought at Callie’s shop.

Hank is soon singing a sad tune in a detention center with Callie his only lifeline. Though thoroughly aware of his many faults, she knows violence and murder aren’t in his blood. But that means one of her fellow Keepsake Cove residents must be hiding a dark secret—something Callie desperately needs to uncover.

Autumn Alibi by Jennifer David Hesse (9/24) Barnes & Noble

After a hectic year, Edindale, Illinois, attorney Keli Milanni is ready to welcome autumn by counting her many blessings. But a case of murder could cause her to fall behind . . . 

Keli is hoping that Mabon, the Wiccan Autumn Equinox, will bring balance back into her life. But it’s death that comes calling when she’s asked to consult on an estate case. Recently passed, Elaine Turnbull left everything, including her valuable art and antiques collection, to her granddaughter, Lana. But Lana has been missing for years, ever since a tragedy tore her family apart. Also missing may be Elaine’s most recent will. Then there’s the not-so-small detail that Elaine’s death by natural causes may not have been so natural after all . . .

With the help of her boyfriend Wes, who knew Lana in high school, Keli starts digging into Elaine’s past—and her journals. Soon she discovers that everyone, from Elaine’s caretaker to her curator, had a motive for murder—along with a seemingly rock-solid alibi. Between missing people, missing documents, a string of vandalism against her friends, and the sense she’s being stalked, Keli is feeling a disturbing chill. Now not even her Wiccan protection rituals may save her from a killer with a cold heart that’s far from grateful . . . 

A Killer Carol by Laura Bradford (9/24) Barnes & Noble

Heavenly, PA has been transformed into a Christmas wonderland, and Claire is delighted to celebrate the season…but a fiendish killer has other plans in this all-new installment in the national bestselling series.

As the owner of Heavenly Treasures, the local gift shop, Claire is busier than ever helping her English customers (and even a few of her Amish friends, like Esther and Ben) find the perfect gift for the special people on their shopping list. 

Claire makes sure she has time for her boyfriend, Detective Jakob Fisher. But the man, who was raised and then shunned by the Amish over his choice of career, has been unusually secretive lately. She tries not to worry, to trust their relationship, but trying and doing aren’t exactly matching up.

Before she can figure out what’s going on with Jakob, word comes that Ruth and Samuel Yoder are being questioned in the death of an elderly Amish couple, found murdered not long after the newlyweds were seen leaving the victims’ farm. Ruth, in turn, seeks Claire’s help in convincing the police that she and Samuel had nothing to do with what happened. But when Claire comes across a cryptic note tucked inside the wedding gift the victims had given the newlyweds no more than an hour before their murder, she finds herself in dire need of a little convincing as well.

Can Claire get to the bottom of things in time to ensure a merry Christmas for all?


Romance:

Black Tie Billionaire by Naima Simone (9/3) Barnes & Noble

He’s everything she wants…and shouldn’t have.

His smile was slow, deliberate…sinful.
Has she just made a deal with the devil? 

During a blackout at a black-tie gala, Shay Neal says yes to one night with billionaire Gideon Knight…not knowing he’s her brother’s enemy with plans for payback! Now, to save her brother, Shay must pretend to be in love with Gideon. But playing his game means resisting the very real desire that could destroy them both…

USA TODAY bestselling author

Long Way Home by Nicola Marsh (9/24) Barnes & Noble

From USA Today bestselling Australian author Nicola Marsh comes a warm and winsome rural romance about second chances and belonging.

A prodigal daughter returns to Brockenridge…

Eleven years ago Ruby Aston left Brockenridge – and its small-town gossip – for the anonymity of the big city. Now, a grieving Ruby is forced to come home to the place she loathes. But it also means returning to someone she’s always regretted leaving behind…

Connor Delaney is determined to prove himself and not get by on his family name alone. To do this he needs to acquire the local roadhouse. He never anticipated the owner would be the same ‘bad girl’ who ditched him at the high school ball and was never heard from again.

For Alisha Nathieson, the grief of suddenly losing her dear friend and employer Clara Aston has forced her to examine her choice to stay to support her aging parents. As she battles a growing need to explore her past, temptation wars with duty. And then there are her feelings for handsome chef Harry, who has secrets of his own…

If Ruby follows her heart and saves her mother’s legacy, will she lose the one man she’s longed for all along?


BOOKENDS JR.

Picture Books

Shubh Diwali illustrated by Charlene Chua (9/1) Barnes & Noble

Diwali has arrived! Rangoli art decorates the floor and strings of flowers hang around the doors. Now it’s time to ring the bells, light the lamps, and welcome the new year with family and friends. A sweet introduction to the Hindu festival of lights.

Operation Photobomb by Tara Luebbe & Becky Cattie (9/1) Barnes & Noble

When Monkey finds a camera, Chameleon discovers that he loves to photobomb everyone! But Chameleon’s photobombing starts to drive the other animals bananas. Can they find a way to stop his wild antics?

Queen of Physics by Teresa Robeson (9/17) Barnes & Noble

Meet Wu Chien Shiung, famous physicist who overcame prejudice to prove that she could be anything she wanted.
 
When Wu Chien Shiung was born in China 100 years ago, most girls did not attend school; no one considered them as smart as boys. But her parents felt differently. Giving her a name meaning “Courageous Hero,” they encouraged her love of learning and science. This engaging biography follows Wu Chien Shiung as she battles sexism and racism to become what Newsweek magazine called the “Queen of Physics” for her work on beta decay. Along the way, she earned the admiration of famous scientists like Enrico Fermi and Robert Oppenheimer and became the first woman hired as an instructor by Princeton University, the first woman elected President of the American Physical Society, the first scientist to have an asteroid named after her when she was still alive, and many other honors.


Coming Soon:

Author of QUEEN OF PHYSICS Teresa Robeson’s BICYCLES IN BEIJING, in which two bikes watch the city from their shop window, but when one is bought, the other begins an epic race around the city to find her friend, introducing readers to the sights of Beijing along the way, illustrated by Junyi Wu, to Christina Pulles at Albert Whitman, in a nice deal, for publication in spring 2020, by Natascha Morris at BookEnds for the author, and by Alexandra Gehringer at The Bright Group for the illustrator (world).

Olivia Blacke’s WILLIAMSBURG MYSTERY series, in which a murder goes viral on social media and an amateur sleuth gets pulled into the investigation, to Kristine Swartz at Berkley, in an exclusive submission, in a two-book deal, by James McGowan at BookEnds (world).

Author of DAUGHTER OF THE PIRATE KING and WARRIOR OF THE WILD Tricia Levenseller’s THE SECRET BLADE duology, in which a blacksmith with social anxiety who can forge magical blades accidentally builds an all-powerful sword with the ability to extract secrets from those it cuts, and she has to protect it at all costs, to Holly West at Feiwel and Friends, in a good deal, in a two-book deal, for publication in February 2021 and 2022, by Rachel Brooks at BookEnds (world).Film: Mary Alice Kier and Anna Cottle at Cine/Lit, cinelit@att.net

Lyn Liao Butler’s THE TIGER MOM’S LIES, in which a Taiwanese-American woman’s estranged father dies unexpectedly, leaving the fate of his Taiwanese family and their home in her hands, but in order to reclaim her heritage she must first confront what drove her away all those years ago, to Cindy Hwang at Berkley, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2021, by Rachel Brooks at BookEnds (world).

Author of the forthcoming ALL BOYS AREN’T BLUE George Johnson’s STONEWALL, a nonfiction graphic novel for young readers about the history of the LGBTQ+ movement and its roots in the Stonewall Riots, illustrated by Theo Lorenz, to Stacy Whitman at Tu Books, for publication in 2022, by Eric Smith at P.S. Literary Agency for the author, and by Naomi Davis at BookEnds for the illustrator (world).

Author of the Crochet Mysteries Betty Hechtman’s WRITER IN RESIDENCE MYSTERIES, featuring a writer-for-hire in the U.K., to Carl Smith at Severn House, in a two-book deal, by Jessica Faust at BookEnds.

Author of THE AMAZING IDEA OF YOU Charlotte Sullivan Wild’s LOVE, VIOLET, about a young girl with a crush on another little girl who attempts to share how she feels on Valentine’s Day, illustrated by Charlene Chua, to Trisha de Guzman at Farrar, Straus Children’s, for publication in fall 2021, by Minju Chang at Bookstop Literary for the author, and by Tracy Marchini at BookEnds for the illustrator (world).

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One response to “This Month From BookEnds- September 2019”

  1. Avatar Gail Priest says:

    This cover is amazing! It makes me want to read the book.