Following her successes with novels illustrating the human-animal connection in her books Riding Lesson and Flying Changes, dealing with horses and horsemanship, Gruen brings in a new flavor with a take on life in the circus. The story is told through the lens of 93-year-old Jacob Jankowski, currently residing in an assisted living community, querulous about the limitations of age but still possessed of all of his mental faculties. A visiting circus nearby causes Jacob to revisit his past, when he belonged to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.

In a flashback of seventy years, 23-year-old Jacob finds himself penniless after both of his parents are killed in a car crash. After failing to sit for his veterinary exams at Cornell university, he is truly set adrift in the morass of poverty sweeping the country during the Great Depression. When he hops a train belonging to the Benzini Brothers’ show, he finagles his veterinary training into a position caring for the circus animals. Jacob grows to care for Marlena, the equestrian star performer–and unfortunately also the wife of one of the circus’s owners. August, Marlena’s husband, is abusive of both Marlena and the animals for which Jacob cares, while the other co-owner, Uncle Al, is devoted solely to business with a ruthless unconcern for any of the circus’s employees or animals. Jacob must navigate his way through this gritty world of sleazy entertainment while trying to keep safe all that becomes dear to him.

Though Gruen’s prose is often marked as only servicable, her characters are human and the story itself blends fictional memoir, adventure, romance, and mystery for an exciting read. She has clearly done substantial research on both travelling circuses of the earlier part of the century and on Depression-era America, lending the book historical interest as well. Historical buffs and romance fans alike will find a fun summer read in this novel.

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Read an interview with Sara Gruen here.

A delightful debut novel from well-known venture capitalist Tom Perkins, Sex and the Single Zillionare centers on Steven Hudson, a wealthy middle-aged widower who agrees to appear on a reality television show to find him a trophy bride at the urging of his serious-minded daughter and trust fund-spoiled son. Soon his life is filled with a parade of stunning models, athletes, and actresses, but it’s the television show’s producer, Jessica James, that catches Steven’s eye. Unfortunately, with Jessica comes a big engagement ring on her finger and a hot young fiance. Can Steven endure the TV madness and win Jessica’s heart?

Read a review of this book here.

After fifty New York Times best-selling novels, Sandra Brown is back with Long Time Coming, where Law Kincaid, a world-famous astronaut with devastatingly handsome good looks once more appears to throw a wrench into Marnie Hibbs’s life. Seventeen years before, Marnie had been just as in love with Kincaid, but understood that she could never get too close to the ladies’ man. Only now, after being anonymously tipped off that he has a son he never knew, Law is curious and tracks down Marnie’s address as directed by his anonymous informant. Marnie denies being the guilty party, but when Law encounters a boy who is the splitting-image of his younger self, it’s like a suckpunch. What’s more, Law learns that Marnie isn’t even the boy’s biological mother. Both tension and undeniable attraction grows, Marnie is forced to reveal a secret she had been keeping for too long, risking losing the boy she loves and the man she desires.

Lauren Willig’s sequel, The Masque of the Black Tulip to her smash debut The Secret History of the Pink Carnation revives its predecessor’s sense of fun, history, intrigue, romance and swashbuckling adventure. Modern day American graduate student Eloise Kelly is continuing her research into the Selwick archive, this time uncovering the story of Lady Henrietta Selwick who has her own adventure with Miles Dorrington in helping to protect her cousin Jane, England’s only hope against a Napoleonic invasion, the Pink Carnation, against the Black Tulip, France’s deadliest spy whose mission is to kill his (or her) English adversary.

In popular author Judith Mcnaught’s latest novel, Every Breath You Take, Kate Donovan’s dreams come true when she becomes romantically involved with the darkly charismatic Mitchell Wyatt, hailing from the high society Wyatts of Chicago, while on vacation on a tropical paradise island. But such dreams come with a price when she becomes a suspect in the controversy over Mitchell’s half-brother William’s mysterious disappearance. Now as the Wyatt family, journalists, and media climb all over the story to try and find out what happened to the young man, Kate has to strive and clear her name as well as find out if Mitchell had a hand in the foul events.

In Susan Elizabeth Phillip’s latest novel, Match Me If You Can, Annabelle Granger, a chronic underachiever hailing from a family of superachievers, inherits her grandmother’s matchmaking business, she changes its name to “Perfect For You” and sets out to land Chicago’s most eligible bachelor, Heath Champion, as a client — who she thinks will be the key to her business’s success. Heath’s a handsome, wealthy, driven, and aggressive sports agent who wants a perfect wife to match his perfect lifestyle, someone Annabelle strives hard to find, but little do Annabelle and Heath realize that they may have found the perfect match in each other.

Visit Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ Official Website.

Author Sandra Brown takes a departure from her usual romance novels to explore mystery and suspense in Chill Factor. Lilly Martin and Dutch Burton are calling their marriage quits after being unable to survive the death of their three-year-old daughter. As the divorce becomes finalized, the last thing the estranged couple needs to do is close up their summer vacation cabin in North Carolina’s wintry mountains. Dutch is the chief of police in nearby small town Cleary while Lilly works as a magazine editor in Atlanta.

As Lily tries to return to her home after selling Dutch and her’s former cabin, she gets caught up in a blizzard, loses control of her car, and ends up hitting handsome, travel writer Ben Tierney, whom she had met and flirted with last summer on a kayaking trip. With no other choice, she brings the injured Ben back to her cabin in order to wait out the storm and things heat up between them. Meanwhile back in Cleary, Dutch receives a call from the FBI that Ben Tierney might just be the serial killer responsible for the disappearance of five girls in the area over the past two years. Learning that Lilly is snowed in with the man that may possibly be a serial killer, the race is on for Dutch to save his ex-wife (and potentially stop a budding romance between her and Ben) and unravel the mystery surrounding Cleary, N.C. and its seemingly innocent residents who hold deeper, darker secrets.

Read a review of Chill Fact here.

Visit Sandra Brown’s Official Website.

Readers that fell in love with the smartly entertaining women of Jennifer Weiner’s previous novels will do so again in her newest novel, Little Earthquakes. Three pregnant women in Philadelphia meet each other through a yoga class. They struggle through their pregnancies together while a fourth woman, an actress, watches from afar. Weiner’s wittily modish dialogue makes Little Earthquakes her most real and believable novel yet. Its introduction is just in time for the future release of the movie-version of her second bestseller, In Her Shoes.

Jennifer Weiner is the award-winning author of the bestsellers Good in Bed and In Her Shoes. She graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University with an English major. Washington Square Press is the publisher of her book.
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The men afraid of commitment—the perpetual bachelor; we all know one of them. Joel Miller is just one of those men. But here’s the catch, he may be forced to face his fears and commit real fast. His girlfriend, Lisa, is awaiting the results of a pregnancy test. During this wait, Joel finds himself reevaluating the relationships of his past. Will Joel be able to conquer his inability to commit if he needs to? Read Reproduction is the Flaw of Love, an inspiring novel about romance, family and devotion to find out.

Lauren Grodstein is the author of the short story collection, The Best of Animals and has an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University. This book is published by Delta of Random House, Inc.
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29-year old lawyer Samantha Sweeting of the Shopoholic series, has just made an irreversible mistake at her law firm. She wanders aimlessly onto the train and ends up in the countryside. When she stops at a posh house to ask for directions, the lady of the house mistakes her for an interviewee and offers her a housekeeping position. An unguided Samantha finds herself in a position that she knows as little about as her employers know about her. In time, Samantha masters her cleaning and baking skills as she falls in love with the handsome gardener. Find out if Samantha’s previous life ever catches up with her in this charming novel.

Sophie Kinsella is financial journalist turned novelist and is the author of the bestselling novel Confessions of a Shopoholic. The Dial Press of Bantam Dell Publishing is the book’s publisher.
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