Holiday Literary

The riotously funny new novel from Penny Smith.Miranda Blake is divorced. At 45, things are starting to head south. She's toying with the idea of Botox. Toying with the idea of facial surgery. Toying with getting a job. Toying with getting a toy boy. The only block to all those things is her stiff, uppity daughter, 23 year old Lucy, who takes after her father. Pompous, is how Miranda describes it. (Sane, is how Lucy sees it.)

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… and for Heather Andrews, security manager at Timberwoods Mall, undoubtedly the busiest. But this Christmas, Heather has more to contend with than frazzled parents and disgruntled Santas. Angela Steinhart, a young woman who designed the mall’s spectacular holiday displays, has had a premonition that tragedy will strike on Christmas Eve. And Angela’s visions have a habit of coming true. Heather would love to dismiss the warning as holiday stress. But the more she gets to know the quiet, lonely Angela, the more she trusts her.

It’s Christmas time, and Denver taxi driver Brendan Murphy, a.k.a. "Murph", leaves his cab behind to visit his family in Wichita, where he finds himself reluctantly reconnecting with his siblings. Murph takes it upon himself to save an old friend from making the biggest mistake of his life - accepting a job where suits and ties are everyday attire.

The (black) magical season is here - and whether it's a solstice seance gone demonically wrong with the incomparable Kim Harrison, a grossly misshapen Christmas with the remarkable Lynsay Sands, a blood-chilling-and-spilling New Year's with the wonderful Marjorie M. Liu, or a super-powered Thanksgiving with the phenomenal Vicki Pettersson, one thing is for certain: in the able hands of these exceptional dark side explorers, the holidays are going to be deliciously hellish!

At thirty-three, nurse Heather is desperately waiting for her romantic life to begin. Then she meets handsome, strong Anthony and is sure she’s found the one. Brushing any doubts aside, she projects all her hopes for true love onto him. Meanwhile, at a yoga retreat in Spain, happy-go-lucky Joe can’t believe his luck when he meets vivacious, witty Amy. She’s the sharpest, most beautiful woman he has ever dated, and the fact that she’s interested in him feels like a dream come true.

Eigentlich sollte das Memorial-Day-Wochende für alle Bewohner von North Bath eine Zeit der Ruhe und Besinnung sein. Aber in diesem Jahr ist es, als hätte jemand ungebeten die Büchse der Pandora geöffnet. Chief Raymer, der Leiter der Polizeidirektion, kollabiert auf einer Beerdigung, fällt ins offene Grab und verliert dabei das einzige Beweisstück dafür, dass seine Frau ihn betrogen hat. Die Wand eines Gebäudes, das der impotente Bauunternehmer Carl errichtet hat, stürzt ein.

«En Las Vegas, el tiempo se congela entre fiestas y casinos». Y por eso no es sorprendente que Meredith vaya a ir, aunque sí que lo es su propuesta. Ava no puede dejar de pensar que ahí hay algo extraño, por más que Connor intente tranquilizarla y que Lily no desconfíe porque lo único que quiere es no pensar en Tom ni Finn ni Ximena ni Jasmine, puesto que lo que ha pasado es horrible, atroz, y ¿por qué Oliver no puede limitarse a desaparecer de su vida, como parecen haberlo hecho Martha y Rex?

Y por eso no es sorprendente que Meredith vaya a ir, aunque sí que lo es su propuesta. Ava no puede dejar de pensar que ahí hay algo extraño, por más que Connor intente tranquilizarla y que Lily no desconfíe porque lo único que quiere es no pensar en Tom ni Finn ni Ximena ni Jasmine, puesto que lo que ha pasado es horrible, atroz, y ¿por qué Oliver no puede limitarse a desaparecer de su vida, como parecen haberlo hecho Martha y Rex? Nate, sin embargo, diría que las personas desaparecen demasiado rápido en comparación con la huella que dejan. ¿O acaso no es así, Jordan?

Janet’s first love arrives out of the blue after 30 years. Those were simpler times for them both. Sunny childhood beach holidays, fish and chips and big copper pennies clunking into one armed bandits. The Wells family has run the Cromer Pier Summertime Special Show for generations. But it’s now 2009 and the recession is biting hard. Owner Janet Wells and daughter Karen are facing an uncertain future.

Milla has always felt alone in the world. The only child of a distant mother, she has no other family, and even her forthcoming marriage to Paul feels more like settling than true romance. But then a letter arrives, announcing that a Spanish grandmother she knew nothing about has died and left her a small shop in Mallorca. Milla is determined to uncover the truth. She travels to Palma, where she is enchanted by the beauty of the old town in springtime. At the shop she now owns, she meets Leandro, a handsome local who helps her piece together the story of her grandmother.

When the four Essinger children gather in Austin for Christmas, they all bring their news. Nathan is hoping to become a Federal judge. Susie's husband has taken a job in England. Jean has asked her boyfriend and boss to meet her family. Paul has broken up with Dana, mother of their son Cal. But their parents have plans, too, and invite Dana to stay, hoping to bring the couple back together. As the week unfolds, the Essingers all face conflicts of loyalty and tensions between old families and new.

Quatre couples d'amis décident de s'octroyer des vacances sans enfants dans une villa de rêve. Mais l'ambiance qui se voulait insouciante et idyllique ne tarde pas à se charger d'électricité. La faute aux caractères (et petites névroses) de chacun, aux modes de vie différents, à l'usure et la routine qui guettent les amoureux quand s'invite le quotidien, et à des parents qui ont oublié ce qu'était leur vie lorsqu'ils ne l'étaient pas encore... Quand débarque une jeune et jolie célibataire, le groupe est plus que jamais au bord de l'implosion.

When Lucie Kennington flees the bright lights of London for the quiet Derbyshire countryside, she’s shocked to discover that the heir to the Bluebell Castle estate is far from the wizened employer she expected. In fact, Arthur Ludworth might just be the most handsome man Lucie’s ever laid eyes on - and a terrible distraction! So when she stumbles across a legendary painting feared lost for centuries, she can’t believe her luck - perhaps this is the hidden treasure to save Arthur and his family from ruin?

Life is about to change forever.... Heather is finally back on Hope Street after running from the memories for so long. She hasn’t bumped into many neighbours yet, but with her upcoming wedding to plan there’s plenty to keep her busy! Fran is still trying to get used to a life without her husband by her side. It’s hard enough raising two children on her own - she doesn’t have time to even think about dating.... Pamela is fed up with being taken for granted by her grown-up children and grumbling husband. She’s ready to shake things up a little, but will her family even notice?

Violet Baumgartner has opened her annual holiday letter the same way for the past three decades. And this year, she's going to throw her husband, Ed, a truly perfect retirement party, one worthy of memorializing in her upcoming letter. But the event becomes a disaster when, in front of 200 guests, Violet learns her daughter, Cerise, has been keeping a shocking secret from her, shattering Violet’s carefully constructed world.

All she wants for Christmas... When talented artist Nee Sutherland returns to Butterfly Cove for her sister's wedding, it's only a matter of time before she has to face her own bridegroom - Luke Spenser - the man she impulsively married then left in the middle of the night. Nee hasn't picked up her paintbrushes in months; a part of her is broken. She knows Luke might never forgive her and that leaving him was the biggest mistake of her life - but could coming home for Christmas be the best decision she's ever made?

¿Qué puede llegar a ocurrirles a los vecinos de un barrio cualquiera en estos tiempos difíciles? ¿Cómo resisten, en pleno ojo del huracán, parejas y personas solas, padres e hijos, jóvenes y ancianos, los embates de una crisis que «amenazó con volverlo todo del revés y aún no lo ha conseguido»? Los besos en el pan cuenta, de manera sutil y conmovedora, cómo transcurre la vida de una familia que vuelve de vacaciones decidida a que su rutina no cambie.

Christmas morning, 1969. All 11-year-old Esme Munroe wants for Christmas is for her mother to be on one of her 'good' days - and, secretly, for a velvet riding hat. So when she finds an assortment of wet towels and dirty plates in her stocking, she's just relieved Father Christmas remembered to stop at The Lodge this year. But later that day Esme's mother disappears in the heavy snow. Even more mysteriously, only the Earl of Culcairn seems to know where she might have gone.

In an airport restaurant on Thanksgiving morning, Adam and Marissa meet. Over the course of this day fraught with emotion and expectation, these two strangers will form an unlikely bond as they reckon with their family ties, their pasts, and the choices that will determine their way forward. Joshua Max Feldman focuses his knowing eye on one of the last bastions of classical American idealism, the Thanksgiving family gathering, as he explores our struggles to know - and to be - our best selves.

All it takes is one word - yes or no - to decide Molly's future. As the clock counts down to midnight and the ball slowly begins to drop, Molly's picture-perfect boyfriend gets down on one knee and asks her to marry him. She knows she should say yes, especially considering the baby-sized surprise she just discovered she's carrying. But something in her heart is telling her to say no....