Island Fiction

Jen Weinstein and Lauren Parker rule the town of Salcombe, Fire Island every summer. They hold sway on the beach and the tennis court, and are adept at manipulating people to get what they want. Their husbands, Sam and Jason, have summered together on the island since childhood, despite lifelong grudges and numerous secrets. Their one single friend, Rachel Woolf, is looking to meet her match, whether he’s the tennis pro. But even with plenty to gossip about, this season starts out as quietly as any other. Until a body is discovered, face down, off the side of the boardwalk.

Lovers Rock stars Jamaica: its language, its landscape, its vibe, its humor, its edge and its persistent, dogged beauty. These seven stories imagine strange, quirky, familiar and delicious encounters between people in search of romantic love in the twenty-first century. Featuring characters from of all walks of life, each story is connected by the unique vibe of Jamaican desire.

In the northernmost reaches of Scotland, where a string of little islands in the North Sea stretches towards Norway, lives Gertie MacIntyre, a proud island girl by birth. Her social circle is small but tight: family and friends, particularly the women in her knitting circle. In the whitewashed cottages of their hometown, everyone knows everyone, and the ladies of the knitting circle know more than most. In a place of long dark winters and geographic isolation, the knitting circle is a precious source of gossip, home, laughter, and comfort for them all.

AJ has a real boyfriend now, and he's really coming to the cove to meet her friends and family. She's turned into a domestic goddess as she preps to host Christmas at a rental that will hold everyone for the holidays. But beneath the bulky sweaters, AJ has a secret she won't be able to keep hidden forever.

Mark Hawkins, former park ranger and expert tracker, is out of his element, working onboard the Magellan, a research vessel studying the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. But his work is interrupted when, surrounded by 30 miles of refuse, the ship and its high-tech systems are plagued by a series of strange malfunctions and the crew is battered by a raging storm. When the storm fades and the sun rises, the beaten crew awakens to find themselves anchored in the protective cove of a tropical island...and no one knows how they got there.

As the Shadow Island Historical Society prepares to raise funds to restore the island’s beloved lighthouse, someone else has other lethal plans. Instead of the presentation the group hopes for, they attract the attention of a madman claiming the historic monument is his family legacy before firing several shots and barricading the doors. Now, one hostage is dying and the rest fear for their lives. Interim Sheriff Rebecca West is no hostage negotiator, but she’ll do whatever it takes to ensure the elderly captives are safely released.

After hijacking a balloon from a Confederate camp, a band of five northern prisoners escape the American Civil War. Seven thousand miles later, they drop from the clouds onto an uncharted volcanic island in the Pacific. Through teamwork, scientific knowledge, engineering, and perseverance, they endeavor to build a colony from scratch. But this island of abundant resources has its secrets. The castaways discover they are not alone. A shadowy, yet familiar, agent of their unfathomable fate is watching.

When Meg Whitaker's father decides to sell the family's lobster-fishing business to her high school nemesis, she sets out to prove she should inherit it instead. Though she's never had any interest in running the small fleet - or even getting on a boat due to her persistent seasickness - she can't stand to see Oliver Ross take over. Not when he ruined her dreams for a science scholarship and an Ivy League education 10 years ago.

When Carolyn’s grown daughter tells her she needs to “get a life,” Carolyn decides it’s time to step out of her familiar routine as a single woman in San Francisco and escape to her mother’s home in the Canary Islands. Since Carolyn’s mother is celebrating her seventieth birthday, the timing of Carolyn’s visit makes for a perfect surprise. The surprise, however, is on Carolyn when she sees Bryan Spencer, her high school summer love.

Detective Chief Inspector Ryan retreats to Holy Island seeking sanctuary when he is forced to take sabbatical leave from his duties as a homicide detective. A few days before Christmas, his peace is shattered, and he is thrust back into the murky world of murder when a young woman is found dead amongst the ancient ruins of the nearby priory. When former local girl Dr. Anna Taylor arrives back on the island as a police consultant, old memories swim to the surface, making her confront her difficult past.

Mae Benson was born to run the Sweet Island Inn. She cooks, she cleans, she laughs, she makes a mean pot of coffee, and she always knows which beach to recommend to her guests. But suddenly, that way of life looks very much in danger. On what was supposed to be a happy day—the day her boyfriend Dominic gets down on one knee and asks her to marry him—Mae discovers that a collective of out-of-towners with bad motives intends to usurp her business by building a competing hotel right down the street.

Mae Benson was happy—a beloved wife, beloved mother, beloved neighbor. But even she wasn’t ready for the tragedy looming around the corner. The accident that claims her husband’s life rocks the whole family. And it’s not the only thing stirring up trouble. Mae’s oldest, Eliza, is facing an unexpected pregnancy with a fiancé she no longer wants to be with. Her daughter Holly is caught in a marriage on the rocks. Headstrong daughter Sara is reeling in the throes of a forbidden work-place romance. And her youngest son, Brent, is drowning in sorrow and guilt.

Everything Aaron has worked so hard to build in Quill has crumbled. Fallen from the height of power and influence and left for dead in a foreign place, Aaron has lost everything, and now he must humbly beg for food from those who saved his life. In Artimé, Alex chooses his people over his brother and abandons his search for Aaron, closing the door on that relationship forever. The Artimeans need his focus now more than ever as they face the terrifying power of a new enemy who has taken control of Quill.

New adventures lie ahead as Anne Shirley packs her bags, waves good-bye to childhood, and heads for Redmond College. With old friend Prissy Grant waiting in the bustling city of Kingsport and frivolous new pal Philippa Gordon at her side, Anne tucks her memories of rural Avonlea away and discovers life on her own terms, filled with surprises...including a marriage proposal from the worst fellow imaginable.

Ben is a painter from the crowded, turbulent city. For six months his fiancée, Cara, has been working on the remote island of Sanctuary Rock, the private estate of millionaire philanthropist Sir John Pemberley. Now she has decided to break off their engagement and stay there for good. Ben travels to the island to try and win Cara back. After an arduous journey, he finds himself compelled to stay. But as Ben begins to traverse Pemberley’s kingdom, he begins to uncover the truth of the apparently perfect society the enigmatic Sir John is building.

I was hired to apprehend a monster - a dom who'd been sentenced to life for killing his submissive. I've seen what he's capable of, and the images will haunt me forever. I swore I'd stop at nothing to put him behind bars. But then our plane back to the States crashes. We are the only two survivors. And the monster will make me wish I'd died along with the rest of them....

Detective Inspector Macleod returns to his island home 20 years after the painful loss of his wife. With a disposition forged in strong religious conservatism, he must bond with his new partner, the free spirited and upcoming female star of the force, to seek the killer of a young woman and shine a light on the evil beneath the surface. To do so, he must once again stand in the place where he lost everything. Only at the water’s edge will everything be made new.

This set includes five tales of extraordinary heroism, marvelous intrigue, and exceptional courage that have inspired and amazed people for generations.

Alex and his friends from Artimé are stranded on a newly discovered island after barely surviving a storm that destroys their ship. And it turns out they're not alone... Back in Quill, Aaron's power base grows as he aligns himself with an unlikely ally. Together,the two enact a drastic, risky plan to conquer Artimé at last--a plan that could ultimately leave everyone in both Artimé and Quill in far more danger than Aaron realizes.

It has been twenty-four years since a young Helena spent a magical holiday in Cyprus, where she fell in love for the first time. When the now crumbling house, 'Pandora', is left to her by her godfather, she returns to spend the summer there with her family. Yet, as soon as Helena arrives at Pandora, she knows that its idyllic beauty masks a web of secrets that she has kept from William, her husband, and Alex, her son. At the difficult age of thirteen, Alex is torn between protecting his beloved mother, and growing up. And equally, desperate to learn the truth about his real father.