Winter Women

Decades after her divorce, a lady returns to the village of her tumultuous marriage. A railway carriage hosts a charged schoolboy encounter. A murder raises fears of blackmail. A woman waits anxiously in a café before eloping to Paris. Another steals a friend's kitchen knife. In these bittersweet tales, the author of Lolly Willowes reveals her mastery of the short story, celebrated by the New Yorker for decades. Sylvia Townsend Warner is a tragicomic chronicler of the heart's entanglements.

Jessie Black's successful prosecution of a serial murderer and rapist put her on the path to stardom at the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. Public defender Jack Ackerman represented the opposition, and his spectacular public breakdown after the trial put him in a mental institution and gave Frank Ramsey a second chance at freedom. When Ramsey petitions the court for a new trial with a claim that Ackerman was ineffective, Black must step up to defend him.

Janine Potter grew up on the other side of the tracks. Her mother, Nancy, struggled with just about everything—alcohol, men, money—and Janine made a pledge to herself that she would never be like her. At age nineteen, Janine met Jack Potter, the son of an oil tycoon, and never looked back. Her life became a series of cocktail parties and multi-million-dollar apartments all across the world, and rubbing elbows with celebrities. Slowly, memory of her mother faded, although the trauma never really did.

I fell for someone I shouldn’t have. I’m not the only person to ever do such a thing. I know that. And I’m not an awful person for desiring his touch, his kiss, his everything...but I knew I shouldn’t have indulged. There’s something about knowing it’s wrong that tempts me that much more. The seduction became a game with higher stakes than any before him. In fact, it was only ever him. The thing is, I knew I shouldn’t. Now that the game is over and the pieces have fallen...I know I should have just walked away. There’s no way out of the wreckage.

Things are looking up for Claire Hartley. After thwarting yet another attempted murder, she’s enjoying the quiet life as a dog mom to Rosie, girlfriend to grumpy filmmaker Luke, and planner of epic marriage proposals. If she can manage to pull off this wildly elaborate Hollywood proposal, her dreams of creating bicoastal happily ever afters will finally come true. So what if her trauma-induced sleepwalking—and sleepsnacking—hasn’t gone away yet? That doesn’t mean anything, right? She’s fine. Everything is fine.

Snow is a rarity in Maura Donovan's small village in County Cork, Ireland, so she wasn't sure what to expect when a major snowstorm rolled in around Sullivan's pub. But now she's stranded in a bar full of patrons - and a suspected killer in a long-ago murder. Maura's been in Ireland less than a year and hasn't heard about the decades-old unsolved crime that took place nearby, let alone the infamous suspect, Diane Caldwell.

I'm used to getting what I want. But I've never wanted anyone like her. I'm the CEO. I dominate the boardroom with my presence. What I want, I get. I have the world at my beck and call. But that no longer excites me. Nothing does. Until she comes along. My Rose. Her deep blue eyes. Her tempting curves. They call to me, holding my attention like nothing has in years. I should walk away, but the soft sighs spilling from her plump lips are addictive.

Julias kleine Schwester verlobt sich vor ihr, Silvester verbringt sie allein in einem fremden Haus, und dann brennt auch noch ihr »Traummann zum Selberbacken« an! Ganz klar: Julia braucht einen Neuanfang.

Countess by day, secret advice columnist by night, Amelia Amesbury has life happily balanced on a quill's edge . . . until her sister Margaret shows up in London under a blanket of scandal and Amelia is catapulted out of mourning and into the ton's unforgiving Season. However Madge's Season debut is marred by a rather inconvenient death at the dining table as the infamous Mr Radcliffe takes ill and is later confirmed dead by poisoning. With Madge being the last person to have cross words with the soon-to-be baron, the ton's gossip mill—and the police—are looking to pin the murder on her.

Four heartwarming romances filled with holiday spirit: Christine gives love a second chance in snowy Vermont; widower William is startled when Santa delivers a new mommy; single mom Carol discovers a winter wonderland in Maine; and Matt and Sarah find each other again by the North Carolina shores. These sweet holiday stories will have you laughing and sighing, and once again believing - in the special magic of Christmas.

I'm heartless and cutthroat. It's just the way I was raised. I had no regrets. Until she showed up. It started with her old man. That stubborn bastard set me up. He knew what he was doing. I fell for her before I even heard her voice. What was he thinking, trying to set her up with a prick like me? She's too good for me. I should've walked away. But every time she told me no, it only made me want to chase her more.

The Dogs of Winter begins after a howling snowstorm envelops Montreal, and the body of a young woman is discovered in its wake. The only clue to her identity is the photograph in her pocket, and on it, the phone number of Detective Inspector Romeo Leduc. Meanwhile, Marie and Romeo are busy navigating their deepening relationship, and a student at Marie’s college is the victim of a terrible assault.

People would kill to have Faye Adelheim’s life. She lives in an ultra-swanky apartment in the most exclusive area of Stockholm, she has a gorgeous husband who gives her everything she’s ever wanted and she has an adorable daughter who lights up her world. Faye’s life is perfect. So how is it, then, that she now finds herself in a police station? The truth is that Faye’s life is far from what it seems. The truth is that Faye isn’t even her real name. And now she’s been caught out.

Star baker Mattie has hated Christmas ever since she had her heart broken on Christmas Eve. The only thing she hates more is the insufferable Tom, who has rubbed her up the wrong way since she started running the tearoom next door to his bookshop. So when Mattie and Tom are left in charge in the frantic festive days before Christmas, it might be cold outside, but things are sure to heat up. Can a bookshop full of romantic novels, a life-size reindeer and a mistletoe kissing booth persuade two scrooges to fall in love with Christmas...and each other?

Seattle, 1933: Vera Ray kisses her three-year-old son, Daniel, good night and reluctantly leaves for work. She hates the night shift, but it’s the only way she can earn enough to keep destitution at bay. In the morning - even though it’s the second of May - a heavy snow is falling. Vera rushes to wake Daniel, but his bed is empty. His teddy bear lies outside in the snow. Seattle, present day: On the second of May, reporter Claire Aldridge awakens to another late-season snowstorm. Assigned to cover this "blackberry winter" and its predecessor decades earlier, Claire learns of Daniel’s unsolved abduction and vows to unearth the truth.

Sid wears her independence like armour. So when she strikes up a rare connection with unlucky-in-love Finn, they are both determined to prove that men and women can just be friends. Marin has the perfect home, attentive husband, two beloved children - and a secret addiction to designer clothes. She knows she has it all, so why can't she stop comparing herself to other women? Bea believes that we all have one love story - and she's had hers. Now her life centres around her son, Luke, and her support group of fierce single women. But there's something that she can't tell anyone.

It's the dark nights in the run up to Christmas, and sailing sleuth Cass Lynch's first night on dry land is disturbed by strange noises outside her isolated cottage. Tiny footprints in the moonlit snow trail from her front door before mysteriously disappearing. Soon Cass learns others were visited by the same tiny feet in the night. It looks like ingenious local teenagers playing tricks - but what happens when festive games turn deadly?

Moving from Boston to remote Bearkill, Maine, isn't homicide cop Lizzie Snow's idea of a step up. But breaking away from tragedy and personal betrayal is at least a step in the right direction. Her dead sister's fate still torments her, as does her long-missing niece's disappearance. The town is full of people who see everything, say little, and know more than they'll share with an outsider.

Embrace the transformative power of the coldest, darkest months to unlock your most radiant self. "Lock In and Start Your Winter Arc" is your guide to using the stillness of October through April as a sacred time to set yourself up for unstoppable success. In these months, you'll work deeply in silence, grow your financial independence, and manifest the partner of your dreams—turning your winter into the season of profound self-evolution.

Don't judge a book by its cover. You'll tell me you don't...but you already think you know what my story's about. You have no idea. Just like the people sitting in this courtroom. She asked for it. That's what they keep saying. And no, it's not because my skirt was too short or I was drunk at a party. It's nothing like that. It's because of what I like and how I like it. They're judging me as I sit in the front row, my eyes drawn to the man on trial. If I'd known it was going to end like this, I never would have gone home with him. But he's the type of man I just can't say no to.