Modern Fiction

A WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR AN OPRAH DAILY AND REAL SIMPLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize “Incredibly moving." – Ann Patchett “Propulsive and funny and heartbreaking.” —J. Courtney Sullivan "An exceptionally moving novel...

To all appearances, John Wilder has all the trappings of success, circa 1960: a promising career in advertising, a loving family, a beautiful apartment, even a country home. John's evenings are spent with associates at quiet Manhattan lounges and his weekends with friends at glittering cocktail parties. But something deep within this seemingly perfect life has long since gone wrong.

Rediscover the pleasures of love and laughter, food and wine, friendship and romance with #1 New York Times bestselling author, Susan Wiggs! With a little determination and a lot of charm, Rosa Capoletti took a run-down pizza joint and turned it into an award-winning restaurant, voted the...

“Sharon Sala is a consummate storyteller.” —Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestselling author Crossroads, Texas, just might be the place to settle down and find the love of your dreams in this new small town romance series from Sharon Sala, New York Times and USA Today bestselling...

One would hardly see a three-story mansion, unlimited bank account, and high-end clothes as a prison. But to Kaitlyn "Issy" Summers, her family's opulence only represents pain, betrayal, and fear. To deal with her heartbreaking past, Issy finds multiple ways to self-destruct and harden her heart from ever being hurt again. Grant Forester won't give up on the woman he has loved for years. He sees past the anger and bitterness to the wounded girl in need of healing. He has the secret to freedom if she would only trust him.

In this thrilling novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Iris Johansen, a sadistic murderer sets a trap for his next victim: Eve Duncan herself. “An enthralling cat-and-mouse game . . . The suspense holds until the very end.”—Publishers Weekly A merciless killer on the hunt. An...

Now, Emma is a back-to-school PhD student with bigger and better things to worry about. That is, until one night, exhausted, slightly tipsy, and on her way home from a party, the glaring white light of a car comes crashing toward her, changing her life forever. Instead of waking up in a 21st-century hospital, she finds herself waking up in the backwaters of London, Victorian England, 1881.

Jane Day is racing to stay ahead of the paid assassin who had been her fiance. On the run in Wichita Falls, Texas, she meets Nellie Luckadeau, a spitfire of an elderly lady, who desperately needs someone to drive her home and work on her ranch. But Nellie's drop-dead gorgeous cocky cowboy grandson "Lucky Slade" is sure he can spot a con artist a mile away and no way in hell is he going to let some upstart fleece his granny.

The time is the early '80s. The characters go to the same schools and eat at the same restaurants. Their voices enfold us as seamlessly as those of DJs heard over a car radio. They have sex with the same boys and girls and buy from the same dealers. In short, they are connected in the only way people can be in that city.

A modern classic first published in 1978 that is as much a sophisticated romantic comedy about the love between two partners as it is a novel about the powerful bonds shared by family members, friends, colleagues and confidants. "A funny, loving, celebratory book in which everything is perfect...

"RaeAnne Thayne gets better with every book." —Robyn Carr, #1 New York TImes bestselling author New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne tells a story of family, healing and second chances in Hope's Crossing. Alexandra McKnight prefers a life of long workdays and short-term...

Eight years ago, Nan Tudor escaped her husband, billionaire businessman Hank Tudor, afraid for her life and leaving a dead body behind—but in doing so, she abandoned her three-year-old daughter, Lizzie. Still wracked with guilt for that decision, she is living a quiet life as a restaurant cook in France with her son when she receives a mysterious text: “We have your daughter.”

A dark and utterly original literary horror debut, following a priest whose bloodthirsty life has extended far longer than any mere human's—and is upended when a stranger comes to town Stutley Tillinghast lives a solitary life, ostensibly as the minister of a remote rural parish in Rhode...

A gorgeous collection of twelve “lush and deliciously sinister fairy tales” (Kelly Link) by the New York Times bestselling author of The Hazel Wood and The Night Country! Before The Hazel Wood, there was Althea Proserpine’s Tales from the Hinterland... Journey into the Hinterland, a brutal...

She’s known as the Ice Princess. He’s got a reputation for melting hearts...except hers. Let the rivalry begin. Cynthia Kumar always wins. She’s successful, competitive, and knows exactly what she wants: to be the heir to her father’s multimillion dollar business. Except, her father just...

New York City, 1880, in a time of industry, mystery, and glamour. All to be found is vice, corruption, and injustice. When prominent New York City socialites are found brutally murdered in their lavish Millionaires' Row mansions, junior detective Charles Reed, new to the city and with no experience, gets partnered with unconventional senior detective and war veteran Lucas Briggs as they're called in to investigate the most recent killing. But in their search for the murderer, the detectives realize the killings are the start of something far worse.

Readers have fallen in love with Eternity Springs, the magical town in Emily March’s beloved series where something wonderful happens to hearts in need of healing. Twenty years ago the town bad boy, Cam Murphy, left Eternity Springs in handcuffs, riding in the back of a sheriff’s van...

School principal Jonathan Madaris falls hard the moment new teacher Marilyn Bannister walks into his office. The gray-eyed beauty takes his breath away and makes him regret his school’s non-fraternization policy. Still, he immediately knows Marilyn is special. And he’s not letting anything...

Lucian is a Dragon Prince of the House of Smoke...and he's dying. He has to spawn a dragonling to uphold the treaty that keeps the mortal world safe from the immortal Dark Fae, but a dragon's mate rarely survives the birth of a young dragon, and he can't face the horror of another woman's death on his hands. When he rescues a beautiful woman from a demon roaming the streets of Seattle, he has to seduce her without losing his heart.

Over the past fifty years, fiction in English has never looked more various. Books bulkier than Victorian three-deckers appear alongside works of minimalist brevity, and experiments with form have produced everything from verse novels to Twitter-thread narratives. This is truly a golden age. But what unites this kaleidoscopic array of genres and styles? Celebrated writer and critic Peter Kemp shows how modern writers are obsessed with the past.