Rural Fiction

Standing in the trauma room of an emergency department is like standing at ground zero of a nuclear reaction, only it's not radiation that is released - but stories. Stories that are told and retold, sometimes just until the end of the shift, but sometimes for decades.

Writing with the telegraphic swiftness and microscopic sensitivity that have made her one of our most distinguished journalists, Joan Didion creates a shimmering novel of innocence and evil. A Book of Common Prayer is the story of two American women in the derelict Central American nation of Boca Grande. Grace Strasser-Mendana controls much of the country's wealth and knows virtually all of its secrets; Charlotte Douglas knows far too little.

Abigail, the story of a headstrong teenager growing up during World War II, is the most beloved of Magda Szabo's books in her native Hungary. Gina is the only child of a general, a widower who has long been happy to spoil his bright and willful daughter. Gina is devastated when the general tells her that he must go away on a mission and that he will be sending her to boarding school in the country. She is even more aghast at the grim religious institution to which she soon finds herself consigned.

I was minding my own business when I ran into the sexiest tattooed god I'd ever seen. I've seen a ton, considering I own Dragonfly Books, which just so happens to be located next to Ink Me. You get the picture. While trying to find myself after the death of my mother, Finn throws my world upside down. Will the makeup and lace be too much for him, or will he walk with me through my own journey of self-love?

Music has been the very essence of Daisy Holloway's life for as long as she can remember. Driven by a desperate need to make her father proud, she throws caution to the wind and embarks on a journey to Nashville. Her dream is a long shot, but with no backup plan in sight, besides her entire life's purpose, what does she have to lose?

Welcome to the Village of Ballybucklebo. Come and say hello to Dr. O'Reilly's odd-as-two-left feet patients, his housekeeper, Mrs. "Kinky" Kinkaid, and O'Reilly's pets, Arthur Guinness, the beer-swilling black Lab and Lady MacBeth, the demonically possessed white cat. And of course, to young Dr...

In 1919, Delano, Georgia, appoints its first chief of police. Honest and hardworking, the new chief is puzzled when young men start to disappear. But his investigation is ended by the fatal blast from a shotgun. Delano's second chief-of-police is no hero, yet he is also disturbed by what he sees in the missing-persons bulletins. In 1969, when Delano's third chief takes over, the unsolved disappearances still haunt the police files.

As long as Carmel stays in London, nothing can happen to shatter her perfect life. She has a wonderful marriage, a rewarding career and a great bunch of friends. As far as she's concerned, the sadness of her past can stay back in Ireland, where it belongs. For Carmel, Ireland only means misery, loneliness and fear and she never wants to return. The new, confident and happy Carmel only exists on the cosmopolitan streets of Britain's capital. If she ever was forced to return, she fears she would revert to the mousey downtrodden woman she once was.

From New York Times best-selling author Marie Bostwick comes a beautiful novel of sisterhood lost and found - and of the ways we create the rich tapestries that encompass the past and the future. The economic downturn has hit New Bern, Connecticut, and Tessa Woodruff’s herbal apothecary shop, For the Love of Lavender, is suffering. So is her once-happy 34-year marriage to Lee. They’d given up everything to come back to New Bern from Boston and start their business, but now they’re wondering if they made the right decision.

In Meet Me In Ivy Falls, Amy True weaves a heartwarming tale of love, restoration, and new beginnings. Set in the quaint town of Ivy Falls, the story unfolds around the renovation of historic homes, where the past and present merge in unexpected ways. As the protagonist navigates the challenges of her project, she discovers a community brimming with secrets, friendships, and romantic possibilities.

Michigan's Upper Peninsula is blessed with a treasure trove of storytellers, poets, and historians, all seeking to capture a sense of Yooper Life from settler's days to the far-flung future. Since 2017, the U.P. Reader has offered a rich collection of their voices that embraces the U.P.'s natural beauty and way of life, along with a few surprises. The sixty-plus short works in this 8th annual volume take listeners on U.P. road and boat trips from the Keweenaw to the Soo and from St. Ignace to Escanaba.

It should be the most wonderful time of the year for Samantha and Josh as they prepare for the arrival of their first baby. But life at Hedgehog Hollow rarely goes to plan and the pair are faced with adversaries, old and new, and unexpected challenges to overcome. Fizz's job at the heart of the rescue centre is a dream come true but her personal life is more like a nightmare. With her love life a disaster and her past about to dramatically catch up with her, she needs the love and support of her Hedgehog Hollow family more than ever.

Dr. Antonio Rinalto has lived abroad in Brazil for over a decade. A promising young surgeon, he has been serving as a medical missionary. But there are other reasons he left his Tuscan home... Among the vines of Viti del Fiume, family secrets linger. Ten years later, Antonio is called home to Italy, where he will learn the power of forgiveness and the importance of family bonds. Sophie Bellamy is searching for a way out of England. As a graduating viticulturist, interning at a vineyard in Tuscany seems like the perfect escape. But old ghosts have a way of tracking their prey.

Two years after his wife’s death, rock star Garrett Hayes hasn’t moved on. But he has moved out of L.A. Where better to escape his past than a small town in the northern California mountains? If only he could get the townsfolk of Wildwood to leave him the hell alone. Ani Bennet returned to her hometown for some much-needed serenity. The last thing she needs is a grumpy, too hot for his own good, rich and famous rock star living next door—and rent-free in her brain. She set her fangirl tendencies aside when they became neighbors. But when Garrett asks for help, she can’t say no.

Morgan Jo Coyle hasn’t been back to the small town of Brambleberry Creek or seen any of her family for years. But when she receives the heartbreaking news that her Memaw Essie is on her deathbed, Morgan knows she has to go home to face Essie—and her complicated past—before it’s too late. Stepping through the door of her family’s charming old farmhouse, Morgan is reminded of all the happy times she spent baking and talking with Essie. And it’s not long before her childhood sweetheart, Emmett Dawson, with his sparkling blue eyes and teasing smile, comes to find her.

Pastry chef Tessa Montgomery knows what everyone in Blossom Glen says about her. Spinster. Ice Queen. Such a shame. It’s enough to make a woman bake her troubles away, dreaming of Parisian delicacies while she makes bread at her mother’s struggling boulangerie. That is, it is until Tessa’s mortal enemy — deliciously handsome (if arrogant) chef Leo Castorini, who owns the restaurant next door — proposes a business plan…to get married.

As a firefighter, Kent Wakefield has been burned before, and not just by fire. So when Casey Bradford, his best friend's off-limits, gorgeous little sister, asks him to be her fake boyfriend, he flat out refuses. He doesn't do relationships, real or otherwise. But when his well-meaning, marriage-pushing mother corners him about his cousin's wedding, he panics and tells her he has a date. After being left at the altar, Casey is out of options. She needs a boyfriend ASAP or she can kiss her dreams goodbye. Who better than her brother's emotionally unavailable best friend, Kent?

Award-winning wildlife photographer Elijah Ellis has come back home due to the tragic accident that killed members of both his and his best friend Tabitha Brodie's family. Despite their grief, Eli hopes that he and Tabby can pick up their familiar friendship. Tabby has always loved Eli. He's everything she wants in a man. But he left Gatlinburg to make a name for himself outside of his famous family. She refuses to be an anchor to a life he never wanted. As Eli and Tabby spend more time together, he's determined to show her they could be perfect together.

Kayla has the perfect strategy for a broken heart: work, work, and more work. Then a storm sends her car skidding off the road, stranding her in Mount Pleasant. Fortunately, rescue comes in the form of the incredibly handsome but gruff Brent Masterson. Brent Masterson swore he would never give into the fierce attraction that's been sizzling between him and Kayla since they first met. He has his own demons, and he won't risk his heart again. Not even for someone as gorgeous and amazing as Kayla. So...how exactly did he end up in Kayla's bed last night?

In "A Taste of Murder," the third Bunburry book, a local beef farmer is found dead and Betty Thorndike, vegetarian and Bunburry's only Green Party member, is in the frame. Despite what everyone thinks, Betty is absolutely not Alfie McAlister's girlfriend. But Alfie knows what it's like to be wrongly accused, and enlists the help of his fellow amateur detectives, Liz and Marge, to find out who's responsible. There's just one problem about a farm-based investigation - Alfie's scared of cows.