Patrick “Kick” Kilpatrick is a former swimming champ, yet he hates the ocean. He was on a Thanksgiving weekend cruise to Cozumel with his family and now he finds himself floating in the Gulf of Mexico. He believes he must have fallen off the ship, though perhaps he jumped, but he doubts it. Thankfully, the 33-year-old trainer is in excellent shape. With nothing to do but tread water and wait for the rescue he is confident will arrive, Kick's mind wanders. He reflects on the p

In Melbourne, Australia, Detective Sergeant Judith Lee interviews Alexis Turner, a university student who claims that Robert Walker, a psychologist she was referred to by the school, assaulted her during their session. A decade earlier, another woman had filed a similar complaint against Walker. At that time, Judith dismissed the complaint and failed to assist the young woman, an error in judgement that has continued to haunt her. Determined to correct her past mistake, Judit

In 1933, the story opens with eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur, living in the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum for Girls in Oxford, Mississippi. Her existence feels like she's trapped in a Dickens novel. Despite being smart and clever, her age makes her seemingly unadoptable. The Chairlady, Garnett Pittman, is especially cruel towards Meg, who doesn't know what happened to her mother. Faced with back taxes on her home, twenty-four-year-old Birdie Calhoun travels to Oxford to seek fi

In the final installment of Colson Whitehead's Harlem Trilogy series, which began in 1959, the story moves to the 1980s. Ray Carney, owner of Carney Furniture and an occasional fence of stolen goods, is now in his 50s. He no longer has ties to crime and is thrilled to have been named Sterling Furniture's Dealer of the Month, the first Black business owner to achieve this recognition. His children are grown and his wife Elizabeth runs her own travel agency. However, when she i

In 2010, Fiona Winslow, a fifty-year-old historical architect, has faced a challenging year. Her marriage ended in betrayal, and her cherished Uncle Tad, a renowned author, passed away. Fiona decides to return to Wurimbirra in New South Wales, Australia, the family estate where she grew up, which she bought from Tad's son, Jon. Although the house has long been rumored to be haunted, Fiona does not believe in ghosts. She is ready to start over again, beginning with repairing a

Gabriel Allon, the legendary ex-spy and former head of the Israeli Intelligence Agency, has been living in Venice with his family, back working in art restoration. However, he keeps getting pulled back into his former world of international intrigue. Edward Knight, a British billionaire art client, contacts Gabriel when his socialite wife, Alice, disappears during a vacation with friends in Ibiza. At first, this seems to involve a potential hostage negotiation for her release

Billie Wright, a doctor residing in New York City, operates a fertility clinic and is recently engaged to Dean, a trauma surgeon. Her life growing up in Wisconsin is far in the past including memories of Mick, her hometown boyfriend who could not handle their separations as Billie chased her professional dreams. But one call from Mick changed everything. A tragedy brought Billie back home. In addition to great loss came new responsibilities. And crucial decisions had to be ma

Margot Cooper thought she was living her best life. In 2024, the lifestyle influencer, mother of four, and wife of popular actor Jack Cooper was shocked when images of her husband surfaced on social media, revealing some very bad behavior with multiple women. Margot and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Skye, leave L.A. for the safety of her childhood home in Pittsburgh where her older sister Julia lives. While looking through boxes in the attic, they discover photos and clippin

In 1996, after American student Emma lost her scholarship to study art in Paris, she began working for Stella Swanson, whose late husband had managed one of the world's largest art conglomerates. As the two women grow closer, Stella confides in Emma, sharing shocking secrets about the Swanson family business. The story shifts to 1891, when two very different women form a bond. It has been a year since Vincent van Gogh's suicide, and his sister-in-law Jo is now a widow, left a

Leslie Woodhouse is a retired defense attorney living in Florida with her second husband, Richard. Leslie has a daughter named Stephanie from her first marriage, while Richard has a strained relationship with his son, Weston. Tensions have risen for area residents due to a serial killer known as the Gulf Coast Killer, who remains at large. After his latest female victim is abducted, the woman’s eight-year-old daughter manages to escape. With an eyewitness finally available, t

In 2015, Dawn Hartley is approaching 40, and her life is not going in the direction she'd envisioned. While close to her mother Miranda, who raised her as a single parent, she finds it impossible to tell her that she has a drinking problem, especially since mother runs Hartley Vineyard in California's Napa Valley. When a project necessitates that she read the children's series Vineyard, Dawn is shocked how familiar the setting is. It sends her seeking to find the author, whos

By 1965, Helen Gurley Brown had gone from a successful advertising copywriter to an author. Her book Sex and the Single Girl was a groundbreaking hit, speaking to legions of single women. Helen’s next goal was to launch a magazine for these same women, covering topics that had never been addressed before. Instead of getting the go ahead for her new magazine, she was given three issues to revitalize the struggling Cosmopolitan magazine. The talented “Mrs. Brown” assembled an a

Dionne Daphne is a successful beauty editor at Essence magazine. On the surface, the thirty-three-year-old Ivy league Columbia graduate seems to lead a life anyone would envy. She's recently ended her relationship with her boyfriend Darren because he was too slow to commit to the future she believed they both desired. However, when Darren shows up at her Brooklyn home and delivers some terrible news, Dionne is devastated. In trying to sort out the implications of this horribl

In 1974, 18-year-old Chip Bishop receives a devastating diagnosis. After graduating from high school, he decides to work at The Red Maple Inn, a resort in the Poconos, without informing his family. He is seeking an escape from his illness and chooses a summer filled with accomplishment and new relationships rather than enduring painful and debilitating treatments. The following summer, Chip's sister Maggie travels to The Red Maple Inn, seeking solace at the place where Chip s

Frankie Green's life has been turned upside down. Recently divorced and out of a job, she has moved to an upscale London neighborhood, ready to start over. Her Persian cat, Blue, wanders the area and returns with a chilling note etched on his collar - Help Me. Frankie equips Blue with a cat camera collar to gather more information, and what she uncovers is shocking. However, taking action on the footage is complicated since what she is doing isn't legal. She must quickly lear

Dolly Brick, a kindergarten teacher nearing 40, lives in Boston raising her teenage son Gus alone. They typically spend a few weeks each summer in Whitfield, R.I., visiting her father and brother, who struggles with mental illness. When her childhood home has a fire, she decides to spend extra time to help with the repairs and work alongside her father at the Brick Fish House. During a delivery to the Whitfield estate, she runs into Stewart Whitfield, who needs help changing

Allison, a successful attorney, discovers that her husband Finley has been unfaithful. She confides in her brother Luke, who has been a tremendous support for her. She has also consistently supported him, especially after he lost his dream of becoming a professional baseball player due to an accident. When Finley is found dead in a dumpster, the investigation into his murder begins, and Luke encounters his own legal issues. Allison is a brilliant attorney whose skills are exh

In 1986, Bess Rollins returns to her home in the Finger Lakes region of New York after both of her parents die in an accident. While she loves working overseas providing humanitarian efforts, she must now assume the role as the legal guardian of her twin sister and brother. Three years have passed since she cut ties with her family and left behind Luke, the love of her life. As she moves back to the estate she inherited from her grandmother, Valerie, a renowned mathematician,

Jane Trevally, a fifty-five-year-old woman who has been divorced twice, lives alone with her dogs in a large, run-down family home in Dorset, England. Her aimless existence is upended when a lost dog shows up at her house. Thanks to the dog's tags, she is able to return him to his owner in London. However, upon seeing the house in the Vale of Health in Hampstead, Jane is struck by a terrifying memory of having been there before. When she learns that Rose White, the teenager s

Katie Caruso is a ghostwriter for Meredith Bradford, a best-selling author famous for her romance novels, who lives in seclusion in the Hamptons. Faced with a tight deadline, her agent has brought in another writer to partner with Katie on her latest book. The author is Tyler McNally, who specializes in literary fiction and lacks experience in the romance genre. However, Tyler isn't just any twenty-something writer, he is the love of Katie's life. The man who once broke her h