Bøger udgivet af St. Martin's Publishing Group

"Imagine Riverdale crossing streams with Stephen King's The Outsider and you'll get a sense of this gripping supernatural mystery...Gould's debut begins as a snappy paranormal yarn and unspools into a profound story about the complex interplay between grief, guilt, and identity." - Oprah DailyCourtney Gould's thrilling YA debut The Dead and the Dark is about the things that lurk in dark corners, the parts of you that can't remain hidden, and about finding home in places-and people-you didn't expect.The Dark has been waiting-and it won't stay hidden any longer.Something is wrong in Snakebite, Oregon. Teenagers are disappearing, some turning up dead, the weather isn't normal, and all fingers point to TV's most popular ghost hunters who have just come to town.Logan Ortiz-Woodley, daughter of TV's ParaSpectors, has never been to Snakebite before. But the moment she and her dads arrive, she starts to get the feeling that there's more than ghosts plaguing this small town. Ashley Barton's boyfriend was the first teen to go missing, and she's felt his ghost following her ever since. Although everyone shuns the Ortiz-Woodleys, the mysterious Logan may be the only person who can help Ashley get some answers.When Ashley and Logan team up to figure out who-or what-is haunting Snakebite, their investigation reveals truths about the town, their families, and themselves that neither of them are ready for. As the danger intensifies, they realize that their growing feelings for each other could be a light in the darkness.

"I was riveted...A modern-day Romeo & Juliet."-Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Two WaysYou want to walk away from the things that are bad for you and never look back.That's what Corinne Callahan wants.Cast out of the fundamentalist church she was raised in and cut off from her family, Corinne builds a new life for herself. A good one. But she never stops missing the life-and the love- she's left behind.It's Enoch Miller who ruins everything for her. It was always Enoch Miller. She'll never get him out from under her skin.Set over fifteen years and told with astonishing intimacy, Rebecca Morrow's Corinne is the story of a woman who risks everything she's built for the one man she can never have.

"Edgewood has everything I love in a Kristen Ciccarelli book: lyrical prose, a romance that will hurt, and themes rooted in raw and intimate questions, making for a timeless tale." - Joan He, New York Times bestselling author of The Ones We're Meant to FindCan love survive the dark?No matter how far she runs, the forest of Edgewood always comes for Emeline Lark. The scent of damp earth curls into her nose when she sings and moss creeps across the stage. It's as if the woods of her childhood, shrouded in folklore and tall tales, are trying to reclaim her. But Emeline has no patience for silly superstitions.When her grandfather disappears, leaving only a mysterious orb in his wake, the stories Emeline has always scoffed at suddenly seem less foolish. She enters the forest she has spent years trying to escape, only to have Hawthorne Fell, a handsome and brooding tithe collector, try to dissuade her from searching.Refusing to be deterred, Emeline finds herself drawn to the court of the fabled Wood King himself. She makes a deal-her voice for her grandfather's freedom. Little does she know, she's stumbled into the middle of a curse much bigger than herself, one that threatens the existence of this eerie world she's trapped in, along with the devastating boy who feels so familiar.With the help of Hawthorne-an enemy turned reluctant ally who she grows closer to each day-Emeline sets out to not only save her grandfather's life, but to right past wrongs, and in the process, discover her true voice.Haunting and romantic, Kristen Ciccarelli's Edgewood is an exciting novel from a bold, unforgettable voice in fantasy."Darkly gorgeous and moving, Edgewood is full of curses and fae magic that will capture your heart and wrap it in thorns before setting you free again, forever changed. I devoured Edgewood whole and couldn't put it down." - Evelyn Skye, New York Times bestselling author of The Crown's Game

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERThe first inside story of one of TV's most popular and beloved dramas, Grey's Anatomy.More than fifteen years after its premiere, Grey's Anatomy remains one of the most beloved dramas on television and ABC's most important property. It typically wins its time slot and has ranked in the Top 20 most-watched shows in primetime for most of its seventeen-season run. It currently averages more than eight million viewers each week.Beyond that, it's been a cultural touchstone. It introduced the unique voice and vision of Shonda Rhimes; it made Ellen Pompeo, Sandra Oh and T.R. Knight household names; and injected words and phrases into the cultural lexicon, such as "McDreamy," "seriously," and "you're my person." And the behind-the-scenes drama has always been just as juicy as what was happening in front of the camera, from the controversial departure of Isaiah Washington to Katherine Heigl's fall from grace and Patrick Dempsey's shocking death episode. The show continued to hemorrhage key players, but the beloved hospital series never skipped a beat.Lynette Rice's How to Save A Life takes a totally unauthorized deep dive into the show's humble start, while offering exclusive intel on the behind-the-scenes culture, the most heartbreaking departures and the more polarizing plotlines. This exhaustively enthusiastic book is one that no Grey's Anatomy fan should be without.

In Archer Mayor's Marked Man, the death of a local millionaire becomes suspicious when Joe Gunther learns that he was not who he claimed.A year ago, local philanthropist and millionaire Nathan Lyon died a natural death in his sprawling mansion, a 150,000 square foot converted mill, surrounded by his loving, attentive family. Or so it seemed at the time. Now Joe Gunther and his Vermont Bureau of Investigation team has discovered that almost nothing about that story was true. Nathan Lyon was actually Nick Bianchi from Providence, Rhode Island. His money came from Mafia-tainted sources. And his family now seems to be dying themselves and their deaths are now revealed to be murders.As Gunther's team desperately works to uncover what is going on at The Mill, who is responsible and what they are trying to accomplish, Joe himself travels to Rhode Island to look into the original source of the money. While the police are doing their jobs, private investigator Sally Kravitz teams up with reporter Rachel Reiling to expose the truth behind this tangled and expanding web of duplicity, greed, and obsession. Having betrayed many, it's no surprise that Nathan Lyon was a marked man. But now Gunther has to figure out who, among the many, killed him, and stop them before their killing spree claims another.

"A sparkling debut. Landragin's seductive literary romp shines as a celebration of the act of storytelling." -Publishers Weekly"Romance, mystery, history, and magical invention dance across centuries in an impressive debut novel." -Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)"Deft writing seduces the reader in a complex tale of pursuit, denial, and retribution moving from past to future. Highly recommended." -Library Journal (Starred Review)Alex Landragin's Crossings is an unforgettable and explosive genre-bending debut-a novel in three parts, designed to be read in two different directions, spanning a hundred and fifty years and seven lifetimes.On the brink of the Nazi occupation of Paris, a German-Jewish bookbinder stumbles across a manuscript called Crossings. It has three narratives, each as unlikely as the next. And the narratives can be read one of two ways: either straight through or according to an alternate chapter sequence. The first story in Crossings is a never-before-seen ghost story by the poet Charles Baudelaire, penned for an illiterate girl. Next is a noir romance about an exiled man, modeled on Walter Benjamin, whose recurring nightmares are cured when he falls in love with a storyteller who draws him into a dangerous intrigue of rare manuscripts, police corruption, and literary societies. Finally, there are the fantastical memoirs of a woman-turned-monarch whose singular life has spanned seven generations. With each new chapter, the stunning connections between these seemingly disparate people grow clearer and more extraordinary. Crossings is an unforgettable adventure full of love, longing and empathy.

Taut and terrifying, Snowblind is a startling debut from Ragnar Jónasson, an extraordinary new talent.Where: An isolated fishing village in the fjords of northern Iceland, where no one locks their doors.Who: Ari Thór is a rookie policeman on his first posting, far from his girlfriend in Reykjavík.What: A young woman is found lying half naked in the snow, bleeding and unconscious, and a highly esteemed elderly writer falls to his death. Ari is dragged straight into the heart of a community where he can trust no one, and secrets and lies are a way of life.*BONUS CONTENT: This edition of Snowblind includes a new introduction from the author and a discussion guide

A JUNE 2022 INDIE NEXT PICK"A true page-turner." -Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful"A smart and lively novel." -Jess Walter, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins"Austenesque...this goes down as easily as an Aperol spritz." -Publishers WeeklyWith her keen eye for human foibles and emotional truth, humor and deep feeling, acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Therese Anne Fowler delivers a stylish, insightful take on the dysfunctional family dramedy.Meet the Geller sisters: Beck, Claire, and Sophie, a trio of strong-minded women whose pragmatic mother, Marti, will be dying soon.Beck, the eldest, is a freelance journalist whose marriage has long been devoid of passion, and she's recently begun to suspect that her husband, Paul, is hiding something from her. Though middle sister Claire is an accomplished pediatric cardiologist, her own heart is a mess, and her unrequited love for the wrong man is slowly destroying her. And while Sophie, the youngest, appears to have an Instagram-ready life of glamorous work and travel, her true existence is a cash-strapped house of cards that may fall at any moment.But Marti's will surprises them with its provision that the family's summer cottage in Maine must be sold, the proceeds split equally between the three sisters. While there's a ready buyer in C.J. Reynolds, he's an ex-con with a complicated past and a tangled history with one of the women.Choices and consequences, mistakes and misapprehensions, obligations and desires: before long, everyone in this cast of indelible characters will have to come to terms with the ways their lives have turned out differently than they expected, as well as the secrets they've been keeping from each other--and themselves.

Bob Harig's Tiger & Phil provides an in-depth chronicle of the decades-long rivalry that drove the success of golf's two biggest stars, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.For more than two decades, there have been two golfers who have captivated, bemused, inspired, frustrated, fascinated, and entertained us, and in doing so have demanded our attention - Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Even with all the ink that has been spilled on Tiger, no one has ever written about his relationship with Phil and how their careers have been inextricably intertwined. Furthermore, very little has been written about Phil Mickelson, who is more than just an adversary. He is a fascinating Hall of Fame golfer in his own right. These two biggest names (and draws) in golf have, for better and for worse, been the ultimate rivals. But it is so much more complicated than that. Each player has pushed the other to be better. They have teased each other and fought. They have battled to the bitter end on the course making for some of the greatest moments in the game for the last 20 years. They have each gone through injury and health problems, legal problems, falling in and out of favor with the press. And over the course of their time together in the game they have gradually become not just rivals but friends.In the tradition of major bestsellers such as Arnie & Jack, When the Game Was Ours, The Rivals, and Brady vs. Manning, Tiger & Phil will change the way we look at these players and the game itself.

One of Goodreads Most Popular Horror of 2022 Named one of Esquire's Best Horror of the Year "Brutal and shocking." - emily m. danforth"Razor-sharp. This one will cut you." - Christopher GoldenIn this biting and electrifying novel from bold horror talent Kristi DeMeester, there's something out there that's murdering young women-until an overwhelmed mother and her secretive daughter refuse to live without answers any longer.He's known as The Cur, and he leaves no trace-except for the victims he most viciously slays every fifteen years. Young women who refuse to conform and don't know when to shut up. 2019: Thirteen-year-old Lila Sawyer has secrets she can't share with anyone. But when young women around her begin dying, wild speculation ensues. Soon Lila feels haunted from within, terrorized by a delicious evil that shows her how to find her voice-until she's in danger for using it.2004: Caroline Sawyer sees dogs everywhere that no one else seems to notice. As these snarling, teeth-bared delusions begin to take shape in the sculptures she makes in a trance-like state, her fiancé is convinced she needs help from a professional. But Caroline's past is a dark cellar, filled with repressed memories and a lurking horror that others around her can't understand.As past and present demons converge, Caroline and Lila must chase the source of the unrelenting, oppressive power to its core. Brilliantly paced and unapologetically fierce, Such a Pretty Smile will make you want to stand up and rage at everyone who ever told you to shut up and smile pretty."Compulsive and horrifyingly entertaining." - Liz Nugent

Last Seen Alive is the fifth book in Joanna Schaffhausen's heartpounding Ellery Hathaway mystery series.Boston detective Ellery Hathaway met FBI agent Reed Markham when he pried open a serial killer's closet to rescue her. Years on, their relationship remains defined by that moment and by Francis Coben's horrific crimes. To free herself from Coben's legacy, Ellery had to walk away from Reed, too. But Coben is not letting go so easily. He has an impossible proposition: Coben will finally give up the location of the remaining bodies, on one condition-Reed must bring him Ellery.Now the families of the missing victims are crying out for justice that only Ellery can deliver. The media hungers for a sequel and Coben is their camera-ready star. He claims he is sorry and wants to make amends. But Ellery is the one living person who has seen the monster behind the mask and she doesn't believe he can be redeemed. Not after everything he's done. Not after what she's been through. And certainly not after a fresh body turns up with Coben's signature all over it.

New York Times bestselling author Laura Thompson returns with Heiresses, a fascinating look at the lives of heiresses throughout history and the often tragic truth beneath the gilded surface.Heiresses: surely they are among the luckiest women on earth. Are they not to be envied, with their private jets and Chanel wardrobes and endless funds? Yet all too often those gilded lives have been beset with trauma and despair. Before the 20th century a wife's inheritance was the property of her husband, making her vulnerable to kidnap, forced marriages, even confinement in an asylum. And in modern times, heiresses fell victim to fortune-hunters who squandered their millions.Heiresses tells the stories of these million dollar babies: Mary Davies, who inherited London's most valuable real estate, and was bartered from the age of twelve; Consuelo Vanderbilt, the original American "Dollar Heiress", forced into a loveless marriage; Barbara Hutton, the Woolworth heiress who married seven times and died almost penniless; and Patty Hearst, heiress to a newspaper fortune who was arrested for terrorism. However, there are also stories of independence and achievement: Angela Burdett-Coutts, who became one of the greatest philanthropists of Victorian England; Nancy Cunard, who lived off her mother's fortune and became a pioneer of the civil rights movement; and Daisy Fellowes, elegant linchpin of interwar high society and noted fashion editor.Heiresses is about the lives of the rich, who-as F. Scott Fitzgerald said-are 'different'. But it is also a bigger story about how all women fought their way to equality, and sometimes even found autonomy and fulfillment.

From Anne Griffin, the bestselling author of When All is Said, comes Listening Still, a refreshing new novel about a young woman who can hear the dead-a talent which is both a gift and a curse.Jeanie Masterson has a gift: she can hear the recently dead and give voice to their final wishes and revelations. Inherited from her father, this gift has enabled the family undertakers to flourish in their small Irish town. Yet she has always been uneasy about censoring some of the dead's last messages to the living. Unsure, too, about the choice she made when she left school seventeen years ago: to stay or leave for a new life in London with her charismatic teenage sweetheart.So when Jeanie's parents unexpectedly announce their plan to retire, she is jolted out of her limbo. In this captivating successor to her much-lauded debut, When All Is Said, Anne Griffin portrays a young woman who is torn between duty, a comfortable marriage, a calling she both loves and hates and her last chance to break free. Listening Still is a heartachingly honest look at what we give up and what we gain when we choose to follow our heart.

New York Times bestselling author and Queen of the Beach Reads Mary Kay Andrews delivers her next blockbuster, Hello Summer.It's a new season... Conley Hawkins left her family's small town newspaper, The Silver Bay Beacon, in the rearview mirror years ago. Now a star reporter for a big-city paper, Conley is exactly where she wants to be and is about to take a fancy new position in Washington, D.C. Or so she thinks. For small town scandals... When the new job goes up in smoke, Conley finds herself right back where she started, working for her sister, who is trying to keep The Silver Bay Beacon afloat-and she doesn't exactly have warm feelings for Conley. Soon she is given the unenviable task of overseeing the local gossip column, "Hello, Summer." And big-time secrets.Then Conley witnesses an accident that ends in the death of a local congressman-a beloved war hero with a shady past. The more she digs into the story, the more dangerous it gets. As an old heartbreaker causes trouble and a new flame ignites, it soon looks like their sleepy beach town is the most scandalous hotspot of the summer.

The explosive true story of America's most corrupt police unit, the Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF), which terrorized the city of Baltimore for half a decade. When Baltimore police sergeant Wayne Jenkins said he had a monster, he meant he had found a big-time drug dealer-one that he wanted to rob. This is the story of Jenkins and the Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF), a super group of dirty detectives who exploited some of America's greatest problems: guns, drugs, toxic masculinity, and hypersegregation.In the upside-down world of the GTTF, cops were robbers and drug dealers were the perfect victims, because no one believed them. When the federal government finally arrested the GTTF for robbery and racketeering in 2017, the stories of victims began to come out, revealing a vast criminal enterprise operating within the Baltimore Police Department. Cops planted heroin to cover up a fatal crash that resulted from a botched robbery. They stole hundreds of thousands of dollars, faked video evidence, and forged a letter trying to break up the marriage of one of their victims to keep his wife from paying a lawyer. And a homicide detective was killed the day before he was scheduled to testify against the crooked cops.I Got a Monster is the shocking history of the rise and fall of the most corrupt cops in America from Baynard Woods and Brandon Soderberg.

Achieve life-changing results for your body-greater mobility, better functionality, enhanced performance, and less pain-in as little as 9 minutes a day. In Better Stretching, Joe Yoon brings you the tips and techniques he gives world class athletes, and provides you with an entirely new way to think about stretching. You won't need 90 complicated minutes to get more agile-you'll just need 9! And your results will improve dramatically-and stay that way-when you incorporate just a touch of mobility and strengthening to your stretches. Joe Yoon shows you how.Better Stretching debunks myths and misconceptions. You'll discover:· Over 100 wide-ranging stretches, from static to dynamic, including simple stretches you can do while sitting at your desk · Three 30-day plans designed to give you maximum results in a minimum amount of time, each tailor-made for goals that you choose · Stretching, strengthening, and mobility exercises for people at every level - whether you're a beginner or advanced, a weekend warrior or a competitive athlete, a business executive or a new parent· Muscle-soothing self-massage techniques using simple foam rollers and tennis balls· Over 125 photographs of Joe demonstrating his stretches, so you achieve results beyond what you thought possible

Last Days (winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Horror Novel of the Year) by Adam Nevill is a Blair Witch style novel in which a documentary film-maker undertakes the investigation of a dangerous cult-with creepy consequencesWhen guerrilla documentary maker, Kyle Freeman, is asked to shoot a film on the notorious cult known as the Temple of the Last Days, it appears his prayers have been answered. The cult became a worldwide phenomenon in 1975 when there was a massacre including the death of its infamous leader, Sister Katherine. Kyle's brief is to explore the paranormal myths surrounding an organization that became a testament to paranoia, murderous rage, and occult rituals. The shoot's locations take him to the cult's first temple in London, an abandoned farm in France, and a derelict copper mine in the Arizonan desert where The Temple of the Last Days met its bloody end. But when he interviews those involved in the case, those who haven't broken silence in decades, a series of uncanny events plague the shoots. Troubling out-of-body experiences, nocturnal visitations, the sudden demise of their interviewees and the discovery of ghastly artifacts in their room make Kyle question what exactly it is the cult managed to awaken - and what is its interest in him?

The missing. The forgotten. The brave... The women. From master storyteller Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds, comes the story of a turbulent, transformative era in America: the 1960s. The Women is that rarest of novels-at once an intimate portrait of a woman coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided by war and broken by politics, of a generation both fueled by dreams and lost on the battlefield. "Women can be heroes, too." When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances "Frankie" McGrath hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl. But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different choice for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path. As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America. The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on the story of all women who put themselves in harm's way to help others. Women whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has all too often been forgotten. A novel of searing insight and lyric beauty, The Women is a profoundly emotional, richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose extraordinary idealism and courage under fire define a generation.

A Library Reads PickA Hard Day for a Hangover is the blockbuster conclusion to the bestselling Sunshine Vicram trilogy by Darynda Jones, author of the New York Times bestselling Charley Davidson series.Some people greet the day with open arms. Sheriff Sunshine Vicram would rather give it a hearty shove and get back into bed, because there's just too much going on right now. There's a series of women going missing, and Sunny feels powerless to stop it. There's her persistent and awesomely-rebellious daughter Auri, who's out to singlehandedly become Del Sol's youngest and fiercest investigator. And then there's drama with Levi Ravinder-the guy she's loved and lusted after for years. The guy who might just be her one and only. The guy who comes from a family of disingenuous vipers looking to oust him-and Sunshine-for good.Like we said, the new day can take a hike.Compulsively readable, laugh-out-loud funny, and brimming with big-hearted characters, A Hard Day for a Hangover will have readers cheering to the very last page. "Fans will be delighted." -Publishers Weekly

Meg Long's Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is a captivating, breathless debut about survival and found family that delivers a fresh twist on classic survival stories.A lone girl determined to survive. The feral wolf she must learn to trust.Only one chance to escape their icy planet: a race across the deadly tundra.Seventeen-year-old Sena Korhosen hates the sled race, especially after it claimed both her mothers' lives five years ago. Alone on her frozen planet, she makes money any other way she can--until she double-crosses a local gangster. Desperate to escape, Sena flees with his prized fighting wolf, Iska, and takes an offer from a team of scientists. They'll pay her way off-world, on one condition--that she uses the survival skills her mothers taught her to get them to the end of the race. But the tundra is a treacherous place. When the race threatens their lives at every turn, Sena must discover whether her abilities are enough to help them survive the wild, and whether she and Iska together are strong enough to get them all out alive. As the girl and the wolf forge a tenuous bond and fight to escape ice goblins, giant bears, and the ruthless gang leader intent on trapping them both, one question drives them relentlessly forward: Where do you turn when there is nowhere to hide?

In Muffin But the Truth, Torte's pastry chef and amateur sleuth Juliet Capshaw finds herself in deep water... in another delicious installment in the Bakeshop Series from author Ellie Alexander, set in Ashland, Oregon!Ashland is known for its Elizabethan charm and touches of Shakespeare around every corner, but the surrounding Rogue Valley draws adventure enthusiasts to its outdoor wonderland of high alpine lakes, mountain ranges, and pristine rivers. Jules Capshaw and the team at Torte have been hired to cater a weekend getaway on the mighty Rogue River. Jules is going to have to put her culinary skills to the test while baking gooey chocolate chip skillet cookies over an open flame and preparing extravagant feasts under a canopy of stars. The executive team at a big city firm will be rafting the Rogue's rapids and gathering around the campfire for spooky stories, but their dysfunction quickly begins to show. Between constant bickering and heavy drinking, Jules wonders how the team can accomplish anything. She's happy for a brief reprieve when they zip up their lifejackets and head out in their boats, but the serenity of the scene quickly vanishes when Jules discovers one of the execs floating face down in the water. She's going to have to uncover the truth before she gets pulled under.

A girl hellbent on finding the friend she lost. A planet on the brink of total destruction. Only one way to find answers amidst the chaos: team up with a traitor to stage a revolution, in Meg Long's Swift the Storm, Fierce the Flame. After a mission gone awry two years ago, Remy Castell has been desperately searching across worlds to find the friend she failed to save-the friend who changed her life by helping her overcome the brainwashing she was subjected to as a genetically engineered corporate agent.Since then, she's been chasing the only lead she has: fellow genopath Kiran Lore, the same secretive ex-squadmate who left her for dead when she compromised that mission. She nearly caught up to him on Tundar before joining the infamous sled race alongside outcast Sena and her wolf companion Iska. Now, all three of them have tracked Kiran back to Maraas, the jungle planet where Remy lost everything. But nothing on Maraas is how it was two years ago. Syndicates and scavvers alike are now trying to overthrow a megalomaniac corpo director, which Remy wants nothing to do with; fighting against corpos is as useless as trying to stay dry in the middle of the giant hellstorm that encircles the planet. But the storm-and the rebellion-are growing stronger by the minute.When Remy finds Kiran, he doesn't run away like she expects. Instead, he offers her a deal: help with the revolution and he'll reunite her with her friend. But can she really trust the boy who betrayed her once before? With the entire planet on the edge of all-out war, Remy will have to decide just how far she's willing to go to save one girl before the impending storm drowns them all.

With her signature charm and sense of humor, bestselling author Helena Hunting creates a novel about love, family, and second chances in Make a Wish.Ever have a defining life moment you wish you could do over? Harley Spark has one. The time she almost kissed the widowed father of the toddler she nannied for. It was so bad they moved across the state and she never saw them again. Fast forward seven years and she's totally over it. At least she thinks she is. Until Gavin Rhodes and his adorable now nine-year-old daughter, Peyton, reappear at a princess-themed birthday party hosted by Spark House, Harley's family's event hotel. Despite trying to avoid the awkwardness of the situation, she can't help but notice how unbearably sexy he looks in a tutu. Add to that a spontaneous hives breakout, and it's clear she's not even remotely over the mortification of her egregious error all those years ago. Except Gavin seems oblivious to her inner turmoil. So much so that he suggests they get together for lunch. For Peyton's sake, of course. It's the perfect opportunity to heal old wounds. Or it could just reopen them. This is one of those times Harley wishes she could see the future...

Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant, the #1 Essence bestselling authors of Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made now deliver Better Than I Know Myself, a novel in which you'll meet their most unforgettable characters yet. Carmen, Jewel, and Regina could not be more different. When they meet as freshmen at Columbia University, they're pretty confident that a friendship among them isn't in the cards. Jewel is Hollywood royalty: as the teenage star of the TV show "Daddy's Girl," her face is instantly recognizable all across America. Now, though, she wants two things-to get a serious education, and to leave her controlling stage mother behind. Regina is the definitive upper-middle-class African-American girl. Her picture-perfect parents are what she calls "black Ward and June Cleavers" and their goals for her are like a stranglehold. No one can see, though, how far Regina's rebellious side will take her (or how treacherous it will become). Carmen is just trying to get by. A child of the projects whose father is dead and whose mother has vanished, Carmen has been raised by her abusive brother. Columbia is the way for her to get a better life-if she can hold down two jobs and keep her GPA up. When the three of them meet, their lives are at a crossroad. And as the years progress, from the 1980s to the present day, they are challenged by drug addiction, fame, secrets from the past, sickness, betrayal, and the darkest things women can face. One of them won't survive. But what will be the lasting legacy of their friendship? Better Than I Know Myself is a novel of heartache, triumph, tears, and the unshakeable bonds among women.