Rosetta doesn't want her new husband Jeremiah to enlist as a soldier in the Civil War, but he joins up nonetheless, hoping to make enough money that they'll be able to afford their own farm someday. Determined to be with him, no matter the cost, Rosetta cuts off her hair, hems an old pair of his pants, and signs up as a Union soldier. Fearing discovery of her secret, Rosetta’s strong will clashes with Jeremiah’s as their marriage is tested by war.

In 1960s California, Rebecca Madden and her friend Alex dream of lives beyond their mothers' narrow expectations. Their struggle to define themselves against the backdrop of an American cultural revolution unites them early on, until a single act of betrayal changes everything. Decades later, Rebecca’s haunting meditation on the past reveals the truth about that night, the years that followed, and the friendship that shaped her.

How many ways can two people wound each other? In James Whitfield Thomson's debut novel, LIES YOU WANTED TO HEAR, Lucy's husband, Matt, has taken their children and fled. This seems 100% unforgivable, until we read the backstory of terrible wrongs committed by wife against husband, and mother against child. Then we're left wondering.

In this conclusion to Adriana Trigiani's Valentine trilogy, Valentine Roncalli is marrying Gianluca Vechiarelli, the love of her life. However, she hasn't truly considered the cultural and age differences between an American businesswoman and a native Italian who's 18 years her senior. The repercussions lead to a rollercoaster love story with a powerful emotional payoff.

Nora de Jong returns home from work one day to find her mother has been murdered. Her infant daughter is missing. And the only clue is the body of an unknown man on the living-room floor, clutching a Luger in his cold, dead hand. The contents of a locked metal box Nora finds in her parents' attic leave her with as many questions as answers --- and suggest the killer was not a stranger.

Seventeen-year-old Morgan Monetti shocks her parents and her community with one simple act: She chooses to stand by the man everyone else believes has exploited her --- popular high school teacher TJ Hill. Quietly walking across a crowded courtroom to sit behind TJ, and not beside her parents, she announces herself as the adult she believes herself to be.

As Alma Whittaker's careful studies of moss take her deeper into the mysteries of evolution, the man she comes to love draws her in the opposite direction --- into the realm of the spiritual, the divine and the magical. Alma is a clear-minded scientist; Ambrose is a Utopian artist. But what unites this couple is a shared passion for knowing --- a desperate need to understand the workings of this world and the mechanisms behind all of life.

Cecilia Fitzpatrick unearths a Pandora's box when she discovers a letter from her husband, John-Paul, to be opened only after his death. Despite her still-very-much-alive husband's plea not to read the letter, she ultimately can't resist. Sadly, the secrets within have the power to decimate her life.

Jill McCorkle’s first novel in 17 years is alive with the daily triumphs and challenges of the residents and staff of Pine Haven Estates, a retirement facility now home to a good many of Fulton, North Carolina’s older citizens. As she connects their lives through their present circumstances, their pasts, and, in some cases, their deaths, McCorkle celebrates the blessings and wisdom of later life and infuses this remarkable novel with hope and laughter.

Elsa Emerson relishes appearing onstage, where she soaks up the approval of her father and the embrace of the audience. But when tragedy strikes her family, her acting becomes more than a child's game of pretend. While still in her teens, Elsa marries and flees to Los Angeles. There she is discovered by Irving Green, one of the most powerful executives in Hollywood, who refashions her as a serious, exotic brunette and renames her Laura Lamont.