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March 28, 2026

Typically, for our book group discussions, we toss out ideas about what to read next. And in the last five minutes of the meeting, we nail down a pick. This month, we made a quick selection at the end of the night, choosing a book that someone thought looked interesting and none of us had read before. We have a group text chat, and from what I am seeing, I am not sure if anyone is going to finish the book. We do not require someone to read the book to come to the meeting. There is a lot of bookish conversation even if the assigned book has not been finished or enjoyed.

Patrick Ryan Book Group Event

Sarah McCoy, author of Whatever Happened to Lori Lovely?

In 1969, 23-year-old starlet Lori Lovely shocks the world by ditching a promising film career to take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience as a Benedictine nun. Gossip columnists and scandal sheets can’t get enough of the story. Why would such a beautiful girl take the veil? Did it have anything to do with the tragic death of her costar, heartthrob singer Lucas Wesley? In 1990, Lu Tibbott is under the gun to complete her senior thesis in modern American history. She decides to dig into a true 20th-century mystery and write about her aunt Lori, now the Mother Abbess at a cloistered convent in rural New England. Mother Lori has refused all requests for interviews --- until Lu arrives at the abbey with a tape recorder in hand. To her delight, Mother Lori announces she’s finally ready to talk...but only if Lu is truly ready to listen.

Olesya Salnikova Gilmore, author of The Fortune Tellers of Rue Daru

Zina and her grandmother, Baba Valya, own a tearoom on rue Daru in Paris, where they have lived quietly since Zina’s mother’s untimely death. By day, the women serve tea. But when dusk falls, they divine fortunes and perform séances for their loyal clientele. Then the charming Princess Olga and her brother arrive, searching for knowledge about the disappearance of their father, the exiled Grand Duke, cousin of the last Tsar of Russia. Zina performs the séance and is able to summon the Grand Duke. But to her horror, he starts to haunt the shop and seems to know something sinister about her mother’s death. As Zina delves into her family’s hidden past, dark secrets are unearthed, threatening the home and tearoom Zina and her grandmother have worked so hard to build, not to mention their very lives.

Elle Cosimano, author of Finlay Donovan Crosses the Line

Finlay Donovan’s nanny and partner-in-crime, Vero, has been extradited from Virginia to Maryland, where she’s facing criminal charges for a theft she swears she didn’t commit. A prisoner to an ankle bracelet as she awaits her trial, Vero is forced to live with her overbearing mother and nosy aunt. Threatening messages keep arriving on her mother’s door, demanding that Vero “turn over the money…or else.” But proving her innocence might be an impossible feat. Vero was the treasurer of her sorority when the money went missing --- one of the only people who had access to the cash. And her alibi is a date who ghosted her. With her court date quickly approaching, and her mysterious stalker on her tail, she needs to clear her name fast. Finlay sets off on a mission to suss out the real thief and bring Vero home.

Lisa Unger, author of Served Him Right

Ana Blacksmith has gathered her closest friends and sister, Vera, for a brunch to celebrate her recent breakup from her boyfriend, Paul. But when shocking news about Paul arrives, all eyes are on Ana, the angry ex with a bad reputation. Suspicions only intensify when Ana’s best friend falls deathly ill after the brunch. But Ana is not the only one who had a score to settle with Paul. As the investigation unfolds, rumors of a secret network that uses ancient methods to obtain justice begin to emerge. Vengeance is sweet, but it also can be deadly. Ana and Vera are determined to find the truth before Ana takes the fall and their own long-buried history comes to light.

M. L. Stedman, author of A Far-flung Life

Remote Western Australia, 1958. Here, for generations, the MacBrides have lived on a vast sheep station, Meredith Downs. It is a million acres, an ocean of arid land. On an ordinary day, on a lonely road, under the unending blue sky, patriarch Phil MacBride swerves to avoid a kangaroo. In seconds, the lives of the entire MacBride family are shattered. And then, tragedy revisits when a twist of consequences claims the life of one sibling and leads another to give up everything for the sake of an innocent child. Matt, the youngest MacBride, is plunged into a moral and emotional journey for which there is no map, no guide. The secrets at the heart of A FAR-FLUNG LIFE force him to choose between love and duty, sacrifice and happiness.

Marie Benedict, author of Daughter of Egypt

In the 1920s, archaeologist Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon of Highclere Castle made headlines around the world with the discovery of the treasure-filled tomb of the boy Pharaoh Tutankhamun. But behind it all stood Lady Evelyn Herbert --- daughter of Lord Carnarvon --- whose daring spirit and relentless curiosity made the momentous find possible. Nearly 3,000 years earlier, another woman defied the expectations of her time: Hatshepsut, Egypt’s lost pharaoh. Her reign was bold, visionary --- and nearly erased from history. When Evelyn becomes obsessed with finding Hatshepsut’s secret tomb, she risks everything to uncover the truth about her reign and keep valued artifacts in Egypt, their rightful home. But as danger closes in and political tensions rise, she must make an impossible choice: protect her father’s legacy --- or forge her own.

Editorial Content for Daughter of Egypt

Teaser

Known for her “delightful blend of historical fiction and suspense” (People), New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict returns with a sweeping tale of a young woman who unearths the truth about a forgotten Pharaoh --- rewriting both of their legacies forever.

Promo

Known for her “delightful blend of historical fiction and suspense” (People), New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict returns with a sweeping tale of a young woman who unearths the truth about a forgotten Pharaoh --- rewriting both of their legacies forever.

About the Book

Known for her “delightful blend of historical fiction and suspense” (People), New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict returns with a sweeping tale of a young woman who unearths the truth about a forgotten Pharaoh --- rewriting both of their legacies forever.

In the 1920s, archaeologist Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon of Highclere Castle made headlines around the world with the discovery of the treasure-filled tomb of the boy Pharaoh Tutankhamun. But behind it all stood Lady Evelyn Herbert --- daughter of Lord Carnarvon --- whose daring spirit and relentless curiosity made the momentous find possible.

Nearly 3,000 years earlier, another woman defied the expectations of her time: Hatshepsut, Egypt’s lost pharaoh. Her reign was bold, visionary --- and nearly erased from history.

When Evelyn becomes obsessed with finding Hatshepsut’s secret tomb, she risks everything to uncover the truth about her reign and keep valued artifacts in Egypt, their rightful home. But as danger closes in and political tensions rise, she must make an impossible choice: protect her father’s legacy --- or forge her own.

Propelled by high adventure and deadly intrigue, DAUGHTER OF EGYPT is the story of two ambitious women who lived centuries apart. Both were forced to hide who they were during their lifetimes, yet they ultimately changed history forever.

Editorial Content for Daughters

Book

Teaser

From award-winning author Corinne Demas comes a moving story about the sometimes volatile but ultimately unbreakable bonds between mothers and daughters.

Promo

From award-winning author Corinne Demas comes a moving story about the sometimes volatile but ultimately unbreakable bonds between mothers and daughters.

About the Book

From award-winning author Corinne Demas comes a moving story about the sometimes volatile but ultimately unbreakable bonds between mothers and daughters.

When Meredith flies home to New England, daughter Eloise in tow, she leaves her husband and a life back in LA. A heartbreaking loss is killing their marriage. So she looks to her mother and siblings for the support she desperately needs, and the love her daughter surely deserves --- two things her husband can’t seem to provide.

Meredith’s mother, Delia, is thrilled by their sudden arrival at the family farm. But her husband braces for the chaos his stepdaughter and granddaughter will surely bring. Meredith’s announcement that she’s moved home for good takes the whole family by surprise and turns everything upside down.

While wrestling with her future, artist Meredith is forced to confront her past --- and the disappointment she believes her mother, a violin teacher, felt when musically gifted Meredith abandoned the violin.

As Meredith works to repair relationships with members of her family, an old flame turns up and further complicates her life.

Delia, in a desperate attempt to rescue her daughter’s marriage, does something unforgivable, and Meredith has to decide if she should uproot Eloise and take off. When Eloise goes missing, help arrives from an unexpected quarter.