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Rachel Hawkins, author of The Heiress

When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she’s not only North Carolina’s richest woman, she’s also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family’s estate high in the Blue Ridge Mountains. But in the aftermath of Ruby’s death, her adopted son, Camden, wants little to do with the house or the money --- and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. Ten years later, his uncle’s death pulls Camden and his wife, Jules, back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but the legacy of Ruby is inescapable. And as Ashby House tightens its grip on Camden and Jules, questions about the infamous heiress come to light.

Editorial Content for Before We Were Innocent

Teaser

BEFORE WE WERE INNOCENT is a compulsive, twisty suspense novel about three best friends’ summer abroad in Greece that ends in murder and what happens 10 years later when history appears to repeat itself.

Promo

BEFORE WE WERE INNOCENT is a compulsive, twisty suspense novel about three best friends’ summer abroad in Greece that ends in murder and what happens 10 years later when history appears to repeat itself.

About the Book

A summer in Greece for three best friends ends in the unthinkable when only two return home.
 
Ten years ago, after a sun-soaked summer spent in Greece, best friends Bess and Joni were cleared of having any involvement in their friend Evangeline’s death. But that didn’t stop the media from ripping apart their teenage lives like vultures.
 
While the girls were never convicted, Joni, ever the opportunist, capitalized on her newfound infamy to become a motivational speaker. Bess, on the other hand, resolved to make her life as small and controlled as possible so she wouldn’t risk losing everything all over again. And it almost worked.
 
Except now Joni needs a favor, and when she turns up at her old friend's doorstep asking for an alibi, Bess has no choice but to say yes. She still owes her. But as the two friends try desperately to shake off their past, they have to face reality.

Can you ever be an innocent woman when everyone wants you to be guilty?

Editorial Content for The Frozen River

Teaser

From the New York Times bestselling author of I WAS ANASTASIA and CODE NAME HÉLÈNE comes a gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.

Promo

From the New York Times bestselling author of I WAS ANASTASIA and CODE NAME HÉLÈNE comes a gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.

About the Book

From the New York Times bestselling author of I WAS ANASTASIA and CODE NAME HÉLÈNE comes a gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.

Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine the cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen --- one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own.

Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie.

Clever, layered and subversive, Ariel Lawhon’s newest offering introduces an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. THE FROZEN RIVER is a thrilling, tense and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.

Editorial Content for Half a Cup of Sand and Sky

Teaser

A finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, HALF A CUP OF SAND AND SKY is a moving portrait of one woman’s search for love and belonging cast against a nuanced backdrop of political turmoil.

Promo

A finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, HALF A CUP OF SAND AND SKY is a moving portrait of one woman’s search for love and belonging cast against a nuanced backdrop of political turmoil.

About the Book

A finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, HALF A CUP OF SAND AND SKY is a moving portrait of one woman’s search for love and belonging cast against a nuanced backdrop of political turmoil.

It is 1977, and the anti-shah protests at Tehran University are intensifying, but Amineh is not like her peers who want a say in the future of their country. Her thoughts are on the beautiful literature of another era and her past of rose harvests and Rumi poetry evenings under the desert sky. A chance encounter with Farzad, an opposition leader and disarmament activist, will thrust her into a life she didn’t ask for and didn’t want. Nobody wanted the tyranny that is quickly turning worse than the tyranny it replaced. But maybe Amineh has been looking at her life all wrong. Maybe the thing she is seeking is not in the past at all.

Editorial Content for The Mystery Guest: A Maid Novel

Teaser

A new mess. A new mystery. It’s up to Molly the maid to uncover the truth, no matter how dirty, in this stand-alone novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE MAID, a "Good Morning America" Book Club pick.

Promo

A new mess. A new mystery. It’s up to Molly the maid to uncover the truth, no matter how dirty, in this stand-alone novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE MAID, a "Good Morning America" Book Club pick.

About the Book

A new mess. A new mystery. It’s up to Molly the maid to uncover the truth, no matter how dirty, in this stand-alone novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE MAID, a "Good Morning America" Book Club pick.

Molly Gray is not like anyone else. With her flair for cleaning and proper etiquette, she has risen through the ranks of the glorious five-star Regency Grand Hotel to become the esteemed Head Maid. But just as her life reaches a pinnacle state of perfection, her world is turned upside down when J. D. Grimthorpe, the world-renowned mystery author, drops dead --- very dead --- on the hotel’s tearoom floor.

When Detective Stark, Molly’s old foe, investigates the author’s unexpected demise, it becomes clear that this death was murder most foul. Suspects abound, and everyone wants to know: Who killed J. D. Grimthorpe? Was it Lily, the new Maid-in-Training? Or was it Serena, the author’s secretary? Could Mr. Preston, the hotel’s beloved doorman, be hiding something? And is Molly really as innocent as she seems?

As the high-profile death threatens the hotel’s pristine reputation, Molly knows she alone holds the key to unlocking the killer’s identity. But that key is buried deep in her past, as long ago, she knew J. D. Grimthorpe. Molly begins to comb her memory for clues, revisiting her childhood and the mysterious Grimthorpe mansion where she and her dearly departed Gran once worked side by side. With the entire hotel under investigation, Molly must solve the mystery posthaste. Because if there’s one thing she knows for sure, it’s that secrets don’t stay buried forever.

Editorial Content for The Other Mothers

Teaser

The author of the twisty, whip-smart GREENWICH PARK returns with a fresh and deftly paced thriller about murder, class and motherhood in an exclusive London community.

Promo

The author of the twisty, whip-smart GREENWICH PARK returns with a fresh and deftly paced thriller about murder, class and motherhood in an exclusive London community.

About the Book

The author of the “twisty, fast-paced” (The Sunday Times, London) GREENWICH PARK returns with a fresh and deftly paced thriller about murder, class and motherhood in an exclusive London community.

When a young nanny is found dead under mysterious circumstances, new mom Tash is intrigued. She has been searching for a story to launch her career as a freelance journalist. But she also has been searching for something else --- new friends to help her navigate motherhood.

She sees them at her son’s new playgroup. The other mothers. A group of sleek, sophisticated women who live in a neighborhood of tree-lined avenues and stunning houses. The sort of mothers Tash herself would like to be. When the mothers welcome her into their circle, Tash discovers the kind of life she has always dreamt of --- their elegant London townhouses a far cry from her cramped basement flat and endless bills. She is quickly swept up into their wealthy world via coffees, cocktails and playdates.

But when another young woman is found dead, it’s clear there’s much more to the community than meets the eye. The more Tash investigates, the more she’s led uncomfortably close to the other mothers. Are these women really her friends? Or is there another, more dangerous reason that she has been so quickly accepted into their exclusive world? Who, exactly, is investigating who?

Editorial Content for We Must Not Think of Ourselves

Teaser

Inspired by a little-known piece of history --- the underground group that kept an archive to ensure that the lives of Jewish occupants of the Warsaw Ghetto in World War II were not lost to history --- this is a heart-wrenching novel of love and defiance that People calls "gripping, emotional, and against all odds, hopeful."

Promo

Inspired by a little-known piece of history --- the underground group that kept an archive to ensure that the lives of Jewish occupants of the Warsaw Ghetto in World War II were not lost to history --- this is a heart-wrenching novel of love and defiance that People calls "gripping, emotional, and against all odds, hopeful."

About the Book

Inspired by a little-known piece of history --- the underground group that kept an archive to ensure that the lives of Jewish occupants of the Warsaw Ghetto in World War II were not lost to history --- this is a heart-wrenching novel of love and defiance that People calls "gripping, emotional, and against all odds, hopeful."

On a November day in 1940, Adam Paskow becomes a prisoner in the Warsaw Ghetto, where the Jews of the city are cut off from their former lives and held captive by Nazi guards, and await an uncertain fate. Weeks later, he is approached by a mysterious figure with a surprising request: Will he join a secret group of archivists working to preserve the truth of what is happening inside these walls?

Adam agrees and begins taking testimonies from his students, friends and neighbors. He learns about their childhoods and their daydreams, their passions and their fears, their desperate strategies for safety and survival. The stories form a portrait of endurance in a world where no choices are good ones.

One of the people Adam interviews is his flatmate Sala Wiskoff, who is stoic, determined and funny --- and married with two children. Over the months of their confinement, in the presence of her family, Adam and Sala fall in love. As they desperately carve out intimacy, their relationship feels both impossible and vital, their connection keeping them alive.

But when Adam discovers a possible escape from the Ghetto, he is faced with an unbearable choice: Whom can he save, and at what cost?

Inspired by the testimony-gathering project with the code name Oneg Shabbat, New York Times bestselling author Lauren Grodstein draws readers into the lives of people living on the edge. Told with immediacy and heart, WE MUST NOT THINK OF OURSELVES is a piercing story of love, determination and sacrifice.

Most Requested Guides of 2023

We took a look at all of the guides that you accessed in 2023, and from there we pulled together a list of the top 30 titles, which you can see below. We love finding out which books resonated the most with you and your group!

February 2024 Bookaccino Live Event

Ashley Elston, author of First Lie Wins

The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss, Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job. Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job will be different. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can’t make any mistakes --- especially after what happened last time. Because the one thing she’s worked her entire life to keep clean, the one identity she could always go back to --- her real identity --- just walked right into this town. Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there’s still a future in front of her.