The Virgin Cure

The Virgin Cure, by Ami McKay. "I know someone who can help you make a new start," Mae said, pushing her bowl aside. "She'll put you in new clothes, give you a place to stay-" The cut of her dress, the quality of her boots, the winning smile she'd given the oyster opener,...

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The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns

The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns, by Margaret Dilloway. Most people are surprised by my rose hobby. I took more like I'd have a secret science lab in my basement, a torture chamber, perhaps, than a rose garden. Roses are frilly and soft and sweet-smelling, which I...

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Whiplash River

Whiplash River, by Lou Berney. Shake remembered the real Roland Ziegler. The real Roland Ziegler had been feeling pretty good about himself back in Panama City three years ago, about to walk away with both the money and the merchandise, back to his private island in the Caribbean....

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The Chaperone

The Chaperone, by Laura Moriarty. "Alan. Do you know Leonard Brooks?" She waited for his nod, though she already knew the answer. Alan knew all of the other lawyers in town. "Well," she said, "his eldest daughter got into a dance school in New York. He and his wife would...

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Shatter Me

Shatter Me, by Tahereh Mafi. He opens my door with immense difficulty and I realize someone's hurt him where I can't see it. Warner's words come back to me and I recognize his airy good-bye as a warning. A warning that severs every nerve ending in my body. Adam will be punished...

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The Girl Below

The Girl Below, by Bianca Zander. Mistaking me for Hillary meant Peggy didn't know, or had forgotten, that my mother was no longer alive. When people forgot I often couldn't bring myself to correct them. Sometimes they started reminiscing about Hillary's beauty, the way she'd...

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