Lyrical, hilarious, and heartbreaking collection exploring Asian American identity, love, community, and power. In the aftermath of a messy divorce, Frances Kai-Hwa Wang writes in the hope of beginning to build a new life with four children, bossy aunties, unreliable suitors, and an uncertain political landscape. The lyric essays in You Cannot Resist Me When My Hair Is in Braids deftly navigate the space between cultures and reflect on lessons learned from both Asian American elders and young multiracial children, punctuated by moments rich with cultural and linguistic nuance. In her prologue, Wang explains, "Buddhists say that suffering comes from unsatisfied desire, so for years I tried to close the door to desire. I was so successful, I not only closed the door, I locked it, barred it, nailed it shut, then stacked a bunch of furniture in front of it. And now that door is open, wide open, and all my insides are spilling out." Full of current events of the day and #HashtagsOfTheMoment, the topics in the collection are wide ranging, including cooking food to show love, surviving Chinese School, being an underpaid lecturer, defending against yellow dildos, navigating immigration issues, finding love in a time of elections, crying with children separated from their parents at the border, charting the landscape of frugal/hoarder elders during the pandemic, witnessing COVID-inspired anti–Asian American violence while reflecting on the death of Vincent Chin, teaching her sixteen-year-old son to drive after the deaths of Trayvon Martin and George Floyd, and trusting the power of writing herself into existence. Within these lyric essays, some of which are accompanied by artwork and art installations, Wang finds the courage and hope to speak out for herself and for an entire generation of Asian American women. A notable work in the landscape of Asian American literature as well as Midwest and Michigan-based literature, You Cannot Resist Me When My Hair Is in Braids features a clear and powerful voice that brings all people together in these political and pandemic times.

Samantha inherits an old house in the countryside. Given the large amount of building work that needs to be done, her best friend persuades her to get in touch with all of her ex-boyfriends to help her with the renovations. What if behind this harebrained project, she finally meets the love of her life? "A funny and touching novel which makes us feel alive." Agnès Ruiz is the author of several best-sellers. She had huge success with her first novel “Ma vie assassinée”. She writes for both adults and children. Her short stories featuring the investigations of detective Rachel Toury have also been very successful in Europe as well as North America. Several translations are available. She is originally from Normandy (France) and lived in Canada for almost 20 years.

Playing doctor in paradise… Raegan Reynolds never realized just how hot the spotlight could burn until it nearly destroyed her surgical career. She knows who she is now, and she won’t let any man make her forget again. All she wants is to enjoy her vacation in the Dominican Republic before she lands the role of Denver’s Graton Gift Hospital’s newest chief surgeon. Thirty seconds. That’s all it takes for one perfect specimen of a man to take control of her passion. Under his rock-steady hands, her knees go too weak to do what she ought to do—walk away. Women don’t make Dr. Noah Alexander’s hands go clammy—until this one. One look at her freckled nose, crooked grin and intelligent eyes, and his pulse races. But she refuses to reveal her real name. Peeling away her layers won’t be easy, but he’s determined to make it happen. Just when he’s broken through her walls, however, Raegan’s reminded that giving into passion means sacrificing her career. Noah’s going to prove her wrong. He’s done playing games. For the first time where love is concerned, he’s playing for keeps.

From award-winning Carolyn Mackler, the story of Willa, who has been living with Sensory Processing Disorder but is thrown for a BIG loop when her dad announces he's dating Willa's best friend's mom. Willa likes certain things to be certain ways. Her socks have to be soft . . . and definitely can't have irritating tags on the inside. She loves the crunch of popcorn and nachos . . . but is grossed out by the crunch of a baby carrot. And slimy foods? Those are the worst.Willa can manage all these things -- but there are some things she can't deal with, like her father's big news. He's been keeping a big secret from her . . . that he's been dating the mom of Willa's best friend Ruby. Willa does NOT like the idea of them being together. And she does NOT like the idea of combining families. And she does NOT like the idea of her best friend becoming her sister overnight. Will she go along with all of these changes? NOT if she can help it!

Lola Nolan is a budding costume designer, and for her, the more outrageous, sparkly, and fun the outfit, the better. And everything is pretty perfect in her life (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the negihborhood. When Cricket, a gifted inventor, steps out from his twin sister's shadow and back into Lola's life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

From the bestselling author of A Million Kisses In Your Lifetime, this is the deliciously dark Lancaster Prep novel that will have you hanging onto every word . . . 'Whit and Summer's chemistry is absolute fire from the beginning. I'm literally STILL thinking about it after reading it TWICE!!' 5***** Reader Review 'Dark, twisty, and utterly enthralling. A page turning blend of combustible chemistry, a strong sassy heroine, dark desires and red-hot steam' 5***** Reader Review _________ Whit Lancaster is the cold, heartless and devastatingly handsome bad boy at Lancaster Prep. Beautiful Summer Savage has no time for Whit. But his intense gaze traps her under a spell. Fills her with a longing she doesn't understand. When Whit gets into trouble one night, Summer invites him in. Tends to his wounds. Lets her guard down, just for a moment . . . Which is when Whit takes off in the dead of night. Taking her journal with him. Now he holds all her darkest secrets, threatening to expose her to the entire school. So Summer strikes a deal with Whit. A deal that leaves her at his mercy behind closed doors . . . But what if he's at hers? _________ Readers CANNOT COPE with THINGS I WANTED TO SAY . . . 'Filled with lies, lust & betrayal . . . The heat is sizzling off the pages' 5***** Reader Review 'From start to finish you are hanging onto every single word. For the last 24 hours this book was my entire life. I ate, slept and breathed this story and this couple' 5***** Reader Review 'Bold, brazen, depraved, and delicious! Their chemistry is complicated and consuming. A beautiful mess - equal parts twisted and magical' 5***** Reader Review 'Sensual and scandalous! Monica Murphy creates a world that surrounds you in Whit and Summer's story' 5***** Reader Review 'The push and pull between Whit Lancaster and Summer Savage is fierce' 5***** Reader Review 'You get so much red hot chemistry that sizzles off the pages throughout the entire read when it comes to Whit and Summer. I could not get enough of this one' 5***** Reader Review 'Intense and fabulously consuming. I loved every heart-pounding, gut-wrenching, over-the-top sexy moment' 5***** Reader Review

Borenstein’s twelve stories are literary timepieces she fashioned during fi fty years of writing fi ction. Favoring the decades as nesting dolls for her interplay of imagination with memory, she evokes the ever-shifting spirit of the times through the lives of her characters, creatures of days swift-fl owing from time past through the evanescent present toward the somedays of an ever-receding horizon. Shadows of a growing distance from youthful dreams of invincibility lengthen across “the American century” as it grows older. Her Afterword celebrates the short story as self-replenishing for readers journeying on from a once-upon-a-time moment in American history.

From the author of the bestselling Bangkok Eight, John Burdett, an exotic, intoxicating new novel featuring Sonchai Jitpleecheep, Thai Buddhist detective extraordinaire. Thai police detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep is summoned to investigate the most shocking murder of his career. Solving it could mean a promotion but, still reeling from a personal tragedy, Sonchai is more interested in an exiled Tibetan lama living in Kathmandu. But there are obstacles in Sonchai's path to enlightenment. Police Colonel Vikorn and Army General Zinna are at war again for control over Bangkok's network of illegal enterprises - and the Tibetan lama has forty million dollars' worth of heroin for sale. With his life in increasing danger, Sonchai is put to the extreme test in John Burdett's most inventive, darkly comic and wickedly entertaining novel yet.

A STANDALONE second chance, enemies-to-lovers romance set in the cutthroat world of sports management. They're two sharks in a fish tank... JARED If I had a dollar for every time Banner Morales made my heart skip a beat... The heart everyone assumes is frozen over. Her anger is... arousing. Every glare from those fire-spitting eyes, every time she grits her teeth, gets me... well, you know. If I had a dollar for every time she's put me in my place, I'd be an even richer man. I'm a successful sports agent because I assume "no" means you'll think about it. I'm sure what you meant to say is "Coming right up." They say even rich men don't always get what they want, but those men don't know how to play the game. The trick is to keep them guessing. Take Banner. She assumes she's winning, but this game? She doesn't even know how to play. BANNER If I had a dollar for every time Jared Foster broke my heart, I'd have exactly one dollar. One night. One epic fail. One dollar... and I'm out. I've moved on. I've found success in a field ruled by men. Anything they can do, I have done better. They can keep the field while I call the shots, blocking them when I have to. And Jared has the nerve to think he gets a second chance? Boy, please. Go sit down. Have several seats. I'll just be over here ignoring the man carved from my fantasies with a lust-tipped chisel. Oh, I didn't say the struggle wasn't real. But I've got that one dollar, and Jared won't have me.

It's not that she isn't having any fun, but Niecy had to keep it real. She was sick of liquor, lying, and being loose. "Liquor brings the freak out in a lot of people. But, like the preacher said this morning, I can't do anything about what I used to do. These days I've narrowed my drinks down to two or three. I know I could stop cold turkey if I wanted to. I do realize half the brothers I would have thought were fine once upon a time don't look so good now. Just last week I ran into an old bed buddy, Wesley, who I thought, at the time, looked like Shemar Moore. As long as I was drinking. But, now he looks more like a salamander." An experience at church compels Niecy to really evaluate her life and stop talking change, but to actually do something to steer herself into a life of peace and real joy. A life that begins with letting go. Nonetheless, like her pastor says, "with new levels come new devils". And when that devil smells good, feels good, and can charm the sugar out of a cake