HPL 2024 Fiction Spotlight

"On the day Juliet Lansdown reports to work for the first time at Bethnal Green Library, it isn't the bustling hub she's been expecting. But in the face of German attacks, she's determined to make it a place where all of their neighbors feel safe and welcome. Katie Upwood is thrilled to be working at the library too, though she's only there until she heads off to university in the fall. But after the death of her beau on the front lines and unexpected...

"It's 1954 on far-flung Verona Island, a tropical paradise with a fragile economy and a rising crime rate. Prostitution is legal and Lila Gulliver is proud of her business, a high-end brothel where her clients are guaranteed privacy and discretion. When Carità Bercy, a young, destitute, and beautiful blind woman arrives at her door seeking employment, Lila decides to give her a chance. Carità proves a valuable asset to the house, as well as a psychological...

"Vibrant and scrappy Maggie McCleod tried not to get fired from her wartime orchestra, but her sharp tongue landed her in trouble, so an overseas adventure with the USO's camp show promises a chance at a fresh start. Wealthy and elegant Catherine Duquette signs with the USO to leave behind her restrictive life of privilege and to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of the handsome pilot whose letters mysteriously stopped arriving. The two women...

"Their name? The objectors. Their job? To break off weddings as hired. Their dilemma? They might just be in love with each other. When Sophie Steinbeck finds out just before her wedding that her fiancé has cheated yet again, she desperately wants to call it off. But because her future father-in-law is her dad's cutthroat boss, she doesn't want to be the one to do it. Her savior comes in the form of a professional objector, whose purpose is to show...

"Birdie Robinson thought she'd gotten everything she wanted out of life: fame, adoration and an A-list career as Hollywood's most beloved ingenue. But after an on-set feud goes viral, she's forced to go into hiding in the one place where no one would think to find her: her childhood home. Wallowing in her bedroom, she stumbles upon an anonymous love letter from a former boyfriend and decides that a very public reunion with her nameless suitor could...

"This modern reimagining of Persuasion is full of witty banter, romantic angst, and compelling characters as it captures the heart of the classic Jane Austen novel. When Anne Elliott broke up with Ben Wentworth it seemed like the right thing to do, but now eight years later, she's not so sure. In her tourist destination hometown, Anne is comfortable and confident in the life she's built for herself. She has a successful career filling her late mother's...