ON THE SHELF: Large print finds to keep you on the edge of your seat
Published 8:00 am Sunday, April 10, 2022
- Pictured is the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library. (File photo/The Vicksburg Post)
This column was submitted by Evangeline Cessna, Local History Librarian at the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library.
This week we are featuring more fiction titles, but these are from our New Large Print collection.
Denise Williams delivers her latest romance with “The Fastest Way To Fall.” Britta Colby works for a lifestyle website and has just been tasked with writing about her experience with the hottest new body-positive fitness app. This is her opportunity to prove that she can write for the site full time. All she has to do is test all the features of the app including its personal coaching option. Wes Lawson is the CEO of the FitMe app which provides him with the financial security he grew up without. Despite his success, however, his family situation leaves him feeling isolated and unfulfilled and his love life has fizzled. He has decided to reconnect with the things he loves, so this means coaching clients from the app. Britta becomes his first new client and they connect immediately. Both are surprised at how much they look forward to seeing one another and they convince themselves that their flirtations are harmless. As their attraction to one another grows, they find themselves unable to maintain a strictly professional relationship. Wes technically isn’t supposed to be seeing clients and Britta’s credibility will be shot if the lifestyle site finds out she’s practically dating the fitness coach she’s supposed to be reviewing. Will they walk away from a good thing, or will they choose to run away with each other’s hearts?
Author Gina Wilkinson debuts her first novel with the suspenseful “When the Apricots Bloom.” Wilkinson draws on her time as a foreign correspondent to bring to life the story of three courageous women who struggle with trust, friendship, motherhood and betrayal at the turn of the 21st century in Iraq. Huda is a secretary at the Australian embassy who lives in fear of the mukhabarat — the secret police who watch and listen for any information that can be used against America and its allies. She has been ordered to befriend Ally Wilson, the deputy ambassador’s wife. Though she doesn’t want to spy on her friend, she is afraid the militia will force her teenage son to join them if she refuses. Little does Huda know that Ally has some dark secrets of her own. And then there is Rania, a former friend of Huda who grew up with wealth and privilege as the daughter of a sheik. Now, her family’s fortune is gone, and Rania is also battling to keep her child safe and keep a roof over their heads. As these three lives intersect, the past bleeds into the present and all three will discover how much they are willing to sacrifice for their families.
“Revival Season” is the debut novel of author Monica West. Fifteen-year-old Miriam Horton is the daughter of one of the South’s most prominent Baptist preachers. Every summer she and her family pack themselves into their old minivan and travel through small Southern towns for revival season: the time when her father holds massive healing services for people desperate for relief from their ailments and diseases. This summer’s revival season doesn’t go as planned, however. Reverend Horton’s healing powers are tested like never before and Miriam witnesses a horrific act of violence that shakes her belief in her father and her faith. When they return home, Miriam discovers that she, too, may have the power to heal, but she is confused because her father and church elders have made it clear that this gift is denied to women. Over the course of the next year, Miriam will have to decide between her faith, her family and her newfound power. Her gifts may be able to save others, but if her father finds out, it could destroy everything.
Master of urban fiction, Carl Weber along with C.N. Phillips has titled his latest “The Education of Nevada Duncan.” In this spin-off to the Family Business series, the heir to a crime family finds himself the target of a new enemy and he may need more than his family to save him. Nevada Duncan is the rightful heir to the Duncan and Zuniga crime family fortunes, but before he can assume leadership, he must be educated about the family business. With the encouragement of his father, Nevada enrolls in Chi’s Finishing School, his father’s alma mater. Chi’s is the world’s most elite school for the children of underworld figures. On his first day, Nevada meets a group of misfits from around the world and they quickly become best friends. What he doesn’t know is that there is a deadly adventure waiting for him and a sinister new enemy lurking in the shadows. His new enemy wants what Nevada has and will do anything to get it. Nevada Duncan will have to learn the importance, not only of family but also of friendship when this new threat comes knocking.
The latest historical fiction from Roxanne Veletzos is called “When the Summer Was Ours.” Eva Cesar arrives in the idyllic town of Sopron, Hungary, in the summer of 1943 to spend some time on her aristocratic family’s estate before she marries. As the war encroaches on the country’s borders, Eva longs to escape her domineering father’s household and cannot wait to be married to the kind and dedicated Red Cross doctor whom she greatly admires. Her feelings begin to change however when she meets Aleandro, a charming and passionate Romani fiddler and artist. The two fall deeply in love despite their profound class differences. They are separated by a horrific act of hatred, and each tries to forget their romance as they are swept along on the tides of the war. The haunting memory of their romance reverberates through the generations. From the horrors of World War II to the tensions of the 1956 Hungarian uprising and beyond, this sweeping story explores the toll of secrets, the blurry lines between sacrifice and obsession and the endurance of the human spirit.