Lauren Fortgang

Josie, the seventeen-year-old daughter of a French Quarter prostitute, is striving to escape 1950 New Orleans and enroll at prestigious Smith College when she becomes entangled in a murder investigation.

"It's 1965 in a tight-knit working-class neighborhood in Queens, New York, and Ruth Malone--a single mother who works long hours as a cocktail waitress--wakes to discover her two small children, Frankie Jr. and Cindy, have gone missing. Later that day, Cindy's body is found in a derelict lot a half mile from her home, strangled. Ten days later, Frankie Jr.'s decomposing body is found. Immediately, all fingers point to Ruth. As police investigate the...

"We spend too much time and energy managing perception and creating carefully edited versions of ourselves to show to the world. Everywhere we turn there are messages that tell us who, what, and how we're supposed to be. This shines a long-overdue light on an important truth: Our imperfections are what connect us to one another and to our humanity. Our vulnerabilities are not weaknesses; they are powerful reminders to keep our hearts and minds open...

A powerful mind magier and spy poses as a pampered princess to try to determine who is stealing royal tearstone, in the first novel of a new series set in the Crown of Shards world. Gemma Ripley's a reputation for being a pampered princess is carefully crafted to hide the fact that she is a powerful mind magier-- and a spy. Prince Leonidas Morricone of Morta is her mortal enemy, but she must join forces with him to discover who is stealing tearstone...

"Text me when you get home." After joyful nights out together, female friends say this to one another as a way of cementing their love. It's about safety; but more than that, it's about solidarity. A personal and sociological examination--and ultimately a celebration--of the evolution of female friendship in pop culture and modern society.

"When her quest to stop her enemy's plot to use magical tearstone weapons to conquer her kingdom leads her to a trade Summit amongst the royals, Gemma Ripley of Andvari is once again thrown together with her dangerous nemesis, Prince Leonidas."--

Seventeen-year-old Nora Holmes is an artist, a painter from the moment she could hold a brush. She inherited the skill from her grandfather, Robert, who's always nurtured Nora's talent and encouraged her to follow her passion. Still, Nora is shocked and elated when Robert offers her a gift: an all-expenses-paid summer trip to Europe to immerse herself in the craft and to study history's most famous artists. The only catch? Nora has to create an original...

"In chapters that alternate between the past and the present, Cat slowly recalls her life before she and her classmates were trapped inside School, where half of them are mutating, everyone is fearful, and self-destruction seems to be the only means of escape."--

Time is running out for crown princess Gemma Ripley. Despite being a cunning spy and a powerful mind magier, Gemma hasn't been able to track down the most dangerous enemy her kingdom of Andvari has ever seen. Adding to her worries is the Sword and Shield tournament. With gladiators flocking to the capital city of Glanzen, Gemma can't tell who is friend--or foe. Determined to protect Andvari at any cost, Gemma hatches a bold plan, but things aren't...

"In the fall of 1925, fourteen-year-old Ida enters a small-town high school after years of attending a rural one-room schoolhouse, but the enthusiasm she and her new friends have for the modern world and modern ways pits them against the school's old-fashioned principal."--