Filled with the bestselling, award-winning author's trademark wordplay and inventive storytelling, here is the dizzyingly entertaining, wickedly humorous story of a mysterious stranger whose sudden appearance during a family’s summer holiday transforms four variously unhappy people.
Each of the Smarts—parents Eve and Michael, son Magnus, and the youngest, daughter Astrid—encounter Amber in his or her own

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In the words of Alexander McCall Smith: 'You feel the rocking of the train, you hear the sound of its wheels on the rails; you are in the world rather than suspended somewhere above it. And sometimes there are conversations to be had, which is what the overarching story in this collection is all about. It is a simple device: people brought together entertain one another with tales of what happened to them on trains. It takes place on a journey I frequently...

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She's even started to feel like she knows them. "Jess and Jason," she calls them. Their life -- as she sees it -- is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost. And then she sees something shocking. It's only a...

"Nine people gather at a remote health resort. Some are here to lose weight, some are here to get a reboot on life, some are here for reasons they can't even admit to themselves. Amid all the luxury and pampering, the mindfulness and meditation, they know these ten days might involve some real work. But none of them could imagine just how challenging the next ten days are going to be. Frances Welty, the formerly bestselling romantic novelist, arrives...

When her plane is delayed overnight, Gaby Struthers finds herself forced to share a hotel room with a stranger: a terrified young woman named Lauren Cookson--but why is she scared of Gaby in particular? Lauren won't explain. Instead, she blurts out something about an innocent man going to prison for a murder he didn't commit, and Gaby soon suspects that Lauren's presence on her flight can't be a coincidence. Because the murder victim is Francine Breary,...

Heath Rayne, a dashing Southerner, has been waiting for his chance to meet Lucinda Caldwell, but he never expects to find the spirited beauty in such a desperate dilemma, as he rescues her from an icy New England river. When Lucinda opens her eyes, she is stunned to find herself in the arms of a handsome stranger with a dangerous reputation - a man forbidden to her by the rules of society and by her own guarded heart. But the chance encounter kindles...

"Krista Galloway has a good reason to dislike the holiday season, but when her new job as city manager forces her to plan the town's over-the-top Christmas celebration, she and her daughter may find a new home -- and some Christmas spirit -- in the process"-- After a rough childhood in multiple foster homes, Krista Galloway is not a fan of Christmas. When she accepts a job as a city manager in the mountain town of Winter Hill, Washington, Christmas...

At thirty-two, Fern's running her mother's lakeside resort - something she vowed never to do. The place is in disarray, her ex-boyfriend's the manager, and Fern doesn't know where to begin. She needs a lifeline. To her surprise, it comes in the form of Will Baxter, who arrives nine years too late. Will may be the only person who understands what Fern's going through. But how could she possibly trust this expensive-suit-wearing mirage who seems nothing...

"Three lifelong friends plus a dangerous, sexy new stranger in town add up to a scorching summer of manipulation, obsession, and murder, from the acclaimed author of The Hunting Wives. A woman in the forest thinks she's going to die. I know he's coming back for me. Jen Miller, Kittie Spears, and Cynthia Nichols have been friends since childhood. Now approaching forty, their lives have changed, but their insular East Texas town has not. They stay sane...

"In the latest riveting thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong, the paranoia increases - along with the stakes - as the town of Rockton tries to solve the latest mystery at their door. Detective Casey Duncan has noticed fewer and fewer residents coming in to the hidden town of Rockton, and no extensions being granted. Her boyfriend, Sheriff Eric Dalton, presumes it's the natural flux of things, but Casey's not so sure....