Andrea Di Robilant

Knopf, 2003, 313 pages 

In the waning days of Venice’s glory in the mid-1700s, Andrea Memmo was scion to one the city’s oldest patrician families. At the age of twenty-four he fell passionately in love with sixteen-year-old Giustiniana Wynne, the beautiful, illegitimate daughter of a Venetian mother and British father. Because of their dramatically different positions in society, they could not marry. And Giustiniana’s mother, afraid that an affair would ruin her daughter’s chances to form a more suitable union, forbade them to see each other. Her prohibition only fueled their desire and so began their torrid, secret seven-year-affair, enlisting the aid of a few intimates and servants (willing to risk their own positions) to shuttle love letters back and forth and to help facilitate their clandestine meetings. Eventually, Giustiniana found herself pregnant and she turned for help to the infamous Casanova–himself infatuated with her.

Two and half centuries later, the unbelievable story of this star-crossed couple is told in a breathtaking narrative, re-created in part from the passionate, clandestine letters Andrea and Giustiniana wrote to each other.

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

California

A Venetian Affair

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#paperback #fiction #mystery #detective #aspersions #thefallingbetweenus #lovestory #grief #love #compelling

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Georgia

At fifteen, Joshua Blackbird becomes an international singing star but, as his hometown girlfriend relates, after more than a year, the pressures and dangers of fame take a toll and "Shu" disappears.

Holding on to You

b2980b42-addc-4091-b861-1187e3ecb845-1

#paperback #fiction #holiday #lovestory #Christmas #terrireed #hallmarkchannel #romance #love 

A Novel

"In this heartwarming tale set during the Christmas season, a single father and a fashion photographer are brought together by a young boy and a mischievous Bernese mountain dog--but first they must learn to set aside their differences if they are willing to let their relationship bloom."--

A Family under the Christmas Tree

04b2ab8d-9005-42c2-81e1-1b0c744802d1-1

Elizabeth Gilbert

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Michigan

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! From the # 1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat Pray Love and The Signature of All Things, a delicious novel of glamour, sex, and adventure, about a young woman discovering that you don't have to be a good girl to be a good person. "A spellbinding novel about love, freedom, and finding your own happiness." - PopSugar "Intimate and richly sensual, razzle-dazzle with a hint of danger." -USA Today "Pairs well with a cocktail...or two." -TheSkimm "Life is both fleeting and dangerous, and there is no point in denying yourself pleasure, or being anything other than what you are." Beloved author Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction with a unique love story set in the New York City theater world during the 1940s. Told from the perspective of an older woman as she looks back on her youth with both pleasure and regret (but mostly pleasure), City of Girls explores themes of female sexuality and promiscuity, as well as the idiosyncrasies of true love. In 1940, nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris has just been kicked out of Vassar College, owing to her lackluster freshman-year performance. Her affluent parents send her to Manhattan to live with her Aunt Peg, who owns a flamboyant, crumbling midtown theater called the Lily Playhouse. There Vivian is introduced to an entire cosmos of unconventional and charismatic characters, from the fun-chasing showgirls to a sexy male actor, a grand-dame actress, a lady-killer writer, and no-nonsense stage manager. But when Vivian makes a personal mistake that results in professional scandal, it turns her new world upside down in ways that it will take her years to fully understand. Ultimately, though, it leads her to a new understanding of the kind of life she craves - and the kind of freedom it takes to pursue it. It will also lead to the love of her life, a love that stands out from all the rest. Now eighty-nine years old and telling her story at last, Vivian recalls how the events of those years altered the course of her life - and the gusto and autonomy with which she approached it. "At some point in a woman's life, she just gets tired of being ashamed all the time," she muses. "After that, she is free to become whoever she truly is." Written with a powerful wisdom about human desire and connection, City of Girls is a love story like no other.

City of Girls

4a30330a-135f-43d3-abd5-9b7973797006-1

Barbara Taylor Bradford

Utah

Estranged from her lawyer husband and out of touch with her grown children, forty-three-year-old Maggie Sorrell moves to Connecticut to begin a new life as an interior designer and finds new love with a younger man. 600,000 first printing. $1,000,000 ad/promo. Tour.

Love in Another Town

a6b04372-702c-4b1e-a611-774ab7750671-1

Jennifer Crusie

Bob Mayer

Rescued during a break-in by a hit man sent by the mob to protect her, food writer Agnes Crandall finds her situation further complicated by a missing cache of money that becomes a key factor in a Southern mafia wedding.

Agnes and the Hitman

fa192984-d758-4618-9658-0875224adeff-1

#romance #paperback #fiction #karenkingsbury #bestseller #lovestory #baxsterfamily #christianromance 

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

Indiana

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury comes a new romantic story featuring everyone’s favorite family—the Baxters—which tells the story of how John and Elizabeth first fell in love. From the day they met, John and Elizabeth were destined to fall in love. Their whirlwind romance started when they were young college students and lasted nearly thirty years. So when John Baxter is asked to relive his long-ago love story with Elizabeth for his grandson Cole’s heritage project, he’s not sure he can do it. The sadness might simply be too great. But he agrees and allows his heart and soul to go places they haven’t gone in decades. Back to the breathless first moments, but also to the secret heartbreak that brought John and Elizabeth together. At the same time, Baxter family friend Cody Coleman is working through the breakup of his complicated relationship with Andi Ellison. He is determined to move on when a chance sighting changes his plans—and heart. Can Cody convince Andi to give their love another try, or is it time for them to say goodbye for good? As school comes to an end, Cole presents his report on the love story between his grandparents John and Elizabeth Baxter. It is a tale that touches the hearts of the entire family, and one that causes Cole to better understand his own beginning. Whether you’re meeting the Baxter family for the first time or finding them all over again, Love Story will stir your heart and remind you of the generational impact of love and the eternal bond of family.

Love Story

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J. P. Monninger

Arkansas

The Map That Leads to You

b2040b5e-8b0f-45ae-a788-2c0ac657c8b4-1

#paperback #fiction #historicalfiction #lovestory #sweetbook #bestseller #novel 

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A NETFLIX FILM • A remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German Occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name. “Treat yourself to this book, please—I can’t recommend it highly enough.”—Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love “I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.” January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb. . . . As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all. Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever. Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises and of finding connection in the most surprising ways. Praise for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society “A jewel . . . Poignant and keenly observed, Guernsey is a small masterpiece about love, war, and the immeasurable sustenance to be found in good books and good friends.”—People “A book-lover’s delight, an implicit and sometimes explicit paean to all things literary.”—Chicago Sun-Times “A sparkling epistolary novel radiating wit, lightly worn erudition and written with great assurance and aplomb.”—The Sunday Times (London) “Cooked perfectly à point: subtle and elegant in flavour, yet emotionally satisfying to the finish.”—The Times (London)

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Movie Tie-In Edition)

6f20a6a1-c231-40bc-b3c5-5cd59fc7c090-1

Jane L. Rosen

South Carolina

"It wasn't supposed to happen this way. When Eliza Hunt created The Hudson Valley Ladies' Bulletin Board fifteen years ago she was happily entrenched in her picture-perfect suburban life with her husband and twin preschoolers. Now, with an empty nest and a crippling case of agoraphobia, the once-fun hobby has become her lifeline. So when a rival parenting forum threatens the site's existence, she doesn't think twice before fabricating a salacious rumor to spark things up a bit. It doesn't take long before that spark becomes a flame. Across town, new mom and site devotee Olivia York is thrown into a tailspin by what she reads on the Bulletin Board. Allison Le is making cyber friends with a woman who isn't quite who she says she is. And Amanda Cole, Eliza's childhood friend, may just hold the key to unearthing why Eliza can't step out of her front door. In all this chaos, one thing is for sure...Hudson Valley will never be the same." -- Amazon.

Eliza Starts a Rumor

5498f06d-2623-42ed-a0f2-d5dfa7a348b9-1

Owen Nicholls

A film-obsessed romantic rewrites the script to understand why his "picture-perfect" love story crashed and burned in this wonderfully clever debut. Ellie had the quizzical eyebrows of Broadcast News-era Holly Hunter and the neon-red hair of Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. At least, that's what caught Nick's attention when he met her on the night of 2008's historic election. A cinema devotee and lover of great love stories, Nick always fancied himself the Tom Hanks of his own romantic comedy, and when sparks flew with Ellie that night, he swiftly cast her as the Meg Ryan of his story. For four blissful years, Nick loved Ellie as much as he loved his job as a film projectionist: wholly, earnestly, cinematically. But now Ellie has moved out, convinced "the fire's gone," and Nick is forced to sift through his memories to figure out where it all went wrong. The fallout from Ellie's declaration that she "doesn't love Nick the way she used to" throws him back into recollections of their first night together. Their shared jokes, her wry smile, the "hope" that filled the night air--his memories are as rose-colored as the Hollywood love stories he idealizes. That night was a perfect meet-cute, yes, but was their romance as destined for a "happily ever after" as he'd thought? Is he really the rom-com hero he believes he's been? Or did this Harry let his Sally down? Peppered with references to beloved movies, Love, Unscripted explores how even a hopeless romantic can learn that in real life, love isn't, and shouldn't be, like what we see in the movies.

Love, Unscripted

192057a8-d827-40d9-969b-b433e43e6bc2

Ellen Wittlinger

North Carolina

After starting to publish a 'zine in which he writes his secret feelings about his lonely life and his parents' divorce, sixteen-year-old John meets an unusual girl and begins to develop a healthier personality.

Hard Love

e28fbd04-b8be-4e11-90a7-523577100e40-1

#paperback #nonfiction #memoir #recipes #lovestory 

Pennsylvania

A Love Story, with Recipes

In Paris for a weekend visit, Elizabeth Bard sat down to lunch with a handsome Frenchman--and never went home again. Was it love at first sight? Or was it the way her knife slid effortlessly through her pavé au poivre, the steak's pink juices puddling into the buttery pepper sauce? LUNCH IN PARIS is a memoir about a young American woman caught up in two passionate love affairs--one with her new beau, Gwendal, the other with French cuisine. Packing her bags for a new life in the world's most romantic city, Elizabeth is plunged into a world of bustling open-air markets, hipster bistros, and size 2 femmes fatales. She learns to gut her first fish (with a little help from Jane Austen), soothe pangs of homesickness (with the rise of a chocolate soufflé) and develops a crush on her local butcher (who bears a striking resemblance to Matt Dillon). Elizabeth finds that the deeper she immerses herself in the world of French cuisine, the more Paris itself begins to translate. French culture, she discovers, is not unlike a well-ripened cheese-there may be a crusty exterior, until you cut through to the melting, piquant heart. Peppered with mouth-watering recipes for summer ratatouille, swordfish tartare and molten chocolate cakes, Lunch in Paris is a story of falling in love, redefining success and discovering what it truly means to be at home. In the delicious tradition of memoirs like A Year in Provence and Under the Tuscan Sun, this book is the perfect treat for anyone who has dreamed that lunch in Paris could change their life.

Lunch in Paris

987783d8-86e8-49c4-a378-6a48be144bb3-1

Joseph Monninger

Illinois

Cobb, a devoted teacher and nature-lover, takes a sabbatical from his New England boys prep school seeking to experience what Henry David Thoreau and the transcendentalists did in the early nineteenth century. Kayaking to the last known spot where the American writer and philosopher camped four years before he died, he encounters the beautiful free-spirited Mary. Also a teacher, avid bird-watcher, and deft adventurist, Mary is flirtatious and beguiling, and the two soon become inseparable. Mary is like no one Cobb has ever met before, but he gets the feeling that she is harboring a secret. Eventually she shares her fears with Cobb—that she may be carrying the gene for a devastating, incurable illness that runs in her family. Finding strength in their commitment to one another, the two embark on a journey that is filled with joy, anguish, hope, and most importantly, unending love. Set against the sweeping natural backdrops of Maine’s rugged backcountry, the exotic islands of Indonesia, scenic Yellowstone National Park, and rural New England, Tender River is a timeless and poignant love story that will captivate readers everywhere.

Eternal on the Water

b04ea641-767e-4696-a913-5a967150d210-1

Robyn Carr

Iowa

"The Virgin River books are so compelling--I connected instantly with the characters and just wanted more and more and more." --#1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber Welcome back to Virgin River with the book that inspired the hit Netflix series... Wanted: Midwife/nurse practitioner in Virgin River, population six hundred. Make a difference against a backdrop of towering California redwoods and crystal clear rivers. Rent-free cabin included. When the recently widowed Melinda Monroe sees this ad, she quickly decides that the remote mountain town of Virgin River might be the perfect place to escape her heartache and to reenergize the nursing career she loves. But her high hopes are dashed within an hour of arriving--the cabin is a dump, the roads are treacherous and the local doctor wants nothing to do with her. Realizing she's made a huge mistake, Mel decides to leave town the following morning. But a tiny baby abandoned on a front porch changes her plans...and former marine Jack Sheridan cements them into place. A Virgin River Novel Book 1: Virgin River Book 2: Shelter Mountain Book 3: Whispering Rock Book 4: A Virgin River Christmas Book 5: Second Chance Pass Book 6: Temptation Ridge Book 7: Paradise Valley Book 8: Forbidden Falls Book 9: Angel's Peak Book 10: Moonlight Road Book 11: Promise Canyon Book 12: Wild Man Creek Book 13: Harvest Moon Book 14: Bring Me Home for Christmas Book 15: Hidden Summit Book 16: Redwood Bend Book 17: Sunrise Point Book 18: My Kind of Christmas Book 19: Return to Virgin River

Virgin River

2fc63378-f31b-4406-89f0-d19494311e69-1

Missouri

the color of light

#paperback #nonfiction #memoir #recipes #autobiography #biography #cookbook #lovestory 

#paperback #santamontefiore #epic #1internationallybestsellingauthor #ireland #connemara #secretsofthelighthouse #lovestory #romance

Set in Ireland on the wild coast of Connemara, this hauntingly romantic novel tells the story of a young woman who goes in search of her family's past and ends up discovering her future.

Ellen Trawton is running away from it all. She hates her job, she doesn't love the aristocratic man to whom she is engaged, and her relationship with her controlling mother is becoming increasingly strained. So Ellen leaves London, fleeing to the one place she knows her mother won't find her, her aunt's cottage in Connemara. Cutting all her ties with chic London society, Ellen gives in to Ireland's charm and warmth, thinking her future may lie where so much of her past has been hidden. Her imagination is soon captured by the compelling ruins of a lighthouse where, five years earlier, a young mother died in a fire.

The ghost of the young wife, Caitlin, haunts the nearby castle, mourning the future she can never have there. Unable to move on, she watches her husband and children, hoping they might see her and feel her love once more. But she doesn't anticipate her husband falling in love again. Can she prevent it? Or can she let go and find a way to freedom and happiness?

The ruggedly beautiful Connemara coastline with its tightknit community of unforgettable characters provides the backdrop for this poignant story of two women seeking the peace and love they desperately need. For each, the key will be found in the secrets of the past, illuminated by the lighthouse.

Secrets of the Lighthouse

b698bf97-f8bc-4065-9029-8789b97e6d0e-1

#paperback #white #light #summerread #summerstory #love #lovestory #fiction

New York

An emotionally moving novel of a woman in search of a new beginning and a man haunted by the past-from the New York Times bestselling author of the Tradd Street novels.

At thirty-two, Jillian Parrish finally finds the courage to put herself in the driver's seat of her life. Pregnant and recently divorced, she and her seven-year-old daughter find refuge and solace on Pawleys Island, South Carolina-Jillian's only source of happy childhood memories. Summers spent at her grandmother's beach house had been Jillian's sanctuary from indifferent parents-until her best friend Lauren Mills disappeared, never to be found.

Linc Rising, Lauren's boyfriend and Jillian's confidant, had been a suspect in Lauren's disappearance. Jillian had never doubted his innocence-but because her parents had whisked her back home to Atlanta, she never got a chance to tell him. Now, a resentful Linc is back on Pawleys Island-renovating the old Mills house. And as ghosts of the past are resurrected, and as Jillian's daughter begins having eerie conversations with an imaginary friend named Lauren, Jillian and Linc will uncover the truth about Lauren's disappearance and about the feelings they have buried for sixteen years...

The Color of Light

650e9d2f-6545-4fb6-b224-2b43bdd6a96f-1

#paperback #fiction #alicehoffman #bestseller #novel #spellbindingread #lovestory 

The daughter of a curiosities museum's front man pursues an impassioned love affair with a Russian immigrant photographer who after fleeing his Lower East Side Orthodox community has captured poignant images of the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. By the best-selling author of Here on Earth.

The Museum of Extraordinary Things

ed61a85d-dee7-4b5a-b116-ea3ab23f1d96-1

Jay Crownover

New Jersey

A Marked Men Novel

New York Times and USA Today Bestseller

From New York Times bestselling author Jay Crownover comes the fourth book in the Marked Men series.

Saint Ford has worked hard to achieve her childhood dream of becoming of nurse. Focused on her work and devoted to her patients, there's no room for love. She doesn't need a guy making waves in her calm, serene life--especially when he's the unforgettable hottie who nearly destroyed her in high school. Dark, brooding Nash Donovan might not remember her or the terrible pain he caused. But he turned her world upside down . . . and now he's trying to do it again.

Saint has no idea that Nash isn't the cocky player he once was. Uncovering a devastating family secret has rocked his world, and now he's struggling to figure out his future. He can't be distracted by the pretty nurse he seems to meet everywhere. Still, he can't ignore the sparks that fly between them--or how she seems so desperate to get away from him. But the funny, sweet, and drop-dead gorgeous Saint is far too amazing to give up on--especially since she's the only thing in his life that seems to make sense.

When Nash discovers the truth about their past, he realizes he may have lost her heart before he could even fight for it. Now, Saint has to decide: is Nash worth risking herself for all over again?

Nash

3c6a66d7-ba2e-4530-be84-3d6ccdd1b9c4-1

Arizona

Tim Farnsworth walks. He walks out of meetings and out of bed. He walks in sweltering heat and numbing cold. He will walk without stopping until he falls asleep, wherever he is. This curious affliction has baffled medical experts around the globe--and come perilously close to ruining what should be a happy life. Tim has a loving family, a successful law career, and a beautiful suburban home, all of which he maintains spectacularly well until his feet start moving again. What drives a man to stay in a marriage, in a job? What forces him away? Is love or conscience enough to overcome the darker, stronger urges of the natural world? THE UNNAMED is a deeply felt, luminous novel about modern life, ancient yearnings, and the power of human understanding.

The Unnamed

0d5b4043-8bc3-4c1c-bc9e-efac8947fd5c-1

Elin Hilderbrand

New Hampshire

Adrienne Dealey has spent the past six years working for hotels in exotic resort towns. This summer she has decided to make Nantucket home. Left flat broke by her ex-boyfriend, she’s desperate to earn some fast money. When the desirable Thatcher Smith, owner of Nantucket's hottest restaurant, is the only one to offer her a job, she wonders if she can get by with no restaurant experience. Thatcher gives Adrienne a crash course in the business...and they share an instant attraction. But there’s a mystery about their situation: what is it about Fiona, the Blue Bistro's chef, that captures Thatcher's attention again and again? And why does such a successful restaurant seem to be in its final season before closing its doors for good? Despite her uncertainty, Adrienne must decide whether to open her heart for the first time, or move on, as she always does.

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Andrea Di Robilant

A Venetian Affair

Ash Parsons

Holding on to You

Terri Reed

A Family under the Christmas Tree

Elizabeth Gilbert

City of Girls

Barbara Taylor Bradford

Love in Another Town

Jennifer Crusie; Bob Mayer

Agnes and the Hitman

Karen Kingsbury

Love Story

J. P. Monninger

The Map That Leads to You

Mary-Ann Shaffer; Annie Barrows

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Movie Tie-In Edition)

Jane L. Rosen

Eliza Starts a Rumor

Owen Nicholls

Love, Unscripted

Ellen Wittlinger

Hard Love

Elizabeth Bard

Lunch in Paris

Joseph Monninger

Eternal on the Water

Robyn Carr

Virgin River

Karen White

the color of light

Elizabeth Bard

Lunch in Paris

Santa Montefiore

Secrets of the Lighthouse

Karen White

The Color of Light

Alice Hoffman

The Museum of Extraordinary Things

Jay Crownover

Nash

Joseph Monninger

Eternal on the Water

Joshua Ferris

The Unnamed

Elin Hilderbrand

The Blue Bistro