River Readers

James Patterson presents a bold new heroine—a cross between Katniss Everdeen and Annie Oakley: Serendipity Jones, the fastest sharpshooter in tomorrow's West.

Seventeen-year-old Serendipity "Pity" Jones inherited two things from her mother: a pair of six shooters and perfect aim. She's been offered a life of fame and fortune in Cessation, a glittering city where lawlessness is a way of life. But the price she pays for her freedom may be too great....

Crazy Rich Asians is the outrageously funny debut novel about three super-rich, pedigreed Chinese families and the gossip, backbiting, and scheming that occurs when the heir to one of the most massive fortunes in Asia brings home his ABC (American-born Chinese) girlfriend to the wedding of the season.

Sarai has lived and breathed nightmares since she was six years old.

She believed she knew every horror and was beyond surprise.

She was wrong.

In the wake of tragedy, neither Lazlo nor Sarai are who they were before. One a god, the other a ghost, they struggle to grasp the new boundaries of their selves as dark-minded Minya holds them hostage, intent on vengeance against Weep.

According to ratings, sixteen-year-old Esther Ann Hicks-Essie is the most likeable member of her famous reality show, “Six for Hicks” family. Obsessed with the family’s public image, Essie’s mother, Celia, strives to keep their show’s ratings up and their audience engaged season after season. Between the family’s fundamentalist beliefs and strict on-camera schedule, Essie has little say in what happens in her own life. But when her mother discovers that Essie is pregnant, the power dynamic shifts and suddenly the carefully crafted “Six for Hicks” empire threatens to collapse.

Alice and her mother Ella have been on the run from the "bad luck" that seems to follow them wherever they move to and they move around a lot. Then they get a letter telling them that Alice's grandmother Althea has died. Althea wrote a best-selling book "Tales from the Hinterland", a set of bloody Grimm fairytales, tales forbidden for Alice to read - her Mom won't discuss Althea at all with Alice. Now her mother feels comfortable settling down, and gets married.

Caleb smuggles illegal goods next to his legit goods used as a cover across the 9 Star Systems. Caleb is a cynical, foul-mouthed ass-kicking pilot with lots of recriminations he's buried deep, however he does try to do good by a few people. 1001 is an android or a synth, her assignment is to kill Caleb.

I love Pippa DaCosta's work and am considering purchasing her books, since most libraries don't carry her work (just a few nibbles on Hoopla & Overdrive).

For a family in crisis, the ultimate test of survival.

Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.

When love drives you crazy…

When sexy Joe Malone never calls after their explosive kiss, Kylie shoves him out of her mind. Until she needs a favor, and it’s a doozy. Something precious to her has been stolen and there’s only one person with unique finder-and-fixer skills that can help—Joe. It means swallowing her pride and somehow trying to avoid the temptation to throttle him—or seduce him.

the best thing to do…

Dr. David Lawrence has spent the last two years atoning for his sins and recovering from the devastating breakup with Gansett Island golden girl Janey McCarthy. As the island’s only doctor, he’s had ample opportunity to show his fellow island residents that there’s more to him than the guy who disappointed Janey so profoundly.

In the next sizzling romance in Kristen Proby's New York Times bestselling Fusion series, two celebrity chefs compete in a culinary competition, but resisting each other will prove to be the greater challenge.

16 year old Wendy, crashes her car into a lake, and witnesses a boy fly her younger brother Michael away. Adults tell her to grieve over the death of her brother Michael, but she and her other brother John, know better, they say him carried away. People in "real life" start to resemble the cast of Peter Pan. Her therapist Dr Barrie(!) suggests Wendy use a sketch book to draw her feelings. The sketchbook turns into a portal that allows Wendy to reconnect with The Lost Boys.
I loved the bright colors, this is one of the few Graphic Novels that doesn't use sepia tones!

Despite years on the run, Sophie Neumann is determined to care for two young children. She won't abandon them the way she thinks her older sisters abandoned her. But times are growing desperate, and when she falls in with the wrong crowd and witnesses a crime, she realizes fleeing 1850s New York is her only option.

Disappearing with her two young charges into a group of orphans heading west by train, Sophie hopes to find safety and a happy life. When the train stops in Illinois for the first placement of orphans, Sophie faces the most difficult choice of her life.

This book is set in India just prior to the exit of British rule in 1947. Nisha is a twelve year old who's deceased mother was Muslim and her father is Hindu. With the exit of the British, the religious factions are quarreling over representation and who will settle well. It is decided that they will partition India with the Muslims in part and the Hindu's in the other part. Thus is born India and Pakistan. Nisha's family, who practice Hinduism, will need to leave and travel to the "new India" in order to be safe.

I liked this teen novel about becoming a Southern belle debutante. I have to admit that when I was of a certain age, the idea of being a debutante would have been a dream come true. Now however, I have to admit that it would not be a very fun situation. On the other hand, these four girls are no wilting blossoms and can stir up trouble with the best of them. Sawyer is looking for her father, but finds a hornets nest. When she does find the truth, she doesn't know what to do with it. Can't wait to see what happens next!

Because Tory doesn't take flak off of customers and has a little temper, she keeps losing jobs as a waitress. She goes to apply in a sketchy neighborhood, and is asked to take the evening shift as a tryout. During this shift she throws a drink at one of the customers who was hassling her, saying "after all this trouble, if you're not going to drink it, you'll wear it". The next day she finds out, she's been serving magicians, who could really make her life miserable.