by Edward Bellamy

3.9 stars – 193 reviews

Text-to-Speech: Enabled

Here’s the set-up:

Living as we do in the closing year of the twentieth century, enjoying the blessings of a social order at once so simple and logical that it seems but the triumph of common sense, it is no doubt difficult for those whose studies have not been largely historical to realize that the present organization of society is, in its completeness, less than a century old. No historical fact is, however, better established than that till nearly the end of the nineteenth century it was the general belief that the ancient industrial system, with all its shocking social consequences, was destined to last, with possibly a little patching, to the end of time. How strange and wellnigh incredible does it seem that so prodigious a moral and material transformation as has taken place since then could have been accomplished in so brief an interval! The readiness with which men accustom themselves, as matters of course, to improvements in their condition, which, when anticipated, seemed to leave nothing more to be desired, could not be more strikingly illustrated. What reflection could be better calculated to moderate the enthusiasm of reformers who count for their reward on the lively gratitude of future ages!

by Piper Lawson

4.4 stars – 147 reviews

Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled

Here’s the set-up:

My best friend’s brother grew up. Hot.

Like any self-respecting college senior, I’ve got plans:

1. Graduate with the business degree I’ve been busting my ass four years for.

2. Start a fashion label in NYC with my BFF.

Those plans do not include Dylan Cameron. Not his messy dark hair and tempting eyes. Definitely not the hard body he built, broke, and rebuilt playing rugby. Or the reputation for doing very bad things.

But when the hottest guy I never let myself want shows up on my birthday with a confession that sends me reeling – even more than the rum I should NOT have been drinking – I’m wondering whether I’ve been missing the point all along.

Dylan’s bad, but he’s brilliant.

He’s dirty, but he’s a saint.

He’s sexy, but…

Nope, he’s just sexy.

Now I can’t ignore him, because he’s transfered into my school. I can’t deny how he looks at me, because he’s always around. I can’t pretend any of this is close to okay, because my BFF will kill me if I screw up everything we’ve worked for over a guy.

Especially that guy.

Did I mention he’s my BFF and future business partner’s brother?

…Did I mention he’s her younger brother?

by A.R. Winters

4.5 stars – 62 reviews

Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled

Here’s the set-up:

Surprise number one, wonderful: Her best friend Samantha has joined the cruise!
Surprise number two, also quite good: the First Officer is rather handsome.
Surprise number three, definitely not good: Samantha is suspected of murdering a VIP cruise passenger.Throw in a few more surprises—an over-the-top boss, a potentially homicidal chef, and a blast from Adrienne’s past—and this cruise might end up being Adrienne’s last.

Join Adrienne, her new friend Cece, and First Officer Hot Stuff—er, First Officer Ethan Lee—as they try to uncover the truth before it’s too late…

by Lyle Nicholson

4.3 stars – 183 reviews

Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled

Here’s the set-up:

Murders happen. But not with employees of the same company in Oil Camps in the high Arctic and Northern Canada. Two detectives, one from Alaska and one from Canada are given the case. They find the murders are connected. Now, they have to work together to find out why the victims were silenced. What secrets did their deaths conceal?

Frank Mueller, the Alaskan Detective is close to retirement. He’s been through three marriages and two stints in rehab. He is on probation with the force. He knows the Anchorage Police department has given him this case because they don’t want it investigated fully and there’s no booze in the Arctic oil camps.

Bernadette Callahan, the Canadian Detective, is in her mid thirties with a lot to prove on the force. She is Cree Indian and Irish, raised on a native reservation in Northern Canada. She’s been ingrained with the ways of the ‘people,’ by her grandmother that have given her instincts. Her instincts tell her there is something more than four dead people—someone is settling a score. The real crime will happen soon.

The oil companies think the deaths are bad for publicity they want them solved quickly. The detectives are under pressure to come up with a verdict they know is wrong.

Callahan begins to unravel a series of unlikely suspects. A Chemistry Professor with a grudge against big oil, a Mexican low life gangster and Wall Street Executives. How are they connected?

Something is about to happen to oil supplies in the Arctic. The two Detectives can sense it. They know it’s real—can they convince others to act?

This novel is the first in Bernadette Callahan Detective Mystery/Thriller series. A female detective in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, where being a hardheaded woman who uses her instincts is not always welcome.