Bethany: This coffee shop is going to kill me. Sure, it's my dad's dream. If he hadn't died eight months ago, I wouldn't be here, a college drop out, trying not to drown in debt. Nor would I be staring into the muddy eyes of a viking-sized man that's telling me everything I'm doing wrong-as if he knows so much about business in a small mountain town. Except he does. And when the biggest, most unexpected surprise of all falls in my lap, I'll have no choice but to ask for his help. Time for some power lipstick. Maverick This girl is drowning. She might have eyes like glacier pools and hair so black it's glossy, but that doesn't mean she knows how to run a coffee shop. She's drowning in more than debt, interest, and credit card payments. She'll never make it. But I kind of want her to. Because underneath that bright lipstick and those sun dresses is a woman that I have an uncomfortable feeling is about to rock. my. world. This is a clean, standalone (first in series) contemporary romance with sizzle and spice-but no sex scenes. Guaranteed bantering and happily ever after.

Everybody says that the owner of Sal's Diner is a former Mafioso, but nine-year-old Joanna, whose mom has worked for him as long as she can remember, has a hard time believing he's a Mafia retiree. But one day, when two fat, toothless men who look like the Godfather's brothers show up at the diner, she wonders if maybe the rumor is true. And when Sal is arrested a few days later, Joanna's mother not only runs the diner while he's in jail, she also leads the charge to save him. Can the women who frequent his diner--the League of Women Who Live in Coffee Shops--save Sal from doing hard time in prison? Set against an urban backdrop of seedy motels and dilapidated houses next to industrial buildings and railroad tracks, Stella Pope Duarte's award-winning stories follow characters who make up the city's underbelly. Some strut through the lethal streets, flamboyant and hard to miss--flashy divas, transvestites, and prostitutes, like Valentine, "one of the girls who decorated Van Buren Street like ornaments dangling precariously on a Christmas tree." Others remain hidden, invisible to those who don't seek them out--bag ladies, illegals, and addicts.

Sixteen-year-old Katrina's kindness to a man she finds sleeping behind her grandmother's coffeehouse leads to a strange reward as Malcolm, who is actually a teenage guardian angel, insists on rewarding her by granting her deepest wish.

It was supposed to be a routine bounty...Lincoln Kyle had thought bringing Angelique Donovan in would be a routine job, but he was wrong. Angelique is feisty, silver-tongued and so damned sexy it takes all of his restraint to keep from touching, tasting and caressing every inch of her curvy body.Lincoln is stubborn, determined and such an alpha male he borders on being a jackass, but there is something about him that draws Angelique unlike any other man she's known.In the days and nights that it takes them to travel across country, the fugitive and the hunter come to realize there is a fine line between love and hate.

The Fifth Book in the Coffee Shop Series Dagny: Once upon a time, I thought my stutter was the worst thing that ever happened to me. But now I know better. Being held at gunpoint outranks a speech impediment any day. Thankfully, my longtime crush Jayson Hernandez tackled that problem to the ground with those broad shoulders-the ones that make my stutter oh-so-much-worse. As if he hasn't held my heart in his strong, capable hands ever since I adored him from the shadows in high school. Or every day he comes into the coffee shop with a new date. Or each time he shoots me a friendly smile that makes my toes curl. Then he proposes something so insane it's my heart that starts to stutter. And I can't turn him down, even though I want to. Because there's a part of me that still believes I'm Cinderella too. And oh, how I want him to realize he's Prince Charming after all. Jayson: My friends are the best guys anyone could ask for. They've always had my back. Except . . . they're pretty hard to impress. The last thing I want to do is let them down, especially when the first of our group of four is getting married. I can't show up to that wedding by myself, but I don't have anyone to take with me that could gain their approval. Enter Dagny Taylor. She's quiet, reads people like a book, and isn't afraid to say it like it is-when I can get her to talk, that is. I've done some pretty wild things in my life, but now I'm about to do the craziest thing yet. Because there's a princess hiding beneath that thick armor, and I can't wait to find her. That is . . . if she'll let me. SHY GIRL is the fifth book in the Coffee Shop Series. It can be read as a standalone, but maximum enjoyment comes from starting at the beginning. This is a sweet-but-spicy romance with no sex-scenes and a guaranteed happily-ever-after.

Amber is down on her luck, out of a job, and trapped in a toxic relationship with her husband Brad. What's worse, she's recently become obsessed with the beautiful barista girl at her local coffee shop. Who is she? What's her deal? When she finally works up the courage to talk to her, Amber accidentally sees something she shouldn't see. Soon, she'll discover her crush's ultimate dark secret-which will change the course of her own miserable life. What starts off as a traditional cat-and-mouse thriller quickly spirals into a surprising, strange and genre-bending exploration of the past that haunts us, the future we aspire to, and what it means to be human-or beyond... Perfect for fans of Paula Hawkins, A.J. Finn, and Gillian Flynn, who also flirt with the supernatural. "Unputdownable. Finished it in one sitting." - Kristoffer

“[Deborah] Rodriguez paints a vivid picture of Afghan culture. . . . As if Maeve Binchy had written The Kite Runner.”—Kirkus Reviews After hard luck and heartbreak, Sunny finally finds a place to call home—in the middle of an Afghanistan war zone. There, the thirty-eight-year-old serves up her American hospitality to the expats who patronize her coffee shop, including a British journalist, a “danger pay” consultant, and a wealthy and well-connected woman. True to her name, Sunny also bonds with people whose language and landscape are unfamiliar to most Westerners, but whose hearts and souls are very much like our own: the maternal Halajan, who vividly recalls the days before the Taliban and now must hide a modern romance from her ultratraditional son; and Yazmina, a young Afghan villager with a secret that could put everyone’s life in jeopardy. In this gorgeous first novel, New York Times bestselling author Deborah Rodriguez paints a stirring portrait of a faraway place where—even in the fog of political and social conflict—friendship, passion, and hope still exist. Originally published as A Cup of Friendship. Praise for The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul “A superb debut novel . . . [Deborah] Rodriguez captures place and people wholeheartedly, unveiling the faces of Afghanistan’s women through a wealth of memorable characters who light up the page.”—Publishers Weekly “[A] fast-paced winner of a novel . . . the work of a serious artist with great powers of description at her disposal.”—The Kansas City Star “Readers will appreciate the in-depth, sensory descriptions of this oft-mentioned and faraway place that most have never seen.”—Booklist “Charming . . . [a book] to warm your heart.”—Good Housekeeping