THE LONG ARM OF LOVE… Sheriff Cody Fipes's idea to advertise for women to revitalize Temptation, Texas, just backfired…because the maid of honor for Temptation's newest bride is the one woman Cody can never forget: Reggie Giles. Ten years ago, when he was a down-and-out cowboy, Reggie had loved him…and begged him to run away with her. But Cody had said no and gone off to seek his fortune on the back of a bronc. And when he finally came back to claim Reggie, she wasn't there. Now she's back, and Cody doesn't think his heart can survive letting her go…again! TROUBLE IN TEXAS… When Temptation beckons, three rugged cowboys lose their hearts.

"Desperately affecting." —The New York Times “Generous and epic...takes us through generations of a singular family, whose loves and losses also tell us a story about America itself." —Eliot Schrefer, National Book Award finalist, author of Endangered Justin Deabler's Lone Stars follows the arc of four generations of a Texan family in a changing America. Julian Warner, a father at last, wrestles with a question his husband posed: what will you tell our son about the people you came from, now that they're gone? Finding the answers takes Julian back in time to Eisenhower's immigration border raids, an epistolary love affair during the Vietnam War, crumbling marriages, queer migrations to Cambridge and New York, up to the disorienting polarization of Obama's second term. And in these answers lies a hope: that by uncloseting ourselves—as immigrants, smart women, gay people—we find power in empathy.

New Texas: its citizens figure that name about says it all. The Solar League ambassador to the Lone Star Planet has the unenviable task of convincing New Texans that a s'Srauff attack is imminent, and dangerous. Unfortunately it's common knowledge that the s'Srauff are evolved from canine ancestors -- and not a Texan alive is about to be scared of a talking dog! But unless he can get them to act, and fast, there won't be a Texan alive, scared or otherwise!

"WHY DON'T YOU MARRY ME?" Jack Elliot nearly choked when he realized those words had come from his lips! What had just happened? How had Kayla White gotten the most confirmed bachelor in Chicago to propose? Maybe it was her cool facade and quick temper that were so tempting. Jack knew he could awaken the passions simmering below her surface. And he wanted to be the one Kayla turned to in her time of need. But still…marriage? Then Jack thought of waking up with Kayla every morning and he said… "PLEASE?"

An uplifting story about role models, football, and tackling fear set in the heart of Friday Night Lights country—from the bestselling author of Heat, Travel Team, and Fantasy League. Clay is a quarterback's dream. When he zips across the field, arms outstretched, waiting for the ball to sail into his hands, there's no denying him the catch. Like most Texans, Clay is never more at home than when playing football. And his coach, a former star player for the Dallas Cowboys, is just like a second father. But as the football season kicks off, Clay begins to notice some odd behavior from his coach--lapses in his memory and strange mood swings. The conclusion is painful, but obvious: Coach Cooper is showing side effects of the many concussions he sustained during his playing days. As Clay's season wears on, it becomes clear that the real victory will be to help his coach walk onto that famous star logo in the middle of Cowboys Field one last time--during a Thanksgiving day ceremony honoring him and his former Super Bowl-winning teammates. In Lone Stars, #1 New York Times bestseller Mike Lupica demonstrates once again that there is no children's sports novelist today who can match his ability to weave a story of vivid sports action and heartfelt emotion. A touching story that proves life is bigger than a game. Praise for Lone Stars "Lupica has crafted another fine sports story for the middle school reader."—VOYA "Young readers, no matter their level of interest in the game, will be drawn in by this touching, timely story."—Booklist "There is plenty of great football action to keep the sports enthusiasts engaged, and the information about concussive injury is easily understood and applied. This is an entertaining read that also imparts an important message."—School Library Connection

Already excerpted in the New Yorker, Black Cloud Rising is a compelling and important historical novel that takes us back to an extraordinary moment when enslaved men and women were shedding their bonds and embracing freedom By fall of 1863, Union forces had taken control of Tidewater Virginia, and established a toehold in eastern North Carolina, including along the Outer Banks. Thousands of freed slaves and runaways flooded the Union lines, but Confederate irregulars still roamed the region. In December, the newly formed African Brigade, a unit of these former slaves led by General Edward Augustus Wild—a one-armed, impassioned Abolitionist—set out from Portsmouth to hunt down the rebel guerillas and extinguish the threat. From this little-known historical episode comes Black Cloud Rising, a dramatic, moving account of these soldiers—men who only weeks earlier had been enslaved, but were now Union infantrymen setting out to fight their former owners. At the heart of the narrative is Sergeant Richard Etheridge, the son of a slave and her master, raised with some privileges but constantly reminded of his place. Deeply conflicted about his past, Richard is eager to show himself to be a credit to his race. As the African Brigade conducts raids through the areas occupied by the Confederate Partisan Rangers, he and his comrades recognize that they are fighting for more than territory. Wild’s mission is to prove that his troops can be trusted as soldiers in combat. And because many of the men have fled from the very plantations in their path, each raid is also an opportunity to free loved ones left behind. For Richard, this means the possibility of reuniting with Fanny, the woman he hopes to marry one day. With powerful depictions of the bonds formed between fighting men and heartrending scenes of sacrifice and courage, Black Cloud Rising offers a compelling and nuanced portrait of enslaved men and women crossing the threshold to freedom.

HOW FAR WOULD SHE GO…? The mission: Ginny Alton had agreed to impersonate her cousin and travel halfway around the world with a newborn in order to have the child meet his paternal grandfather. The complication: Everyone believed she was the child's mother! The man: Philip Lysander knew Ginny was lying about something, so in order to protect his family, he told everyone he was the baby's father. Ginny suddenly found herself hopelessly attracted to the one man who could destroy her carefully constructed charade. But how could she deny herself the intensity of Philip's lovemaking when their time together was so short? Especially when he was about to discover the truth?