Maybe it was my droopy eyelids. Maybe it was because I was about to turn the same age my mother was when I lost her. Maybe it was because after almost twenty years of marriage my husband and I seemed to be running out of things to say to each other. But when the anonymous online study called 'Marriage in the 21st Century' showed up in my inbox, I had no idea how profoundly it would change my life. It wasn't long before I was assigned both a pseudonym (Wife 22) and a caseworker (Researcher 101). And, just like that, I found myself answering questions. 7. Sometimes I tell him he's snoring when he's not snoring so he'll sleep in the guest room and I can have the bed all to myself. 61. Chet Baker on the tape player. He was cutting peppers for the salad. I looked at those hands and thought, I am going to have this man's children. 67. To not want what you don't have. What you can't have. What you shouldn't have. 32. That if we weren't careful, it was possible to forget one another. Before the study, my life was an endless blur of school lunches and doctor's appointments, family dinners, budgets, and trying to discern the fastest-moving line at the grocery store. I was Alice Buckle: spouse of William and mother to Zoe and Peter, drama teacher and Facebook chatter, downloader of memories and Googler of solutions. But these days, I'm also Wife 22. And somehow, my anonymous correspondence with Researcher 101 has taken an unexpectedly personal turn. Soon, I'll have to make a decision – one that will affect my family, my marriage, my whole life. But at the moment, I'm too busy answering questions. As it turns out, confession can be a very powerful aphrodisiac

Evie Wharton is a free spirit-the complete opposite of millionaire and single dad Justin Dane-but she wants to help his troubled son. Evie soon discovers, however, that behind Justin's dark and brooding demeanor hides a painful past. And, against her better judgment, she begins to fall for him… Can Evie be the one woman to help Justin face his demons? Can she help him find the family he never knew and, most importantly, show him how to love and trust again?

WIFE BY ARRANGEMENT is the first book in the trilogy The Italian Grooms, about the Martelli brothers, Renato, Bernardo and Lorenzo. Although linked by kinship they are all different. Lorenzo, the youngest is a merry charmer. Bernardo is aloof, a loner. Renato the eldest, is head of the family, a man of confidence and power. But his power is a two edged sword, and his reliance on it nearly destroys his life and that of Heather, the woman who loves him. And then there is Sicily, their home, one of the most beautiful places on earth, where people's true passions rise to the surface, giving them the courage to follow their hearts. WIFE BY ARRANGEMENT is about Heather and Renato, the story of how a woman disarms a strong man, by teaching just how powerful love can be. The second book in the trilogy, HUSBAND BY NECESSITY, is Bernardo's story, and follows next month

Hank Mallone knows he's in trouble when Maggie Toone agrees to pretend to be his wife in order to improve his rogue's reputation. Will his harebrained scheme to get a bank loan for his business backfire once Maggie arrives in his small Vermont town and lets the gossips take a look? Maggie never expected her employer to be drop-dead handsome, but she's too intrigued by his offer to say no… and too eager to escape a life that made her feel trapped. The deal is strictly business, both agree, until Hank turns out to be every fantasy she ever had

Josie Fitzgerald Scott was athletic, competitive and stubborn as sin-until an accident changed her life. Now she simply sought closure with unforgettable Del Scott-the man she'd once lovingly wed, passionately bedded, then contrarily fled… Amazingly, Del didn't recognize Josie's reconstructed contours. Yet her sexy ex-husband seemed oddly, instantly drawn to this soft, delicate "stranger," despite her new curves. Which gave Josie-as "Rose"-a second chance: to woo and win back Del's fierce male passion. But would limping, less than honestly, down memory lane unleash a landslide of trouble? Or-miraculously-lead Josie home to love?

For fans of Alexander McCall Smith, a debut mystery set in West Africa that introduces a marvelous detective and a culturally rich community Detective Inspector Darko Dawson, a good family man and a remarkably intuitive sleuth, is sent to the village of Ketanu – the site of his mother's disappearance many years ago – to solve the murder of an accomplished young AIDS worker. While battling his own anger issues and concerns for his ailing son, Darko explores the motivations and secrets of the residents of Ketanu. It soon becomes clear that in addition to solving a recent murder, he is about to unravel the shocking truth about his mother's disappearance. Kwei Quartey's sparkling debut novel introduces readers to a rich cast of characters, including the Trokosi – young women called Wives of the Gods – who, in order to bring good fortune to their families, are sent to live with fetish priests. Set in Ghana, with the action moving back and forth between the capital city of Accra and a small village in the Volta Region, Wife of the Gods brings the culture and beauty of its setting brilliantly to life