At age twelve, Cassandra Madden fell in love with Jefferson Ames, a young man she met at one of her mother's business conferences. Years later, she traveled to Williamsburg, Virginia, where the now-widowed Jeff lives with his young daughter. Cassie becomes the child's nanny, but, even though she sees the object of her desire every day, Jeff has yet to even notice her. Then, one day, she hears shots coming from the mansion of Althea Fairmont, an eccentric...

"A bighearted novel about motherhood, friendship, moving on, and love of all kinds. Ever since Beth Bailey was a girl, she's been in love with her best friend's older brother, Mark. She's continued to hold out hope that maybe, someday, he'll love her back. But now Beth is thirty-five years old, and on the day of Mark's wedding to another woman, she finally accepts the wake-up call she needs to move on. Beth's dream of marrying her first love may be...

"This beautiful, spare novel of platonic unrequited love springs into being around the singular character of the stoic, exacting Professor Elizabeth Finch. Neil, the narrator, takes her class on Culture and Civilization, taught not for undergraduates but for adults of all ages; we are drawn into his intellectual crush on this private, withholding yet commanding woman. While other personal relationships and even his family drift from Neil's grasp,...

Peter Winceworth, a disaffected Victorian lexicographer, inserts false entries into a dictionary - violating and subverting the dictionary's authority - in an attempt to assert some sense of individual purpose and artistic freedom. In the present day, Mallory, a young overworked and underpaid intern employed by the dictionary's publishing house, is tasked with uncovering these entries before the work is digitised. As the novel progresses and their...

"Jonesy's a typical disaffected teenager-- makin' zines nobody reads, posting pictures of her favorite pop groups on her blog, and watching anime on the weekends. But Jonesy has a secret-- she can make anybody fall in love with anyone-- or anything-- she wants! But there's only one catch-- Jonesy's powers don't work on herself, and she's gonna find out the hard way that shooting Cupid's arrow ain't all it's cracked up to be"--Page 4 of cover.