[Manabi]

This month's Amazon First Reads selections are out, they are:

I Will Never Leave You by S. M. Thayer [Genre: Psychological Thriller]

For one couple, getting what they want comes at a devastating price in this gripping debut thriller.

Banking heiress Trish and her husband, James, seem to have it all, from a lavish lifestyle to a historic mansion in the nation’s capital. The only thing that’s missing to make their family complete is a baby, so when Trish holds Anne Elise in her arms for the first time, it’s no surprise that she falls deeply in love. There’s just one problem: Trish isn’t the mother.

The baby belongs to Laurel, James’s young mistress. And more than that, James and Laurel want to start a new life together—despite an ironclad prenup standing in their way. When Trish becomes dangerously obsessed with making Laurel’s baby her own, the lovers’ plan to break James’s marriage quickly goes awry. How far is each of them willing to go for happiness?

Editor Notes:

Spoiler:

What if you could never live the happily-ever-after you always dreamed of? Would you steal someone else’s? Trish and James want for nothing—except a child of their own. For years they tried everything, but the empty crib eventually created a schism in their marriage. Trish never stopped dreaming of the angelic child she couldn’t have…and now she’s faced with the reality that her husband has a baby with his mistress.

But her husband’s infidelity doesn’t matter to Trish. For the first time, she feels a twisted sense of hope and hatches a plan bolder than her husband’s. She has to have that baby. No matter what the cost.

This novel hooked me from page one. I would never do anything these characters do, but I loved reading about their dark choices and stormy pasts. Secrets were uncovered and lives hung in the balance as I tore through the pages, trying to decide just whom to trust. Hope and betrayal propel the three main characters in S. M. Thayer’s debut psychological thriller, as each angles to outwit the other, while a vulnerable child’s future hangs in the balance. — Megha Parekh, Editor

The Story Teller's Secret by Sejal Badani [Genre: Book Club Fiction]

From the bestselling author of Trail of Broken Wings comes an epic story of the unrelenting force of love, the power of healing, and the invincible desire to dream.

Nothing prepares Jaya, a New York journalist, for the heartbreak of her third miscarriage and the slow unraveling of her marriage in its wake. Desperate to assuage her deep anguish, she decides to go to India to uncover answers to her family’s past.

Intoxicated by the sights, smells, and sounds she experiences, Jaya becomes an eager student of the culture. But it is Ravi—her grandmother’s former servant and trusted confidant—who reveals the resilience, struggles, secret love, and tragic fall of Jaya’s pioneering grandmother during the British occupation. Through her courageous grandmother’s arrestingly romantic and heart-wrenching story, Jaya discovers the legacy bequeathed to her and a strength that, until now, she never knew was possible.

Editor Notes:

Spoiler:

From the opening passages of The Storyteller’s Secret I was transfixed by author Sejal Badani’s ability to infuse beauty into tragedy. A woman, undone by a third miscarriage and the fracture of her marriage, embarks on a journey of familial self-discovery.

Still grieving her loss, Jaya travels alone to India to find answers—about her history, healing, and the dream of motherhood. Along the way she meets Ravi, her grandmother’s confidant, who reveals just how resilient and amazing Amisha was. Jaya finds an ancient picture of Amisha in a shoebox, and it seems to show her straining to see something in the distance. “Your grandmother believed photographs hid the truth about a person, offering only an illusion instead,” Ravi tells her. “I am sure she would have thought differently if she had known a picture was all that would be left to remember her by.”

As the novel unfolded with Jaya’s present-day pursuit of the truth captured by the photograph, and as she discovered more about Amisha’s life in British-occupied India in the 1930s, I found myself swept away by Jaya’s emotional transformation. Watching Jaya dig up family secrets that set her life on a new course, I realized we’ve all been at the crossroads, wondering which way to turn. As Jaya fleshes out her grandmother’s life, the next steps on her path are lit with a thousand suns. We should all be so lucky as to uncover a legacy of strength, right when we need it. — Danielle Marshall, Editor

Hotel Sacher by Rodica Doehnert (Author), Alison Layland (Translator) [Genre: Historical Fiction]

One woman takes hold of her legacy in an epic tale of Viennese romance, deception, and danger.

Vienna, 1892. Against all odds, at the height of Belle Époque splendor, Anna Sacher has taken possession of her late husband’s hotel, across the street from the famous opera house. At a time when controlling such a business was an opportunity afforded only to men, Anna is as vigilant as she is relentless. Now, under her ownership, the Hotel Sacher thrives amid the tumult of a changing continent, even as intrigue follows in the shadows.

Through its opulent halls stride visitors from all walks of life, including some of the most glamorous figures of Viennese society—opera singers, princes, princesses—and the maids and manservants who wait on them.

Some guests will find romance. Some will unearth secrets. And some will discover much more than they expected…

Editor Notes:

Spoiler:

From the moment I met the characters in the early pages of this page-turner set at the dawn of the twentieth century in cosmopolitan Vienna, I knew that this dramatic story would captivate me until the last page.

Anna Sacher and her husband run a lavish hotel, the still-famous Hotel Sacher. After the premature death of her husband, Anna likely would have faced poverty for herself and her children, were she a meeker soul. Or she would have been forced to marry the first man who offered her security—in this case, her own father-in-law! But against all odds, Anna continues to run the hotel on determination alone, fostering a world inhabited by colorful characters from all walks of Viennese life, from the workers downstairs to the accomplished artists and royals who use the hotel for their assignations and escape from the increasingly unglamorous outside world.

We follow these characters in their lives outside the hotel. Young Marie Stadler, who has worked at the hotel since the age of six, is stolen from her family for reasons that will take her a lifetime to uncover. Newly wedded Prince and Princess von Traunstein and the artists Maximilian and Martha Aderhold each harbors their own secrets and become entangled with one another as war comes to Europe.

Viewers of Downton Abbey and readers of Kate Quinn will devour the skillful way that author Rodica Doehnert guides us through her richly detailed world of passion, betrayal, and revenge—set against one of the most volatile eras in contemporary history. It should come as no surprise that Doehnert, an accomplished screenwriter and director, first rendered the story of Hotel Sacher and its inhabitants as a television series, which was a huge hit throughout the German-speaking world. — Elizabeth DeNoma, Editor

Eraser by Anna Kang (Author), Christopher Weyant (Illustrator) [Genre: Children's Picture Book]

Eraser is always cleaning up everyone else’s mistakes. Except for Ruler and Pencil Sharpener, none of the other school supplies seem to appreciate her. They all love how sharp Pencil is and how Tape and Glue help everyone stick together. Eraser wants to create so that she can shine like the others. She decides to give it a try, but it’s not until the rubber meets the road that Eraser begins to understand a whole lot about herself.

Inspired by a school essay their daughter Kate wrote in the third grade, the author and illustrator behind Theodor Seuss Geisel Award–winner You Are (Not) Small have created a desktop drama about figuring out who you are, finding happiness, and the importance of second, third, and maybe even fourth chances.

Editor Notes:

Spoiler:

As an editor, I know that revision can take a story from good to great. And when I first read this book from Anna Kang and Christopher Weyant, winners of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award, I really related to the idea of trying to make something the best version of itself—or in this case, herself. The authors and illustrators I work with do this every day with their storytelling.

At its heart, though, this is a story of a spunky girl finding her way and finding happiness. Eraser thinks she knows what she wants—the chance to create things rather than being the underappreciated cleanup crew. Ultimately, she goes on a journey that shows her how important she is and that she does create something wonderful: second chances.

Beyond embracing some of the hopes and fears that kids can relate to, Eraser has appealing artwork, a spirited character, and a story line filled with feeling and peppered with clever puns. It’s a wonderful read, and I’m so proud to introduce you to it. — Kelsey Skea, Editor

Happy Doomsday by David Sosnowski [Genre: Post-Apocalyptic Fiction]

The end of the world is the weirdest time to come of age.

Welcome to the end of the world. One minute, people are going about their lives, and the next—not. In the wake of the inexplicable purge, only a handful of young misfits remains.

When it all went down, “Wizard of Odd” Dev Brinkman was seeking shelter from the taunts of his classmates. Goth girl Lucy Abernathy had lost her best friend and had no clue where to turn. And Twinkie-loving quarterback “Marcus” Haddad was learning why you never discuss politics and religion in polite company—or online.

As if life when you’re sixteen isn’t confusing enough, throw in the challenges of postapocalyptic subsistence, a case of survivor’s guilt turned up to seven billion, and the small task of rebuilding humankind…

No one said doomsday would be a breeze. But for Dev, Lucy, and Marcus, the greatest hope—and greatest threat—will come when they find each other.

Editor Notes:

Spoiler:

If you can accept Happy Doomsday’s basic long-shot premise—suddenly, (almost) everybody dies—then you’re in for a rare treat, a deeply felt and frequently hilarious coming-of-age tale like nothing else I’ve read.

The lone survivors of “the whatever-it-was” are three teens already struggling through the trials of late adolescence. For Dev—who was once told that he has Asperger’s syndrome, an armchair diagnosis that Dev wholly owns—hell is other people, and their sudden absence feels like a miraculous deliverance. Lucy is pregnant, grieving her bestie, and out of options. Marcus is an all-American kid with a sinister secret life online.

Within this almost completely depopulated world, author David Sosnowski’s treatment of these self-styled outsiders provides Happy Doomsday with its singular charm. There are no zombies in this comically apocalyptic tale, just three flawed, striving, and—through Sosnowski’s masterful narrative voice—identifiable characters whose stories I will never forget.

Novels are, at their core, about empathy—encouraging us to feel for their characters and, ultimately, each other. And in this sense, Happy Doomsday is one of the most successful novels I’ve ever had the honor to work on. Oh, and don’t worry about false advertising: it’s no spoiler to say that Happy Doomsday has a very happy ending. I’ll be recommending this book for years to come, and I hope you will too. — Jason Kirk, Editor

Stray: Memoir of a Runaway by Tanya Marquardt [Genre: Memoir]

Brutal and beautiful, Stray is the true story of a girl who runs away and finds herself.

After growing up in a dysfunctional and emotionally abusive home, Tanya Marquardt runs away on her sixteenth birthday. Her departure is an act of rebellion and survival—whatever she is heading toward has to be better than what she is leaving behind.

Struggling with her inner demons, Tanya must learn to take care of herself during two chaotic years in the working-class mill town of Port Alberni, followed by the early-nineties underground goth scene in Vancouver, British Columbia. She finds a chosen family in her fellow misfits, and the bond they form is fierce and unflinching.

Told with raw honesty and strength, Stray reveals Tanya’s fight to embrace the vulnerable, beguiling parts of herself and heal the wounds of her past as she forges her own path to a new life.

Editor Notes:

Spoiler:

What would you do if you found yourself with no place to call your home?

That’s the situation Tanya Marquardt faced on her sixteenth birthday. After years of living in a dysfunctional and emotionally abusive home, she had enough and decided to run away. It was an act of rebellion and survival—whatever she was heading toward had to be better than what she was leaving behind.

The story is written like a novel, and I had to remind myself as I read it that this was a true story. But the biggest impression this book left on me was a deep appreciation for her courage and brutal honesty in telling this story.

Tanya openly writes about struggling with her inner demons and describes how she must learn to take care of herself during two chaotic years in a working-class mill town. The story is gritty at times, especially in her earnest portrayals of the early 1990s underground goth scene in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she finds a chosen family in her fellow misfits.

Ultimately, this is the story of a woman who finds solace in her own determination to find her place in the world. Empowering and inspiring, Stray is the story of art’s potential to heal and a young woman’s triumphant liberation from the familial ties that bind. — Carmen Johnson, Editor