A warm-hearted, generous businesswoman discovers her dark side when she’s betrayed by both the younger man she thought was the love of her life and the best friend she’s always trusted—with shattering consequences—in New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe’s final standalone novel set in the outrageously scandalous, colorful town of Lexington, Alabama.

The daughter of a hardworking restaurant owner, Louise Brooks always sees the best in people—and in helping them no matter how difficult her own life gets. She's lived through tragic loss and working in the family business, even after enduring a failed marriage and raising a child. So she's delighted when she finds a best friend in Della Thornton, a woman struggling with bad breaks and unlucky romances. Many years later, when Louise's father and her prosperous second husband pass away, Louise takes Della in and gives her a role in the restaurant as it grows more successful than ever . . .

Louise is now convinced lasting love is not in the cards for her—until she runs into handsome Malcolm Purdy. He's everything she could want—outgoing, charming, and attentive. Soon they become engaged. And although Louise is dismayed that Della and Malcolm hate each other from the start, she does her best to keep the peace between the two people she cares about and trusts the most . . .

But a chance encounter from the past shows Louise that neither Della nor Malcolm is quite who they say they are—and their deceit runs deeper and deadlier than she imagined. With her illusions in ruins, how far will she go to see justice served? And will her final shocking move cost her more than she’s willing to lose?

*INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER*

In this new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The House of Eve, one American woman’s vision in post WWII Germany will tie together three people in unexpected and soul-stirring ways.

Ethel Gathers, the proud wife of an American Officer, is living in Occupied Germany in the 1950s. After discovering a local orphanage filled with the abandoned mixed-race children of German women and Black American GI’s, Ethel feels compelled to help find these children homes.

Philadelphia born Ozzie Phillips volunteers for the recently desegregated army in 1948, eager to make his mark in the world. While serving in Manheim, Germany, he meets a local woman, Jelka, and the two embark on a relationship that will impact their lives forever.

GROWN WOMEN by SARAI JOHNSON (February 12, 2025)

SOMETHING GOOD by VANESSA MILLER (November 20, 2024)

THE SACRED PLACE by DANIEL BLACK (September 26, 2024)

NIGHT WHEREVER WE GO by TRACEY ROSE PEYTON (June 26, 2024)

THE NIGERWIFE by VANESSA WALTERS (March 27, 2024)

WHAT THE FIREFLIES KNEW by KAI HARRIS (February 28, 2024)

HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE by CHERIE JONES (January 31, 2024)

YOU WERE ALWAYS MINE by CHRISTINE PRIDE and JO PIAZZA (November 15, 2023)

WE ARE NOT LIKE THEM by CHRISTINE PRIDE and JO PIAZZA (May 31, 2023)

THE SEX LIVES OF AFRICAN WOMEN by NANA DARKOA SEKYIAMAH (March 18, 2023)

TAKE MY HAND by DOLEN PERKINS-VALDEZ (September 21, 2022)

HEAVY by KIESE LAYMON (September 29, 2021)

AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE by TAYARI JONES (March 30, 2021)