Downtown Press Books
Explore the best books from Downtown Press! Discover a curated list of thrilling reads, from romance to mystery, all in one place. Find your next favorite book today.
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The Song Reader
by Lisa Tucker
A moving, evocative tale of love, grief, and sisterhood from the author of the “brilliant, tender, and riveting” (John Dufresne, author of I Don’t Like Where This Is Going) The Winters in Bloom. She can hear the music in people’s souls. Mary Beth and her younger sister Leeann are trying to support themselves in their small Southern hometown. Mary Beth works to make ends meet by practicing her own unique talent: “song reading.” By making sense of the song lyrics people have stuck in their heads, Mary Beth can help people make sense of their lives. In no time, Mary Beth’s readings have the entire town singing her praises, including the handsome scientist Ben, who falls hard for Mary Beth and her unearthly intuition. What happens when she can’t make out the lyrics? When Mary Beth reveals a long-muted secret in the community, however, she turns off the music and gives up song reading for good. Soon everyone’s lives are out of tune: Leeann worries she’ll never graduate from high school, and Ben can’t conduct his experiments. Without Mary Beth’s music, the town’s silence is louder than ever. Could it be that all the lyrics to all those foolish love songs really aren’t so foolish after all?
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The Heat Seekers
by Zane
A hot and sexy novel from the bestselling author of Addicted about the volatile, sensual escapades of two unforgettable pairs of lover. They're sisters of the soul, two girlfriends hitting the clubs in search of that oh-so-rare commodity: single guys. Tempest sports a modest suit, while Janessa runs wild in a skintight minidress—but they both want the same thing: the heat, the passion, the spark to ignite the sensual fires inside. It takes time and patience to find such a special lover. But somewhere among the losers they know there's a match for each of them. The last thing Geren wants is a relationship—most women can't see past his money and his good looks. But when Dvontè—Geren’s best friend and total womanizer—talks Geren into going clubbing, fate leads them to Tempest and Janessa. Attractions flare, connections are made, lives are changed, and secrets come to light. Together, they are the heat seekers, four daring hearts willing to play with fire—and take the risk of getting burned.
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Eliot's Banana
by Heather Swain
Things should be peachy. Junie isn't entirely sure what her problem is. She's just moved into a Brooklyn apartment with her cool longtime boyfriend Leon, a drummer who adores her. She flits through a string of temp jobs in funky thrift store clothes. But beneath her veneer of quirky humor there's a nagging feeling of dissatisfaction about her life. She's about to go bananas. When Junie meets Eliot, who is twice her age, and his cat, Alfie, at the vet's office, she's convinced she's found the zest missing in her life. A burnt-out sci-fi writer in search of a muse, Eliot is apples to Leon's oranges. It's not long before Junie's standing in his kitchen being offered a banana...and then some. Losing herself in the mayhem of a fling, Junie slowly realizes that kinky diversions are a poor distraction from what's really eating her. Only when she stops obsessing about Eliot and starts peeling away the layers of her family's past will she see that what she really wants has been waiting for her all along...and that her future's ripe with possibilities.
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Game Over
by Adele Parks
Cas Perry wants nothing to do with love -- her dad walking out on her mother was quite enough romantic drama, thank you very much. And why should she bother with relationships when she can manipulate just about any man for sex? The steely-hearted TV producer plays with other people's love lives and orchestrates unscripted fireworks on the edgy reality show Sex with an Ex -- a ratings blockbuster that is sending her already-hot career skyrocketing. Now, the woman who has all the answers meets the man who, for the first time, poses questions other than "buy you a drink?". Stunningly handsome Darren would be a sensation on Sex with an Ex -- and Cas needs him to ensure the show's success. So why is she wining and dining the sexiest man she's ever met -- and talking about family values, marriage, and fidelity? Darren's principles are changing the rules of attraction. And this may be one game Cas won't mind losing....
