As the air becomes crisp and the leaves transform into a kaleidoscope of golden and crimson hues, there’s nothing better than curling up with a good book. So fall into fall with these five engrossing novels; they’re the perfect antidotes to the post-summer blues.
PORTRAIT BY KYLE NORTON: BOOK COVERS CONTRIBUTED
HEDGE
HEDGE 
BY JANE DELURY
Maud is ready to change her life, which means reigniting her career as a garden historian and rethinking her oppressive marriage. As a start, she accepts a summer job in the Hudson Valley, restoring the garden of 19th-century estate. The independence is just what she needs while she waits for her two daughters, Ella and Louise, to join her at the end of their school year. Maud also engages in a friendship with her coworker, archeologist Gabriel Crews, and their relationship evolves into something more intimate than she expected. So Much so that, once Ella and Louise arrive, Maud Finds herself torn by her desire for Gabriel And her devotion to her daughters. Charged With emotion, demands of motherhood and the desire to honor her heart, what happens next will alter everyone’s lives forever.
THE BLOCK PARTY
BY JAMIE DAY
It’s the night of the annual Alton Road block party and, suddenly, the Meadowbrook Community Facebook Page is animated with reports of sirens throughout the exclusive cul-de-sac. As the comments trickle in, it becomes evident that, for the first time in 40 years, a murder has taken place in Meadowbrook. Predictably, urgent questions begin to surface. Who was slain at the party? Who was the killer? Could it be one of the residents of Alton Road? There’s the Fox family, each of whom possess secrets; the Adair Family, seemingly perfect and all-American; the Thompson Family, a couple on the threshold of a volatile divorce; the Kumars, the mysterious new neighbors; Brooke Bailey, dubbed the “Black Widow”; and Gus Fisher ,the quirky salesman. As the night progresses, the residents will determine that the real danger is right in their backyard.
THE SPECTACULAR
BY FIONA DAVIS
Set in New York City In 1956, nineteen-year-old Marion Brooks has every reason to be happy. Her high school sweetheart is about to propose and their life in a quiet house in the suburbs, with Marion as a stay-at-home mom, is imminent. Yet Marion feels trapped. Until she comes across an opportunity to audition for the famous Radio City Rockettes. In the meantime, the City is in turmoil, due to the “Big Apple Bomber,” who’s been terrorizing citizens for 16 years with a string of bombings around Manhattan. With no leads to speak of, the police turn to Peter Griggs, a young doctor at a local mental hospital whose focus is psychological profiling. When Marion and Peter are pulled into the investigation, Marion realizes that she’ll need to take a terrifying risk and, possibly, sacrifice everything and everyone in her life.
HOTEL LAGUNA
BY NICOLA HARRISON Hazel Francis was determined to do her part for the war effort, so she leaves Wichita, Kansas, for California In 1942 to work for Douglas Aircraft, where she becomes a worker à la Rosie the Riveter .But once the war is over, men resume their factory jobs, and women are expected to return home to become wives and mothers. Hazel refuses to be forced into a traditional woman’s role and decides, instead, to stay on the west coast in the bohemian town of Laguna Beach. There, she lands a job as an assistant to the famous artist Hanson Radcliff, who has a decades-old scandal that haunts him. As Hazel endeavors to stay in Radcliff’s good graces, she’s conflicted about whether to pursue her dream of working with airplanes again or to be content with the beautiful life she’s been granted in Laguna.
THE GOOD ONES
BY POLLY STEWART
The last time Nicola saw Lauren she was keying the side of a brand-new, cherry-red
Chevy Silverado. It was also the night before Lauren mysteriously disappeared from her home leaving behind signs of a struggle, bloody washcloth, and a grieving husband and young daughter. Now, almost two decades later, Nicola returns to the Appalachian town she grew up in, where everything reminds her of Lauren. Yet oddly, everyone else has moved on. Motivated by anything needed to uncover what happened to Lauren all those years ago, Nicola obsessively searches the internet and also finds a new job in her hometown, with the hope that even the smallest clue will arise. The question is: Will Nicola break free from her past, or will she lose herself to this unanswered tragedy
Emily Liebert is the USA Today bestselling author of seven novels and a New York Times bestselling celebrity ghostwriter. Her books are available worldwide.