Recommendations based on "What a Week to Make a Stand"

Is living the life you’ve wished for really a dream come true? Lucy Young is twenty-six and tired. Tired of fetching coffees for senior TV producers, sick of going on disastrous dates, and done with living in a damp flat with roommates who never buy toilet paper. After another disappointing date, Lucy stumbles upon a wishing machine. Pushing a coin into the slot, Lucy closes her eyes and wishes with all her might: Please, let me skip to the good part of my life. When she wakes the next morning to a handsome man, a ring on her finger, a high-powered job, and two storybook-perfect children, Lucy can’t believe this is real—especially when she looks in the mirror, and staring back is her own fortysomething face. Has she really skipped ahead like she’s always wanted, or has she simply forgotten a huge chunk of her life? As Lucy begins to embrace new relationships and the perks of maturity, she’ll have to ask herself: Can she go back to her previous life, and if so, can she stand to leave the good part behind?

A STYLIST BEST NEW RELEASE OF 2025 'This summer's smart beach read' GRAZIA, '25 Things for 2025' 'Profoundly moving' EMILY ST. JOHN MANDEL, bestselling author of STATION ELEVEN 'A sweeping, decades-spanning tale of queer desire' MARIE CLAIRE 'Almost unbearably beautiful' EMILIA HART, bestselling author of WEYWARD 'Had me hooked from the first page' JENNIE GODFREY, bestselling author of THE LIST OF SUSPICIOUS THINGS _________________________________________________________________________ There's no such thing as an ordinary love story When Emily catches sight of Gennifer Hall at a party, she is transported back to the moment they fell in love as teenagers. Their connection was electric, and they thought it was forever. Twenty years later, Gen is an Olympic runner, the career she strived for, while Emily is living a picture-perfect life: Manhattan townhouse, two young children and a wealthy husband, Jack. But Jack's controlling behaviour is spiralling, and Emily has lost sight of who she once was. Now, despite Emily's fracturing marriage and the pressures of Gen's career, they are drawn back together by a magnetic attraction. After years of heartbreak, missed chances and misunderstandings, will they finally get a second chance at first love? A sweeping love story about desire, friendship, mistakes and the possibility of second chances, for fans of The Paper Palace and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow _________________________________________________________________________ 'I loved this moving, tender story about lost love and second chances' RED 'Immersive and insightful' LISA OWENS, author of NOT WORKING '[A] raw, gorgeous debut' THE i PAPER 'A tender romance' WOMAN & HOME 'A gorgeously written love story' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING 'Shining with rare clarity' SAINSBURY'S MAGAZINE READERS ARE ALREADY RAVING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'So raw and so real . . . If there's one book you read this year, it should be this one' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I absolutely devoured this one . . . You will want to clear your afternoon to read this one straight through' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'The characters were so real that I miss them now the book's over. This novel is one for the ages' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Boy did this pack a punch, have a box of tissues by your side - you will need these' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Sexy and sensual . . . I found myself not wanting to stop reading' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'So emotionally wrecked by this book [that I'm] still thinking about it obsessively months later' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I fell in love with this story and these characters right from the beginning'

When she's not hanging out at her family's sweets shop, Libby loves walking her dog. Especially since she always meets the most interesting people -- like Cedric, who's her age and also has a dog. They become fast friends, until Libby finds out his family are the new owners of a competing store! Libby tries to keep her family's business a secret, because she really likes Cedric and wants to be his friend. But the secrets start adding up, and Libby needs the charm bracelet she shares with her besties to bring her some luck . . . right now!

From the critically acclaimed author of Train I Ride and Echo's Sister comes a moving story of friendship between two girls looking for some happiness in a world that can be a little cruel. Perfect for fans of Rebecca Stead, Ali Standish, and Erin Entrada Kelly. Twelve-year-old Juillet is preparing for the worst summer ever. She and her mom are staying in the seaside neighborhood of Ocean Park, California, for a month, where her mom will be working at the local hospital and Juillet will be on her own, like always. Her dad is off in Europe with his new girlfriend, and her best friend, Fern . . . well, Juiller isn't allowed to talk to Fern anymore. Fern took the blame for Juillet's goth-girl clothes and "not-real" fears, like sharks and rip currents and the number three. Then Juillet meets Summer, a local surfer girl who knows the coolest people and places around town. With free-spirited and adventurous Summer, Juillet begins to come out of her shell and face the things weighing her down. But when Summer reveals her own painful secret, it's Juillet's turn to be the strong and supportive friend. Named one of Bank Street College of Education's Best Children's Books of the Year!

When high school junior Melissa Keiser returns to her hometown of Anna Maria Island, Florida, she has one goal: hide from the bullies who had convinced her she was the ugliest girl in school. But when she is caught sneaking into a neighbor's pool at night, everything changes. Something is different now that Melissa is sixteen, and the guys and popular girls who once made her life miserable have taken notice. When Melissa gets the chance to escape life in a house ruled by her mom's latest boyfriend, she must choose where her loyalties lie between a long-time crush, a new friend, and her surfer brother who makes it impossible to forget her roots. Just as Melissa seems to achieve everything she ever wanted, she loses a loved one to suicide. Melissa must not only grieve for her loss, she must find the truth about the three boys who loved her and discover that joy sometimes comes from the most unexpected place of all.

Secrets are revealed and forbidden sparks ignited in this sizzling Sunrise Cove standalone, a tale of enemies to lovers, redemption, missing treasures, and love--by romance superstar and New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis. Anna Moore didn't just wake up one day and decide to go on a wild quest--especially since her life no longer lends itself to wild anything--so how in the world does she end up racing against the clock with Owen Harris, a sexy, enigmatic adventurist, to prove her beloved dad innocent of stealing a million-dollar necklace? It's all Wendy's fault. Her older, bossy sister, who's seven months pregnant and on bed rest in their small Lake Tahoe hometown, is desperate to clear their departed dad's name. Owen, though, is convinced he's guilty as hell and wants to return the jewelry back to its rightful owner--his elderly great aunt. Together Anna and Owen go on a scavenger hunt for clues to the past (with Wendy remotely along for the ride via an earbud, supplying a running wry commentary to boot). On opposing sides and suspicious of each other as they are, Anna and Owen still can't deny the inexplicable and explosive chemistry between them on this heart-stopping adventure, the outcome of which will prove the necklace isn't the only thing stolen--their hearts have been as well.

When Jeri McKane is blamed by her best friend Rosa for using a secret against her, Jeri's world is turned upside down. Unless the real blackmailer is found, Rosa could be expelled from Landmark School and her starring role in Cinderella given to a snobbish seventh grader. Worse still, Jeri could lose her best friend's trust just when things with her own absentee father are heating up. Why does everything have to be so complicated---and where is God when you need him? Middle schoolers will identify with Jeri and her friends as they solve this mystery and learn valuable lessons about truth-telling, faith, hope, and love.

This summer, Skye, Chad, and Morgan are planning on teaching four special needs children the art of riding and handling horses, and are especially excited to teach Katie Thomas, a girl who went blind in a car accident four years ago. Not only is Katie blind, but her parents are also getting divorced, something Katie blames on her loss of sight, making her bitter at the world, and at God. With the help of Skye, Katie's faith begins to grow, and she gets swept up in the world of the stable, soon becoming a skilled barrel racer. But as the summer goes on, her parent's divorce, and her disability, begin to wear on Katie, and she spends more time in her room with her talking computer. Through friendship, Skye tries her best to show Katie that her parents still love her, and that God is always there, no matter what happens.

Abby is ecstatic about her family's plans for a vacation in Paris. But when they get there, it's more of the same old thing: her siblings fighting non-stop, with nobody able to agree on so much as where to eat dinner. Abby feels a connection to the city, though -- after all, it's the home of many famous writers. So she decides to take matters into her own hands...and go off on an adventure of her own.

Lucy goes to Washington! Her student court group has a date to be shown around the nation's capital for an entire weekend by an important politician. But before Lucy can ask all the questions she's written down in anticipation, she quickly learns that politicians aren't always that easy to get hold of. In the meantime, Simon wants to be an entrepreneur, so he decides to baby-sit for one of Ruthie's friends. But the job becomes more difficult than he ever expected.