DISCUSSION GUIDES

Before It Ends with Us, it started with Atlas. Colleen Hoover tells fan favorite Atlas’s side of the story and shares what comes next in this long-anticipated sequel to the “glorious and touching” (USA TODAY) #1 New York Times bestseller It Ends with Us.

Lily and her ex-husband, Ryle, have just settled into a civil coparenting rhythm when she suddenly bumps into her first love, Atlas, again. After nearly two years separated, she is elated that for once, time is on their side, and she immediately says yes when Atlas asks her on a date.

But her excitement is quickly hampered by the knowledge that, though they are no longer married, Ryle is still very much a part of her life—and Atlas Corrigan is the one man he will hate being in his ex-wife and daughter’s life.

Morgan Kenworthy—a Berkeley student studying abroad and a guest of family friends who have a chateau in St. Émilion in France—uncovers a coup against the French government. Soon after she arrives in Bordeaux, a bombing at the Brassault Aviation plant—supposedly by jihadists—kills several ministers. After another bombing kills much of the rest of the cabinet, Morgan suspects the General leading the investigation of involvement, and when he announces that he is in charge, she fears for her life. She must rely on her wits and her friends for survival, until she can convince the remaining legitimate branches of the French Government who the real criminals are…

For the Children is a narrative memoir that tells the true story of the author’s family's escape from Hungary and immigration to Canada in 1956, told from the viewpoint of the seven-year-old child he was at the time. After numerous attempts to flee from a revolution torn Stalinist Hungary ending in capture and disappointment, the author’s parents’ pursuit to give their children a better life finally bears success as they walk to freedom across a well-guarded and mine-strewn border. This is a gripping tale of bravery and the will to survive, the sometimes heart-breaking struggle for freedom, and the wonder and difficulties inherent in starting a life in a new country.

The Fencers, the third volume in a trilogy of autobiographical Cold War Escape stories, is both an immigrant's narrative of seeking a better life and a brighter future, and a sports memoir focusing on two Olympic fencers. At the Montreal 1976 Olympics, Paul Szabó, representing Romania, approaches his friend Geza Tatrallyay, representing Canada, to help him defect. The Fencers is an exciting true story of courage, friendship, love, happiness, success and tragedy.

Arctic Meltdown, a highly relevant, gripping environmental thriller, is set against the backdrop of the melting polar icecap and the ensuing jostling for jurisdiction over additional seabed resources. Hanne Kristensen, a beautiful Danish geologist, has to contend with a corrupted UN process, China’s growing interest in Arctic resources and maritime routes, Russian military aggression and the resulting international tension to try to save the world from war and the Arctic from environmental catastrophe.

Arctic Inferno, sequel to Arctic Meltdown, is a timely and gripping international environmental thriller set against the background of the devastation of climate change and the melting of the polar ice cap. The heroine, Hanne Kristensen, the gorgeous Danish geologist named Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources for a newly independent Greenland, has to maneuver through a wave of setbacks to foil both a Chinese attempt to control Greenland’s natural resources and an aggressive Russian attempt to gain hegemony over the sparsely populated fledgling country as well as to save her friend, the ousted Premier of Russia, Pavel Laptov. This is an action-packed novel with lots of twists and turns guaranteed to keep readers at the edge of their seats, but also one that brings home the realities we could be living in the very near future.

Preorder now and receive the stunning DELUXE LIMITED EDITION while supplies last―featuring gorgeous sprayed edges, as well as exclusive special design features. This breathtaking collectible is only available on a limited first print run, a must-have for any book lover while supplies last in the US and Canada only.

The Mind Spins is an exploration of the creative process, of the mind as it plots a narrative and builds characters. The thirteen stories included in the collection are divided into two parts, Awake and Dreaming. The six that make up Part I, Awake, explore how the human mind creates a story in its waking state. Several of the tales in this section take off from the author's own experiences—walking in the woods in Vermont, a phone message from his brother, a stray item of lingerie—while others are based on critical social issues—the plight of refugees in the US, human trafficking, the plight of homeless veterans. The stories in Part II, Dreaming, are based on dreams the author had and managed to capture upon waking. These fully reflect the zany manner in which dreams can spin off in strange directions, often bringing in new seemingly unrelated characters, some of which are sometimes non-human, others clearly from a non-contemporaneous past or future. Yet it is also evident that these stories, too, the first "draft" of which were "spun" by the mind in its dreaming state, are based on the author's experiences.

Twentysomething Abigail Gardner has experienced her share of tragedy, so when she gets a teaching job at one of Philadelphia’s most prestigious prep schools and everything in her down-in-the-dumps life starts to turn around, she thinks she’s finally getting the happy ending she’s yearned for. But is “happily ever after” really possible?

Raising Jess is a powerful story of love, courage, and hope, chronicling one family's journey through the unexpected challenges of raising a daughter with a rare chromosome deletion. Written with compassion, honesty, and humor, it tells of a family changed forever by the birth of their child with special needs, the decision to have more children, and their courageous decision to choose hope. “Our path differed from many of our friends and neighbors. But different does not mean worse or sad; merely different. Our opportunities and experiences changed our lives for the better."