Claudia Lux

A darkly humorous, surprisingly poignant, and utterly gripping debut novel about a guy who works in Hell (literally) and is on the cusp of a big promotion if only he can get one more member of the wealthy Harrison family to sell their soul. Peyote Trip has a pretty good gig in the deals department on the fifth floor of Hell. Sure, none of the pens work, the coffee machine has been out of order for a century, and the only drink on offer is Jägermeister, but Pey has a plan—and all he needs is one last member of the Harrison family to sell their soul. When the Harrisons retreat to the family lake house for the summer, with their daughter Mickey’s precocious new friend, Ruth, in tow, the opportunity Pey has waited a millennium for might finally be in his grasp. And with the help of his charismatic coworker Calamity, he sets a plan in motion. But things aren’t always as they seem, on Earth or in Hell. And as old secrets and new dangers scrape away at the Harrisons’ shiny surface, revealing the darkness beneath, everyone must face the consequences of their choices.

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(Bre)anne✨

Does it count as staying if leaving is always on the mind? How much lying does a marriage need to survive?

Emiley Jones

After loss, love is never the same. That is not to say you won’t love another, maybe even more than ever before. But as you love them, you will mourn them. You’ll try not to, of course. Try to say, “You never know.” But you do. You know. And every inch gained in flight is an inch added to the fall.

He took his hell, but he wouldn't give up his humanity.

Once she got that call, she took to forgetting like everything else she had set out to accomplish—utterly and with teeth.

Does it count as staying if leaving is always on the mind?

"You know that worried feeling? [...] That feeling in your gut all the time. No matter the quality or intention of your company, like your safety is a gift from the men around you, not a right. [...] This right here," Rose said, patting the gun affectionately, "for a minute, this will make that feeling go away."

Lily had spent her whole life carving herself into the perfect shape for him. Hacking off whatever parts got in his way. The concave to his convex. Because that's what it meant to be a wife. A mother. Because marriage required sacrifice. Because together, they made one more complete shape. 

But when she looked into his eyes then, she knew what that voice in her had always known—Silas wanted the empty parts of her. The parts made for his comfort, but not the rest.

Because the world had told her that if she sacrificed as much as she could, if she kept herself small and quiet, swallowed back her questions and angers and fears, she would eventually be light enough for someone else to carry.

Lily had spent her young life assuming that her fear was a defect. She thought if she could just be wanted right, by the right man, that she herself would be righted, and the fear would go away. But even the best man comes with the strength and stature to remind a woman that every time he doesn’t hurt her is a favor.

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