Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Relatively Famous by Jessica Park (Sneak Peek)

Relatively Famous

Relatively Famous by Jessica Park 
Kindle version


Freshman in high school Dani McKinley lives with her mother, Leila, in a modest house in Michigan. Dani adores her mother’s long-term boyfriend, Alan, and her best friend, Samantha. Life is pretty uncomplicated, right? Not for long . . .
            As Dani is walking to school one day, paparazzi pounce on her and claim that she is the daughter of Hollywood icon Mark Ocean. The news immediately changes Dani’s life. Leila confesses the truth to her daughter and agrees to let her spend the summer in California so that she can get to know Mark. But who leaked the story to the tabloids? After a nasty fight with Alan in which Dani announces that she finally has a “real dad,” Dani heads to the West Coast.
            Armed with credit cards, club memberships, and a new wardrobe, Dani learns that what Mark Ocean has in wealth, he sorely lacks in parenting skills. The fatherly interest Mark shows has more to do with changing his public image than with connecting with his daughter. Dani tries to teach her father that parenting is not just about supplying her with Prada bags and trips to movie premieres, and against his own instincts Mark slowly starts to see Dani as more than a career booster. 
           Her new California friends take Dani under their wings and school her in everything from attaching hair extensions to managing the paparazzi. She meets Jason, a gorgeous young personal trainer who is easy on the eyes and wildly flirtatious . . . But is this smug hottie the one for Dani? Or will she ignore her friends’ eye rolling and go for the goofy but sweet surfer? 
          So while juggling her own newly complicated love life, Dani also tries to set her father up with someone less likely to appear on an MTV reality show, and someone more... well, normal. And age-appropriate. And dressed in anything other than a thong bikini. But whether Mark is able to heal old wounds and move forward with anything more than a meaningless fling remains to be seen.
            Can Dani fit in with this new fast-moving California crowd without losing herself? With the world at her fingertips and hot boys now after her, staying grounded gets tough. And can Mark drop his egocentric approach to life and learn how to appreciate how wonderful his daughter truly is? As driven as he is to get that A-list acting role, he's willing to do whatever it takes to get there, even it means using his daughter. Mark and Dani's relationship hits a few highs, but the question becomes whether the lows are too much...?

 In honor of RELATIVELY FAMOUS now being available on Amazon's Kindle, I'm posting some excerpts of the book. Today you've got a sneak peek at Chapter 3. 

 “I think the pink is too girly and obvious. I don’t want my Steven Meyer to think I’m trying too hard.” Sam held up one of the shirts Dani brought for her to try on and had to yell over the music to be heard.
Sam’s parents had already left for work and Sam was used to getting herself up, eating breakfast, and packing her own lunch. It had been this way for as long as she could remember. Her parents were so grouchy these days that it was easier not to have them around in the mornings anyway. That’s why she spent so much time at Dani’s: the family atmosphere, the mother who wasn’t too distracted by the mountain of bills to check homework . . . Sam slept over at her friend’s house at least twice a week, and it just felt better to wake up to the comforting smells of coffee, eggs, and pancakes. The morning smell at Sam’s house was burnt toast.
Dani eyed the shirt in Sam’s hand and shook her head. “I disagree. Pink says you are feminine and the V-neck cut is revealing but not too revealing. Try it on.”
Sam shrugged. “All right, I’ll give it a go. Cover his eyes,” she said, gesturing to the massive poster on the wall.
“Sam, honestly?” Dani laughed.
“It’s not just any poster, my dear. It’s Mark Ocean. I don’t want him to see me naked.” Sam grinned slyly and ran her hands down her torso. “I’m not fully formed.”
Dani shook her head. “I think it’s your brain that’s not fully formed.”
Sam’s obsession with Hollywood actor Mark Ocean drove Dani crazy. Dani thought his movies were lame and found their plots completely implausible. (An ex-insurance broker finds himself caught up in an elaborate scheme to lure aliens to earth for scientific study…When the plan goes horribly awry, only our hero can save the world!)
But it was the poster itself that totally gave Dani the creeps; the thirty-something actor was shirtless and his well-muscled body had clearly been covered with what she guessed was olive oil. Granted, Dani couldn’t deny that Mark Ocean was an attractive man. Who could help noticing those dark, smoldering eyes, full lips, and perfectly styled jet-black hair? But, man, his movies were such crap. As far as Dani was concerned, if he wasn’t so handsome, he probably couldn’t have even landed an infomercial gig. It didn’t take a genius to pretend to fight aliens, did it? This loser was photographed with every dumb model and rising starlet out there and Dani knew for sure that he wasn’t discussing great literature of the twentieth century with them.
But Sam adored him, so Dani dutifully played along. “Coast is clear. Mark won’t see your A-cups. Now hurry up and pick a shirt or we’re going to be late for school.”
“Ta da! Okay, you were right. This pink shirt is totally cute.” Sam admired herself in the full-length mirror. The deep pink did look great with her short blond hair. Dani always envied natural blonds, but Sam wasn’t conceited about her good looks so it was impossible to resent her. She was very pretty and even her limited wardrobe couldn’t hide her attractiveness. Sam had the same no-makeup rule Dani did, but she often got away with eyeliner and mascara since her parents were home in the mornings to see her. Even with no makeup, Dani’s best friend had the quintessential girl-next-door cuteness that boys found irresistible. Sam gazed longingly at the poster. “If Mark Ocean could see me now—“
“He’d drop his idiotic L.A. lifestyle and rush out to Little Springs, Michigan to suck face with you?” Dani asked.
“Exactly right,” Sam said. “I am the woman for him.”
Sam had lofty visions of moving to a large city and hobnobbing with the rich and famous. Dani, on the other hand, was pretty happy where she was. True, Little Springs was not known as the nightlife capital of the world, but at fifteen, she was satisfied. The town had a big mall, plenty of good restaurants (Alan’s was at the top of the list), and decent schools. The grocery store was a major chain and not some mom and pop country store. And, they had real seasons here. Dani loved winter and liked nothing better than curling up by the fire with cocoa and a book during a raging snowstorm. The birds in the backyard always seemed to know when a storm was coming and would flock to the birdfeeders Dani had set up in the yard. Snowbuntings, Waxwings, Sparrows… Oh, and the stunning red of the Cardinals against the backdrop of crisp white snow. What the heck did Mark Ocean do at Christmas? Spray expensive, fake snow on his expensive, fake lawn?
But, considering how stressful Sam’s home life was right now, Dani couldn’t blame her for dreaming about another life.
Sam cranked up the stereo to full blast and spun around the room. “One more song and we’ll go. Come on, Dani, dance with me! How can you resist Def Leppard singing ‘Photograph’?”
Sam began shaking her hips and shimmying her shoulders.
“You asked for it!” Dani grabbed a hairbrush from the dresser and joined her pal. “Sing it with me, Sam!” She held the hairbrush like a microphone.
Dani might not have the most spectacular singing voice, but Sam was majorly tone deaf. The girls collapsed on the bed, exhausted from their rendition of the ‘80s classic.
“I should have been a child of the ‘80s. I would’ve loved it.” Sam squealed. “All that neon and crazy music and big hair…”
Dani turned to her. “If you’d been an ‘80s kid then I wouldn’t have you. And I wouldn’t trade my best friend for anything. Atrocious singer or not.”
She rolled out of the way before Sam could whack her with a pillow.

The hardcopy version of Relatively Famous will be available soon. If you'd like to know when you can buy your very own copy, shoot me an email and I will let you know as soon as it's available. 

Check back soon for a neat giveaway involving Relatively Famous!! 

Sand In My Eyes by Christine Lemmon - GIVEAWAY - 3 copies!


Sand in my eyes by Christine Lemmon

An older woman growing flowers, A younger woman caught up in the weeds, And the seasons of life With the uplifting and insightful writing style that has captivated thousands of readers, Christine Lemmon s third novel is an enchanting tale of marriage and motherhood, identity and sacrifice, betrayal and forgiveness, forbidden passion and possibilities. Sand in My Eyes is the story of Anna Hott who is so overwhelmed by life that hardly is she seeing the beauty around her. It s as if she is walking around with sand in her eyes. But then the widow from next door comes knocking at her door, and one by one, their woman-to-woman small talks help pull the ugly from Anna s life so that beauty, peace, simplicity and contentment sprout forth strong and free another book of emotionally profound impact by Lemmon proving that not everything in life will be blooming at once, and sometimes it feels as if nothing is blooming or will ever bloom again, but overall we are the master gardeners for our own lives. 

Thanks to Amanda at BookSparksPR, I have THREE (3) copies of this book to give away to some lucky blog readers!


Special promotion through July 1st ONLY.

Pre-order Christine Lemmon's new book, Sand in my Eyes, from Amazon now, email your receipt to jclemmon@gmail.com with subject line Beach Bag Giveaway, and you'll be entered to win a beach bag full of 7 fabulous new summer beach reads including Seven Year Switch by Claire Cook, The Island by Elin Hilderbrand, Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner, The One That I Want by Allison Winn Scotch, The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen, The Nobodies Album by Carolyn Parkhurst and Thin Rich Pretty by Beth Harbison.

Added bonus: She's throwing in a sweet pair of women's Oakley sunglasses and a $50 Amazon gift card for even more reading fun.

Rules for entering MY contest:

1. You MUST be follower of this blog through Google Friend Connect, E-Mail Subscription, or RSS Feed.

2. This contest is open to residents of US residents only!

3. NO PO BOXES!

4. You MUST complete the form below - do not leave information in the comments - it will not count!

5. The contest will start on June 30, 2010 at 6am EST and end on July 14, 2010 at 11:59PM EST; 3 winners will be selected and contacted thereafter.

6. Once the winners are contacted, they will have 48 hours to respond to my e-mail or another winner will be selected.  Make sure you check your spam filters!

7. Books will be shipped directly from the publicist, BookSparksPR




Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman (ARC)

Red Hook Road

Red Hook Road  by Ayelet Waldman


Set on the coast of Maine over the course of four summers, Red Hook Road tells the story of two families, the Tetherlys and the Copakens, and of the ways in which their lives are unraveled and stitched together by misfortune, by good intentions and failure, and by love and calamity.

A marriage collapses under the strain of a daughter's death; two bereaved siblings find comfort in one another; and an adopted young girl breathes new life into her family with her prodigious talent for the violin. As she writes with obvious affection for these unforgettable characters, Ayelet Waldman skillfully interweaves life's finer pleasures - music and literature - with the more mundane joys of living. Within these resonant pages, a vase filled with wildflowers or a cold beer on a hot summer day serve as constant reminders that it's often the little things that make life so precious.

Release date:  July 13, 2010
Check back soon for my review.

FTC Full Disclosure ~ A received this ARC for review. 

Book Giveaway - Greek: Double Date by Marsha Warner

Greek: Double Date (Harlequin Teen)


Two dates—same night!
Major oops. When Casey Cartwright's brother begs her to be nerdy Dale Kettlewell's date to the sure-to-be-boring Honors Engineering Awards, Casey says yes. Even though Dale is totally not her type… and might have a crush on her. Ugh. But it's a nice thing to do, and Casey's always been the "nice" girl.
But now, that night conflicts with the biggest event of the semester, the All-Greek formal. Casey already has a date lined up: hot transfer student Rob Howell. He's her plan to get over her sexy-slacker ex, Cappie. And even nice girls get to be bad sometimes, right?
What to do? With a little help from BFF Ashleigh, unwanted advice from frenemy Rebecca Logan and even a push from Cappie, what Casey does may surprise even herself….

GREEK: Double Date features an all-new storyline that goes beyond the primetime soap with the same characters fans have grown to love.

* Since its network debut in July 2007, Greek has reached nearly 24 million total viewers.

* GREEK: Double Date is a quick, captivating beach read for teens of all ages and fans of the show. ABC Family currently draws a highly literate teen audience with approximately 82% reading books, other than for school purposes, as a leisure activity.

* Greek is ABC Family's longest-running original series currently on the air and has consistently been a Top 5 hit with teens in its basic cable time period. Check your local listings as Greek will be returning soon for its fourth season!

* Get an inside look at the social minefield that is the Greek system at one fictional Midwestern college, Cyprus-Rhodes University.

* Three more Greek books are set to release in August 2010, November 2010 and February 2011.

Giveaway: 
Thanks to Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, I have two (2) copies of this book to give away! 

Want to double your chances of winning?  Head on over to Jen's blog at Crazy-For-Books and enter her "Greek:  Double Date" contest!  She is also giving away 2 copies of this book!  

Want to make sure you get to read the book??? Head on over to the Crazy-For-Books Tour site site and sign up to be a part of this tour. Tours are for book bloggers only. Make sure to read the rules before signing up.

Rules for entering:
1. You MUST be follower of this blog through Google Friend Connect, E-Mail Subscription, or RSS Feed.

2. This contest is open to residents of USA and Canada only!

3. You MUST complete the form below - do not leave information in the comments - it will not count!

4. The contest will end on July 13, 2010 at 11:59PM EST; 2 winners will be selected and contacted thereafter.

5. Once the winners are contacted, they will have 48 hours to respond to my e-mail or another winner will be selected.  Make sure you check your spam filters!

6. NO P.O. Box Addresses!

7. Book will be shipped directly from Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc.
 
 
 


Father's Day Bundle - WINNER

Congratulations

 

JB1AB2


I've sent an email requesting their address. If I don't hear back in 48 hrs, I'll choose another winner. Thank you to those that have entered :)

Monday, June 28, 2010

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.
We share what books that we found in our mailboxes last week. (the past two weeks)

Here's what I got ~


Deadly FearDeadly Fear by Cynthia Eden (ARC, for review) ~ TWO BRILLIANT AGENTS
FBI Special Agent Monica Davenport has made a career out of profiling serial killers. But getting inside the twisted minds of the cruel and the sadistic has taken its toll: She's walled herself off from the world. Yet Monica can't ignore fellow agent Luk.  Release date: July 27, 2010e Dante, the only man who ever broke through her defenses.ONE DREAM TEAMLuke has the unique ability to put victims at ease...professionally, he and Monica made a perfect team. Now they're reunited to catch a murderer who uses his victims' deepest, darkest fears for sport - but their investigative skills aren't enough. Luke and Monica will have to face the secrets from their past, the ones that terrify them the most, if they are to have a future together.But can they catch a killer whose weapon is...DEADLY FEAR. Release date: July 27th 

Last to DieLast to Die  by Kate Brady (ARC, for review) ~ A ruthless killer hides in plain sight, someone no one believes is capable of murder. Within a week, six women will be murdered, all punished for their dark pasts. Detective Dani Cole is determined to track down this serial killer whose victims include a young woman she pulled out of a life of crime. Her investigation leads her to a photography foundation and the renowned photographer Mitch Sheridan, a man she she fell in love with years ago but has tried to forget. Dani and Mitch are instantly attracted to each other again, though their troubled pasts keep them from getting too close. Together, through the course of the investigation, they unearth a dark chain of deception that leads to a killer who is closer than they think. Release date: August 31st.

Cross Fire (Alex Cross)Cross Fire (Alex Cross) by James Patterson (ARC, for review) ~ Wedding bells ring. Detective Alex Cross and Bree's wedding plans are put on hold when Alex is called to the scene of the perfectly executed assassination of two of Washington D.C.'s most corrupt: a dirty congressmen and an underhanded lobbyist. Next, the elusive gunman begins picking off other crooked politiciaIMAGEns, sparking a blaze of theories--is the marksman a hero or a vigilante?A murderer returnsThe case explodes, and the FBI assigns agent Max Siegel to the investigation. As Alex and Siegel battle over jurisdiction, the murders continue. It becomes clear that they are the work of a professional who has detailed knowledge of his victims' movements--information that only a Washington insider could possess.Caught in a lethal cross fire As Alex contends with the sniper, Siegel, and the wedding, he receives a call from his deadliest adversary, Kyle Craig. The Mastermind is in D.C. and will not relent until he has eliminated Cross and his family for good. With a supercharged blend of action, deception, and suspense, Cross Fire is James Patterson's most visceral and exciting Alex Cross novel ever.  Release date: November 15th.

Don't BlinkDon't Blink by James Patterson & Howard Roughan (ARC, for review) ~ The good. New York's Lombardo's Steak House is famous for three reasons--the menu, the clientele, and now, the gruesome murder of an infamous mob lawyer. Effortlessly, the assassin slips through the police's fingers, and his absence sparks a blaze of accusations about who ordered the hit. The bad. Seated at a nearby table, reporter Nick Daniels is conducting a once-in-a-lifetime interview with a legendary baseball bad-boy. In the chaos, he accidentally captures a key piece of evidence that lands him in the middle of an all-out war between Italian and Russian mafia forces. NYPD captains, district attorneys, mayoral candidates, media kingpins, and one shockingly beautiful magazine editor are all pushing their own agendas--on both sides of the law. And the dead Back off--or die--is the clear message Nick receives as he investigates for a story of his own.Heedless, and perhaps in love with his beautiful editor, Nick endures humiliation, threats, violence, and worse in a thriller that overturns every expectation and finishes with the kind of flourish only James Patterson knows. Release date: September 27th

The Good SisterThe Good Sister by Drusilla Campbell (ARC, for review) ~ Roxanne Callahan has always been her younger sister's caretaker. Now married, her happiness is threatened when beautiful and emotionally unstable Simone, suffering from crippling postpartum depression, commits an unforgivable crime for which Roxanne comes to believe she is partially responsible. In the glare of national media attention brought on her sister, Roxanne fights to hold her marriage together as she is drawn back into the pain of her troubled past and relives the fraught relationship she and Simone shared with their narcissistic mother. At the same time, only she can help Simone's nine year old daughter, Merell, make sense of the family's tragedy. Cathartic, lyrical, and unflinchingly honest, THE GOOD SISTER is a novel of four generations of women struggling to overcome a legacy of violence, lies and secrecy, ultimately finding strength and courage in their love for each other.Release date: October 1st.

Live to Tell: A Detective D. D. Warren NovelLive to Tell: A Detective D. D. Warren Novel by Lisa Gardner (ARC, for review) ~ Boston police detective D. D. Warren returns in another gripping thriller. A family is murdered, apparently by the father (who, it seems, barely failed to take his own life after killing his wife and young children). But soon there are questions, the most pressing of which is, Why would this man, apparently out of the blue, slaughter his own family? Is it possible that someone else was the killer, perhaps another member of the family? In addition to telling a compelling story, Gardner also explores an issue that is rarely discussed in fiction: children who are psychotic. In first-person chapters narrated by other characters (Victoria, a mother at her wits’ end; Danielle, survivor of a family slaughter), she eases the reader into unfamiliar territory, telling us about children—like Evan, Victoria’s eight-year-old son—who are capable of astonishing violence, including plotting to murder their own parents. Gardner has never shied away from creepy, psychologically twisted stories, but this may be her most unsettling. The notion of murderous children may be off-putting enough to make some readers avoid the book. That would be a mistake: Gardner never sensationalizes her story, and the book ends with a resolution that is creatively and emotionally appropriate. An excellent novel. Release date: July 13th.

VelocityVelocity by Alan Jacobson (ARC, for review) ~ FBI profiler Karen Vail returns in Velocity, national bestselling author Alan Jacobson’s most explosive thriller to date. Vail’s boyfriend, Detective Robby Hernandez, has seemingly disappeared into the dense air of a Napa Valley evening. There are no clues to his whereabouts, other than a blood stain—and potential connections to a serial killer operating in the wine country.Despite using all means at her disposal to find out what happened to Robby, Vail is thwarted—until her colleague, Detective Paul Bledsoe, hooks her up with Hector DeSantos, a covert Defense Department operative who has a knack for finding difficult to locate information. But DeSantos is an unwilling partner, and other than o1ering superficial cooperation to pay back the debt he owes Bledsoe, he is reluctant to work his valuable informants for what he views as Vail’s personal crusade to find her lover.That is, until Vail pries loose long-buried secrets, lies, and deceptions on the part of her own task force members. It’s information that even DeSantos can’t ignore, a discovery of great magnitude that reveals larger forces at play—forces that propel Vail and DeSantos into a frantic search that takes them from the wineries of Napa Valley to the monuments of Washington, D.C., the wealthy beach enclaves of San Diego, and the bright excesses of Las Vegas.  Release date: October 5th.

Russian Winter: A NovelRussian Winter: A Novel by Daphne Kalotay (ARC, review, Tour) ~ When she decides to auction her remarkable jewellery collection, Nina Revskaya, once a great star of the Bolshoi ballet, believes she has drawn a curtain on her past. Instead, the aged dancer finds herself overwhelmed by memories of her homeland and of the events -- both glorious and heartbreaking -- that changed the course of her life half a century before.It was in Russia that Nina first learned to dance, that she fell in love with a dashing poet, that she and her dearest companions became victims of Stalinist aggression and that a terrible discovery led to a deadly act of betrayal -- and to a daring and ingenious escape that eventually brought her to the city of Boston.Nina has never shared the dark secrets of her heart. But two people -- an associate director at the auction house and a Russian professor looking for the key to his own ambiguous history -- will not let the past. Release date: September 7th.

Getting Old Is Tres Dangereux: A MysteryGetting Old Is Tres Dangereux: A Mystery  by Rita Lakin ~ Read as Gladdy Gold finds out that she has a competitor wanting to steal Jack langford away from her. She's a gorgeous younger redhead from France.Not only that, but there is a killer wanting to murder the Frenchwoman and Jack is the only one who can save her.

The Echo of Violence

The Echo of Violence  by Jordan Dane (ARC, for review) ~ A man she would trust with her heart could sabotage everything, in this new ripped-from-the-headlines thriller in Jordan Dane's gritty "Sweet Justice" series. Release date: September 1st.




Poison: A Novel of the Renaissance Poison: A Novel of the Renaissance by Sarah Poole (ARC, for review) ~
In the simmering hot summer of 1492, a monstrous evil is stirring within the Eternal City of Rome. The brutal murder of an alchemist sets off a desperate race to uncover the plot that threatens to extinguish the light of the Renaissance and plunge Europe back into medieval darkness.Determined to avenge the killing of her father, Francesca Giordano defies all convention to claim for herself the position of poisoner serving Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, head of the most notorious and dangerous family in Italy. She becomes the confidante of Lucrezia Borgia and the lover of Cesare Borgia. At the same time, she is drawn to the young renegade monk who yearns to save her life and her soul.Navigating a web of treachery and deceit, Francesca pursues her father’s killer from the depths of Rome’s Jewish ghetto to the heights of the Vatican itself. In so doing, she sets the stage for the ultimate confrontation with ancient forces that will seek to use her darkest desires to achieve their own catastrophic ends. Release date:  August 3rd.

Following PollyFollowing Polly  by Karen Bergreen (for review) ~ It's like Comedy Central picked up Law & Order for an episode in standup comic and ex-lawyer Bergreen's breezy debut about a rootless, jobless, and loveless snoop in search of her lifelong dream. Fired from a crappy job with a selfish, nasty casting director, Alice Teakle begins obsessively stalking Harvard frenemy Polly—and winds up the top suspect in her murder. But that's where the fun begins: slipping out of police custody, Alice begins stalking Charlie, her college-days romantic fantasy who she hopes can save her from prison. Charlie takes her in, forging a deal that he'll help get her off the murder hook if she helps out with a problem his father's having. But Charlie and Alice sweetly discover a far deeper need of each other. Bergreen makes good use of her comedic skills and varied professional background to create a sharp whodunit that combines edgy thrills with a wicked sense of humor and an endearing heart of gold.

The Scarlet Contessa: A Novel of the Italian Renaissance  by Jeanne Kalogridis (ARC, for review) ~ Daughter of the Duke of Milan and wife of the conniving Count Girolamo Riario, Caterina Sforza was the bravest warrior Renaissance Italy ever knew. She ruled her own lands, fought her own battles, and openly took lovers whenever she pleased.Her remarkable tale is told by her lady-in-waiting, Dea, a woman knowledgeable in reading the “triumph cards,” the predecessor of modern-day Tarot. As Dea tries to unravel the truth about her husband’s murder, Caterina single-handedly holds off invaders who would steal her title and lands. However, Dea’s reading of the cards reveals that Caterina cannot withstand a third and final invader—none other than Cesare Borgia, son of the corrupt Pope Alexander VI, who has an old score to settle with Caterina. Trapped inside the Fortress at Ravaldino as Borgia’s cannons pound the walls, Dea reviews Caterina’s scandalous past and struggles to understand their joint destiny, while Caterina valiantly tries to fight off Borgia’s unconquerable army. Release date: July 6th

The Tenth Song by Naomi Ragen (ARC, for review) ~ Abigail Warner has no reason to feel anything but joy on the morning her life falls apart.  The epitome of the successful Jewish American woman, she is married to a well-known and respected accountant and in the midst of planning her daughter Cayla’s wedding.  Cayla, too, wakes up that morning with the world in the palm of her hand.  Having lived the charmed life of a well-loved child from a happy family, she is bright, pretty, and never really questioned the path she found herself on.
Until the front page of a newspaper screams out that Abigail’s husband and Cayla’s father has committed fraud.  Cayla quarrels with her fiancĂ© over the situation, and decides impulsively to take a time-out in Israel, where she once spent a wonderful summer.  But when Cayla decides to follow a charismatic mysti to his desert commune, Abigail rushes to save her and both mother and daughter must make decisions that affect the rest of their lives.  Release date: October 12th

One Season of SunshineOne Season of Sunshine by Julia London (for review) ~ Adopted as an infant, Jane Aaron longs to know the identity of her birth mother and why she gave her up. Her only clue is the name of the small Texas town where she was born, so she’s come to Cedar Springs for answers.Handsome ad executive Asher Price lost his wife, the beautiful, mysterious Susanna, in a terrible car crash eighteen months ago. When he hires Jane as the nanny for his two children, sparks fly. Jane finds herself falling in love with both Asher and his children, but begins to suspect that Susanna was not the perfect mother and wife the family portrays her to have been.As Jane gets closer and closer to finding out the truth about both her own and Susanna’s past, devastating secrets begin to emerge that may be more than anyone can bear. Will the truth bring Jane and Asher closer together or tear them apart forever?