RECOMMENDED READS
THE MEMORY OF LAVENDER AND SAGE, Aimie K. Runyan
“A standout voice in women’s fiction. I was captivated from the very first line.” — Kristy Woodson Harvey, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Summer of Songbirds
Perhaps the secrets of her mother’s past in this tiny French town hold the key to her own future. . .
Food critic Tempèsta Luddington has always felt like the odd person out in her family, ever since she lost her beloved mother at the tender age of thirteen. When her workaholic father passes fifteen years later, Tempèsta is not surprised that the majority of the considerable family money will pass to her dutiful younger brother, Wal. Still, she is left a modest remembrance from her mother, and for the first time Tempèsta has a world of choices before her.
Lost in grief and hoping to reconnect with her memories and her mother’s past, she uses the money to buy a ramshackle manor house in Sainte-Colombe, a small village in Provence, where her mother had grown up. But she is greeted with more questions than answers. Her welcome, especially by the town’s stodgy mayor, is cold at best, and she finds herself wondering if the entire experiment was a mistake.
Yet she stays, stubbornly sticking it out, slowly learning that her mother’s legacy was more than just a nest egg. Through her mother and the village, Tempèsta learns the value of community and friendship, the importance of self-confidence, and the power of love and trust. What’s more, she sees for herself that there is magic and beauty in the everyday—even something as simple as a sprig of lavender and sage.
“For readers who love Under the Tuscan Sun and Chocolat, this is your next heartfelt, delightful read.” —Jennifer Moorman, bestselling author of The Baker’s Man
BUY HERE
THE SHINING MOUNTAINS, Alix Christie
The year is 1838. A young Scotsman forced from his homeland arrives at Hudson’s Bay. Angus McDonald is contracted to British masters to trade for fur. But the world he discovers is beyond even a Highlander’s wildest imaginings: raging rivers, buffalo hunts, and the powerful daughter of an ancient and magnificent people. In Catherine Baptiste, kin to Nez Perce chiefs, Angus recognizes a kindred spirit. The Rocky Mountain West in which they meet will soon be torn apart by competing claims: between British fur traders, American settlers, and the Native peoples who have lived for millennia in the valleys and plateaus of the Shining Mountains’ western slopes.
In this epic family saga, the real history of the American West is revealed in all its terror, beauty, and complexity. The Shining Mountainsbrilliantly limns a world now long forgotten: of blended cultures seeking allies, trading furs for guns and steel, and a way of life in collision with westward colonial expansion.
ACCLAIM
“The Shining Mountains takes its history seriously. Love, treachery, violence, and honour, it is all here in a novel to be savoured.”–Sarah Dunant, author of In the Name of the Family
BUY HERE
EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT WIDOWHOOD I LEARNT FROM JESSICA FLETCHER, Christina Hamlett
Wolves, swans and French angelfish are among a litany of species which mate forever. If a partner dies, the survivor literally becomes a lost soul and gives up all interest in continuing alone.
Humans, too, often embrace the mindset of there being only one true love allotted to each of us per lifetime. In Eve’s Diary by Mark Twain, an inconsolable Adam weeps at her grave with the words, “Wheresoever she was, there was Eden.” Even if Eve had been the first one to face the future newly single, there’d have been no Central Casting to which she might easily apply for a replacement.
In a perfect world, we would blissfully exit our shared existence hand-in-hand. In an imperfect one such as that in which I suddenly found myself after 25 years of marriage, we can either fold to despair like a cheap suit or stride boldly into grand adventures and do our dearly departed lovers proud.
My vote is for striding boldly. Who’s with me?
BUY HERE
FALLING THROUGH THE NEW WORLD, Cynthia Reeves
Falling Through the New World is a novel in stories that spans a century, from World War I Italy to modern-day America. The collection comprises fourteen stories. The eponymous piece, “Falling Through the New World,” traces the experiences of a young married couple—Anna and Vincenzo Desiderio—as they negotiate the impact of the Great War on their lives. “La Dolentissima Madre” follows the parallel journeys of Anna and her mother as they grapple with their sister/daughter dying of the Spanish flu. “Sign Language” reaches back into the Desiderios’ family history as Anna and Vincenzo’s daughter, Rose, grapples with her father’s desire to reunite with his dead wife. And in the final story, “All This the Heart Ordains,” Kate returns to Italy after her mother’s death to seek out an understanding of Rose’s deep commitment to her Catholic faith.
“An absorbing story of ordinary people trying to find their way.” Kirkus Reviews
“Reeves’ prose is nothing short of mesmerizing. Her attention to emotive detail and her ability to paint vivid, poetic imagery through dialogue is remarkable.” Literary Titan
“Reeves has produced a powerful set of interlocked vignettes that shine with a sense of place, purpose, and connection….” D. Donovan, Senior Book Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
BUY HERE
DAUGHTER OF A PROMISE, Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg
Days after graduation, Betsabé Ruiz’s life in New York is turning out to be nothing less than cinematic. Although her first job at a white-shoe, Wall Street investment bank is the opportunity of a lifetime, she is not prepared for the magnitude of wealth swirling about her, the long hours and close quarters that infuse her professional relationships with intimacy, nor an unexpected attraction to her boss. And like all great films, Betsabé’s New York dream comes with a twist that challenges her to find a balance between where she came from and where she’s going.
Narrated in the retrospective as a letter of wisdom to her unborn son, Daughter of a Promise captures not only Betsabé’s coming of age but also her journey to understand that deep-seated forces such as desire and love are more complicated than she ever could have imagined.
BUY HERE
IN TUNE, JN Welsh
A tour manager determined to revitalize her career.
The client she can’t stop thinking about.
Workplace romance hits the road in this enemies-to-lovers romance from JN Welsh.
Luke Anderson needs a manager—fast. His last one quit, leaving his tour and his future in jeopardy. Now, instead of focusing on his career, he’s forced to concentrate on damage control. Powerhouse manager Leona Sable is the full package—smart and talented, not to mention sexy as hell—but her past makes her impossible to trust.
When opportunity knocks in the form of talented EDM DJ Luke “The Musical Prophet” Anderson, Leona is ready to answer. But salvation doesn’t come cheap. Luke won’t sign until Leona agrees to his outrageous terms—including a no-sex-while-on-tour clause.
Dictating what she does in her personal life crosses a line. But Leona’s never been one to back down from a challenge.
One thing is for sure: if she has to suffer, so will he.
Let the tour begin…
BUY HERE
ELIZABETH’S MOUNTAIN, Lucille Guarino
“A wonderful, moving story about love and loss, focusing on two generations: grandmother and granddaughter.” -Marie W. Watts, author of the award-winning trilogy, Warriors for Equal Rights
A beloved home. Matters of the heart. Can an elderly woman find the key to saving her precious heritage?
Asheville, North Carolina. Elizabeth has a dilemma. After celebrating a milestone birthday, the feisty ninety-year-old anxiously contemplates a developer’s lucrative offer for her Blue Ridge Mountain farmhouse. Worried her adult children will pressure her to sell, the lively senior recalls how her journey to this forever home began back in the 50s when she met the man who would become her husband…
Present day. Amanda yearns to stop wasting time. After ending a dead-end, three-year relationship and moving in with her spirited grandmother, the thirty-four-year-old nurse sees her dream of marriage and kids vanishing. But when she meets a handsome widower at a hospital summit, she cautiously lets down her walls.
As Elizabeth’s memories take her back to when she was a hopeful young woman, she reveals how a horrific accident led to the ER and a charming doctor. While Amanda fears the worst when she overhears the enigmatic man she’s fallen for talking on the phone with another woman.
Do both women’s stories lead to a grand legacy and a lifetime of love?
In an emotional rollercoaster that interweaves the two women’s chance at a future, their parallel romances illustrate the power of resilience and hope despite heartbreak. And as one story comes to its twilight years while the other is just beginning, readers will fall hard for this poignant inheritance of happiness.
Elizabeth’s Mountain is an enchanting women’s fiction novel. If you like relatable characters, dual timelines, and multi-generational romance, then you’ll adore Lucille Guarino’s touching tale.
Buy Elizabeth’s Mountain to believe in tomorrow!
BUY HERE
SUMMONS TO BERLIN: Nazi Theft and A Daughter’s Quest for Justice, Joanna Intrator
On his deathbed, Dr. Joanne Intrator’s father poses two unsettling questions:
“Are you tough enough? Do they know who you are?”
Joanne soon realizes that these haunting questions relate to a center-city Berlin building at 16 Wallstrasse that the Nazis ripped away from her family in 1938. But a decade is to pass before she will fully come to grasp why her father threw down the gauntlet as he did.
Repeatedly, Joanne’s restitution quest brings her into confrontation with yet another of her profound fears surrounding Germany and the Holocaust. Having to call on reserves of strength she’s unsure she possesses, the author leans into her professional command of psychiatry, often overcoming flabbergasting obstacles perniciously dumped in her path.
The depth and lucidity of psychological insight threaded throughout Summons to Berlin makes it an attention-grabbing standout among books on like topics. As a reader, you’ll come away delighted to know just who Dr. Joanne Intrator is. You’ll also finish the book cheering for her, because in the end, she proves far more than tough enough to satisfy her father’s unnerving final demands.
BUY HERE
Follow a Trail Blazed Through Grief’s LandscapeThe Loss That Binds Us is a beautifully written grief manual from the heart. When the agony of losing a loved one strikes, you will find solace, comfort and even inspiration within it. The 108 practical tips therein help navigate the multitude of emotions brought on by loss. Let Sweta’s guidance help begin your own healing or support someone who is grieving. The Loss That Binds Us looks at grief in its various facets and helps you identify what you are experiencing. Following her own journey through the grief of losing her parents, Sweta helps you acknowledge, understand and accept what you may be experiencing. An intentional, insightful, deep, raw, sometimes funny and always real, The Loss That Binds Us is the resource you will turn to if you are experiencing loss; the one book you’ll want to keep by your side as a trusted ally.
“If you are experiencing the loss of a loved one, or the loss of love in your own heart, pick up this read and dive in. You will emerge with a sense of priceless wholeness that we all gravely need in this modern life, bereft of the fabric of community that has long been our human right.” Victor Briere, Ayurvedic Doctor
“Vikram sheds light on the various stages of grief, emphasizing emotional and mental wellbeing. The Loss That Binds Us provides readers with practical suggestions to cope with, embrace and live through grief.” Inder Kalra, M.D.
“The Loss That Binds Us provides concrete and realistic tools and tips for grievers at any stage in their journey. Sweta’s ability to interweave education about grief with her own lived experience demonstrates the power our cultures and communities have in learning to live with grief.” Shelby Remillard, LMHC, Senior Therapist and Assistant Clinical Director, Steady NYC
Learn more at SwetaVikram.com
BUY HERE
VIRTUOUS WOMEN, Ann Goltz
There’s only one way to be virtuous. Or is there?
In the two years since her mother’s death, seventeen-year-old Hope Wagner has single-handedly raised and homeschooled her ten younger siblings while keeping her father’s house. When her father marries the strange newcomer to their church, Hope is allowed to begin a courtship that will make her a helpmeet in her own right. Much to her surprise, her betrothed has a vision for their life that includes radical ideas like education, careers, and choosing how many children they want to have rather than leaving it up to God. For the first time Hope can imagine a different future than the one her father’s planned for her, and she wants that future more than she’s ever wanted anything else.
Jennifer Levine has always wanted a large, close-knit family that lives according to traditional values, just like all those families she reads about in her beloved historical novels. When Michael, a handsome, successful widower at her new church begins to court her, Jennifer believes she’s found the life of her dreams. But Jennifer’s new life is a nightmare of inadequacy and futility as she tries to embody her husband’s idea of a virtuous woman, and she discovers the dark side of their conservative Christian sect. When Jennifer finally rejects Michael’s authority over her, she launches the family into a crisis that threatens Hope’s future and will change their lives forever.
BUY HERE
AFTER THE RAIN, Laila Ibrahim
“Brought me to tears” Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Emotionally gripping” Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Couldn’t put this book down” Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Heartbreaking and heartwarming” Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
It began like any other Sunday morning…
Jenn Henderson arrived home from brunch, threw some laundry in the machine, and climbed the stairs to wake her sixteen-year-old son Josh. But as she stepped into his room and pulled back the blankets, she found her sweet boy barely breathing.
Keeping vigil by his hospital bedside, Jenn is relieved to see her son begin to recover. But as she nurses him back to health, Josh shares a secret he’s been keeping from his family. A truth he’s found so shameful it nearly ended his life.
Now Jenn’s perfect world is unravelling, and she’s starting to question everything she holds dear – the life she’s created for her family, her faith and whether she can truly accept the son she loves, no matter what.
From the million-copy bestselling author of Yellow Crocus comes a deeply moving, compassionate and thought-provoking story. After the Rain is a must-read for fans of Jodi Picoult, Julianne MacLean, Boo Walker, and Barbara O’Neal.
This book was previously published as Living Right.
BUY HERE
SON OF A BASQUE, Deborah Driggs
After the sudden death of his father, young Mark Vergara, the oldest son of immigrant parents, was thrust into the role of principal breadwinner, working hard in the beet fields of Colorado to support his family. After joining the Army Air Corps and flying dozens of combat missions, he bore the physical and emotional scars of his time in the service, yet he was satisfied he had fulfilled his father’s final wish that he do right by his family. From World War II to the Vietnam War, this tale of a military man who was also a devoted family man is based on the author’s own experiences as a proud son of immigrant parents, a distinguished soldier, a loving husband and father, and a loyal friend.
BUY HERE
Ride On! Dame Sarah Storey’s Extraordinary Journey of Triumph: How to Unleash the Power within, Push Boundaries, and Champion Excellence, S.A. Sterling
From surmounting a career-ending injury to thriving in a male-dominated sport, ‘Ride On! Dame Sarah Storey’s Extraordinary Journey of Triumph’ offers a story that goes beyond athletic accomplishment—it’s a masterclass in resilience and personal growth.
Feel stuck in life, burdened by challenges and self-doubt?
This book is your roadmap to breaking free.
Reading ‘Ride On!’ you’ll gain:
• Self-Belief: Harness confidence as your driving force.
• Resilience: Equip yourself with tools to face life’s challenges head-on.
• Adaptability: Learn to pivot your way to success, just like Sarah.
S.A. Sterling captures the indomitable spirit of Dame Sarah Storey, making ‘Ride On!’ a must-read for sports aficionados and anyone inspired by human resilience.
Penned by S.A. Sterling, an author committed to narratives of triumph over adversity, ‘Ride On!’ isn’t just a biography—it’s a guide to unlocking your untapped potential.
As you turn the pages, you won’t just find a compelling story, but actionable insights to elevate you from the ordinary to the extraordinary.
Are you ready to complete your picture?
BUY HERE
IT WAS HER NEW YORK, TRUE STORIES AND SNAPSHOTS, C.O. Moed
True stories and accidental snapshots about undying love, old lesbians, dementia, mothers & daughters, and a disappearing city.
In this engaging new collection of personal essays and full-color photographs, Moed tells true stories of caring for her mother Florence, a broke, Julliard-trained pianist who stumbles into dementia on the Lower East Side. This funny, poignant memoir asks questions both familiar and touching: “What happened to the neighborhood?” and “What happened to my mom?”
It Was Her New York is for anyone who has ever experienced the aging of a parent, the gentrification of a neighborhood, or the unexpected discovery of stifled love and hidden sexuality.
BUY HERE
MOO OF WRITING: A GUIDE FOR CREATIVE WRITERS, Nan Lundeen
Moo of Writing’s First Edition won a finalist spot in the 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Awards and the 2016 National Indie Excellence Awards, writing and publishing category. Moo of Writing’s Second Edition cites writing experience of bestselling authors and the recent surge of scientific research into creativity, confirming Nan Lundeen’s Moo process of exercise, meditation, and relaxation.
Nan, who holds a master’s degree in communication from Western Michigan University, relates personal stories from her thirty years as an award-winning journalist and freelance writer to illustrate the practicality of Moo.
Says UK Writing Magazine Tutor Sue Johnson: “Moo of Writing has an important place on my bookshelf. I have three words on my desk as a reminder – walk, meditate, write. There is never enough time, so I make the most of every spare minute to relax and let the words flow.”
Discover how to unmask your hidden fears; befriend time; listen to belly wisdom; establish a free-writing habit loop; and stay safe in the publishing world.
Writing tips, exercises, and meditations round out this inspirational book that will help free you from self-imposed restraints and coax your creativity onto the page.
BUY HERE
DANCING BETWEEN THE RAINDROPS: A DAUGHTER’S REFLECTION ON LOVE AND LOSS, Lisa Braxton
A powerful meditation on grief, a deeply personal mosaic of a daughter’s remembrances of beautiful, challenging and heartbreaking moments of life with her family. It speaks to anyone who has lost a loved one and is trying to navigate the world without them while coming to terms with complicated emotions. Lisa Braxton’s parents died within two years of each other-her mother from ovarian cancer, her father from prostate cancer. While caring for her mother she was stunned to find out that she, herself, had a life-threatening illness—breast cancer. In this intimate, lyrical memoir-in-essays, Lisa Braxton takes us to the core of her loss and extends a lifeline of comfort to anyone who needs to be reminded that in their grief they are not alone.
BUY HERE
BEWARE THE TALL GRASS, Ellen Birkett Morris
Beware the Tall Grass weaves the stories of the Sloans, a modern family grappling with their young son Charlie’s troubling memories of a past life as a soldier in Vietnam, and Thomas Boone, a young man caught up in the drama of mid-sixties America who is sent to Vietnam.
Eve Sloan is challenged as a mother to make sense of Charlie’s increasing references to war, and her attempts to get to the bottom of Charlie’s past life memories threaten her marriage, while Thomas struggles with loss and first love, before being thrust into combat and learning what matters most.
Beware the Tall Grass explores the power of love and mercy with grace and artful sensitivity in a world where circumstances often occur far beyond our control.
BUY HERE
HOLISTIC WEALTH, Keisha Blair
“We love your work on Holistic Wealth!” —Oprah Daily Editors
A Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper Recommended Book, December 2022
Imagine a life where you are financially savvy and independent, living with purpose and generosity while inspiring others.
“In this terrific read, Keisha Blair gives us all the tools to thrive, no matter the obstacles we face. She defines prosperity as something beyond monetary figures. Holistic wealth is financial, physical, and emotional stability combined—and she shows us how to get there.” —Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper
Imagine facing life’s disruption with confidence, knowing how to regain your balance in times of uncertainty. By expanding on the teachings shared in the highly acclaimed first edition of her book and in her viral article, “My Husband Died at Age 34—Here Are 40 Life Lessons I Learned from It,” viewed by more than fifty million people globally, author Keisha Blair presents even more revolutionary strategies—curated for the challenges of today’s world—that will help you find balance and success.
BUY HERE
BLISS ROAD: A memoir about living a lie and coming to terms with the truth, Martha Engber
Martha Engber lives a charmed life in the suburbs with a husband and two kids where everything is fine, fine, fine until suddenly she’s… completely broken. She’s so used to lying to others and herself that she has no idea who she really is or how she feels about anything. What happened? Why is her life smooth driving one minute and totaled the next?
In this sometimes funny, often devastating memoir, Martha describes the arduous journey toward discovering the invisible roadblock that ran her life off course: her psychological distress is the result of being the neurotypical daughter of a dad with undiagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder, a condition that affects over 75 million people worldwide.
Martha uses personal anecdotes and research about the emergence of ASD as a diagnosis to explain the psychological, emotional and social challenges she faced as a child, then as an adult and parent. Along the way, she shows the sometimes harrowing, but eminently rewarding, route others can follow to chase down the source of their family angst and so reach a more blissful future.
BUY HERE
THE MAKING OF GENEVIEVE, Judy Lannon
Genevieve Austin has carried a secret, tucked away in her heart, for over seventy years.
Did this secret play a role in shaping Genevieve’s identity, or was she always meant to be the woman she became?
In the Making of Genevieve, we follow her journey from her teenage years, where she lived on the picturesque shores of Newport, Rhode Island, all the way through her golden years. We witness her relentless drive to stand out from the ordinary as she raises four children and perseveres through every roadblock she encounters. Some might consider both Nicky and Michael her biggest roadblocks, each posing significant challenges to her road to success.
BUY HERE
DEAR BOBBY: MY GRIEF JOURNEY, Diane Papalia
In Dear Bobby, Diane Papalia Zappa describes the loss of her beloved husband after three short years of marriage. She talks about her own grieving process and outlines ways that can help others cope.
The centerpiece of this book is a collection of several “Dear Bobby” letters that helped Diane process her grief and reestablish her relationship with her husband. She offers several writing prompts to encourage readers to begin their own writing journey. Diane also includes a helpful selection of resources—books about death, grief, and the afterlife; films with afterlife themes; and support groups for those who are grieving.
BUY HERE
ONCE IN A LIFETIME, Suzanne Mattaboni
MULTI AWARD WINNER! PenCraft Award – IPPY Award – International Book Award
In 1984, punk is rampant. Andy Warhol rules. And 20-year-old art student Jessica is sick of all the excitement happening without her. Hungry for the life she’s convinced is just beyond her fingertips, she sets her sights on an avante-garde study abroad program in London she can’t afford. Meanwhile, hometown boyfriend Drew wants to see other people if he’s not exciting enough to keep Jess stateside.
Jess and her buddies rent a beat-up apartment, trolling new wave clubs and waitressing double shifts to scrounge-up tuition money. The girls deal with cheating waiters, mystics, a military drag queen, a Svengali bouncer, and the specter of AIDS. Then Jess meets Whit, a steamy daredevil of a guitarist who crawls through her window and makes her head spin like a record. Before long, Jess has to decide if the men in her life will leave her as damaged as her cracked-glass mosaic art projects—and whether they’ll stand in the way of that dream semester in post-punk London.
ONCE IN A LIFETIME is character driven, coming of age women’s fiction with a quirky female protagonist, focused on friendship, life choices, love and relationships. It’s chick lit that’s not all about the guy, with a smart and vibrant 1980’s aesthetic, taking readers on an emotional journey that contemporary women will appreciate. Can women really “have it all?” If so, it all started in the brashness of the ’80s.
BUY HERE
Recent Comments