MEDICIS DAUGHTER: a novel of Marguerite de Valois, by author, SOPHIE PERINOT

MEDICIS DAUGHTER: a novel of Marguerite de Valois, debuted December 1st!

Winter, 1564. Beautiful young Princess Margot is summoned to the court of France, where nothing is what it seems and a wrong word can lead to ruin. Known across Europe as Madame la Serpente, Margot's intimidating mother, Queen Catherine de Médicis, is a powerful force in a country devastated by religious war. Among the crafty nobility of the royal court, Margot learns the intriguing and unspoken rules she must live by to please her poisonous family.

Eager to be an obedient daughter, Margot accepts her role as a marriage pawn, even as she is charmed by the powerful, charismatic Duc de Guise. Though Margot's heart belongs to Guise, her hand will be offered to Henri of Navarre, a Huguenot leader and a notorious heretic looking to seal a tenuous truce. But the promised peace is a mirage: her mother's schemes are endless, and her brothers plot vengeance in the streets of Paris. When Margot's wedding devolves into the bloodshed of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, she will be forced to choose between her family and her soul.

Médicis Daughter is historical fiction at its finest, weaving a unique coming-of-age story and a forbidden love with one of the most dramatic and violent events in French history.

Advance Praise:

“Perinot matches the rhythm of Margot's life to the political storms: as the battles escalate, so do the perils of love and lust. A riveting page-turner skillfully blending illicit liaisons and political chicanery.”

~~Kirkus Reviews

“Renaissance France meets Game of Thrones: dark, sumptuous historical fiction that coils religious strife, court intrigue, passionate love, family hatred, and betrayed innocence like a nest of poisonous snakes.”

~~Kate Quinn, Bestselling author of THE SERPENT AND THE PEARL

"This story is an enthralling page-turner which lovers of royalty fiction and strong female leads should enjoy thoroughly."

~~Historical Novel Reviews (Nov 2015 edition)

Sophie Perinot 
[www.sophieperinot.com]

author of: 

Médicis Daughter: A Novel of Marguerite de Valois

Thomas Dunne/December 2015

www.medicisdaughter.com 

A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii

Knight Media/November 2014

The Sister Queens

NAL/March 2012

www.thesisterqueens.com

Some Q & A with Sophie:

Tell us a little bit about yourself, and how you started writing.

I wasn’t always a writer. In fact I am not even one of those people who always knew she wanted to be a writer. I do not have stacks of journals under my bed dating to my adolescent days. I’ve always made up stories, mostly for my sister’s entertainment. But when I was a little girl I dreamed of being the junior senator from Ohio—not a novelist. Then I decided that I wanted to be a lawyer and in due course I went off to law school and became one. And that is when I discovered that being good at something doesn’t mean you enjoy it. So my dream job had turned out not to be so dreamy. I knew I wanted to do something new, but deciding what to be when you grow up when you are already grown up is an angst filled business. I don’t do angst without my sister (much as she doubtless wishes I would). So I was on the phone with her using her as an unpaid career counselor/therapist when she said, “I know you are making up a story right now in your head. Whatever that story is pick up your dictaphone and start saying it out loud.” I was leaving on a family beach vacation, but I took my dictaphone along and followed my sister’s orders. The result was my first completed manuscript.

What are some things you enjoy when not writing?

Given that my work day is limited by school hours, when I am not immersed in my research books, drafting or editing I tend to be doing the really exciting stuff like supervising middle-school homework, prepping dinner or running a load of laundry *wink*  I am sure a lot of my readers can identify with this.

How do you get your ideas?

Serendipitously. The inspiration for my debut novel, The Sister Queens came from a footnote in a history of Notre Dame de Paris about Marguerite of Provence (whose kneeling image is carved over that great church’s Portal Rouge) and her sisters. These remarkable 13th century women all made very politically significant marriages yet I had never heard of them. I wondered how they could have slipped through the fingers of history.  The fact that they had seemed utterly unfair.  So, I decided to tell their story myself.  The idea for the manuscript I am working on currently came from a 17^th century Italian song that my son and I heard on the car radio.  I think when you are a creative type person you always have feelers out looking for interesting and inspiring oddities.  Historical novelists may have a bit of an advantage here because history is full of the weird, wonderful, and forgotten, all waiting to be re-discovered and illuminated.  It is also full of powerful and sometimes powerfully twisted people. That is certainly true of the Valois royal court which provides the setting for my just-released novel, Médicis Daughter.

Is anything in your book based on real life experiences?

Because I write historical fiction a tremendous amount of what makes it into my books really happened.  In order to write convincingly in a particular period and place (in the case of Médicis Daughter the 16^th century French Royal Court) I have to steep myself in the period including the details of everyday life. For example, I can tell a Spanish farthingale (an undergarment that supports a 16^th century skirt) from a French one, and pretty much put my finger on the year when the style began to change.

Most of what I read and absorb does NOT make it into the text of my book—that would be a boring recitation of fact, not a novel. But it does shape every moment, every description, every scene. Which historical events are ultimately recounted in a particular novel depends on the plot and theme of the story, and also on the point of view from which the story is being told. For example, Médicis Daughter is a coming of age story told through the eyes and experiences of Princess Marguerite de Valois, youngest sister of the French King. She is not included in meetings of the King’s Council so those are not the type of scenes you will find in the book. She is, however, fully immersed in the court intrigue that permeates the household of her royal mother, Queen Catherine de Médicis. So readers can expect a lot of power struggles, seductions etc.

Do you have a favorite chapter or scene?

Oddly some of my favorite scenes are also among the most painful in the book. I think that’s because they involve moments of emotional epiphany for my characters—moments when they break through and grow.  Heartbreak, betrayal, life-or-death decisions: these bring out the best and worst in people and, ultimately, how we react under such pressure reveals who we really are.  My heroine, Marguerite de Valois, the youngest of the royal princesses, experiences a tremendous amount of adversity and drama during the span of my book. She is coming-of-age (and trying to understand who she will be as a woman) in a very tumultuous time in French history. The Wars of Religion are raging. Political alliances are tenuous and shifting. There is considerable dysfunction within her family, and she is under tremendous pressure to be obedient to the will of her powerful mother. All of these things present Margot with a stark choice—will she allow circumstances and the will of others to determine who she is (the path of least resistance), or will she attempt to take primary responsibility for who she becomes, even if such self-determination puts her at risk of negative consequences?

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Find a community. One of the wonderful things about the internet is that like-minded and like-interested people can find each other across great distances. I’ve been active for some years in the on-line community AgentQuery Connect and I can highly recommend that to writers who have not yet secured an agent.  Another great way to connect with other writers—and to find those all-important manuscript critique partners—is to attend a writers conference or two. As a writer of historical fiction I am a big fan of the Historical Novel society and have been attending their conferences for a decade. This can be a lonely road if you let it become one, but it absolutely does not need to be. In my experience fellow writers are some of the most open-hearted and collegial people around. 


Thank you so much, Sophie, for taking the time to tell us a bit about your writing life, and your new novel!

COAL RIVER, by Ellen Marie Wiseman (Debuts tomorrow!)

In COAL RIVER, a young woman reveals the dark secrets within a Pennsylvania mining town. In the year 1912, the same year of the sinking of the Titanic, children as young as 5 years old toil 12 hour days under extremely dangerous conditions in Pennsylvania coals mines. Coal River debutes November 24th!

In this vibrant new historical novel, the acclaimed author of The Plum Tree and What She Left Behind explores one young woman's determination to put an end to child labor in a Pennsylvania mining town...

As a child, Emma Malloy left isolated Coal River, Pennsylvania, vowing never to return. Now, orphaned and penniless at nineteen, she accepts the train ticket from her aunt and uncle and travels back to the rough-hewn community. Treated like a servant by her relatives, Emma works for free in the company store. There, miners and their impoverished families must pay inflated prices for food, clothing, and tools, while those who owe money are turned away to starve.

Most heartrending of all are the breaker boys Emma sees around the village--young children who toil all day sorting coal amid treacherous machinery. Their soot-stained faces remind Emma of the little brother she lost long ago, and she begins leaving stolen food on families' doorsteps, and marking the miners' bills as paid.

Though Emma's actions draw ire from the mine owner and police captain, they lead to an alliance with a charismatic miner who offers to help her expose the truth. And as the lines blur between what is legal and what is just, Emma must risk everything to follow her conscience.

An emotional, compelling novel that rings with authenticity-Coal River is a deft and honest portrait of resilience in the face of hardship, and of the simple acts of courage that can change everything.

Praise for the Writing of Ellen Marie Wiseman:

“Captivating in its complexity...the story reaches a place of immense emotional depth and psychological turmoil, culminating in an unexpected, heartrending ending.” – RT Book Reviews, on WHAT SHE LEFT BEHIND, TOP PICK!

“Wiseman eschews the genre’s usual military conflicts in favor of the slow, inexorable pressure of daily life during wartime, lending an intimate and compelling poignancy to this intriguing debut.” – Publishers Weekly on THE PLUM TREE

“A beautifully written first novel...Ellen Marie Wiseman weaves a story of intrigue, terror, and love from a perspective not often seen in Holocaust novels.” – Jewish Book World on THE PLUM TREE

“Screams with authenticity, depth, and understanding.” – The New York Journal of Books on What She Left Behind 

Some Q & A time with Ellen:

1.    Tell us a little bit about yourself, and how you started writing.

When my children were small, I wrote for fun and have a drawer full of half-started novels to show for it. Of course I dreamt of finishing a book someday, of being published, of living the “dream”. But writing was just a relaxing hobby, a luxury I afforded myself when I had time. Then, suddenly, the story I knew I had to write came to me. Luckily, by then, my kids had gone off to college and I was able to spend the next four years working on THE PLUM TREE, which follows a young German woman through the chaos of WWII as she struggles to save the love of her life, a Jewish man. It’s loosely based on my mother’s experiences growing up in Germany during the war and features a lot of family history, including my grandmother risking her life to leave food our for Jewish prisoners and my grandfather’s escape from a Russian POW camp.   

2.    What are some things you enjoy when not writing?

Boating, swimming, gardening, reading, watching movies and, most importantly, spending time with my family, especially my grandchildren.

3. Where do you get your ideas?

When considering possible subjects for a new novel, I like to unearth those parts of history we weren't taught in school. I try to look at historical facts from the perspective of writing about ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances and hopefully making them more interesting and entertaining for my readers. The idea for WHAT SHE LEFT BEHIND came to me when I read about the Willard Suitcase Exhibit, a collection of suitcases found in the attic of the shuttered Willard asylum, left behind by patients who had checked into the institution but never checked out. 
The inspiration for COAL RIVER came from my interest in the plight of coal miners, something that was sparked by movies such as “How Green Was My Valley” and “Harlan County USA”. I find it fascinating that men risk their lives every day to make a living by going deep in the earth despite poor wages and the danger of cave-ins and explosions. I can only imagine how hard life must have been in the early years of mining for impoverished mining families, many of whom came to this country from foreign lands in search of a better life. I was struck by the fact that young boys were used to sort coal from the mine, working until their fingers bled. When I realized other people hadn’t heard about the breaker boys either, I knew it was a story that needed to be told. I also wanted to write about the struggles of the breaker boys’ mothers and siblings, the boys who worked as nippers, spraggers, and mule drivers, and the exploitation of miners at the hands of their employers.

4.  What are you working on now?

I’m working on my fourth novel. Set during the depression-era, it follows an albino whose mother keeps her hidden in the attic for the first ten years of her life, then sells her to a circus sideshow.

Thanks so much, Ellen, for taking the time to share some of your writing life and a bit of your new novel with us!

Ellen Marie Wiseman~ Internationally Published Author of The Plum Tree, What She Left Behind, and the upcoming, Coal River.

Kensington Publishing Corp.

ellenmariewiseman@gmail.com

www.ellenmariewiseman.com

www.facebook.com/EllenMarieWisemanAuthor

RECIPE FOR A HAPPY LIFE, by author, BRENDA JANOWITZ

There’s more than one recipe for a happy life.

Hannah Goodman doesn't grow up like most kids on the Upper East side. Her mother, Gray, is an award-winning photojournalist with little time for the banalities of child-rearing, and when she's not jetting off to follow the latest scoop, she's camped out at the Hotel Chelsea. The closest thing Hannah's got to a traditional matriarch is her grandmother—a glamorous widow six times over with a sprawling Hampton’s estate. But Gray is determined that her daughter resist the siren song of the trust fund set, and make her own way in the world.

So Hannah does just that—becoming a successful lawyer in New York City, and dating a handsome musician. Hannah has it all, or so it seems, until one hot June day the carefully constructed pieces of her life break apart. When she throws it all in and seeks solace at her grandmother's estate, she discovers that where happiness is concerned, you don’t have to stick to the recipe.

“Brenda Janowitz has found the recipe for a great summer read: a dash of Hampton's glamour, a sprinkle of romance, and a cup of a feisty heroine you won't soon forget. RECIPE FOR A HAPPY LIFE will keep you charmed from beginning to end.”

- Julie Buxbaum, author of After You

A few Q & A with Brenda:

About you:

I’m the author of four novels. My fifth novel, THE DINNER PARTY, will be published by St. Martin’s Press on April 12, 2016. I also write essays which have appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, and Salon.

New book coming out soon?

My next novel will be out this spring. PopSugar did a “first look” of the book cover and also featured an excerpt:

http://www.popsugar.com/love/Dinner-Party-Brenda-Janowitz-Book-Excerpt-38310055

What are you working on now?

I’m working on my sixth novel, and writing more essays. I have another essay coming out in the Washington Post soon!

Brenda Janowitz is the author of four novels. Her fifth novel will be published by St. Martin’s next year. Her work has also appeared in the New York Times and Salon. You can find her at www.brendajanowitz.com, on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BrendaJanowitz) or on Twitter (https://twitter.com/brendaJanowitz).

BAD TO THE THRONE, by author, JENNY GARDINER

BAD TO THE THRONE  (book 3 in the IT'S REIGNING MEN series)

Sometimes you can let your heir down a little too much…

When wild-child Prince Alexander goes on a naked bender in a Vegas swimming pool, cocktail waitress Andi McDonough decides to preserve a shot of those family jewels on her phone. But when she’s fired for capturing the royal treasures, she heads off to find herself. After backpacking the world-over on a dime and a prayer, she finds herself in Rome, where a chance encounter with the wayward prince only reinforces to her that Prince Zander is indeed bad to the throne. And more than likely to her fragile heart as well.

It's a royal romance that will have you swooning for your own bad boy.

Some Q & A with Jenny ~

What do you like to do when not writing?

I love to travel when time and budget allows. My favorite place to go is Italy but I'm flexible! I love to spend time with my family and have big fun dinners with friends and family. I used to love to go to the gym but I got bitten by the lazy bug a while back and I've been really slack in that regard...Must get back on that!

Where do you get your ideas?

Anywhere and everywhere. Sometimes it's a snippet from the news that I start to noodle on. Sometimes it just comes out of nowhere. I've come up with books just because I came up with a title I liked (Sleeping with Ward Cleaver, for instance). 

Any challeneges on breaking in to getting your first book published?

You name it in publishing and I've faced it. From signing with an agent who didn't tell me she had a baby due in a few days and then went radio silent for the better part of a year, to a publisher who cooked the books and didn't pay me lots of money owed me when they went bankrupt, to being orphaned shortly before my book release (which meant I no longer had anyone in the house who was an advocate for the book), to having a Javert-like nuisance of a human being hunt me down all over the internet to destroy my book because she claimed to own a word in the title. Publishing is not for the faint-of-heart...

Is there a particular book or author who has influenced you in your writing?

Probably the writing that hit home the most for me from long ago is Jean Shepherd, whose memoir In God We Trust All Others Pay Cash just resonates with me and I'm sure informed my own voice. It was from that memoir that the movie A Christmas Story came about. Shepherd was a hugely talented storyteller and writer and so ably captured a sense of time and place in his writing that it immediately pulls you into his world, and he does so with a charming, funny, tongue-in-cheek voice that speaks to me.

What project are you working on now?

Top of my list is the continuation of my IT'S REIGNING MEN contemporary royal romantic comedy series--book 5, Shame of Thrones, comes out December 16 and I need to have that book to my editor by Oct. 30. But peppered in and around there I decided to unearth a novel I have partly written that I wrote as a joke when, weary of the popularity of vampire novels, I told my agent years ago that I was going to write a novel about a woman who is turned into a vampire by her estranged husband and she spends eternity trying to exact revenge upon him. (oh and she's a vegetarian so the idea of drinking blood is so not appealing). I am putting that up on Wattpad to see if it generates any interest. I also have a mystery series I have started that I am keeping quiet about right now but hope to get working on in the next month. Oh and I just re-released my novel ANYWHERE BUT HERE, and am about to re-release my #1 Kindle bestselling novel SLIM TO NONE (Nov 1). And I have two single title commercial fiction novels I would love to finish and release in 2016. I might need to replicate myself.

Is there any part of the featured novel based on real life experiences?

None whatsoever! Well, actually, I was an official photographer for Prince Charles many years ago when i was a photographer in Washington DC. So I suppose that tiny factoid comes into play. However he did not kidnap me in order to escape a forced marriage haha! Though we all eventually learned that he was indeed in a forced marriage himself. So life imitates art imitates life or something like that!

Something in the Heir:

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RFY3KM4/?tag=jenngardauth-20

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/something-in-the-heir-jenny-gardiner/1120967351?ean=2940150288621

iBooks: http://bit.ly/iBooksSomethingHeir

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/something-in-the-heir?utm_source=linkshare_us&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=linkshare_us&siteID=je6NUbpObpQ-RH.VBePa352wNQhFlOICkA

Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow

kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W3N2776/?tag=jenngardauth-20

Nook: http://bit.ly/HeirTodayBN

iBooks: http://bit.ly/iBooksHeir2Day

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/ebook/heir-today-gone-tomorrow

  

Bad to the Throne: 

kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W32GI90/?tag=jenngardauth-20

Nook: http://bit.ly/1GL8wFX

iBooks: http://bit.ly/iBooksB2T

Kobo:  https://store.kobobooks.com/ebook/bad-to-the-throne

  

Love is in the Heir:

kindle: http://bit.ly/LoveHeir

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/love-is-in-the-heir-4

Apple: http://bit.ly/iBooksLoveHeir

B&N: http://bit.ly/LoveHeirNook

Shame of Thrones:

Kindle: http://snip.li/ShameofThrones

iBooks: http://bit.ly/iBooksSoT

Kobo: http://bit.ly/KoboSoT

Other novels by Jenny~

Something in the Heir (available digitally)
Slim to None (Diversion Books) #1 Kindle Bestseller!
Accidentally on Purpose (avail. digitally)
I'm Not the Biggest Bitch in this Relationship (NAL/Penguin)
Sleeping with Ward Cleaver (avail. digitally)
Where the Heart Is (available digitally)
Anywhere but Here (Diversion Books)
Bite Me: A Parrot, A Family and a Whole Lot of Flesh Wounds (avail. digitally)
Winging It: A Memoir of Caring for a Vengeful Parrot Who's Determined to Kill Me (Gallery Books) 

twitter: https://twitter.com/jennygardiner

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennygardinerbooks

website: www.jennygardiner.net

email: jenny@jennygardiner.net

SWEET ON YOU, last in the Cowboy series, by author, LAURA DRAKE

Ex-army medic Katya Smith has always healed other people's pain. Now she has to deal with her own. Taking a job as an athletic trainer on the Pro Bull Riding circuit seems like the perfect escape from her grief-except Katya doesn't know anything about bulls, and even less about the tough men who ride them. She doesn't expect to fall for the sport, or for one tantalizing cowboy who tumbles her defenses.

For rodeo champion Cam Cahill, fifteen years of bucking bulls have taken their toll on his body. Before he retires, he wants a final chance at the world title-and he doesn't need some New Age gypsy telling him how to do his job. But when the stunning trainer with the magical hands repairs more than his worn muscles, everything changes. Soon Cam finds himself trying to persuade Katya to forgive her past so she can build a future . . . with him.

"Touchingly real. Tender and timely. Laura Drake creates characters you know you've met and you have to root for."

-Pamela Morsi, USA Today bestselling author on The Sweet Spot"An emotionally packed story that will pull all the heartstrings."

-Christie Craig, New York Times bestselling author on The Sweet Spot

www.LauraDrakeBooks.com 
twitter ~ @PBRWriter  

https://www.facebook.com/LauraDrakeBooks/

Laura Drake is a city girl who never grew out of her tomboy ways or a serious cowboy crush. She writes Women’s Fiction and Romance.

THE MIDDLE OF SOMEWHERE, by author, Sonja Yoerg

Happy pub day to THE MIDDLE OF SOMEWHERE!

If you loved  Wild, you can't miss this.

A troubled, young widow hikes from Yosemite Valley deep into the wilderness on the John Muir Trail to elude her shameful past in this emotionally gripping story from the author of House Broken.

With her thirtieth birthday looming, Liz Kroft is heading for the hills—literally. Her emotional baggage weighs her down more than her backpack, but a three-week trek promises the solitude she craves—at least until her boyfriend, Dante, decides to tag along. His broad moral streak makes the prospect of confessing her sins more difficult, but as much as she fears his judgment, she fears losing him more. Maybe.

They set off together alone under blue skies, but it’s not long before storms threaten and two strange brothers appear along the trail. Amid the jagged, towering peaks, Liz must decide whether to admit her mistakes and confront her fears, or face the trail, the brothers and her future alone.

"Yoerg knows how to keep the pages turning in this fast-paced, action-packed, heart-tugging novel." -Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of Little Mercies

"The perfect blend of self-discovery and suspense." -Kate Moretti, New York Times bestselling author of Thought I Knew You

"Beautifully written, it paints a vivid portrait of the wilderness and a woman in peril. "-Eileen Goudge, New York Times bestselling author of Bones and Roses

A little info about Sonja:

I grew up in Stowe, Vermont, a wonderful place to be a child. I earned a Ph.D. in Biological Psychology from the University of California at Berkeley and published a nonfiction book about animal intelligence, Clever as a Fox (Bloomsbury USA, 2001). I now live with my husband in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. 

Her website:  http://www.sonjayoerg.com/

A MEASURE OF HAPPINESS, by author, LORRIE THOMSON (a belated book birthday!)

Happy book birthday, (a day late - sorry!) to A Measure of Happiness! This newbie is already getting wonderful praise. 

Recommended as a Best Bet for August by Heroes and Heartbreakers (link: http://www.heroesandheartbreakers.com/blogs/2015/08/love-in-all-forms-women-fiction-best-bets-for-august-2015) and celebrated as a book to share with your girlfriends at Buzz Feed (Link:http://www.buzzfeed.com/andreakennedy/7-book-club-reads-to-share-with-your-girlfriends-nq4o#.iorm1958L )

A MEASURE OF HAPPINESS:

Katherine Lamontagne isn’t Celeste Barnes’s mother, but ever since Celeste graduated high school and her parents abandoned Hidden Harbor, Maine, she’s acted the part. At twenty-two, Celeste worked at Katherine’s bakery, and hoped to buy the business once Katherine took early retirement. But when Katherine reconsidered that decision, Celeste fled to culinary school in New York—only to return two months later, a shadow of the girl who’d stormed out the door.

Katherine knows the signs of secret heartbreak. Years ago, she gave up her baby son for adoption—a regret she’s never shared with either her ex-husband or Celeste. She longs for Celeste to confide in her now. But it will be a stranger in town—an engaging young wanderer named Zach Fitzgerald—who spurs them toward healing. As both women are drawn into Zach’s questioning heart, they also rediscover their own appetites for truth and for love—and gain the courage to face the past without being imprisoned by it.

Uplifting, emotionally rich, and deeply satisfying, A Measure of Happiness illuminates the nature of friendship, motherhood, hope—and the gifts of second chances.

While not a sequel per se, my 2014 release, What’s Left Behind, takes place fifteen years after A Measure of Happiness,  in the same fictional town, and features connected characters.

WHAT'S LEFT BEHIND:

When the person you’ve built your whole life around is gone, what do you do? It’s not the first time Abby Stone has faced the question. At eighteen, she envisioned a future with her childhood sweetheart, Charlie, only to have him go off to school and leave a pregnant Abby behind. But that pales beside a second loss, when her eighteen-year-old son, Luke, falls to his death from his third-floor dorm.

Abby throws herself into running her thriving B&B on the coast of Maine. With the help of Rob, a local landscape architect, she plans a backyard labyrinth as a memorial to Luke—a place to find peace and solace. Even as Charlie begins hanging around again, looking for a chance to do right by her, Abby resolves to look forward, not back. And then Luke’s girlfriend arrives on Abby’s doorstep—pregnant, as alone as Abby once was—bringing with her the unexpected gift of a new beginning, one that celebrates the past.

Rich in emotion and insight, this beautifully written novel explores the depth of a mother’s bond, resilience after unimaginable loss, and the way love’s memory can fill the gaps in a shattered heart.

Equilibrium is my debut and therefore holds a special place in my heart. Kind of like going from part of a carefree couple to a first-time parent.

In the year since her husband died, Laura Klein’s world has shifted on its axis. It’s not just that she’s raising two children alone—fact is, Laura always did the parenting for both of them. But now her fifteen-year-old daughter, Darcy, is dating a boy with a fast car and faster hands, and thirteen-year-old Troy’s attitude has plummeted along with his voice. Just when she’s resigning herself to a life of worry and selfless support, her charismatic new tenant offers what Laura least expects: a second chance.

Darcy isn’t surprised her mom doesn’t understand her, though she never imagined her suddenly acting like a love-struck teen herself. With Troy starting to show signs of their father’s bipolar disorder, and her best friend increasingly secretive, Darcy turns to her new boyfriend, Nick, for support. Yet Nick has a troubled side of his own, forcing Darcy toward life-altering choices.

Exploring the effects of grief on both mother and daughter, Equilibrium is a thoughtful, resolutely uplifting novel about finding the balance between holding on and letting go, between knowing when to mourn and when to hope, and between the love we seek and the love we choose to give.

Lorrie’s Quick Bio:
Lorrie Thomson lives in New Hampshire with her husband and their children. When she’s not reading, writing, or hunting for collectibles, her family lets her tag along for camping adventures, daylong paddles, and hikes up 4,000 footers.

Visit Lorrie at her website. Connect with her on Twitter and Facebook.

A Measure of Happiness, What's Left Behind & Equilibrium
Website Facebook Twitter

COME AWAY WITH ME, by author KARMA BROWN ~ debuts today!

Today I'm featuring a debut novel, something I hope to do more often (so feel free to let me know if you have a book debut on the horizon!)

One minute, 26-year-old Tegan Lawson has everything she could hope for, including an adoring husband, Gabe, and a baby on the way. The next, a patch of black ice causes a devastating accident and Tegan’s life is as shattered as the car they had to cut her out of.

With the loss of her baby and her unbearable anger towards Gabe, who was driving that night, Tegan is drowning in grief. After a handful of sleeping pills land her in the hospital, lucky to be alive, her family’s fear and Gabe’s commitment to fix things prompts Tegan to make a change. At Gabe’s suggestion, she agrees to travel to three destinations from their “life experiences” wish list. From culture-rich Thailand, to the flavors of Italy, to the ocean waves in Hawaii, Tegan and Gabe embark on a journey to escape the tragedy and to search for forgiveness.

But Tegan soon learns grief follows you no matter how far away you go, and that acceptance comes when you least expect it. When things take a shocking turn in Hawaii, Tegan is forced to face the truth — and she must decide if the life she has is the one she wants.

COME AWAY WITH ME is a heartbreaking and emotional story of one woman’s discovery that life is still worth living, even if it’s not the life you planned.

Karma has always loved the written word. As a kid she could usually be found with her face buried in a book, or writing stories about ice-skating elephants. Now that she’s (mostly) grown up, she’s an award-winning writer published in a variety of places, including Canadian Family, Best Health, Canadian Living and Chatelaine. She also writes commercial fiction, and is represented by Carolyn Forde at Westwood Creative Artists.

THE ONE THAT I WANT, by author Marilyn Brant

The summer after her beloved husband died in a car accident, Julia Meriwether Crane is still picking up the pieces of her life in Mirabelle Harbor and trying to help her ten-year-old daughter adjust to this difficult new reality.

After her best friend Sharlene—one of the well-connected Michaelsen siblings—talks her into finally going out on the town again, Julia finds herself stunned to be the object of interest of several different men: The boy who’d broken her heart back in high school. The college ex she’d left behind. And most surprising of all, the movie actor she’d always fantasized about but had never met in person...until now. Can one woman have more than one “great love” in the same lifetime? And, if so, how can she be sure which man that’ll be?

Sometimes the person you think will be best for you isn’t the one you really want. THE ONE THAT I WANT, a Mirabelle Harbor story.

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Marilyn Brant

http://www.marilynbrant.com

New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author of Contemporary Fiction

     Marilyn is a founding member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association and is also part of Romance Writers of America and the International Thriller Writers. She was named the 2013 Author of the Year by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English.

     She is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of contemporary women’s fiction, romantic comedy & mystery. She was named the Author of the Year (2013) by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English. She loves all things Jane Austen, has a passion for Sherlock Holmes, is a travel addict and a music junkie, and lives on chocolate and gelato.