"We Are the Brennans"

"We Are the Brennans" by Tracey Lange 

Potent secrets and lies by omission threaten to tear apart

a close-knit Irish Catholic family, when one of them returns

to face her painful past. 

Sunday Brennan's decision to drive after an alcohol-fueled

night of partying, forces her to call on the only person who

just might come to her rescue, brother, Denny. Quite a

favor to ask since Sunday suddenly moved five years ago

to Southern California with a flimsy story about a job 

opportunity, leaving her entire family in shock along with

jilted fiance, Kyle. Little do they know, the promise of a

new and exciting life on the West Coast, was only a flimsy

excuse to escape from something she never wanted revealed.  

Denny doesn't hesitate to fly cross country to her hospital bed,

bringing his sister back to the only home she's ever really known

in West Manor, New York. And it's here, where her bruised and 

battered injuries slowly heal, that Sunday is forced to revisit the 

half-truths and shame she's endured for so long. 

In many ways, it's like time has stood still for the Brennan family

since Sunday abruptly left her parents, siblings, and extended 

family to supposedly follow her dream of becoming a writer.

Denny's dealing with a recent separation from a wife and child he

adores, while preparing to open a second family pub with Kyle, who

moved on with a new wife and son after Sunday left him broken-

hearted. Their father Mickey, now old and frail, still rules with a

silent hand, and Shane, the sibling with special needs, is simply

thrilled to have his beloved sister back home.

As the bittersweet homecoming evolves, Sunday becomes more 

determined to start over, even if it means enduring the resentment

that her family has fostered over the last few years. She soon

realizes that they need her support as much as she craves the

closeness they once shared. Financial woes, brought on by Denny,

along with a dangerous scoundrel from way back when, are just a

few of the obstacles standing in the way of Sunday's redemption.

Their survival as a family is dependent on finally exposing agonizing

memories that have festered for so long. 

With a vast array of vulnerable characters that are certain to make 

you feel all sorts of emotions, this passionate drama about family 

loyalty, reminds us that it's never too late to forgive and make amends 

when it involves the people you love. 

 

 

The Dream Daughter

The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain

It's time to celebrate author Diane Chamberlain's
thirty years of writing captivating novels that
inspire, enlighten, and thoroughly entertain
her many loyal readers.

Her latest, The Dream Daughter, now in paperback,
takes a decided turn from many of her previous books,
whisking the reader into the world of time-travel,
where anything is possible.

It's the 1960s. Carly Grant's work as a physical therapist
in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is fulfilling, but sometimes
frustrating, especially when she meets Hunter Poole,
a quirky patient with a mind of his own. But he's the
perfect match for Carly's sister, Patti, and soon they marry.

Happiness is elusive, however, when Carly's husband, Joe,
dies in the Vietnam War. He'll never know the child she is
carrying, a daughter who suffers from a congenital heart defect
that can't be fixed.

But what if Hunter could transport Carly forward in time
to 2001, where doctors have the technology to possibly repair
a heart abnormality in the womb? Hunter promises just that,
and this is the story of Carly's perilous journey to save her child
by considering the impossible, fervently hoping that miracles
do come true.

Yet time is of the essence, and returning to the life she once knew,
may not be quite so easy for Carly and her precious child. Sometimes
the sacrifice we make for our child is the greatest love of all.

This imaginative story takes the reader on a time-travel adventure,
right along with Carly. It's a window into tumultuous times,
the highs and the lows, the joys and the sorrows of the
60s, 70s, and the not-so-distant future of 2022.

Step into this time capsule for another engaging tale
from Diane Chamberlain, and be prepared to
dream.

The Favorite Daughter

The Favorite Daughter by Patti Callahan Henry

This should be the happiest day of Colleen
Donohue's life. Splendid in her vintage,
lace wedding gown, she'll soon walk down
the aisle with a radiant smile, taking solemn
vows with Walter, the man she loves.

But those dreams are shattered when Colleen
witnesses a passionate, clandestine embrace
between Walter and her sister, Hallie,  just
minutes before the ceremony.

The deep, stinging betrayal by two people
she trusts the most, is overwhelming. So Colleen
follows her heart and runs far, far away from
the serene beauty of Watersend, South Carolina,
never looking back, praying her heart will
heal someday.

Ten years later, Colleen has made a name for
herself as a successful free-lance travel writer in
New York City. Friends, a bustling social life, and
casual romances along the way, keep her busy, but
unfulfilled.

When brother, Shane, summons her back home to
to help with the decline of their beloved father,
ravaged by Alzheimer's disease, she's keenly
aware of her obligation to return to the Low-
country she left behind.

So much has changed, yet many things remain
the same. Family calls her Lena, just like they did
years ago. Her brother still runs the Irish pub where many
after-school days were spent doing homework.
Hallie is married to the charming, deceitful Walter,
and mother to two precocious girls. And the pain, anger,
guilt, and resentment between the two sisters who were
once inseparable, is as fresh as it was on that fateful day.

As time goes on, Colleen can see her confused father
slowly slipping away from reality. Time is of the essence
as she and her siblings prepare to honor him with a
celebration of memories and pictures. But a puzzling
photograph from his youth contradicts what he's always
told them about the past. Could he be harboring a painful
secret, even as his mind is fading?

This is a mellow, heartwarming story about the
power of forgiveness, the futility of revenge, and
the achingly, difficult decision to accept what we
can't change, open to what the future holds.