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.

The Mother-In Law

The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth

Diana Goodwin is cool, sophisticated, and elegant
in every way. She's admired in the community
for using her great wealth to help underprivileged,
pregnant refugees deliver healthy babies when they
have nowhere else to turn.

But daughter-in-law, Lucy, feels quite differently
about Diana. Her mother-in-law's subtle
but scathing criticism, ranges from the way Lucy's
raising the grandchildren to her inability to multi-
task. Diana's daughter, Nettie, with her
persistent infertility problems, and brooding
husband, Patrick, also feel subjected to the
matriarch's belief that everyone should face
adversity head-on without asking for help
from loved ones.

Thank goodness for Tom, their jovial father
who's willing to dole out the money when the kids
come crying for financial assistance. They can
count on him for understanding and support.

But when Tom dies of a hideous disease that robs
him of his dignity, things drastically change in
the Goodwin family. Diana retreats into a world of
her own, shunning anyone who tries to lift her spirits.

Shockingly, Diana is found dead one day of an
apparent suicide. Investigators suspect foul play,
especially when a short goodbye note in Diana's
handwriting, is found in a drawer, rather than near
her body. Her words reveal a battle with cancer, but
an autopsy shows no evidence of the disease.
Puzzling clues at the scene point to murder, and the reading
of Diana's will casts suspicion on everyone with a motive.

Was someone with a vendetta angry enough
to kill Diana?

Put this spellbinding mystery, filled with agonizing
family secrets and compelling sub-plots, on your
must-reads for the summer.

Sunset Beach

Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews

Drue Campbell's life is in shambles.

She's out-of-work, down to her last penny,
bruised and battered from a serious
kiteboarding accident, and mourning the death
of the long-suffering mother who raised her.

When her polished, well-to-do, estranged
father shows up at the funeral after a twenty
year absence, she's stunned to see him and
baffled by the surprising news he shares.

Drue has inherited her grandmother's
dilapidated house in trendy Sunset Beach, a place
filled with warm, childhood memories. Even more
astonishing, is Dad's job offer with a steady
paycheck at his thriving personal injury law firm.
Drue reluctantly accepts, and cringes when she learns the
office manager is her former fair-weather, eighth-grade friend,
who just happens to also be her new stepmother. It appears
she's going to have to swallow her pride more than
once in order to survive.

Drue tolerates her tedious job until she fixates on one
particularly suspicious case about a beach worker killed
at a swanky ocean resort. There's a distinct possibility that
her father's firm is somehow involved in a cover-up
of what really happened that fateful evening of the girl's
death.

And what's the connection between her father and
a missing person's file from decades ago?
Drue has the uneasy feeling he's somehow entangled
in the woman's disappearance, and she shudders at
the thought that he's hiding a terrible secret.
Her investigations shed new light on a father
she admittedly loves, but doesn't completely trust.

In Mary Kay Andrews signature style, her new
release seamlessly blends two captivating mysteries
with a smoldering office romance, to make this
the perfect beach read of the season.

Tiny Hot Dogs

Tiny Hot Dogs a memoir in small bites by Mary Giuliani

Maybe you've seen her on The Rachel Ray Show,
The Today Show, or Good Morning America.
As CEO of  Mary Giuliani Catering and Events,
she plans memorable parties with panache; just ask
the many celebrities who count on her to make
their soirees unforgettable.

Mary can turn the common hot dog into a culinary delight.
(who knew Elizabeth Taylor loved pigs-in-a-blanket?)
She's the force behind simple menus with innovative
presentations that make a splash with the rich and famous.

Now meet the other side of Mary Giuliani
(no relation to Rudy, in case you're asking) in
this poignant memoir that is not only eye-opening,
but laugh-out-loud amusing. (Reading about having
one eyebrow as an awkward child with few friends
might sound sad, but Mary manages to make it all so
humorous with her sassy style of writing).

She grew up on Long Island in a devout, Catholic
Italian family, but was enamored with converting
to the Jewish faith as a child. Her fascination with
Steve Martin's "The Jerk" had something to do
with her desire to transform herself. (If you've seen
the movie, the parallel becomes crystal clear).

Mary dreamed of being an actress, or of becoming
a cast member on Saturday Night Live, going to
great lengths to achieve those aspirations. She fell
short, but relentlessly continued her pursuits which
took her in another direction that she never imagined,
bringing her face-to-face with all those celebrity
crushes.

Through it all, Mary was fortunate to have some
pretty great cheerleaders in her corner, many
of which included her loving, eccentric family. Her
wildly capable mother bestowed upon her eleven
indisputable rules to live by, her father brushed
off his own fling with fame, demonstrating love
by example, and Grandfather, "Papa Charlie",
encouraged Mary's vivid imagination and comedic timing.

She writes with sincere thanks and admiration about
Chef Daniel, the boss who taught her so much and
then let her soar with wings of her own when the
time was right, and Lee, a woman old enough to
be her mother, who not only was a good
friend, but also the source of reliable advice
and fun at a time when Mary needed it the most.
And of course, Ryan, her husband and best friend
who has stayed by her side, weathering the ups and downs,
the laughter and the tears. It's exactly where he
remains today.

Disappointments along the way were many,
one of them being the inability to have a child.
But after fifteen years of infertility, joy arrived
in the name of a daughter named, Gala, a tribute
to Salvador Dali's wife. A holiday trip to
Spain gave Mary "permission to be perfectly
imperfect", and the realization that home, not
some foreign land, is where she wants to be.

Mary writes with humility, never seeming to forget
her upbringing. "Not everything has to be big.
Not everything has to be skywriting. Finding the big
in the small works for me to be happy with what
I've got. If we all want more from something, aren't
we always going to be disappointed?"

Pick up a copy of this refreshing, inspiring memoir and
perhaps make one of the many taste-tempting
recipes scattered throughout the book. Sit back, relax,
ponder your life's achievements (small as they may be),
laugh, find balance, dream big (but not too big that you
lose sight of what really matters), and be grateful for all
that you have, including friends that are the lasting ones.

Mary Giuliani certainly has done all of that and more.

My Lovely Wife

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

Millicent and her just-shy-of-forty
husband are typical Florida suburbanites,
living in a home with an extravagant mortgage
while juggling the everyday activities of two
children who are growing up way too fast.

She's a successful realtor, and her
husband, who remains unnamed, works
as a country-club tennis pro. After fifteen
years of marriage, boredom sets in.
They long to feel the undeniable
attraction and excitement that once defined them.

Committing murder and getting away with
it proves to be the solution. They find it's
amazingly easy to eliminate someone
without the police suspecting a thing. The
sizzle is back in their marriage, and after
burying the first body, the thrill of the kill begins.

They follow a simple plan. The narrator husband reels
in potential, vulnerable victims with a clever pick-up line,
certain to appeal to any woman with a heart, while
his wife carries out the evil deeds. Meanwhile, even
with her extracurricular activities, cool and collected
Millicent manages to find the time to serve nutritious
meals and diligently check homework. They appear to be
the perfect family.

The devious couple comes up with the ideal
scenario to divert attention from themselves,
but fool-proof plans often go awry, especially
when blackmail, meaningless one-night stands,
and salacious secrets are involved. Murder has
suddenly become very, very complicated.

Don't let the title of this dark, brooding, debut
novel fool you. There is nothing "lovely" about it.
If you are looking for a thriller with a wickedly
disturbing ending, by all means, read this one.

Simply sublime.

Finding Dorothy

Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts

The Wizard of Oz has delighted fans,
both young and old, since it was first
released in theaters on August 25, 1939.

This is the compelling story of
Maud Gage Baum, the feisty, Cornell-educated
wife of aspiring actor and writer,
L. Frank Baum, who penned the book
that later became the beloved movie.

It is told in two narratives; the early years
depicting Maud's life as a young girl living with
a strong-willed, suffragette mother who stoked
her daughter's fierce, independent nature, and the later years
as widow Maud, visiting the M-G-M studios, determined
to make sure that Frank's words were portrayed on the
big screen exactly as her late husband envisioned.

Frank and Maud were true partners in life. They
weathered financial woes, explored new territory
by moving to America's Western frontier, remained
loyal to family in need, and raised four rambunctious
sons with fervor and zest. Through it all, Frank never
gave up on his writing, and his devoted wife, often
frustrated but always forgiving, never gave up on him.

This fascinating, historical fiction novel will appeal
to all those who enjoy the screen adaption of this memorable
tale. It tells of Maud's unending desire to protect
a naive, extremely talented child actress, Judy Garland,
from becoming prey to the sordid side of Hollywood.
It illustrates how hard Maud fought to keep the beautiful
song about a rainbow in the final cut. And more
importantly, it tells the warm, loving story of two people,
filled with wanderlust, who understood each other's needs.

Sprinkled in many chapters are references to all the
famous characters we have come to know, like
Dorothy, The Tin Man, Lion, and Scarecrow. Each
one was based on someone in Frank's past, and only he
had the uncanny ability to make them come alive.

The painstaking research behind the writing of this
book results in an enchanting story of love, determination,
and hope. As Maud explained, "....Oz is hope, and
children can find themselves in dark places".

How lucky the public is, today, and for many
years to come, to be the recipient, of Frank's
imagination and Maud's relentless aspirations.

An Anonymous Girl

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Make-up artist, Jessica Farris, carries
her cumbersome bag of beauty supplies
to the home of yet another client looking
for the perfect transformation.

With her palette of vivid colors, Jessica
can turn a plain face into an exotic one with
the stroke of a brush. It's a tedious job
that pays the bills and satisfies her
artistic flair.

But Jessica's financial woes are mounting.
When she overhears a client's conversation
promising easy money, she takes a quick
peek at the girl's personal phone message,
and decides to impersonate her at a
psychological study that guarantees
anonymity and fast cash for her dwindling
bank account.

What harm can possibly come from a
few hours on a laptop, answering probing
questions designed to better understand the
human psyche?

Little does naive Jessica know, that renowned
psychiatrist, Dr. Lydia Shields, has finally found
the ideal participant to take part in her devious,
dangerous scheme of revenge.

As Jessica falls deeper and deeper
under the good doctor's trance, she finds
her ordinary life exploding all around her.
Fear engulfs every move she makes, and
when her unknowing family becomes an
integral part of the plot, she realizes there's
nowhere to turn, there's no one she can
trust.

Fans of Hendrick's and Pekkanen's
"The Wife Between Us," will relish this
fast-paced, addictive suspense novel
about a cunning professional who uses the
power of persuasion and deceit to destroy those
who have wronged her.

With enough twists and turns to boggle
the mind, this thriller should remain on
The New York Times Best Sellers for
weeks to come.