Women's Fiction
Love In Mid AirA chance encounter with a stranger on an airplane sends Elyse Bearden into an emotional tailspin. Suddenly Elyse is willing to risk everything: her safe but stale marriage, her seemingly perfect life in an affluent Southern suburb, and her position in the community. She finds herself cutting through all the instincts that say "no" and instead lets "yes" happen. As Elyse embarks on a risky affair, her longtime friend Kelly and the other women in their book club begin to question their own decisions about love, sex, marriage, and freedom. There are consequences for Elyse, her family, and her circle of close friends, all of whom have an investment in her life continuing as normal. But is normal what she really wants after all? In the end it will take an extraordinary leap of faith for Elyse to find--and follow--her own path to happiness.
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The Unexpected WaltzKelly Wilder becomes recently widowed from a much older wealthy man with whom she spent her married life doing charity work, building a lovely home, and, as she says, “pretending to be a whole lot more conservative and stupid and nicer than I really am.”
Now, with too much time and money on her hands, Kelly has absolutely no idea what happens next. So on a whim she signs up for a ballroom dancing class, and slowly, step by high-heeled step, begins to rebuild her life with the help of friends old and new: Nik, a young Russian dance teacher who sees the artistic potential she left behind; Carolina, a woman in hospice, anxious to experience a whole lifetime in a few months; and Elyse, Kelly’s girlhood best friend who knows all of her past secrets—including the truth about the man who long ago broke Kelly’s heart. In the vein of Jennifer Weiner's novels, Unexpected Waltz is a deeply felt story about moving on after loss and finding a new walk—or dance—of life through the power of second chances. |
The Canterbury SistersChe Milan’s life is falling apart. Not only has her longtime lover abruptly dumped her, but her eccentric, demanding mother has recently died. When an urn of ashes arrives, along with a note reminding Che of a half-forgotten promise to take her mother to Canterbury, Che finds herself reluctantly undertaking a pilgrimage.
Within days she joins a group of women who are walking the sixty miles from London to the shrine of Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, reputed to be the site of miracles. In the best Chaucer tradition, the women swap stories as they walk, each vying to see who can best describe true love. Che, who is a perfectionist and workaholic, loses her cell phone at the first stop and is forced to slow down and really notice the world around her, perhaps for the first time in years. Through her adventures along the trail, Che finds herself opening up to new possibilities in life and discovers that the miracles of Canterbury can take surprising forms. |
The Last Ride to GracelandBlues musician Cory Ainsworth is barely scraping by after her mother’s death when she discovers a priceless piece of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia hidden away in a shed out back of the family’s coastal South Carolina home: Elvis Presley’s Stutz Blackhawk, its interior a time capsule of the singer’s last day on earth.
A backup singer for the King, Cory’s mother Honey was at Graceland the day Elvis died. She quickly returned home to Beaufort and married her high school sweetheart. Yearning to uncover the secrets of her mother’s past—and possibly her own identity—Cory decides to drive the car back to Memphis and turn it over to Elvis’s estate, retracing the exact route her mother took thirty-seven years earlier. As she winds her way through the sprawling deep south with its quaint towns and long stretches of open road, the burning question in Cory’s mind—who is my father?—takes a backseat to the truth she learns about her complicated mother, the minister's daughter who spent a lifetime struggling to conceal the consequences of a single year of rebellion. |
The Longest Day of the Year
It’s the summer solstice and at a small beach on the Carolina coast four women fall into conversation while sitting at the edge of the water. On the surface they would seem to have little in common: Clio, a 22-year-old waitress at a nearby seafood shack, torn between the son of the owner and the sexy but penniless farmboy who delivers produce to the restaurant; Amy, 36, the wife of an ambitious developer whose plans to build highrises will change, and some say ruin, the vibe of sweet little Elliott Point; Josie, 59 and just off breast cancer surgery, ignoring her children's worried advice in order to flee back to the place where she last was happy; and finally Cully, 81, a seascape artist of some renown, considered an eccentric by the locals because she chooses to live alone in a tumbledown cottage. But they all do share one thing and that's how much they love this particular beach.
The Longest Day of the Year celebrates the timeless quality of life on the Carolina coast, where a woman could be forgiven for not only forgetting what day of the week it is, but sometimes even forgetting what year it is. As the sun rises and sets on this single perfect summer day, each woman will chase her dreams and attempt to run from her fears, but there’s one thing they’re all sure of: the salt water of Elliott Point has a certain magic and will always be there to baptize a woman into her own personal second chance. |
City of Mystery Series
City of Darkness
City of Darkness takes place in 1888 London, where Jack the Ripper roams the streets with impunity and Scotland Yard seems helpless to stop him. The science of forensics is in its infancy but a few detectives – Trevor Welles among them – recognize that they are dealing with a different sort of killer, a “modern criminal” who chooses his victims at random. If Jack is to be caught, he won’t be caught with Scotland Yard’s normal methods of deduction for there is no logic to this madness. The question is no longer “Why was the victim killed?” but rather “How was the victim killed?”
For the first time in the history of detection, science is trumping deductive reasoning. When a twist of fate puts Trevor in charge of the case, he hastily assembles Scotland Yard’s first forensics team: Davy Mabrey, the first bobby on the scene of the grisliest of the murders, whose working class common sense proves an invaluable asset, Rayley Abrams, a cautious intellectual whose future at the Yard is marginalized due to his Jewish heritage, Tom Bainbridge, a medical student with aristocratic connections and a secret drinking problem, Emma Kelly, sister of the Ripper’s last victim who has a troubled past and a gift for linguistics. and Geraldine Bainbridge, a wealthy and eccentric heiress and Trevor's closest friend. The team finds an unlikely ally in the form of Queen Victoria herself, who takes an unusual level of interest in the Ripper case and secretly funds the unit. But will they stop Jack in time to spare Leanna Bainbridge, the young heiress with whom Trevor has fallen madly and improbably in love? |
City of Light
Set amid the glamour of Paris, City of Light opens in 1889 Paris on the eve of the Exposition Universelle, the ultimate World’s Fair which debuted Edison’s phonograph, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, and the Eiffel Tower. Detective Rayley Abrams has traveled from Scotland Yard to France to study the new science of forensics with the Parisian police. Lonely and awkward, Rayley easily falls under the spell of a beautiful British expatriate named Isabel Blout, a woman with a murky past and suspicious social connections.
Paris may be abuzz with excitement, but there are also rumors that the Exposition is running out of money and that Eiffel may not finish his celebrated tower in time for the opening day celebrations. The French police are so eager to present a perfect image to the eyes of the world that when a most unusual victim washes up on the banks of the Seine, they literally keep the murder under wraps. Back in London, the new forensics unit is investigating a raid on a male brothel when an alarming telegram draws them to Paris to face the possibility that the two cases may be linked. But will Trevor be able to unravel the web of deception in time to save Rayley? |
City of Silence
Her Royal Majesty Queen Victoria is quite distressed. The reason? Her favorite granddaughter, Princess Alix, has fallen in love with the tsesarevich of Russia, a gentle young man named Nicholas. The Queen is convinced that the Romanov court is a dark and treacherous place – a belief that is accentuated when she receives a report that two ballet dancers have been found dead in the Winter Palace. When Alix accepts Nicky’s invitation to a grand ball in celebration of the summer solstice, the Queen calls on detective Trevor Welles and his team to sail with them to St. Petersburg.
Protecting the Queen and Alix will be challenge enough, but shortly after the group arrives in Russia a third victim is dramatically revealed and the team is swept up in a wave of intrigue as they struggle to adapt to the fabulously wealthy and morally corrupt Romanov court. And when all the forces collide at the grand ball, Trevor and his friends will be forced to admit that, at least in Russia, the line between guilt and innocence is blurry indeed. |
City of Bells
Geraldine Bainbridge is well known among her fashionable circa-1889 London set as an heiress, philanthropist, and supporter of highly unsuitable causes, including women’s rights. Fiercely independent, she is proud of having arrived at the age of 69 without ever having been, in her words, “netted and mounted.” But when a mysterious letter arrives from India – sent from a long-ago lover now jailed for the murder of his wife– even Gerry’s friends and family realize that they know very little of her romantic past. As Geraldine journeys to assist with Anthony’s defense, she is joined by her close friend Detective Trevor Welles, head of Scotland Yard’s first forensics unit, as well we the rest of the Scotland Yard forensics team. The group has scarcely arrived in Bombay when it becomes clear this is no ordinary domestic crime, but rather a case with far-reaching political implications, whose roots stretch back to the Great Mutiny of 1857.
As they combat the heat, the insects, the monsoons, and the petty prejudices of the Raj, often finding themselves more in sympathy with the suspects than the victims, Trevor and the others are forced to confront an uncomfortable question: Is murder ever justifiable? |
City of Stone
Since London awaits each installment of his Sherlock Holmes stories with bated breath, Arthur Conan Doyle would seem to be a lucky man. But he also has a bit of a problem. His publisher George Lippincott, on a trip to Edinburgh, has turned up dead. And not merely dead - murdered in a lurid scene drawn from one of Doyle's as yet unpublished stories.
When Doyle appeals to the Scotland Yard forensics team for help, Tom and Davy, both avid Sherlockians, jump at the chance, but the unit leader, Detective Trevor Welles, is not so sure. He finds Doyle and his brilliant fictional sleuth ludicrous and suspects the "murder" is little more than a publicity stunt staged by an arrogant author and his greedy publisher. It is only when Emma Kelly, another member of the team and the object of Trevor's affection, receives a valuable pearl from an anonymous source - the opening scene of The Sign of the Four - that Trevor agrees they must indeed take Scotland Yard to Scotland. |
The Angel of Hever Castle
The Christmas of 1889 is fast approaching and the members of the Thursday Night Murder Games Club are settling in for some much-deserved relaxation, beginning with a cozy meal at the home of their patroness, Geraldine Bainbridge. But a frantic knock at the door changes everything. Geraldine’s friend Tess has come to beg for their help, explaining that her eighteen year old daughter Anna has run off with a portrait painter named LaRusse Chapman. The two of them have escaped to the countryside of Kent, where LaRusse presides over a colony of gypsy-like and half-starving artists. The group - which espouses any number of shockingly liberal causes, including “free love” – has taken up residence in the dilapidated Hever Castle, the abandoned childhood home of Queen Anne Boleyn.
Within hours, Scotland Yard detectives Trevor Welles and Rayley Abrams are headed south on an unofficial mission to bring Anna at least back to London, if not to her senses. But they are scarcely within the crumbling walls of the castle when they realize that the place if far more sinister than they expected. LaRusse Chapman is not merely a seducer of young girls, but a man teetering on the brink of madness. His painting in process, The Angel of Hever Castle, seems to magically change itself each night, with the face of the Madonna morphing from one woman to another. And when Trevor and Rayley encounter a ghostly figure in white on the meadows surrounding the castle, they begin to question their own sanity. Has the spell of Hever Castle engulfed them as well? The Angel of Hever Castle is a Christmas-themed novella and the fifth volume in the City of Mystery series. Fans of the previous books will be happy to see some old friends in cameo appearances – Geraldine’s crusty beau Fleanders returns, as does the mystic Madame Renata, the misguided politician Michael Weaver and his eccentric sister Adelaide. |
City of Wind
No one expects to be murdered in a church. And yet this is precisely what happens to two seemingly blameless young women in City of Wind, the sixth book of the City of Mystery series.
It's spring, 1891. Scotland Yard's first forensics unit is reeling from a series of painful losses, and Detective Trevor Welles has traveled to America to teach the San Francisco police the fledgling science of fingerprinting. When a badly decomposed body is found in a church belfry, Trevor, along with Rayley Abrams and Davy Mabrey, finds himself reluctantly drawn into the case. For once it's easier to identify a suspect than the victim and Theo Durant, Sunday School superintendent and unrepentant ladies' man, is at the top of everyone's list. The police aren't so sure. As Davy puts it "any man who looks that guilty almost has to be innocent." While the body count rises and the evidence grows, Trevor and his team must race to find the truth before a vigilante crowd takes justice into their own hands. The men may have science and proximity on their side, but it will take the insight of three women back in England - Gerry, Emma, and Leanna - to uncover the dark family secrets that first drove the killer to violence. After a final life and death struggle on Alcatraz, even a group of forensics experts must admit that the "why" of murder is sometimes more revealing than the "how." |