Author: Dorothy Schwab Grateful Reader DFW

I have loved reading and meeting authors for as long as I can remember! As an elementary teacher I integrated literature into every part of the core curriculum. Since my retirement, reading and flower gardening are my two favorite pastimes. I look forward to sharing my passion for reading by providing reviews of the books I've read. Perhaps you will join me as I explore new authors and genres!

The First Ladies by Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray

Published June 27, 2023-Berkley-Biographical Historical Fiction 352pp

Book Summary

A novel about the extraordinary partnership between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. The daughter of formerly enslaved parents, Mary McLeod Bethune refuses to back down as white supremacists attempt to thwart her work. She marches on as an activist and an educator, and as her reputation grows she becomes a celebrity, revered by titans of business and recognized by U.S. Presidents. Eleanor Roosevelt herself is awestruck and eager to make her acquaintance. Initially drawn together because of their shared belief in women’s rights and the power of education, Mary and Eleanor become fast friends confiding their secrets, hopes and dreams—and holding each other’s hands through tragedy and triumph.
 
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected president, the two women begin to collaborate more closely, particularly as Eleanor moves toward her own agenda separate from FDR, a consequence of the devastating discovery of her husband’s secret love affair. Eleanor becomes a controversial First Lady for her outspokenness, particularly on civil rights. And when she receives threats because of her strong ties to Mary, it only fuels the women’s desire to fight together for justice and equality.

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

This review was first published in the Historical Novels Review Magazine, August 2023 issue, for The Historical Novel Society

The First Ladies is a riveting look at Eleanor Roosevelt’s political rise to First Lady and her eyebrow raising friendship with civil rights activist, Mary McLeod Bethune.  From their first awkward meeting at a national luncheon for the heads of women’s clubs in 1927 to the joyous day the two united to vote for the Charter of United Nations in June 1945, authors Benedict and Murray are successful in capturing the emotional connection between these two impactful women.

Told in alternating points of view, readers come to know Eleanor and Mary as their relationship blossoms.  Mary, born of enslaved parents, became a supporter of education, a builder of schools and hospitals. A calm, understated, burning desire is exposed in Mary to show her indelible spirit and confidence as she garners well known businessmen to serve on boards and contribute to her causes. Meanwhile, readers are provided with detailed historical background leading to Eleanor becoming the First Lady. By 1927 Eleanor’s painful memories of Franklin’s affair with her social secretary Lucy Mercer, have them unified only in beliefs. Taking a tactful and delicate approach to Eleanor’s relationship with a female journalist, she is portrayed unlike any other First Lady.

Historic and political events are recounted as the “first ladies” memories are used to fill in background. Readers experience Mary’s pain in racially explosive situations but also appreciation for her ultimate poise and absolute pride in her beliefs. The scene of Eleanor and Mary at Tuskegee Army Airfield highlighting the discrimination of blacks in the military, though hypothetical, is superb and the outcome rewarding. The concluding historical notes are informative and supportive of this extraordinary partnership.  

The First Ladies friendship helped form the foundation for the modern civil rights movement. Historically illuminating; for fans of The Personal Librarian by Benedict and Murray.

THE FIRST LADIES

“First Lady of the World” Eleanor Roosevelt used her platform as First Lady of the United States and as a member of the wealthy and prominent Roosevelt family  to advocate for human and civil rights. She was a prolific author, speaker, and humanitarian, and chaired the United Nations’ Human Rights Commission.  She connected with the public through a popular syndicated column, ‘My Day,’ in which she recounted her daily adventures from 1935 until her death in 1962.” By Debra Michals, PhD | 2017 Read complete article from the National Women’s History Museum: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/eleanor-roosevelt

The daughter of formerly enslaved parents, Mary Jane McLeod Bethune became one of the most important Black educators, civil and women’s rights leaders and government officials of the twentieth century. The college she founded set educational standards for today’s Black colleges, and her role as an advisor to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave African Americans an advocate in government. Edited by Debra Michals, PhD | 2015 Read the full article from the National Women’s History Museum here: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mary-mcleod-bethune

Victoria Christopher Murray, Marie Benedict , Previous joint novel The Personal Librarian



Blog Tour: What Would Jane Austen Do? by Linda Corbett

Published June 16, 2023-Harper Collins, UK-One More Chapter-Contemporary Romance, Austenesque Fiction, RomCom, 384pp, eBook, Audiobook

Book Summary:

It’s a truth often acknowledged that when a journalist and Jane Austen fan girl
ends up living next door to a cynical but handsome crime writer, romantic sparks
will fly!
When Maddy Shaw is told her Dear Jane column has been cancelled she has no choice
but to look outside of London’s rental market. That is until she’s left an idyllic country
home by the black sheep of the family, long-not-so-lost Cousin Nigel.
But of course, there’s a stipulation… and not only is Maddy made chair of the committee
for the annual village literary festival, she also has to put up with bestselling crime
author –and romance sceptic – Cameron Massey as her new neighbor.
When Maddy challenges Cameron to write romantic fiction, which he claims is so easy
to do, sparks fly both on and off the page…

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Despondent, Newly Fired Agony Aunt, Maddy Shaw vs. Grumpy, Crime Fiction Author, Cameron Massey

Maddy Shaw, love and relationship correspondent, admits in an interview with best-selling crime author, Cameron Massey, that “it’s not the guaranteed happy ending that readers enjoy most, It’s the journey the couple go on.” Corbett’s journey, like a layered tea tray, is laced with family mystery, romantic suspense, and plenty of “Austenesque” advice. Corbett’s musing, witty, sometimes soul-searching dialogue between the cracking characters on the festival committee is endearing as she deftly reveals failings, flaws, and family histories. 

From the Jane Austen quotes opening each chapter to the myriad Austen character references, this present-day romantic journey is set amidst the hectic planning of the Cotlington Literary Festival 2022. Readers will have definitive responses to What Would Jane Austen Do?

As in the quintessentially British tradition of high tea-Linda Corbett’s What Would Jan Austen Do? suits a variety of readers, “those looking for four-star luxury with champagne or a simple spread in a local village pub.”

Like high tea-from the first morsel of scone to the last sip of tea-simply delightful.

Linda Corbett lives in Surrey with her husband Andrew and three permanently hungry guinea pigs. As well as being an author, Linda is treasurer and fundraiser for Shine
Surrey – a volunteer-led charity that supports individuals and families living with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. For many years she also wrote a regular column for Link, a
disability magazine, illustrating the humorous aspects of life with a complex disability and she is a passionate advocate of disability representation in fiction. Love You From
A-Z is her first published novel. Linda’s website: https://guineapighotel.wordpress.com/

Purchase Links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/What-Would-Jane-Austen-Do-ebook/dp/B0B7VBBKGQ

BARNES & NOBLE: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/what-would-jane-austen-do-linda-corbett/1141898159?

Daughter of the Shadows Defying the Crown Series-Book 2

By Kerry Chaput

Published March 30, 2023-Black Rose Writing-314pp

Book Summary

1667 Quebec. Committed to a double life to save her fellow Protestants, Isabelle turns spy against her deceitful Catholic husband. When he devises a ruthless plan to imprison and torture her people, Isabelle learns to fight from a brave young Huron woman. Isabelle seizes the opportunity to undermine her husband’s efforts by escorting him to France. There, she plays the doting wife while she secretly works to subvert the Catholic Church and plot his demise. But Paris is full of poisons, street gangs, and cruel nobility who threaten to destroy all Isabelle has worked to protect. With her found family on the line, Isabelle must challenge the most powerful man in France—King Louis XIV.

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Daughter of the Shadows was first published in the Historical Novels Review Magazine on August 1, 2023 for the Historical Novel Society.

The saga of Isabelle Collette continues in Daughter of the Shadows, second in Kerry Chaput’s IPPY award winning Defying the Crown series. In book #1, Daughter of the King, Isabelle, a French Protestant branded with an H for Huguenot, worships in secret, fears the King and the Catholic law of France. In 1661, she crosses the ocean from La Rochelle, France to the snowy forests of colonial Quebec to become a daughter of the king; promised a dowry, a farm, the opportunity to choose a husband and payment for each baby.

 Chaput’s gripping adventure continues in 1667, as Isabelle who denied her faith to become a Catholic, is living with nightmares and guilt. Well-developed characters Antoinette, Catholic childhood friend and James Beaumont, Isabelle’s husband by marriage contract, have become antagonists as she leads a double life to help Protestants escape prosecution in France.  Chaput supports and improves Isabelle’s spy training and chance of survival with breathtaking descriptions of Naira, a native Huron skilled hunter who teaches lifesaving skills; using senses and mental acuity to overcome enemies. Adding to the suspense is Isabelle’s dangerous return to Paris as a daughter of the shadows. She encounters liars in Louis XIV’s court, Parisian poisons, and the prison walls of the Bastille.

Kerry Chaput creates suspense and anticipation through the schemes and secret agendas involving Isabelle and conniving, greedy husband James. Between graphic descriptions of the horrors in La Rochelle, training with Naira, and fights for survival, there is humorous relief in banter between Isabelle and fellow conspirator, Andre. Within a narrative froth with twists and turns Chaput’s dialogue exudes frustration, anger, tension, and pain.

The Protestant children of France are our past and our future.  Which Huguenots will Isabelle save? Book #3- Defying the Crown coming March 2024.

Kerry Chaput is an award-winning historical fiction author. Her love of the past inspires her action-adventure stories which focus on young women from history, first love, found family, and a touch of magic.

Born and raised in California, she now lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, a common setting for her novels.

The Paris Daughter by Kristin Harmel

Published June 6, 2023-Gallery Books-Historical Fiction-384pp

Book Summary

Paris, 1939: Young mothers Elise and Juliette become fast friends the day they meet in the beautiful Bois de Boulogne. Though there is a shadow of war creeping across Europe, neither woman suspects that their lives are about to irrevocably change.

When Elise becomes a target of the German occupation, she entrusts Juliette with the most precious thing in her life—her young daughter, playmate to Juliette’s own little girl. But nowhere is safe in war, not even a quiet little bookshop like Juliette’s Librairie des Rêves, and, when a bomb falls on their neighborhood, Juliette’s world is destroyed along with it.

More than a year later, with the war finally ending, Elise returns to reunite with her daughter, only to find her friend’s bookstore reduced to rubble—and Juliette nowhere to be found. What happened to her daughter in those last, terrible moments? Juliette has seemingly vanished without a trace, taking all the answers with her. Elise’s desperate search leads her to New York—and to Juliette—one final, fateful time.

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

The Paris Daughter Review was first published in the Historical Novels Review Magazine, August 1, 2023 for the Historical Novel Society.

The Paris Daughter opens in 1939, days before Hitler invades Poland, as two fellow Americans cross paths in a Paris suburb. Elise LeClair, on a life changing walk in the park to escape her demanding artist husband Olivier, meets grieving Juliette Foulon, owner of the Bookshop of Dreams.  Kristin Harmel sets the stage for a lifelong friendship and emotional turmoil between the mothers and their newborn baby girls, while drawing sharp contrasts in the personalities and political beliefs of their husbands. Elise is feeling invisible as Olivier becomes passionately, overtly Communist, endangering daughter, Mathilde. Meanwhile, Juliette lives a quiet life in the bookshop with protective husband Paul, baby Lucie, and two sons. By the time the playmates are 3 years old, political and world events have led to Elise’s excruciating decision that to protect Mathilde, she will take on a new identity and leave her daughter to live in relative safety with Juliette’s family.

Harmel’s plot revolves around innocent civilians being bombed then living with fear and helplessness; exploring how Juliette and Elise survive the aftermath of war through 1960. Following the plight of Jewish widow, Ruth Levy, separated from her children and the ensuing search, the narrative reveals the inner strength required to endure trauma and face adversity.  Connecting readers to current events in Ukraine, a key historical thread is that of orphanages established to reunite children with their families. Themes of home, family, and the mystery of survival strategies are emphasized.  

Divided into three parts and based on the real-life Allied bombing raids of the German-controlled Renault factory in Paris, Harmel’s historical mystery crisscrosses the Atlantic, focusing on how coping with loss and grief is personal and individual. Strong character development, emotional, compelling plot twists, supported by superb historical research.

Kristin Harmel is the New York Times bestselling, USA Today bestselling, and #1 international bestselling author of The Forest of Vanishing Stars, The Book of Lost Names, The Winemaker’s Wife, and a dozen other novels that have been translated into more than 30 languages and are sold all over the world.

Mrs. Porter Calling by AJ Pearce

Publishing August 8, 2023-Scribner-Historical Fiction 320pp

Book Summary:

“Heartwarming, funny, and joyfully uplifting, the third novel in the Emmy Lake Chronicles is a moving tribute to friendship and overcoming adversity.



London, April 1943. A little over a year since she married Captain Charles Mayhew and he went away to war, Emmy Lake is now in charge of “Yours Cheerfully,” the hugely popular advice column in Woman’s Friend magazine. Cheered on by her best friend Bunty, Emmy is dedicated to helping readers face the increasing challenges brought about by over three years of war. The postbags are full and Woman’s Friend is thriving.

But Emmy’s world is turned upside down when glamorous socialite, the Honorable Mrs. Cressida Porter, becomes the new publisher of the magazine, and wants to change everything the readers love. Aided by Mrs. Pye, a Paris-obsessed fashion editor with delusions of grandeur, and Small Winston, the grumpiest dog in London, Mrs. Porter fills the pages with expensive clothes and frivolous articles about her friends. Worst of all, she announces that she is cutting the “Yours Cheerfully” column and her vision for the publication’s future seems dire. With the stakes higher than ever, Emmy and her friends must find a way to save the magazine that they love.”

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Mrs. Porter Calling is the third novel in the Emmy Lake Chronicles by A.J. Pearce. Set in Central London, in 1943, Emmy Lake and her best friend Bunty share a home in Pimlico and are still volunteering at the local fire station as telephonists. On staff at Woman’s Friend magazine, Emmy responds to letters for her popular advice column, Yours Cheerfully, with compassionate, helpful ideas. When Mrs. Porter arrives on the scene as the new owner and publisher, the daily lives and schedules of the staff go rather sideways. Pearce compares time with Mrs. Porter to working with a Lancaster bomber in a hat, and as Mrs. Porter aptly put it herself, “Meetings are not my thing.”  Mrs. Porter wreaks havoc on Woman’s Friend, sending the magazine circulation into a downward spiral.

A.J. Pearce develops the plot through quirky, witty characters, who become a close-knit team as they pull together to save Woman’s Friend and outwit Mrs. Porter. Columns such as What’s in the Hot Pot and On Duty for Beauty add ingenious ideas and giggly humor for readers along with columnist Pamela Pye’s penchant for French. Back at home, Emmy and Bunty are trying to “Stay Calm and Carry On” in true British fashion. The men in their lives are at war but friends and colleagues from the fire station fill in when needed. The addition of friend Thelma and her three children add to family dynamics of cooking with ration coupons, acquiring pets, and providing unexpected emotional support. Pearce highlights the stamina, patience, and love required of families to endure the war years.

Mrs. Porter Calling is chocked full of hilarious British humor, iconic pearls of wisdom, and laugh out loud dialogue interspersed with personal and social situations that strike all the emotional chords.  This novel is a comfort; as Thelma often reminded her children, “You are safe, and you are loved.”  

Wine People by Michelle Wildgen

Publishing August 1, 2023-Zibby Books-General Fiction-304pp

https://www.michellewildgen.com/

Book Summary:

What happens when two ambitious young women, opposite in every way, join forces in a competitive male-dominated industry?

Wren and Thessaly collide when they land coveted jobs at a glamorous New York City boutique wine importer. Hardworking, by-the-book Wren comes from a modest background and has everything to prove while Thessaly hails from a family of prestigious California growers—but she is plagued by self-doubt. Thrown together at work, where they’re expected to have exquisite palates, endless tolerance for alcohol and socializing, and the ability to sell, sell, sell, they regard each other with suspicion.

It’s only on an important European business trip—with everything on the line for both of them—that they unexpectedly forge an alliance that will change the course of their careers and personal lives.

With mouth-watering descriptions of food and wine, Wine People takes readers from France, Germany, and Italy to the Midwest and Sonoma. An utterly entertaining page-turner that explores how close friends can both misjudge and uplift each other.

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Wine People is an eye-popping, intuitive glimpse into the business of importing wine, the pursuit of friendship, and the underlying impact of alcoholism. Michelle Wildgen, like a personal guide through wine country, melds operating and financing in the wine import industry with tasting rooms and vignerons. Learning about a myriad of wines along with the stock wine types in the industry are a bonus to the central plot.

Through main characters Thessaly and Wren, Wildgen creates tension and empathy, but also the stress of mixing competition in business with burgeoning friendships.  Thessaly, daughter of a Sonoma grower, golden girl of the industry and wine importing’s version of a supermodel is competing against Wren, with only five years restaurant experience, no special memories of food or childhood, but desperate to learn from observation. Both young women are coping with father issues. Wildgen uses Wren’s absent, alcoholic father and Thessaly’s famous father’s ‘nothing ever good enough’ approach to illuminate their anxiety, fears, and dependencies. Wren’s mask is competitive forthrightness and Thessaly’s excessive drinking.

Thessaly and Wren: “lifers” in the wine industry, learning to trust each other, eager to beat the ‘great men’. Ambitious, aggressive “Women in Wine.”

Wine People by Michelle Wildgen, highly recommended and enjoyed reclining on a chaise with a chilled Rosé.

Michelle Wildgen is the author of the novels Wine People (August 2023, Zibby Books— Pre-order here!), You’re Not You, But Not For Long, and Bread and Butter, and the editor of the food writing anthology Food & Booze. A former executive editor with the award-winning literary journal Tin House, she is a freelance editor and creative writing teacher in Madison, Wis. Since 2013 she and novelist Susanna Daniel have run the Madison Writers’ Studio, offering a variety of creative writing workshops and classes.

Work Jerks How to Cope with Difficult Bosses and Colleagues

Published June, 2022-She Writes Press-261pp

Work Jerks are EVERYWHERE: Corporate America, WFH, Board or Committee Members for Church, School, or Community

Book Summary:

If you’re stressed and unhappy because of problems with a boss or colleague, you pay a price. Not only can your mental and physical health suffer, your nearest and dearest get sick of hearing about it. Going to bed angry and waking up only to dread a new workday is a terrible way to live.

Remote work may have lessened the impact of annoying colleagues for a while, but they can still find ways to irritate. If you’re co-located, the “mute” and “stop video” buttons don’t exist to diminish your exasperation. Not all jerks are the same; the person you find to be a nightmare may be perfectly acceptable to others. And, astonishingly, someone else may even think you’re the jerk!

Author Louise Carnachan has the credentials and experience to make her an expert in this area, but more importantly, she’s been in the trenches herself. With an emphasis on the positive actions you can take while being attentive to your specific situation, Work Jerks provides practical advice on how to deal with a variety of problematic coworkers—whether in-person or remotely—so work can stop being something you dread and start being something you enjoy.

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Work Jerks is not about changing or fixing the person causing you problems, but it is about changing what you think, say, and do. Louise Carnachan has been a trainer, coach, and employee for over forty years. The book, organized by “Jerketypes,” compares figuring out a problem person to shoe shopping: you must try on, walk around, then make up your mind. The Table of Contents names ten types of Jerks along with the last chapters on toxic work culture and a summary on how to see results and take action.  The reader should attempt to narrow down the most obvious issues of the problem person, realizing that there are a lot of overlapping characteristics and even variations or a spectrum within each jerk category.

Each chapter is divided into types, traits of each, a case study, and a set of questions and practical advice for a manager, a coworker, or maybe the description is of YOU!  My favorite chapters are #4 The Incompetent Jerk and #8 The Jokester Jerk, but really once you start reading the traits and case studies, the analysis and advice is so compelling you’ll keep reading and remembering past bosses or colleagues, wishing you’d had Work Jerks in your desk drawer!

For over forty years, Louise Carnachan has worked as a trainer and organization development consultant helping thousands of leaders and staff members achieve interpersonal success with challenging work relationships. She has worked in manufacturing, education, healthcare, and scientific organizations. As a consultant, her clients have included Head Start programs, PNW Fertility, Bastyr University and Clinic, VA Puget Sound Health Care, a variety of Washington State departments, Boeing, McDonalds Corporation, Starbucks, University of Washington Medical Center, and the Port of Seattle. She is former adjunct faculty at Seattle Pacific University and Seattle Community College and taught a course for the University of Washington’s MBA program. Currently, she is a semi-retired coach for leadership clients and pens a workplace advice blog on her website (with debatable input from her feline office mates). She lives in a suburb of Portland, Oregon and enjoys Powell’s Books, coastal beach towns, and her local library, where she can most often be found browsing the mystery section. http://www.louisecarnachan.com.

Wednesdays at One by Sandra A. Miller

Publishing July 11, 2023-Zibby Books-Psychological Thriller-312pp

Book Summary

Dr. Gregory Weber appears to have an enviable life. He’s a renowned clinical psychologist residing in an elegant home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his wife, Liv, and their two kids. But Gregory feels increasingly disconnected. His marriage is strained, his children are distant, and he can’t stop fixating on an unforgivable mistake he made when he was seventeen. Something no one else knows about.

So when an unscheduled client named Mira starts to appear in his office each week with knowledge about his past, Gregory quickly grows obsessed with her. Is she a new patient? A secret referral from a colleague? Someone connected to his teenage transgression? 

As his attraction for Mira grows more intense with each session, so does her probing scrutiny of him. Soon Gregory’s professional boundaries begin to dissolve, and he becomes the patient, desperate to uncover his connection to this mysterious woman and find out what she wants from him.

In searching for the answers, Gregory risks losing everything that matters: his career, his family, and his mind.

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Wednesdays at One is the rollercoaster of disquieting, unnerving memories of seventeen-year-old Greg, a mistake that changed his life and his lie of omission. The impact of hiding the truth for thirty years is revealed in the shattered lives of Greg, his family, and his friends. The healing powers of acceptance and forgiveness are splayed in gripping dialogue and partial flashbacks; never quite revealing the whole truth until it’s too late. Or is it?

Sandra Miller puts relationships based on fear and lies under the sometimes too powerful lens of a psychiatrist’s microscope. Through puzzling, unresolved conflicts and therapeutic sessions readers will discover satisfaction like the cool, sheltered sanctuary of Greg and Liv’s weeping willow tree.

Sandra A. Miller is the author of the award-winning memoir, TROVE, and the forthcoming psychological thriller, WEDNESDAYS AT ONE.

Her essays and articles have appeared in hundreds of publications, including the Christian Science Monitor, Spirituality & Health, Modern Bride, Yankee, Family Fun, the Washington Post, and the Boston Globe Magazine, for which she is a regular correspondent. Sandra has lived and worked in New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Luxembourg. She currently teaches English at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell and lives outside of Boston with her husband, Mark Santello.

The Summer of Songbirds by Kristy Woodson Harvey

Publishes July 11, 2023-Gallery Books-Women’s Fiction-368pp

Book Summary

Four women come together to save the summer camp that changed their lives and rediscover themselves in the process in this moving new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Veil and the Peachtree Bluff series.

Nearly thirty years ago, in the wake of a personal tragedy, June Moore bought Camp Holly Springs and turned it into a thriving summer haven for girls. But now, June is in danger of losing the place she has sacrificed everything for, and begins to realize how much she has used the camp to avoid facing difficulties in her life.

June’s niece, Daphne, met her two best friends, Lanier and Mary Stuart, during a fateful summer at camp. They’ve all helped each other through hard things, from heartbreak and loss to substance abuse and unplanned pregnancy, and the three are inseparable even in their thirties. But when attorney Daphne is confronted with a relationship from her past—and a confidential issue at work becomes personal—she is faced with an impossible choice.

Lanier, meanwhile, is struggling with tough decisions of her own. After a run-in with an old flame, she is torn between the commitment she made to her fiancé and the one she made to her first love. And when a big secret comes to light, she finds herself at odds with her best friend…and risks losing the person she loves most.

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

The Summer of Songbirds is an homage to summer camp memories, childhood joys and forever friendships. The setting is Camp Holly Springs where three little girls, now three young women, have returned to relive their childhood summers and try to save the beloved camp from developers.

Kristy Woodson Harvey tells the story from four points of view. The three campers who are now grown: Daphne-a lawyer, Lanier-a bookstore owner, Mary Stuart- a master at public relations and the Camp Holly Springs owner, Daphne’s Aunt June. KWH’s vivid descriptions of the camp, cabins, dining hall and all the daily activities will rekindle readers’ memories of campouts, talent shows, friendship bracelets, and stories around the campfire. Friendship dilemmas now involve career crossroads, trouble with a fiancé, a wedding rendezvous with an Ex, and family secrets between friends. KWH creates anticipation, disappointment, and finally hope surrounding each character. Her prose includes a poignant analogy that the river is like humans, carrying secrets, scars, joy, and hope. Added is the wisdom that we can’t control the wind, but we can adjust the sails, and of joy and sadness; you cannot have one without the other. This is “a book to lose yourself in, then find yourself again.” Welcome to Camp Holly Springs and The Summer of Songbirds.  As Kristy Woodson Harvey says, “It’s always summer somewhere!”

Kristy Woodson Harvey is the New York Times, USA Today and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author of ten novels including Under the Southern Sky, The Peachtree Bluff Series, The Wedding Veil and The Summer of Songbirds. Her Peachtree Bluff Series is currently in development with NBC with Kristy as co-writer and co-executive producer. She is the winner of the Lucy Bramlette Patterson Award for Excellence in Creative Writing, a finalist for the Southern Book Prize, and her books have received numerous accolades including Southern Living’s Most Anticipated Beach Reads, Entertainment Weekly’s Spring Reading Picks, and Katie Couric’s Most Anticipated Reads.   

But in spite of their personal problems, nothing is more important to these songbirds than Camp Holly Springs. When the women learn their childhood oasis is in danger of closing, they band together to save it, sending them on a journey that promises to open the next chapters in their lives.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center

Publishes July 11, 2023-St. Martin’s Press-Romance-336pp

https://katherinecenter.com/hello-stranger/

Book Summary

Love isn’t blind, it’s just a little blurry.

Sadie Montgomery never saw what was coming . . . Literally! One minute she’s celebrating the biggest achievement of her life―placing as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition―the next, she’s lying in a hospital bed diagnosed with a “probably temporary” condition known as face blindness. She can see, but every face she looks at is now a jumbled puzzle of disconnected features. Imagine trying to read a book upside down and in another language. This is Sadie’s new reality with every face she sees.

But, as she struggles to cope, hang on to her artistic dream, work through major family issues, and take care of her beloved dog, Peanut, she falls into―love? Lust? A temporary obsession to distract from the real problems in her life?―with not one man but two very different ones. The timing couldn’t be worse.

If only her life were a little more in focus, Sadie might be able to find her way. But perceiving anything clearly right now seems impossible. Even though there are things we can only find when we aren’t looking. And there are people who show up when we least expect them. And there are always, always other ways of seeing.

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

A humorous yet poignant view of a struggling portraitist and her startling diagnosis after brain surgery. Readers will “see” Katherine Center’s Sadie though the foggy lens of face blindness. Through therapy with Dr. Nicole, Sadie and readers learn about confirmation bias, how to let friends help, and how to face tough truths about life, ourselves and healing family hurts.

Another recognizably memorable reminder of Katherine Center’s ability to help us see ourselves in the reflections of others. Find truth and hope in Hello Stranger.

Katherine Center is the author of How to Walk Away and Things You Save in a Fire—both instant New York Times bestsellers—as well as The Lost Husband (now a movie starring Josh Duhamel), and five other bittersweet comic novels. She writes laugh-and-cry books about how life knocks us down—and how we get back up. Katherine has been compared to both Nora Ephron and Jane Austen, and the Dallas Morning News calls her stories, “satisfying in the most soul-nourishing way.” Katherine lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas, with her husband, two kids, and their fluffy-but-fierce dog.