From the award-winning author of Comfort Plans and Comfort Songs comes a story of two rising stars blitzed by social media. Lacy Cavanaugh and, single-dad, Rudy Delgardo live a hundred miles apart but meet in the worst possible way. Working at a weekly paper and creating social media for area businesses helps Lacy connect with locals who open her mind to a perspective beyond Instagram. In launching a food-and-wine festival to support Comfort's new event center, she discovers surprising skills bubbling over, much like the food she's attempting to cook. Rudy, on the brink of his restaurant's takeover, struggles to improve time management so he can create a better relationship with his daughter. Distracted by Lacy and her invitation to the festival, he's tempted by her beauty, wit, and courage, but as a chef, he rarely gets to enjoy life outside the kitchen. Enemies, illness, and exes add unwelcome spice to the dish they're concocting-one that will teeter with misunderstanding until the very end. Will Lacy and Rudy embrace their second chances and discover the perfect seasonings of family, resilience, and grace to create a handwritten recipe of love that will stand the test of time?

On 2 BuzzFeed Hot Lists
"New Book Releases We Loved And Why You Should Read Them"
"New Historical Fiction You Won't Be Able To Put Down This Fall"

 

The story of one woman's quest to carve out a life for herself in the liberal and bewildering society that emerged during the California gold rush frenzy.

 

Elisabeth Parker comes to California from Massachusetts in 1849 with her new husband, Nate, to reunite with her father, who's struck gold on the American River. But she soon realizes her husband is not the man she thought--and neither is her father, who abandons them shortly after they arrive. As Nate struggles with his sexuality, Elisabeth is forced to confront her preconceived notions of family, love, and opportunity. She finds comfort in corresponding with her childhood friend back home, writer Louisa May Alcott, and spending time in the company of a mysterious California. Armed with Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self-Reliance, she sets out to determine her role in building the West, even as she comes to terms with the sacrifices she must make to achieve independence and happiness. A gripping and illuminating window into life in the Old West, Prospects of a Woman is the story of one woman's passionate quest to carve out a place for herself in the liberal and bewildering society that emerged during the California gold rush frenzy.

Author Bio:
Born and raised on the American River in Sacramento, Wendy Voorsanger has long held an intense interest in the historical women of California. She started her career in the Silicon Valley, writing about technology trends and innovations for newspapers, magazines, and Fortune 100 companies. She currently manages SheIsCalifornia.net, a blog dedicated to chronicling the accomplishments of California women through history. She earned a BA in journalism from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and has attended Hedgebrook, the Squaw Valley Writers Workshop, and Lit Camp. She is a member of the Castro Writers' Cooperative, the Lit Camp Advisory Board, and the San Mateo Public Library Literary Society. She has also worked as a lifeguard, ski instructor, and radio disc jockey. Wendy lives in Northern California with her husband and two boys. 

 

Independently published with She Writes Press

Leslie's life is unrecognizable. One year can change everything. Fallen from grace in all her familiar circles, she's lost the titles she once held. PTO hero, bake sale queen, and super mom have all been washed away by the truth. She is the woman who lied. The mother who gave up one child and kept three others. There are not enough warm chocolate chip cookies in the world to redeem her.Gwen wants peace. Her very existence has been a wrecking ball through so many lives, and she hopes to have a hand in the rebuilding. The problem is, some don't even want to speak with her let alone hear her plea for understanding.With new happiness on the horizon, will either woman feel worthy? Or will they continue to stay locked in the prison of guilt they have built around themselves?

Sometimes unexpected events change everything... for better or worse.

Zoe decides to stay on Belle Island to help her uncle and the town prepare for an approaching tropical storm. She has no idea that one single decision could change her life forever.

A tropical storm, secrets revealed, and the unraveling of many of the island's mysteries. A delightful continuation of the stories of the lives and loves of the people of Belle Island. Try this heartwarming story in the Charming Inn series.

This is book 6 in the Charming Inn Series (a spin-off from the Lighthouse Point series):

One Simple Wish - Book One

Two of a Kind - Book Two

Three Simple Things - Book Three

Four Short Weeks - Book Four

Five Years or So - Book Five

Six Hours Away - Book Six

Charming Christmas - Book Seven

Or try the Lighthouse Point series. Either series can be read first, so jump right in.

The Lighthouse Point Series:

Wish Upon a Shell - Book One

Wedding on the Beach - Book Two

Love at the Lighthouse - Book Three

Cottage Near the Point - Book Four

Return to the Island - Book Five

Bungalow by the Bay - Book Six

From a USA Today bestselling author, comes a story about three women, one small-town rumor, and a gardening project that's not for the faint of heart.

Lillian Gulch's husband died, and she's ready to be something more than a small-town widow. So, she turns to the only friends she knows: a gardening club she joined years before. The only problem? They think she had something to do with her husband's death.

Betsy Borden is a forty-something who happens to be Gull's Landing's most prolific, single socialite. But if she can't find a way to make friendships (much less relationships) that last, then she's destined to be nothing more than a gossipy spinster forever.

Emily Addams is twenty years old and twice divorced. Now, she is truly ready to start fresh, and the idyllic boardwalk town of Gull's Landing seems perfect. Until she learns that the grass is never greener. Even if the only job available is secretary at Second Street Mortuary.

Female friendships, romance, and mystery-The Garden Guild is a standalone women's fiction that has it all. This heartwarming, quirky story follows three very different women with one common goal: to survive the rumor mill. The only way they can do it? If they stick together.

Each book in Gull's Landing is a standalone women's fiction. These novels are not written sequentially and can be read and enjoyed in any order.

The Summer Society

The Garden Guild

The Country Club

Can a soul hover after passing on? Can a person be unaware of her own death? Journalist Christine Christian had always been a pragmatist. Not even her own persistent intuitions could compete with her commitment to logic and to empirical proof. In fact, that's what had gotten her into to trouble in the first place. Of course, that very quality had also gotten her "the story" time and again, making her an award-winning reporter, a freelancer who'd managed to write her way into a respected series of television reports acclaimed by her peers and watched by millions of dedicated viewers.

She always knew it was risky to ignore those pesky "feelings" of her. She ignored them one time too many. Or did she? Is it really too late to reverse her decision? Can she at least warn others? Come hell or high water-and it looks like she's facing down both-she's still determined to finish her story, even if there's only one person left who can hear what she has to say-investigator Senior Deputy Delmar Johnson. Will he listen? Will he allow his own thinking to exceed the bounds of reality as he's always known it? Will he help Chris prove there's more to life than what meets the eye?

Though the story stands alone, it also extends the Milford-Haven Stories, part of the Milford-Haven Saga, the critically acclaimed, best-selling, multiple-award-winning series. Based on Purl's BBC Radio drama Milford-Haven U.S.A.

About the Author
Purl, Mara: - Mara Purl, author of the national best-selling, critically acclaimed and multiple-award-winning Milford-Haven Novels, Novellas, and Novelettes, pioneered small-town fiction for women. Mara was named Fiction Author of the Year by The Authors Show, and her series has won more than 40 book awards. Mara's beloved fictitious town has been delighting audiences since 1992, when it first appeared as Milford-Haven, U.S.A.(c)-the first American radio drama ever licensed and broadcast by the BBC. The show reached an audience of 4.5 million listeners throughout the U.K. and won the Finalist Award at the 1994 New York Festivals World's Best Radio Programs. What the Heart Knows (Book one) reached #5 on Amazon's best-seller list. Where the Heart Lives (Book Two) reached #22 on Barnes & Noble's best-seller list, #7 on Amazon's Women's Fiction list and was ranked in Kobo's top-100. Mara's novellas When Hummers Dream and When Whales Watch also each also became best-sellers. Mara's novels and stories have collectively earned more than 30 literary awards. Mara is a guest-blogger for USA Today's Happy Ever After Book Blog, National Association of Baby Boomer Women, Romance Junkies, The Lady Killers, Boomer Brief, Plaid for Women, Women Speakers Association, and has co-founded two women's speaking organizations. As an actress, Mara was Darla Cook on Days Of Our Lives, and has won awards for her theatrical appearances in Mary Shelley: In Her Own Words, as well as critical acclaim for her performances in Becoming Julia Morgan and Sea Marks. She was named one of twelve Women of the Year by the Los Angeles County Commission for Women. Mara is married to Dr. Larry Norfleet and lives in Los Angeles, and in Colorado Springs. Visit Mara's website at www.MaraPurl.com. She welcomes e-mail from her readers at MaraPurl@MaraPurl.com.