Book Spotlight #Giveaway! Winter Stroll by Elin Hilderbrand #WinterStroll

I have sooooo many books! The Book Spotlight Giveaway feature that I post every Saturday is a way for me to clear my shelves and to share some of the many books I have. This feature is a way for my to cull my collection and to give someone else the opportunity to enjoy these treasures.

****************************

Good luck and be sure to stop back next week!

****************************

Winter Stroll

Winter Stroll by Elin Hilderbrand

Series: Winter #2

Hardcover, 263 pages

Published October 13th 2015 by Little, Brown and Company

"Happy Holidays 2015! It has been a rough year for the Quinns, but I would like to start by saying thank you for all of the well wishes and positive missives sent our way."

Another Christmas on Nantucket finds Winter Street Inn owner Kelley Quinn reflecting on the past year as he writes a holiday letter to friends and family. Though the year has had its share of misfortune and worry, the Quinns have much to celebrate. Kelley, now single, at least is on better terms with his first wife Margaret, who is using her celebrity to lure customers to the inn in record numbers. Their son Kevin has a beautiful new baby, Genevieve, with the Inn's French housekeeper, Isabelle; and their daughter, Ava, is finally dating a nice guy--her devoted colleague, Scott.

Now the Quinns are looking forward to celebrating Genevieve's baptism, welcoming Isabelle to the family, and enjoying the cheer of Nantucket's traditional Christmas Stroll. But just when a peaceful family gathering seems within reach, Kelley's estranged second wife, Mitzi, shows up on the island after souring on her relationship with the inn's former Santa Claus. Soon Kelley isn't the only Quinn entertaining a surprise guest from Christmases past as lovers old and new gather beneath the mistletoe. With jealousy, passion, and eggnog consumption at an all-time high, it's going to take a whole lot more than a Christmas miracle to get the Quinns--and the inn--through the holidays intact.

The Winter series on Goodreads

About the author

Elin Hilderbrand lives on Nantucket with her husband and their three young children. She grew up in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and traveled extensively before settling on Nantucket, which has been the setting for her five previous novels. Hilderbrand is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the graduate fiction workshop at the University of Iowa. ~ Goodreads

Connect with Elin

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

******************************

a Rafflecopter giveaway

******************************

Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways! 

Book Blitz! Don’t Tell Me You Love Me by Holly Kerr ~ Excerpt and #Giveaway! #DontTellMeYouLoveMe

Don't Tell Me You Love Me 

Don’t Tell Me You Love Me by Holly Kerr
Publication date: October 27th 2020
Genres: Contemporary, Adult, Romance

The only thing stopping Shae from living her best life is the fact that she’s dying. 

Together with her social media followers, popular travel vlogger Shae hides her illness from the world and lives every day like it’s her last. Her picture perfect life is only missing one thing—love, because for Shae, it’s not better to have loved and lost—it’s better not to love at all. 

Emmett knows all about loss—he had it all until the death of his wife sent his life spinning out of control. It took him three years to pull himself together, trading ball diamonds for the strawberry patch and sweet corn fields of the family farm but now it’s time for him to take another chance at love. 

After Emmett escorts Shae down the aisle at his sister’s wedding, he falls hard. One glimpse of her fun-filled life and Emmett knows he’s ready to be a part of it. 

As they spend more time together, Shae fights against her feelings. How can she let him love her when it’s only going to lead to more heartache? But it’s hard to keep her distance, especially when Emmet is fighting for her heart. 

Is love the one thing Shae can’t live without? 

Don’t Tell Me You Love Me is the first book of the Don’t Sweet Romance series, a picture-perfect tale of first love, second chances, and living your best life. Fall in love with Shae and Emmett today.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Only 99¢ for a limited time!

—

EXCERPT:

A sudden guitar riff from one of the roadies has the crowd rushing to the stage, almost knocking me off my feet. When I look up, Dawson is gone. I jump up and down as Denzel strums a few chords, trying to see over the heads of the group of girls that have moved in front of me. We can’t lose this footage.

A hand on my shoulder stops me. It’s one of the roadies we’ve gotten friendly with, the one I nicknamed The Rock.

“Need a hand?” He towers over me like some tree hidden in an old-time forest. My face must show my confusion because he touches his shoulder. “C’mon, get up here so you can see.”

He kneels and I clamour onto his linebacker shoulders, which gives me an excellent view of the stage. This is more like it because I can see Dawson right up at the front.

“You okay up there, Shae?” Neely calls up to me with a concerned smile.

I grin widely in response. “Perfect.” Then I turn my attention to Denzel, who starts to sing.

Pink hair, dark eyes

I watch you watching me

Big smile, wide eyes

I love you loving me

Is he…? Is this…? My jaw drops as excitement turns into a tingling feeling of wonderment.

Pink hair, dark eyes

I like you following me

Big smile, wide eyes

I want you in my life

Neely turns with an expression of disbelief. “Is this song about you?” she shouts over the noise.

Denzel Duke wrote a song about me? About me?

“He wrote a song about you!” Neely cries, for once excitement breaking past her usual cool composure. A few feet away, Dawson comes to the same conclusion and turns the phone to me sitting on the guy’s shoulders and being serenaded by one of pop music’s fastest rising stars.

If there was any doubt in anyone’s mind who Denzel is singing to, the fact that he catches my eyes with a big smile, and actually stops playing to hold out his hand confirms it.

“Oh my God!” Neely is now jumping up and down.

Still with me perched on his shoulders, the security guard pushes his way through the crowd to the edge of the stage. The crowd parts with a collective mutinous expression when the females realize I am Pink Hair of the song. I can’t stop my grin even if I wanted to, my heart bouncing faster than the music.

Denzel Duke puts down his guitar as I awkwardly transfer from shoulders to stage.

I’m onstage with Denzel Duke!

He meets me in the middle of the stage and takes my hand, giving me a twirl before leading me into a slow dance in front of a thousand screaming fans, all singing to me.

Sometimes I really love my life.

About the author

Holly Kerr is the author of fifteen chick-lit, romantic comedy, and women's fiction novels, but don't ask her to explain the differences in the genres. She grew up a farm girl but now calls Toronto home, where she lives with her three very tall children, following their sports exploits like any dutiful mother. 

She's a lover of Marvel movies, Star Wars movies...really, any movies, and has a surprising amount of worthless pop culture info stored in her head. She likes oceans over mountains, tea over coffee, and can mix a darn fine dirty martini, with extra olives, of course.

Connect with Holly

Website | Goodreads | Facebook 

 Twitter | Instagram

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hosted by:

******************************

Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways!

Book Blitz! A Case for the Toy Maker by Candace Havens ~ Excerpt and #Giveaway! #ACaseForTheToyMaker

A Case for the Toy Maker

A Case for the Toy Maker by Candace Havens

(Ainsley McGregor #3)

Published by: Tule Publishing

Publication date: October 26th 2020

Genres: Adult, Cozy Mystery

Ho. Ho. No… 

It’s Christmas in Sweet River, Texas, and the whole town is feeling festive apart from Ainsley McGregor. Ainsley has never enjoyed the holidays and would rather ignore them, but with her shop Bless Your Art busier than ever and filled with happy shoppers, even she’s feeling some Christmas spirit. That is, until her Great Dane, George Clooney, sniffs out a dead body in the Santa House at the Christmas Festival. 

When one of her favorite crafters becomes the prime suspect, Ainsley is determined to prove his innocence. The case is full of so many twists and turns that even Ainsley begins to fear the truth. Is she protecting a killer? 

With help from her friends and some extremely nosey townsfolk, Ainsley and her dog hurry to find the truth––as long as they can outwit and outrun the killer first. Otherwise, this Christmas might just be her last.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

iBooks | Kobo

—

EXCERPT:

“There’s the Santa house,” Shannon said, just as George growled menacingly. “What’s wrong, George?” That growl was never a good sign, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

I had a strong urge to turn around and walk back to the store. But my curiosity knew no bounds. I had to find out what was going on.

We stopped in front of Santa’s house, which was a bigger version of our booth except it really did look like a house right out of the North Pole. “Wow, they did a great job. It’s fancy,” I said.

George growled again. A knot formed in my stomach, twisting hard.

Shannon glanced at him and then me. “Ainsley? You don’t think…is something wrong?”

“I hope not,” I said. George had done this before and it had never been good news.

He barked and then did the high-pitched whine that told me something I really didn’t want to know.

“No,” I whispered.

“Ains?”

I took a deep breath and pulled my phone out of my pocket. “Hold on to George—tight.” After handing her the leash, I turned on the flashlight app on my phone.

“You’re freaking me out,” she said, as she gripped the leash tightly.

“I’m freaking myself out.” Opening the double doors to Santa’s house, I peeked inside.

My breath caught, and bile rose in my throat.

“Call my brother.” My voice was nothing more than a hoarse whisper. I forgot I had my phone in my hand. “What is it?”

The image of the man with the candy-cane-striped pole sticking out of his chest would be burned in my brain forever.

“Santa is dead.”

About the author

Bestselling author Candace Havens has written more than 35 novels. She has won the Holt Medallion and her books have received nominations for the RITA's and Write Touch Reader Awards. She is the author of the biography Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy and a contributor to several anthologies. 

She is also one of the nation's leading entertainment journalists and has interviewed countless celebrities including Tom Hanks, Nicolas Cage, Tom Cruise, George Clooney and many more. Candace also runs a free online writing workshop for more than 2000 writers and teaches comprehensive writing classes. She does film reviews for Hawkeye in the morning on 96.3 KSCS, and is a former President of the Television Critics Association.

Connect with Candace

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hosted by:

*************************

Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? October 26, 2020

     

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's an opportunity to visit other blogs and to comment on their reads. And ... you can add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are! 

I'm still struggling with reading and since I have a gap in review book deadlines, I thought I would read something from my personal library. I love Stephen King's books so I decided to pick up one of his. I've heard great things about his Bill Hodges Trilogy.

**************************************

Take care. Stay safe and healthy everyone. 

And remember to wash those hands!!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you all have a good week. 

Happy reading!

What I'm currently reading

Mr. Mercedes

(Bill Hodges Trilogy #1)

by Stephen King

What I recently finished

The Book of Two Ways

by Jodi Picoult

Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters

by Emily Carpenter

Pub date 10/20

What I am going to read next

Evening in the Yellow Wood

by Laura Kemp

I really love my reading life!

What are you reading this week?

*************************

Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways!

Release Day! Lies We Tell Ourselves by Steena Holmes ~ My Thoughts #LiesWeTellOurselves

Congrats Steena 

on the release today of 

Lies We Tell Ourselves!

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Steena Holmes

Print & ebook, 382 pages

Published October 25, 2020 by SH Press Inc

“I found her.” One phone call and three whispered words is all it takes for Paige Fischer to risk everything - including her own life.

One missing sister...

Twelve years ago, Paige Fischer's identical twin, Jessica was kidnapped. Blaming herself, Paige never gave up hoping Jess is still alive, despite everyone else in her life insisting it’s time to move on.

One devoted fiancé...

Jamie is the perfect partner, and father to their son, but when he asks Paige to set a date for their wedding, she tells him she can't, not until her sister is found. Every step forward Paige takes with her life feels like a betrayal to Jess and until Paige knows for sure what happened to her, she can't settle down.

One fateful lie...

There's been a sighting and all it takes is one phone call, one betrayal and one whispered threat for Paige to throw caution to the wind and do what nobody else could: rescue Jess. But what if Paige doesn't make it in time? Is Jess still alive? Or is someone playing a twisted game with Paige?

Whatever outcome, the only thing Paige knows is that she's willing to risk it all, even her own life, to save her sister.

Lies and secrets collide in this page-turning suspense you won’t be able to put down, written by the NYT bestselling author who brought you Finding Emma and The Perfect Secret. 

My thoughts about Lies We Tell Ourselves ~~

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)

First lines—"Everyone lies: the doctors who say I'm safe, the nurses who promise I'm protected, the police who swear to find my abuser. Everyone is lying—to themselves, to me"

OMG! This book had me spellbound from the very first, intense, heart-pounding chapter. I knew I was in for a roller-coaster ride when I came to the end of those first few pages. And it didn't let up—there where multiple times that my heart was racing just like the characters' were. So intense and scary!

Like a lot of other thrillers that I have read, there are so many twists and turns to the storyline, as well as being full of those characters that you aren't sure if you can trust. Who is the bad guy, and how can he really be that evil? So many questions and doubts. But Steena has woven a story that is impossible to figure out until you get to the end of this exciting story and everything you thought you knew is wrong. 

I love this dark side to Steena's writing that we've been seeing lately and these dark stories of hers just keep getting better and better. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next! 

I highly recommend Lies We Tell Ourselves! If you're up for an amazing thriller, this is definitely the one you should dive into. 

I received a copy of Lies We Tell Ourselves from the author and this is my honest opinion.

About the author

New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author!

With 2 million copies of her titles sold world wide, Steena Holmes was named in the Top 20 Women Author to read in 2015 by Good Housekeeping. She continues to write books that deal with issues that touch parents heart, whether it is through her contemporary fiction or psychological suspense novels. ~ Amazon

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

*********************

Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways!

Book Spotlight #Giveaway! Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews #SunsetBeach

I have sooooo many books! The Book Spotlight Giveaway feature that I post every Saturday is a way for me to clear my shelves, to share some of the many books I have, and to give someone else the opportunity to enjoy these treasures.

I love Mary Kay Andrews' stories. I read this one when it came out in 2019 and gave it ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐! You can read my thoughts here. 

And since winter has arrived in South Dakota (UGH!!), I thought it would be good to feature a summer, beachy book. Here is the view from our front door earlier this week. And this is BEFORE the 2-5 inches of new snow they are predicting for this weekend. We'll see. 

Good luck and be sure to stop back next week!

******************************

Sunset Beach

Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews

ARC, 432 pages

Published May 7th 2019 by St. Martin's Press

Pull up a lounge chair and have a cocktail at Sunset Beach – it comes with a twist.

Drue Campbell’s life is adrift. Out of a job and down on her luck, life doesn’t seem to be getting any better when her estranged father, Brice Campbell, a flamboyant personal injury attorney, shows up at her mother’s funeral after a twenty-year absence. Worse, he’s remarried – to Drue’s eighth grade frenemy, Wendy, now his office manager. And they’re offering her a job.

It seems like the job from hell, but the offer is sweetened by the news of her inheritance – her grandparents’ beach bungalow in the sleepy town of Sunset Beach, a charming but storm-damaged eyesore now surrounded by waterfront McMansions.

With no other prospects, Drue begrudgingly joins the firm, spending her days screening out the grifters whose phone calls flood the law office. Working with Wendy is no picnic either. But when a suspicious death at an exclusive beach resort nearby exposes possible corruption at her father’s firm, she goes from unwilling cubicle rat to unwitting investigator, and is drawn into a case that may – or may not – involve her father. With an office romance building, a decades-old missing persons case re-opened, and a cottage in rehab, one thing is for sure at Sunset Beach: there’s a storm on the horizon.

Sunset Beach is a compelling ride, full of Mary Kay Andrews' signature wit, heart, and charm. 

About the author

Mary Kay Andrews is the pen name of American writer Kathy Hogan Trocheck, based in Atlanta, who has authored a number of best-selling books under the Andrews pen name since 2002.

Trochek graduated from the University of Georgia with a journalism degree in 1976. She worked as a reporter at a number of papers, and spent 11 years as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution before leaving to write fiction full-time in 1991. She published ten mystery novels under her own name between 1992 and 2000, and switched to the Andrews pen name in 2002 to author Savannah Blues, which marked a change in her style to more Southern-flavored themes. ~ Goodreads

Connect with Mary Kay

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Goodreads

a Rafflecopter giveaway

******************************

Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways!

Book Blitz! Keep Walking, Rhona Beech by Kate Tough ~ Excerpt and #Giveaway #KeepWalkingRhonaBeech

Keep Walking, Rhona Beech

Keep Walking, Rhona Beech by Kate Tough
Publication date: April 4th 2019
Genres: Women’s Fiction

'Incredibly insightful, funny and poignant’ Helen Sedgwick

‘A warm and ferociously witty story. Truth rings from every page of this assured, engrossing debut’ Zoe Strachan 

When Rhona’s story comes to an end you will miss her. Her candid, raw, messy journey will make you laugh, cry and remember. Not a typical break-up book, it’s much more profound. Nothing has turned out quite how Rhona imagined: she’s been casually swapping one job for another while getting comfy in a long relationship which ends abruptly, and her efforts to adjust to that change are thrown by some unwelcome news… 

Flawed, relatable Rhona Beech narrates this beautifully written, pacey satire about female friendship, heartbreak, career change, conceiving and illness, which will appeal to fans of Fleabag. Join her on a laugh (and cry) out loud search for meaning amongst the bars, offices and clinics of Glasgow. 

Will her friendships survive the changes and challenges? Will SHE survive? At once funny and tender, Keep Walking, Rhona Beech is a clear-sighted look at a generation of women that was told they could have it all.

Goodreads | Amazon

Barnes & Noble | Kobo

—

EXCERPT:

I am a patient. My job is to lie in this bed. I do my job well. Who I would be at home is less clear. And nobody would be there, beside themselves with relief that I am back.

I’d have to do things, necessary things – plus other things I would have to do just to be seen to be doing something.

Doing things makes me tired.

Doing things leads to other things, and things have a habit of changing when you’d got used to them being a certain way.

My heart broke. My body broke.

The bailiffs came for a cone-shaped piece. What exactly do you people want from me?

*

I didn’t have obsessive compulsive disorder when I came in but might well have it by the time I leave (an okay trade?). There is precious little to do but notice things and how often they occur.

Times per hour I assess how my wound site is feeling: about seven.

Times per day I remember to visualise a healthy wound site: maybe one.

Number of days with a Tupperware lid of cloud cover outside: six.

(The sheets, the walls, the sky – all the colour of bone.

Am I that colour too? I have no mirror to tell otherwise.

Maybe everyone who goes under anaesthetic wakes up in this world of bone, while their previous lives continue somewhere else.)

Minutes per day the nurses listen to a facile breakfast DJ: 120.

Minutes per day I am now able to breathe behind the radio and tune it out: 40.

Times per day I imagine being outdoors for hours on end: one, but it lasts awhile.

Times per day I notice that my left foot sits higher under the sheet than my right: about a dozen.

Times per day I speak: zero.

Times per day I make eye contact with the parent who has come to visit: on arrival only. (I will not cry in a room with a half glass wall, with a person who has to leave afterwards.)

Times per hour I remember what other people have to cope with in life: one, if I make myself.

Times per day I imagine a year from now, when things could be very different: zero, initially, now up to two or three.

Times per hour the perma-grin nurse sings out to the woman opposite, ‘Feeling okay, Nancy?’: too many. (I am waiting for Nancy to be discharged or die.)

About the author

Kate Tough worked for the Scottish Parliament for six years before returning to her home city, gaining a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow. She writes poetry and fiction rooted in realism, humour and sometimes difficult truths. 

She creates astute observational detail in fiction, and explores painful moments, that readers could recognise as themselves or their friends. 

Her novel, Keep Walking, Rhona Beech, is the revised 2nd edition of Head for the Edge, Keep Walking. Her short fiction and poetry appear in journals such as, The Brooklyn Review, The Texas Review and The Found Poetry Review. Kate’s poetry pamphlet, tilt-shift, was Runner Up in the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award, 2017. 

Kate's been a literacy volunteer and creative writing tutor in many community settings.

Connect with Kate

Website | Goodreads

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hosted by:

**************************

Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways! 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? October 19, 2020

    

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's an opportunity to visit other blogs and to comment on their reads. And ... you can add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are!

I haven't done much reading or blogging this past week or so. We've got a lot of personal stuff going on and I'm having a hard time focusing. Can I just say? I am ready for 2020 to BE DONE!!

 

 

**************************************

Take care. Stay safe and healthy everyone. 

And remember to wash those hands!!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you all have a good week. 

Happy reading!

What I'm currently reading

Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters

by Emily Carpenter

Pub date 10/20

The Book of Two Ways

by Jodi Picoult

To be honest, I'm struggling with this one a little bit. 

What I recently finished

Burying the Honeysuckle Girls

by Emily Carpenter

I had to read this companion book before reading Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters, which comes out tomorrow. 

The Unfinished Garden
by Barbara Claypole White
Narrated by Ana Clements and Paul Heitsch

What I am going to read next

I'm not sure. If I get through the two I'm currently reading, I hope to start this one. I'll see how this week goes. 

Evening in the Yellow Wood

by Laura Kemp

I really love my reading life!

What are you reading this week?

*************************

Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways!

Everything is Beautiful by Eleanor Ray ~Trailer Reveal! #EverythingIsBeautiful @rararesources

Everything is Beautiful

Everything is Beautiful by Eleanor Ray

Hardcover, 320 pages

Expected publication: February 4th 2021 by Piatkus

Sometimes it’s impossible to part with the things we love the most…

 

When Amy Ashton’s world came crashing down eleven years ago, she started a collection. Just a little collection, just a few keepsakes of happier times: some honeysuckle to remind herself of the boy she loved, a chipped china bird, an old terracotta pot . . . Things that others might throw away, but to Amy, represent a life that could have been.  

 

Now her house is overflowing with the objects she loves – soon there’ll be no room for Amy at all. But when a family move in next door, a chance discovery unearths a mystery long buried, and Amy’s carefully curated life begins to unravel. If she can find the courage to face her past, might the future she thought she'd lost still be hers for the taking? 

 

Perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant and The Keeper of Lost Things, this exquisitely told, uplifting novel shows us that however hopeless things might feel, beauty can be found in the most unexpected of places.

Trailer

 

Pre-order Links

Amazon UK | Amazon US

About the author

Eleanor Ray has an MA in English Literature from Edinburgh University and works in marketing. She lives in London with her husband and two young children.

Eleanor was inspired to write Everything is Beautiful by the objects her toddler collects and treasures - twigs, empty water bottles and wilting daisies. She is currently working on her next novel.

Connect with Eleanor

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

***************

Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways!

Book Spotlight #Giveaway! Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen #GardenSpells

I have sooooo many books! The Book Spotlight Giveaway feature that I post every Saturday is a way for me to clear my shelves, to share some of the many books I have, and to give someone else the opportunity to enjoy these treasures.

I love the magic of Sarah Addison Allen's novel. This is her first mainstream novel and I've loved all of her books since. 

Good luck and be sure to stop back next week!

******************************

Garden Spells

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

(Waverley Family #1)

Paperback, 290 pages

Published April 29th 2008 by Bantam Discovery

The magical New York Times bestseller.

In a garden surrounded by a tall fence, tucked away behind a small, quiet house in an even smaller town, is an apple tree that is rumored to bear a very special sort of fruit. In this luminous debut novel, Sarah Addison Allen tells the story of that enchanted tree, and the extraordinary people who tend it....

The Waverleys have always been a curious family, endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina. Even their garden has a reputation, famous for its feisty apple tree that bears prophetic fruit, and its edible flowers, imbued with special powers. Generations of Waverleys tended this garden. Their history was in the soil. But so were their futures.

A successful caterer, Claire Waverley prepares dishes made with her mystical plants--from the nasturtiums that aid in keeping secrets and the pansies that make children thoughtful, to the snapdragons intended to discourage the attentions of her amorous neighbor. Meanwhile, her elderly cousin, Evanelle, is known for distributing unexpected gifts whose uses become uncannily clear. They are the last of the Waverleys--except for Claire's rebellious sister, Sydney, who fled Bascom the moment she could, abandoning Claire, as their own mother had years before.

When Sydney suddenly returns home with a young daughter of her own, Claire's quiet life is turned upside down--along with the protective boundary she has so carefully constructed around her heart. Together again in the house they grew up in, Sydney takes stock of all she left behind, as Claire struggles to heal the wounds of the past. And soon the sisters realize they must deal with their common legacy--if they are ever to feel at home in Bascom--or with each other.

Enchanting and heartfelt, this captivating novel is sure to cast a spell with a style all its own....

About the author

New York Times Bestselling novelist Sarah Addison Allen brings the full flavor of her southern upbringing to bear on her fiction -- a captivating blend of magical realism, heartwarming romance, and small-town sensibility.

Born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina, in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Allen grew up with a love of books and an appreciation of good food (she credits her journalist father for the former and her mother, a fabulous cook, for the latter). In college, she majored in literature -- because, as she puts it, "I thought it was amazing that I could get a diploma just for reading fiction. It was like being able to major in eating chocolate."

After graduation, Allen began writing seriously. Her big break occurred in 2007 with the publication of her first mainstream novel, Garden Spells, a modern-day fairy tale about an enchanted apple tree and the family of North Carolina women who tend it. Booklist called Allen's accomplished debut "spellbindingly charming." The novel became a Barnes & Noble Recommends selection, and then a New York Times Bestseller.

Allen continues to serve heaping helpings of the fantastic and the familiar in fiction she describes as "Southern-fried magic realism." Clearly, it's a recipe readers are happy to eat up as fast as she can dish it out.

Her published books to date are: Garden Spells (2007), The Sugar Queen (2008), The Girl Who Chased the Moon (2010), The Peach Keeper (2011) and Lost Lake (2014) and First Frost (2015). ~ Goodreads

Connect with Sarah

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

a Rafflecopter giveaway

******************************

Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways!