All Features

Romance

Lawfully yours

Feature by Lois Dyer

The dedicated men and women who wear a badge and are sworn to protect and serve make swoon-worthy romantic heroes and heroines. They’re at the heart of these three action-packed tales.

THE SHERIFF’S HEART
Oklahoma author Amy Lillard debuts the Cattle Creek series with Loving a Lawman. Sheriff Seth Langston has lived in Cattle Creek, Texas, most of his life and has known Jessie McAllen nearly as long. Unfortunately, Jessie’s childhood affections were snared by Seth’s charming but feckless younger brother, Chase, who left Cattle Creek after high school to follow the rodeo, chase other women and party. Despite acting like a single man, he refuses to let Jessie move on. Each time he returns to town, his callous disregard for her feelings wounds her afresh, but he refuses to cut her loose.

Hiding his feelings for Jessie is eating Seth alive. He doesn’t know it, but Jessie McAllen is fed up with the younger Langston brother’s careless treatment and womanizing habits. She’s determined to leave Cattle Creek and start over somewhere new, somewhere far away from philandering rodeo-star Chase.

Seth’s honor keeps him from pursuing Jessie—until one night when passion overwhelms his good intentions. This one unexpected, impulsive night with Seth has Jessie rethinking which brother she really loves. When tragedy strikes, she instinctively turns to the one man who has always been there for her. Fate has more than one surprise in store for Seth and Jessie, however, and the next test may tear the Langston family apart forever.

This tale about finding one’s way through the tangle of commitments, family obligations and first crushes holds a thoroughly engaging emotional depth. The small-town Texas setting and the cast of well-drawn secondary characters add to the story’s charm.

WHO'S THAT LADY?
Acclaimed author Debbie Mason returns readers to Christmas, Colorado, in Happy Ever After In Christmas. Deputy Jill Flaherty has been in love with her older brother’s best friend, Sawyer Anderson, since she was a teenager. He treats her like a little sister, however, and as she nears her 30th birthday, she’s determined to change that perception. She dons a sexy red dress and stilettos and walks into Sawyer’s bar to ask him out.

Sawyer takes one look at the incredibly beautiful blond in the doorway and is instantly hooked. But it isn’t until he hears her voice that he realizes the woman is Jill—his best friend’s little sister and way off limits. Unfortunately for Sawyer, once he sees her as sexy Jill in the red dress, he can’t go back to seeing her as a little sister. Jill’s brother sees Sawyer as a ladies man, however, and is adamantly opposed to Sawyer dating Jill.

Sawyer tries to keep his relationship with Jill firmly in the friend zone but fails spectacularly. Meanwhile, Jill struggles to understand Sawyer’s mixed signals. In small-town Christmas, with a full complement of caring, gossipy townsfolk, their complicated relationship is breaking news.

This charming story of two people struggling to trust their love and build a life together is certain to earn the author new fans. Readers will thoroughly enjoy meeting and connecting with the Christmas residents that make up the supporting cast in this endearing romance.

AGAINST THE CLOCK
Christy Award-winning author Lisa Harris delivers the second installment in the Nikki Boyd Files with the riveting thriller, Missing. When investigator Nikki Boyd is called to a homicide scene in a Nashville suburb, she learns that not only are there two dead bodies, but also two missing persons. With her partner, Jack Spenser, Nikki follows the first clue and finds one of the missing people dead on a boat at the local marina. She’s stunned to see her close friend, widow Tyler Grant, standing over the body, with blood on his sleeve. When drugs are also found on the boat, Tyler and his notorious father-in-law are in deep trouble.

With Tyler on the suspect list, Nikki is under pressure to solve the multiple murders as she races to find the remaining missing person. Because this time, her investigation is about more than her job. This time, it’s personal—she’s in love with Tyler.

This twisty police procedural delivers nail-biting suspense that gets more complicated as the bodies pile up. Add in family members threatened with violence and a killer intent on silencing anyone who gets in his way, and the result is not to be missed. Thriller fans are going to love this one.

Lois Dyer writes from her home in Port Orchard, Washington.

The dedicated men and women who wear a badge and are sworn to protect and serve make swoon-worthy romantic heroes and heroines. They’re at the heart of these three action-packed tales.
Nonfiction

Books for gridiron fans

Feature by Budd Bailey

College football fans can exhale now. They've made it through another off-season. The beginning of autumn means that teams are back on the field and fans are back in their seats. And if those fans need something to keep themselves occupied between game days, they can read two entertaining new books on the college game.

Authors Brian Curtis and Warren St. John have taken completely different approaches, but both offer in-depth looks at the sport, and both serve their purposes very nicely. Curtis goes behind the scenes in Every Week a Season: A Journey Inside Big-Time College Football. St. John doesn't get near a player or coach in Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer: A Journey into the Heart of Fan Mania, but he does manage to capture the obsessive devotion of college fans.

I don't think it's a coincidence that both books concentrate on football in the South. Pro sports were slow to move into the South, and colleges filled in the gap. That fan enthusiasm shines through in both books and should have you ready for the opening kickoff of your team's next game.

MAKING THE TEAM
Curtis takes a fairly conventional approach in Every Week a Season. He picked nine teams before the start of the 2003 season and essentially moved in to each university for a week to get a sense of its team's routine. The teams profiled are Colorado State University, the University of Georgia, Boston College, the University of Tennessee, the University of Maryland, the University of Wisconsin, Louisiana State University, Florida State University and Arizona State University. There are a couple of obvious common threads in the nine programs. First, the coaching staffs of big-time football programs do a ton of work during a typical week. Not only is there film to watch, a game plan to develop and practices to coach, but coaches also must work on recruiting in their spare moments. Except for recruiting duties, the same workload applies to the players themselves; it's easy to wonder how anyone can have time to give academic chores enough attention with all the demands of football season.

Second, a head football coach is really more of a CEO than anything else. A coach has to deal with the media, meet with recruits, worry about the academic progress of players, talk to donors, etc. It's quite instructive to see how different people approach the job. Some, like Nick Saban of LSU, would be happy if everything but football disappeared from the job description, while others, like Bobby Bowden of Florida State, are particularly good at managing activities that have little to do with football.

FANDEMONIUM
In Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, St. John has a different but equally entertaining agenda. He grew up a big University of Alabama fan (are there any other types?) and didn't lose that intensity when he moved into adulthood, although it was a little tougher to keep up with the Crimson Tide when he was living in New York City and writing for the New York Times. St. John found himself curious about the people who drive to every Alabama game, home and away, in recreational vehicles. Who were these people who would show up two or three days before games? Why were they willing to accept the abuse that comes with being a visiting fan, complete with verbal taunts and the occasional egg thrown at the RV? Was there really a couple who missed their daughter's wedding because it conflicted with an Alabama game? So St. John joined them. It took time to become accepted by the group since its members are a little wary of an outside world that yells, Get a life! at them.

St. John started by hitching a ride to a game with a couple from South Carolina. Eventually, he bought his own RV to join the group. It's a diverse crowd that ranges from chicken farmers to retirees, from graduates of the school to just plain fans. All yell out Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, which is part of an Alabama fight song. By the way, the parents of the bride mentioned above really do exist, and they are quick to point out that they did make it to the reception after the game.

St. John does a fine job of taking us through an eventful season and excels at capturing the experience of being a college fan. It doesn't really matter that the season in question is five years old. For once, the spectators are the stars of the show.

Budd Bailey works in the sports department of the Buffalo News.
 

College football fans can exhale now. They've made it through another off-season. The beginning of autumn means that teams are back on the field and fans are back in their seats. And if those fans need something to keep themselves occupied between game days, they can read two entertaining new books on the college game.
Children's & YAPicture Book

Required reading: Terrific new books for the start of school

Feature by Julie Hale

If the little readers in your household are stuck in summer mode, then you’ve come to the right place. Prep those kiddos for class with one of these inspiring books, and get set for a sensational school year.

COURAGE IN THE CLASSROOM
A grade-A story from start to finish, Jennifer P. Goldfinger’s Hello, My Name Is Tiger features Toby, a shy boy who likes to pretend he’s a cat. Toby even wears a kitty costume, complete with whiskers and tail. He’s a fearless feline—except when it comes to starting school. Adjusting to life in the classroom when you’re a cat can be tough! At first, Toby resists. He plays by himself in the sandbox and climbs trees during recess rather than joining the other kids. But with the help of kindred spirits—including Pete, who loves to pretend he’s a monkey—Toby finds his comfort zone. Goldfinger’s buoyant mixed-media illustrations—a blend of chalk doodles, pencil sketches and vivid washes of color—give this appealing story extra charm. Just the thing for nervous newbies who aren’t sure what to expect from school.

FROM A SCHOOL’S PERSPECTIVE
The main character in Adam Rex’s ingenious School’s First Day of School is Frederick Douglass Elementary, a spiffy new building with a bad case of the first-day nerves. The idea of incoming students makes the school creak! The building befriends a kindly janitor, who readies him for the big morning, and then the children arrive—“more of them than the school could possibly have imagined.” In class, the kids learn the definition of a square (“Wow,” the school says to himself. “I did not know that.”), and one girl makes a picture of Frederick Douglass Elementary (“It looks just like me,” the school thinks.). Not bad for a first day! Artist Christian Robinson depicts the building as a place with personality—the main door, with its window eyes, seems to be smiling—and his colorful illustrations give the book a timeless feel. It’s sure to become an end-of-summer classic.

EDUCATION AGAINST THE ODDS
Based on true events, Deborah Hopkinson’s inspiring, accessible Steamboat School tells the story of the remarkable school established by St. Louis teacher and preacher John Berry Meachum. In 1847, when a state law is passed denying education to African Americans of all ages, free or enslaved, Meachum has a daring idea: construct a steamboat on the Mississippi River, beyond the reach of the Missouri government, and use it as a school. Two young students, James and his sister, Tassie, help him build the boat and get pupils on board. “I felt like a pot about to boil over,” an excited James says when their work is done. Ron Husband’s detailed, realistic pen-and-ink illustrations have an old-fashioned sepia feel and perfectly complement Hopkinson’s lyrical lines. Young readers are sure to be intrigued by this chronicle of a classroom on the water. 

If the little readers in your household are stuck in summer mode, then you’ve come to the right place. Prep those kiddos for class with one of these inspiring books, and get set for a sensational school year.

NonfictionParenting

How to grow a happy family

Feature by Amy Scribner

Let’s be honest: Parents barely have time to think or use the restroom solo. So a parenting book needs to be pretty compelling to justify using those precious few minutes when you’re not semi-comatose on the couch. These common-sense guides to building a healthy family are worth your time.

REEL IN YOUR REACTIONS
I loved The Awakened Family by Shefali Tsabary, in large part because it made me feel better about occasionally losing my cool with my own tween son. I mean, Tsabary holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, and she sometimes yells at her daughter.

Tsabary explains that parents are reactive—whether that manifests itself in yelling, overindulging or hovering—because our parenting instincts are based on fear. “Whether you have inflated, grandiose ideas of your children and what they will accomplish in life, or whether you are frightened for them or disappointed in them, all of this ultimately is rooted in fear,” she writes.

She explains why we need to trust in our children’s potential and argues that the best parenting lies in being quiet and open.

“The reason our children turn away from us is that they sense our desire to talk is all about us—our need to manage our anxiety and exert control,” she writes. “By the age of ten, your children are very familiar with how you talk and what you say. They don’t need your words of advice or admonishment. What they need instead is for you to listen and attune yourself to them.”

PARENTING WITH YOUR EX
In Two Homes, One Childhood, Dr. Robert E. Emery provides solid, reassuring advice for families coping with divorce. Director of the Center for Children, Families, and the Law at the University of Virginia, Emery is divorced and remarried himself, and has a successfully blended family. His advice is straightforward and empathetic, and emphasizes parenting as a partnership, even if the marriage is over.

“[G]ood parenting involves at least some degree of cooperation,” he writes. “After all, your seven-year-old will suffer if her bedtime is eight p.m. in one home and eleven p.m. in another. Your teenager will suffer if you ground him for three weeks for a horrible report card, but your ex tells him, ‘No problem. Have fun with your friends. You aren’t grounded at my house!’ ”

Emery’s focus is on keeping the kids out of your emotional “stuff” with your ex—perhaps easier said than done, but this smart, achievable playbook will help.

ROOM TO GROW
Psychologist Alison Gopnik is something of a superstar in the field of child development. In The Gardener and the Carpenter, she lays out her theory that caring for children is like tending a garden, with parent as gardener, encouraging a child’s natural curiosity. As Gopnik sees it, parenting most definitely isn’t like carpentry. “It isn’t a goal-directed enterprise aimed at shaping a child into a particular kind of adult,” she writes.

Gopnik dives deep into the relationship between child and parent, and lays to rest the notion that there is only one path to good parenting. Throughout the book, she traces the child-parent relationship through human evolution to help us understand how we got to this point—for example, overlaying a scene of cavemen hunting and gathering with one of her and her young grandson at the farmer’s market. She also provides simple examples of how we can be less carpenter, more gardener: contribute to the richness of a child’s world by providing a variety of playthings, from rocks to iPads, and a safe place in which to play. Then, unless the child wants you to join in, get out of their way.

WORKING TOGETHER
In Raising Human Beings, noted psychologist Ross W. Greene describes parenting as a partnership with your child. “You may not be aware of it, but you started collaborating with your kid the instant he came into this world,” he writes. “When he cried, you tried to figure out what was the matter. Then you tried to do something about it.”

Using several families as case studies, Greene helps shift the way we think about parenting. His belief is that kids do well if they are able to, and good parenting means being responsive to the hand you’ve been dealt. 

“If your kid isn’t doing well—if he’s not meeting a given expectation—it’s your job to figure out why and to put poor motivation at the bottom of the list,” he writes. “Better yet, take poor motivation off the list completely.”

Greene lays out a practical approach to non-punitive parenting—one that seems sure to promote peace in your household.

 

This article was originally published in the August 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Let’s be honest: Parents barely have time to think or use the restroom solo. So a parenting book needs to be pretty compelling to justify using those precious few minutes when you’re not semi-comatose on the couch. These common-sense guides to building a healthy family are worth your time.
NonfictionEducation

Connecting with kids in the classroom

Feature by Angela Leeper

As the start of a new school year approaches, five new books show the differences made in the lives of students by connected educators, a productive environment and even an agreeable substitute teacher.

GETTING PERSONAL
When Denver teacher Kyle Schwartz gave each of her third graders a sticky note and the prompt, “I wish my teacher knew,” she was floored by the heartfelt responses from children who described their painful home lives, the loneliness they face, the things that bring them joy and pride, and their hopes for the future. Schwartz began tweeting her students’ answers and was surprised when her seemingly simple exercise went viral.

She explains the phenomenon in I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything for Our Kids. Schwartz opens with an overview of the project’s purpose: to create community and a positive learning environment for every child. She argues that teachers can make an impact on children’s lives in many difficult areas, including poverty, grief and loss, trauma and accepting families in all their forms. Detailed Teacher Tools provide suggestions for transforming any classroom or school into a greater community. After reading Schwartz’s book, teachers will be inspired to join the #IWishMyTeacherKnew movement and get to know their students better.

BRIDGING THE GAP
Before receiving funding in 2010 to open a small public middle school in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, one of the poorest neighborhoods in New York City, principal Nadia Lopez envisioned her students crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. Even though they live near this architectural marvel, most had never seen it, let alone walked across it. Crossing the bridge would not only become a rite of passage for these students, it would also come to symbolize the connection between their difficult past and a brighter future.

In The Bridge to Brilliance: How One Principal in a Tough Community Is Inspiring the World, the compassionate yet no-nonsense Lopez describes how she started from scratch to build a school that became a beacon of hope, determination and success. If her story sounds familiar, it’s because her accomplishments drew widespread praise after a student revealed them on the popular Humans of New York blog. In this stirring account, Lopez reveals that listening to her students and seeing them as individuals despite their harsh environment have made all the difference.

COUNTING ON SUCCESS
Successful teaching is the best preventative discipline method. Recognizing that teachers and kids aren’t perfect, however, 1-2-3 Magic in the Classroom: Effective Discipline for Pre-K through Grade 8 offers easy-to-implement strategies as a backup. Authors Thomas W. Phelan, Ph.D., and Sarah Jane Schonour, M.A., based this guide for educators on 1-2-3 Magic, a bestselling discipline guide for parents.

After learning about the “teacher in charge” method that uses counting and non-judgmental consequences, readers are introduced to “start” behaviors (such as doing classwork) and “stop” behaviors (such as yelling). The authors emphasize the importance of avoiding the two biggest discipline mistakes: too much talking and too much emotion. To help with implementation, they present numerous scenarios to think about or role play.

For educators who worry about more serious discipline problems, disciplining students with developmental differences or discipline at different grade levels, the guide includes comprehensive Q&As and more scenarios from the trenches. It might not be true magic, but if used successfully, this technique will feel like it.

FINDING ALTERNATIVES
Manufacturing in the United States is rebounding, and according to Katherine S. Newman and Hella Winston, many fast-growing occupations are considered “middle skill.” Labor force -shortages have already occurred in jobs that require education beyond high school, but not a four-year college degree. Reskilling America offers a convincing argument for bringing back vocational education.

Beginning with a history of vocational education and the transition to “college for all,” which left many students, particularly minority men, without career prospects, the thought-provoking text emphasizes investment in training institutions, both in high schools and community colleges. It looks to Germany as a model for relationships between industry and education that have fostered a robust dual system combining vocational education with apprenticeships. The authors describe the success of this system, Germany’s attempt at creating similar programs in the U.S. and the slow revival of vocational education in U.S. schools. Not just funding—but a renewed respect for middle-skill labor—might be the key to success in this country.

FILLING IN
Award-winning author Nicholson Baker has tackled such daunting subjects as World War II, library preservation, poetry and even erotic stories. He takes on perhaps his most unwieldy topic yet—the state of American education—in Substitute: Going to School with a Thousand Kids. In this hefty volume, to be published September 6, Baker recounts the 28 days he spent in Maine’s public schools in 2014 as “the lowest-ranking participant in American education: a substitute teacher.” With a clean criminal record and “a willingness to tolerate your own ineptitude,” plus a short evening course that would earn him an extra $5 per day, Baker had all he needed to substitute.

Each chapter, representing one day, gives a snapshot into a classroom, from kindergarten to high school special education math. Rather than provide commentary, the author lets the teacher’s sub plans, classroom environment and dialogue with and between students guide each chapter. The result is an often chaotic, exhausting—and entertaining—view of the school day in which he is usually saved by coffee, an eager student and the final bell. Baker emerges with empathetic appreciation for all the students and teachers who bear these ups and downs daily.

 

This article was originally published in the August 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

As the start of a new school year approaches, five new books show the differences made in the lives of students by connected educators, a productive environment and even an agreeable substitute teacher.
FictionDebut Fiction

Six stellar summer debuts

Feature by bookpagedev

Have you discovered your favorite new author of 2016 yet? If not, we have a few ideas. Though these novels cover a range of settings and genres, they each feature a distinctive new voice readers will want to hear more from.

Nicole Dennis-Benn
HERE COMES THE SUN

For fans of: Edwidge Danticat, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Rohinton Mistry.

First line: “The long hours Margot works at the hotel are never documented.”

About the book: Three generations of Jamaican women struggle with love, family and finances in this beautifully complex novel.

About the author: Jamaican-born writer Nicole Dennis-Benn lives with her wife in Brooklyn, New York, where she teaches writing.

Read it for: A hard-hitting, realistic portrayal of those who live year-round in paradise. 

Krys Lee
HOW I BECAME A NORTH KOREAN

For fans of: Adam Johnson, Chang-rae Lee, Yiyun Li.

First line: “Home still begins as an image for me.”

About the book: The lives of a Chinese-American genius, a wealthy North Korean student and a desperate defector collide in a Chinese border town. 

About the author: Krys Lee teaches creative writing in South Korea; her story collection, Drifting House, was published to much acclaim in 2012.

Read it for: A masterful portrayal of the personal side of world politics and Lee’s understanding of the complexities of immigrant life.

Scott Stambach
THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF IVAN ISAENKO

For fans of: Coming-of-age tales with remarkable young narrators, such as The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

First line: “Dear Reader, whom I do not know, who may never be, I write not for you but for me.”

About the book: Confined to a children’s hospital in Belarus for all of his 17 years, spunky Ivan Isaenko is determined to transcend his severe physical deformities. His world brightens with the arrival of Polina, an orphaned girl with leukemia.

About the author: Scott Stambach teaches high school and college math and physics in San Diego.

Read it for: An unforgettable lead character and Stambach’s powerful writing, which captures the small acts of kindness and the incidental tragedies that are part of institutional life.

Heather Young
THE LOST GIRLS

For fans of: Jennifer McMahon, Kate Morton, Laura McHugh.

First line: “I found this notebook in the desk yesterday.”

About the book: Sixty years after the disappearance of her younger sister, Lucy Evans bequeaths the family’s Minnesota lake house to her grandniece, Justine—along with a notebook that recounts some devastating family secrets.

About the author: Heather Young practiced law for a decade and raised two kids before turning to fiction. She has an MFA from Bennington College Writing Seminars.

Read it for: The feeling of sinking into the complications of generational skeletons, like a plunge to the bottom of a cold lake.  

Forrest Leo
THE GENTLEMAN

For fans of: Wilde, Wodehouse, “The Addams Family” and Northanger Abbey.

First line: “My name is Lionel Savage, I am twenty-two years old, I am a poet, and I do not love my wife.”

About the book: A 19th-century London poet blows his fortune on books and must marry for money. When he strikes up a conversation with the Devil at a society soirée, Lionel (accidentally?) sells his new wife—and her soul. Hijinks ensue as Lionel and a band of misfits set off on a half-baked rescue mission. 

About the author: A playwright and NYU graduate, Forrest Leo was raised on an actual Alaskan homestead and has practiced dogsledding, carpentry and photography. 

Read it for: Monty Python-esque levels of absurdity, endlessly entertaining footnotes, period–appropriate illustrations, swashbuckling adventure and romance. 

Adam O'Fallon Price
THE GRAND TOUR

For fans of: Fredrik Backman and Michael Chabon’s Wonder Boys.

First line: “Sir?”

About the book: Richard Lazar is reluctantly embarking on an alcohol-fueled book tour for his dark horse hit memoir about the Vietnam War. When Richard meets a hopelessly eager fan named Vance, the author surprises himself by letting Vance tag along. 

About the author: A former musician and screenwriter, Adam O’Fallon Price grew up in California, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia. He currently lives in Iowa with his wife and cat.

Read it for: The oddly tender friendship that develops between the gruff author and the awkward Vance. 

 

This article was originally published in the August 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Nicole Dennis-Benn photo: Jason Berger
Krys Lee photo: Matt Douma
Forrest Leo photo: Abigail Sparrow

Have you discovered your favorite new author of 2016 yet? If not, we have a few ideas. Though these novels cover a range of settings and genres, they each feature a distinctive new voice readers will want to hear more from.
Romance

A dish best served steaming hot

Feature by Lois Dyer

Contrary to accepted wisdom, revenge is not always a dish best served cold. In the three romance novels we’re highlighting this month, revenge is a decidedly hot and steamy affair.

PAYBACK WITH A BROGUE
The Beast of Clan Kincaid from Texas author Lily Blackwood is a riveting tale of vengeance set in 1380s Scotland. Beautiful Elspeth MacClaren is the eldest daughter of her clan’s laird. Her father needs to shore up the clan’s military strength through a marriage alliance, and Elspeth accepts her duty, willingly considering suitors. But things are complicated when a renowned mercenary known as the Beast rescues her from drowning in a river and captures her heart. He’s everything she wants and can’t have, for she’s the laird’s daughter, and he is a landless soldier.

What Elspeth doesn’t know is that the Beast is actually Niall Braewick, son of the Laird of Kincaid. He’s spent the last 17 years becoming a hardened warrior, bent on revenge, determined to destroy Elspeth’s father and take back the Kincaid lands stolen from his clan. Falling in love with his enemy’s daughter wasn’t in Niall’s plans, but he won’t give her up, nor will he betray his clan and family. How can these two passionate, fiercely honorable people find a way to live happily together? With Elspeth’s life endangered, Niall must choose between his thirst for vengeance and his heart’s desire.

This excellent novel has engaging and complex characters, a wildly beautiful setting, 14th-century Scottish life depicted with historical accuracy and enough heat between the hero and heroine to satisfy the most demanding of romance readers.

BOUND BY VENGEANCE
New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake begins her new contemporary series, Lawless, with Ruthless. As children, the four Lawless siblings barely escaped the arson fire that killed their parents. Now they’re all grown up and focused on taking down the business partners that destroyed their family. One of their enemies is dead, but his daughter, Ellie Stratton, holds his shares of StratCast, the company built with the computer code the Lawless patriarch was murdered for.

Riley Lawless has one objective—gain Ellie Stratton’s confidence, seduce her and gain access to the company’s information. He didn’t plan on falling in love with her, but the pull of attraction between them is compulsive. Ellie is smart, beautiful and so warm and caring that she breaches the thick walls surrounding Riley’s heart.

The Lawless siblings may have misjudged the villain’s capacity for evil, however. When Ellie discovers Riley has deceived her, more than her heart is put at risk. If Riley and his brothers aren’t careful, Ellie may pay for their revenge with her life.

The twisty plot is enhanced by complicated characters and sizzling hot romance. Readers will impatiently await the next novel in this intriguing new series.

DUELING HEARTS
Bestselling author Johanna Lindsey delivers her 53rd novel with Make Me Love You. When Lord Dominic Wolfe is wounded in his third duel with an earl’s son, the Prince Regent orders the two combatants to end their fighting by joining their families in a marriage. If either party refuses, their lands and title will be forfeited to the Crown.

The earl’s daughter, Lady Brooke Whitworth, views marriage to Dominic as an escape route away from her unloving family. She doubts her brother’s enemy will welcome her, but she’s determined to win over Lord Wolfe. She hadn’t anticipated Dominic would be quite so handsome, nor is she aware that he is determined to make her reject the union. As the two spend time together, however, the attraction growing between them threatens to blaze out of control. When family objections, the pressure of societal expectations and unexpected adventure turn dangerous, Dominic will have to reassess his feelings on the matter of marriage.

This lighthearted Regency tale boasts a strong hero, smart heroine and endearing secondary characters. Add a bit of swashbuckling adventure and longtime fans and new readers of Lindsey alike will thoroughly enjoy this latest novel.

Lois Dyer writes from her home in Port Orchard, Washington

 

Contrary to accepted wisdom, revenge is not always a dish best served cold. In the three romance novels we’re highlighting this month, revenge is a decidedly hot and steamy affair.
Mystery

Women against the odds

Feature by Barbara Clark

In three mysteries set in the late 19th and early 20th centuries—an era full of misconceptions about “the fairer sex”—women of action match wits with philandering villains, escaped cons and dodgy doctors.

CRIMES OF THE WELL-HEELED
There’s a good deal of “I know it in my bones” sleuthing in Kate Saunders’ The Secrets of Wishtide, first in a new historical mystery series set in the Dickensian England of the 1850s. Middle-aged widow Laetitia “Letty” Rodd fancies herself a private investigator of sorts, and she works with her brother, Frederick, a criminal barrister, to sort out the follies and indiscretions that originate with folks of the well-respected “gentler” classes. Wishtide is full of secrets, as the “nicer” ladies and gentlemen mix it up in all manner of seductions and clandestine affairs—clearly with no respect to class. Shadowy marriages and alliances run amok as the feisty sleuth sets out to investigate and perhaps prevent an undesirable love match, and ends up unmasking an evasive murderer known as Prince, who may have lived more than his share of lives.

GIRL RETURNS WITH GUN
Amy Stewart (Girl Waits with Gun) continues the fictional adventures of Miss Constance Kopp in Lady Cop Makes Trouble. Constance is based on a real woman who, just prior to World War I, became a deputy sheriff in New Jersey, one of the first of her kind in the country. And yes, she does make trouble. Escaped convicts don’t stand a chance against this adventurous woman, as Stewart crafts a heady brew of mystery and action in a fast-moving, craftily written novel that’s fueled by actual news headlines of the day. While serving as a matron for women prisoners in the Bergen County jail, Constance has a bad day when the electricity fails during a thunderstorm and an inmate escapes. Constance tracks down the bad guy, all the while fielding complaints from the male citizenry that revolver-totin’ women in law enforcement will just “turn into little men.”

THE DOCTOR IS IN
Cuyler Overholt’s debut mystery, A Deadly Affection, is set in 1907 New York City and features an uncommon protagonist, Dr. Genevieve Summerford, an early practitioner—and a woman to boot—in the burgeoning field of psychiatry, a discipline not yet fully accepted as a legitimate medical field. One of her patients is arrested for murder, and though she claims she’s innocent, Genevieve fears that her own advice may have prompted the young woman to dangerous actions. She bends all her efforts toward discovering the real murderer, and in the process uncovers a complicated web of family stories involving questions of parentage, illegal adoption and genetically transmitted disease. Her investigations bring her face-to-face with Simon Shaw, an influential Tammany politician—and the man who stole her heart years ago. Overholt’s story is a winning combination of intrigue and romance.

 

This article was originally published in the September 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

In three mysteries set in the late 19th and early 20th centuries—an era full of misconceptions about “the fairer sex”—women of action match wits with philandering villains, escaped cons and dodgy doctors.
Romance

This is your hometown

Feature by Lois Dyer

The innate charm of small-town America makes it the perfect backdrop for falling in love. We’ve chosen three novels that will take you to quaint towns filled with friendly faces and budding relationships.

RISKING IT ALL
North Carolina author Rachel Lacey delivers the first novel in her new Risking It All series with Run to You. Adrenaline junkie Ethan Hunter once won gold at the Beijing Olympics, but he was happy to return to his small hometown, Haven, in North Carolina’s Great Smoky Mountains. Video game coder Gabby Winters fled her life in Charlotte to seek peace and healing in bucolic Haven after ending an abusive relationship. When the two meet, sparks fly, and soon they’re conspiring to convince Ethan’s ill grandmother that they’re a happy couple. Inevitably, their pretend relationship moves far outside the parameters of their bargain, because neither can ignore the heat between them that grows hotter with each meeting.

Gabby finds the home she’s always wanted with Ethan in Haven, but both have shadows from the past that follow them. While Ethan encourages Gabby to move past her fears, he can’t envision healing his own scarred heart. Despite the powerful love that binds them, will these two wounded, wary people find a way to claim a happy future?

There’s much to like in this sweet romance, including the strong hero and heroine, the cast of supporting characters and the beautiful mountain setting. Readers will eagerly anticipate the next installment in the series, Crazy for You, due out next spring.

UNDER THE BOARDWALK
New York Times bestselling author Samantha Young launches a new series with The One Real Thing. Dr. Jessica Huntington is emotionally isolated and she likes it that way. However, one day at the women’s prison where she works, she finds old letters written by a now-deceased inmate to the man she loved. Moved by the emotion on the pages, Jessica decides to take her three weeks vacation and deliver the letters to the man who should have received them decades earlier.

The beautiful seacoast town of Hartwell, Delaware, is a lovely surprise, and soon, Jessica finds herself entangled in the lives of the friendly residents. Most importantly, she finds herself overwhelmingly attracted to Hart’s Boardwalk pub owner Cooper Lawson. Thirty-six-year-old Cooper has dated a lot of women since his divorce from his unfaithful ex, but none of them made him consider permanence. Then smart, beautiful Dr. Jess walks into his bar and rocks his world. Both Cooper and Jess are falling in love, but a dark secret haunts Jess, and unless she can find the courage to trust Cooper, their future together is in jeopardy.

Young opens her new series with smart, complex characters, layered plot and hot sexual tension reminiscent of her earlier On Dublin Street series. The well-drawn setting of a small coastal town and the cast of characters that reside in Hartwell will have fans eager to return for the next installment.

A HEALING PLACE
Acclaimed bestselling author Debbie Macomber’s latest novel, Sweet Tomorrows, is the fifth and final installment in her popular Rose Harbor series. Innkeeper Jo Marie Rose first befriended—then fell in love with—handyman and ex-soldier Mark Taylor. When he had to return to Iraq for one last dangerous mission, Mark told her not to wait for him. Now a year has passed, and Jo Marie knows she must accept that Mark didn’t survive and won’t be coming home. She’s determined to move on and mend her broken heart but struggles with coping. When Emily Gaffney, a new teacher in town, needs a temporary rental, Jo Marie offers her an extended stay at the Rose Harbor Inn, and the two women quickly bond.

Emily is struggling with her own heartache, having weathered two broken engagements and the bruised heart that followed. Now she’s firmly decided to build a life without romantic entanglements. Unfortunately, a charming German shepherd dog named Elvis and his brooding owner, Nick Schwartz, quickly derail any plans for noninvolvement.

Just when Jo Marie thinks she may have met someone who could become more than a casual date, an old friend calls her with startling news about Mark. Emily, too, has cause to reconsider whether to allow Nick and Elvis a place in her world. Life-changing decisions must be made, and each must face their deepest fears if there is to be any hope for a happy future.

Macomber brings her trademark humor and warm, endearing characters to this poignant tale of love, loss, healing and beginning anew. The plot is absorbing, and the Pacific Northwest setting so vividly drawn that readers will feel they can smell the scent of cedar, pine and saltwater as they turn the pages.

 

Lois Dyer writes from her home in Port Orchard, Washington.

The innate charm of small-town America makes it the perfect backdrop for falling in love. We’ve chosen three novels that will take you to quaint towns filled with friendly faces and budding relationships.
NonfictionArts & Culture

Three guides to help you power through the writing process

Feature by Rachel Hoge

Most writers have strong opinions about how a successful story is written, and unfortunately for us ambitious writers-to-be, these opinions often differ. Should I begin by outlining or free-writing? What’s more important, plot or prose? I’ve asked these questions, and more, to an endless parade of writers, editors and creative writing teachers. And what I’ve discovered is not one solution, but an appreciation for all solutions—as each perspective can teach me something worthwhile about the writing process.

THE POWER OF RESISTANCE

Writing coach Deb Norton believes we all have creative potential, but we allow a mysterious force to interrupt our writing. Norton calls this “resistance,” which can take the shape of self-doubt, perfectionism, an imaginary panel of literary critics—whatever creates apprehension during the writing process. The solution? Embracing resistance until it becomes a creative asset, not a stumbling block. In Part Wild: A Writer’s Guide to Harnessing the Creative Power of Resistance, Norton shows us how.

The process begins with resistance training, which relies on 6-minute writing exercises that build creative strength and flexibility. If this sounds like writing bootcamp, you’re on the right track. “You should exercise your writing for the same reason you exercise your body,” Norton writes. “You can’t build muscle without something to push against.” And while writing prompts can feel conventional and safe, Norton advises writers to approach this time with wild abandonment. Not only does she provide a guide on how to actually accomplish this (here’s a hint: it involves letting go of control, intentions and even standard grammar) she also includes writing prompts for every kind of writer. Do you rely too heavily on inspiration? Do you find yourself bored or distracted when writing? Maybe you worry too much or play it too safe. Whatever your poison, this book may provide the creative antidote.

These writing prompts also explore the original cause of creative resistance. “It’s in our nature to be creative. We see this in the way that all children play-act, paint, dance and sing without fear, as though they were born to it,” Norton writes. “But at some point the creative spirit is ‘nurtured’ right out of us.” Revitalizing your creative instincts, then, may require reflection on topics like time, truth and memory. Not only should we locate our inner critics, Norton argues, but we should know which opinions to discard and which to value. “If you unfriend all of your inner critics, how will you know whether you’re doing your best work and reaching your highest potential?” Norton asks.

A formally educated actor who spent a decade in the field, Norton colors each chapter with humorous and honest anecdotes that bring each writing prompt to life. Whether relaying how she could only embrace the role of an angry Greek god by imagining her distaste for lima beans, or revealing how resentment of her husband’s cleaning skills was just another way to avoid daily writing, Norton approaches each chapter with a mix of personal essay, brief philosophy and detailed writing prompts. 

Ideal for those willing to use resistance to become more positive and productive writers, Part Wild ends with more than 400 bonus prompts “to ensure that you never have an excuse not to write.” Personally, I found myself reaching for a pen long before each chapter’s end.

THE POWER OF PLANNING

With its title and focus, I expected The Magic Words: Writing Great Books for Children and Young Adults to be abstract and dreamlike, perhaps a leisure read. But as soon as I began reading, it became clear that Cheryl B. Klein is a serious and knowledgeable editor who has produced a comprehensive guide to writing books for young readers. Klein has worked in the publishing industry for more than 15 years, most notably as the continuity editor on the last two books of the Harry Potter series. In The Magic Words, she shares her expertise on writing, revising and publishing books for younger audiences.

Klein is quick to note which elements of fiction she believes are most important: good prose, rich characters, strong plot construction, thematic depth and powerful emotion. “An artistically successful book will demonstrate strength in at least four of the qualities I’ve just named,” she writes. She shows how to develop the premise of a novel and answers many practical questions, like how to query an agent. Clear-cut chapters like “How to Write a Novel” appear alongside chapters that detail industry expectations for things like word count and formatting. This is the kind of straightforward and knowledgeable feedback that can take writers years to receive in the literary marketplace. Luckily for us, Klein chose to share her expertise so writers can apply these insights to their own projects when they begin writing.

Throughout the book, Klein deconstructs how successful novels work and presents techniques for recreating that structure within our own writing. She also examines the unique joys and challenges of writing for a younger audience. Packed with professional lessons and interwoven with personal anecdotes, observations and visual aids, Klein’s book is rich with authority and know-how.

But beneath all this insider knowledge is Klein’s unwavering belief in the power of words, which I suspect is what prompted her to begin reading and writing in the first place. “Through the invocation of the right words in the right order,” Klein writes, “books can change lives.”

THE POWER OF THE BRAIN

Author, story coach and writing instructor Lisa Cron spends her time thinking about brains. According to Cron, unsuccessful books don’t suffer from a lack of talent, plot or prose. They struggle because most writers don’t know what a successful story is made of, and the chemical reaction it produces.

In her latest book, Story Genius, Cron shows writers how to crack the story code by unveiling the cognitive storytelling strategies of brain science. Her methods, she argues, will not only make writing flourish—it’ll save writers time on pages that seem to go nowhere.

In the beginning, Story Genius sets a straightforward goal: to explain what a story is, and what it isn’t. For decades, writers and readers have believed that crafting a good story requires a particular spark, or a literary magic. Cron argues against this romantic notion by using science to explain the power of storytelling. “Because our response to story is hardwired, it’s not something we have to learn or even think about,” she writes. “The power story has over us is biological.” A good story hacks the reader’s mind, quite literally, by triggering the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine is often associated with the pleasure system of the brain, meaning a good story can have as powerful of an effect as a good meal or a romantic encounter.

To craft a story that hooks an audience, creates a loyal readership and is considered a success, Cron believes we need to understand, then harness, this particular type of brain chemistry. But how do we actually apply this knowledge to our writing?

The answer is linked to the story’s main character, the protagonist, and how she makes sense of what’s happening. “Story is not about the plot, or what happens,” Cron writes. “Story is about how the things that happen in the plot affect the protagonist, and how he or she changes internally as a result.” Effective storytelling, then, requires an internal struggle that is manifested by an external one. And because dopamine is triggered by intense curiosity, when readers are compelled by a story, it means they’re instinctively interested in the protagonist’s emotional and physical journey. In fact, Cron cites a study that reveals, “when we’re reading a story, our brain activity isn’t that of an observer, but of a participant.” The reason a vast majority of manuscripts are rejected, Cron says, is because the plot is more developed than the characters.

But Story Genius provides more than just a biological breakdown of storytelling. Cron also helps us craft the inside story, where we connect and explore the life of our protagonists; afterward, we must create an external story to prompt the protagonist’s internal struggle. To create writing that’s textured, Cron shares writing tips on topics like subplots, secondary characters, character backgrounds and more. By the end, she promises we’ll have the tools to produce “evolving, multilayered cause-and-effect” blueprints for our next projects.

And then—when others ask what our secret is—perhaps we’ll be coy and just say, “Science.” 

Most writers have strong opinions about how a successful story is written, and unfortunately for us ambitious writers-to-be, these opinions often differ. Three new books offer valuable perspectives on writing and advice on how to overcome the stumbling blocks in the creative process.
NonfictionFiction

Not for the faint of heart

Feature by Julie Hale

From real haunted spaces to magic spells you can cast at home, these three new books offer plenty of spine-tingling spookiness.

THROUGH THE GLASS
It’s a given in many a fairy tale and myth: There’s more to a mirror than meets the eye. Mickie Mueller explores the legends and the lore the glass has inspired over the centuries in The Witch’s Mirror. An expert on natural and fairy magic, Mueller delivers a crash course in wizardry via this little volume, providing background on what makes a magic mirror tick while urging readers to tap into the power that lies behind its silvered facade. Would-be witches will find instructions on how to prepare their own magic mirrors, along with a wide range of incantations involving the glass (who can pass up the “You Are Beautiful Spell”?). Mueller also provides advice on using mirrors for meditation and astral travel. Filled with insights from practicing witches, this handbook of enchantment is an October treat.

SERIOUSLY SCARY
It’s hard to imagine a better-qualified chronicler of America’s paranormal past than historian Colin Dickey, who came of age not far from our nation’s most haunted abode, the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California. A longtime connoisseur of the macabre—he was once director of Brooklyn’s Morbid Anatomy Museum—Dickey takes readers on a spine-tingling tour of supernatural sites in Ghostland. From Portland, Oregon’s Cathedral Park, where a young woman was brutally murdered in 1949, to Shiloh, Tennessee’s infamous Civil War battleground, Dickey explores the hotels and homes, bars and brothels, asylums and—yes—cemeteries that have hosted all manner of eerie activity over the centuries. Along the way, he addresses larger questions about how the living deal with the possible presence of the dead. Pursuing ghosts from coast to coast, Dickey delivers a truly creepy travelogue that’s a must-have for Halloween.

HEAD TRIP
Marc Hartzman resurrects a disquieting bit of British history in The Embalmed Head of Oliver Cromwell. A political heavyweight who helped orchestrate the downfall of King Charles I, Cromwell was interred in Westminster Abbey in 1658. King Charles II, seeking revenge for his father, dug the statesman up, cut off his head and placed it on a post at Westminster Hall, where it remained for two decades, until—liberated by the forces of nature—it began a protracted postmortem journey, passing through the hands of curio collectors and museum owners. In his deliciously twisted book, Hartzman tracks the unhappy fate of Cromwell’s pate over the course of 300 years, and in a ghoulish turn of ventriloquism, he lets the head do the talking. From beginning to end, this startling yarn is recounted by Cromwell’s long-suffering skull, and it has quite a story to share. Unsettling, yes, but also irresistible.

 

This article was originally published in the October 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

From real haunted spaces to magic spells you can cast at home, these three new books offer plenty of spine-tingling spookiness.
Fiction

Haunted heroines take on the supernatural

Feature by Michael Alec Rose

At the scary, broken heart of each of these three novels stands a woman of tremendous courage. It’s a quality she—each of these three very different “shes”—will need in order to face the horrors bent on destroying her. Also marking each heroine is a possibly fatal flaw that draws the monstrous entities in her direction with implacable magnetism. 

A SINISTER FORCE IN THE SCENIC CITY
Cherie Priest is an author who loves the feel of things—tangible objects, especially ones that hold in their heft a heap of history. Her new novel, The Family Plot, has the perfect concept to indulge this enthusiasm: A salvage company from Nashville, Tennessee, is hired by an elderly woman to dismantle and sell off every beautiful thing in her family’s old homestead before the grand house is demolished. And where is this gorgeous edifice, packed to the rafters with so many treasures? Right at the base of Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, site of one of the fiercest battles of the Civil War. Dahlia Dutton leads her salvage crew with an appropriately iron hand, but she is dangerously susceptible to the allure of the haunted house she is commissioned to tear apart. The spirits who haunt the place feel her softness toward them, and they respond with diabolical vengeance. It’s an old story. 

The Family Plot delivers a double helping of fun: A prospectus of auction items worthy of Southern Living is served up alongside a tale of gothic suspense woven from the familiar fabric of lost war ballads, flavored with the bitter twang of ingrown family evils and hypocritical Confederate piety. For Priest, as for her vulnerable protagonist, the more traditional the object, the more valuable it’s got to be. 

THEY'RE IN THE BASEMENT
Chattanooga and Tokyo are a world apart in every way. Mariko Koike is one of the biggest names in mystery and horror in her native Japan, and now U.S. readers can share the thrills. Her 1986 classic The Graveyard Apartment, now translated into English for the first time by Deborah Boliver Boehm, is one of the strangest and most terrifying horror novels I’ve ever read, and that’s saying a lot. One reason for the book’s uncanny impact is a cultural one. Japan possesses a vast folklore of supernatural beings, the taxonomy for which is fabulously complex. With acute economy, Koike has distilled this puzzling array of horrible creatures into one great and collective force. That force is concentrating on one hapless family living in a crazy apartment building in a neglected precinct of the capital city, surrounded by a huge graveyard. 

Two factors conspire to make the experience of reading The Graveyard Apartment especially harrowing. The first is a focus on the building’s basement, in which the worst things happen. There is no distancing ourselves from the horror; it could happen to us. The second factor concerns the psychological foundation for the family’s persecution—a painful scenario, all too common, in which a guilty mother heroically and desperately attempts to protect her innocent child. Did the terrible error she and the little girl’s father committed—bringing about both the child’s life and the first wife’s death—somehow lead to these fatal consequences? It is a superbly distressing question, another instance of absolute evil tormenting simple human frailty. 

DON'T LOOK BACK
I have saved the best of the three new books for last, and I’ll say the least about it, mainly to insist to my fellow fans of horror that you must get your hands on this one. The Motion of Puppets is the only novel I know to have fulfilled Robert Aickman’s famous statement about great supernatural tales, that they are the fiction most closely approaching poetry. Keith Donohue (The Stolen Child) has crafted a perfect fable based on the mysterious attraction of the puppet theater. Building upon the archaic superstition (exploited in Toy Story) that puppets have their own emotional lives, the author takes one more magnificent step and ties in the devastating myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Instead of descending to the Underworld, Kay Harper has been magically transformed into a puppet. Her husband, Theo, must try to find her and win her back. Every page of this novel hums with mythic power, pulling on every heartstring.

There’s a delightful variety of heroism, susceptibility and supernatural threat in these three novels. We recommend that you treat yourself to all of them—if it’s a trick you can manage.

 

This article was originally published in the October 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

At the scary, broken heart of each of these three novels stands a woman of tremendous courage. It’s a quality she—each of these three very different “shes”—will need in order to face the horrors bent on destroying her. Also marking each heroine is a possibly fatal flaw that draws the monstrous entities in her direction with implacable magnetism.
Fiction

You can go home again

Feature by Beth Bulow

In these three inspirational novels, characters return home to face their past, seek forgiveness and renew hope for the future. Sometimes going back is the only way to move forward. 

HEALING IN THE PAST AND PRESENT
In bestselling author Rachel Hauck’s latest novel, The Wedding Shop, veteran Haley Morgan returns home to Heart’s Bend, Tennessee, to heal after her deployment and the end of a destructive relationship. There, she rediscovers a local wedding shop, a place she and her best friend, Tammy, dreamed of restoring to its former glory. Haley decides to fulfill that childhood dream. Her story alternates with one set in the early 1930s, when Cora Scott, the original owner of The Wedding Shop, finds purpose as a working woman. Though Cora longs for a happy ending, she may be overlooking a love that’s right in front of her.

Haley’s trust in God is encouraging and uplifting, and Hauck gives Heart’s Bend an authentic history, providing a charming setting. Hauck switches easily between past and present, bringing two heartfelt journeys to a poignant culmination.

NEVER TOO FAR GONE
In his 12th novel, Long Way Gone, Charles Martin deftly retells the story of the prodigal son. From the remote Colorado mountains to the music-obsessed streets of Nashville, Cooper O’Connor carries his father’s words in his heart and a beloved six-string guitar in his hands. 

After reaching Nashville, Cooper realizes that stardom is not readily achieved. Once he hits rock bottom, Cooper looks back to his father’s words and up to God, both cast aside in his bid for stardom.

Whether portraying a soul-​shattering betrayal or a bittersweet reunion between lovers, Martin sustains a realistic yet hopeful atmosphere. Best of all is the heart-​wrenching relationship between Cooper and his father. 

A PROMISE OF HOME
What at first appears to be a story of childhood love is actually a tale of secrecy, sacrifice and family. Chris Fabry’s The Promise of Jesse Woods details a life-changing summer. In 1972, new to the town of Dogwood, West Virginia, pastor’s son Matt finds common ground with two other outcasts: Jesse Woods, a girl from a poor family, and Dickie Darrel Lee Hancock, a mixed-race boy. Matt forms a particularly quick bond with Jesse, whom he is determined to protect, no matter the personal cost. A serious trauma severs Matt and Jesse’s friendship, and after years of silence, he must return to understand what else was lost that summer.

Matt’s strong voice is rivaled only by Jesse’s resolve, and readers will cheer her fortitude. This poignant story is worth the heartache: Complex and layered, The Promise of Jesse Woods goes beyond a youthful promise to center on a bond renewed by a desire for truth.

 

This article was originally published in the October 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

In these three inspirational novels, characters return home to face their past, seek forgiveness and renew hope for the future. Sometimes going back is the only way to move forward.

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