The national bestselling author of The Wedding Soup Murder returns to the Jersey Shore where a killer is stirring up trouble during a hurricane . . .
At the Casa Lido, the end of summer means a party, and hit whodunit writer Victoria “Vic” Rienzi and her family are cooking like crazy for the restaurant’s seventieth anniversary celebration. As they chop onions and garlic, old family friend Pete Petrocelli stops by, saying he knows something that would make for a good mystery novel. Curious, Vic asks Nonna to elaborate on Pete’s claim and learns of a relative who mysteriously disappeared back in Italy . . .
The night of the party brings a crowd—and a full throttle hurricane. When the storm finally passes, everyone thinks they’re in the clear—until the first casualty is found, and it’s Pete. Remembering his visit, Vic isn’t certain Pete’s death was an accident and decides to dig deeper into his story. What she finds is meatier than Nonna’s sauce . . .
Love is a risk. If you lose it all, would you dare to risk it twice?
Hannah Rogers is lost: cynical, insecure, and withdrawn. Skeletons forged through a bad breakup that should have been a marriage proposal. Now four years later, Hannah follows her dead-end job to the big city where her only hope is to survive the next eight months as her flirtatious boss’s personal assistant. The last thing her predictable life needs is to collide with the boy responsible for breaking her heart, or the twist of fate that sends a sexy new neighbor to awaken feelings she’s long since put to bed.
Alex Sorrento doesn’t have any room in his life for another pet project. He’s already put aside his career and his personal dreams to follow his half-sister Mackenzie to the big city. Lost in the guilt over the events that nearly took her life, he feels he owes her that much. When Mackenzie befriends the new girl on the third floor, Alex finds himself defenseless against the sizzling chemistry between them and the sadness in her eyes. Can he protect Hannah from her ex without losing his heart?
In this turbulent journey about self-discovery, forgiveness, and love, some second chances aren’t worth taking, but others have their own rewards.
Excerpt from Starting From Lost
She leapt off the top step, the finish line in sight, and lunged for her door. Her fleeting feeling of being victorious was quickly stifled as she felt strong arms encircle her waist. What little air she’d hung onto was knocked from her lungs as she collided against a hard, warm body.
Alex had turned so it was his back that hit her door, and hers safely cushioned against him. His arms locked more firmly around her waist as he held her against him. She could feel his rapid heartbeat, maybe not an athlete after all, she mused, and carefree laughter —her own — filled the silent hallway. Closing her eyes on it, she let her head fall back to rest against his shoulder, and tried to catch her breath.
“I win,” he whispered, his lips all but against her neck. The sudden warmth that spread through her had nothing to do with the enthusiastic run and everything to do with the hard male she was molded to. Everything tingled, and she tried to turn her face towards his, but caught the sound of the front door opening and closing.
“Mackenzie,” she said, and tried to wiggle out of his embrace.
She ceased her futile attempts as the door parallel to them opened. Unaware that Alex’s light hold had tightened to keep her from falling, she stared at her neighbor for the first time. Her mouth opened, shut, and opened again, but her voice wouldn’t work. Maybe she was dreaming, or unconscious, the tiny panicked voice in her head tried to grasp some kind of logic. Was it screaming she heard? Was she screaming?
“Hannah?” The familiar voice found a way through the rushing in her ears, and it cut straight to her heart.
Jake! Oh, no.
About the author:
S.K. Wills grew up with reading in her blood; a favorite pastime passed down thanks to her two beautiful grandmas. Wanting to inspire others, like good books inspire her, she added “write a romance novel” to her bucket list, and ultimately, checked it off. Writing makes her soul happy, and since she's now hooked on story-crafting, she's decided to stick with it for as long as it will have her. S.K. lives in Southeastern Michigan, and juggles expertly (or so she thinks!) also being a passionate marketer and entrepreneur helping other authors reach their writing dreams. She fuels her insatiable dream-chasing with what some would consider an unhealthy amount of coffee, and she wouldn’t have her crazy busy life any other way.
When a Valentine’s Day proposal doesn’t come with an engagement ring, Marin
Johns begins to wonder if she and James will ever get married. As her closest friends
begin to move forward with their lives, she refuses to be left behind.
Hope is restored as she devises a plan to get James down on one knee by becoming
the ideal mate. Everything seems to fall into place until her college boyfriend
resurfaces after a decade with his own ideas about their future. Will Marin be forced
to choose between the man of her dreams and the diamond ring she’s always
dreamed of?
About Amanda Aksel
Amanda Aksel is an author with an affinity for love. Becoming a couples therapist
was her “backup” career, and after completing her BA in Psychology she was on her
way to solving love’s most complicated quandaries one couple at a time. Now she
plans to solve love’s most complicated quandaries one novel at a time.
Maxine Daniels was made an offer that she couldn’t refuse. She couldn’t think of a better time — after breaking things off with her fiancé — to change cities and merge her company with Saunders Literary Agency. At thirty-three, she isn’t getting any younger, so it’s time to start fresh and leave her past behind.
What she doesn’t anticipate is the diversion that lies ahead. Kyle Saunders is a catastrophic tsunami that enters her life and consumes her world in just a matter of minutes. Everything about him is telling her no, but her heart and the heat between her legs is screaming yes. He was never a factor in her divine plan—nor was she in his.
Kyle is the cliché bachelor; he is a twenty-four-year-old charismatic chick magnet who refuses to settle down. He’s dead set on living the carefree single life — that is — until Max comes strolling in. Then all his ridiculous rules fall to the wayside. Who knew that just one hello could alter their lives forever?
About the author:
Shevaun DeLucia, author of the Eternal Mixture series, lives in upstate New York with her husband, four children, and two dogs. As a stay-at-home mom while her children were young, she fell in love with reading. She indulged in the small moments that took her away from the reality of her loud, rambunctious household, bringing her into a world of fantasy. When reading wasn’t enough to satisfy her, she turned to writing, determined to create the perfect ending of her own.
Two unlikely friends, an old woman and a boy with special needs, take an aging champion to Westminster Dog Show, and heal their troubled families. Seventy year-old Bess Rutledge has fantasized about winning the Westminster Dog Show all her life, but now she has decided she is too old to follow her dream. She meets Benny, an angry fourteen year-old with mild autism and ADHD, who has a dream of his own: to impress his self-absorbed mother. He becomes convinced that winning Westminster with McCreery, Bess’ aging champion standard poodle, will finally make his mother proud of him. Getting Bess to go along with his plan, however, is not going to be so easy.
Interview with Diane Daniels Manning
Diane, what’s the story behind the title of your book? Almost Perfect is not in keeping with the book’s characters and outcome, but comes from an expression we often use with the children at our therapeutic school: “Perfection is the enemy of good enough.” Sadly, some children (and adults) get so caught up in needing everything to be perfect, they miss the happiness available to them when life is “good enough” — emphasis on the “good.” The title of my next book, a version for middle schoolers/teens is Good Enough.
Where did you grow up? I grew up in Redding, Connecticut, the setting for Almost Perfect. Mark Twain spent his last years there, and the library there was founded by him. I spent many hours there as a child dreaming of becoming an author like him.
That is so cool. What would I do if someone gave me $5,000? If someone gave me $5,000,I would donate it to the New School in the Heights, in Houston, Texas for scholarships.
Do you have another job outside of writing? I am the co-founder and executive director of a therapeutic school for bright children who haven’t succeeded in other schools because of their social or emotional differences. A similar school is featured in Almost Perfect.
Are any of your characters inspired by real people? My book has two main characters. Bess, a seventy-year-old woman, is based on the top breeder of standard poodles in America in her day. I did an oral history of her, and that is how I got my knowledge of dog shows and professional dog breeders. The other main character, the twelve-year-old Benny, is a composite of a number of children I have known both in my school and otherwise.
What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received about your writing. “I liked it.”
What makes me bored? Trying to figure out forgotten/misplaced passwords.
What dumb things did you do during your college years? Not doing dumb things.
Have you been in any natural disasters? I lived in New Orleans for twenty years but decided to move to Houston when someone offered me the chance to start a therapeutic school there. I moved just a few days before Hurricane Katrina. Even though I wasn’t there during the storm, it was a terrible time. Houston was amazing in welcoming people fleeing the storm. Buses arrived at the Superdome on Friday. A hospital was set up inside and an operating post office. Every child was in school Monday morning. Children enrolled in private schools in New Orleans were admitted to private schools in Houston at no additional tuition. It made me appreciate my new city while feeling heartsick for my former home.
What do you love about where you live now? The generosity of the people in Houston.
Diane Daniels Manning is the co-founder and director of The New School in the Heights, a therapeutic school in Houston, Texas which helps children dealing with social-emotional challenges find success in school and life. She has a Ph.D. in Education and a post-doctoral M.P.H from Harvard and is a practicing child psychoanalyst certified by the American Psychoanalytic Association. Formerly, she was the Director of the Reading and Learning Disabilities Clinic at Tufts University, Lecturer and Research Associate in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at Harvard, and Chair of the Department of Education at Tulane University. She learned the inner workings of dog show kennels by writing an authorized oral history of a lifetime President of the Poodle of Club of America. Her writing awards include the Faulkner-Wisdom Novella Prize and the Women in Film and Television Short Script Competition. When not at The New School, Diane and her writing partners, a Standard Poodle named Misty and a rescue cat named Elvira, convene at the keyboard to share great thoughts and plan the dinner menu. Connect with Diane: Website | Facebook | Twitter
Kate Mitchell has never forgiven herself for breaking Nick Lavigne’s heart. Now he’s back and he’s moved on, and it’s affecting Kate’s life more than she’s willing to admit.
Kate Mitchell has everything. She's the head of a crazy successful publishing house, engaged to the traffic-stopping sexy Mac Ellis and she's about to sign one of the biggest authors of her career.
And that's when everything falls apart.
Everything is perfect…until it’s not.
In a city of 8 million people Kate manages to run into someone she never expected to see again.
Nick is handsome, impossibly kind, every girl’s dream, and Kate’s former fiancé. He’s also the brother of the rising star author she’s trying to sign. Now that Nick’s back in town and has moved on he insists he’s over Kate, but part of him still can’t get past how amazing they were, and his sister won’t let anyone forget how brutally it ended.
When Mac is dealt a life-changing blow, it forces Kate to question every single choice she’s made.
Follow Kate as she embarks on a journey of life and love, navigating through the decisions that will change it all forever.
Interview with Christina George
Christina, what’s the story behind the title of your book?
That’s a great question. So for all of these books: The Publicist, Shelf Life, and Climax I tried to go literary – do something that tied into the book world. Climax seemed like a natural thing because it was the climax point of the story and it is also a nod to the term editors often use.
Tell us about your series. Is this book a standalone, or do readers need to read the series in order?
Yes, Climax is part of a series but it is written to be a standalone, too. I worked hard to do that because I didn’t want new readers to feel “forced” to buy all of them.
What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned?
Not to take anything personally. Much like Kate’s journey (and her job), it’s a hard lesson to learn. It’s not about you, it’s about whatever is going on for that person. That’s pretty freeing.
If someone gave you $5,000 and said you must solve a problem, what would you do with the money?
I would give it to an old dog rescue to pay for dog treatments. I have done some work with several of these rescues which take in elderly dogs that get discarded by their owners. Often even just $100 can be the difference between a dog getting a life-saving surgery.
What are your most cherished mementos?
I went to visit the beaches of Normandy in France and picked up a couple of rocks. It’s staggering to think what happened there.
If you could only save one thing from your house, what would it be?
My dog, who rocks.
How did you create the plot for this book?
Well, book one in particular came out of real life experiences. Ninety percent of the author stories in book one and two are based on things that happened to me in my job. And some of the other folks like Mac and Edward are based on real publishing people I worked with.
Are any of your characters inspired by real people?
Yes, just about all of them. Their names have been changed to protect the guilty and sometimes spoiled :-)
What’s one pet peeve you have when you read?
Not really a pet peeve but kind of a confession: I am a book sniffer. Sometimes I’ll sniff a book on a train and catch people watching me. They must be wondering “I wonder if that’s a new thing. A smell-a-tale?” Have you been in any natural disasters?
Yes, I was living in Southern California once and we had a massive fire, I mean massive. It burned so hot and so fast that by the time they could warn us to evacuate, we had 30 seconds to get out.
What would your dream office look like?
The same as now but with minions. Minions rock :-)
Why did you decide to self-publish?
Well, I work in traditional publishing, and I published under a pen name because you know, some of these stories are real so I figured it was just easier to do it that way. Also, I have seen the man behind the curtain, so to speak. I get how tough traditional publishing is these days. It’s not because traditional houses are the villains, at all. They are in business and want to make a profit and this does not always include supporting first time authors because they love the book. I know a lot of editors who 100% fall in love with a book but can’t sign it because maybe the market isn’t right, or the market is too small. Also, I’m a control freak. Well, actually, I prefer a control enthusiast. I wanted this book written a particular way, I wanted to control my cover, timing of release, etc.
What are you working on now?
Well, I got so many letters from readers that they loved the series and wanted it to continue that I’ve decided to do that. So right now I’m working on a book about Mac, one of the lead characters in the series. Then we’ll focus on Vivienne who was in Climax (she was a new character). After that, I’m writing one on Allan Lavigne. He’s the big (huge) bestselling author who is Kate’s best friend.
What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received about your writing?
Wow, this is such a great question. I once had a fan write me a long email about what upset her about such and such in my book and why this or that character made such-and-such decisions. This was HUGE because wow, she cared enough to write me and she was so into the book that she became emotionally involved, that’s huge.
What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to write? Why? Climax was very hard because it was so complex, and I had to keep these folks likable and at the same time make them seem real and flawed. That, for me, was tricky.
What’s the worst thing someone has said about your writing? How did you deal with it?
Really, most comments I get are about how someone hates Kate or Mac – or that Kate’s spoiled. You know feedback is a funny thing, if you read it, step back from it, sit with it –more often than not it’s helpful.
About the Author:
Christina George has worked in publishing for twenty years (give or take). Here’s what this book isn't: It’s not a slam against publishing (though it is broken) and it’s not a slam against authors (though some of them are crazy). This book is not autobiographical though many of the stories are true. No, you won’t know which ones, cause it’s more fun to guess, right? George continues to work in publicity and helps authors because at the end of the day she does love books, she loves publishing, and she loves authors. She hopes you’ll enjoy this romp through Kate’s world as much as she enjoyed creating it.
Brent Hartinger's tenth novel, The Thing I Didn't Know I Didn't Know, tells the story of a young gay guy, just out of college, trying to make sense out of life and love in the boomtown that is Seattle in 2014. The book, his first in the "new adult" genre, will be released December 15, 2014.
In 2003, Hartinger made a big splash documenting the lives of gay teens with his humorous young adult novel Geography Club. It spawned three sequels, one of which won the Lambda Award. Geography Club was eventually adapted as a feature film, released in 2013, co-starring Scott Bakula.
In The Thing I Didn't Know I Didn't Know, Hartinger turns his attention to the lives of gay twentysomethings. The result is a book with plenty of Hartinger's trademark humor, but with a sexier, more contemporary edge, exploring topical issues like online hook-ups, FWBs, and PrEP HIV prevention.
Russel Middlebrook, the protagonist of The Thing I Didn't Know I Didn't Know, is also the lead in Geography Club and its sequels, making him the rare literary character to jump genres (from young adult to adult books). This latest book is also the start of a new series, Russel Middlebrook: the Futon Years.
Like Armistead Maupin's classic Tales of the City books, The Thing I Didn't Know I Didn't Know is set in a very specific place and time—in this case, Seattle in the summer of 2014.
In the book, Russel is twenty-three years old and living in this trendy and completely pro-gay city. But Russel's life isn't keeping up with the hype. Most of his friends have a direction in life—either ruthlessly pursuing their careers or passionately embracing their own aimlessness. But Russel is stuck in place. The only thing he knows for sure is that crappy jobs, horrible dates, and pointless hook-ups just aren't cutting it anymore.
What's the secret? What does everyone else know that he doesn't?
Enter Kevin, Russel's perfect high school boyfriend. Could rekindling an old flame be the thing he needs to get his life back on track? Or maybe the answer lies in a new friend, an eccentric screenwriter named Vernie Rose, who seems to possess more than a bit of the wisdom of the universe. Or what the hell? Maybe Russell will find some answers by joining his best friend Gunnar's crazy search for the legendary Bigfoot!
One way or another, Russel is determined to learn the all-important secret to life, even if it's a thing he doesn't even know he doesn't know.
Brent Hartinger Answers the Dirty Dozen
1. What’s one thing that drives you crazy?
Self-centered people. I run into people all the time who seem completely oblivious to the fact there are other people in the world. Either that, or they're aware and they just don't care. I'm not sure which is worse.
2. What is your guiltiest guilty pleasure?
My secret shame is . . . all-you-can-eat sushi bars! In the case of sushi, I sometimes will choose quantity over quality. Maybe even often! 3. What is your most embarrassing moment?
This may not be the most embarrassing, but I got home from Christmas shopping at the mall yesterday, and I realized that I'd had my fly down the whole time. And not just a little bit down -- it was wide open. Yikes! At least I was wearing underwear.
4. At least! What is the stupidest thing you’ve ever done?
Let's just say I've accidentally thrown more than one iPhone into the washing machine and leave it at that, okay?
5. Yikes. What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done?
In all seriousness, it might be deciding to become a writer -- although I didn't think of it as "daring" at the time. I was absolutely determined, and I never really had a back-up plan. If I'd known how incredibly impractical it is, I'm not sure I would've done it!
6. On what life choices would you like to have a re-do?
Yes, yes, if we redo things, then we wouldn't be the person we are, blah, blah, blah. Let's get real. If I had a choice, there's one two-year relationship that never would've happened and an entire website, now defunct, that I wouldn't have founded. Both were complete wastes of my time.
7. What makes you nervous?
I just produced a music video (for a song based on my latest book, The Thing I Didn't Know I Didn't Know). I had absolutely no idea how much work it would be -- all for a three-minute video.
For days before, I was a complete wreck. But mostly I was nervous that I would disappoint all the people who had put their faith in me, that they would feel like they wasted their time.
Interestingly, it all worked out pretty well!
8. What makes you scared?
I'm often scared I'll fail as a writer. I've been doing this long enough that I now know that not everything I do works. And I've also been at it long enough to know that my own judgment of my work is sometimes very skewed. Then, of course, everything is complicated by the fact that sometimes the work really is good, but not everyone can see it.
It's the hardest thing in the world, knowing when to stick to your vision in the face of criticism and when to say, "Hold on, wait, I think my vision sucks."
9. What’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told?
Whenever I teach creative writing, I act like I know what I'm talking about. Sometimes I even feel that way at the time.
But the truth is, I'm not sure writing can be taught, and even if I can, I'm not sure I'm smart enough to do it. Good storytelling is the hardest thing in the world, which is why it's so incredibly rare.
Still, I always do the best I can, so maybe it's not really a lie.
10. What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made?
Other than that two-year relationship?
Yes, other than that!
Honestly, there was a girl in my Catholic high school who was once berated for getting pregnant by a teacher in front of the whole class. It's one my huge regrets in life that I didn't stand up and say to that teacher, "Shut your pie-hole, you miserable, small-minded, pathetic excuse for a human being!"
Even now, it still makes me furious. That might be the exact moment I became a liberal.
11. When was the last time you did something for the first time?
Wow, good question. Lately, I've been learning type-setting (of books?). There are certain "rules" that aren't supposed to be violated. At the same time, the manuscript itself can't (usually) be altered. So how do you set the type in such a way that you don't violate these "rules"?
Compromises, compromises. In type-setting, as in life, sometimes there simply are no good choices.
12. One of your main characters has to die. Which one would you kill off?
In my next book, I just killed off all the main characters except one. Which makes sense since it's a thriller. But even so, it was really hard. You spend all this time creating characters, and in some sense you "like" them (or you wouldn't have written them).
Needless to say, there won't be a sequel.
Check out the video: The Thing I Didn't Know I Didn't Know
About the author:
Brent Hartinger is an author, playwright, and screenwriter. His latest book, about a gay 23-year-old trying to make sense of life and love in Seattle 2014, is out now. His first novel, Geography Club, is also a successful stage play and a feature film co-starring Scott Bakula and Nikki Blonsky. He also has a number of film projects in active development.
In 1990, Brent helped found one of the world's first LGBT teen support groups in his hometown of Tacoma, Washington. In 2005, he co-founded the entertainment website AfterElton.com, which was sold to MTV/Viacom in 2006. He currently co-hosts a podcast called Media Carnivores from his home in Seattle, where he lives with his husband, writer Michael Jensen. Read more by and about Brent, or contact him at brenthartinger.com.
Brent Hartinger is available for podcast, blog, newspaper, and other media interviews.
