“An inventive debut that recalls the imagination of Aimee Bender and the sardonic wit of Lorrie Moore. The interlocking stories in The Kissing List feature an unforgettable group of young women – Sylvie, Anna, Frances, Maureen – as their lives connect, first during a year abroad at Oxford, then later as they move to New York on the cusp of adulthood. We follow each of them as they navigate the treachery of first dates, temp jobs and roommates, failed relationships and unexpected affairs – all the things that make their lives seem full of possibility, but also rife with potential disappointment. Shot through with laugh-out-loud lines, yet still wrenchingly emotional and resonant, The Kissing List is a book about women who bravely defy expectations and take outrageous chances in the face of a life that might turn out to be anything less than extraordinary.” – publisher Cross My Heart by Carly Phillips “Ten years ago Lilly Dumont was the ultimate poor little rich girl, complete with a huge inheritance…and an uncle determined to take it from her. With the help of her first love, she faked her own death and ran away to New York City, leaving behind everything, including her own name. Lilly Dumont was gone, but Lacey Kincaid was going to make it. Only, neither one ever forgot Ty Benson. Now Lacey’s back to claim her inheritance. And her sizzling reunion with Ty has made her homecoming something to remember! Though not everybody’s thrilled to see Lacey alive and well…. And it’s up to Ty to make sure his childhood sweetheart doesn’t disappear again–this time for good!” -publisher Marrying Up by Jackie Rose “After writing her own obituary as an experiment, Holly Hastings realizes that her life isn’t exactly blazing a trail of glory. The twenty-eight-year-old is broke, bored at work and perpetually single. But after watching an old Marilyn Monroe movie she realizes what she can do about it: Marry a millionaire–and write about how to do it! This had to be the answer to the prayers of an obituary writer who’s spent more time lauding other people’s lives than living her own….” – publisher A Life of Bright Ideas by Sandra Kring “Nine years ago Button and Winnalee began recording observations in their Book of Bright Ideas, a tome they believed would solve the mystery of how to live a mistake-free life. Now it’s 1970, a time of peace, love, war, and personal heartbreak. Button’s mother is dead and her grieving father has all but abandoned his children. Quiet, thoughtful Button has traded college for a sewing job in her mother’s bridal shop to help her Aunt Verdella raise her whirlwind six-year-old brother. In Button’s free time, she writes letters to the boy she loved from afar through high school, hoping he will come to love her as more than a friend. Then, like that magical Wisconsin summer of ’61, Button is greeted with the wild, gusty arrival of Winnalee. Now a beautiful flower child, Winnalee is everything Button is not. She’s been to Woodstock and enjoys “free love,” but their steadfast bond of friendship is tested as Button begins to notice the cracks in Winnalee’s carefree façade. And then Winnalee’s mother arrives with a surprise that Button never sees coming, and the fiery determination to put things right in both families once and for all.” -publisher
