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Colleen Oakley

Biography

Colleen Oakley

Colleen Oakley is the USA Today bestselling author of YOU WERE THERE TOO, CLOSE ENOUGH TO TOUCH, BEFORE I GO, THE INVISIBLE HUSBAND OF FRICK ISLAND and THE MOSTLY TRUE STORY OF TANNER & LOUISE. Colleen’s novels have been longlisted for the Southern Book Prize twice, and CLOSE ENOUGH TO TOUCH won the French Reader’s Prize. Her books have been translated into 21 languages, optioned for film and have received numerous accolades.

A former magazine editor for Marie Claire and Women’s Health & Fitness, Colleen’s articles and essays have been featured in The New York Times, Ladies’ Home Journal, Women’s Health, Redbook, Parade, Woman’s Day, Fitness, Health, Marie Claire and Martha Stewart Weddings. A proud graduate of the University of Georgia’s school of journalism, Colleen currently lives in Atlanta with her husband, four kids and a terrier mutt named Baxter.

Books by Colleen Oakley

by Colleen Oakley - Fiction, Women's Fiction

Twenty-one-year-old Tanner Quimby needs a place to live. Since she has no credit or money to speak of, her options are limited. So when an opportunity to work as a live-in caregiver for an elderly woman falls into her lap, she takes it. One slip on the rug. That’s all it took for Louise Wilt’s daughter to demand that Louise have a full-time nanny living with her. The two start off their living arrangement happily ignoring each other until Tanner starts to notice things. Why does Louise keep her garden shed locked up tighter than a prison? Why is the local news fixated on the suspect of one of the biggest jewelry heists in American history who looks eerily like Louise? And why does Louise suddenly appear in her room, with a packed bag at 1 a.m., insisting that they leave town immediately?

by Colleen Oakley - Fiction, Women's Fiction

Piper Parrish's life on Frick Island --- a tiny, remote town smack in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay --- is nearly perfect. Well, aside from one pesky detail: Her darling husband, Tom, is dead. When Tom's crab boat capsized and his body wasn't recovered, Piper did a most peculiar thing: carried on as if her husband was not only still alive, but right there beside her. Anders Caldwell’s career is not going well. But when he gets an assignment to travel to the remote Frick Island and cover their boring annual Cake Walk fundraiser, he stumbles upon a much more fascinating tale: an entire town pretending to see and interact with a man who does not actually exist.

by Colleen Oakley - Fiction, Romance, Women's Fiction

Mia Graydon's life looks picket-fence perfect. She has the house, her loving husband and dreams of starting a family. But she has other dreams too --- unexplained, recurring ones starring the same man. Still, she doesn’t think much of it, until a relocation to small-town Pennsylvania brings her face to face with the stranger she has been dreaming about for years. And this man harbors a jaw-dropping secret of his own --- he's been dreaming of her too. Determined to understand, Mia and this not-so-stranger search for answers. But when diving into their pasts begins to unravel her life in the present, Mia emerges with a single question: What if?

by Colleen Oakley - Fiction

Jubilee Jenkins has a rare condition: she’s allergic to human touch. After a nearly fatal accident, she became reclusive, living in the confines of her home for nine years. But after her mother dies, Jubilee is forced to face the world --- and the people in it --- that she’s been hiding from. She finds safe haven at her local library where she gets a job. It’s there she meets Eric Keegan, a divorced man who recently moved to town with his brilliant, troubled, adopted son. Jubilee is unlike anyone he has ever met, yet he can't understand why she keeps him at arm's length. So Eric sets out to convince Jubilee to open herself and her heart to everything life can offer.

by Colleen Oakley - Fiction, Women's Fiction

On the eve of what was supposed to be a triumphant “Cancerversary” with her husband, Jack, to celebrate three years of being cancer-free, Daisy suffers a devastating blow: her doctor tells her that the cancer is back, but this time it’s an aggressive stage four diagnosis. Terrified of what will happen to Jack when she’s no longer there to take care of him, Daisy resolves to find him another wife. But as the thought of her husband with another woman becomes all too real, Daisy is forced to decide what’s more important in the short amount of time she has left: her husband’s happiness, or her own.