Women's Fiction Author Spotlight

Anne Girard, author of Platinum Doll

It's the Roaring Twenties, and 17-year-old Harlean Carpenter McGrew has run off to Beverly Hills. There, she has everything a girl could want, except an outlet for her talent. But everything changes when a dare pushes her to embrace her true ambition --- to be an actress on the silver screen. With her timeless beauty and striking shade of platinum-blond hair, Harlean becomes Jean Harlow. And as she's thrust into the limelight, Jean learns that this new world of opportunity comes with its own set of burdens.

Paula McLain, author of Circling the Sun

Beryl Markham's unconventional upbringing transforms her into a bold young woman with a fierce love of all things wild and an inherent understanding of nature’s delicate balance. But when everything Beryl knows and trusts dissolves, she is catapulted into a string of disastrous relationships. Beryl forges her own path as a horse trainer, and her uncommon style attracts the eye of the Happy Valley set. But it’s the ruggedly charismatic Denys Finch Hatton who ultimately helps Beryl navigate the uncharted territory of her own heart.

Emilie Richards, author of The Color of Light

Minister Analiese Wagner's commitment to her parishioners has never been seriously tested until the frigid night she encounters a homeless family huddling in the churchyard. Offering them shelter in a vacant parish house apartment and taking teenage Shiloh Fowler under her wing, she tests the loyalty and faith of her congregation. Isaiah Colburn, the Catholic priest who was her first mentor and the man she secretly longed for, understands her struggles only too well. At a crossroads, he suddenly has reappeared in her life, torn between his priesthood and his growing desire for a future with Analiese.

Mary Kay Andrews, author of Beach Town

Greer Hennessy, a movie location scout, must find the perfect undiscovered beach town for a big budget movie. She zeroes in on a sleepy Florida panhandle town but finds a formidable obstacle in the town mayor, Eben Thibadeaux. A born-again environmentalist, he has seen massive damage done to the town by a huge paper company and has no intention of letting anybody screw with his town again. The only problem is that he finds Greer way too attractive for his own good, and knows that her motivation is in direct conflict with his.

Sarah Vaughan, author of The Art of Baking Blind

In 1966, Kathleen Eaden, cookbook writer and wife of a supermarket magnate, published The Art of Baking, her guide to nurturing a family by creating the most exquisite pastries, biscuits and cakes. Now, five amateur bakers are competing to become the New Mrs. Eaden. As unlikely alliances are forged and secrets rise to the surface, making the choicest pastry seems the least of the contestants' problems. For they will learn --- just as Mrs. Eaden did before them --- that while perfection is possible in the kitchen, it's very much harder in life.

Lisa Genova, author of Inside the O'Briens

A devoted husband, proud father of four children in their 20s, and respected police officer, Joe O'Brien begins experiencing bouts of disorganized thinking, uncharacteristic temper outbursts, and strange, involuntary movements. He initially attributes these episodes to the stress of his job, but as these symptoms worsen, he agrees to see a neurologist and is handed a diagnosis that will change his and his family’s lives forever: Huntington’s disease.

Holly Brown, author of Don't Try To Find Me

Don’t try to find me. Though the message on the kitchen white board is written in Marley’s hand, her mother Rachel knows there has to be some other explanation. Marley would never run away. As the days pass and it sinks in that the impossible has occurred, Rachel and her husband Paul are informed that the police have “limited resources.” If they want their 14-year-old daughter back, they will have to find her themselves.

Katherine Center, author of Happiness for Beginners

A year after getting divorced, Helen Carpenter lets her annoying brother talk her into signing up for a wilderness survival course. When she discovers that her brother’s even-more-annoying best friend is also coming on the trip, she can’t imagine how it will be anything other than a disaster. Thus begins the strangest adventure of Helen's life: three weeks in the remotest wilderness of a mountain range in Wyoming, where she will survive mosquito infestations, a surprise summer blizzard, and a group of sorority girls.

Sylvia True, author of The Wednesday Group

Gail. Hannah. Bridget. Lizzy. Flavia. Each of them has a shameful secret, and each is about to find out that she is not alone. As the women share never-before-uttered secrets and bond over painful truths, they work on coming to terms with their husbands’ addictions and developing healthy boundaries for themselves. Meanwhile, their outside lives become more and more intertwined, until, finally, a series of events forces each woman to face her own denial, betrayal and uncertain future head-on.

Susan Mallery, author of The Girls of Mischief Bay

In this first novel of a brand new series from New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery, three women at different stages in life come together in the beautiful seaside town of Mischief Bay, California, to provide solace and support through shared laughter and tears, proving that when all else fails, you always have your friends.

You are here:

Women's Fiction Author Spotlight

Vote in Our Poll

Word of Mouth

A Note from Carol

Coming Soon

Bookreporter.com Bets On

New in Paperback

Books On Screen

Reading Group Guides