Day: February 3, 2022

Denial: A Memoir: The Powerless Series by Lela Fox

There was nobody left to blame.
I fought like hell, but alcohol took control, drink by drink.
It took just a few nights in the college dorm to realize that ho-hum student binges were too lame for me.
Alcoholic thinking created an intricate plan to cure my drinking problem, a plan to kill the weakness.
Then all would be hunky-dory, right?
As the second installment in the series, Denial begins with my disastrous college years, and the pain of knowing that I didn’t fit in there, either. Still, I rolled with the punches and came up laughing.
Because I had a plan.

Thinking myself wise and incredibly mature, I decided marriage and motherhood would cure my alcoholism, and I forced it, barreling over anything that stood in my way. Marriage #1 was a fight against Andy’s simple immaturity. I tried to cure him, too.
That didn’t work out so well.

The white picket fence I dreamed of collapsed, and I heard the distant squeal of a downward spiral. Fear simmered in the nightmare I’d created.

The Powerless series is a memoir told as a story; a story so twisted that it took seven books to reveal it all.

Denial the second stop on the whirlwind ride through five fucked-up decades of my life – a zany story about getting drunk, getting sober, and the quest for grace.

Harriet: A Jane Austen Variationby Alice McVeigh

“McVeigh’s plotting and prose are pitch-perfect” (Publishers Weekly)

Harriet is an intriguing and original ‘take’ on Jane Austen’s immortal Emma, by Publishers Weekly’s 2021 BookLife Prize quarterfinalist, Alice McVeigh.

Emma, a privileged young heiress, decides to mentor Harriet Smith, a pretty boarding-school pupil, and to matchmake her as eligibly as she can… But how is she to guess that Harriet has a secret?

Meanwhile, the brilliant, penniless Jane Fairfax consents to a clandestine engagement with Frank Churchill – though not daring to confess, even to him, that she is being relentlessly pursued by her best friend’s husband.

Harriet sidelines Emma herself in favour of the ingenious Harriet and the fascinating Jane Fairfax. It is Emma – but an Emma with a surprisingly believable twist in its tail.

“A dynamic take on a revered classic. This is still Austen’s Emma—but the story that unfolds through the recollections of these two ‘side’ characters feels remarkably fresh… With or without an understanding of Emma, Harriet contains a fully formed narrative that should satisfy even the choosiest Austen fans… Readers will rarely find the words ‘page-turner’ and ‘Jane Austen’ in the same sentence, but McVeigh’s impeccably written Harriet certainly fits the bill.” (IndieReader editorial review)

“An enchanting recreation of Austen’s world” (author James Conroyd Martin)

The Last Standby Lorhainne Eckhart

The law is the law until someone comes after your family.

From New York Times & USA Today bestselling author Lorhainne Eckhart comes a new Billy Jo McCabe mystery set on a small island town in the Pacific Northwest. On the eve of Police Chief Mark Friessen’s wedding, a fierce snowstorm blankets the island, knocking out power, and the body of a woman is discovered in the church. The only clue is the note in her hand, a list of names—all members of Mark’s family.

Mark Friessen has been counting down the days to his wedding to Billy Jo McCabe. Yet only days from Christmas, after their families arrive, a freak blizzard comes out of nowhere and knocks out power on the entire island.

With the island in an emergency and the ferry shut down, no help is arriving anytime soon from the mainland. Mark receives a call to stop into the church where he and Billy Jo are planning on being married the next day, but there he stumbles upon the body of a woman. The only evidence is a note she’s clutching. At the top, in all bold, is the word KILL, and listed below are the names of everyone he loves, including Billy Jo, his parents, his brothers, their wives, and his two nieces.

With access to the outside world cut off, Mark finds himself up against an invisible enemy who he believes is coming after his unsuspecting family. But Mark has no idea who it is. Where is the killer hiding on the island, why isn’t Mark’s name on the list, and who is the dead woman? Mark is determined to find the killer and protect his family, whatever it takes…even if it’s his Last Stand.

Building in Bronze: Creating the Future through Healing the Past by Cayla Pothan

Building in Bronze is an inspirational manifesto written by a woman who has never stopped dreaming and working to create space in the world where she could live her most authentic life. Cayla Pothan created just such a space, and in the process, discovered how to share her insights with other people who long to live with joy and purpose. After a difficult journey from a childhood of feeling trapped in a victim mindset, she emerged into a life filled with creativity and growth, eventually founding the Tootsie Gallery. Tootsie is a symbol of the dreams and creativity in the life of the child. As an artist, mentor, coach, gallery owner, and community builder, she reaches out to help others find purpose by getting in touch with the child within. Readers who may have lost sight of their own dreams, lacking purpose or creative outlets, will find inspiration to re-engage with their creative energies and the courage to chase those lovely dreams.