Book picks similar to
Braiding Roses by Elise Stoltenbreck
giveaways
romance
giveaway
fiction
The Last Collection: A Novel of Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel
Jeanne Mackin - 2019
Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli are fighting for recognition as the most successful and influential fashion designer in France, and their rivalry is already legendary. They oppose each other at every turn, in both their politics and their designs: Chanel's are classic, elegant, and practical; Schiaparelli's bold, experimental, and surreal.When Lily Sutter, a recently widowed young American teacher, visits her brother, Charlie, in Paris, he insists on buying her a couture dress--a Chanel. Lily, however, prefers a Schiaparelli. Charlie's beautiful and socially prominent girlfriend soon begins wearing Schiaparelli's designs as well, and much of Paris follows in her footsteps.Schiaparelli offers budding artist Lily a job at her store, and Lily finds herself increasingly involved with Schiaparelli and Chanel's personal war. Their fierce competition reaches new and dangerous heights as the Nazis and the looming threat of World War II bear down on Paris.
A Beginner's Guide to Free Fall
Andy Abramowitz - 2020
Brothers and sisters. Mothers and daughters. Okay, everybody. Hold on tight.
Davis Winger has it all. A respected engineer who designs roller coasters in theme parks across the country, he is deeply in love with his wife and has a beautiful young daughter and a happy home. Until an accident strikes on one of his rides. Nothing fatal—except to his career. And to his marriage, when a betrayal from his past inadvertently comes to light. In one cosmically bad day, Davis loses it all.His sister, Molly, is at a crossroads herself. She’s coasting through a dire relationship with an incompatible man-child. And she’s a journalist whose deeply personal columns about mothers and daughters are forcing her to confront the truth about her own mother, who abandoned Molly and Davis years ago and disappeared.For these two siblings, it’s just a matter of bracing themselves for one turbulent summer in this redemptive and painfully funny family drama about making the best of the sharp turns in life—those we choose to take and those beyond our control.
Hearers of the Constant Hum
William Pauley III - 2014
Although they incessantly hum the same nonsensical phrase ad nauseam, he can't help but think there must be some reason he alone can hear it. Now in his thirties, Krang's body is beginning to literally collapse in places, just as he discovers there may be other hearers of the constant hum. Convinced this is no coincidence, he sets out for answers, and manages to dismantle all he ever thought he knew about everything.
The Anxiety Code: Deciphering the Purposes of Neurotic Anxiety
Roger Di Pietro - 2014
It offers a textbook-level depth of exploration with easy-to-understand examples and encouraging dialogue. Just as many biological symptoms (e.g., pain, fever, sweating) serve various functions, the book investigates an intriguing question: What if anxiety symptoms aren't merely the effect of some cause, but also personality-based and purposeful means to achieve goals?
Another Five Patients
Melissa Crickard - 2019
When one of the resident physicians, Dr. Kip Paiva, becomes a critically ill patient herself, the team is forever changed. This suspenseful story of medical fiction traces foreign medical graduate Dr. Kip Paiva, an emigrant and survivor of human trafficking in post-apartheid South Africa. Her refuge from a Zulu militant captor comes to an end, as his brutal violence has finally tracked her across the ocean. While her past catches up to her, Dr. Paiva also becomes the scapegoat of a malpractice suit. Frightened for her and her son’s lives, Dr. Paiva begins a journey fueled by bottomless resiliency and a mother’s love. Her story intertwines through five others, all riveting, and all taking place in the busy Spectrum General Hospital in New York. Debut author Melissa Crickard uses this microcosm to illustrate larger aspects of modern medicine. Another Five Patients combines international intrigue and hospital politics with individual human stories involving hospital staff, patients, and their families. The result is a captivating, at times satirical, experience that reminds us that, whether doctor, mother, or child, we are all people, with flaws and emotions in a world of uncertainty.
The Fields
Erin Young - 2022
It starts with a body—a young woman found dead in an Iowa cornfield, on one of the few family farms still managing to compete with the giants of Big Agriculture.When Sergeant Riley Fisher, newly promoted to head of investigations for the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office, arrives on the scene, an already horrific crime becomes personal when she discovers the victim was a childhood friend, connected to a dark past she thought she’d left behind.The investigation grows complicated as more victims are found. Drawn deeper in, Riley soon discovers implications far beyond her Midwest town.
Let's Not Do That Again
Grant Ginder
Not that that’s her slogan, although it should be. This is what she’s worked so hard for over the years after her husband’s untimely death (which was definitely not her fault) and inheriting his seat in the House of Representatives. She’s said all the right things. Passed all the right legislation. Chapped her lips kissing babies. There’s just one problem: her grown children.Greta and Nick Harriman are adrift. Nick, recently heartbroken, is floundering in his attempts to write a musical about the life of Joan Didion (called Hello to All That). And then there’s his little sister Greta. Smart, pretty, and completely unmotivated by anything, allowing her life to pass her by like the shoppers at the Apple store where she works.But then one morning the world wakes up not to Nancy making headlines, but Greta. She’s in Paris. With extremist protestors. Throwing a bottle of champagne through a beloved bistro’s front window. In order to save her campaign, not to mention her daughter, Nancy and Nick must find Greta before it’s too late.Smart and poignant, funny and tear-jerking, Let’s Not Do That Again proves that like democracy, family is a messy and fragile thing that means more than any mother, or senator, could ever dream.
The Going Back Portal
Connie Lacy - 2019
So when her grandmother claims a Cherokee Indian woman is living on a neighboring farm, she dismisses it as early Alzheimer's. Because, obviously, there is no farm nearby. Not in the present anyway. But when she follows Nana's lead, Kathryn is transported back in time to the year 1840 where she finds a young Cherokee woman left behind when her family marched west on the Trail of Tears. Forest Water is ensnared in a perilous struggle to keep her ancestral lands against a violent white man who claims the farm, and then claims her as well. Desperate to help her new friend, Kathryn becomes entangled in a battle between good and evil with much higher stakes than she imagines.Each of these young women falls in love with a man from her own time, but there are threats, both seen and unseen, that could cost them their lives.
Caught in a Web
Joseph Lewis - 2018
The drug trade along the I-94 and I-43 corridors and the Milwaukee Metro area is controlled by MS-13, a violent gang originating from El Salvador. Ricardo Fuentes is sent from Chicago to Waukesha to find out who is cutting in on their business, shut it down and teach them a lesson. But he has an ulterior motive: find and kill a fifteen-year-old boy, George Tokay, who had killed his cousin the previous summer.Detectives Jamie Graff, Pat O’Connor and Paul Eiselmann race to find the source of the drugs, shut down the ring, and find Fuentes before he kills anyone else, especially George or members of his family. The three detectives discover the ring has its roots in a high school among the students and staff.
A Hundred Sweet Promises
Sepehr Haddad - 2021
Petersburg, Russia, in 1913. On the eve of World War I, Nasrosoltan embarks on a journey from his homeland, Persia, to study at the renowned St. Petersburg Conservatory in pursuit of his musical legacy. During this time, through a series of events beyond his control, he becomes acquainted with the Russian royal family and falls in love with a princess. Nasrosoltan suddenly finds himself in a battle between head and heart while being carried forward on a wave of destiny toward an uncertain future.
A Lancaster Family Christmas
Kate Lloyd - 2021
When a coworker invites her on a last-minute trip to visit her Mennonite family in Lancaster County, Diana jumps at the chance.Arriving in Amish Country in the middle of a snowstorm, Diana discovers a world that couldn’t be more different from her life on the Upper East Side. She is fascinated by the sprawling farms and buggies on the roads, but what she really notices are the welcoming families, cozy kitchens filled with home-cooked meals…and the two handsome men who may or may not be vying for her attention.But every community has its secrets. Jesse, the rakish young Amish farmer, is hiding more than just a forbidden cell phone. And then there’s handsome Brett, the guarded Mennonite craftsman who harbors a dark secret of his own.
Summer on the Bluffs
Sunny Hostin - 2021
Known for its gingerbread Victorian-style houses and modern architectural marvels, this picturesque town hugging the sea is a mecca for the crème de la crème of black society—where Michelle and Barack Obama vacation and Meghan Markle has shopped for a house for her mom. Black people have lived in this pretty slip of the Vineyard since the 1600s and began buying property in the 1800s, making this posh town the embodiment of “old money.”Every summer, Esperenza “Perry” Soto, a beautiful and talented Afro-Latina lawyer, escapes the fetid heat of New York City for the gorgeous weather, cool water, and stunning views Oak Bluffs offers. Sharing a cottage on the beach, owned by her “Ama”, with her husband and two god sisters, Perry is looking forward to trading meetings and clients for days of languor and fun.When Memorial Day arrives and the season begins, some of the nation’s wealthiest, most powerful, and famous from the worlds of politics, art, and entertainment meet to swim, dance, party, and chill. While a few can’t leave work behind, others indulge in a different kind of business affair. But this summer on the Bluffs is different. Ama is moving to the south of France to reunite with her college sweetheart. She is going to give the house to one of her goddaughters and she has invited all three of them to spend the summer with her the way they did when they were kids. Each of the women want the house desperately. Each is grappling with a secret that they fear will make them lose Ama’s approval and the house. . . .
My Remarkable Little Monkey
Mark Lages - 2017
It is a decision that will soon change his life. The capuchin monkey he purchases turns out to be more than just an ordinary little tree-swinging pet. This monkey, named Shakespeare, is exceptionally bright. Marty does everything he can think of to accommodate his furry brilliant friend, but it just doesn’t seem to be enough. Join Marty and his group of unforgettable friends as they try to give Shakespeare a proper upbringing in an unpredictable human-oriented world. In My Remarkable Little Monkey, the outlandish becomes a reality and the status quo becomes unbelievable. Once you are done reading, you’ll put this book down while scratching your head and wondering what just happened.
The Apology Project
Jeanette Escudero - 2021
She’s been fired for not compromising her principles in a high-profile case and then punching her partner in the nose for the misogynistic comment he made in retort (not her finest moment). Leaving a career that gave her purpose, Amelia can only ask, What next?Let it be better than her epic failure of a fortieth birthday party: an open bar full of no-shows except for John Ellis, a total stranger and the new associate at her ex-firm. As it turns out, though, he’s very good company—and a wake-up call. With the help of John and a lot of champagne, Amelia considers the people she’s wronged, from old besties to former boyfriends to coworkers. Amelia resolves to make amends—to those who really deserve it.One apology at a time, Amelia’s looking at the choices she’s made in the past, the new ones she’s making with John, and those she’s making for herself. What next? Maybe a second chance she never expected.
The Little Dog in the Big Plague
C.C. Alma - 2015
It is everywhere: in their new neighborhood, in their old apartment complex, and in the bodies of Ringo’s beloved family. What should a dog do when he survives a plague? Scared and confused, Ringo sets out on his journey.