Book picks similar to
The Wise Women of Havana by José Raul Bernardo
cuba
contemporary
beverly-recs
historical-fic
The Hideaway
Lauren K. Denton - 2017
She intends to quickly tie up loose ends then return to her busy life and thriving antique shop in New Orleans. Instead, she learns Mags has willed The Hideaway to her and charged her with renovating it—no small task considering her grandmother’s best friends, a motley crew of senior citizens, still live there.Rather than hurrying back to New Orleans, Sara stays in Sweet Bay and begins the biggest house-rehabbing project of her career. Amid drywall dust, old memories, and a charming contractor, she discovers that slipping back into life at The Hideaway is easier than she expected.Then she discovers a box Mags left in the attic with clues to a life Sara never imagined for her grandmother. With help from Mags’s friends, Sara begins to piece together the mysterious life of bravery, passion, and choices that changed her grandmother’s destiny in both marvelous and devastating ways.When an opportunistic land developer threatens to seize The Hideaway, Sara is forced to make a choice—stay in Sweet Bay and fight for the house and the people she’s grown to love or leave again and return to her successful but solitary life in New Orleans.
Coming Home
Stacy Hawkins Adams - 2012
Her heart torn between her ex's pain and the promise of a new love, Dayna must ask: Can she help the man who devastated her? And will helping him threaten her newfound love? In Coming Home, Stacy Hawkins Adams boldly explores the limits of loyalty and unconditional love.
Annie Beaton's Year of Positive Thinking
Mink Elliott - 2020
Get a new man. Get a new LIFE!It’s Annie Beaton’s 50th birthday! But instead of getting roses and perfume, she gets sacked, her son, Ben, tells her she’s growing a beard and her husband Joe tells her he wants a divorce.Moving to the countryside to stay in her eccentric aunt’s house, Annie must find her mojo again – and fast. So when she discovers a stack of self-help books, Annie vows to use their advice – from Chicken Soup for the Soul to The Secret – to get her life back on track. Never mind that her 9-going-on-19-year-old daughter, Izzy, is currently engaging Annie in psychological warfare and her adorable 6-year-old son, Ben, spends more time wetting the bed than making friends at his new school…But now, armed with a load of affirmations/inspirational quotes/positive vibes, Annie’s determined to kick her Crappy Old Year to the kerb and have a brilliantly Happy New Year. Just as soon as she’s had her chin waxed…
A Sister's Gift
Giselle Green - 2010
Best of friends. Worst of enemies. Hollie Hudson and her husband Richard are fast losing hope…Despite her infertility, Hollie is unable to give up her dream of having her own family and so calls on her last chance - her wayward half-sister. 24-year-old blonde bombshell Scarlett is the antithesis of her darker, more reserved older sister and capable of giving Hollie the miracle she so desperately desires.Having single-handedly bought Scarlett up after their runaway mother abandoned them, Scarlett knows she owes Hollie everything - and now it's time to pay her back with the ultimate gift…After a number of unsuccessful IVF attempts, the doctor advises that Scarlett and Richard try the natural method to conceive. Scarlett hides her delight as she has always harboured a secret crush on Richard, and Hollie is desperate to try anything. However Richard baulks at the idea, realising the problems it will cause later on…While Hollie is delighted when Scarlet later falls pregnant, little does she know that she may be bringing a child into a shattered family which harbours secrets and dangerous desires.Find out more in this mesmerising and heartbreaking tale from a stunning British talent about sacrifice, sisterhood and the ultimate gift.
Just Destiny
Theresa Rizzo - 2014
They had the perfect marriage, until a tragic accident leaves Gabe brain dead and her world in ruins.Devastated by grief, she decides to preserve the best of their love by conceiving his child, but Gabe’s family is adamantly opposed, even willing to chance exposing long-held family secrets to stop her. Caught in a web of twisted motives and contentious legal issues, Jenny turns to best friend and attorney, Steve Grant. Steve wants to help Jenny, but he has reservations and secrets of his own. When something so private and simple turns public and complicated, will Jenny relent? What is Steve willing to sacrifice to help Jenny?
When We Found Home
Susan Mallery - 2018
Still, Callie Smith doesn't know how to feel when she discovers she has a brother and a sister--Malcolm, who grew up with affection, wealth and privilege, and Keira, a streetwise twelve-year-old. Callie doesn't love being alone, but at least it's safe. Despite her trepidation, she moves into the grand family home with her siblings and grandfather on the shores of Lake Washington, hoping just maybe this will be the start of a whole new life.But starting over can be messy. Callie and Keira fit in with each other, but not with their posh new lifestyle, leaving Malcolm feeling like the odd man out in his own home. He was clever enough to turn a sleepy Seattle mail-order food catalog into an online gourmet powerhouse, yet he can't figure out how to help his new sisters feel secure. But affection isn't Malcolm's strong suit...until a beautiful barista teaches him that an open heart, like the family table, can always make room for more.In this emotional, humorous and heartfelt story, Susan Mallery masterfully explores the definition of a modern family--blended by surprise, not by choice--and how those complicated relationships can add unexpected richness to life.
Flying Fossils (Women of Fossil Ridge Book 1)
Lynne Gentry - 2018
For twenty-five years, they've gone their separate ways and lived separate lives. But when Sara's fall breaks her hip and leaves her unable to care for herself, her daughter is forced to return to Texas. Charlotte’s short-term care-giving plan is dashed when she realizes her difficult mother needs long-term care. While Sara struggles to regain her independence, Charlotte grapples with the impossible task of juggling a high-pressure job, a rebellious teenage daughter, and a slightly demented mother. The Women of Fossil Ridge Series is a heartwarming addition to the small town, generational series of favorite authors like Ann B. Ross, Jan Karon, and Beth Hoffman. Gentry’s small-town sagas are a masterful peek into what it takes to resuscitate a mother-daughter relationship. Series sparkles with humor, heart, and southern charm. ~Amazon Reviewer Gentry is one to watch. ~RT Reviews Books in the Women of Fossil Ridge series: #1 Flying Fossils #2 Finally Free #3 First Frost If you loved FLYING FOSSILS, you'll enjoy Gentry's Mt. Hope Southern Adventures series. Out of the dust of West Texas comes another set of heartwarming books that will have you laughing until you cry. Books in Mt. Hope Southern Adventures series: #1 Walking Shoes #2 Shoes to Fill #3 Dancing Shoes #4 Baby Shoes
The Curvy Girls Club
Michele Gorman - 2014
Fed up with always struggling to lose weight, they ditch the scales and start a social club where size doesn’t matter. At the Curvy Girls Club, confidence is the new black. Soon it’s the most popular place to be – having fun instead of counting carbs – and the women suddenly find their lives changing in ways they never imagined.But the club can't stop real life from messing things up. Will these best friends manage to stick together through thick and thin?
Dreams of Falling
Karen White - 2018
But when she finds out that her mother has disappeared, she knows she has no choice but to return to the place that she both loves and dreads--and to the family and friends who never stopped wishing for her to come home. Ivy, Larkin's mother, is discovered in the burned-out wreckage of her family's ancestral rice plantation, badly injured and unconscious. No one knows why Ivy was there, but as Larkin digs for answers, she uncovers secrets kept for nearly 50 years. Secrets that lead back to the past, to the friendship between three girls on the brink of womanhood who swore that they would be friends forever, but who found that vow tested in heartbreaking ways.
The Year We Turned Forty
Liz Fenton - 2016
This time around, she’s determined to bury the secret of Lucas’ paternity, and to repair the fissures that sent her wandering the first time. Gabriela regrets that she wasted her most fertile years in hot pursuit of a publishing career. Yes, she’s one of the biggest authors in the world, but maybe what she really wanted to create was a family. With a chance to do it again, she’s focused on convincing her husband, Colin, to give her the baby she desires. Claire is the only one who has made peace with her past: her twenty-two year old daughter, Emily, is finally on track after the turmoil of adolescence, and she's recently gotten engaged, with the two carat diamond on her finger to prove it. But if she’s being honest, Claire still fantasizes about her own missed opportunities: a chance to bond with her mother before it was too late, and the possibility of preventing her daughter from years of anguish. Plus, there’s the man who got away—the man who may have been her one true love. But it doesn’t take long for all three women to learn that re-living a life and making different decisions only leads to new problems and consequences—and that the mistakes they made may, in fact, have been the best choices of all…
The Marvelous Monroe Girls
Shirley Jump - 2022
Sales are down at her vintage dress shop, her beloved grandmother isn’t her usual spunky self, and Gabby desperately misses the closeness she had with her sisters, Margaret and Emma—who were once so inseparable that their family called them the Monroe Musketeers. When the sisters stumble across a stash of letters that reveals their grandmother’s secret life, Gabby sees an opportunity to bring the sisters back together again and best of all, raise her grandmother’s spirits. And sure, this new project makes it easier to pretend her own life isn’t crashing around her, but concentrating on helping everyone else and ignoring her own feelings is what Gabby does best.Except when it comes to Jake Maddox. Once the boy next door she crushed on—hard—he’s grown into an even more intriguing man, and her attraction to him isn’t so easy to hide. It’s clear he’s just as interested in her, but dating Jake would only muddy up her already complicated life. Or is it finally time to put herself first and risk it all for a chance at happiness?
Shadows On The Water
Elizabeth Cadell - 1958
Verney liked her cabin-mate, Lindy Barron. The pretty widow reminded her of her own daughter, as she watched the young girl gaily strolling the decks with Neil Harper. And she was happy both were bound for Lisbon -- Lindy to see her father, Neil to work for him -- until she saw they were falling in love.But ashore they arrived to a chilling reality. William Barron doesn't show up to meet his children when the ship arrives in Lisbon. Their father had vanished. There were evasive answers, threatening letters....and only Mrs. Verney -- and perhaps Neil -- to trust.When Mrs. Verney realises that she can't leave Lindy and Rex with no one to turn to, so she chooses to stay. But, in staying by her new friend, Kate missed her boat, uncovered a shocking murder plot in the very best circles of Lisbon, and, in the end, maybe a new love for herself.
Definitely Fine
Amy Lavelle - 2021
Perfect for fans of Dolly Alderton, Holly Bourne and Emma Straub.
Shore Lights
Barbara Bretton - 2003
Maddy Bainbridge left her Jersey Shore home town right after high school, determined to put as many miles as possible between herself and her many meddling relatives.Now she's back in Paradise Point -- an unemployed single mother whose only option is to accept her mother Rose's offer of a job and a place to live.But it doesn't take Maddy long to discover that the things about your mother that made you crazy at 17 make you even crazier at 32. Rose's critical comments bring out Maddy's inner teenager and by the beginning of December, the end is in sight. Maddy would stay there at the Candlelight Inn, her mother's popular B&B, through Christmas for her daughter Hannah's sake, but once the New Year rolled around… And then fate, in the form of an online auction battle over a Russian samovar that looks like Aladdin's lamp, brings home-town hero Aidan O'Malley into her life and suddenly Maddy begins to believe anything is possible.A child's dreams, an old woman's memories, the joys and heartaches that come with being part of a family, the thrill of new love and the deep comfort of love that stood the test of time -- it all comes together that one special holiday season when even the most battered hearts open just wide enough to let a miracle or two slip through.USA Today bestselling author Barbara Bretton has been hailed as a "monumental talent" (Affaire de Coeur) and now she delves deeply into the mysteries of family and shows us that even the most independent woman is still a daughter at heart.Home: it's where your story starts.(Previously published by Berkley Books)