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Posts Tagged ‘Romance’

The Seafarer’s Secret

Secrets are revealed. Lies are exposed. And in order to have a future, William and Eva will have to delve into the past.

William Templeton, widower and police chief of Eden, North Carolina is working the scene of a local woman’s drowning when the body is found with an old gold coin in her pocket – identical to a coin that was discovered on Catherine’s body, his estranged wife, over a year ago. Catherine’s case, originally deemed a tragic accident, has been reopened, forcing William to step down as police chief.

Historian and Blackbeard expert, Eva Knightly, is brought into the investigation to help identify the coins and can’t understand why her good friend Catherine never mentioned anything about it. When more coins surface at a local church, Eva and William know it’s more than mere coincidence. With the entire town whispering about Blackbeard, cursed coins, and lost treasure, it becomes hard to separate what is true and what is a myth.

The Seafarer’s Secret is a thrilling cinematic mystery featuring the exigent slow-burning romance between William and Eva as they work together to reveal the secrets and lies of Eden, North Carolina. Though, in order to have a future, they’ll have to look deep into the past to keep from being a modern-day killer’s next victim.

Author: Carol Ann Collins

Paperback: $17.95 (ISBN: 9780825310287)

Ebook: $9.99 (ISBN: 9780825309076)

FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Amateur Sleuth

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Maribelle’s Shadow

The only thing that spreads faster than gossip in Palm Beach is news of a mysterious death.

As the editorial director of Palm Beach Confidential, Maribelle Barrows knows what lies beneath the glittering facade of the moneyed elite on Florida’s glamourous coast. Or does she?

When her adored and impressive husband, Samuel, dies suddenly, the secrets and lies between Maribelle and her sisters rise to the surface. Compounding the anguish, the authenticity of their socially ambitious mother and their lavish lifestyle of mansions, privilege and couture clothes is thrown into doubt. As their carefully constructed image unravels, each sister realizes she must fend for herself. While the pathway out is steep, it is worth any risk. Until the winner takes all.

Maribelle’s Shadow is a compelling tale of deception and what lurks beneath family loyalty, written by a nationally renowned observer of women’s relationships.

Author: Susannah Marren

Paperback: $16.95 (ISBN: 9780825310294)

Ebook: $9.99 (ISBN: 9780825309083)

FICTION / Women

311 pages

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Back to School Time: Coping with COVID

Tuesday, December 20th, 2022

Dr. Janet Gilsdorf, author of June release Fever, provides an informative and reassuring outlook on the pandemic for parents with children returning to the classroom.

Epidemics of nasty new germs are upon us; COVID, monkeypox, and hepatitis in children from adenovirus are the latest. In addition, old germs have raised their ugly heads (or will soon): polio, measles, and maybe the causes of other vaccine-preventable diseases. That’s a lot of worry for parents, especially since it’s back-to-school season and children will begin doing what they do so well: sharing with others—their ideas, their food, their dreams, and their infections.

My novel Fever also deals with the outbreak of an infectious disease in young children. That one actually happened in Brazil in 1984, and Fever offers a fictional depiction of the outbreak and the efforts of Dr. Sidonie Royal, a young physician-scientist, to figure it all out.

The outbreak in Brazil, called Brazilian Purpuric Fever or BPF, differed in many important ways from the current outbreaks. With BPF, the epidemic eventually burned out. While that definitely won’t happen with COVID, it may, in odd ways, happen with adenovirus-associated hepatitis and monkeypox. With BPF, all the affected children died while most children affected with modern epidemic microbes survive. The most important difference between BPF and COVID is that we have the means to prevent transmission of the COVID virus to children, and to treat serious infections if they occur.

The fact that such valuable tools are available to us, less than three years after the first appearance of SARS CoV 2 (the virus that causes COVID) is a miracle. Not a Biblical-type miracle, but the miracle of modern science and the scientists who developed the technology for RNA-vaccines over twenty years ago and then applied it to COVID when it emerged, and who built upon previous treatments to develop new anti-viral drugs and anti-inflammatory agents. We are so very fortunate this time. The next epidemic or global pandemic may not work this way.

So, as children return to school, we can be reassured that their COVID vaccinations will go a long way in protecting them from getting infected with SARS CoV 2. In addition, as that wily virus evolves and changes, we have additional tools to protect kids in school from newer, more transmissible SARS CoV2 variants. Children are very adaptable, and they manage masks much, much better than many adults do. Enlightened schools have updated their HVAC systems to maximize air-exchange in classrooms, thus diluting any viruses that find their way in. Newer vaccines are on the horizon.

Just as Dr. Sidonie Royal worked day and night to understand the BPF outbreak in Fever, physicians and scientists around the world are working day and night to more completely understand COVID and other contemporary epidemics, so that medical science can protect us and our precious children even better. We are indeed fortunate.

Order “Fever” Today!

Books That Should be Trending

Wednesday, September 21st, 2022

New blogger coming at you under the pen name, The BEAUpire Diaries. I am one of three interns at Beaufort Books this Fall 2022 and I will be starting my first blog post off by talking about what’s trending, what I’m loving after reading what’s been trending, and what should have gotten more attention as trends have passed along. 

Every few years, the book community seems to change what genre/theme of books is trending amongst readers. There is no predicting what those books will be, but once they’re trending they are suddenly everywhere until we’re all sick of them and onto the next “new” thing. In the early 2000s, vampire/supernatural books were the thing with Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, The Vampire Academy, Vampire Kisses, Eighth Grade Bites, and so many more. It then trends moved on to dystopian novels for a bit with some iconic movies following like The Hunger Games, Divergent, and The Maze Runner. As much as we would love to bring all those books back for the sake of nostalgia, they are (for now) meant to be left in the past. 

What I am really seeing as a trend in books nowadays is the cheesy rom-com with bright and colorful cartoon covers that all kind of look the same. However, I like others have yet again fallen for the trends and am loving and buying all the romance. 

Below you’ll find all books that I have loved reading, featuring a little bit of all the trendiest genres/themes — a few have done pretty well in the market, and there are some that deserve to do even better, but enjoy.

Lacie’s Secrets by Teresa Sorkin and Tullan Holmqvist

In no way am I biased by adding this book to what I’m loving, but one of our books, Lacie’s Secrets is one of the best spooky fall time reads to have on hand during these upcoming months of gloom. For readers and fans of Big Little Lies and The Haunting of Hill House, Lacie’s Secrets is a psychological thriller that takes place on the coast of Maine, when Kate’s sister disappears 18 years ago, and in the present time, her mother suddenly dies inheriting their estate motivating Kate’s return and the unraveling of secrets begins.

Buy Lacie’s Secrets

Alienated by Melissa Landers

Somewhere after the boom of dystopian titles, the sci-fi genre attempted to be the next big trend. The 5th Wave did well, but the others that followed lagged behind. Alienated by Melissa Landers was a book that I loved years ago romanticizing life living alongside aliens when Cara Sweeney falls for the first alien exchange student, Aelyx.

Buy Alienated

Bad Romeo by Leisa Rayven

With all of the swoon-worthy, new adult romance going around, I am surprised that this book hasn’t received its moment in the spotlight yet. This was the first adult romance book that I had read back when I was a senior in high school (six years ago) and I was so obsessed with it that I had my own fan cast. Bad Romeo follows the good girl meets bad boy trope when Cassie Taylor meets Ethan Holt while in acting school and they are cast to play Romeo and Juliet together.

Buy Bad Romeo

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

One of the most recently published and trending books that I wanted to feature is Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood. This is also an example of one of those iconic cartoon romance covers, but I guess they beat the romance covers that have shirtless, hairy men. Ali Hazelwood is well-known for her book, The Love Hypothesis, and a few others. I have yet to read this book, but I did buy it when it came out to add to my neverending TBR stack. Love on the Brain follows the enemies-to-lovers trope when Bee is offered her dream position with NASA the only setback being she is partnered with Levi Ward who has made it clear in grad school his feelings toward Bee.

Buy Love on the Brain

I am looking forward to continuing to work with Beaufort Books for the Fall 2022 term and writing more wildly interesting and creative blogs. The romance genre has always been a favorite of mine, so the blogs may lean heavier that way, but nevertheless. 

Sincerely,

The BEAUpire Diaries

Red Carpets and White Lies

In a city known for its never-ending parties, Miami socialite Leigh Anatole White’s annual Charity Ball, an extravagant star-studded benefit for troubled teens, is the most highly anticipated event of the season.

This year the pressure is on: At the tenth anniversary of the Ball, Leigh is going to give Miami one last blowout before relinquishing her title as hostess. With help from her committee, a few close friends, a masterful personal assistant and her supportive husband, Leigh is poised to deliver. Even the dirty secrets and entanglements of pseudo-friends, gossip girls, drag queens, and botoxed backstabbers, can’t slow her down.

When an influential art dealer shows up, offering to provide high-end artwork for the Charity Ball’s auction, Leigh is thrilled. This is just what the gala needs to set it apart from previous years, and after all of Leigh’s hard work, it looks as though the last Charity Ball may just live up to the hype. But as always in the world of Miami’s rich and shameless, a scandal is never far off, and this one hits everyone close to home.

About: Lea Black

Hardcover: $24.95 (ISBN: 9780825307485)

E-book: $24.95 (ISBN: 9780825307027)

Contemporary/Women’s Fiction

320 pages

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North of The Tension Line

Fiona Campbell is a newcomer to tiny Ephraim, Wisconsin. Populated with artists and summer tourists, Ephraim has just enough going on to satisfy her city tastes. But she is fascinated and repelled by the furthest tip of Door County peninsula, Washington Island, utterly removed from the hubbub of modern life. Fiona’s visits there leave her refreshed in spirit, but convinced that only lunatics and hermits could survive a winter in its frigid isolation.

In a moment of weakness, Fiona is goaded into accepting a dare that she cannot survive the winter on the island in a decrepit, old house. Armed with some very fine single malt scotch and a copy of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, Fiona sets out to win the dare, and discovers that small town life is not nearly as dull as she had foreseen. Abandoning the things she has always thought important, she encounters the vicious politics of small town life, a ruthless neighbor, persistent animals, a haunted ferry captain, and the peculiar spiritual renewal of life “north of the tension line.”

About: J. F. Riordan

Hardcover: $24.95 (ISBN: 9780825307348)

Paperback: $16.95 (ISBN: 9780825308291)

E-book: $4.99 (ISBN:9780825306679)

Contemporary Fiction

478 pages

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The Living Reed

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

Buck_Living_bowWith The Living Reed, Ms. Buck has created a story of Korea in transition to the modern world through her characters. The sweep of history and the excitement of great events provide only part of the book’s power: The story is of a closely knit family dedicated to the salvation of their homeland, the preservation of their culture, and a move into the modern world from the archaic ways of the past. Korea, the golden pawn in the midst of the past. Korea, the golden pawn in the midst of centuries of struggle between China, Russia, and Japan, is finally on the brink of becoming independent.

All major public events and characters are authentic—from the assassination plots early in the book to the landing of American troops at the end. The Living Reed is compelled by the vivid detail of a remarkable people and culture, the unveiling of three love stories, and Buck’s affinity for her subject.

Praise for The Living Reed

“To a wide public, this will be the most powerful and informative book Ms. Buck has written in some years. In Ms. Bucks skilled hands, The Living Reed becomes a novel that glows.” – Book Week

About the Author: Pearl S. Buck

ISBN: 978-1-55921-022-5
480 pages
$14.95

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