Today I am excited to share my Feature Post and Book Review for a wonderful new Women’s fiction story – WRITE MY NAME ACROSS THE SKY by Barbara O’Neal. An engaging read from start to finish!
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Life’s beautiful for seventysomething influencer Gloria Rose, in her Upper West Side loft with rooftop garden and scores of Instagram followers—until she gets word that her old flame has been arrested for art theft and forgery, and, knowing her own involvement in his misdeeds decades earlier, decides to flee. But that plan is complicated when the nieces she raised are thrown into crises of their own.
Willow, overshadowed by her notorious singer-songwriter mother, has come home to lick her wounds on the heels of a failed album and yet another disastrous relationship. Sam, prickly and fiercely independent, is on the verge of losing not only her beloved video game company but the man she loves, thanks to her inability to keep her always-simmering anger in check.
With the FBI closing in, Willow’s career in shambles, and Sam’s tribulations reaching a peak, each of the three woman will have to reckon with and reconcile their interwoven traumas, past loves, and the looming consequences that could either destroy their futures or bring them closer than ever.
WRITE MY NAME ACROSS THE SKY by Barbara O’Neal is a Women’s fiction story featuring two sisters and the aunt who raised them. They are all complex, independent, artistic women at crossroads in their lives. I read this book in one sitting and was engrossed with the women’s history and lives, both as a family unit and individually.
Gloria Rose has led an adventurous life as one of the first professional airline stewardesses, but she is ready to leave that life when her younger sister dies of an overdose and leaves her two young daughters alone. Now that the girls are grown, Gloria has become a septuagenarian influencer on Tik Tok, but her past actions have come back to haunt her and possibly land her in prison.
Sam is the eldest sister and has a brilliant mind for creating and coding computer games, but she has always had difficulty socially. She alienated her business co-founder and life-long best friend, Asher last year and now her business is foundering. As she searches for solutions, she becomes ill, and this may be the only thing that makes Sam realize what is truly important before it is gone.
Willow is an extremely talented musician, like her mother. She has avoided the pitfalls of her mother’s life but has a lack of confidence in herself after the low sale numbers of her first album. She returns home to regroup and finds the strength and confidence to continue with her dream when she meets another musician who sends her confidence and music soaring even as she deals with a lifetime of jealousy from her older sister.
I love these characters and all their realistic interactions. Even when they are fighting, they have each other’s backs. Gloria’s life is fascinating. She lived her life as she wanted too even before that was popular or even acceptable. Willow is a character that everyone can get behind and cheer on. Her early life was so chaotic and all she wants to do is be happy, make music and make others happy. Sam is as prickly as a cactus and pushes everyone away due to her upbringing and feelings. I was glad she had her revelations and HEA before it was too late, and I feel the author made it realistic by stating that she needed professional help to deal with and overcome her negative traits and feelings.
I read this book in one sitting and fell in love with these characters. It is an engaging story of family, love and the choices made by family members for their creativity. I am definitely looking forward to reading more of this author’s other books.
I can highly recommend this story of strong, independent women!
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About Barbara O’Neal
Barbara O’Neal is the author of more than a dozen award-winning, bestselling novels, including the runaway bestseller, When We Believed in Mermaids, which has been published in 20 countries and spent many months on the Amazon Charts, as well as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Washington Post bestseller lists. Barbara is an avid traveler and passionate cook, and she lives in the beautiful city of Colorado Springs with her husband, a British endurance athlete who vows he’ll never lose his accent. You can find more information on her newsletter and where to find her on social media at barbaraoneal.com.
For readers of Lilac Girls and The Lost Girls of Paris comes a captivating novel of resilience, as three generations of women battle to save their family’s vineyard during WWII.
Champagne, 1939
Gabrielle Leblanc Dupree is taking her family’s future into her hands. While she should be preparing for a lavish party to celebrate two centuries of champagne making, she secretly hides Chateau Fouché-Leblanc’s most precious vintages behind a fake wall in the cellar in preparation for the looming war. But when she joins the resistance, the coveted champagne isn’t the most dangerous secret her cellar must conceal…
A former Parisian socialite, Gabrielle’s mother, Hélène, lost her husband to another war. Now her home has been requisitioned by the Germans, who pillage vineyards to satisfy the Third Reich’s thirst for the finest champagne. There’s even more at stake than Hélène dares admit. She has kept her heritage a secret…and no one is safe in Nazi-occupied France.
Josephine, the family matriarch, watches as her beloved vineyard faces its most difficult harvest yet. As her daughter-in-law and granddaughters contend with the enemies and unexpected allies in their midst, Josephine’s deep faith leads to her own path of resistance.
Across years and continents, the Leblanc women will draw on their courage and wits, determined against all odds to preserve their lives, their freedom and their legacy…
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Elise’s Thoughts
The Widows of Champagne by Renee Ryan is the story of a family struggling to survive in Nazi occupied France. Three widows who lost their beloved husbands must now protect their livelihood, the Chateau Fouche-LeBlanc vineyard in Reims, after it was requisitioned by the Nazis.
The plot has wine merchant, Helmut Von Schmidt, now turned Nazi Captain in the Wehrmacht, requisitioning the LeBlanc home and stealing their wine for the German troops. Throughout the days he appears as Lord over the women and the manor.
But the three widows come up with a plan. Josephine, the family matriarch, a grandmother to Gabrielle, another widow, will use her early stages of dementia, appearing confused. She and Gabrielle appear to struggle for control over the vineyard so that Von Schmidt must have all his dealings with the granddaughter. Helene, Josephine’s daughter-in-law, has the worst chore, to be the social secretary and a mistress to Von Schmidt. Her two daughters, Gabrielle and Paulette, struggle to understand why their mother seems to have turned into a collaborator. Gabrielle fights to defend her vineyard and her country by joining the French resistance movement. She does not understand why she is both fearful and enchanted with Gestapo Detective Wolfgang Mueller, who searches out French citizens. Completely unlike Gabrielle, Paulette is young and selfish and has an SS boyfriend. The three widows struggle to keep each other alive, out of the Nazi grasp, and to make sure the Nazis do not find out their secrets.
This is a story of resistance, betrayal and heartache. It delves into the sacrifices and risks people will take to protect what they love.
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Elise’s Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for this story?
Renee Ryan: I was writing another WWII story and came upon how Hitler’s soldiers stole all these treasures including the French wine. Unfortunately, the wine was lost forever. Think about it, no one can ever get back or make, for example, a 1912 or 1867 wine.
EC: How did the wine and champagne play into the story?
RR: The story is set in and around a vineyard that is the LeBlanc family livelihood. The Nazi occupiers shipped all the wine to the front to give to the soldiers. It is based on a true story. A lot of widows ran these vineyards because they lost their husbands during WWI. For example, there were the widows Veuve Clicquot, Elisabeth Law de Lauriston Bollinger, and Marie-Louise Lanson de Nanoncourt.
EC: How would you describe the four women?
RR: Josephine is the boss until she realizes she is becoming confused. As the matriarch of the family, she has passed the running of the vineyards to her granddaughter Gabrielle. She is very courageous.
Helene is the former Parisian socialite who is witty, charming, and brave. She appeared to be a collaborator but is doing what must be done to save her family.
Gabrielle is the fighter and very responsible.
Paulette is spoiled and entitled. She represents those children who have yet to grow up.
All the women are trying to find their own way.
EC: How would you describe Von Schmidt?
RR: He is self-indulgent, self-promoting, and narcissistic. He used the war for his own purposes. Just like him, a lot of the SS men forwarded their own agenda. He is a bully, thief, controlling, opportunistic, and has no regard for women. He took away Helene’s dignity and independence.
EC: Helene was accused of being a collaborator, but she wasn’t?
RR: People make assumptions without asking the questions. It was assumed that these women were able to make choices, while for many it was their only choice. Survival for themselves or their family should be considered very noble, such as Helene. But there were also the ones like Coco Chanel, women more like Von Schmidt. Since I worked for Chanel for a time, I learned how she hated these Jewish brothers. The Nazi seizure of all Jewish-owned property and business enterprises, provided Chanel with the opportunity to gain back the full monetary fortune generated by Parfums Chanel and its most profitable product, Chanel No. 5. The directors of Parfums Chanel, the Wertheimer brothers, were Jewish. Chanel used her position as an “Aryan” to petition German officials to legalize her claim to sole ownership.
EC: You go into how some people were stuck in the Nazi controlled lands?
RR: This was the backdrop for Helene who decided to stay, thinking it would get better. Her father had begged her to leave with her mother and himself. They did get out, but when Helene wanted to leave it was too late.
EC: What about your next book?
RR: It is scheduled to be published in October 2022. It is a WWII European setting during the 1930s, early 1940s. An Austrian opera singer and a British romance writer joined forces to get the Jews out of Germany and Austria.
THANK YOU!!
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today is my turn on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour and I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for the audiobook edition of THE NINTH SESSION by Deborah Serani.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, the author’s bio and social media links and a Rafflecopter giveaway. Enjoy and good luck on the giveaway!
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Book Description
An edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller that brings a unique mix of psychotherapy and sign language and Coda culture. Just when you think you have it figured out, think again!
Dr. Alicia Reese takes on a new patient. Lucas Ferro suffers with crippling anxiety, and as sessions progress, he begins to share the reasons why he’s struggling. As Ferro’s narrative becomes more menacing, Reese finds herself wedged between the cold hard frame of professional ethics and the integrity of personal truth. And, finally, when Ferro reveals his secrets, Reese learns how far she’s willing to go, willing to risk and willing to lose to do the right thing.
THE NINTH SESSION by Deborah Serani is an edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller written and read in a unique style. The plot is revealed in a series of psychological therapy sessions, patient notes and self-reflection. I listened to the Audible audiobook version performed by the author herself and was captivated.
Psychologist Alicia Reese is scheduled to meet a new patient and finds him having an anxiety/panic attack in her office restroom. Lucas Ferro tells Alicia he has tried therapy before, but it never seems to work. With each new session, Lucas’s revelations become more menacing, and Alicia will have to choose between carrying on with his sessions, her professional ethics and/or doing the “right” thing.
I loved the way this story progressed and the unique way it was presented. Alicia is an interesting protagonist. Ms. Serani integrates Alicia’s history of having grown up in a CODA (Children of Deaf Adults) family, her still present grief at the death of her husband and her professional life all together in a memorable character. The plot follows Alicia’s sessions with Lucas and uncovering his history and secrets. As each surprise or twist is revealed, the threat and tension levels increase the pace to a realistic climax. This is a short standalone that I did not want to stop listening to.
I enjoyed Ms. Serani’s narration. It was clear with a steady pace. I was never confused with which character was speaking during her narration. I also enjoyed that during the “Note” sections of the story, the narration had a scratching noise in the background as if Alicia was truly writing while you are listening.
I highly recommend this psychological thriller!
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Author Bio
Deborah Serani, Psy.D. is psychologist in practice 30 years. She is also a senior professor at Adelphi University and has been published in academic journals on the subjects of depression and trauma. Dr. Serani is a go-to expert for psychological issues. Her interviews can be found at ABC News, CNN, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, Forbes, Reader’s Digest, The Washington Post and USA Today, and affiliate radio station programs at CBS and NPR, just to name a few. She is also a TEDx speaker and has lectured nationally and internationally. Dr. Serani has worked as a technical advisor for the NBC television show, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit – where a recurring character, Judge D. Serani, was named for her. Dr. Serani is an award-winning author, writing about psychological topics in many genres.
Seduced by her employer’s son, Evangeline, a naïve young governess in early nineteenth-century London, is discharged when her pregnancy is discovered and sent to the notorious Newgate Prison. After months in the fetid, overcrowded jail, she learns she is sentenced to “the land beyond the seas,” Van Diemen’s Land, a penal colony in Australia. Though uncertain of what awaits, Evangeline knows one thing: the child she carries will be born on the months-long voyage to this distant land.
During the journey on a repurposed slave ship, the Medea, Evangeline strikes up a friendship with Hazel, a girl little older than her former pupils who was sentenced to seven years transport for stealing a silver spoon. Canny where Evangeline is guileless, Hazel—a skilled midwife and herbalist—is soon offering home remedies to both prisoners and sailors in return for a variety of favors.
Though Australia has been home to Aboriginal people for more than 50,000 years, the British government in the 1840s considers its fledgling colony uninhabited and unsettled, and views the natives as an unpleasant nuisance. By the time the Medea arrives, many of them have been forcibly relocated, their land seized by white colonists. One of these relocated people is Mathinna, the orphaned daughter of the Chief of the Lowreenne tribe, who has been adopted by the new governor of Van Diemen’s Land.
In this gorgeous novel, Christina Baker Kline brilliantly recreates the beginnings of a new society in a beautiful and challenging land, telling the story of Australia from a fresh perspective, through the experiences of Evangeline, Hazel, and Mathinna. While life in Australia is punishing and often brutally unfair, it is also, for some, an opportunity: for redemption, for a new way of life, for unimagined freedom. Told in exquisite detail and incisive prose, The Exiles is a story of grace born from hardship, the unbreakable bonds of female friendships, and the unfettering of legacy.
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Elise’s Thoughts
The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline brings to life five women in nineteenth century Australia. All faced similar hardships struggling for redemption and freedom in this new society. They were mistreated and taken from a culture they knew. These women were all brought to their new lives against their will but showed strength and courage.
Evangeline, orphaned after her Vicar father died, found a job as a Governess. But the stepson living in the manor seduces her and shows her affection by giving her a family heirloom ring. The maid, Agnes, finds it and accuses her of stealing it. To make matters worse, she pushes Agnes and is now also accused of attempted murder. Found guilty she is sentenced to fourteen years in an Australian prison.
Olive, also a prisoner, befriends Evangeline. Accused of stealing, she received a sentence of seven years and transport to the Australian prison. She was street wise and knew what was needed to survive.
Hazel, a sixteen-year-old, was accused of stealing a silver spoon and sentenced to seven years in the Australian prison. She is a skilled midwife and herbalist, bartering her skills for goods and favors.
All three women are transported to Australia on the ship, Medea. They must struggle with sea sickness, avoiding sailor’s advances, and the harshness of the journey. Evangeline also must deal with being pregnant, the father being the stepson. She knows she will give birth to her baby while at sea.
Mathinna, the Aboriginal native, an orphaned daughter of the Chief of the Lowreenne tribe, has been adopted by the new governor of Van Diemen’s Land the setting for the Australian prison. She is used by the Governor’s wife as an experiment in civilization, trying to make her into a “lady.” Her life intersects with Hazel’s about two-thirds of the way through the book. Although Mathinna is not a convict, she like the other women is a prisoner with no control over their life.
Caleb Dunne is the doctor on the ship. Because of a misdiagnosis of a prominent woman, he decided to escape and signed up for the ship. Shy and feeling out of place he first forges a friendship with Evangeline, both enjoying the discussion of books. But later he and Hazel become friendly after he realizes her worth as a mid-wife. Their relationship becomes stronger as the story progresses.
The story fascinatingly allows the reader to follow the lives of these women in 19th Century Australia as they forge a new life with new opportunities. People will have their eyes open to pieces of history that are still pertinent today. It is obvious the author did her research and intertwined it into a riveting novel. Readers’ take a journey with these women and root for them as they gain strength and resilience.
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Elise’s Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?
Christina Baker Kline: I was inspired by a small article I read in a newspaper about criminal ships. The point of the article is how convicts then had it harder than today. I thought how parts of my life intersected with this story. I had a life-changing six-week Rotary fellowship to Australia. I taught in women’s prisons. I also wrote a book with my mother about the second wave of the women’s movement. A lot of the issues in this book are relevant today including the needed reform of the criminal justice system and the role of women in society. I think it is a hopeful story.
EC: Why the map in the front of the book?
CBK: I wanted to show the route from London to Van Diemen’s Land, renamed Tasmania. It is from the mid 19th Century. I hope readers get a sense of the wide-open places including the placement of the ports, an understanding of the geography. This is the setting where the convict women stayed.
EC: Why the Lowreenne Tribe?
CBK: I went to Australia and Tasmania before Covid. I learned when I arrived about the Aboriginal people who were essentially being pushed into open air concentration camps. By the late 1860s there was no full-blooded Aboriginal people left in Tasmania, out of thousands. I felt it would be irresponsible if I did not address it. Mathinna was a real person who died tragically at the age of seventeen. Everything I described in the novel actually happened to her.
EC: How would you describe Evangeline?
CBK: She was the perfect person to lead the reader into the story, in some ways a stand-in for the reader. Evangeline was naïve and emersed herself in books. The convict world was a shock for her. She was inquisitive, thoughtful, brave, and very lonely. She did not know how to survive as a convict because she was not tough so depended on Olive and Hazel.
EC: How about Hazel?
CBK: She had this “superpower” of healing; a knowledge learned as a mid-wife. Hazel knew how to balance things really well. She was savvy, caring, and angry at being abandoned. I think she goes through a change in the novel. At first, she was a mistrusting teenager, betrayed by her mother. As the story unfolds, she begins to trust more people and comes to love the baby, Ruby.
EC: How would you describe Olive?
CBK: Funny, irreverent, a comic relief, and does what it takes to get by in prison.
EC: What about the relationship between Dr. Dunne and Hazel?
CBK: He is called the “hot doctor.” As with Hazel, he also changes over time. He went on the convict ship because he needed work. At first, he befriends Evangeline who is more like him. Yet, over time Hazel and he realize they share an interest in medicine. He comes to respect her. All the class restrictions fall by the wayside.
EC: How would you describe the doctor?
CBK: A complex character. At times he could appear to be a jerk because he was dismissive, a snob, but overall caring.
EC: What was the role of the Quakers?
CBK: They believed the convicts were worthy of redemption. Elizabeth Fry was a real person who helped them. She was very judgmental because she thought they were sinners. She gave them a sense of dignity and treated them as human beings but was never 100% accepting.
EC: There are similarities with today’s topics?
CBK: Most of these women sent to Australia committed crimes of poverty. They stole to feed themselves and their family since there was no social safety net. These women fell through the cracks. The criminal justice system was brutal then. Back then the poor had no rights and were considered expendable. Legal counsel was only for the rich and the poor had no recourse. Evangeline was an example of someone without allies, resources, and representation.
EC: Why did the British courts sentence these women to prisons in Australia?
CBK: The goal of the British government was to populate Australia. It had a ratio of nine men to every woman. They were sent there under flimsy pretenses. Today, 20% of Australian descendants come from convicts. The Australian personality was forged within their convict past: irreverent, willing to take changes, and never took themselves very seriously. When out of prison, these women had opportunities they would never have had in Britain.
EC: Why the drowning scene?
CBK: I wanted to show how no life is sacred. I read books on drowning. Sebastian Junger who wrote the non-fiction book, The Perfect Storm describes in detail how someone drowns. This was very helpful to me with those scenes in the book.
EC: A powerful quote, “People we love live inside us, even after they’re gone.” Please explain.
CBK: In my novels I often talk about this. In Orphan Train the book begins with the line, “I believe in ghosts. They are the ones who haunt us. They are the ones that left us behind.” With both quotes I thought about the tree metaphor. I love the idea of years that pass, giving us a core of strength. The convict women were alone and had to draw on what they had internally. Even though they lost someone they still had a piece of them in their memories.
EC: What about your next projects?
CBK: My next book, probably out in 2023 will be set in the Civil War era in North Carolina. This novel has been optioned for a TV series by Bruna Papandrea. I will be an executive producer.
THANK YOU!!
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Leigh Coulton has worked hard to build what looks like a normal life. She has a good job as a defence attorney, a daughter doing well in school, and even her divorce is relatively civilised – her life is just as unremarkable as she’d always hoped it would be.
HIDES A DEVASTATING PAST
But Leigh’s ordinary life masks a childhood which was far from average… a childhood tarnished by secrets, broken by betrayal, and finally torn apart by a devastating act of violence.
BUT NOW THE PAST IS CATCHING UP
Then a case lands on her desk – defending a wealthy man accused of rape. It’s the highest profile case she’s ever been given – a case which could transform her career, if she wins. But when she meets the accused, she realises that it’s no coincidence that he’s chosen her as his attorney. She knows him. And he knows her. More to the point, he knows what happened twenty years ago, and why Leigh has spent two decades running.
AND TIME IS RUNNING OUT
If she can’t get him acquitted, she’ll lose much more than the case. The only person who can help her is her younger, estranged sister Calli, the last person Leigh would ever want to ask for help. But suddenly she has no choice…
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Elise’s Thoughts
False Witness by Karin Slaughter shows why she is one of the best for writing fabulous characters. This story has two sisters’ childhoods tarnished by secrets, broken by betrayal, and ultimately destroyed by a brutal act of violence as well as one of the sister’s tragedy of addiction. She was portrayed with empathy and grace by the author. This story is brutal, honest, real, and heartbreaking at times involving issues of rape, drug use, murder, and abusive violence.
Kudos to Slaughter for balancing the strong relationship between the sisters. Readers will grow attached to the sisters Leigh, Callie and Leigh’s husband, Walter, as he becomes involved to help them. Each of the sisters have taken a different route through life. Leigh Collier has worked hard to build what looks like a normal life after being sexually harassed as a child babysitter. She’s an up-and-coming defense attorney at a prestigious law firm in Atlanta, who would do anything for her sixteen-year-old daughter Maddy, while managing to successfully coparent through a pandemic after an amicable separation from her husband Walter. The other sister, Callie, is a drug addict, but sympathetically humanized. She was a child gymnast and cheerleader, who after suffering a broken neck, had constant back pain. Her childhood experience involved being groomed and regularly sexually assaulted by a violent pedophile while babysitting his 10-year-old son, and turning her into a heroin addict.
As Leigh is asked by her boss to defend a serial rapist, she is confronted with her past. When she meets the accused face-to-face, Andrew, she realizes that it’s no coincidence that he’s specifically asked for her to represent him. They know each other. Leigh wonders how much he knows about what happened over twenty years ago. The only person who can help her is Callie, the younger, estranged sister. With the life-shattering truth in danger of being revealed, she has no choice to involve Callie. The shocking twist at the end of the book will keep readers engrossed.
This complex plot has as its central theme, the heart of the relationship between Callie and Leigh. Both these heroines are believable, flawed, and courageous. The highly intense themes, along with the horrible graphic actions of the evil doers, makes for a riveting read.
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Elise’s Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Why write about the pandemic?
Karin Slaughter: I started with a character, Leigh Collier, who I thought about three years ago. I knew I was going to write a story during the pandemic. When the book was finished the vaccines came, so I knew I wanted to incorporate the virus into the story. It was fun and challenging for me as an author. I tried to make Covid exist, but not as an intricate part of the story. I made sure not to politicize it.
EC: There is a difference between the two sisters?
KS: Some have the luxury to keep themselves as safe as possible and some do not. To highlight this, I used the two sisters, Callie and Leigh. Callie always had to work. Because of her addiction she had to be on the streets. Having a disability made her vulnerable.
EC: Why the addiction angle?
KS: I wanted to humanize someone struggling with addiction. She had an emotional, mental, and physical addiction. Hopefully, I showed how we are really failing in how to handle addicts and help them. Callie figured out a way to help herself through maintenance doses. If only addicts could get levels that could help them function in society and eventually wean themselves off of the drugs. Instead of punishing the people into the ground we should look at ways people could get help.
EC: Drug addicts?
KS: The personality of the person must be considered. If someone is actually a good person who is controlled by addiction, they are still decent. If someone is a horrible jerk, addiction will definitely amplify it. We spend trillions of dollars on the war on drugs, which has failed miserably. Imagine if we spent that money on helping low-income students get better Internet, classrooms, schoolbooks, nutritional meals, and safe schools. This would be more useful.
EC: How would you describe Leigh?
KS: She experienced a horrific trauma with her sister when they both were younger. She is now a successful lawyer. But Leigh is a control freak, compartmentalizes people, never likes to feel powerless, and is a survivor. She presents a front to hide her guilt and deep vulnerability.
EC: How would you describe the bad guy, Andrew?
KS: My grandmother used to say, ‘if someone wants to be bad, they will find any excuse to be bad.’ He is definitely an illustration of that. Andrew is someone looking for a reason to justify the bad things he wants to do. He thinks he should be able to do whatever he wants in life because he is entitled to do it. He is cruel and likes to terrorize people. When I wrote that fish scene with him, I laid a foundation for his personality.
EC: Speaking of fish, there is some humor?
KS: I love puns and love to be silly. It was delightful time for me to make up all that stuff, such as “Anne Chovey, Genghis Karp, Mr. Dar-Sea, and James Pond.” I spent far more time than I care to admit on this.
EC: There is a quote about prosecutors and judges caring more about optics than justice. Please explain.
KS: Many prosecutors only take cases they think they can win. They plead out everything else. Many overcharge to get someone to plead out to a lesser charge. As voters we need to look at how the justice system runs. For example, women in prison are limited to the number of tampons and pads they can have.
EC: There is also a quote about losing someone. Please explain.
KS: You are referring to this one, “Your relationship with a person doesn’t end when they die. It only gets stronger.” Someone told me that after I lost my 9th grade teacher who I consider my mentor. She died about five years ago from cancer. I had all these memories of her. I remember our relationship and how important she was to me. The choices I make in the present are based on what she told me in the past.
EC: Your next book?
KS: It will have a murder and be out this time next year. A couple of characters from a previous stand alone will be back.
THANK YOU!!
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Beauty and glamour meet deception and revenge in this electrifying novel by New York Times bestselling author Amanda Quick.
Investigative apprentice Lyra Brazier, the newest resident of Burning Cove, is unsettled when her boss suddenly goes on a health retreat at an exclusive spa and disappears without another word. Lyra knows something has happened to Raina Kirk, and she is the only one who can track her down. The health spa is known for its luxurious offerings and prestigious clientele, and the wealthy, socialite background Lyra desperately wanted to leave behind is perfect for this undercover job. The agency brings in a partner and bodyguard for her, but she doesn’t get the suave, pistol-packing private eye she expected.
Simon Cage is a mild-mannered antiquarian book dealer with a quiet, academic air, and Lyra can’t figure out why he was chosen as her partner. But it soon becomes clear when they arrive at the spa and pose as a couple: Simon has a unique gift that allows him to detect secrets, a skill that is crucial in finding Raina.
The unlikely duo falls down a rabbit hole of twisted rumors and missing socialites, discovering that the health spa is a façade for something far darker than they imagined. With a murderer in their midst, Raina isn’t the only one in grave danger—Lyra is next.
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Elise’s Thoughts
The Lady Has A Past by Amanda Quick (the pen name for Jayne Krentz) is another winner. This historical novel explores California in the 1930s with riveting characters and a suspenseful mystery.
The plot has private investigator Raina Kirk disappearing after spending a night with her boyfriend Luther Pell. Her apprentice, Lyra Brazier, Luther, and his private investigator Simon Cage realize that Raina has traveled to the plush spa resort of Labyrinth Springs Hotel. Simon and Lyra team up, posing as a honeymoon couple, and check in to the hotel to try to find Raina. They become suspicious of those working and staying at the hotel, discovering that the health spa is a façade for kidnappings and ransoms. Both must watch each other’s back and race with time to find Raina before it is too late.
Lyra is a great character with an uncanny intuitive nature. She is fearless, smart, and works well under pressure. She realizes that she and Simon make a good team considering he senses emotions from objects. Although he gives off an aura of nerdiness, he is nothing of the kind and is very good at connecting the dots.
Readers will enjoy not one, but two relationships in the book. Raina and Luther’s feelings about each other are explored, while Lyra and Simon realize they care for each other deeply. Besides the double romance people will be treated to a gripping mystery, tidbits of 1930s California, and very captivating characters.
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Elise’s Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Why 1930s?
Amanda Quick: The whole fantasy side of California at that time was sold to the public by the movie studios. I have in my head the quick lines that were in the movies and the brilliantly written plots. I love that fast repertoire and the quick wit. This suits my style because I am a very dialogue driven writer. Everybody has a sense of what the 1930s California setting looks like. They are iconic.
EC: Did you do research?
AQ: I enjoy going through books and newspapers about that time-period, and picking up odds and ends, bits and pieces. I stumbled across what happened in the spas and cosmetic industry that were quite the rage in the 1930s. These made perfect settings for a murder. I got an interesting question in my mind, looked for an answer, and then one thing led to another.
EC: You explore the backstory on Raina?
AQ: A lot of people including myself have been curious about her. I have never explained her background until this book where it becomes an issue. She wants a sense of belonging after being in an abusive marriage. After coming to Burning Cove she wanted to leave the past behind. Raina must resolve her past to be free to really love Luther.
EC: How would you describe Lyra, Raina’s apprentice?
AQ: She is the siter of Vivian, the heroine of Close Up. Lyra is optimistic, smart, curious, and genuinely interested in people who respond and speak with her. She is also calm, sophisticated, and intuitive. Although coming from wealth and society she is now looking to be a private investigator. Basically, she is a half full person who is positive with good energy. When needed for the investigation she played a role of being dipsy, shallow, arrogant, and self-centered, but this is not really her.
EC: How would you describe Simon?
AQ: He was raised as an orphan and was shattered by the father figure who raised him. He is lonely, in control, and responsible. Simon has a talent for sensing emotions and finding energy left behind.
EC: How would you describe the relationship?
AQ: Simon considered Lyra unpredictable. They had to learn to trust each other to survive. Because of his past he is afraid to have a close relationship. Lyra is looking for someone who can accept her true personality and not see her as a society girl.
EC: What about the relationship between Luther and Raina?
AQ: They both have secrets they must give up, and then they need to understand how those secrets played into their past life. Physically they are a couple, but emotionally they tip toe around each other. In this story they make a giant step and move forward in their connection.
EC: You delve into the psychic, but it seems very believable?
AQ: There is nothing supernatural about it, but an extension of intuition on Lyra’s part. People who do not like reading about the supernatural are OK with the psychic element in the book. It is just one step beyond having it feel real.
EC: How about the setting?
AQ: It is a fake Palm Springs. In the 1930s, the Hollywood crowd discovered it. It had a resort atmosphere. There were therapeutic springs.
EC: What about your next books?
AQ: Out in November is the totally futuristic book I write as Jayne Castle. It has the Dust Bunnies, pets of the human inhabitants of the planet Harmony. I think they captured the hearts of many fans of this series, and I would not be surprised to see on my tombstone “the creator of the Dust Bunnies.” The book’s title is Vuild Voss.
The Jayne Krentz book is titled Lightning In A Mirror and comes out in January. It is the third book in the “Fog Lake Trilogy.” It is about a mysterious government project involving psychic experiments.
The Amanda Quick book comes out next May. I am working on it now. There will be a new set of characters except for the core characters Raina and Luther. The hero and heroine from previous books could make a cameo appearance but I do not repeat them as characters because their story is settled.
THANK YOU!!
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
