Maddie Dawson recommends
Recipe for a Charmed Life (2024)Rachel Linden"Filled with suspense, magic, and mouth-watering descriptions of food, and set against a backdrop of a gorgeous island in the Pacific Northwest, Recipe for a Charmed Life brings us a spunky, gritty heroine who must try to reinvent herself after a devastating heartbreak. This beautiful story is a feast not to be missed!"What You Do To Me (2023)Rochelle B Weinstein"I love everything Rochelle Weinstein writes, and I am still swooning over What You Do To Me, a story brimming with suspense, rock music, forbidden love, and a heroine who is determined to uncover a decades-long secret. Sexy, sweet, and ultimately so satisfying - you need to read this one!" The Starfish Sisters (2023)Barbara O'Neal"Barbara O'Neal is at the top of her game. The Starfish Sisters is a gorgeous, heartfelt story about two lifelong friends who, now estranged, must battle their way back to each other after years of betrayals and jealousy and misunderstandings. Suze is a famous, world-traveling movie star who seems to have everything but love - while her former best friend, Phoebe, does art and nurtures the people around her. O'Neal has written a deeply harrowing, suspenseful, and ultimately loving book that explores the nature of women's friendships and the lengths to which we all will go to protect those we love from danger. I read it far into the night, and, yes, I wept a few tears along the way." Don't Forget to Write (2023)Sara Goodman Confino"From the moment that Marilyn Kleinman lures the rabbi's son into making out with her during services and they crash through the stained glass in full view of the congregation, we know we're in for a wild ride that's going to be nothing but fun. Sara Goodman Confino writes the kinds of books I love: hilarious, thought-provoking, and filled with shenanigans from characters I adore. I loved every minute I was reading this book - and oh my goodness, I was gobsmacked by the surprise twist at the end!" The Road Towards Home (2023)Corinne Demas"Corinne Demas is amazing! The Road Towards Home is about two opinionated, rigid, and, yes, curmudgeonly septuagenarians who will have you falling in love and rooting for them as they negotiate and argue their way to a last run at happiness. Noah and Cassandra are so believable that I'm certain I've been over at their house for dinner - and the dialogue between them made me laugh out loud and also shake my head at their stubbornness. I utterly adored this novel, which is filled with wisdom and generosity and heart, qualities that readers of all ages will appreciate." Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly (2023)Marie Bostwick"Marie Bostwick's latest, Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly, has everything I love: a funny, brave heroine who knows how to rock failure so well that she's writing a book after receiving 268 previous rejections, women helping each other, a lakeside resort in need of some BIG repairs, a loving and dysfunctional family--and caramel cake! And quilts! I read this wise, loving book in one sitting because I simply couldn't stop. And now I want a sequel!" Good for You (2023)Camille Pagán"I love everything Camille Pagan writes, and Good for You had me spellbound from the beginning. Aly Jackson is living the life of her dreams - except for a bit of PTSD and the grief she's kept hidden since her brother's death. When she falls apart in a very public way, she is forced to take a good, hard look at her life. Pagan takes us on a very moving, emotionally resonant journey as we root for Aly all the way." The Sweet Spot (2023)Amy Poeppel"Amy Poeppel has written a generous, funny, big-hearted book, and she's pulled off a miracle while doing it: she's brought us characters that feel absolutely real, with their flaws, their pesky human foibles, and their undying need for each other. THE SWEET SPOT is a story of love and family, filled with complications, twists and turns, brilliant art, delightful children, fantastic old people, and Greenwich Village. I couldn't put this book down, even for sleep. Even for tea! And now I want to read it all over again." Improbably Yours (2022)Kerry Anne King"In my next life, I want to come back in a world created by Kerry Anne King. She expertly weaves tales filled with love and suspense and flashes of magic into generous, fun stories of people finding their way through adversity and discovering the lives they were meant to live. Improbably Yours is just the best: an antidote for tough times. I loved it!" As Seen on TV (2022)Meredith Schorr"Meredith Schorr's As Seen on TV is a fun romantic comedy that has it all: a hunky guy who just might need some redeeming, an ambitious and misguided young woman who has something to prove, and a job for a major online magazine hanging in the balance. This book has plenty of laughs but also lots of wisdom about love, careers, and grabbing at the chance to be happy." Crazy To Leave You (2022)Marilyn Simon Rothstein"Crazy to Leave You is the funniest book I've read in practically forever. Lauren Leo, who's been jilted at the altar at forty-one, is sarcastic, lovable, brave, and drop-dead hilarious - in other words, perfect. As she makes her way through the humiliation of her postwedding world, not only does she have to deal with some pretty rough dieting decisions, but she's also got some needy sisters, a judgmental mom, a crazy work life, and waaay too many wedding presents. Plus, there's the really big question on everyone's mind: Is anybody ever going to love her again? Trust me: this book will have you snort-laughing from page one. Do not be drinking hot liquids while you read." Bad Luck Bridesmaid (2022)Alison Rose Greenberg"Bad Luck Bridesmaid is a hilarious, suspenseful, and romantic story of Zoey Marks, who discovers she's a jinx of a bridesmaid. Yep, she's zero for three when it comes to seeing her friends down the aisle. And yet, when she is determined to help her best friend, Hannah, get married--and realizes that she, herself, is in love for the first time, the fun begins. I read this book far into the night and kept my husband awake with my laughing. Alison Rose Greenberg has written a book that is a joy to read!" He Gets That from Me (2021)Jacqueline Friedland"Friedland has written characters who are so compelling and so lovable, and then she put them in the middle of such a suspenseful, entirely believable story of what can happen when modern-day technology complicates the most basic relationships between parents and a child. My heart was pounding as I read, far into the night. It's a must-read." The Seven Day Switch (2021)Kelly Harms"Kelly Harms has created a funny, zany story of two moms who drink some sangria with imported vodka and suddenly find themselves inhabiting each other’s bodies. (Think Freaky Friday with two grown women who don’t much like each other.) As she takes us on a ride exploring the ever-present ‘mommy wars’—starring one way-too-busy productivity-expert mom and a stay-at-home mother who has become the neighborhood carpooler—Harms very quietly brings us to some profound and unexpected truths about love and parenting and what makes a satisfying life. Written with Harms’s disarming humor and honesty, The Seven Day Switch is fun and funny—and leaves you with a powerful punch." This Secret Thing (2020)Marybeth Mayhew Whalen"When a suburban mom is arrested and jailed for prostitution, the emotional fallout is devastating to her shocked friends and neighbors, her family members, even the detective investigating the case. But no one is hit harder than her teenage daughter, who must figure out a way to cope. In This Secret Thing, Marybeth Mayhew Whalen has written a psychological thriller, with engaging characters and plot twists that kept me turning the pages long past my bedtime. I read it in one sitting because I simply couldn’t stop!" Rules for Moving (2020)Nancy Star"Nancy Star has written a beautiful, luminous novel filled with quirky characters so real you want to bring them home with you and give them some tea and a hug. This book has it all: an advice columnist who is struggling to follow her own best advice; an adorable little boy who has decided to stop talking; and an eccentric family that is burdened with secrets and rules. There is love and laughter and sweetness—and Star’s insightful writing and humor sweep us right to the heart of things. I loved every page!" The Other Family (2020)Loretta Nyhan"Ally Anderson has a problem any parent can relate to: she’ll do anything to save her daughter’s life. Kylie has severe allergies that seem to be getting worse. When Ally enlists the help of an unconventional doctor who has a protocol that might help, she finds more than she bargained for as she embarks on a journey that leads her to her birth family as well as a new philosophy of life and love. Written with Loretta Nyhan’s trademark humor and compassion, The Other Family is a beautiful, suspenseful story of hope standing up to fear in a world where we never have the control we wish for." 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