The Scent of Jasmine
What inspired The Scent of Jasmine? I work at home, which means that I get to know the mail carrier. “Got a good one here,” I remember his saying one day as he handed me the pile. On top was a letter with my name in elaborate script and perfume rising from within. It turned out to be from an invitation to a wedding shower on a floral theme, and it spawned one happy bride and one treasured book.
The Scent of Jasmine was originally published under the name Jasmine Sorcery, but given the current popularity of the paranormal, we feared confusion. Pepper MacNeil, the heroine of The Scent of Jasmine, is the mail carrier in a small town in Maine, and though the newest patron on her route is fixing up a very old house, there is nothing supernatural about it. She drives a Rabbit, has a huge collection of records, and is waiting for the pictures to be developed from her recent trip. In these regards and others, The Scent of Jasmine is vintage. Accept that, and you’re in for a treat.
The Forever Instinct
The back story of The Forever Instinct is a long-standing rivalry between two fabled football quarterbacks. What inspired my writing this? I could say it was my dad, who believed that his young daughters should understand football, so took us to one game a year at Harvard Stadium, during which he tried to explain the game. I could also say it was my own family – husband and three sons – all of whom love the game, meaning that the tv is rarely off on weekends. I could even say it was my totally feminine appreciation of the lean-hipped, broad-shouldered quarterbacks on said tv.
Whatever, The Forever Instinct is vintage. I wrote it in the days of Dan Marino, Joe Montana, and Boomer Esiason. These were also the days when, if you were flying, a loved one could walk you to the gate, hug you there, and stand at the window, throwing kisses and waving as the plane pulled away from the gate. Oh yes, I’m a romantic. True to that, The Forever Instinct does have a happy ending, but that isn’t to say I wasn’t crying my heart out at the end.
Straight From the Heart
What struck me most as I reread Straight From the Heart was the fact that it focuses on two elements that appear often in my current work – namely, medical problems and the emotional issues they cause. The heroine of this book has a condition that deeply affects her life, but one that can be corrected if she can get past her fear. Here, of course, is a vintage moment. Had she been born with this condition today, it would have been corrected in childhood. Hospital stays were much longer back then, testing far less sophisticated. We’ve come so far!
Other vintage moments in Straight From the Heart? The heroine, who loves music, is a fan of Wham! and Duran Duran. Does that take you back? How about the fact that there are no cell phones? For someone with a medical condition, this would be a major drawback, don’t you think?
My heroine lives in Chester, Connecticut. I remember driving there to get a feel for the setting, and loving it. She is also a crafts person. Those of you who follow me know that I am, too, so this was a good fit. I hope you’ll agree.
First Things First
What inspired First Things First? Most notably, a trip my husband and I took to Cancun. We had three young kids and didn’t have the money or childcare to travel much, so this one of the first times we’d left New England since our honeymoon. Read through this book, and you’ll follow the route of our trip. A guide gave us much of the inside scoop; I didn’t realize how thoroughly I’d take it all to heart!
First Things First has several vintage moments, the first of which is the heroine’s Chevette. GM stopped production of these at the end of 1986, with the last models selling for just under $5,000! Another vintage moment? Electrical wires in little Mayan villages, but no satellite dishes! That said, First Things First has the kind of strong, but vulnerable heroine I love. She and the hero have both realized that the pace of their lives are too fast; they need each other to help slow it down. I can only wonder what they would think of the pace of life today. May they be an inspiration to us all.
A Woman’s Place
Successful businesswoman Claire Raphael returns home after visiting her ailing mother, only to be served with a court order ousting her from her home and giving her husband, Dennis, custody of their two children. The grounds—that she is not a responsible mother – floor her. She loves the children and has always put them before her career. But her career has eclipsed that of her husband’s. She suspects ego is involved on his part.
As Dennis relentlessly pursues divorce, custody, and alimony, the pressure takes a toll on Claire and the children. Legally, the case is stacked against her by biased court personnel. With the threat of a chauvinistic judge’s decision looming, Claire finds allies in her lawyer and business partner as she gropes for an understanding of her disintegrating marriage and the truth of her own desires.
Shades of Grace
Widow Grace Dorian, a famous and wealthy advice columnist, is the very model of a domineering matriarch. Divorced daughter Francine has spent a lifetime in awe of her mother, but rebellious granddaughter Sophie, twenty-three and diabetic, continually fights back.
Following a car accident, Grace is forced to reveal that she has Alzheimer’s disease, but Francine refuses to accept this prognosis for her ultra-competent mother. As Grace’s condition deteriorates, Francine must find her own untapped pool of inner strength, both to deal with her defiant daughter and to take over her mother’s career. Gradually accepting the truth of Grace’s fate, Francine searches for clues into her mother’s cloudy past, leading to one climactic night, when Grace herself reveals the puzzle’s missing piece.
Together Alone
With their daughters off to college, Emily, Kay and Celeste find themselves emotionally adrift. Emily retreats to baking and redecorating to hide the pain of husband Doug’s infrequent visits home. Teacher Kay, certain her body has lost its allure, uses her work as a shield against her husband’s attempts to recapture intimacy. And divorcee Celeste celebrates her daughter’s departure with a nose job and a personal ad that links her to an architect who may be too good to be true.
These friends are Emily’s lifeline when Brian Stasek comes to town. Emily is drawn to him – and increasingly suspicious of Doug’s absences. Moreover, Brian’s presence evokes odd behavior in the elderly woman who lives beside Emily – behavior that grows increasingly strange as Brian investigates the long-ago disappearance of Emily and Doug’s baby son.
For My Daughters
Wealthy, widowed socialite Ginny St. Clair has always been cool and distant to her three daughters. The summer of her 70th birthday, she abruptly invites all of her offspring to help her settle into a flower-strewn mansion on the rocky Maine coast. Each daughter arrives at the estate, aghast to find the others: Annette, the suffocatingly good mother of five; hard-edged Caroline, a hotshot Chicago lawyer; and Leah, the twice-divorced youngest sibling. Their mother, by design, is not there.
Though the three grimly assume battle positions, enforced proximity fosters grudging respect and the opening of minds. For Leah, there is also a scalding affair with groundskeeper Jesse Cray, the wild echo of a romance that had flared half a century earlier between a gardener and the mistress of the house.
Suddenly
The death of Dr. Mara O’Neill takes everyone by surprise. No one understands why this beloved physician would take her own life –or how her friends and colleagues could have missed her desperate state.
Dr. Paige Pfeiffer is the first to have to cope with the rippling effects of her best friend’s death. Upon the unexpected arrival of the baby her colleague had been in the process of adopting from India, she impulsively volunteers her services as an emergency foster mother. Her life is further complicated by Noah Perrine, headmaster of the boarding school where she serves as a track coach. Just as her attempts to understand what happened to Mara lead to an agonizing realization of the limits of friendship, her growing feelings for Noah finally give her the courage to open her heart to the possibilities of both marital and maternal love.
More Than Friends
The Popes and the Maxwells are more than next-door neighbors: Annie Pope and Teke Maxwell were college roommates; Sam Pope and J.D. Maxwell are old friends and law partners. But in a matter of moments, the two families are torn apart by tragedy. Sam and Teke are spotted in an act of spontaneous – and unprecedented – lovemaking by 13-year-old Michael Maxwell, who dashes out of the house and runs into a passing pickup truck. The accident leaves the boy in a coma.
J.D. copes by trying to get somebody sued or arrested, preferably the driver of the truck, who turns out to be Teke’s childhood sweetheart. When Sam’s indiscretion comes to light, Annie can hardly bear to be around him. As the days pass and the families rally around Michael, they are also forced to treat their own injuries and find a way to heal.
The Passions of Chelsea Kane
Beautiful, smart and sexy architect Chelsea Kane has it all, but she still feels that something is missing because she doesn’t know the identity of her birth parents. When her adoptive mother dies and leaves her with a mysterious antique key, Chelsea defies the wishes of her father and heads to the small New Hampshire town of her birth parents to probe for answers.
Under the pretense of scouting out a rock quarry for business purposes, Chelsea faces resistance from townspeople who don’t like change. It soon becomes apparent that business hurdles aren’t the only things she must clear; someone wants to stop her from her search and is willing to terrorize her to do it. With the fiery love of quarry foreman Judd Streeter, Chelsea pursues her search against all odds until a horrifying climax reveals the mysteries of the past and present.
A Woman Betrayed
With a terrific career as a restauranteur, two wonderful children, and a twenty-year marriage, Laura Frye loves her life. When her husband, accountant Jeffrey, mysteriously vanishes, though, she can’t imagine what happened.
As time passes, it becomes apparent that Jeffrey harbored secrets whose consequences are both emotional and legal. As her world crashes around her, Laura must withstand the pressure of each new shock and rally an inner strength to keep herself and her family together. As she works to rebuild her life, she not only achieves a new independence, but rediscovers a love she thought had been forever lost.
Facets
Nothing can prepare writer Hillary Cox for seeing her lover of twenty years, jewelry/mining magnate John St. George, announce on television that he’s preparing to marry another woman. Out for revenge, Hillary begins work on an exposé of John and his cloudy past, which turns out to include an endless stream of horrifying abuses against his sister Pamela.
As Hillary attempts to free herself of John’s influence, Pamela sets out to wrest control of the family’s jewelry and tourmaline mining business from him. She seeks support and love from Cutter Reid, from whom John has brutally kept her. The efforts of the two women, and of Pamela’s emotionally fragile mother, lead to a climactic confrontation with the man who has so damaged their lives.
Heart of the Night
Assistant D.A. Savannah Smith and her competitive twin sister Susan are stunned one night to learn of the kidnapping of their dear friend – and sometime rival – Megan Vandermeer, a pillar of Newport, Rhode Island society. Savannah and Susan set out to find Megan, only to be led to Jared Snow, the sexy-voiced late night disc jockey from whose show, Heart of the Night, the words of the ransom note are taken.
While Savannah is attracted to Jared, her sister is captivated by Sam Craig, the detective on the case. As the dangerous search continues, each woman is forced to reassess her life, leading to the shocking truth that lies behind Megan’s disappearance.
Commitments
Sabrina Stone had met investigative reporter Derek McGill only once, yet was deeply touched by the way he held her mentally-handicapped son. Derek saw past Sabrina’s wealth and beauty, and an instant bond was formed. Three months later, Sabrina is heartbroken to learn that Derek is in prison for murder. The man she had found so warm and gentle now seems hell-bent on revenge against the power-hungry businessman who apparently set him up for murder.
As her marriage falls apart and heart-rending decisions loom regarding the care of her son, Sabrina finds an odd comfort in visiting Derek in prison. She eventually falls in love with him. Derek is released from prison, but Sabrina realizes that for them to be truly free, she must win Derek’s trust and help him feel love again. This means fighting demons that lurk in each of their pasts.
Twilight Whispers
Linked for years through friendship and intermarriage, the Warren and Whyte families find their charmed world is marred when Mark Whyte and his wife Deborah Warren are found murdered. Police detective Robert Cavanaugh, working on a tip about dissension within the families, sets out to examine the mystique behind their wealth and power.
Katia Morell is part of that mystique. Daughter of the Whyte’s housekeeper but now a successful advertising executive, she is drawn back into the home where she never quite belonged, and is forced to face her life-long, unrequited love for Jordan Whyte. As the police investigation uncovers secret after secret and, finally, boils to a shocking conclusion, Katia and Jordan are but two of the family members who face difficult choices in their search for happiness.
