Chin Up, Honey
by Curtiss Ann Matlock
Published 2009 by Mira Books

Paperback, English. ISBN: 9780778325581

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Jacket Notes:

Emma Cole's son is getting married and she's determined to make everything perfect--even if it means asking her estranged husband to come and pretend they're still together. As Emma sorts through the mess of her own marriage, she soon sees new beginnings. Original. It takes a lot of work to plan a wedding--and even more to save a marriage--but in Valentine, Oklahoma, there's always someone to help you keep your chin up.Emma Cole's son is getting married, and she's determined to make everything perfect--even if that means asking her estranged husband to come home and pretend they're still together. John may be an imperfect husband, but he's a devoted dad. He's happy to oblige Emma--especially since he didn't really much like living apart from her anyway. Now he wants a second chance.As Emma sorts through the mess of her own marriage, she puts her heart into planning Valentine's wedding of the century. But there's one big problem: the bride's ambitious mother wants more for her daughter than marriage to a small-town boy.As the wedding approaches, the many meanings of love, commitment and happiness capture the hearts of folks in town. And surrounded by the warmth and spirit of her neighbors, Emma starts to see new beginnings instead of endings.

Publishers Weekly 03/30/2009

Life in Matlock's nostalgic Valentine, Okla., is a Bradburyesque vision with drugstore soda fountains, old-timey radio shows filling the airwaves and a cast of characters who wouldn't be out of place in Lake Wobegon. Her latest charmer, the seventh installment of the smalltown series (after "Cold Tea on a Hot Day"), finds Valentine preparing for the wedding of Johnny Ray Berry, popular son of Emma Lou and John Cole (scion of the local Quick Start convenience store empire), to Gracie Louise Kinney, daughter of Sylvia, the snooty owner of several upmarket fashion boutiques. Sylvia is none too pleased with the red-neck white boy her daughter has chosen to marry and tries to sabotage the affair by finally revealing the identity of Gracie's father, a black Creole. As the union is thrown into question, the main attraction is the hilarious love dance between Johnny's estranged parents, who've put their divorce on hold for Johnny's sake. Matlock conjures a sweet spell accented by tart drama, as refreshing and delightful as a lemony sweet tea. "(May)" Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

Sisters & Husbands
by Connie Briscoe
Published 2009 by Grand Central Publishing

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780446534895

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Jacket Notes:

As Beverly and Julian happily plan their wedding, Beverly's oldest sister's marriage falls apart. Now, second-guessing her impending nuptials, Beverly is forced to wonder if marriage really works. Will she stick it out? Or will her fears cloud her judgment? Ten years have passed since Sisters and Lovers, and Beverly, now 39, is engaged to Julian, a man her family and friends agree is the epitome of a great catch: he's gorgeous, loyal, trustworthy, successful, and very much in love with her. Since this is Beverly's third engagement in the past five years, after breaking off the previous two at the last moment, everyone's happy that she's finally settling down. For Beverly and Julian, nothing could be better than being in love and planning their wedding. That is until Beverly's oldest sister's marriage falls apart and dampens the mood of what should have been the happiest time in Beverly's life. Now, second-guessing her impending nuptials, Beverly is forced to wonder if marriage really works. Will she stick it out? Or will her fears cloud her judgment once again?

Valeria's Last Stand
by Marc Fitten
Published 2009 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9781596916203

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Jacket Notes:

A comic romp celebrating late-flowering love in a Hungarian village that will appeal to readers of "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society "and "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian." Valeria is a whale in a puddle. She harrumphs her daily way through her backwater Hungarian village, finding equal fault with the new, the old, the foreign, and the familiar. Her decades of universal contempt have turned her into a touchstone of her little community--whatever she scorns the least must be the best, after all. But, on a day like any other, her spinster's heart is struck by an unlikely arrow: The village potter, long known and little noticed, captures her fancy, and Valeria finds herself suddenly cast in a role she never expected to play. This one deviation from character, this one loose thread, is all it takes for the delicately woven fabric of village life to unravel. And, for the first time in a long time, Valeria couldn't care less. With humor and sensitivity, author Marc Fitten delivers an unexpected and entirely inspiring first novel that will leave you begging for more.

Publishers Weekly 02/16/2009

Life in an isolated Hungarian village is turned upside down by an unusual love affair in Fittens promising debut. In the small hamlet of Zivatar, 68-year-old Valeria is known by all as a cantankerous woman, quick to criticize everything from the produce at the market to the mayors lofty ambitions to lure foreign investors to the town. But a chance encounter one day with the elderly local pottera man Valeria has known for years but never noticedchanges everything. The widower potter falls just as hard for Valeria, despite his relationship with Ibolya, the owner of the villages only tavern. Unaccustomed to being smitten, Valeria tries to maintain her normal routine, but the village is in an uproar over this unlikely love triangle. The arrival of a traveling chimney sweep intent on bilking the townspeople sends another ripple through what was once a placid village. Fitten is not always successful in balancing character development with the larger themes of power and progress, but the irascible Valeria makes such a unique heroine that readers may be willing to overlook the storys less fluid elements. "(May)" Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

The Walking People
by Mary Beth Keane
Published 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)

Hardcover, English. ISBN: 9780547126524

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Jacket Notes:

Debut author Keane offers an extended meditation on leaving, finding, and making home in a novel focused on the new Irish immigrant experience--"Publishers Weekly." Greta Cahill never believed she would leave her village in the west of Ireland until she found herself on a ship bound for New York, along with her sister Johanna and a boy named Michael Ward. Labeled a "softheaded goose" by her family, Greta discovers that in America she can fall in love, raise her own family, and earn a living. Though she longs to return and show her family what she has made of herself, her decision to spare her children knowledge of a secret in her past forces her to keep her life in New York separate from the life she once loved in Ireland, and tears her apart from the people she is closest to. Even fifty years later, when the Ireland of her memory bears little resemblance to that of present day, she fears that it is still possible to lose all when she discovers that her children--with the best of intentions-- have conspired to unite the worlds she's so carefully kept separate for decades. A beautifully old-fashioned novel, "The Walking People "is a debut of remarkable range and power.

Publishers Weekly 01/12/2009

Debut author Keane offers an extended meditation on leaving, finding and making home in a novel focused on the new Irish immigrant experience. Awkward, dreamy Greta Cahill was always in the shadow of her vivacious older sister, Johanna, as the two grew up on the far west coast of Ireland. Surrounded by houses left vacant by neighbors who emigrated, adventurous Johanna dreams of America, especially when, in the aftermath of a family tragedy, she befriends Michael Ward, the son of itinerant tinkers who wants nothing more than to stay in one place. When teenaged Johanna's dream comes true, Michael and Greta are dragged along to America in Johanna's impetuous wake. In New York City, however, Greta and Michael create their own home, happiness and success. The narrative, which extends from 1956 to the present, has the dusty feel of 19th-century literature, though Greta is an appealing character lacking in nostalgia. Her romance is also authentic and unsentimental, and despite the stodgy storytelling, her coming-of-age reflects a fresh take on the lives recent immigrants can create. "(May)" Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.