Today’s spotlight is on Shadow of a Smile by Valerie Joan Connors. This sounds like a wonderful read and one I’ve added to my ever growing list of books I can’t live without. Enjoy the post and be sure to enter the giveaway for a chance to win a copy for yourself.
In 1960, at twenty years old, Anastasia left her parents and the cold mid-western winter behind in Milwaukee and drove her powder blue Ford Fairlane down Route 66 all the way to Los Angeles, certain that’s where all her dreams would come true. Just two years later, she’s forced to retrace her steps, traveling back home with her dreams shattered, a broken heart, and a daughter she would have to raise alone.
Thirty years later, following her mother’s untimely death, that daughter, Meredith, learns the shocking truth about her origins, the father she never knew, and the mother whose life was very different than it appeared. When the attorney who prepared her mother’s will delivers Anastasia’s personal journals along with the keys to a trust fund Meredith never suspected she had, she and her boyfriend Derek retrace Anastasia’s path west, in search of answers.
SHADOW OF A SMILE is a powerful and thought-provoking story about family secrets, the choices we let our hearts make, and living with the consequences.
Read an excerpt
Buy: Amazon, Amazon Canada, B&N
Praise for Shadow of a Smile
“…Valerie Joan Connor’s writing is so vivid, so intimate, that Meredith’s travails and triumphs become your own. I miss her already, now that she’s gone on with her life and I must go back to my own…”—Linda Hughes, author of Becoming Jessie Belle and What We Talk About
“Shadow of a Smile examines the large price paid for secrets and cover-ups, not just by the perpetrators but also by generations before and after them. Ms. Connors has written a novel for anyone who likes family and relationship stories that are emotional, complex, and altogether satisfying.”—George Weinstein, author of Hardscrabble Road and The Five Destinies of Carlos Moreno
With extraordinary deft, Valerie Joan Connors explores how we take responsibility for our actions and their consequences.”—Rona Simmons, author of The Quiet Room
“Valerie Connors has a distinctive voice. Each scene is filled with secrets and longing. Each character is brave and steady and real.”—Nicki Salcedo, author of All Beautiful Things
About the Author
Valerie Joan Connors is the author of Shadow of a Smile (Deeds Publishing, June 2014), In Her Keeping (Bell Bridge Books, 2013) and Give Me Liberty, which she self-published in 2010. She is the current President of the Atlanta Writers Club, an organization with more than 600 active members and a 100-year history in the Atlanta area. During business hours, she’s the CFO of an architecture, engineering and interior design firm. Valerie lives in Atlanta with her husband and two dogs.
Author Links: Website, Facebook, Twitter
GIVEAWAY – OPEN TO US & CANADIAN RESIDENTS
1 copy up for giveaway!
*CLICK HERE* and fill out the form to enter
Draw Date November 14/14
Good luck!
(comments are welcome but do not count as an entry)
Thanks for the giveaway.
Thanks for hosting this terrific giveaway, Darlene. I’ll add it to my blog’s sidebar. I love the cover and the contents of the book sound absorbing.
Oops–sorry about my typo. Should be: I love the cover and the contents of the book sounds absorbing.
Sounds intriguing! I’m not crazy about the cover, but it sounds like my kind of read.