AUTHOR LOIS WINSTON'S SUMMER READING LIST

We’re heading into the hot, hazy, and humid days of summer. As a kid, I grew up in a cramped city apartment that was no picnic at any time of the year but downright beastly in the summer. Back then, kids were kicked out of the house first thing in the morning to fend for themselves much of the day. Summer camp was only for the rich suburban kids and community centers with organized activities didn’t exist yet.

So I spent as much time as possible hanging out in cool places—that’s cool, as in temperature—not “cool” as in the street corners where the “cool” kids hung out. As the class nerd, I was the furthest thing imaginable from a “cool” kid. Still, I liked to stay cool. So I spent my days at the library where I first tackled the mandatory summer reading list, then ducked into the adult section, grabbed whatever book caught my fancy, and found a secluded corner away from the prying eyes of the librarians to lose myself in fiction. (Marjorie Morningstar was my introduction to sex!)

Life has changed greatly since them. I’m still not considered a “cool” kid, but nowadays air-conditioning is everywhere. Even though I don’t have to camp out at the library to keep cool, I still try to make a sizable dent in my TBR pile over the summer months. So I thought I’d share with you some of the books I plan to read this summer.

First up on my list is Lighthouse Beach by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shelley Noble. The book is described as “a heartrending and uplifting novel about friendship, love, and what we’re willing to sacrifice for our dreams.” I’ve chosen this as my first summer read because it takes place along the shores of Maine, and if you’ve been following the blog recently, you know I recently spent some time along the Maine coast.

Lighthouse Beach

What was supposed to be an idyllic wedding leads to an unexpected journey of self-discovery… 

When Lillo Gray pulls up to Kennebunkport’s most exclusive hotel wearing a borrowed dress and driving a borrowed VW van, she knows she’s made a big mistake. She’s not even sure why Jessica Parker invited her to her posh wedding. They haven’t seen each other since they were unhappy fourteen-year-old girls at fat camp. And now they’re from two completely different worlds. There’s no way Lillo fits in the rarefied circles Jessica travels in. 

Jess isn’t sure she’s ready to go through with this wedding, but she’s been too busy making everyone else happy to think about what she wants. But when she and her two closest friends, Allie and Diana, along with Lillo, discover her fiancé with his pants down in the hotel parking lot, she’s humiliated…and slightly relieved. In a rush to escape her crumbling life, Jess, Allie, and Diana pile into Lillo’s beat-up old van and head up the coast to Lighthouse Island. Once there, she hopes to figure out the next chapter in her life. 

Nursing broken hearts and broken dreams, four lost women embark on a journey to find their way back into happiness with new love, friendship, and the healing power of Lighthouse Beach.

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BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR MEG BELLAMY

Along with her husband, her family and her books, language and travel are Meg Bellamy’s passions—along with cooking, baking, knitting and quilting. It’s a good thing Meg loves to travel, since she lives in the gorgeous San Francisco Bay Area, but her daughter’s settled in New Jersey and her son’s in England—talk about Frequent Flying! Between flights this long-time language teacher writes contemporary romance, both of the traditional and the women’s fiction type. Learn more about Meg and her books at her website. 

Chocolate and Honey and my Sweetie, Oh My

Chocolate. Does just reading the name bring a smile to your lips?

For me, “chocolate” conjures up delights, pleasure, romance and, oh yes, a few pesky calories. I consider chocolate an essential food group. Chocolate has been a reliable treat—to eat, to drink, and to gaze at arrayed in a sumptuous candy box.

So imagine my bewilderment when I met the delightful man who is now my second (and last!) husband—and discovered that he’s a chocophobe. Chocophobe. I didn’t even know there were any people of that persuasion. He’s not even the only one in the world, though I think there aren’t many with that proclivity.

When I brought him to meet my parents and told Mom that he hates chocolate, she panicked. “What am I going to feed him?” A prodigious cook and baker, she managed to come up with plenty.

So how did he become a chocophobe? According to his family legends, at age six he had a prescription medicine that had a “chocolate flavor.” Must have been really awful.

I, on the other hand, hate honey—an opinion that earns me raised eyebrows in some circles. In my family of origin, honey was the take-it-or-else remedy for colds, etc. To this day, my brother and I turn green at the prospect of ingesting the stuff.

Is there a pattern here?

Despite the fact that I hold my nose as I put the ingredients together, I do make a honey cake with an ingredient list that includes coffee and cocoa. My daughter asked who in my household is willing to eat that cake. Both DH and I enjoy it—I can only guess it’s because the ingredients combine and then cancel each other out.

My love for chocolate inspired one of my books, Divorce by Chocolate.

Divorce by Chocolate

While she makes sweets, her partner cheats…

Diana Lambert seems to have it all—a loving husband, a successful business and a gorgeous home. Then, on returning from a business trip, she finds her husband and trusted assistant playing house. Even worse, they’ve planned a coup to remove her from Goddess Goodies, the business built from her dreams—and her family’s recipes.

Devastated, Diana is ready to drown herself in hot fudge and sorrow when her inner goddess spurs her not to let her talents go to waste. She rolls up her sleeves, unleashes the goddess within and starts cooking up a recipe for getting even through the best means—success. Her life’s sweet treats aren’t confined to the kitchen, as she discovers with the support and love of her sister, her friends and one very special guy.

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