Product Description
by Bette Lee Crosby (Author)
A woman grieving her loss. A boy running for his life. A town defending them both.
From award-winning USA TODAY Bestselling Author BETTE LEE CROSBY, the first book of a gritty, small-town, family saga in the tradition of the finest Southern fiction. Small-town gossip never much bothered Olivia Westerly. As a single career woman, she's weathered her share. It's easy to ignore the raised eyebrows over her late-in-life marriage to Charlie Doyle. But after he drops dead on their honeymoon, the whispers are salt on her raw grief. Especially when an orphaned, eleven-year-old-boy shows up on her doorstep, looking for the grandfather he never met. Behind Ethan Allen Doyle's wary blue eyes lie heavily guarded emotions that unexpectedly tug on Olivia's heart, and she finds herself wanting to win his trust. But when his murderous secret comes looking for him, the entire town embraces the lonely widow and desperate child to show itstrue heart when danger threatens one of its own. A heartwarming tale of love, loss and unexpected gifts, featuring a woman you'd like to call friend, a boy you will ache to hug, and a town you wish you could call home. USA TODAY BESTSELLER AND WINNER OF FIVE LITERARY AWARDS - Royal Palm Literary Award, Reviewer's Choice Award, FPA President's Book Award, IAN Outstanding Fiction Award, Eadon Contemporary Fiction AwardAuthor Biography
Award-winning author Bette Lee Crosby is originally from New Jersey, but now makes her home in Southern Florida where she lives with her husband Richard and an adopted Bichon Frise. A highly entertaining public speaker, Bette makes frequent appearances to support the various charities of women's groups, and schedule permitting, she will join book talks and book club discussion groups. In 1997 Bette abandoned the fast-paced world of advertising and embarked on a career as a novelist. Her books, frequently written in a Southern voice, cover a wide spectrum of locales and personalities as they tell tales of courageous women overcoming life's obstacles. Her novels were first recognized in 2006, when she won the National League of American Pen Women Award for unpublished fiction with What Matters Most. In 2007 she won the National League of American Pen Women's First Place Fiction Award for her novel Girl Child; in 2009 her novel Cracks in the Sidewalk received the prestigious Royal Palm Literary Award from the Florida Writers Association for Women's Fiction and in 2010 her novel Spare Change received a Royal Palm Literary Award for unpublished fiction. Before redirecting her talents to works of fiction, Bette enjoyed a noteworthy career in advertising and marketing working in a diversity of industries ranging from financial services to collectibles. She served as Editor-in-Chief for Innovations, a new product development publication, and as Contributing Editor for numerous trade publications including Giftware News, Supermarket News and Packaging Digest. As the U.S. Marketing Director for the distributor of world famous M.I. Hummel figurines, Bette served as a company spokeswoman and public relations figurehead. Much of her career, however, was spent in the challenging environment of advertising agencies-including a five-year stint as co-owner and Creative Director of the award-winning OTK Advertising Agency.
