In these days when the financial markets have gone to hell and everybody on TV speaks in apocalyptic terms, I have decided to do the daring act of buying a pair of jeans.
It’s not much, I know, but I am doing my part for the economy. I am sacrificing my sense of well-being by going [...]
Out November 4, 2008. Reserve your copy now!
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"Shelton's warm, sentimental love story is told with a tenderness of heart and a nurturing eye guiding complexly drawn characters. She effortlessly melds love and loss with heartrending care, exposing the layers of a budding romance with a deft hand. It's full of humor, flaws, and a togetherness of spirit fit for any modern love story where family is what you make it."
Romantic Times
An absolute treat, Shelton’s work rarely falters and is filled with realistic twists, complex characters and a moving conclusion.
Publishers Weekly
Chapter 1
Harris Goddard’s life ran out on an ordinary April afternoon, on the very day it seemed all the rest of the planet was pretty much pulsating with spring. An unexpected warm front had blown toward the coast overnight, pushing out the remains of the long, dry Connecticut winter and nudging all the buds into a frantic, hurried bloom, screaming at them, “So get out there already! You’re late!” By 11 a.m., the thermometer on the side of the barn read 86 damp degrees, and Harris, standing on a ladder and scraping the peeling paint off his house, felt as though he had might have missed out on the memo that warned the world had slipped into the third circle of hell.
"Richly textured, insightful novel..." Library Journal
"Shelton delves into family relationships with humor and empathy, making this a pleasurable read." Booklist
"Fine blend of humor and poignancy." Hartford Courant
Prologue
The letters come to me by the box load, carried upstairs to my office by Carl the Mailroom Guy, who drops them off and says cheerfully each time, “Well, here’s some more trouble for you to solve.”
"A zany, affecting first novel...Plenty of laughs here." People magazine
"A skillfully constructed, economically written novel that is funny, sad, and almost painfully accurate about human failings." Boston Globe
"A delightful beach book...Funny/sad and frantic/romantic, but with serious undertones....A great read." Hartford Courant
Chapter One
The fact is, I’m in the process of panicking in front of Dan Briggs. We’re sitting in my living room late on Sunday night, and although I only met him a month ago and nothing has been said outright, the air has a sudden crackle to it that even I know means it’s time we decided whether we’ll sleep together. We’ve kissed three times—although not yet tonight—and he’s called me on the phone five times, and we’ve gone for two walks that turned romantic. That adds up to one overdue sexual encounter by today’s rules, I believe.
