Loss & Love

A Thousand Splendid Suns

by Khaled Hosseini

This best selling adult novel of 2007 will play with your emotions from beginning to end.  The story flawlessly weaves between the lives of two girls Mariam, who lives with her mother in a one room hut while her rich father entertains his nine wives with money and gifts in town, and Laila, who is abandoned by her parents' and her best friend, Tariq.  Mariam and Laila eventually meet and become a kind of dysfunction family when Laila marries a cruel man named Rasheed, for whom Mariam is also married. I suggest clearing your schedule before you begin reading because you will have a hard time putting it down until you finish.  Hosseini will have you believing that love really can conquer all.

To learn more about and the novel visit http://www.khaledhosseini.com/

Adventure & Mystery

The English Assassin

by Daniel Silva

Silva's main character, Gabrielle Allon, is a brilliant spy and talented paint restorer.  His patience and eye for detail make him a master at both.  When Allon goes to meet a client he finds much more than an old painting.  The man is slain and the painting is gone. Allon suspects only one person capable of such brutality.  A man almost as good as Allon, he should know because he trained him himself.  What was so   important about the painting that it was worth killing over? Will Allon be  able to catch this murderer before he strikes again? 

To learn more about Silva and Allon you can go to his website http://www.danielsilvabooks.com/content/index.asp

Luster & Betrayal

Sparkles

by Louise Bagshawe

This International Bestseller will consume you from start to finish.  The Massot family owns one of the last independent jewelry companies in Paris.  Unfortunately, the owner, Pierre Massot, has been missing for seven years leaving his widow, Sophie, to pick up the pieces.  Many doubt Sophie's abilities to take the company to the next level and keep it successful, especially her mother-in-law who conveniently lives in the guest house in the backyard. Is Sophie willing to make the sacrifices necessary to keep the family business alive or will she bend to the very generous offers to buy the company?

If you would like to learn more about Sparkles or L. Bagshawe visit her website http://www.louisebagshawebooks.com/

War & Loss

The Rose of Sebastopol

by Katherine McMahon

 Do not allow the simple illustration of this cover to disillusion you from the novel's heart wrenching story. Mariella, the story's main character, grew up in a world where money was never an issue and beauty was a woman's most important attribute.  Her comfortable life came crashing down when Britain entered the Crimean War and her lover, Henry, went to fight and her cousin and best friend, Rose, went to work as a nurse.  Mariella could bare it no longer and when her pain got the best of her she decided to go look for Rose and Henry.  What she discovered on her journey was worse than the dying men on the battlefield.