Fabulous Fiction Firsts #676, “Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.” ~ Aristotle

Tue, 07/24/2018 - 9:21pm by muffy

The Summer List * by Amy Mason Doan.

Seventeen years after fleeing her home in Coeur-de-Lune, Laura Christie is lured into returning to this small lakeside town by an invitation from Alex, her estranged friend Casey Shepard’s free-spirited mother with the promise of one last scavenger hunt.

“Over the course of a weekend, secrets will be uncovered, misunderstandings will be cleared, and one final, shocking revelation will change everything Laura and Casey thought they knew about their childhoods. This is a lovely debut by Doan, exploring themes of motherhood, daughterhood, and first love with tenderness and humor." (Booklist)

"With a vivid sense of place and characters as real as your high school besties, this debut novel is sure to please fans of Kristin Hannah and Elin Hilderbrand." (Library Journal)

* = Starred review

The Queen of Hearts, Kimmery Martin's debut is "a medical drama executed with just the right balance of intensity, plot twists, tragedy, and humor." Narrated in turns by pediatric cardiologist Zadie Anson and trauma surgeon Emma Colley who remain each other's best friend through college, med school, tragedies and heartbreaks while balancing demanding careers and growing families. 

But when Dr. Nick Xenokostas re-enters their lives, Zadie's brief but complicated relationship with Nick forces the women to grapple with a potentially friendship-ending secret.

"Emotional and difficult to put down, Martin's excellent story of friendship is shrewdly plotted and contains a cast of flawed, rich, believable characters. The realistic and vivid medical angle (Martin is an ER doctor) adds to the novel's appeal." (Publishers Weekly)