Feature and Contest

A Talbots Summer Book Club Special Contest

Bookreporter.com readers know that we're all about spreading a love of reading, and we're always eager to introduce you to reading programs across the country that catch our eye. Talbots, the nationally renowned womenswear retailer, is hosting a summer-long book club event to get shoppers (and readers!) to share books they love and discover new ones.

In partnership with Talbots, we gave away a fabulous grand prize --- a $250 Talbots gift card and a bundle of books. Congratuations to Joyce from Wellington, FL for being our grand prize winner!

The Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams

In the summer of 1951, Miranda Schuyler arrives on elite, secretive Winthrop Island, still reeling from the loss of her father in the Second World War. When her beautiful mother marries Hugh Fisher, Miranda is catapulted into a heady new world of pedigrees and cocktails, status and swimming pools. Isobel Fisher, Miranda’s new stepsister, is eager to draw Miranda into the arcane customs of Winthrop society. Uneasy among Isobel’s privileged friends, she finds herself drawn to Joseph Vargas, who has enjoyed an intense, complex friendship with Isobel. As the summer winds to its end, Miranda is caught in a catastrophe that will shatter Winthrop’s hard-won tranquility and banish her from the island for nearly two decades.

Holding the Fort: The Fort Reno Series, Book One by Regina Jennings

When dance hall singer Louisa Bell loses her job at the Cat-Eye Saloon, she has nowhere else to go but to her brother, a cavalry soldier stationed in Indian Territory. But he's run afoul of his commanding officer. Unsure what she can do to help him and desperate for a job, she doesn't protest when she's mistaken for a governess at the fort. Major Daniel Adams has his hands full at Fort Reno, especially raising two adolescent daughters alone. Miss Bell bears little resemblance to Daniel's notion of a governess, but he finds himself turning a blind eye to her unconventional methods. Can she keep her act together long enough to help her brother and secure the respectable future she's sought for so long?

Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan

Sophie’s husband James is a loving father, a handsome man, a charismatic and successful public figure. And yet he stands accused of a terrible crime. Sophie is convinced he is innocent and desperate to protect her precious family from the lies that threaten to rip them apart. Kate is the lawyer hired to prosecute the case: an experienced professional who knows that the law is all about winning the argument. And yet Kate seeks the truth at all times. She is certain James is guilty and is determined he will pay for his crimes. Who is right about James? Sophie or Kate? And is either of them informed by anything more than instinct and personal experience?

Fatal Trust by Todd M. Johnson

Ian Wells is an ambitious Minneapolis attorney struggling to build up a law practice while caring for a mother with Alzheimer's. He is nearing the breaking point when everything changes with a single new case, and the money is too good to give up. Ian warily accepts the job, but is quickly dragged deep into a mystery linking the trust money to an illegal enterprise dating back to Prohibition and the greatest unsolved crime in Minnesota history. He soon finds himself the target of a swiftly tightening criminal investigation --- realizing too late that this so-called simple job has spun out of control and now threatens his career, his future and his life.

Lie to Me by J.T. Ellison

Sutton and Ethan Montclair's idyllic life is not as it appears. Consumed by professional and personal betrayals and financial woes, the two both love and hate each other. As tensions mount, Sutton disappears, leaving behind a note saying not to look for her. Ethan finds himself the target of vicious gossip as friends, family and the media speculate on what really happened to Sutton Montclair. As the police investigate, the lies the couple have been spinning for years quickly unravel. Is Ethan a killer? Is he being set up? Did Sutton hate him enough to kill the child she never wanted and then herself?

The Beach House Cookbook by Mary Kay Andrews

You don’t have to own a beach house to enjoy Mary Kay Andrews’ recipes. All you need is an appetite for delicious, casual dishes, cooked with the best fresh, local ingredients and presented with the breezy flair that make Mary Kay Andrews’ novels a summertime favorite at the beach. THE BEACH HOUSE COOKBOOK will supply ideas for menus and recipes designed to put you in a permanently carefree coastal state of mind all year long.

Come Sundown by Nora Roberts

The Bodine ranch and resort in western Montana is a family business that is kept running by Bodine Longbow with the help of a large staff, including new hire Callen Skinner. There was another member of the family once: Bodine’s aunt, Alice, who ran off before Bodine was born. She never returned, and the Longbows don’t talk about her much. The younger ones, who never met her, quietly presume she’s dead. So when Alice suddenly reappears, the Longbows are shocked. The twisted story she has to tell about the past --- and the threat that follows in her wake --- will test the bonds of this strong family, and thrust Bodine into a darkness she never could have imagined.

To the Farthest Shores by Elizabeth Camden

Army nurse Jenny Bennett can face any challenge at the Presidio Army base, but the sudden reappearance of the dashing naval officer who broke her heart six years ago is enough to rattle her. Lieutenant Ryan Gallagher is honor-bound never to reveal where he was during that long mission. As they work together again, Ryan is determined to win her back even though Jenny is reluctant. When an unknown threat from Ryan's past puts everything at risk --- including his life --- can they overcome the seemingly insurmountable odds stacked against them in time?

This Close to Happy: A Reckoning with Depression by Daphne Merkin

Daphne Merkin has been hospitalized three times: first, in grade school, for childhood depression; years later, after her daughter was born, for severe postpartum depression; and later still, after her mother died, for obsessive suicidal thinking. Recounting this series of hospitalizations, as well as her visits to myriad therapists and psychopharmacologists, Merkin fearlessly offers what the child psychiatrist Harold Koplewicz calls “the inside view of navigating a chronic psychiatric illness to a realistic outcome.” In this dark yet vital memoir, Merkin describes not only the harrowing sorrow that she has known all her life, but also her early, redemptive love of reading and gradual emergence as a writer.

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