For fans of Nora Ephron—a witty novel about marriage (and murder) in the Big Apple. From a snooty charity gala to a blizzard at a Russian army barracks, fashion editor, Blake Weston, and NYPD cop, Ralph Marino, her handsome, sexy husband, must work together to solve the murder of a Wall Street Midas. Renay Porter, a Park Avenue blonde with Walmart roots, says she wants a divorce from her super-rich husband, but wouldn’t murder be easier — and more profitable? Muffy Astor, a social butterfly with a North Shore pedigree knows — and tells — everything about everyone. Or does she? Cynthia Blair, knew her husband was a fortune hunter when she married him, but now she’s stuck with him — and a Vuitton bag containing a blood-soaked shirt. Can Blake’s snark, brains, and pepper spray catch the killer? Or will she be the next victim? "A refreshing escape to the 1980s with two fun, smart and savvy globe-trotting women sleuths. Perfect entertainment!" —Anne R. Allen, author of the bestselling Camilla Randall Mystery series “This cozy mystery is a wry and witty romp through the NYC world of socialites, financiers, fashionistas, the publishing industry, and even a literary drug smuggler. A fun read!” —Debbie Burke, award-winning author of the Tawny Lindholm Thrillers with a Heart.
"Like an urban Dian Fossey, Wednesday Martin decodes the primate social behaviors of Upper East Side mothers in a brilliantly original and witty memoir about her adventures assimilating into that most secretive and elite tribe. After marrying a man from the Upper East Side and moving to the neighborhood, Wednesday Martin struggled to fit in. Drawing on her background in anthropology and primatology, she tried looking at her new world through that lens, and suddenly things fell into place. She understood the other mothers' snobbiness at school drop-off when she compared them to olive baboons. Her obsessional quest for a Hermes Birkin handbag made sense when she realized other females wielded them to establish dominance in their troop. And so she analyzed tribal migration patterns; display rituals; physical adornment, mutilation, and mating practices; extra-pair copulation; and more. Her conclusions are smart, thought-provoking, and hilariously unexpected. Every city has its Upper East Side, and in Wednesday's memoir, readers everywhere will recognize the strange cultural codes of powerful social hierarchies and the compelling desire to climb them. They will also see that Upper East Side mothers want the same things for their children that all mothers want--safety, happiness, and success--and not even sky-high penthouses and chauffeured SUVs can protect this ecologically released tribe from the universal experiences of anxiety and loss. When Wednesday's life turns upside down, she learns how deep the bonds of female friendship really are. Intelligent, funny, and heartfelt, Primates of Park Avenue lifts a veil on a secret, elite world within a world--the exotic, fascinating, and strangely familiar culture of privileged Manhattan motherhood"--
New! Revised Author's Edition. “The songs we sang, the clothes we wore, the way we made love. Absolutely perfect!” —Publisher’s Weekly Spanning the years from the optimistic post-War 1940s to the Mad Men 1950s and rebellious “Make Love, Not War” 1960s, DECADES is about three generations of women and the dynamic but flawed man they all loved. Evelyn, talented but insecure, faithful to the traditional values she grew up with, is a loyal and loving wife whose marriage means everything to her. Nick, handsome and ambitious, a chameleon who changes with the changing times, is her successful but restless husband. Joy, their daughter, coming of age at a time of anger and rebellion, needs them both but is torn between them. Barbara is the other woman. Younger than Evelyn, accomplished but alone, she wonders if she can have everything--including another woman's husband. But can she? Is she willing to pay the price? And how will Evelyn handle her rebellious daughter, her straying husband and the threat to her marriage? Sweeping in scope yet intimate in detail, DECADES is the emotional, compelling story of family and marriage, betrayal and healing. DECADES REVIEWS: “A brilliant book. Three generations of women are succinctly capsuled in this novel by a writer who has all the intellect of Mary McCarthy, all the insight of Joan Didion. Rarely have attitudes been so probingly examined—tough, trenchant, chic and ultra-sophisticated, Ms. Harris recreates the decades in which her heroines lived, from zoot suits and Sammy Kaye, through Eisenhower, Elvis and poodle-cut hairdos to moon walks, Mick Jagger and micro-minis. Readers will be entertained and few will be able to forget what Decades has to say about men and women and the games people play.” —Fort Worth Star-Telegram “A terrific novel about a singular single girl.” —Cosmopolitan “Ruth Harris has re-created both the style and substance of three decades of American life—from the bobby socks and innocence of the Forties, to the crinolines and caution of the Fifties, to the bra-less T-shirts and alienation of the Sixties.” —Book-of-the-Month Club “Powerful. A gripping novel that depicts the lives and loves of three generations of women.” —Women Today Book Club “I read Decades straight through at one sitting and the more I think about that, the more impressive the novel seems.” —Houston Post DECADES, Book #3 in the Park Avenue Series, was originally published in hard cover by Simon & Schuster. All 5 books in the Park Avenue Series are all available on GooglePlay. Love And Money (Book #1)—Rich girl, poor girl. Sisters and strangers until murder—and the handsome, brilliant man they both love—bring them face to face. “Richly plotted. First-class entertainment.” —NY Times "Fast-paced, superior fiction. A terrifically satisfying 'good read.'" —Fort Lauderdale News Sun-Sentinel https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=6TD3AgAAQBAJ Husbands And Lovers, Book #2 in the Park Avenue Series. Million copy NYT bestseller! Winner, Best Contemporary, Romantic Times! The story of a shy wallflower who turns herself into a lovely and desirable woman and the two handsome, successful men who compete for her love. "Steamy and fast-paced." --Cosmopolitan https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Ruth_Harris_Husbands_And_Lovers_Park_Avenue_Series?id=-DX3AgAAQBAJ Modern Women (Book # 4)--Million-copy NYT bestseller! Three likable, dynamic women--and the men in their lives. The right men. The wrong men. The maybe men. "Funny, sad, vivid, and raunchy. Harris seeks to enliven and entertain, and she does it in spades." --The Cleveland Plain-Dealer "Ruth Harris's rapier wit spices up a superb 'rags to riches' novel. You'll love Modern Women." --West Coast Review of Books "Sharp and stylishly written." --Chicago Sun-Times https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=oHH4AgAAQBAJ The Last Romantics (Book # 5)--A sweeping love story set in Paris and New York during the champagne-fizzed Jazz Age of the 1920's. He is dashing, handsome and celebrated but dangerously flawed. She is a gifted fashion designer who has the world at her feet. She is beautiful, charming, lonely, haunted."I love it, I love it! Fantastic, immensely readable." --Cosmopolitan "Gloriously romantic" --Kirkus https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Ruth_Harris_The_Last_Romantics_Park_Avenue_Series?id=lav4AgAAQBAJ Keywords: womens fiction, womens literary fiction, literature & fiction, Historical Women's Fiction NYC, Historical fiction, Historical fiction 20th Century, upmarket women’s fiction, romance, marriage, divorce, wife, divorced woman, single woman, single mom, millionaire, publishing, cheating husband, New York, NYC, divorced parents, 1960s, 1940s, 1950s, WW II, sexual revolution, New York City, Nantucket island
The New York Times-bestselling author of Princess Charming returns with “a hilarious culinary comedy dripping with both romance and suspense” (Ciji Ware, New York Times bestselling author of That Winter in Venice). Elaine Zimmerman and her best friends, Jackie and Pat, are venturing to a farm in Litchfield, Connecticut. It’s been over a year since their last trip together, a Caribbean cruise aboard the Princess Charming—and after dealing with a murderous ex and his hit man, they’re yearning for a no-drama vacation. During their Cultivate Our Bounty Week, they and eight other guests will learn how to cook farm-to-table meals with artisan-in-residence Chef Jason Hill. But amid milking a cow, making cheese, and managing the surprise appearance of an ex-boyfriend, Elaine discovers that one of their classmates is a little too keen on practicing knife technique. Is the killer one of the freakishly fit Manhattan couple who take their devotion to organic, hormone-free, non-GMO food to the point of obsession? The grandmother from Wisconsin who’s a groupie of the celebrity chef and follows him to every event? The mother and son from Palm Beach who bicker over whether he should give up his law practice to open his own restaurant? Three Blonde Mice serves up a crackling romance, a twisty whodunit involving a screwball cast of suspects, and a satire of food fads and the chefs who perpetuate them. “A real treat.”—Eileen Goudge, New York Times-bestselling author of The Diary “A hilarious send-up of foodies and the farm-to-table movement…a delicious read―and there are no calories.”―Elaine Viets, author of the Dead-End Job Mysteries
When Jim Steele got to Brenda Carroll's Park Avenue apartment, the package she had sent him to get was gone, and two fresh corpses had been left there instead.
Jayne Mansfield (19331967) was driven not just to be an actress but to be a star. One of the most influential sex symbols of her time, she was known for her platinum blonde hair, hourglass figure, outrageously low necklines, and flamboyant lifestyle. Hardworking and ambitious, Mansfield proved early in her career that she was adept in both comic and dramatic roles, but her tenacious search for the spotlight and her risqué promotional stunts caused her to be increasingly snubbed in Hollywood. In the first definitive biography of Mansfield, Eve Golden offers a joyful account of the star Andy Warhol called "the poet of publicity," revealing the smart, determined woman behind the persona. While she always had her sights set on the silver screen, Mansfield got her start as Rita Marlowe in the Broadway show Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?. She made her film debut in the low-budget drama Female Jungle (1955) before landing the starring role in The Girl Can't Help It (1956). Mansfield followed this success with a dramatic role in The Wayward Bus (1957), winning a Golden Globe for New Star of the Year, and starred alongside Cary Grant in Kiss Them for Me (1957). Despite her popularity, her appearance as the first celebrity in Playboy and her nude scene in Promises! Promises! (1963) cemented her reputation as an outsider. By the 1960s, Mansfield's film career had declined, but she remained very popular with the public. She capitalized on that popularity through in-person and TV appearances, nightclub appearances, and stage productions. Her larger-than-life life ended sadly when she passed away at age thirty-four in a car accident. Golden looks beyond Mansfield's flashy public image and tragic death to fully explore her life and legacy. She discusses Mansfield's childhood, her many loves—including her famous on-again, off-again relationship with Miklós "Mickey" Hargitay—her struggles with alcohol, and her sometimes tumultuous family relationships. She also considers Mansfield's enduring contributions to American popular culture and celebrity culture. This funny, engaging biography offers a nuanced portrait of a fascinating woman who loved every minute of life and lived each one to the fullest.
In this delightful adventure featuring the mismatched crime-fighting duo of film critic Mitch Berger and Connecticut state trooper Des Mitry, Mitch's New York City past and his Dorset present collide head on. Back when Mitch was a chubby thirteen-year-old living in Stuyvesant Town, Beth Breslauer, a lovely blond single mother, lived across the hall with her son, Kenny. These days, she's a wealthy widow who owns a condominium in the Captain Chadwick House, the Dorset Historic District's most exclusive condo complex. Kenny is engaged to marry Mitch's yoga teacher, Kimberly Farrell. Kimberly's parents are Beth's neighbors. They are also social pariahs. Her father was one of the Wall Street power brokers responsible for the sub-prime home loan meltdown and her mother is praying that Kimberly's elaborate engagement party will endear them to their lost friends. Meanwhile, Augie Donatelli, a retired police detective who manages the Captain Chadwick House, is positive he's figured out the identity of the infamous Dorset Flasher, an elusive, ski-masked figure who has been terrorizing wealthy widows after dark. He also believes that Beth is the proud descendent of a long line of professional thieves. He demands that Des do something about it, but Des dismisses his charges as the wild rants of a lonely, bitter drunkard, which is rather unfortunate--because when Augie turns up dead, Des is included in the round-up of suspects. That leaves it up to Mitch to find out what really happened, even though it means he'll have to find out more about the people in his life than he ever wanted to. The Shimmering Blond Sister is David Handler's most emotionally gripping book in the series yet.
In the 1930s and 40s, humorist Frank Sullivan took dead aim at the American scene in hilarious pieces written for The New Yorker, the Saturday Evening Post, Town and Country, and other publications. Dispensing humorous commentary and criticisms that could be gentle or cutting, sad or sympathetic, he entertained without ever being mean-spirited or condescending. This delightful volume includes 42 of his best pieces. Selected from three earlier collections — A Pearl in Every Oyster, The Night the Old Nostalgia Burned Down, and A Rock in Every Snowball — they include an amusingly nostalgic account of "The Passing of the Old Front Porch," a humorous recollection of campus life in "An Old Grad Remembers," and a gentle put-down of the Lone Star State in "An Innocent in Texas." Readers will also enjoy such droll fare as "A Bachelor Looks at Breakfast," "How to Change a Typewriter Ribbon," and a selection of amusing commentaries by Mr. Arbuthnot, the cliché expert, on war, baseball, tabloids, and other topics. Wonderfully good-natured, in the spirit of Robert Benchley, this vintage humor will tickle modern funny bones and keep readers chuckling at Sullivan's tongue-in-cheek comments on wealth of subjects from the not-so-distant past.
★★★★★“WOW! WHAT A STORY!”★★★★★ “A master storyteller coaxed me through a maze of fascinating, brilliant, tragic, and heartwarming twists and turns, and left me feeling uplifted and satisfied. ZURI slides to the top of my favorite books of 2020!” —Sue Coletta, award-winning, bestselling author They rescue endangered animals, but can they rescue each other? Renny Kudrow, Director of the Kihali animal orphanage in Kenya, is a brilliant elephant whisperer who understands animal communication. But human communication? Not so much, thinks Starlite Higgins, the orphanage's talented wildlife vet he has hired over the objection of others who think a woman is not up to the job. Renny is prickly, remote, critical, and Starlite, anxious to please and accustomed to success, is unable to win his approval. When Renny and Starlite must work together to save the life a baby rhino fatally wounded by poachers, they must face the secrets they both hide--and the attraction they can no longer deny. Meet the brave, adorable baby rhino, Zuri (the word means “beautiful” in Swahili), the wise, maternal elephants, Doris and Maisie who take care of her, and Boozie, a sprightly and mischievous young goat who saves Zuri’s life and becomes her best friend. Get to know Ian Stewart-Montgomery, the witty, elegant and handsome half-Kenyan, half-English photo safari guide, the Kenyan wildlife experts, string bean-skinny Jomo and strong, athletic Muthengi, and all the other human and animal friends who find an enchanted home at beautiful Kihali. ZURI will appeal to readers who love animals, adventure and inspiring stories about second chances. ZURI is suitable for a wide range of readers and contains no sex or cursing. KEYWORDS: strong woman, strong woman romance, strong woman love story, Alpha male, mother and daughter, America, Africa, Kenya, rhinos, elephants, goats, wildlife, nature, poaching, poachers, crime, woman veterinarian, veterinarian, vet, woman vet, scientist, animal rescue, animal intelligence, love story, wholesome, clean romance, sweet romance, second chance at love, mystery, suspense, contemporary, diversity, Africans, Americans, safari, photo safari, mixed race hero, love story in Africa, international Title Change: ZURI was formerly published as "A Kiss At Kihali."
"Hilarious...deliciously entertaining." - Sarah Mlynowsi, author of Monkey Business "Kristin Harmel dishes with disarming honesty and delivers a sparkling, delightful story." - Laura Caldwell, author of The Year of Living Famously Harper Roberts is a corporate attorney in Manhattan.She's smart, attractive, and funny. So why can't she find a date? Men flock to her at parties when they think she's a dumb blonde. But, as soon as they realize she's a Harvard-educated lawyer, they flee. Harper's best friend is a magazine editor who suggests Harper go on assignment for a month as a 'dumb blonde' and see if it changes her dating perspective. So, for two weeks, Harper goes undercover. She changes her wardrobe, her conversation, her body language. The result is a series of comical encounters. Soon, Harper must take a good look in the mirror and realize that it's not just men who judge people on their looks.
