Juliet Lyman is a senior executive at Yesterday Records. Music is her passion
and she's very good at her job. That's why her famously philanthropic boss
Gideon sends her to Majorca, Spain to work with a very tortured, but talented
client. Lionel Harding is one of the best songwriters of the 20th century, the
multi-Grammy award-winning lyricist of the third most recorded song in history.
But now he's forty-two and six months overdue on the his latest paid assignment.
Juliet is not leaving Majorca without either new lyrics or a very large check.
For Juliet, business comes first. Emotions are secondary, and love isn't even on
the menu. But to Lionel, love is everything, and he blames Gideon for his broken
heart. He's determined to show Juliet that nothing is more important than love,
but Juliet is just as determined to get Lionel to create the music that made him
famous. As her professional and personal lives start to mix for the first time,
Juliet is forced to reevaluate her priorities, and open her heart—perhaps for
the very first time. Writing a Woman’s Life columnist Yona
Zeldis McDonough chats with author Anita Hughes about her delectable new offering.
YZM: You tend to set your books in exotic locales, like Majorca, Rome,
and Lake Como, to name a few. Have you travelled to these places?
AH: My parents were European and I was born and raised in Sydney,
Australia so I have always loved to travel. I have been to most of these places
when I was young. I particularly love Spain and the Costa del Sol and Majorca.
The scenery is breathtaking and the culture is fascinating. Now with children
and living at the St. Regis, Monarch Beach, I'm quite happy to stay at home.
YZM: There are many—and delicious sounding!—references to food in the
novel; do you do a lot of cooking?
AH: That's a funny question because I am not a good cook. I grew up
eating very healthy food that didn't include a lot of sauces or preparation. But
I love wonderful dishes like I love beautiful clothes. I think food can be a
real visual and culinary experience. Presentation is important and so is the use
of fresh ingredients. I generally leave the cooking to the gourmet section of my
grocery store!
YZM: Music is another major theme in ISLAND IN THE SEA.
Does this reflect a personal passion?
AH: Yes, I have always loved music. I associate music with different
times of my life and it conjures up memories so easily. I walk for forty minutes
a day and I always play music. I don't think I could walk without it!
YZM: Filled as they are with stunning locales, fashion and food, your
books could be described as escapist in the best sense of the word. Care to comment?
AH: I am a huge fan of escapist fiction! We all need a break from our
daily lives and it is not always easy to get on a plane. I like to be
transported somewhere when I read and write. Often when I'm writing I think I'm
actually at the location and it's like taking a short holiday. (complete with a
little drama and heartbreak).
YZM: What’s in the works currently and where is your next novel set?
AH: My next novel, SANTORINI SUNSETS, comes
out on August 2 and is set on the spectacular Greek island of Santorini. CHRISTMAS IN PARIS comes
out on October 4 and I'm currently writing a book set in St. Bart's. So lots of
great locations.
YZM: What’s the one question I did not ask that you wish I did?
AH: Maybe what do I love to do besides write? The answer is always the
same: be with my children!
Anita Hughes was born in Sydney, Australia and had a charmed childhood that
included petting koala bears, riding the waves on Bondi Beach, and putting an
occasional shrimp on the barbie. Her writing career began at the age of eight,
when she won a national writing contest in THE AUSTRALIAN newspaper, and was
named "One of Australia's Next Best Writers." (She still has the newspaper
clipping.)
She received a B.A. in English Literature with a minor in
Creative Writing from Bard College, and attended UC Berkeley's Masters in
Creative Writing program.
She lives in Dana Point, CA with her family,
where she interrupts her writing to watch the glorious sunsets.
A Majorca Love Story
Juliet Lyman is a senior executive at Yesterday Records. Music is her passion
and she's very good at her job. That's why her famously philanthropic boss
Gideon sends her to Majorca, Spain to work with a very tortured, but talented
client. Lionel Harding is one of the best song writers of the 20th century, the
multi-Grammy award-winning lyricist of the third most recorded song in history.
But now he's 42 and six months overdue on the his latest paid assignment. Juliet
is not leaving Majorca without either new lyrics or a very large check.
To Juliet, business comes first. Emotions are secondary, and love isn't even
on the menu. But to Lionel, love is everything, and he blames Gideon for his
broken heart. He's determined to show Juliet that nothing is more important than
love, but Juliet is just as determined to get Lionel to create the music that
made him famous. If she can sign up local talent, even better. Her new friend
Gabriella has a voice like an angel, but she's not interested in fame. Her
grandmother, Lydia, wants the world for Gabriella, and she wants Juliet's help
to give it to her.
As her professional and personal lives start to mix for the first time,
Juliet is forced to reevaluate her priorities. Gideon hasn't been totally
honest, and love may be the only thing that gives them all what they need.
Island in the Sea is Anita Hughes' captivating sixth novel, filled
with exotic descriptions of food, fashion, and romance.
A compelling novel about one woman’s search for the truth from the author
of YOU WERE MEANT FOR ME.
After suffering a sudden, traumatic loss,
historical novelist Susannah Gilmore decides to uproot her life—and the lives of
her two children—and leave their beloved Brooklyn for the little town of
Eastwood, New Hampshire.
While the trio adjusts to their new
surroundings, Susannah is captivated by an unexpected find in her late parents’
home: an unsigned love note addressed to her mother, in handwriting that is most
definitely not her father’s.
Reeling from the thought that she never
really knew her mother, Susannah finds mysteries everywhere she looks: in her
daughter’s friendship with an older neighbor, in a charismatic local man to whom
she’s powerfully drawn, and in an eighteenth century crime she’s researching for
her next book. Compelled to dig into her mother’s past, Susannah discovers even
more secrets, ones that surpass any fiction she could ever put to paper...
About Yona Zeldis McDonough
Yona Zeldis McDonough is the author of six novels; her
seventh, THE HOUSE ON
PRIMROSE POND, will be out from New American Library in February, 2016. In
addition, she is the editor of the essay collections The Barbie
Chronicles: A Living Doll Turns Forty and All the Available Light: A
Marilyn Monroe Reader. Her short fiction, articles and essays have been
published in anthologies as well as in numerous national magazines and
newspapers. She is also the award-winning author of twenty-six books for
children, including the highly acclaimed chapter books, The Doll Shop
Downstairs and The Cats in the Doll Shop. Yona lives in Brooklyn, New
York with her husband, two children and two noisy Pomeranians.
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