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December's delights are here! Thrilling tales, romance, and magic await you.

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Family secrets aren't just dangerous, they are deadly.


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A headstrong heiress and a noble gambler: wagers, intrigue, and irresistible romance.


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Two restless souls, one wild Christmas on the ranch�where sparks fly, and dreams ride free.


Pack Up The Moon

Pack Up The Moon, April 2008
by Anna McPartlin

Downstream Publishing
384 pages
ISBN: 1416553096
EAN: 9781416553090
Trade Size
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"A candid, funny and honest look at dealing with grief."

Fresh Fiction Review

Pack Up The Moon
Anna McPartlin

Reviewed by Lissa Staley
Posted March 16, 2008

Women's Fiction Contemporary | Contemporary Women's Fiction

Emma and John had been together since their teens, but at 26 Emma still felt too young to marry. Living happily together in Dublin, Ireland, since college, the couple also shared a group of close friends. On the night of a party to celebrate a friend's large inheritance, an unexpected tragedy takes away Emma's hopes for future happiness. Emma wants to be alone with her grief, but her family and friends continue to helpfully interfere. Her brother Noel, a priest doubting his own choices, is especially careful to take care of her, as is John's best friend, Seán. As Emma watches her friends' lives move ahead, she doesn't understand why she can't get it together. The only person who seems to understand her pain is Seán, but they share a guilty secret from the night of John's death that's keeping them apart. Emma fears that nothing good will ever happen again. Can she overcome her grief to let in love? For a book almost entirely centered on one woman's grief, PACK UP THE MOON still captures the poignant truths of human relationships. Emma's interactions with her brother are particularly touching, although each of her friends illustrates the unique ways people can love each other. Full of candid, funny and honest moments, this guaranteed tear-jerker should be an excellent choice for book clubs and those readers who enjoy women's fiction and the complexities of life.

Learn more about Pack Up The Moon

SUMMARY

THERE'S A BIG LIFE AHEAD OF HER.
CAN SHE FIND THE COURAGE TO LIVE IT?
Emma is twenty-six -- pretty, intelligent, and happily living with her childhood sweetheart John in a cute little Dublin apartment. Her biggest problem is that her mother won't stop nagging her to get married already. Emma and John feel like the perfect couple, their future alive with possibilities. But out of the blue, a tragedy throws her life into disarray -- and Emma is suddenly, incomprehensibly, alone. As she emerges from grief, Emma has to find a whole new way of living, and her loyal friends rally round in an attempt to help. Clodagh, Emma's lifelong friend, with whom she's shared everything from mud pies to dating disasters. Anne and Richard, more-or-less happily married and debating a move to the country. Emma's brother Noel, the young Catholic priest, finding his own faith tested even as he tries to comfort Emma. Seán, the gorgeous bad boy of a thousand one-night stands, uncomfortably aware of his and Emma's growing connection. Witty, acerbic, and sometimes downright shocking, Emma documents the stories of her friends and her own recovery from grief with a candor that engages the reader from the very first page. With an amazing insight into the power of friendship and a wry, irreverent humor that considers no subject off- limits, talented new Irish writer Anna McPartlin tells a heartwarming story of the courage it takes to move past loss and learn to live.


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