Mailbox Monday/In My Mailbox 1-11-2010

Mailbox Monday is hosted at The Printed Page or In Your Mailbox at The Story Siren on Sunday. Please stop by those posts and take a look at what packages everybody else got this week!



Critters of Mossy Creek

Created by Deborah Smith, Debra Dixon, Sandra Chastain, Martha Shields Crockett with Susan Goggins, Maureen Hardegree, Michele Hauf, Pam Mantovani, Carolyn McSparren, Kathleen Watson-Hodges

Springtime brings thoughts of love to people all over the world, and Creekites are no exception. Although love to Creekites isn't necessarily romantic. Take, for example, how they feel about their pets. Dogs, cats, birds, and fish take center stage as we once again see how the Southern half lives. Your favorites are back and in just as much trouble as ever. Amos and Ida are still circling each other's wagons. Sandy Crane has a little Faith. Jayne Reynolds emerges from widowhood to take a long lingering look at Mossy Creek's Bubba Rice. Ed Bailey and his beloved dog Possum, Lil Ida Hamilton, Peggy Caldwell and others will make you laugh and cry at human and animal antics. Cat heists. Fish ponds. Bird nappings. Don't miss the fun with Critters of Mossy Creek! (back cover)






Lost Letter
by Neil Mulligan

The newly wed Jimmy and Maggie McDougal learn the news of Maggie's pregnancy just weeks after Jimmy is called to duty in World War II. Frequent letters and their deep love for one another provide comfort while they are apart. But, suddenly, Jimmy's letters to Maggie cease and the Army confirms the worst of her fears. Alone, Maggie raises their daughter, Mary, who never knows her father.

Some sixty years later, Maggie is diagnosed with a terminal illness and eventually moves in with Mary, who becomes her caretaker. At about the same time that Maggie learns of her diagnosis, the Army, during a base closure, discovers a World War II letter addressed to her.

While Mary is coping with a dying mother, a demanding job and trying to learn as much as possible about the father she never knew, the Army is searching for the intended recipient of the World War II letter. Will Maggie succumb to her illness before the Lost Letter reaches her? (back cover)





Anything but Normal
by Melody Carlson

She thought she'd left the summer behind. . .

This year should be the best of Sophie Ramsay's life. She's friends with all the right people, she's a shoo-in for editor of the school newspaper, and she's managed to turn the head of one of the hottest guys in school.

But something's not quite right. Sophie has a secret -- one she won't be able to keep under wraps for much longer. (back cover)





Searching for Tina Turner
by Jacqueline E. Luckett

On their first date more than thirty years ago, Randall Spencer took Lena to an Ike and Tina Turner concert. From the minute they sat down in the fifth row, Lena knew that Randall wanted to impress her even though he didn't need to -- she would have gone anywhere just to be close to him. Yet now, after twenty-three years of marriage, Lena is missing one important thing. . . happiness.

On the surface it looks like she has everything a woman could wish for: a rich husband, two wonderful children, and a life of luxury. The reality is that her husband is emotionally distant, her son has developed a drug habit, and her daughter is disgusted by her mother's "overbearing behavior."

Determined to save her failing marriage, Lena suggests going to a marriage counselor to get to the root of her unhappiness and to find the gem they once called love. But in the sessions Randall doesn't understand Lena's frustrations and makes it clear that she is the one with the problem. When the counseling seems futile, he offers his wife an ultimatum: Be grateful for all I've done for you or leave. Embracing her fear of wasting her life, Lena chooses the latter and leaves behind everything she's known.

Drawing on the strength of Tina Turner's life story, Searching for Tina Turner is Lena's struggle to find herself after twenty-three years of being Randall's wife. (book jacket)




Fireworks over Toccoa
by Jeffrey Stepakoff

Lily was married for just days before her husband was sent abroad to fight in WWII. Now, he and the other soldiers are returning, and the small town of Toccoa, Georgia plans a big celebration. But a handsome and kind Italian immigrant, responsible for the elaborate fireworks display the town commissioned, captures Lily's heart and soul. Torn between duty to society and her husband, and a poor, passionate man who might be her only true love -- Lily must choose between a love she never knew and a commitment she's already made.

Poignant and elegant, Fireworks over Toccoa is a mosaic of all the emotions that only love can make possible. (inside cover)