Anne recommends "The Wife's Tale"

For anyone who has ever struggled with the issue of weight (and in North America who hasn’t?), Lori Lansens’ The Wife’s Tale chronicles what happens when one’s life is ruled by “the obeast”. Abandoned by her husband on the eve of their 25^th wedding anniversary, Mary Gooch sets out on a journey to find the only man she has ever loved. Leaving her small town Canadian home to fly to California where she’s discovered Jimmy Gooch has fled, what Mary ultimately finds is a chance to recreate herself. Sometimes funny, often heartbreaking, Lansen’s story is a cautionary tale of the wastefulness of allowing addictions to rule one’s life and the extraordinary courage it takes to have a second chance to get it right.

Recommended for adults.

Beth recommends: "The Golden Season" by Connie Brockway

The “golden season” is the Regency London season in which Lady Lydia Eastlake – reputedly wealthy and unattainable – must marry a very rich gentleman, per the order of her banker, who, along with England’s economic troubles, has done quite a bit of damage to her inheritance. She is almost flat broke. She is also kindhearted, intelligent, fiercely independent, loyal to her friends, and beautiful. Similarly, Captain Ned Lockton, recently returned from war at sea, has been ordered by his family to do the same – marry a rich woman so as to save the family home. The two meet, and need I say more? – of course they fall in love. I don’t read a lot of romances, so if I have enjoyed one enough to write about it here, I’d say that’s a pretty strong recommendation.

Appropriate for: adult