Beth Harbison – författare

Beth Harbison,New York Timesbestselling author ofThe Cookbook Club,has written her strongest novel yet: a story filled with humor, heart and a little bit of snark.This unforgettable story about two very different sisters who must come together and face their past if they can make their future better is perfect for fans of Jennifer Weiner, Sophia Kinsella, and Christina Lauren.

They were two sisters with nothing in common but their parents.

Frances Turner has a confession to make: her sister, Crosby, who has built her life on good luck and good looks, drives her crazy. The woman wakes up in the morning with perfect hair. Men flock to her. And she somehow managed to jump out of the frying pan and into fame, writing a blockbuster novel—and making a zillion bucks—without even trying. And Frances, who has followed every rule, is stuck in pause.

Crosby Turner has a confession as well: Frances locks herself in a miserable little box and Crosby can’t understand it. With her fear of the unknown and her “Franic Attacks,” her sister is a small-time actress with big-time dreams—and talent—but playing by the rules gets her nowhere. Heck, the closest Frannie gets to famous is as a caterer to the stars. Why can’t she break loose and climb out of her rut?

Then fate intervenes, throwing these incompatible siblings together in this sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking novel of sisterhood, grown-ups who need to grow up, and the realization that no one in a family is invisible.

Four different women. One common shoe size. And a shared lust for fabulous footwear. In this sparkling novel, the wife of a controlling politician, a debt-ridden eBay addict, an agoraphobic phone sex operator, and a nanny for the family from hell (who barely knows a sole from a heel but who will do anything to get out of the house) meet Tuesday nights to trade shoes, and, in the process, form friendships that will help them each triumph over their problems—from secret pasts to blackmail, bankruptcy, and dating. Funny, emotional, and powerful, Shoe Addicts Anonymous is the perfect summer listen.

Loreen Murphy hadn''t meant to hire a male prostitute in Las Vegas. It was all just a big, stupid, expensive misunderstanding. Abbey Walsh never intended anyone to find out about the fact that she''s being blackmailed. As a minister''s wife, her sordid past was supposed to be a secret. Tiffany Vanderslice Dreyer never dreamed that she''d find herself up to her eyeballs in credit card debt from one mad moment of a shopping spree. She''s an upstanding wife and mother with the perfect marriage…right? Secrets of a Shoe Addict is the story of three women who bond together when they find themselves in more than one kind of trouble. It''s the story of how sometimes, you hide a secret side that can get you in--and out--of dire straits. It''s about romance, friendship, kids, revenge, affairs, and most of all a love of all the well-heeled things in life.

Twenty years ago, Allie Denty was the pretty one and her best friend Olivia Pelham was the smart one. Throughout high school, they were inseparable…until a vicious rumor about Olivia— a rumor too close to the truth—ended their friendship. Now, on the eve of their twentieth high school reunion, Allie, a temp worker, finds herself suddenly single, a little chubby, and feeling old. Olivia, a cool and successful magazine beauty editor in New York, realizes she''s lonely, and is finally ready to face her demons. Sometimes hope lives in the future; sometimes it comes from the past; and sometimes, when every stupid thing goes wrong, it comes from a prettily packaged jar filled with scented cream and promises. Beth Harbison has done it again. A hilarious and touching novel about friendship, Love''s Baby Soft perfume, Watermelon Lip Smackers, bad run-ins with Sun-In, and the healing power of "Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific." Hope in a Jar: we all need it.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Hope In a Jar, Secrets of a Shoe Addict, and Shoe Addicts Anonymous, comes a novel about old rivalries, deep secrets, and the three things all women wish they were. Twenty years ago, when they were teenagers, Holly and Nicola were the outsiders at summer camp. Holly was the plump one, a dreamer who longed to be an artist. Nicola was the shy, plain one who wanted nothing more than to be beautiful. Their cabin nemesis was Lexi. Rich, spoiled, evil Lexi. One night, Holly and Nicola team up to pull one, daring act of vengeance. But they never dream that this one act will have repercussions that will reach into the future, even twenty years later. And they never realize the secret pain that Lexi holds very close, and how their need for revenge costs Lexi a great deal. Today, Holly is a successful gallery owner, who has put her own artistic dreams on hold. She struggles with her weight and for approval from her constantly-criticizing boyfriend. Nicola, is an almost-famous actress who believes that one little plastic surgery fix is just what she needs to put her over the edge into fame. And Lexi…Lexi is down on her luck and totally broke. Holly will do anything to be thin. Lexi will do anything to be rich. And Nicola will do anything to be pretty. Thin, Rich, Pretty is the story of three women who believe that happiness is the next dress size down, the next dollar figure up, or the next appreciative glance from a stranger. But mostly it''s the story of how three women save each other, and show each other the path to true contentment. Told with Beth Harbison''s knack for thirty and fortysomething nostalgia, and heartwarming humor, Thin, Rich, Pretty will strike a chord with any woman who has ever got on the scale, looked in the mirror, or the bank, and said, "if only…"

Can you ever really know if love is true? And if it is, should you stop at anything to get it? Two decades ago, Erin Edwards was sure she''d already found the love of her life: Nate Lawson. Her first love. The one with whom she shared everything--dreams of the future, of children, plans for forever. The one she thought she would spend the rest of her life with. Until one terrible night when Erin made a mistake Nate could not forgive and left her to mourn the relationship she could never forget or get over. Today, Erin is contentedly involved with a phenomenal guy, maneuvering a successful and exciting career, and raising a great daughter all on her own. So why would the name "Nate Lawson" be the first thing to enter her mind when her boyfriend asks her to marry him? In the wake of the proposal, Erin finds herself coming unraveled over the past, and the love she never forgot. The more she tries to ignore it and move on, the more it haunts her. Always Something There to Remind Me is a story that will resonate with any woman who has ever thought of that one first love and wondered, "Where is he?" and "What if…?" Filled with Beth Harbison''s trademark nostalgia humor and heart, it will transport you, and inspire you to believe in the power of first love.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Shoe Addicts Anonymous and Always Something There to Remind Me, When in Doubt, Add Butter by Beth Harbison a delicious new novel about the search for true love and all the ingredients that go into it.As far as Gemma is concerned, her days of dating are over. In fact, it''s her job to cater other peoples'' dates, and that''s just fine by her. At thirty-seven, she has her own business, working as a private chef, and her life feels full and secure. She''s got six steady clients that keep her hands full. There''s Lex, the fussy but fabulous department store owner who loves Oysters Rockefeller and 1950s comfort food; Willa, who needs to lose weight under doctor''s orders but still believes butter makes everything better; a colorful family who may or may not be part of the Russian mob; an überwealthy Georgetown family; the picture-perfect Van Houghtens, whose matriarch is "allergic to everything"; and finally, a man she calls "Mr. Tuesday," whom she has never met but who she is strangely drawn to. For Gemma, cooking is predictable. Recipes are certain. Use good ingredients, follow the directions, and you are assured success. Life, on the other hand, is full of variables. So when Gemma''s takes an unexpected turn on a road she always thought was straight and narrow, she must face her past and move on in ways she never would have imagined. Because sometimes in life, all you need is a little hope, a lot of courage, and---oh yes---butter.

From Beth Harbison, the New York Times bestselling author of When in Doubt, Add Butter and Shoe Addicts Anonymous, comes Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger, a delightful new novel that will make you look at second chances in a whole new way.Ten years ago, Quinn Barton was on her way to the altar to marry Burke Morrison, her high school sweetheart, when something derailed her. Rather, someone derailed her—the Best Man who at the last minute begged her to reconsider the marriage. He told her that Burke had been cheating on her. For a long time. Quinn, stunned, hurt, and confused, struggled with the obligation of fulfilling her guests'' expectations—providing a wedding—and running for her life.She chose running. With the Best Man. Who happened to be Burke''s brother, Frank.That relationship didn''t work either. How could it, when Quinn had been engaged to, in love with, Frank''s brother? Quinn opted for neither, and, instead, spends the next seventeen years working in her family''s Middleburg, Virginia, bridal shop, Talk of the Gown, where she subconsciously does penance for the disservice she did to marriage.But when the two men return to town for another wedding, old anger, hurt, and passion resurface. Just because you''ve traded the good guy for the bad guy for no guy doesn''t mean you have to stay away from love for the rest of your life, does it? Told with Beth Harbison''s flair for humor and heart, Chose the Wrong Guy will keep you guessing and make you believe in the possibilities of love.

Three women, two weeks, one convertible: sometimes life doesn''t take you in the direction you expect...Colleen Bradley is married with a teenage son, a modest business repurposing and reselling antiques, and longtime fear that she was not her husband''s first choice. When she decides to take a road trip down the east coast to check out antique auctions for her business, she also has a secret ulterior motive. Her one-woman mission for peace of mind is thrown slightly off course when sixteen year old Tamara becomes her co-pilot. The daughter of Colleen''s brother-in-law, Tamara is aware that when people see her as a screw-up, but she knows in her heart that she''s so much more. She just wishes her father could see it, too. The already bumpy trip takes another unexpected turn when they stop at the diner that served as Colleen''s college hangout and run into her old friend, Bitty Nolan Camalier. Clearly distressed, Bitty gives them a story full of holes: angry with her husband, she took off on her own, only to have her car stolen. Both Colleen and Tamara sense that there''s more that Bitty isn''t sharing, but Colleen offers to give Bitty a ride to Florida.So one becomes two becomes three as Colleen, Tamara, and Bitty make their way together down the coast. It''s a road trip fraught with tension as Tamara''s poor choices come back to haunt her and Bitty''s secrets reach a boiling point. With no one to turn to but each other, these three women might just discover that you can get lost in life but somehow, true friends provide a roadmap to finding what you''re really looking for.

Told with Beth Harbison''s wit and warmth, If I Could Turn Back Time is the fantasy of every woman who has ever thought, "If I could go back in time, knowing what I know now, I''d do things so differently..." Thirty-seven year old Ramie Phillips has led a very successful life. She made her fortune and now she hob nobs with the very rich and occasionally the semi-famous, and she enjoys luxuries she only dreamed of as a middle-class kid growing up in Potomac, Maryland. But despite it all, she can''t ignore the fact that she isn''t necessarily happy. In fact, lately Ramie has begun to feel more than a little empty. On a boat with friends off the Florida coast, she tries to fight her feelings of discontent with steel will and hard liquor. No one even notices as she gets up and goes to the diving board and dives off... Suddenly Ramie is waking up, straining to understand a voice calling in the distance...It''s her mother: "Wake up! You''re going to be late for school again. I''m not writing a note this time..." Ramie finds herself back on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, with a second chance to see the people she''s lost and change the choices she regrets. How did she get back here? Has she gone off the deep end? Is she really back in time? Above all, she''ll have to answer the question that no one else can: What it is that she really wants from the past, and for her future?

Three women at a crossroads. A little magic. One chance to change their lives.Meet Prinny, Chelsea and Diana. Prinny is the owner of Cosmos, a shop that sells crystals, potions, candles, and hope. It''s also a place where no one turns down a little extra-special cocktail that can work as a romance potion or heal a broken heart. But Prinny is in love with her married lawyer and she''ll need nothing short of magic to forget about him.Chelsea works as a living statue at tourist sites around Washington, DC. It''s a thankless job, but it helps pay the rent. That, and her part-time job at Cosmos. As her dream of becoming a successful actress starts to seem more remote and the possibility of being a permanently struggling one seems more realistic, Chelsea begins to wonder: at one point do you give up on your dreams? And will love ever be in the cards for her?Diana Tiesman is married to Leif, a charismatic man who isn''t faithful. But no matter how many times he lets her down, Diana just can''t let him go. She knows the only way she can truly break away is if she leaves and goes where he will never think to follow. So she ends up at Cosmos with Leif''s stepsister, where she makes her homemade teas and tinctures as she figures out whether she''d rather be lonely alone than lonely in love.In Beth Harbinson''s One Less Problem Without You, three women suddenly find themselves together at their own very different crossroads. It will take hope, love, strength and a little bit of magic for them to find their way together in this captivating work of contemporary women''s fiction.