Leesa Cross-Smith – författare

''This Close to Okay hits the ground running. Cross-Smith writes tenderly about the trial and error of intimacy and draws you in with enormous warmth and control'' - Raven Leilani, author of LUSTEROn a rainy October night, therapist Tallie Clark is on her way home from work when she spots a man standing at the edge of a bridge. Without a second thought, Tallie pulls over and convinces him to join her for a cup of coffee. Eventually, he agrees to come back to her house, where he finally shares his name: Emmett.Over the course of the emotionally charged weekend that follows, Tallie makes it her mission to provide a safe space for Emmett. But he isn''t the only one who needs healing-and they both are harbouring secrets...As they inch closer to the truth of what brought Emmett to the bridge-and the hard truths Tallie has been grappling with since her marriage ended-could their connection lead to love?This Close to Okay is an uplifting story about chance encounters, and hope found in the most unlikely moments, from a consummate author of emotionally-wrought romance.Longlisted for the 2022 Mark Twain American Voice in Literature AwardLonglisted for the Goodreads Choice AwardsBook of the Month December PickGood Housekeeping Book Club February PickMarie Claire Book Club March Pick

''Sharp-edged and sexy, Half-Blown Rose is an utterly intoxicating story of love, betrayal, and loyalty'' Taylor Jenkins ReidAfter learning a shocking truth about her husband''s past, forty-four-year-old Vincent Wilde moves to Paris determined to build a new life. She''s soon teaching modern art and enjoying a vibrant group of friends-but when she meets a charismatic young man named Loup, her life in the city becomes more thrilling than she''d ever imagined. Somewhere between dinners made together, cigarettes smoked in the moonlight, sexy evenings in nightclubs and long romantic walks along the Seine, Vincent feels herself blossoming.However, as her affair with Loup intensifies, she begins to wonder about their age difference-a hurdle that''s heightened by the fact she''s due to see her estranged husband Cillian again at their son''s wedding in the summer...An irresistibly romantic story of a woman remaking her life on her own terms, shot through with nostalgic 90s and 00s playlists and fizzling atmosphere of Paris

Set in contemporary Louisville, Leesa Cross-Smith’s mesmerizing first novel surrounding the death of a police officer is a requiem for marriage, friendship and family, from an author Roxane Gay has called “a consummate storyteller.”

Evi—a classically-trained ballerina—was nine months pregnant when her husband Eamon was killed in the line of duty on a steamy morning in July. Now, it is winter, and Eamon''s adopted brother Dalton has moved in to help her raise six-month-old Noah.

Whiskey & Ribbons is told in three intertwining, melodic voices: Evi in present day, as she’s snowed in with Dalton during a freak blizzard; Eamon before his murder, as he prepares for impending fatherhood and grapples with the danger of his profession; and Dalton, as he struggles to make sense of his life next to Eamon’s, and as he decides to track down the biological father he’s never known.

In the vein of Jojo Moyes’ After You, Whiskey & Ribbons explores the life that continues beyond loss, with a complicated brotherly dynamic reminiscent of Elizabeth Strout’s The Burgess Boys. It’s a meditation on grief, hope, motherhood, brotherhood and surrogate fatherhood. Above all, it’s a novel about what it means—and whether it’s possible—to heal.