Patti and Kaira play favorites...plus a book giveaway

You may be seeing two books titled The Favorite Daughter this summer. Your eyes are not playing tricks on you! Kaira Rouda and Patti Callahan Henry just happen to have books with the same title, but completely different story lines, publishing within weeks of one another. We invited them both here today to tell us about some of their favorite things. Thankfully, the only similarity there is their love for movie musicals. Thanks to Berkley and Graydon House, we have a copy of each book to give to one lucky reader!

Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times bestselling author of fifteen novels, including the historical fiction, Becoming Mrs. Lewis, and her upcoming contemporary Southern fiction novel—The Favorite Daughter, coming June 4, 2019.

Some of Patti’s other books include Losing the Moon, Where the River Runs, When Light Breaks, Between the Tides, The Art of Keeping Secrets,  Coming Up for Air, And Then I Found You,  and The Bookshop at Water’s End.

Growing up in Philadelphia as the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, Patti learned early the value of storytelling. At the age of twelve, her family moved to South Florida where Patti found the sanctuary of libraries and began her slow but steady journey into understanding the power of story to navigate confusing times in life. Patti attended Auburn University for her undergraduate work, and Georgia State University for her graduate degree. Once a Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist, she now writes full time. The mother of three children, she now lives in both Mountain Brook, Alabama and Bluffton, South Carolina with her husband. (Bio adapted from Patti's website.)

Visit Patti online:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

Synopsis:
Ten years ago, Lena Donohue experienced a wedding-day betrayal so painful that she fled the small town of Watersend, South Carolina, and reinvented herself in New York City. Though now a freelance travel writer, the one place she rarely goes is home—until she learns of her dad’s failing health.

Returning to Watersend means seeing the sister she has avoided for a decade and the brother who runs the family’s Irish pub and has borne the burden of his sisters’ rift. While Alzheimer’s slowly steals their father’s memories, the siblings rush to preserve his life in stories and in photographs. As his secret past brings Lena’s own childhood into focus, it sends her on a journey to discover the true meaning of home. (Courtesy of Amazon.)

Kaira Sturdivant Rouda is an accomplished business leader, entrepreneur, national speaker and internationally bestselling and award-winning author. A former magazine editor, and society columnist, Kaira won the Stevie Award for Women in Business for creating the first female-focused residential real estate brand, Real Living, and growing the brand to more than 22 states before its sale to Berkshire Hathaway. Her first book, Real You Incorporated: 8 Essentials for Women Entrepreneurs, led to a national speaking tour where she inspired thousands.

Turning to a full-time writing career, her most recent works are Best Day Ever and The Favorite Daughter (published May 21, 2019). Active in the areas of homelessness, food security, and empowering women and girls, in her twenties, as a volunteer, she created the first walk-in emergency shelter for homeless families in Central Ohio. Kaira has received numerous awards for her community service, including the national Kiwanis Service to Mankind Award, among many others.

She lives in Southern California with her husband, Congressman Harley Rouda, and her four twenty-something children. (Bio courtesy of Kaira's website.)

Visit Kaira online:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

Synopsis:
The perfect home. The perfect family. The perfect lie.

Jane Harris lives in a sparkling home in an oceanfront gated community in Orange County. It’s a place that seems too beautiful to be touched by sadness. But exactly one year ago, Jane’s oldest daughter, Mary, died in a tragic accident and Jane has been grief-stricken ever since. Lost in a haze of anti-depressants, she’s barely even left the house. Now that’s all about to change.

It’s time for Jane to reclaim her life and her family. Jane’s husband, David, has planned a memorial service for Mary and three days later, their youngest daughter, Betsy, graduates high school. Yet as Jane reemerges into the world, it’s clear her family has changed without her. Her husband has been working long days—and nights—at the office. Her daughter seems distant, even secretive. And her beloved Mary was always such a good girl—dutiful and loving. But does someone know more about Mary, and about her last day, than they’ve revealed?

The bonds between mothers and daughters, and husbands and wives should never be broken. But you never know how far someone will go to keep a family together… (Courtesy of Amazon.)

Patti's favorite...
Movie of all time: My Fair Lady — it never ever gets old!
Thing to do in the summer: Read in a beach chair or hammock and disappear into a story.
Ice cream flavor: Caramel — no contest with anything else. :)
Thing about where you live: The green green springs.
Month: March when the world comes alive again.
TV series to binge watch: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel right now.
Thing from the 1980s: NOT the clothes or hair — probably the music!
Part about writing books: Finding and opening into an entirely new world! Allowing inspiration and imagination take me to places I hadn’t expected.

Kaira's favorite...
Movie of all time: The Sound of Music
Thing to do in the summer: Be at the beach with family and friends
Ice cream flavor: Lavender
Thing about where you live: The beach!
Month: May
TV series to binge watch: Dead to Me
Thing from the 1980s: Falling in love with my husband
Part about writing books: When a reader tells me they loved it!

Thanks to Patti and Kaira for visiting with us and Berkley and Graydon House for sharing their books with our readers.


How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends June 4th at midnight EST.