GIVEAWAY: Falling Home by Karen White

In FALLING HOME, an NAL/Accent trade paperback on sale November 2nd, Cassie is pulled away from her fast-track career, her Upper West Side apartment and her metrosexual fiancé by the news that her father has suffered a heart attack.  He knows he is dying and wants both of his daughters home by his side. Cassie left Walton, fifteen years ago with no plans to return after Joe, the man she loved, eloped with her sister Harriet.

Cassie can barely handle being with her sister, let alone Joe.  Yet, there is no way she can keep her distance from them, not as her father lay  dying and not with Aunt Lucinda, who helped raise the girls after their mother’s death, looking on.  News that the family home has been willed solely to Cassie creates a new rift when she announces her plans to sell the house and its contents as soon as possible.  Even long-time family friend Sam Parker, the town’s only physician and an admirer of Cassie since high school, can’t convince her to delay her decision.  Soon, Cassie and her inheritance are at the center of the struggle between developers and the preservationists fighting to protect the small town’s sensibility and historic homes.

Despite falling in love with her sister’s children, being confused by her reactions to Sam’s advances, and beginning to realize she feels at home in this place where people ask how you are and actually expect to hear the truth, Cassie still plans to walk away. Meanwhile, developers seem to have gained the upper hand, threatening her family’s and the town’s way of life, even as the house itself begins to yield its secrets when letters and belongings from the past raise questions about heritage and legacies. Then, suddenly, an unseen enemy emerges and each member of the family finds their life has been changed forever.

FALLING HOME was originally published in 2002, and is being released again in November 2010 in response to the many readers who reached out after unsuccessfully searching for the out-of-print novel.  It has been extensively revised for this new publication.  “Readers told me they loved the story and characters, so it was hard to see what I might change,” says Karen regarding the revisions. “Then it clicked.  I didn’t want to change the story. I wanted to change some of the writing—to take the experience and education of having written nine other novels and to work at creating a better book.”

A big thank you to Joy Strazza with Joan Schulhafer Publishing & Media Consulting for supporting this giveaway. I have two copies of Falling Home up for grabs for USA/Canada residents. Post a comment on this post, comment on Facebook, or RT on Twitter to be entered to win. Winners will be chosen on Saturday September 18th.

UPDATE:

The winners have been chosen! Congratulations to Renae N Cal Heald & Michelle (mjcruz3303@yahoo.com). Please email me at Samantha@chicklitplus.com with your mailing address by Wednesday the 22nd to claim your prize. Thanks to all who entered!