Her debut coming-of-age novel, ACCORDING TO JANE (Kensington, 2009), featuring the ghost of Jane Austen giving a young woman dating advice, won the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart® Award and the Booksellers’ Best, and it was named one of the “Top 100 Romance Novels of All Time” by Buzzle.com. Her second novel, FRIDAY MORNINGS AT NINE (Kensington, 2010), was a Doubleday and Book-of-the-Month Club pick in women’s fiction. A SUMMER IN EUROPE (Kensington, 2011) was featured in the Literary Guild and BOMC2, and it became a Top 20 Bestseller in Fiction and Literature for the Rhapsody Book Club. The Polish translation of the novel was released in June 2013.
She’s also a #1 Kindle and #1 Nook bestseller, who writes fun and flirty romantic comedies, like her stories in THE SWEET TEMPTATIONS COLLECTION, that involve sweet treats, unexpected love and large doses of humor. THE ROAD TO YOU—a coming-of-age romantic mystery—was selected as one of the Top 20 Best Books of the Year (December 2013) by The Reading Frenzy. Several of her novels are available in audio CD/download from Post Hypnotic Press. Be sure to keep an eye out for new upcoming romances in the “Mirabelle Harbor” series!
Marilyn currently lives in the Chicago suburbs with her family. When she isn't reading her friends’ books or watching old movies, she’s working on her next novel, eating chocolate indiscriminately and hiding from the laundry. Please visit her website: www.MarilynBrant.com.
Story Excerpt
If you enjoyed YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME (Book 3) from Marilyn’s new Mirabelle Harbor series, check out this short excerpt below for the next stand-alone romance in the series, STRANGER ON THE SHORE (Book 4), coming soon, as well as the story descriptions for TAKE A CHANCE ON ME (Book 1) and THE ONE THAT I WANT (Book 2), which are both available now!
Excerpt & Details About STRANGER ON THE SHORE (Book 4) - Coming Spring 2016!
On the verge of turning forty and having just lost her job, Marianna Gregory flees Mirabelle Harbor for the summer with little more than a suitcase, her beat-up car, and the blessings of her good friend Olivia Michaelsen. Her ex-husband is living a new life in California. Her college-aged daughter is spending her vacation with her boyfriend in Michigan. And the house Marianna once called her own finally sold, so she has nowhere to live in Illinois now anyway.
However, her wealthy sister Ellen owns an empty bungalow on the beach in Sarasota, Florida, so Marianna turns to the sea for a chance to go shelling, regroup, and figure out what to do with this new chapter in her life. She doesn’t bargain on having to face down several family crises while she’s away, nor does she count on meeting a handsome beachcomber who bears a striking resemblance to Elvis. Just as surprising is the craft project she gets roped into volunteering for and the new group of friends who might just change the way she views the world and her future.
The most unexpected gifts can be found where the land meets the sea. STRANGER ON THE SHORE, a Mirabelle Harbor story.
From the Novel:
“Here’s your key,” Mr. Niihau, the elderly proprietor of the Siesta Sunset bungalows, said to me, handing over a plastic keychain in the shape of a golden nautilus with a single key on the end. “It works for the laundry room, too.”
I nodded and tried not to look as unenthusiastic about the idea of doing laundry as I felt. As hard as it was selling the house and, with it, the washer and drier that I’d scraped together enough cash to buy a year after Donny left me, I couldn’t say I was going to miss the appliances all that much.
“Here are bath towels to get you started.” He placed an assortment on the counter between us. “Garbage bags and a roll of paper towels.” He added those and pointed in the direction of the narrow parking lot. “There should be extras of everything in your unit. Garbage pickup comes on Tuesdays. Throw your bags in the green dumpster at the end of the lot. And there’s a big bin for recycling, too. Fresh sheets on Thursdays. Any questions?”
I inhaled and held the breath deep inside my chest for a moment. I was almost forty years old with no husband, no home of my own, and no paying job. My most pressing question was “Seriously, what am I gonna to do with my life?” but I did not ask Mr. Niihau this.
“Looks like I’m all set,” I told him instead. “Thank you.”
He smiled kindly, the corners of his eyes crinkling even further. The sun-weathered skin had seen seven decades at least, but he looked as though if someone were to say, “Surf’s up!” he’d grab his board and race them to the water. My sister Ellen had told me he was born in Hawaii and still had the heart of an Islander. Having met him now, I totally believed that.
“Your sister’s unit is number twenty-six,” he reminded me. “Let me know if there’s anything you need during your stay.”
I assured him I would and, then, meandered down the outdoor walkway. The late-June humidity was so oppressive—good God! A person would be crazy to think Mirabelle Harbor was muggy by comparison. I felt wrapped in a in a tight wool blanket, the sweat being squeezed out of me, until I got to the shaded canopy of the bungalow that Ellen and her husband Jared bought as a vacation unit over a decade ago.
With the exception of a few weeks every winter, my sister and her husband didn’t visit this property. They just rented it out through the year with the help of Mr. Niihau and his staff—often to an assortment of regulars and to some others, mostly families, who were looking for a place to stay on their beach holiday.
But not this summer.
For seven weeks, Ellen kept the reservation book clear for me. A gift for which I had no earthly idea how I might ever repay.
The door to unit #26 creaked as I unlocked it. I twisted the knob, pushed my way in and stepped inside a photograph.
I remembered this image exactly from a snapshot Ellen had sent one winter: A lush floral sofa with pretty buttercup throw pillows dominated the living room. A glass coffee table was parked in front of it. A small spotless kitchen was just beyond the front seating area with stainless steel appliances and a circular dining table jutting up against the main kitchen counter. A hallway could be found beyond that, with speckled tile floors throughout, an occasional throw rug and stark white walls dotted with a few small seascapes to break up the monotony.
The only difference between the photo in my memory and this room was that, in the former, my smart, successful older sister was lounging on the sofa, drinking from a 24-oz. ceramic mug of extra-strength coffee, and glancing up from her collection of work pages scattered on the glass table in front of her.
I had no such papers in my own bag, just an invisible, ever-growing list of differences between Ellen’s life and mine. My sister’s ability to do work while on vacation was only one of them.
My loafers click-clacked against the ceramic tiles as I strode down the hall to where the bedrooms were hidden. There were two available: One with a queen bed and one with a double. I opted for the larger of them—well, why the heck not?—and tossed my suitcase, purse, and jacket in the corner. The only items I retrieved from my bag were my flip-flops, which I slipped on after kicking off my travel loafers. Much like the way Mister Rogers changed his shoes at the start of his famous show when I was a kid, I felt the need to do the same.
I smoothed down a few wrinkles from my short-sleeve shirt and shorts and inhaled. Yes, I was about as comfortable as I could get under the circumstances. Ready to enter the Neighborhood of Make-Believe.
~*~
About TAKE A CHANCE ON ME (Book 1) - Out Now!
Welcome to Mirabelle Harbor! In this scenic suburb on Chicago’s North Shore, overlooking the sparkling waters of Lake Michigan, the Michaelsen family has made their home for generations. Although their parents and grandparents are now gone, siblings Derek, Blake, Sharlene, and the twins—Chandler and Chance—all have fond memories of growing up in town, and most still live there.
Chance Michaelsen, the youngest member of the family (by two minutes) and the quietest (by far), is a dedicated twenty-eight-year-old personal trainer at the local gym. While he might not say much, Chance h
as made it clear that he’s not a fan of toxic people, unhealthy habits, or sharing too many of his emotions. With anybody.
Enter Antonia “Nia” Pappayiannis—the prettiest member of the loudest and most overly demonstrative family in town. They’re also the owners of The Gala, a Greek restaurant and bakery known for its decadent pastries and located just a few steps from Chance’s gym. He considers their entire family business to be the enemy of good health, but he can’t quite shake his attraction to Nia, who doesn’t seem nearly as impressed with him or his sculpted physique as most of the women around Mirabelle Harbor.
Unfortunately, between her doctor’s orders and the interfering ways of Chance’s crazy-making ex-girlfriend, who just happens to be one of Nia’s long-time friends, Chance gets assigned to be Nia’s fitness coach for the month. Pure torture. And if his ex weren’t already causing enough problems, he also has to deal with Nia’s current boyfriend—some hotshot Chicago CEO who talks big but, in Chance’s opinion, is as fake as a Styrofoam barbell.
The road to romance is going to be a rocky one, and though Nia has her doubts about getting involved, Chance has a well-developed competitive streak and might just be willing to give it a shot...if he can convince her to do the same.
In matters of the heart, would you risk it all? TAKE A CHANCE ON ME, a Mirabelle Harbor story.
~*~
About THE ONE THAT I WANT (Book 2) - Out Now!
The summer after her beloved husband died in a car accident, Julia Meriwether Crane is still picking up the pieces of her life in Mirabelle Harbor and trying to help her ten-year-old daughter adjust to this difficult new reality.
After her best friend Sharlene—one of the well-connected Michaelsen siblings—talks her into finally going out on the town again, Julia finds herself stunned to be the object of interest of several different men: The boy who’d broken her heart back in high school. The college ex she’d left behind. And most surprising of all, the movie actor she’d always fantasized about but had never met in person...until now. Can one woman have more than one “great love” in the same lifetime? And, if so, how can she be sure which man that’ll be?
Sometimes the person you think will be best for you isn’t the one you really want. THE ONE THAT I WANT, a Mirabelle Harbor story.
**Check out the Mirabelle Harbor website page for more information on the series!**
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