Say Hello To Satin Doll

Murder, corruption, and scandals rock Washington, D.C.... America’s most famous ex-child star, Jana Lane, is playing a US Senator in a 1983 film. Just as she and her family arrive in DC, two Washington power players are murdered, and Jana is caught in the web of intrigue and political scandal. Jana falls under the spell of the breathtakingly handsome detective assigned to the case, ex-professional football player and food aficionado, Chris Bove. Will Jana and Bove uncover the murderer’s identity and shocking secrets before Jana and her family become the Capitol’s next victims?

The award-winning author of Satin Dreams delivers a novel that delves into the dark side of a famous model’s picture-perfect life. Samantha Whitfield is a highly successful fashion model, traveling from New York to Paris to London as part of her glamorous high-profile career. Her face is the one every photographer needs; her body what every designer imagines. She plays for keeps in the fast paced game of the fashion glitterati—-only to risk it all on the demands of her own insatiable passions. Her world is fraught with the illicit dangers of sex and drugs, millionaires, and hangers-on. A dazzling whirlwind of high fashion and high stakes, where everyone is willing to succeed--at any cost.

Satin Doll is a witty, insightful, heartbreaking and honest tale about romantic relationships, friendships, and class distinctions. Bang! Being shot in the middle of the night and left for dead is what it took to open her eyes. Until that fateful moment, Regina Harris lived la vida loca with pimps and hustlers, a gangster lifestyle that supplied the money she needed to get high and forget the poverty of Harlem. Now she has turned her life around, is a college graduate and freelance journalist, and makes enough money to live on the Upper West Side and hob- nob with the city's movers and shakers. She's become the classy Satin Doll of the Duke Ellington song. But she can't forget where she came from: her three best friends are from the old neighborhood. The Harlem homegirls. Regina tries to give emotional support to each of her friends as they deal with their own personal issues: Yvonne is a single mother looking for the right man. Tamika must raise two children alone while their father does time in jail for robbery. Puddin' lives her life by picking up men and smoking weed. Living in two worlds; comfortable in neither. On a night out partying with her homegirls in Harlem, Regina meets aspiring lawyer Charles Whitfield, son of a pro-minent, upper-class black family in Philadelphia. He loves her but not her rough-around-the-edges friends. She loves him but doesn't think she can live up to his family's expectations. Regina tries desperately to hide her former life, but when her past is revealed, it threatens to destroy her relationship with Charles and the life she has worked hard to create. From its dramatic beginning to the fateful ending, Satin Doll is a witty and truthful take on relationships, friendships, and class distinctions.

Following the path of its star musician John Coltrane, Impulse Records cut a creative swath through the 1960s and 1970s. This volume tells the story of the label, balancing tales of individual passion, artistic vision, and commercial motivation--with nearly one hundred interviews with executives, journalists, producers, and musicians. 120 illustrations.

Just after recording with John Coltrane in 1963, baritone singer Johnny Hartman (1923–1983) told a family member that “something special” occurred in the studio that day. He was right – the album, containing definitive readings of “Lush Life” and “My One and Only Love,” resides firmly in the realm of iconic; forever enveloping listeners in the sounds of romance. In The Last Balladeer, author Gregg Akkerman skillfully reveals not only the intimate details of that album but the life-long achievements and occasional missteps of Hartman as an African-American artist dedicated to his craft. This book carefully follows the journey of the Grammy-nominated vocalist from his big band origins with Earl Hines and Dizzy Gillespie to featured soloist in prestigious supper clubs throughout the world. Through exclusive interviews with Hartman’s family and fellow musicians (including Tony Bennett, Billy Taylor, Kurt Elling, Jon Hendricks, and others), accounts from friends and associates, newly discovered recordings and studio outtakes, and in-depth research on his career and personal life, Akkerman expertly recollects the Hartman character as a gentleman, romantic, family man, and constant contributor to the jazz scene. From his international concerts in Japan, Australia, and England to his steady presence as an American nightclub singer that spanned five decades, Hartman personifies the “last balladeer” of his kind, singing with a sentiment that captured the attention of Clint Eastwood, who brought Hartman’s songs to the masses in the film The Bridges of Madison County. In the first full-length biography and discography to chronicle the rhapsodic life and music of Johnny Hartman, the author completes a previously missing dimension of vocal-jazz history by documenting Hartman as the balladeer who crooned his way into so many hearts. Backed by impeccable research but conveyed in a conversational style, this book will interest not only musicians and scholars but any fan of the Great American Songbook and the singers who brought it to life.

'Wonderful...Carlin's book never shies from the details of this most enduring of American heroes. The divorces, cruelties, years in therapy and his antidepressant fuelled comeback of 2003 are all here' Sunday Times This sweeping biography of one of America's greatest musicians is the first in twenty-five years to be written with the cooperation of Springsteen himself. With unfettered access to the artist, his family and band members, acclaimed music writer Peter Ames Carlin presents an intimate and vivid portrait. 'A readable, expansive portrait of the New Jersey rocker that delves into his family background and personal life more than previous biographies' Sunday Telegraph 'The first serious Bruce Springsteen biography for 25 years. Carlin was granted unprecedented access to family, friends, management, even the Boss himself, enabling him to paint a vivid picture of the man, warts and all' Sunday Express 'A revealing portrait of a rock colossus… Peter Ames Carlin's new book is the first in 25 years to have been written with the co-operation of Springsteen. Previous biographies have tended towards closely argued adulation but Carlin has not been blinded by his access to Springsteen' Daily Telegraph 'One for the regular fan on the street...well written and jaw-dropping in its research...Weighty, fact focused, readable' Metro 'Painstakingly researched and based on - for the first time - interviews with Springsteen's family and friends as well as the Boss himself. To that extent it is the first authorised account for a decade...This is a warts-and-all account that includes Springsteen's flashes of temper when things didn't go his way…' Sunday Times