Summertime Guests

As featured in The Boston Globe The New York Post Bustle Woman's World South Shore Home, Life & Style "Engaging...Add this to beach reads along with those by Elin Hilderbrand, Nancy Thayer, and Dorothea Benton Frank." --Booklist THE SEAFARER IS THE PLACE TO SEE AND BE SEEN IN THE SUMMER... With its rich history and famous guests, the glamorous Boston hotel is no stranger to drama. But the bustle at the iconic property reaches new heights one weekend in mid-June when someone falls tragically to her death, the event rippling through the lives of four very different people. Bride-to-be Riley is at the hotel to plan her wedding. She would have preferred a smaller, more intimate celebration, but her bossy mother-in-law has taken charge and her fiancé hasn’t seemed to notice. Jean-Paul, the hotel’s manager, is struggling to keep his marriage and new family afloat, but now he must devote all his energy to this latest scandal at work. Claire, recently widowed, comes to town to connect with a long-lost love, but has too much changed in the last thirty years? And then there’s Jason, whose romantic getaway with his girlfriend has not exactly gone the way he'd hoped and instead has him facing questions he can't bring himself to answer. Over three sun-drenched days, as the truth about the woman who died—and the secret she was hiding—is uncovered, these four strangers become linked in the most unexpected of ways. Together, they just might find the strength they need to turn their own lives around. "Compelling, surprising, and a wonderful summertime read." --Nancy Thayer, New York Times bestselling author of Family Reunion "Riveting...A smart read with plenty of meat for book clubs." --Barbara O'Neal, Washington Post bestselling author of When We Believed in Mermaids “In prose as glittering as the hotel in which the novel is set, Francis shines as a master storyteller. A must-read for anyone who could use an escape.” —Kristy Woodson Harvey, USA TODAY bestselling author of Feels Like Falling “The best kind of page-turner… This seductive novel will draw you into the fascinating backstories of characters sipping cocktails poolside, and you won't stop reading until you know what really happened." —Brooke Lea Foster, author of Summer Darlings "At a glamorous hotel by the ocean, four people face up to truths that can no longer be hidden. Summertime Guests is compelling, surprising, and a wonderful summertime read." —Nancy Thayer, New York Times bestselling author of Family Reunion "Wendy Francis delivers a smart, probing drama that skillfully unravels the complex emotional lives of an ensemble cast in Summertime Guests...a reflective, deeply engaging and suspenseful story with many threads sure to ensnare the attention of rapt readers." —Shelf Awareness "Idyllic coastal settings, drama, dynamic characters...this story has it all!" —Woman's World

Tourism has been a central part of Prince Edward Island’s identity for more than a century. What began as a seasonal sideline in the nineteenth century evolved into an economic powerhouse that now attracts over 1.5 million visitors each year, employs one in ten Islanders, and is the province’s second leading industry. Spanning from the Victorian era to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Summer Trade presents the first comprehensive history of tourism in any Canadian province. Over time the Island has marketed a remarkably durable set of tourism tropes – seaside refuge from urban industrial angst, return to innocence, literary shrine to L.M. Montgomery, cradle of Confederation, garden of the Gulf. As private enterprise and the state sought to manage the industry, the Island’s own identity became caught up in the wish fulfillment of its summer visitors. The result has been a complicated, sometimes conflicted relationship between Islanders and tourism, between a warm welcome to visitors and resistance to the industry’s adverse effects on local culture. Lavishly illustrated with postcards, tourist guides, and memorabilia, The Summer Trade also presents a history of Prince Edward Island in cameo that tracks cultural, economic, political, and environmental developments and tensions. Across the strait, the Island beckons.

Girl Left Behind At age five, Judy Temes was living with her parents and brother in a small town near Hungary's southern border. Unlike most, the family had comforts: a roomy apartment, a television, even a vacation home. What more could anyone want? But for her father, a doctor and a survivor of the Holocaust, living among the people who stood by as his family was taken to their deaths in cattle cars had become untenable. On a summer night in 1969, the family packed the car for what was supposed to be a vacation to Vienna. Only this was no vacation. They were escaping Hungary's totalitarian regime, using tourist visas that allowed entry into a Western country. Such visas, however, came at a high price. One child had to be left behind. This was the government's way to ensure that citizens who left the country would return. The child left behind was "Juditka," who would go on to live with her grandmother in a tiny lakeside Hungarian village. When, if ever, would she see her family again? No one knew.

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'Island time' isn't just for the tropics: Escape to evergreen forests, pebbled shorelines, and the glittering sea with Moon San Juan Islands. Inside you'll find: Flexible itineraries like a 4-day best of the islands and a weeklong family camping trip, with coverage of gateway towns such as Anacortes, Whidbey Island, and Bellingham, plus nearby Seattle and Victoria Unique experiences and can't-miss sights: Picnic on cliffs overlooking the ocean or paddleboard on a tranquil lake. Spot playful orcas and check out the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor. Visit local farms filled with fragrant lavender or fluffy alpaca and sip wine or cider at island vineyards. Savor the flavors of the Pacific Northwest at incredible farm-to-table restaurants, sample oysters fresh from the sea, or browse your way through quirky book stores and funky antique shops The best outdoor adventures: Go sea kayaking alongside whales or glide through glimmering nighttime waters during a bioluminescence tour. Set your sights on the islands' marine life, including killer whales, humpback whales, porpoises, and seals, during a whale-watching trip. Sail around the islands or fish for salmon, cod, and halibut. Take a forest hike, spot rare birds, or bike through rolling farm country and along the stunning shorelines Expert advice from former wilderness ranger Don Pitcher on when to go, how to get around, and where to stay, from romantic B&Bs to stunning campsites Full-color photos and detailed maps throughout Thorough information on the landscape, climate, wildlife, and history With Moon's practical tips and local insight, you can experience the San Juan Islands your way. Hitting the road? Try Moon Pacific Northwest Road Trip. Seeing more of The Evergreen State? Check out Moon Washington or Moon Seattle.

Helps readers to reflect on the role of gratitude in their lives and to cultivate this virtue for their own benefit. The first author to offer a critique of gratitude through an explanation of various types of gratitude, Charles Shelton uses his skills as a clinical psychologist to present insights into the human experience of gratitude based on his own research. The exercises, strategies, and reflection questions threaded throughout the book give it a practical dimension that facilitates the reader's growth. Shelton's highly original reflection on Jesus as a grateful person lends a spiritual dimension to his work. This book will benefit individual readers as well as serve as a resource for spiritual direction workshops, spiritual formation courses, or ministry formation programs.--From publisher description.

Eye of the Owl is a fantasy fiction that takes place in the small town of Prickly Pears located at the edge of a mystical oasis along the San Andreas Fault, where the paranormal and social misfits were not unusual. The protagonist—Darla Fleaurant, a staff writer for a newspaper in Des Moines, Iowa—had big dreams and career goals in the world of journalism. To achieve her dream, she played everything by the rules and according to social expectations. Her entire life was planned out before her until her husband, who was her childhood sweetheart, divorced her to marry her closest lifelong friend. Devasted by pain and shame, she left her hometown and traveled to California. By happenstance, she took the wrong off-ramp and ended up in the town of Prickly Pears where she met Emma Blackmer, owner of Emma and Luke’s Prickly Pear Café and RV Park. It was through Emma’s role modeling and teachings that Darla broke down social barriers and found her true self and how she fit into the greater scheme of society.