The Last Letter

A love story wrapped in historical drama…

In the steel town of Donora, Pennsylvania, site of the infamous 1948 “killing smog,” headstrong nurse Rose Pavlesic tends to her family and neighbors. Efficient and precise, she’s created a life that reflects everything she missed growing up as an orphan. She’s even managed to keep her painful secrets hidden from the love of her life, Henry, her dutiful children, and large extended family.

When a stagnant weather pattern traps poisonous mill gasses in the valley, neighbors grow sicker and Rose’s nursing obligations thrust her into conflict she never could have fathomed. Consequences from her past collide with her present life, making her once clear decisions as gray as the suffocating smog. As pressure mounts, Rose finds she’s not the only one harboring lies. When the deadly fog finally clears, the loss of trust and faith leaves the Pavlesic family—and the whole town—splintered and shocked. With her new perspective, can Rose finally forgive herself and let her family’s healing begin? Will love be enough?

For every woman who thought she left her past behind...

Silver Medal--2012 Independent Publisher Book Awards and WINNER--Literary Fiction--National Indie Excellence Awards

Snatched from her family during the 1960s, Margaret, a headstrong Aboriginal girl, is fostered by the McDonalds, in the Australian outback, under the government sponsored assimilation policies. She stubbornly fights to maintain her culture until she can escape or her real parents find her. But soon she discovers that she is growing to like many of the customs and material possessions of her captors, throwing her into an identity crisis, which rips another fault line through her world.

By the time she grows into a beautiful young woman, she has already suffered the disappointments of unrequited love and a forbidden desire. Encouraged to hide behind the identity of a Southern European, the highly charged political environment of the time, and her love for a political activist, forces her to confront her true identity.

"The Girl Who Cried Wolf...is a swift thriller and a wickedly funny satire of the more fuzzyheaded wing of the environmental movement."
- The Seattle Times

Getting kidnapped on a visit to Seattle wasn't in Remy Brandt's agenda. A tightly-wound L.A. entertainment attorney, Remy has meetings to take and orders to give, but the three knucklehead environmentalists who snatch her have other plans. Remy wakes up in the middle of a national forest, resting on a platform strung between the branches of a gigantic cedar tree. The kidnappers demand that her hedgefund-manager father deed over his old growth timber holdings. Remy demands a triple-espresso and a bowl of fresh raspberries. It gets worse. Her father is dodging subpoenas for insider trading and can't be reached. Her boyfriend, left for dead by the kidnappers, can't get the FBI interested because at age 16, Remy faked her own kidnapping, and ran off with the pool boy. It's up to the boyfriend, an ex-cop with a short temper, to find her.  The kidnappers should be worried about him... they should be even more worried about Remy.

"What is distinctive about Ferrigno's gripping action is that it is often set in a natural world whose appeal he makes the reader vividly feel."
-New York Times

"Kinky-to-the-max. Ferrigno can make you afraid, he can make you laugh, and he can make you keep turning the pages."
-The Washington Post Book World

"Ferrigno has a gift for creating confrontations of high impact and his dialogue bites hard. He balances the tough doings with a strong sense of moral outrage and compassion."
-Los Angeles Times Book Review

An awesomely good writer."
-Elmore Leonard

"I never miss a book by Robert Ferrigno."
-Michael Connelly

About the Author: A former college professor, professional poker player and newspaper reporter, Robert Ferrigno is the author of thirteen thrillers. His first novel, The Horse Latitudes, was called "the fiction debut of the season" by Time magazine, although, to be fair, it was only May. A New York Times best-seller,  his work has been nominated for an Edgar award, Best Novel, by the Mystery Writers of America, and awarded a Silver Dagger for Best Short Story by the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain. His books have been published in eighteen foreign languages, including Russian, Chinese, German,  and Arabic, none of which Ferrigno can read. He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his family, working in the videogames industry and writing novels. He would like to lose twenty pounds and find a near-mint copy of Space Western #2 at a garage sale.

Tess Johnson has it all: her handsome photographer husband Beau, a thriving business, and a newly discovered pregnancy. When Beau accepts an overseas photography assignment, Tess decides to wait to reveal her secret—only she’s never given the chance. Beau’s helicopter crashes in the desert.

Tess struggles with the news of Beau’s death and tries to put her life back together. Alone and dealing with a pregnancy that only reminds her of what she has lost, Tess is adrift in a world of failed plans and fallen expectations. When a new client appears offering more than just a new project, Tess must confront the circumstances of her life head on.

Meanwhile, two Iraqi women who are fleeing honor killings find Beau barely alive in the middle of the desert, his body ravaged by the crash. Suha, a doctor, and Samira, a widow and mother of three young children, nurse him back to health in a makeshift tent. Beau bonds with the women and children, and together, with the help of an underground organization, they continue their dangerous escape.

What happens next is a test of loyalties, strength, and love.

"A box of tissues should be included in the purchase price of this book.... I finished THE COLOR OF HEAVEN in a matter of hours, but I've no doubt the read and the lessons imparted through Sophie's story will stay with me... probably forever. THE COLOR OF HEAVEN is an incredibly poignant and unbelievably gripping novel, deserving Romance Junkies' highest rating."  --FIVE BLUE RIBBONS - Chris at Romance Junkies

A deeply emotional tale about Sophie Duncan, a successful columnist whose world falls apart after her daughter’s unexpected illness and her husband’s shocking affair. When it seems nothing else could possibly go wrong, her car skids off an icy road and plunges into a frozen lake. There, in the cold dark depths of the water, a profound and extraordinary experience unlocks the surprising secrets from Sophie’s past, and teaches her what it means to truly live...and love.

Full of surprising twists and turns and a near-death experience that will leave you breathless, this story is not to be missed.

"A gripping, emotional tale you'll want to read in one sitting." - New York Times bestselling author, Julia London

"Brilliantly poignant mainstream tale." – 4 ½ starred review, Romantic Times

About the Author

Julianne MacLean is a USA Today bestselling author of more than 15 historical romance novels, including her popular American Heiress series published by Avon/Harper Collins, and her recent Highlander Trilogy, published by St. Martin’s Press. She is a three-time RITA finalist with Romance Writers of America, a two-time winner of the Bookseller’s Best Award, and winner of a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for her novel LOVE ACCORDING TO LILY. Her books have been translated into many languages, and she is currently working on a new Regency historical trilogy. For more information about the author, visit www.juliannemaclean.com.