Starting from Scratch (Harlequin Next #17) by Marie Ferrarella: Book Cover

    Starting from Scratch (Harlequin Next #17) by Marie Ferrarella

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    (Mass Market Paperback)

    • Pub. Date: November 2005
    • 304pp
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      Product Details

      • Pub. Date: November 2005
      • Publisher: Harlequin
      • Format: Mass Market Paperback, 304pp

      Synopsis

      Forty-six-year-old book editor Elisha Reid has focused entirely on her career in publishing until the sudden death of her brother from pancreatic cancer leaves her with two nieces to care for. As she learns about the demands of motherhood and balancing with work, she also unexpectedly forms a romantic attachment with her most difficult author, Ryan Sutherland, a Tom Clancy type, who has his own demons to face. Can an old dog learn new tricks? Can this professional woman learn to deal with this unexpected tragedy and create a new life for herself and her nieces?

      Biography

      Born in West Germany of Polish parents, Marie Ferrarella came to America when she was four years of age, finally settling in New York. It was there that she was to meet the man she would marry, truly her first love. Marie was only 14 when she first laid eyes on her future husband, Charles Ferrarella.
      Marie began to write her first romance novel when she was 11 years old, although she claims that, at the time, she didn't even realize it was a romance! She scribbled off and on, while dreaming of a career as an actress.
      During her days at Queens College, acting started to lose its glamour as Marie spent more and more time writing. After receiving her English degree, specializing in Shakespearean comedy, Marie and her family moved to Southern California, where she still resides today.
      After an interminable seven weeks apart, Charles decided he couldn't live without her and came out to California to marry his childhood sweetheart. Ever practical, Marie was married in a wash-and-wear wedding dress that she sewed herself, appliqués and all. "'Be prepared' has always been my motto," the author jokes. This motto has been stretched considerably by her two children, "but basically, it still applies," she says.
      Marie has one goal: to entertain, to make people laugh and feel good. "That's what makes me happy," she confesses. "That, and a really good romantic evening with my husband." She's keeping her fingers crossed that you enjoy reading her books as much as she's enjoyed writing them!

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      deep character studyby harstan

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      November 05, 2005: Randolph & Sons forty-six years old editor Elisha Jane Reed enjoys working at the prestigious publishing house though her personal life is going nowhere. She rationalizes that she has all she needs with her widowed brother and his two daughters fifteen years old Andrea and ten years old Beth who live near her. Her current gala is the release of what is expected to be a blockbuster written by Ex SEAL Ryan Sutherland. --- However, as she throws herself 24/7 to insure her new author succeeds, tragedy strikes when her beloved brother Henry informs her he has pancreatic cancer. Stunned Elisha has no time to cry as she now must remain optimistic though the disease is fast and fatal if not for her, than for Henry and her nieces. Her philosophy of dealing with problems fail miserably as it does trying to coax Ryan to behave like a proper best selling writer should. So what does a stressed out editor do, simply throw out the rule book and STARTING FROM SCRATCH and dive head first into a sweet tooth delight. --- The story line takes its time to introduce the audience to the prime players, but once readers learn Henry has cancer, the tale becomes a deep character study focusing on coping when your life is turned upside down instead of looking up at the next rung, you try not to fall any lower as the ooze beneath the ladder is in your vision. Ryan abetted by Henry and his children bring out the worse in a beleaguered, bewildered, and beheaded Elisha who feels she must have played football without a helmet as she poorly adjusts, in spite of her caring efforts, to a shift in reality. --- Harriet Klausner