The rules of dating dictate that talk of money, politics, and religion is off limits. However, these complex topics must be addressed if a long-term relationship is the goal. For UNC graduate students Mike and Carrie, the significance of these issues, particularly that of religion, becomes apparent when the couple joins each other’s families for Thanksgiving. Mike, who is Jewish, feels uncomfortable during the blessing before the feast. Carrie receives a cold reception from Mike’s family, particularly his mother who believes that her son should not waste his time with a Gentile. This tension results in the two breaking up with each other; however, they are still very much in love and soon reconcile.

Mike’s mother, Rachel, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, has always wanted to go to her parents’ hometown in Romania to find information about her family. Because she knows so little about her relatives, believing most of her kin perished in the Holocaust, Rachel firmly believes that her children should marry Jews to keep the tradition alive. When she goes to Romania, however, she discovers that not only does she have living relatives, but that some of her ancestors were Messianic Jews. As Rachel explores her family’s past, her expectations of a suitable match for Mike change. Although the two families come from very diverse backgrounds, they are able to embrace their differences and acknowledge the deep love that Make and Carrie have for each other.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: February 9th, 2010 under 2000-2009, 2005, Duplin, New Hanover, Orange, Romance/Relationship, Thomas, Marilyn Denny.
Comments: none

One of the blessings of old age is that memories of one’s teenage years fade.  Not so for Suzanne Ravenel.  Mother Ravenel had been a student, teacher, and headmistress of Mount St. Gabriel’s School in the fictitious Mountain City, North Carolina.  Now Mount St. Gabriel’s has closed, and some of the old girls persuade Mother Ravenel that her memories have value not just as a record of her life but also that of the school.

Mount St. Gabriel’s was a respected institution, serving day and boarding students from a range of families, including some of the area’s best.  On the surface, it was a place of good manner and superior education, but as with any school, the young people there had their insecurities, longings, jealousies, and capacity for pettiness and cruelty.  As Mother Ravenel dictates her memoirs, she is forced to consider one particularly unhappy year in the early 1950s.  Although the drama and toxicity of that year have haunted Mother Ravenel, as the story unfolds it becomes clear that some of the turmoil of  that year had its origin in Mother Ravenel’s own teenage years when she was a classmate of the mothers and aunts of some of the troublesome girls.

Normally multi-generational sagas focus on a family, but Unfinished Desires shows that the form works well to tell the story of schools girls whose youthful actions haunt the women they become.

Gail Godwin grew up in Asheville, where she attended school at St. Genevieve’s of the Pines.  The school is thought to be the model for Mount St. Gabriel’s.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: February 5th, 2010 under 2000-2009, 2009, Buncombe, Godwin, Gail, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places.
Comments: none

Livia Belane has lived many lives, but this current one is among the worst. Demons have picked off her family, and Livia has been accused of the fire that killed her mother and brother.  Back in Asheville after a time in an institution, Livia wants only to survive and take revenge on the demon who has tormented her.  Her inclination is to go it alone, but after she is brutally raped, she finds that Asheville is full of souls–young and old–who help her.  The most important of these is Ian, her husband in a previous life and true soul-mate.  Unfortunately, Ian’s soul now resides in the body of Livia’s assailant. Violent incidents from past and present lives pile up; nothing will be easy for Livia as she tries to beat the demon called Pig Face.

Leigh Bridger is the pen name of Deborah Smith, who is best known for her novels The Crossroads Cafe, A Place to Call Home, and On Bear Mountain.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: February 5th, 2010 under 2000-2009, 2009, Bridger, Leigh, Buncombe, Horror, Mountains, Science Fiction/Fantasy.
Comments: none

The eagerly anticipated week of summer vacation has arrived, and the Harris and Carr families have made the long trip from Virginia to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The two families are enjoying the ocean when suddenly an enormous mushroom cloud appears, turning the sky orange and making the earth vibrate. What they do not realize is that the entire east coast of the United States has just been hit by a terrorist attack. The group quickly makes its way back to the beach house only to discover that, in addition to having no cell phone service, the shelter has lost electricity. As the Harrises and Carrs face survival in the usually pristine coastal location, the rest of the country addresses mass destruction caused by the multiple strikes. The comfort of friendship and their faith in God must carry them through this harrowing experience.

Ending in a cliffhanger, a second part to the story is expected.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: February 5th, 2010 under 2000-2009, 2009, Coast, Dare, Omer, Kent E., Religious/Inspirational, Suspense/Thriller.
Comments: none

Usually when people consider magic, the end result is something that benefits them. Who wouldn’t want a million dollars to magically appear in his or her pocket? Who wouldn’t want to walk in the warm sands of Bali? Unfortunately, there are some who would use magic for evil. Such is the case in the town of Cat Creek, North Carolina.  Cat Creek, located in Richmond County, is a special place because it is home to the Sentinels, individuals who are capable of magic and who are the gatekeepers of an alternate universe called Oria. When one of the Sentinels turns on his allies, he not only puts them in danger but also causes an epidemic, called the Carolina Flu, which puts humans the world over in danger. As the Sentinels try to make peace between the two worlds, an unlikely pair of strangers provides indispensable help. Lauren Dane, the daughter of Sentinels who were killed for being suspected traitors, has special magical powers that allow her to be one of the rare gateweavers. Molly McColl, who has just been kidnapped by Oria natives and is believed by them to be a Vodi (Orian goddess), is Lauren’s long-lost half-sister. The two women use their talents to save both worlds and to reclaim the honor that their families deserve.

Memory of Fire is book one of Lisle’s The World Gates series.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: February 1st, 2010 under 2000-2009, 2002, Coastal Plain, Lisle, Holly, Novels in Series, Richmond, Science Fiction/Fantasy.
Comments: none

The death of a loved one results in grief, and the length and magnitude of this response varies for every person. Deep depression sets in for Lucy James after the death of her husband, and her friends become very concerned about her well-being. After a few months of mourning, they suggest that she get out of the house and confront what her life will be like without Charlie. Spending more time with, Dottie, her English Setter, seashell collecting, committees, after-school tutoring, and running for the school board are some of the projects that Lucy undertakes to appease her friends’ concern. As she involves herself in more community activities, Lucy finds that she is able to live without the constant cloud of sorrow hanging over her. In fact, she identifies signs – the sound of his voice or the presence of a red rose – that Charlie is still with her. She needs the comfort of his spirit when the ugliness of the election and opposition to her work with a slave reburial site is compounded by her violent rape and the sexual abuse of one of her tutoring students. As Lucy faces her future without Charlie, she finds her purpose in opening her heart and in serving others.

Edwards’ first book, The Ghosts of Turtle Nest, introduced readers to Lucy James.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: February 1st, 2010 under 2000-2009, 2009, Brunswick, Coast, Cumberland, Edwards, Edith, Religious/Inspirational.
Comments: 2

Matt and Lindy are two retirees living a quiet life on the coast in Brunswick County.  Matt is happy to catch and cook blue crabs, listen to jazz, and shoot the breeze with the neighbors. Lindy prefers a more active life, and she is in town most days working as a volunteer translator at the health clinic and other county offices.  Their quiet life is changed when Matt discovers the body of a Mexican immigrant in the water near his crab pots.  The young man has been murdered in what appears to be a professional hit.  Another murder follows.  Although the murders appear to have been done by a local policeman, the police chief thinks that they were the work of someone else, possibly an outsider.  Matt and Lindy find confirmation of that hunch when a desperate immigrant that Lindy knows through her translating work takes refuge with Matt and Lindy.  Soon they are all in the gun sight of the local boss of a Mexican crime syndicate in this novel that wraps the subject of illegal immigration into a fast-paced thriller.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: January 29th, 2010 under 2000-2009, 2006, Brunswick, Coast, Glander, Don, Suspense/Thriller.
Comments: none

The reader is introduced to Mac McDermott as he is contemplating suicide. Although he once led a happy, successful life, Mac’s nasty divorce from his vindictive second wife, Martha, his estrangement from his son and two stepsons, and the loss of his high-paying job has led to a deep depression. The mounting bills and his dependence on alcohol have not helped his situation, and he concludes that a boating accident is his best way “out.” While at sea, Mac is mysteriously saved by the spirit of his stepfather, who encourages Mac to abandon his plans. That night, Mac wins the lottery. The $40 million prize takes care of his money problems, and he finds a new lease on life, which includes trying to make peace with his former wives.

Things are going well for Mac and his girlfriend, Loretta, until Martha is found dead in her swimming pool the day after Mac’s visit. He is immediately suspected of her murder, and after a quick trial, the jury finds him guilty. Z, the private investigator Mac enlisted before and during the trial, will not rest after Mac is put on death row, and he continues searching for clues. Z reaches the conclusion that Martha faked her death to collect her life insurance money and that she had no problem incriminating Mac in her scheme. Her plan almost works, but Z finds justice for Mac, and he is once again able to find contentment.

The Paths of Glory is Edward Vaughn’s fourth novel in his “Cumberland County Series.”

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: January 29th, 2010 under 2000-2009, 2009, Coastal Plain, Cumberland, Novels in Series, Suspense/Thriller, Vaughn, Edward.
Comments: none

Julie Maries (Jules) Fuller returns to her hometown of Ekron, North Carolina to be with her mother who is dying.  Jules has put her life in the film industry in Los Angeles on hold to nurse her mother, but she also hopes her mother will show her how to be a good mother to the baby she is carrying.  Jules’ mother dies too quickly to help her, and Jules soon finds that she is facing a challenge greater than single parenthood.  A young boy who is in a class where she has been a guest teacher accuses her of making sexual advances.

The accusation against Jules spreads fast across the little town.  The locals start to talk, not just about this incident, but also about other things about the Fullers that have been problematic to some people: Mr. Fuller’s drinking and accidental death, Jules’ “wild” youth, her brother Lincoln’s homosexuality. Jules has her defenders, including her brother, her high school boyfriend, and the uncle of the boy making the accusation.  Soon the reader finds that the men and their families are connected to Jules’, and that the Fullers are not the only family in Ekron with turmoil and secrets.

The author handles some difficult material–family violence, child sexual abuse, intolerance, and the cruelty of gossip–with grace, producing a rewarding novel in which several characters find their way to emotional maturity and peace with the past.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: January 25th, 2010 under 2000-2009, 2009, Coast, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Page, Jean Reynolds.
Comments: 1

The women of the Sisterhood hate to see innocent individuals suffer. When Harry Wong, boyfriend of Sisterhood member Yoko Akia, discovers that his entire life savings has vanished due to identity theft, the women are upset.  Their concern turns to anger when they learn that the criminals behind Harry’s misfortune are the ringleaders of an enormous enterprise that involves stealing the identity of foster children. The Sisters go undercover in Washington, D.C. to catch the thieves. Those thieves will pay for taking the savings of their friend and countless others, and for putting those innocents in the financial hell of a compromised identity, false credit cards, and low credit scores.

This is the fifteenth novel in Fern Michaels’ Sisterhood Series, but not all of the novels in the series are set in North Carolina.

Check out this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: January 25th, 2010 under 2000-2009, 2009, Michaels, Fern, Mountains, Novels in Series, Suspense/Thriller, Yancey.
Comments: none