Alexandria Series #1
ISBN: 0425278255
Publisher: PENGUIN/Berkley
Publication Date: 5/5/2015
Format: Other
My Rating: 4 Stars
The author of The Union Street Bakery presents a new novel about a woman searching for a fresh start—while unable to forget the past…
Adele “Addie” Morgan grew up in a house filled with pain and loss. Determined to live life on her own terms, Addie moves to the country and finds a job at a vineyard where she discovers stability, happiness, and—best of all—love with the kind owner, Scott.
But an unexpected call abruptly pulls Addie out of her new and improved life. Her sister has just given birth and Addie’s Aunt Grace wants her to return home to help the family—even if it means confronting things she’s tried so hard to forget.
When Addie arrives, she quickly realizes that she hasn’t truly let go of her former life, at least not completely. After making a surprising connection with her sister’s baby—and her sister’s ex-husband, Zeb—Addie must choose between her picture-perfect future with Scott and the family roots she thought she’d left behind for good…
My Review
Mary Ellen Taylor returns following her heartwarming popular Union Street Bakery Series with AT THE CORNER OF KING STREET with the first in the Alexandria Series---a contemporary, poignant story of a woman struggling with her past and the future. As always, love her front covers—drawing you into the beautiful settings. Taylor knows how to weave a southern story with layers of emotion, history, and human dynamics, as well as delivering riveting crime thrillers under Mary Burton. You have to love an author who can juggle a number of genres, while pulling out "all the stops" across many genres. Adele “Addie” Morgan did not have a great childhood and finally finds her happiness at a vineyard and the love of a good man, Scott, the owner. She loves her new life, her job, and she of all people, deserves to find happiness. However, Addie’s life is uprooted when she is called to return home to help the family in Alexandria, Virginia —a life and a past should would rather forget. Unfortunately a painful family past--her mother and sister suffer from a mental illness, bipolar. Addie has spent the last seven years trying to escape this curse, after an accident. Addie is torn with demands from Aunt Grace and sister, Janet. From her sister’s pregnancy, baby, ex-husband, meds, drama, mental illness, ups and downs, and a failing family business--plus Scott knows nothing about her past, or family. Torn between family, loyalty, love, history, and the family's disturbing mental illness-- the demands and tolls, a roller-coaster; dealing with the heart breaking disease and trying to escape this drama-filled life. Taylor captures the emotions of the heart from family tragedy to joy, with beautiful writing from talented Southern storyteller—with intriguing history and mystery. We also hear from familiar characters of the Union Street Bakery series, which was delightful. If you have not read the Union Bakery Series, highly recommend. Cannot wait for the next book in the Alexandria Series: The View from Prince Street, Coming Jan 5, 2016. (Fortunate to receive an ARC and dying to jump ahead to read)! One of my favorite authors, both as Mary Ellen Taylor(women’s fiction) and Mary Burton (crime, mystery, thriller). She has a rare talent --loving her writing style!
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About the Author
A southerner by birth, Mary Ellen Taylor’s love of her home state, Virginia, and its history is evident in the first of her contemporary novels, The Union Street Bakery. Its protagonists, the McCrae family, own the establishment, which has been in Alexandria’s Old Town for more than 150 years. They returned in Sweet Expectations. In both instances their stories intertwine with those of the city and the nation, presenting mysteries rooted in the past. While the McCraes are not the focus of Mary Ellen’s new novel, At the Corner of King Street, events of the past and their impact on the present remain a constant.
In addition to writing, cooking and baking are important creative outlets for Mary Ellen and she’s been known to name recipes in honor of her characters. She recently earned her Baking and Pastry Arts Certificate at the University of Richmond’s Culinary Arts Program.
Mary Ellen received her degree in English from Virginia’s Hollins University. After a decade of working in marketing and sales, she left to devote her time to writing. Today, in addition to her books as Mary Ellen Taylor, twenty-three of her romantic suspense novels and five novellas written as Mary Burton have been published and have earned spots on The New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. The latest, Be Afraid, has just been published.
Mary Ellen and her husband spend time alternately enjoying and lamenting their newly empty nest and spoiling their miniature dachshunds, Buddy, Bella and Tiki. Website Twitter
Coming 1/2016
Alexandria Series #2
The author of The Union Street Bakery and At the Corner of King Street returns to Alexandria, Virginia, with a heartfelt tale of reconnection. Rae McDonald was fifteen when a car accident took her sister’s life and threw her own into reckless turmoil. When she got pregnant a year later, she found a loving couple to adopt the child. Since then, she’s buried her grief and guilt under a heart of stone. Lisa Smyth survived the fateful crash, but never told the truth about what happened. And when a family obligation draws her back to Alexandria, the weight of Lisa’s guilt grows heavier by the day.
As both women confront a past refusing to be forgotten, long-buried artifacts are discovered by the Shire Architectural Salvage Company that point to a shared history between families. Now, Rae and Lisa must finally ask themselves if denying the past is worth sacrificing the future. Read More
