"Escape to paradise. Find trouble instead!
Last Bets, by award-winning author of the bestseller, A Woman's Guide to Search & Rescue, is a fast-paced suspense novel that will appeal to fans of The Queen's Gambit and The White Lotus. In Mary Carroll Moore's must-read new book, female ambition and morality collide in the darkness of a gambling underworld on the idyllic, exotic island of Bonaire.
As a child, Elly Sorensen's gambler father drafted his daughter to use her paranormal gift of second sight to help him win big at gambling tables. After nearly getting killed back then, Elly vowed never again.
Now she secretly uses her visions to paint portraits with startling authenticity. Celebrities seek out Elly for her rare talent at capturing their essence. She's at the height of her artistic career.
Then Elly's estranged husband suddenly dies, leaving her with massive debts that must be paid right away. To quickly make the amount of money she needs, Elly flees to the Caribbean island of Bonaire to finish a commission for a wealthy man.
There, she meets Australian teenager and kindred spirit Rosie Ryan. Rosie's father also uses his daughter to scout information that nefariously helps him win at gambling. Rosie reminds Elly of her sister Lily, a girl she failed to rescue long ago.
Rosie's emotional needs and deceptions, along with a deadly hurricane racing toward the island, draw Elly back into the gambling world to win the fast money she desperately needs.
Even though Elly can barely rescue herself, will she use her paranormal powers again? Can she fully trust the grifter, Rosie? Underestimated by the men around them, what would happen if Rosie and Elly teamed up to conquer forces they never imagined? Will they fight for a future that promises real freedom?"
"“Moore traces the contours of shadow without ever letting us forget the transformative power of light.” —Kaethe Schwehn, author of The Rending and the NestIn this unique and honest coming-of-age story, young artist Molly Fisher predicts another boring summer at her family cabin on Cloud Lake in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, until, weeks before her sixteenth birthday, a boating accident almost causes her little brother's death. Sam is in a coma, and Molly's family, unraveled by tragedy, blames her. Overcome with grief and guilt, Molly befriends a newcomer to the lake, Zoe Novato, a waterskiing champion whose frank interest both unsettles and delights Molly. From best friends, the unthinkable happens: Molly falls in love with Zoe. In the midst of escalating family tragedy, Molly's journey of discovery unexpectedly becomes a path of redemption for both her parents, bringing their family from lost to found. The transcendent ending shows the power of young love to heal old wounds and allow a deeper forgiveness. Qualities of Light explores the budding of unexpected romance in the face of family tragedy, the forging of a new relationship between a daughter and her gifted, difficult parents, and an adolescent girl's confrontation with her own qualities of light and darkness."
"Framed for the brutal attack on her manager, indie rock legend Red Nelson flees to the only family she doesn’t yet know: her estranged sister, Kate Fisher, a Search & Rescue pilot working the remote mountains of upper New York State. Kate, the daughter of her father's legitimate but unhappy marriage, has no wish to meet Red, the product of her father’s passionate love affair, but when Kate’s daughter, Molly, decides to hide Red on their property, concern over Molly’s safety forces Kate to stage a rescue and repair the broken but longed-for family she comes from. A Woman’s Guide to Search & Rescue explores the unexpected gift of found family in times of loss and tragedy, the forging of new relationship between two related strangers, and the discovery by three women of different generations who learn that by saving each other, they save themselves. "
