Phaedra Patrick is a relatively new author, but is fast becoming a favorite of people who like charming and PG-rated stories. In The Library of Lost and Found, Martha Storm receives a mysterious package, a book of fables and fairy tales. She realizes that some of the stories were her own childhood writings, and the inscription in the book is from her long-dead grandmother Zelda but dated three years after her mother told her Zelda had died. Zelda was her best friend and ally in an otherwise bleak childhood, and Martha determines to find out the story behind this book and her grandmother. Her efforts spark a transformation for the better in her life.
Mori is an art expert in Nazi-occupied Paris in The Storm Over Paris by William Grubman. A Jew who sees his friends disappearing one by one, Mori is called upon to perform a service by Hitlers henchman Herman Goering. Goering is trying to establish a world-class museum with only the absolute best artmostly looted, of course. He wants Mori to assess what art should go to the museum. At great risk to himself, Mori hatches a plan to replace the most valuable pieces with forgeries.
In A Widows Awakening by Maryanne Pope, Adris very happy marriage comes to a crashing end when her husband is killed and she must adapt to life as a still young widow. All the emotions of the next year are packed into the novel, which is based on Popes own experience losing her policeman husband in the line of duty.
