Local resident Karen Truesdell Riehl's latest novel, Hello Again, is scheduled for release as an eBook on Valentine's Day, February 14. Much of the book is set in Carlsbad.
During her final semester at a San Diego university, Shannon falls in love with Nate, a graduate student teaching assistant. Before saying goodbye for the summer, the two pledge a lasting love. But there's another woman in Nate's life back in his Boston hometown. Tally is the daughter of his mentor and benefactor, Walter. A year earlier Nate vowed to Walter on his death bed he'd marry his daughter out of gratitude for being a father to him, the son of a single mother. Nate promises Shannon he'll break his engagement. But fate and faintheartedness get in their way, and they drift apart. Never revealing to Nate she was pregnant when they parted, Shannon raises their son Daniel alone, telling him his father was dead. Twenty years later, Shannon and Nate unexpectedly meet again.
Early reviews:
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"The gentle way in which Karen Truesdell Riehl mixes love and tragedy in Hello Again will make your heart ache." Bil Howard for Readers' Favorite
"The plot of Hello Again will keep you guessing to the end. It is a story I will not soon forget." Michael McManus for Readers' Favorite
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For a limited time Hello Again will be available for $0.99 in downloads on Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook, iBooks, Kobo and Smashwords.com. You can download a free sample now and place a pre-order at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/391811.
Karen Truesdell Riehl began writing for publication 12 years ago. Her writing achievements are remarkable, given her lifelong battle with dyslexia. She couldn't read until the age of ten.
Her published works include a memoir, Love and Madness: My Private Years with George C. Scott, recounting her 30-year liaison with the international film star and the birth of their out-of-wedlock love child. Her honesty and willingness to reveal her clandestine affair gives the reader first-person insight into the plight of unwed mothers in the 1950s.
Saturday Night Dance Club, an historical novel, is inspired by a true story. It follows the lives of four couples from 1900 through the 1930's. It's the story of Pearl, whose young world is shattered when Papa orders her to leave home. She takes with her the secret of catching Papa in the pantry with the maid. Pearl finds a job in the city. On weekends she heads downtown to the Canteen to volunteer as a "suitable young lady" to dance with the boys in uniform. Pearl considers this her patriotic duty --until Will sweeps her into his arms and into his heart.
The Ghosts of Fort Ord, was inspired by living next door to the abandoned military base for a month while her husband served as a consultant at California State University Monterey.
Freedom's Sins, is a story of scandal, sex and suicide in a fictional Indiana town, a Peyton Place of the Midwest.
