Our Tomato reviewers have a memoir and two novels to recommend. In her memoir, CONNIE, Connie Chung, the first women to co-anchor the CBS Evening News, pulls no punches as she provides a behind-the-scenes tour of her singular life. Shiner is a complex story of love, grief, rage, and regeneration. And Summers at The Saint is a wonderful blend of romance, mystery and family drama.

Iconic Trailblazer and Legendary Journalist Shares Her Story

Connie Chung made history when she achieved her dream of being the first woman to co-anchor the CBS Evening News and the first Asian to anchor any news program in the U.S. It wasn’t an easy journey to break into an overwhelmingly white, male-dominated television news industry.

In her memoir, CONNIE, she pulls no punches as she provides a behind-the-scenes tour of her singular life. From showdowns with powerful men in and out of the newsroom to the stories behind some of her career-defining reporting and the unwavering support of her husband, Maury Povich, nothing is off-limits – good, bad, or ugly. So be sure to tune in for an irreverent and inspiring exclusive: this is CONNIE like you’ve never seen her before.

It’s a sharp, witty, and definitive memoir. GET THE BOOK.

~Cheryl Benton, the Head Tomato

A Complex Story of Love, Grief, Rage, and Regeneration

In her debut novel Shiner, Amy Jo Burns busts out with a complex story of myths, miracles, and moonshiners. Set against a landscape both beautiful and treacherous, the narrative explores love, grief, rage, and regeneration in a small Appalachian community, focusing on the power of female friendship in the face of adversity.

The story follows fifteen-year-old Wren Bird who lives in a remote mountain cabin with her parents, an hour from the closest West Virginia mining town. They have no car, no mailbox, and no visitors – except for her mother’s lifelong best friend. Her father is a snake-wielding pastor, holding sermons in an abandoned gas station every Sunday, praising the Lord for his blighted white eye as proof of his divinity and the key to the hold he has over the community, Wren, and her mother.

One summer, however, a miracle performed by Wren’s father quickly turns to tragedy, shattering the carefully controlled order of Wren’s life forever. As she uncovers the truth of her father’s mysterious legend, her mother’s harrowing history and complex bond with her best friend, Wren discovers a future for herself different than she’d ever imagined.

Immersed in the splendor of the Appalachian backdrop, Burns describes moonshine country, the razor back mountains and ravines, the fields of violets, in exquisite detail. Rich with epic love and epic loss, and diving deep into a world that is an often-forgotten part of America, Shiner reveals the hidden story behind two generations of Appalachian heartbreak and resolve. GET THE BOOK.

~Joan Pagano, owner of Joan Pagano Fitness, NYC

Complex Family Relationships, Romance, Secrets and A Mystery

Summers at The Saint by Mary Kay Andrews is such a wonderful blend of romance, mystery and family drama.  This story really does have everything in a book for a reader to love.  All of this makes it not just a beach read, but an anytime fantastic read.

The story is set in Georgia at the iconic St. Cecelia Hotel, also know as the Saint.   The protagonist Traci Eddings, a widow, has just inherited the struggling hotel. She had worked at the hotel when she was a teenager.  She married one of the brothers that owned the hotel.  She is facing financial trouble with the hotel, a scheming relative and having to deal with the tragic loss of her husband.  Traci has decided to find a summer crew to help turn the failing hotel around.  As she begins the challenges of running the hotel, Traci uncovers secrets from the past including a murder mystery that adds a layer of suspense to the story.

I thought this book was such an interesting read.  It has many layers with complex family relationships, romance, secrets and a mystery.  I loved the mix of characters as they showed the class divisions in a small town.

The characters in this novel were so well developed.  Mary Kay Andrews did a superb job in character development.  There were also some serious topics in this book that include sexual assault and the opioid crisis, adding so much more to the story in my opinion.  I have read many of Mary Kay’s books, but this is her best book yet.  You as the reader will, cry, laugh, scream and not be able to put this book down.  I loved it and highly recommend this book.  It is a five-star read.  I am already excited for the next Mary Kay Andrew’s book.  GET THE BOOK.

~Francene Katzen, Richmond, Virginia, advocate for parents who have children with drug addictions.