Stranger in Paradise — Eileen Goudge

In sun-drenched Carson Springs, nestled amid the hills of southern California, the only thing juicier than the oranges is the local gossip. Strolling down a street lined with colorful shops, few would guess of the scandals here..or the rich and tangle history. Step into the world of Eileen Goudge's absorbing new trilogy and you won't want to turn back.

Watching her beautiful daughter trade wedding vows with a much older man, forty-eight-year-old widow Samantha Kiley can't help wondering if life has somehow passed her by. But hours later, after a brief flirtatious exchange with a magnetic younger man, she starts to think that her her life is about to begin...

Much to her daughters' distress, Sam embarks on an affair with Ian Carpenter, igniting a furious scandal in small- town Carson Springs--a place that is not nearly as idyllic as it seems...