The Drummer's Widow - Tapa blanda

Jules and Marisa Bridges were more than just husband and wife; he was a famous drummer and she was his manager. They were inseparable – they completed each other. When cancer takes Jules from her, Marisa faces not only immeasurable loss, but a dire financial situation. Desperate to hold on to her Tribeca loft, she takes in renters Martin Starks and Cassandra Blanche. But Cassandra isn’t just a bartender at the Bitter End. It turns out she’s the celebrated diva CiCi Belle, and she’s been hiding from her glittering career and her abusive manager. Martin, a talented, young guitarist, asks her to join his band, and in turn, they ask Marisa to be their manager. Marisa quickly pedals back into the music business when she takes the band on a challenging European tour that reveals the conflict between those under the lights and those who stand in the wings. As Marisa grapples with her new independence, she discovers a hidden strength and the possibility “to find the treasure” in living.

Joanna FitzPatrick is also the author of "Katherine Mansfield" an historical novel of the famous author’s life (1888-1923). She has been a Random House editor of romance novels, like her character, Marisa, in "The Drummer's Widow" and has written a memoir, "Sha La La: Live for Today," about growing up in Hollywood, marrying and divorcing a rock star, and becoming a single mother in need of a paycheck. She divides her time between southern France and Carmel Valley, California where she wrote "The Drummer’s Widow." Visit her website, joannafitzpatrick.com, to learn more. You can also join her blog where she talks about summers spent in a remote village in southern France, and how that experience gave her the courage to move from Manhattan to the rural mountains above Carmel Valley, California.