Lucinda Stein

Tattered Covers Lucinda Stein 1st edition

Azalea Pruett never dreamed she'd be a waitress in a retro-fifties diner. But like a burger flipped on a hot grill, Zal's life turns upside down after her husband's unexpected death. Added to her grief, she discovers he's left her on the verge of bankruptcy. Still reeling from her misfortune, Zal heads out on the open road with a used Airstream trailer hitched behind a run-down pickup. She visits her grandmother's childhood home in Colorado where an older gentleman, Burt Baxter, takes her under his wing and offers her a job in his bookstore. Burt encourages Zal to research her family history in the historic mining town of Ouray. She learns her great-grandmother was one of Colorado's first female physicians, but Zal also discovers a skeleton dangling from the family tree?an Old West madam lies hidden in the coffer of family secrets. The bookstore provides an opportunity to meet new people, but Zal is caught off guard by the attention of two local men. She's torn between desire for relationship and memories of her deceased husband. Swayed by the handsome businessman, Tom Jeffers, Zal is also fascinated by the sometimes abrasive wildlife biologist, Jake Barlett. Just when she's starting to fit into the community, Burt threatens to close the bookstore, and she finds her new life in jeopardy.