Saturday Spotlight

It’s always a great feeling when I receive a book in the mail. I get all excited knowing that, when I open it, I will get to immerse myself in another great story. While I have adopted the digital age of reading using my Kindle, I still love the feeling of holding a book in my hands, admiring the cover, and curling up on the couch with only the light of the table lamp beside me (if only I had a fireplace in my apartment).

Before I let you know what wonderful book I received, I’d first like to thank Grand Central Publishing for providing a copy of this book to me. I’m always grateful for their generosity and indulging me in my obsession with books.

TITLE: Two Across

AUTHOR: Jeff Bartsch

PUBLISHER: Grand Central Publishing

RELEASE DATE: July 19, 2016 (Trade Paperback Edition)

GENRE: Fiction, Romantic Comedy, Romance

PRE-ORDER LINKS: AMAZON | B&N | KOBO | INDIEBOUND

Highly awkward teenager Stanley Owens meets his match in beautiful, brainy Vera Baxter when they tie for first place in the annual National Spelling Bee-and the two form a bond that will change both of their lives.

Though their mothers have big plans for them-Stanley will become a senator, Vera a mathematics professor-neither wants to follow these pre-determined paths. So Stanley hatches a scheme to marry Vera in a sham wedding for the cash gifts, hoping they will enable him to pursue his one true love: crossword puzzle construction. In enlisting Vera to marry him, though, he neglects one variable: she’s secretly in love with him, which makes their counterfeit ceremony an exercise in misery for her.

Realizing the truth only after she’s moved away and cut him out of her life, Stanley tries to atone for his mistakes and win her back. But he’s unable to find her, until one day he comes across a puzzle whose clues make him think it could only have been created by Vera. Intrigued, he plays along, communicating back to her via his own gridded clues. But will they connect again before it’s all too late? (Description found on Amazon.com)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Jeff Bartsch grew up in Milwaukee, where at the age of 14 he delivered newspapers before dawn on the city’s coldest day on record, at 26° below zero. He pursued the primarily indoor study of creative writing at the University of Wisconsin, and held the Katey Lehman Fellowship in the MFA program at Penn State University. He is an award-winning copywriter who has worked on campaigns for many major brands. When not writing, reading, or drinking beer, he enjoys riding his fancy Italian road bike as fast as he possibly can without hurting anyone, himself included (one broken collarbone was more than enough). He lives in New York. (Bio found at www.jeff-bartsch.com/bio)

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