Hallie
smiled
at
the
secretary,
hoping
that
her
demeanor
was
that
of
a
public
relations
director
going
into
a
meeting
with
the
president
of
the
company
and
not
of
a
woman
who
was
going
to
make
love
to
her
boss
in
his
office
at
four
o'clock
in
the
afternoon.
"Thanks,
Mary,"
she
said
shifting
her
notebook
in
an
exaggerated
movement
from
one
hand
to
the
other,
feeling
slightly
embarrassed.
She
suppressed
the urge to giggle, something she frequently did whenever she felt self-conscious, and walked past the
secretary's desk.
All
in
one
day,
thirty-five-year-old
Hallie
Marsh
learns
that
the
man
she
loves,
works
for,
and
is
living
with
has
found
someone
else—and
that
she
no
longer
has
a
job,
a
place
to
live,
or
a
car
since
she
crashed
it
into
a
hedge.
She
retreats
to
her
parents'
home
in
the
northern
part
of
Florida
to
be
consoled
and
to
decide
what
to
do
with
the
rest
of
her
life
only
to
find
out
that
her
mother
is
planning
to
leave
her
father
for
another
man.
Embittered,
filled
with
anger,
and
wanting
revenge,
Hallie
decides
to
take
a
year's
sabbatical
and
write
a
novel
that
would
reveal
the
unethical,
if
not
illegal,
real
estate
business
practices
of
her
former
boss
and
lover.
The
focus
of
her
novel
soon
changes,
however,
when
she
becomes
fascinated
with
her
new
neighbors—four
peculiar,
elderly
people
who
decide
to
buy
an
old
run-down
estate,
fix
it
up,
and
live
in
it
“just
like
family.”
With
this
new
focus
and
the
support
of
her
two
best
friends,
Carol
Mathews
and
Gordon
Sebastian
Cooney,
Hallie
overcomes
her
feelings
of
rage, she is able to cope with her mother's sudden death, and she finds true love.
Excerpt:
Reviews:
Love and romance, yes. But much more. Just Like Family reflects with sensitivity the intensity, the warmth, the need,
the possibilities of friendship. We meet people of different races, backgrounds and ages who all find themselves
somehow tied together in a time and place. Hardships, relationships, tragedies challenge the characters. The reader
joins and emotionally shares with them the voyage of discovery that ensues. Ultimately we learn the goal and, trust
me, we are enhanced as much as the characters we have come to know and love. This is a book to treasure. For
today's readers, subjected to troubling news from around the world, Just Like Family comes as a panacea. Thank you
Barbara Casey.
PATRICIA DALY-LIPE, Author, Forbidden Loves: Paris between the Wars.
Past President, National League of American Pen Women, Washington, DC
Historian, National Society Daughters of American Colonists, Washington, DC
Just Like Family is a fun story with unforgettable characters. Taking on the challenges of working in a highly
competitive or difficult environment, it offers a deliciously naughty concept for those of us “a certain age” facing the
perils of living alone. Just like in her novels The Coach’s Wife and Shyla’s Initiative, Barbara Casey gives us a
perceptive, multi-dimensional glimpse into the world around us.
KAREN DOVE BARR, Author, Running Through Menopause
Attorney at Law
Novel, Family Life
Contemporary Suspense,