SWEET JANE,

JUST ONE LOOK,

&

I’LL BE SEEING YOU

by

Joanne Kukanza Easley

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE GIVEAWAY!

Sweet Jane

Joanne Kukanza Easley’s debut novel

2019 Wisdom-Faulkner Award finalist

2020 Adult Fiction winner Texas Author Project

2020 Sarton Award Finalist

2020 Eric Hoffer Award Short List

A drunken mother makes childhood ugly. Jane runs away at sixteen, determined to leave her fraught upbringing in the rearview. Vowing never to return, she hitchhikes to California, right on time for the Summer of Love. Seventeen years later, she looks good on paper: married, grad school, sober, but her carefully constructed life is crumbling. When Mama dies, Jane returns for the funeral, leaving her husband in the dark about her history. Seeing her childhood home and significant people from her youth catapults Jane back to the events that made her the woman she is. She faces down her past and the ghosts that shaped her family. A stunning discovery helps Jane see her problems through a new lens.

Family Saga / Women’s Fiction / Historical Fiction

Publisher: Red Boots Press

Pages: 279 pages

Publication Date: September 17, 2022

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Just One Look

May 2022 Pulpwood Queen Book Club Pick

Shelf Unbound 2021 Notable 100 Best Indie Books

Recommended by the US Review of Books

In 1965 Chicago, thirteen-year-old Dani Marek declares she’s in love, and you best believe it. This is no crush, and for six blissful years she fills her hope chest with linens, dinnerware, and dreams of an idyllic future with John. When he is killed in action in Viet Nam, Dani’s world shatters. She launches a one-woman vendetta against the men she seeks out in Rush Street’s singles bars. Her goal: break as many hearts as she can. Dani’s ill-conceived vengeance leads her to a loveless marriage that ends in tragedy. At twenty-four, she’s left a widow with a baby, a small fortune, and a ghost—make that two. Set in the turbulent Sixties and Seventies, Just One Look explores one woman’s tumultuous journey through grief, denial, and letting go.

Family Saga / Women’s Fiction / Historical Fiction

Publisher: Red Boots Press

Pages: 293 pages

Publication Date: September 17, 2022

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I’ll Be Seeing You

The new release from Joanne Kukanza Easley, the multi-award-winning author of Sweet Jane and Just One Look

A saga spanning five decades, I’ll Be Seeing You, explores one woman’s life, with and without alcohol to numb the pain.

Young Lauren knows she doesn’t want to be a ranch wife in Palo Pinto County, Texas. After she’s discovered by a modeling scout at the 1940 Fort Worth Stock Show Parade, she moves to Manhattan to begin her glamourous career. A setback ends her dream, and she drifts into alcohol dependence and promiscuity. By twenty-four, she’s been widowed and divorced, and has developed a pattern of fleeing her problems with geographical cures. Lauren’s last escape lands her in Austin, where, after ten chaotic years, she achieves lasting sobriety and starts a successful business, but happiness eludes her.

Fast forward to 1985. With a history of burning bridges and never looking back, Lauren is stunned when Brett, her third husband, resurfaces, wanting to reconcile after thirty-three years. The losses and regrets of the past engulf her, and she seeks the counsel of Jane, a long-time friend from AA. In the end, the choice is Lauren’s. What will she decide?

Family Saga / Women’s Fiction / Addiction & Recovery / Historical Fiction

Publisher: Red Boots Press

Pages: 227 pages

Publication Date: August 28, 2022

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I’ll Be Seeing You Review

This complex and intriguing story follows the life of Ruby/Lauren from 1940 to 1985, from the young age of 16 to 61. We watch her grow, endure, falter, and finally succeed as she realizes that life isn’t always easy and we are in control of our destinies.

Lauren’s life isn’t easy, even though she has opportunities, from modeling at 16 to her aunt’s influence in her life. However, even though things may seem easy, she is still young and naive, and not worldly. She has to grow up quickly, and this might be a downfall for Lauren since she doesn’t have the luxury of time to learn about men and life.

One theme that runs rampant throughout this book is alcoholism. Lauren struggles with it as she gets older, including blackouts and behavior that is harmful to her. Many try to introduce AA to her, but it takes many years for her to be ready to take that step.

I found this story to be engaging, and I think I finished it faster than I expected since I couldn’t put it down. I enjoyed following Lauren’s life through careers, marriage, and family. I think we can all relate to various parts of this book and our own lives. I enjoyed hearing about all of the Texas based companies, such as Neiman Marcus and HEB, and the various settings of the story, including Mineral Wells. I felt that the story did justice to race relations based on the story’s timeframe. There are also mentions of WWII and rations that remind us that things weren’t great during that time.

I think there is a little something in this story that we all could relate to, whether it was her journey, career, relationship with her family, struggle with alcoholism, or marriage.

We give this book 5 paws up.

A retired registered nurse with experience in both the cold, clinical operating room and the emotionally fraught world of psychiatric hospitals, Joanne lives on a small ranch in the Texas Hill Country, where she writes fiction about complicated, twentieth-century women.

Her multi-award-winning debut, Sweet Jane, was named the adult fiction winner at the Texas Author Project and shortlisted for the Sarton Award and Eric Hoffer Award, among others. Just One Look, Joanne’s second novel was a May 2022 Pulpwood Queen Book Club Pick. I’ll Be Seeing You, her third novel, features characters from Sweet Jane. Her prize-winning short stories and poetry have appeared in several anthologies.

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GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!

THREE WINNERS!

Each receives an eBook of

SWEET JANE or

JUST ONE LOOK or

I’LL BE SEEING YOU

(U.S. only; ends midnight, CDT, 11/17/22.)

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