Alison Caiola

Initially this seems to be a story ripped from the headlines of Hollywood glitzy magazines. Emmy nominated actress Lily Lockwood, daughter of famed novelist Daisy Lockwood, has her love life splattered across the front covers of every glad-mag published. Her life-style on display for all and sundry, the envy of all. Her hospital-themed drama, St Joe's, has taken the TV watching nation by storm and she is riding the crest of the wave until a single car accident brings her life tumbling to the ground.
As Lily is preparing for the biggest day of her life yet, she gets the news that her mother, who she owes all her success as an actress to, has been involved in an automobile accident and is in a coma. Dropping everything she flies across country to be at her mother's side. What she discovers is the worst possible scenario. Initially the shock is too much for her to understand the severity in the situation and she finds herself watching the hospital scenario sensing she can use the information to better her acting chops, but after the initial consultation with the surgeon, and his team, she realizes that Daisy may never recover from her coma and reality sets in.
As friends gather to offer support, Lily finds herself in a stage of discovery, family she never knew, the real story behind her actor boyfriend's apparent infidelity and the possibility of new romance, all playing out around her as her mother's life is slowly ebbing away. Caiola entertains us with a story pulled from life experiences she recently went through and uses them to project upon us a story of a life well-lived, redemption and she uses these seeds to project upon her audience the idea of a series of upcoming novels as Lily Lockwood. Hollywood actress, prepares to burst on to the American scene in book form too.
A fine, well-worked debut novel from a new, talented author that I heartily recommend.… (plus d'informations)

In the second of her Lily Lockwood series, Caiola has presented us with enough back-story from the initial offering, The Seeds of a Daisy, to make the follow up novel very much a standalone. We catch up with actress Lily as she is being presented with her first Tony Award. Her fame brings her back in to the arms of her former actor flame, Jamie Fleming, with whom she has parented her toddler daughter, Daisy Rose.

Her soulmate, and past lover, physician Robbie Rosen has been off in Africa on a medical mission and not been in close contact for a while, and while Lily knows Jaime is really nothing more than a flame she has gotten lonely. Reality is brought back to her with a jolt when Robbie’s family received a ransom note when it is discovered that he and two other physicians had been kidnapped by Al-Shabaab, a faction of Al Qaeda. The bodies of the others have been located. Lily agrees to fund a mission to rescue him at all costs, including putting her own life on the line by flying to Somalia, while the former CIA agent running the show plans the operation

Caiola takes us into the view point of Robbie and how he is being beaten by his captors and forced to harvest AIDS infested organs to donate to American donors in an act of terrorism. Not knowing help is on the way Robbie is planning his suicide rather than help the terrorists. When two CIA wanted terrorists are seen on drone at the site of the rescue the government steps in, deploys the SEALS, but will the cavalry arrive in time to rescue Robbie and reunite Daisy with her true love?
… (plus d'informations)