Kirjahaku

Lea Mortimer has everything under control. As a highly sought-after consultant specializing in transforming dilapidated French country estates into boutique hotels, she relishes her freedom as a single, childfree woman. And her life is full, occupied as much by her impeccable historic renovations as by the aristocratic -- and often exhausting -- French families she works for.But after the heated divorce of her closest friend and cousin Stephanie Bryce, Lea finds herself taking Stephanie and her college-aged daughter to the Loire Valley in France for the summer. As they tag along for Lea's latest work assignment, despite their best intentions, they threaten to complicate the tightrope act of launching the hotel on time. And when Lea unexpectedly falls for the much-younger son of her boss, she quickly learns the beauty and danger of losing control.As affairs bloom in the idyllic chateau, wars of inheritance play out between the family, and betrayals threaten even the most solid relationships. Lea realizes that it's not just a broken heart she's risking, but her entire, meticulously-constructed life blowing up in her face.

Alexandra Onassis hates only two things: austerity politics and Danial Azad. As the only scholarship kids of their elite group at Columbia University, their heated dynamic was scorched forever by one fateful, awful night just before graduation. And in the ten years since, Alex and Danial have been on radically different paths: she crafts social media campaigns for an ultra-progressive political party; he's a rising star at a notoriously savage private equity firm. But when two of their college friends decide to tie the knot in the Mediterranean-and to host their old crew on a ten-day chartered yacht trip beforehand-Alex must finally face Danial, and the sobering reality that she's now the only middle-class outcast in this ultra-wealthy crew. When her ideals start to clash with her most intimate desires, Alex must learn to swim in emotional waters that are as unfamiliar as they are undeniable.

The lure of living abroad is one that nearly everyone has felt, at one time or another, whether or not we give into it. And while traveling for a week or two at a time to a new country can be a thrilling experience, it doesn't quite satisfy the same desire as spending years getting to know a place. Chelsea Fagan had always been in love with France, and after a two-week vacation in Paris, decided that she would live there. Five months later, she was all moved in. In Between Two Countries, a collection of her essays on travel, she shares what it means to immigrate intelligently, learn from your host culture, and make it work on a budget. And yes, you can do it, too.