Everyone once and a while, you discover an extraordinary piece of prose. The work captivates your imagination with history, compelling characters, rich, vibrant settings and language so alluring that you cannot put it down. I do not review books often for the Daily Dose, but I really want to share this book with you. Best Read of 2009 Presumptuous as the statement may be, considering we’re six weeks out from 2010, but for me, THE SPLENDOR FALLS was hands down the best book I’ve read all year. The first thirty pages captivated me, inviting me in to sit and stay a spell. Because I was only able to read in drips and drabs, I was forever grumbling about having to close the book to work, to drive, to eat and yes, even to sleep. In three pages, we meet Sylvie Davis, embrace her talent and cringe as she breaks her leg on the stage. The visceral crunch of the bones made me wince, the fall made me cringe and referring to the incident forever as The Accident made me sad. I danced when I was younger, I was not a prime ballerina, but I danced pretty well. I tore my…

Fresh Fiction and Barnes & Noble presents… Getting Fresh with Vampires Saturday, November 14th @ 5:00 PM Barnes & Noble Lincoln Park Join Fresh Fiction’s Gwen Reyes for a lively discussion about vampires intoday’s literature & pop culture with Special Guests Candace Havens & Rosemary Clement-Moore They’ll be taking on the Twilight crowd and talking about vampires, Bella,Diaries, Edward and much much more! Special treats available!!! click here for Flyer Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

Fresh Takes from the Teen Shelves I was lucky enough to cap off my October with an invitation to speak at the Texas Book Festival on a panel called “Hot Reads for Cool Chicks.”  A flattering invitation, indeed, not least because it presumes I’m cool enough to hang with some pretty neat chicks… Er, authors. Rosemary, Katherine Marsh, Victoria Laurie (holding Peaches), and Isobelle Carmody Katherine Marsh’s novel, THE NIGHT TOURIST won the 2008 Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery. It’s a modern twist on the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, told in the underground of New York City. When lonely ninth-grader Jack is injured in an accident, much like the one that killed his mother, his father sends him to a specialist in New York. There he meets Euri, a ghost who becomes his guide to the Underworld that exists beneath the streets of Manhattan. Jack wants to find his mother, but the hazards of searching for her are immense. With witty dialogue, realistic characters and plenty of action, Marsh crafts a charming tale about love, loss and heroic adventure. In THE TWILIGHT PRISONER, Jack revisits the Underworld, taking with him Cora, a girl he hopes to impress. I’m…

September 2009On Sale: September 8, 2009528 pages ISBN: 0385736908EAN: 9780385736909Hardcover$17.99Young AdultBuy at Amazon.com The Splendor Fallsby Rosemary Clement-Moore Can love last beyond the grave? Sylvie Davis is a ballerina who can’t dance. A broken leg ended her career, but Sylvie’s pain runs deeper. What broke her heart was her father’s death, and what’s breaking her spirit is her mother’s remarriage—a union that’s only driven an even deeper wedge into their already tenuous relationship. Uprooting her from her Manhattan apartment and shipping her to Alabama is her mother’s solution for Sylvie’s unhappiness. Her father’s cousin is restoring a family home in a town rich with her family’s history. And that’s where things start to get shady. As it turns out, her family has a lot more history than Sylvie ever knew. More unnerving, though, are the two guys that she can’t stop thinking about. Shawn Maddox, the resident golden boy, seems to be perfect in every way. But Rhys—a handsome, mysterious foreign guest of her cousin’s—has a hold on her that she doesn’t quite understand. Then she starts seeing things. Sylvie’s lost nearly everything—is she starting to lose her mind as well? Previous Picks Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books…