Today's Reads & Giveaway: Saving Grace & Tempting Fate by Jane Green

Christmas is over but it's never the wrong time to be in a gift-giving mood. Good thing, because I have a double Jane Green giveaway for one of my readers with a U.S. mailing address. To celebrate, here's a double first-paragraph teaser.

There are only so many hours Grace can stay away from home. Her husband's car is still in the driveway when she pulls in, her heart sinking at the sight. As if she should be surprised. Where did she think he'd be going at six o'clock in the evening? It was the triumph of hope over experience, she thought to herself.

—Saving Grace by Jane Green (St. Martin's Press, 2014, p. 1)

Premise: Ted's a successful writer, and Grace is a cookbook editor and stellar homemaker. Everyone thinks the Chapmans have the perfect life and perfect marriage. But what the outside world doesn't see is the black place, where Ted wields his power. When the couple hire a new assistant for the difficult Ted, Grace is relieved. That is, until Beth's efficiency threatens to undermine Grace's world. From Kirkus: "a dark romance, recalling All About Eve, where intimacy masks betrayal."

It's just a night out with girlfriends, Not the Academy Awards, thinks Gabby, frowning at her wardrobe as she endlessly pushes hangers back and forth, hoping something compelling, something worthy, will suddenly appear and jump out at her: the perfect shirt, the perfect dress.

It shouldn't matter, this being girls' night out, but of course it matters far more than a night out with Elliott. . . .

—Tempting Fate by Jane Green (St. Martin's Press, 2014, p. 3)

Premise: Gabby and Elliot have two teenage children and a solid marriage. Gabby can't imagine caring about the attention of any other man but her husband, until the night she meets Matt. What starts as an electrifying friendship begins to morph into dangerous emotional territory. Midlife crisis competes with family commitment, forcing Gabby to make decisions and then live with the consequences. From Kirkus: "A Scarlett Letter for the 21st century."

The Giveaway: Celebrate the new year with Jane Green's most recent novels. One lucky winner (with a U.S. mailing address) will get a copy of Saving Grace and Tempting Fate plus a set of wineglass charms (appropriate for Gabby's story). All you have to do to be entered for a chance to win is to fill out the form. I'll pick a winner via a random number generator on January 7. Once the winner has been confirmed, I'll erase all personal information from my computer.

Thanks to St. Martins Press for this giveaway. (NOTE: the graphic says win "1 book," but the winner will actually receive two books and 8 wine charms.)