A Woman's Life

Series · 3 books · 1991-1994

By Marie Ferrarella

Books in series

Sapphire and Shadow

1991

They could have had it all. Johanna Whitney does seem to have it all—beauty, intelligence, talent, and a rich husband whose genius has created stunning films. What she is desperately trying to cover up is just how tragically that life is coming unraveled. Her husband's drug use, fueled by his fear of being unable to replicate his success, renders him incapable of showing her the love she once gave up everything for. Her closest friend is killed in a plane crash and even her daughter seems to prefer her husband's latest young lover to her own mother. The harder Johanna works at trying to patch the holes of her life, the more things come undone. It all comes to a head on location in London. Johanna watches happiness slipping away and turns for comfort to a young British artisan. He tries to teach her to love herself again, and to dare to reach for happiness. Though he manages to awaken her emotions, her husband's drug arrest in Italy and her daughter's sudden illness make her realize she needs to go home—not to Los Angeles, but to New York. Leaving all the wealth and influence she's been living with behind, she and her daughter feel like refugees as they search for a place to live and a way to make a living. Both needs are answered when they find shelter with an old friend and colleague in his art gallery. Johanna is back to her roots in the art world, but she's been gone a long time and she searches to find ways to heal and blossom. Even more difficult is the struggle to release her heart from the chains of fear and learn to love again.

Choices

1993

Cinderella picks the wrong prince and pays a heavy price for jumping the gun. Shanna Brady grows up in the shadow of her beautiful mother and her Senator father, always feeling inadequate, never meeting standards she imposes on herself. When handsome Jordan Calhoun seems to fall in love with her, she jumps at the chance to prove her worth by helping him gain the political power he seeks. The signs are there from the beginning, but she tries to smooth things over, until finally she has to face the fact that he married her for her money and position and never loved her at all. But instead of grinding her even further down, shedding the dead weight of the man sets her free to try her wings and begin to develop a career, along with a spine. The baby they made together is her comfort—but Jordan becomes a source of anger and attempts at revenge, and she needs all the resources she's developed, as well as the love of a new man in her life, to fight off the shadow of the past.

Flash and Fire

1994

USA Today and Publisher's Weekly bestselling author Marie Ferrarella is releasing her three hard-to-find women's contemporary novels written in the tradition of Danielle Steel, Nora Roberts and Debbie Macomber. Finally available again, these heart-tugging stories explore the tangled emotional lives of three women. Presenting: FLASH AND FIRE She's smart, she's tough, she's beautiful. But can she type? Never mind. She knows what she's doing and she doesn't need the incredibly annoying Pierce Alexander, who thinks he's the world's gift to women, trying out his latest seduction techniques at every turn. But there he is, getting under her skin, being adorable with her baby, befriending her nanny, and ambushing her at the supermarket. She gives in—just a little—only to find him taking over her job when her main antagonist at the Dallas, Texas television station where she's an anchor sets her up for dismissal. Can she fight them all on her own? Just watch her.

Author

Marie Ferrarella

Author · 247 books

Marie Rydzynski-Ferrarella aka Marie Charles, Marie Michael, Marie Nicole, Marie Ferrarella Marie Rydzynski was born on March 28 in West Germany to Polish parents. She moved to America at the age of four. For an entire year, Marie and her family explored the eastern half of the country before finally settling in New York. Marie swears she was born writing, "which must have made the delivery especially hard for my mother." From an early age, Marie's parents would find her watching television or tucked away in some private place, writing at a furious pace. "Initially, I began writing myself into my favourite shows. I was a detective on '77 Sunset Strip,' the missing Cartwright sibling they never talked about on 'Bonanza' and the 'Girl from U.N.C.L.E.' before there was a 'Girl from U.N.C.L.E.,' not to mention an active participant in the serialized stories of 'The Mickey Mouse Club.'" Marie began to write her first romance novel when she was 11 years old, although she claims that, at the time, she didn't even realize it was a romance! She scribbled off and on, while dreaming of a career as an actress. Marie was only 14 when she first laid eyes on the man she would marry, truly her first love, Charles Ferrarella. During her days at Queens College, New York, acting started to lose its glamour as Marie spent more and more time writing. After receiving her English degree, specialising in Shakespearean comedy, Marie and her family moved to Southern California, where she still resides today. After an interminable seven weeks apart, Charles decided he couldn't live without her and came out to California to marry his childhood sweetheart. Ever practical, Marie was married in a wash-and-wear wedding dress that she sewed herself, appliqués and all. "'Be prepared' has always been my motto,"the author jokes. This motto has been stretched considerably by her two children, Nikky and Jessi, "but basically, it still applies," she says. In November of 1981, she sold her first novel for Harlequin. Marie, who now has written over 150 novels, has one goal: to entertain, to make people laugh and feel good. "That's what makes me happy," she confesses. "That, and a really good romantic evening with my husband." She's keeping her fingers crossed that her reader's enjoy reading her books as much as she enjoyed writing them.