The Talking Tree is book one in the Hartwell Women Trilogy... Following her estranged mother’s death, Marissa Cole returns to her hometown. Her mother has left a request for Marissa to scatter her ashes in New Hope, Maine. Marissa doesn't understand why; she’s never heard her mother talk of such a place. In Maine, Marissa is thrilled to discover a family she never knew she had. But the family isn’t what she thought, and helping her grandmother keep her share of the family fortune might cause Marissa to lose the only man she’s ever trusted enough to love.

Following her divorce Allison Hartwell leaves Maine for California to become a partner in her college roommate’s art gallery. She’s out to prove she can succeed in business, get along without a man and have fun along the way. But things quickly fall apart – the business is financially insecure and she’s left with the care of her roommate’s eight-year-old daughter, Daisy. When Blake Whiting, owner of Silver Goose Winery becomes involved with Sweet Talk, a wine and chocolate bar Allison opens, things become more complicated even as Daisy teaches her to open her heart to loving again.

Straight Talk - Book Three in the Hartwell Women Trilogy Samantha Hartwell’s life changes completely when she’s attacked by a client’s boyfriend. She leaves Boston and Straight Talk, her consulting business, and escapes to California wine country to heal and to help her sister and brother-in-law with their vineyard’s growth. But she can’t escape the desire Derek Roberts, a world-wide photographer, had sparked inside her. The two challenge each other in ways they’ve never experienced and end up with more than they ever expected.

Marissa Cole discovers a family she never knew she had and befriends her cousins Allison and Samantha Hartwell. With scenes stretching from Upstate New York to the coast of Maine to Boston’s gritty neighborhoods and California’s wine country in The Talking Tree, Sweet Talk, Straight Talk and Baby Talk, these three, strong women encounter and overcome challenges and find love and fulfillment along the way. The books have received critical acclaim for their sensitive treatment of the issues each woman faces and how she resolves her problems to create a better world for her family.