For bibliophiles, finding the perfect beach read is just as important as sporting the perfect bikini. And just like the ideal bikini, a good summer read should sizzle.
Forget Fifty Shades of Grey. Local authors Eve Marx of Katonah and Chelle Cordero of Stony Point bring their own heat to summer reading.
Beddington Place
With eight self-help books, has made a name for herself as . In addition to her books, Marx has been an editor and writer for men's magazines, notably Penthouse, Swank, Oui, and Cheri.
Beddington Place—named in homage to Peyton Place, the steamy novel published in the 60's that became both movie and TV series—is her first long work of fiction.
Originally titled, The Real Horsewives of Westchester County (the book was re-named for legal reasons) Beddington Place is the fictionalized account of what really happens inside the barns of Westchester County’s beautiful and over-privileged ‘horse society.’
Marx revealed that readers can expect a few explicit scenes in her book.
“There is one very charged down 'n dirty scene that takes place in a private club that is surprising,” she said.
On similarities between her characters and Westchester’s horse community, Marx said her work is fiction.
“A few people have asked me if they're in the book," she said. "It's a novel. The characters are all made up. I do acknowledge that some of the behaviors and attitudes displayed in the novel are typical of horse people in the area. What's the old saying? That life imitates art?”
What’s next for Marx?
“I am hard at work on a new project, a series of very sexy short books written under my pseudonym, Ava de Hilliard. They'll only be available on line. Oops, cat's out of the bag. I am Ava de Hilliard,” she admitted.
Here Marx provided us with an exclusive “sneak peek” into her book:
"You shouldn’t go off with him,” she hissed. “He’s dirty! He’s dangerous!”
“What do you mean?” I said. “I thought you two were friends.”
“I wouldn’t trust any woman with him,” she said. “Or any man either.”
His Lucky Charm
With nine published titles—seven romantic suspense and two murder mystery— has started gaining recognition as an up-and-coming author to watch; Last year Cordero was featured in "50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading" published by The Author’s Show.
When it comes to picking a great beach book, Cordero said that of all of her books, His Lucky Charm makes the best summer read.
The first of two “cousin books,” His Lucky Charm tells the story of Brandon Price who wakes up in a Las Vegas hotel room with a bade case of amnesia and a woman who is claiming to be his wife. “Caitlyn tries to assure him that they are husband and wife, but he receives information that she’s a fraud. Throw in some espionage and terrorists and it’s a perfect summer read,” she said.
Although romance is a common element throughout all of Cordero’s novels, she doesn’t consider herself to be a romance novelist.
“I like to think of myself as a suspense writer who is also a hopeless romantic. Falling and being in love may be a secondary story and not necessarily the main focus, but I like adding the element of sexual tension and the emotional aspect of a romance to my stories,” she said.
A supernatural mystery is in the works as her next project.
“My heroine experiences several out-of-body experiences. All I will say is this story takes place in the mid-west and involves an “ordinary” housewife, a burnt out police officer, politics, and murder,” she said.
