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Leesa Cross-Smith

Goodreads Author

Born

in Kentucky, The United States

Website

http://www.leesacrosssmith.com

Twitter

leesacrosssmith

Genre

Fiction

Influences

Jane Austen, The Brontës, Banana Yoshimoto

Member Since

August 2007

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/kissingwhiskey

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Leesa Cross-Smith is a homemaker and writer from Kentucky. She is the author of seven books: AS YOU WISH, GOODBYE EARL, HALF-BLOWN ROSE, THIS CLOSE TO OKAY, SO WE CAN GLOW, WHISKEY & RIBBONS, EVERY KISS A WAR. HALF-BLOWN ROSE received Coups De Cœur recognition from the American Library in Paris and was the Amazon Editors’ Spotlight for June 2022, the inaugural pick for Amazon’s Editorial Director Sarah Gelman’s Book Club Sarah Selects, and the Barnes & Noble Book Club Pick for June 2022. THIS CLOSE TO OKAY was a Goodreads Choice 2021 Nominee for Best Fiction, a Book of the Month Book of the Year 2021 Nominee, a Book of the Month Early Release Pick for December 2020, the Good Housekeeping Book Club Pick for February 2021 and the Marie Claire ...more

142 posts
Leesa Cross-Smith's Blog

HAPPY PUB DAY TO AS YOU WISH! AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK EBOOK AND AUDIOBOOK WHEREVER YOU LOVE TO BUY YR BOOKS! THANK YOU SO MUCH AND I HOPE ALL YR WISHES COME TRUE! XOXO

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Published on June 24, 2025 08:38

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Combine Editions
Leesa Cross-Smith’s books

Average rating: 3.66 · 36,606 ratings · 5,956 reviews · 12 distinct works • Similar authors

	This Close to Okay 3.70 avg rating — 23,564 ratings — published 2021 — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Goodbye Earl 3.51 avg rating — 5,506 ratings — published 2023 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Half-Blown Rose 3.40 avg rating — 3,509 ratings — published 2022 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Whiskey & Ribbons 3.80 avg rating — 2,112 ratings — published 2018 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	So We Can Glow: Stories 3.90 avg rating — 1,321 ratings — published 2020 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	As You Wish 3.47 avg rating — 270 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Every Kiss a War 4.38 avg rating — 189 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Best Small Fictions 2015 by Robert Olen Butler (Goodreads Author) (Guest Editor), Tara Lynn Masih (Goodreads Author) (Series Editor), Leesa Cross-Smith (Goodreads Author) 4.21 avg rating — 124 ratings — published 2015 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Great Barrier Reef Is Dying but so Are We 4.14 avg rating — 21 ratings — published 2018 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Shorts, Volume One by Michelle Tudor (Editor), Beth Hahn (Contributor), Jae Kim (Contributor) 4.20 avg rating — 5 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Leesa Cross-Smith…

Need another excuse to treat yourself to a new book this week? We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day, according to early...

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Leesa’s Recent Updates

Leesa wants to read A Shakespearean Botanical by Margaret Willes	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 26, 2025 12:29PM · like
Leesa wants to read Botanical Shakespeare: An Illustrated Compendium of All the Flowers, Fruits, Herbs, Trees, Seeds, and Grasses Cited by the World's Greatest Playwright by Gerit Quealy	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 26, 2025 12:20PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Botanical Shakespeare by Gerit Quealy. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Botanical Shakespeare by Gerit Quealy <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Leesa rated a book it was amazing Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 26, 2025 11:52AM · 2 likes · like
Leesa wants to read Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone (Outlander, #9) by Diana Gabaldon (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 11, 2025 10:08AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Leesa wants to read A Fine Romance: Falling in Love with the English Countryside by Susan Branch (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 10, 2025 06:23PM · like
Leesa wants to read Martha's Vineyard, Isle of Dreams (#2) by Susan Branch (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 10, 2025 06:22PM · like
Leesa wants to read The Fairy Tale Girl by Susan Branch (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 10, 2025 06:22PM · like
Leesa wants to read The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love (Love's Academic, #1) by India Holton (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 07, 2025 01:53PM · like
Leesa wants to read An Unexpected Cookbook: The Unofficial Book of Hobbit Cookery by Chris-Rachael Oseland	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 04, 2025 03:08PM · 1 like · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of An Unexpected Cookbook by Chris-Rachael Oseland. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — An Unexpected Cookbook by Chris-Rachael Oseland <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Leesa wants to read Re Jane by Patricia Park (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 04, 2025 03:05PM · like

More of Leesa's books…

Quotes by Leesa Cross-Smith (?)

“You’re human, and you have to reconcile that with yourself somehow. Forgive yourself. Allow yourself to feel everything deeply, to grow and learn.”
― Leesa Cross-Smith, This Close to Okay

tags: feelings, human, mood, pain

12 likes

“How sometimes your body couldn't tell the difference between not loving someone enough and loving someone too much.”
― Leesa Cross-Smith, Every Kiss a War

6 likes

“After love, forgiveness is the strongest glue holding every family together.”
― Leesa Cross-Smith, This Close To Okay

5 likes

See all Leesa Cross-Smith's quotes »

Polls

Time to vote on July Members Choice nominations...

Poll stays open until June 11th...

Thanks

The Four Winds

by Kristin Hannah

17 votes, 34.7%

The Death of Vivek Oji

by Akwaeke Emezi

9 votes, 18.4%

How the Penguins Saved Veronica

by Hazel Prior

5 votes, 10.2%

The Turn of the Key

by Ruth Ware

4 votes, 8.2%

The Push

by Ashley Audrain

4 votes, 8.2%

Luster

by Raven Leilani

3 votes, 6.1%

Leave the World Behind

by Rumaan Alam

3 votes, 6.1%

Hieroglyphics

by Jill McCorkle

3 votes, 6.1%

The Seven Doors

by Agnes Ravatn

1 vote, 2.0%

This Close to Okay

by Leesa Cross-Smith

0 votes, 0.0%

49 total votes

2 comments

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Black Coffee: May '18: Whiskey & Ribbons	39	92	Aug 02, 2018 06:34AM
Black Coffee: * 2018 African-American Historical Fiction Book Nominations	40	147	Aug 25, 2018 11:32AM
Literary Fiction ...: Discussion: An American Marriage	110	224	Sep 05, 2018 11:19AM
Tournament of Books: 2019 TOB Contenders	361	562	Dec 19, 2018 10:14AM
Crazy Challenge C...: 2018 How Many Pages?	284	184	Feb 01, 2019 08:04PM
Crazy Challenge C...: 2018 Namedroppers	116	136	Mar 15, 2019 09:12AM

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Leesa’s Quotes

“There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.”
― Jack Kerouac, On the Road: The Original Scroll

4620 likes

“Boys and girls in America have such a sad time together; sophistication demands that they submit to sex immediately without proper preliminary talk. Not courting talk — real straight talk about souls, for life is holy and every moment is precious.”
― Jack Kerouac, On the Road

tags: sex

1386 likes

“Down on the lake rosy reflections of celestial vapor appeared, and I said, "God, I love you" and looked to the sky and really meant it. "I have fallen in love with you, God. Take care of us all, one way or the other." To the children and the innocent it's all the same.”
― Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums

678 likes

“This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.”
― Sid Ziff

tags: bad-reviews, book, humorist, misattributed-dorothy-parker, wit

1613 likes

“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”
― Toni Morrison