I was born and raised in suburban Boston. My mother’s death, when I was eight, was the defining event of a childhood that was otherwise ordinary. I took piano lessons and flute lessons. I took ballroom dancing lessons. I went to summer camp through my fifteenth year (in Maine, which explains the setting of so many of my stories), then spent my sixteenth summer learning to type and to drive (two skills that have served me better than all of my other high school courses combined). I earned a B.A. in Psychology at Tufts University and an M.A. in Sociology at Boston College. The motivation behind the M.A. was sheer greed. My husband was just starting law school. We needed the money.
Following graduate school, I worked as a researcher with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and as a photographer and reporter for the Belmont Herald. I did the newspaper work after my first son was born. Since I was heavily into taking pictures of him, I worked for the paper to support that habit. Initially, I wrote only in a secondary capacity, to provide copy for the pictures I took. In time, I realized that I was better at writing than photography. I used both skills doing volunteer work for hospital groups, and have served on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and on the MGH’s Women’s Cancer Advisory Board.
I became an actual writer by fluke. My twins were four when, by chance, I happened on a newspaper article profiling three female writers. Intrigued, I spent three months researching, plotting, and writing my own book - and it sold.
My niche? I write about the emotional crises that we face in our lives. Readers identify with my characters. They know them. They are them. I'm an everyday woman writing about everyday people facing not-so-everyday challenges.
My novels are character-driven studies of marriage, parenthood, sibling rivalry, and friendship, and I’ve been blessed in having readers who buy them eagerly enough to put them on the major bestseller lists. One of my latest, Sweet Salt Air, came out in 2013. Blueprints, my second novel with St. Martin’s Press, became my 22nd New York Times bestselling novel soon after its release in June 2015. Making Up, my work in progress, will be published in 2018.
2018? Yikes. I didn’t think I’d live that long. I thought I’d die of breast cancer back in the 1900's, like my mom. But I didn’t. I was diagnosed nearly twenty years ago, had surgery and treatment, and here I am, stronger than ever and loving having authored yet another book, this one the non-fiction Uplift: Secrets From the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors. First published in 2001, Uplift is a handbook of practical tips and upbeat anecdotes that I compiled with the help of 350 breast cancer survivors, their families and friends. These survivors just ... blew me away! They gave me the book that I wish I’d had way back when I was diagnosed. There is no medical information here, nothing frightening, simply practical advice from friends who’ve had breast cancer. The 10th Anniversary Volume of Uplift is now in print. And the money I’ve made on the book? Every cent has gone to my charitable foundation, which funds an ongoing research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital.
The Dream Unfolds is the second book in the Crosslyn Rise trilogy by American author, Barbara Delinsky. When her friend Jessica Malloy suggests she bid for the interior design on the new Crosslyn Rise project, Christine Gillette is eager to win the bid: it would be a feather in her cap, for sure. Checking out the main house on the property, she encounters Gideon Lowe, and immediately the sparks fly. She’s dismayed to learn that he’s not just a site manager, but a member of the consortium. When she wins the bid, neither of them is looking forward to having to work together. In this second instalment, the romance develops fairly quickly, and the characters are appealing. There’s plenty of sexual tension between these two, and it makes for an excellent romantic read.
This second in the Crosslyn Rise Trilogy centers on the construction and interior design aspects of the real estate development tying the trilogy together. Our central couple are Gideon, the contractor dipping his toe into development for the first time, and Christine, a gifted interior designer who hopes winning this project will push her small firm in a higher bracket. The book picks up where the first left off, with a refusal by the local politicians to issue the permits. I enjoyed the opening a great deal -- where Gideon, a handsome man who knows how to charm, uses those gifts to maneuver the permits to be issued PDQ, though the female politician's motives and behavior does not help the image of powerful women. However , this is set around 1990 and I know from personal real estate experience that there were precious few women in commercial real estate at all, none in development, and local politicians, male and female, were too often then and now just like here.
Gideon is the eternal bachelor loving his freedom and his life. Chris is driven, owner of a business she bullt herself but being an interior designer, is often demeaned and sidelined as being frivoulous, not equal in importance and skill to construction for example. Chris also is close to her family and is very reserved about her private life. In fact, she harbors a secret that was quite a surprise to this reader though there was more than one clue. Their meet cute was not designed to have a romance follow but I thought it was all handled really well and I was cheering for Gideon to win her over by the end.
Once again there are some marvelous bits that set it firmly in 1990, most especially the debate Gideon and Chris have over whether they should succumb to the pressure to get car phones so they would be able to continue running their businesses while driving. Ah, a debate I remember well. Oh and there is a hilarious scene with Gideon in a payphone having to constantly put coins in while trying to apologize to Chris for his boorish behavior.
I enjoyed this book. Although it was written in 1990, which really doesn't feel that long ago to me, it avoided so many of the things that make me cringe about older books. Gideon was a bit of a macho Neanderthal, and Christine called him out on it, instead of accepting it as normal. I felt that, regardless of the things that I didn't like below, there was more story to tell here and the author ended things a bit abruptly for my tastes.
Gideon Lowe paneb mängu kõik, et Crosslyn Rise'i projekt õnnestuks. Ning ta ei ole nõus mitte kuidagi ega mitte kellegagi, kes tema plaane nurjaks. Kui aga Christine Gillette tema ehitusplatsile ootamatult ilmub ning Gideoni mehed segaduse korraldavad. Õnneks keegi viga ei saa on siiski mees maruvihane. Christine Gillette on sisekujundaja, kes tahab seda tööd väga ning töö saamisel peaks ta Gideoniga koostööd tegema.
Alguses oli raamat küll põnev, kuid siis muutus kohati leebeks romansiks. Christine vandus, et ei lase mesimagusal jutul end kõigutada, kuid just seda ta siiski tegi. Gideon käib nagu kass ümber kuuma poti, lõpuks naist taga ajades ja naine läheb sellega kaasa. Meest ei aja isegi eemale see, et naine kiivalt varjab väikest saladust.
Kohati oli raamat üksluine. Aga mida siiski oodata. Raamatus on ilus kena, armastus käib kiiresti ja lugejatele pakutakse ilus süžee.
I so much preferred the first and third installment. That is Carter and Jessica's story as well as John and Nina's story. The dream unfolds was so mediocre. I didnt understand the chemistry between Gideon and Chris unlike that of Carter and Jessica and then that of Nina and John Sawyer. Now, that's what you call chemistry. Carter and Jessica's chemistry was mind blowing; Nina and John's were off the charts. I don't care for boring Gideon and Chris. Everything just dragged and dragged and I just gave up. So dissapointed but I still love Barbara Delinsky
You people should just read this novel yourselves and write your own review on this novel. I really enjoyed reading this novel very much and i 💘 reading this author too. Shelley Ma
This is the second novella in a three book series. Unfortunately, the main characters were pretty flimsy. They started out as one thing and progressively became less of what they started out to be. I understand that characters need to grow but they merely changed only to serve the romantic story. The woman was a determined business person. She stood up for herself and wasn't afraid to speak her mind to make things happen for herself. She develops into a worried, unsure person, denying realities that she would have figured out herself if she had stuck with the character she was at the beginning of the story. He was a macho, flirtatious, arrogant man that did a complete 180 turn around in character. Although they disagreed at the beginning, they never had another argument. He followed whatever she decided in their relationship, and was immediately intensely loyal and in love to the point of not having a glimmer of the original man he started out to be. I didn't believe it.
The Crosslyn Rise Consortium's builder/ brawny bachelor falls hard for the interior decorator, single mom, Christine Gillette. As usual, the dating game ups and downs throw Chris, ordered life in a tizzy, as she tries to set an example for her fifteen year old , smart, very mature, daughter, Jill. After failing to deny her feelings for the persistent Gideon, she finally admits her love for him, and TLHEA! (They live..... ever after!)
The plot was well thought out, and characters firmly fleshed out and developed, but I did not like the way Gideon obtained the permits to start the project at Crosslyn Rise. Jill's character was a breath of fresh air, after the prior chapters of her mother's decisiveness.
I have mixed feeling about this book. Overall, I liked it. But the blurb on the back does not describe the book very well. They butt heads, or don't 'get along' for maybe one chapter and then everything is pretty peachy. She invites him to her house to meet her family pretty quickly.
I was a little put off by how she introduced her daughter. Actually, I was downright annoyed by it. I thought, geezh no one would ever do THAT! Esp someone so "daughter-centered" and "everything she does is for her daughter". But, after some reflection, just because I wouldn't introduce her like that, doesn't mean someone else wouldn't.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Holy abrupt ending, Batman! I was a bit surprised that the story ended where it did, with almost no closure. The rampant sexism did get a smidge better, but boy oh boy is it clear this was written in the very early 90s.
Decent (if very rushed) character development, and some good steamy bits.
This book is two of three--all in one--written by Barbara Delinsky back in 1990, and published all together in 1999. It's amusing enough, but so damn predictable. This particular book was pretty "steamy" in parts, yet it included a teenage daughter, which sparked it up a bit.
This was a big disappointment after the first one. There was no building of the characters, not much on the continuation of the work on Crosslyn Rise. You knew immediately who was going to connect up with who, and not even a lot of work up to that. I'm hoping the next one is better.
A Diferencia de la primera parte me gusto menos, tuve problemas con la protagonista hasta el final y no me gusto como concluyo la historia, falto más sobre la pareja y del lugar que según era muy importante casi no forma parte de la historia y eso no fue algo que me gustara.
another easy read, that you could easily read in a few hours, easy escape when you need to get a way from drama of life. left easy opening for third and final book of the triolgy.
This wasn't a bad story, I just felt that it was lacking in plot and character development. Its a pretty simple read for a basic story without much fleshing out but it still has some potential.