NYT Bestselling Author and Opera!

Jennifer Crusie, author of Maybe This Time

Next Chapter Bookshop @ 7pm

Meet bestselling author Jennifer Crusie when she visits Next Chapter in support of her latest novel, Maybe This Time. The book is packed with meddlesome ghosts, ex-husbands, spooky houses, troubled kids, and second chances.

Andie Miller is ready to marry her fiancé and leave her past behind, especially her ex-husband, Archer North. But, before they go their separate ways forever he asks a favor of her. A very distant cousin has made him the guardian of two orphans who have driven away three nannies already. He needs strong-willed Andie to help whip them into shape, but when she meets them she quickly realizes that things are much worse than she feared. What's worse, Andie's fiancé thinks it's al a plan by North to get Andie back, and he may be right!

Our booksellers are already loving this book, and we think you will too! Here's what Next Chapter bookseller Anne W. had to say:

The over-the-top plot and characters were so charmingly quirky that you don't care if it could never happen--this book has you belieiving it could (and every day, too). I kept picturing the kids as versions of Wednesday and Pugsly from "The Addams Family." I found them lovable in the same way--odd and wise beyond their years. To me, one of the signs of a great story is when even the secondary characters are so well-drawn that they stay with you just as much as the "stars." Southie, Flo, and even Isolde were unforgetable. Definitely a keeper!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Florentine Opera Company presents "Opera Insights: Rio de Sangre"

Boswell Book Company @ 7pm

Corliss Phillabaum (Professor Emeritus of Theater at UW-Milwaukee's Peck School of the Arts) presents entertaining and interesting perspectives on each opera the Florentine Opera Company presents. Join us as he enlightens opera enthusiasts and newcomers alike about the world premiere of "Rio de Sangre."

In a story conceived by Los Angeles author and librettist Kate Gale and featuring a vibrant, Latin-inspired score by Emmy-award winning composer Don Davis, Río de Sangre depicts love and war against the backdrop of the twenty-first century, where all kinds of violence are possible, and the inevitable consequence of death, revenge and madness follow. The opera, which will be performed in Spanish with English translations projected above the stage, tells the story of the overthrow of a dictatorship in a fictional South American country. As plots, earthquakes and rumors give way to kidnapping, uprisings and treachery, the new leader realizes that the good of his country and the protection of his own family may be more than he can achieve.

"Rio de Sangre" will be performed by a new cast of Florentine Opera Studio members. Visit florentineopera.org/current-season/rio-de-sangre-world-premiere.html for tickets and more information.

--