Second novel by Heather Frese, author of The Baddest Girl on the Planet, winner of the Lee Smith Novel prize, which sold well, even in the middle of the pandemic, and is now in paperback.New book has a common setting and some characters in common with Baddest Girl, making the books companion novels, but this new book is not a prequel. It stands alone.Author is a master at creating fresh takes on traditional women’s themes.

WINNER of the LEE SMITH NOVEL PRIZE“This sun-and-salt-kissed coming-of-age story reads like a wry, honest chat with a close friend.” —Jaclyn Fulwood, Shelf AwarenessEvie Austin, native of Hatteras Island, North Carolina and baddest girl on the planet, has not lived her life in a straight line. There have been several detours—career snafus, bad romantic choices, a loved but unplanned child—not to mention her ill-adv...

Evie Austin, native of Hatteras Island, North Carolina, and baddest girl on the planet, has not lived her life in a straight line.There have been several detours—career snafus, bad romantic choices, a loved but unplanned child—not to mention her ill-advised lifelong obsession with boxer Mike Tyson. Evie is not plucky, but when life's changes smash over her like the rough surf of the local shoreline, she muddles through—until that moment of loss and longing when mud...

Fifteen of North Carolina’s finest writers reimagine and reclaim the stories of the ghosts who have haunted all corners of the state.North Carolina ain’t what it once was: forests and fields have given way to suburbs and vacation homes, textile mills to high tech, tobacco farms to tourism. That doesn’t mean, though, that the ghosts of the Old North State have gone away.In this anthology, readers might glimpse some of the ghostly apparitions, headless fiends...