{"title":"Terri-Lynne DeFino","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTerri-Lynne DeFino\u003c\/strong\u003e crafts compelling narratives rooted in richly drawn characters and the complexities of everyday life. Her novels, such as \u003cem\u003eDidn't You Use to Be Queenie B?\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eVarina Palladino's Jersey Italian Love Story\u003c\/em\u003e, explore themes of identity, family, and personal transformation with warmth and insight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders can expect heartfelt storytelling set against vivid, relatable backdrops that bring out the humour and resilience of her characters. DeFino's work offers a genuine and engaging journey through contemporary general fiction.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"varina-palladinos-jersey-italian-love-story-by-terri-lynne-defino-9780063228443","title":"Varina Palladino's Jersey Italian Love Story","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eVarina Palladino’s Jersey Italian Love Story\u003c\/em\u003e is fun and funny, wonderfully exuberant, and incredibly wise. These endearing characters—their voices and stories—will be with me for a long time to come. I didn’t want to say good-bye.” –Jill McCorkle, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eHieroglyphics\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn utterly delightful and surprising family drama—think \u003cem\u003eMoonstruck\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eMy Big Fat Greek Wedding\u003c\/em\u003e set in New Jersey—about a boisterous, complicated Italian family determined to help their widowed mother find a new boyfriend.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLively widow Varina Palladino has lived in the same house in Wyldale, New Jersey, her entire life. The town might be slightly stuck in the 1960s, when small businesses thrived and most residents were Italian, but its population is getting younger and the Palladinos are embracing the change. What Varina’s not embracing, much to her ninety-two-year-old mother’s dismay, is dating. Running Palladino’s Italian Specialties grocery, caring for her mother, and keeping her large, loud Jersey Italian family from killing one another takes up all of Varina’s energy anyway.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSylvia Spini worries about her daughter Varina being left all alone when she dies. Sylvia knows what it is to be old and alone, so when her granddaughter, Donatella, comes to her with an ill-conceived plan to find Varina a man, Sylvia dives in. The three men of the family—Dante, Tommy, and Paulie—are each secretly plotting their own big life changes, which will throw everyone for a loop.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThree generations of Palladinos butt heads and break one another’s hearts as they wrestle with their own Jersey Italian love stories in this hilarious and life-affirming ode to love and family.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Arotahi Agency","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46534289457388,"sku":"9780063228443","price":55.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/13488533482210.jpg?v=1749422273"},{"product_id":"didnt-you-use-to-be-queenie-b-by-terri-lynne-defino-9780063393127","title":"Didn't You Use to Be Queenie B?","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFor everyone who loved \u003cem\u003eThe Bear\u003c\/em\u003e! An utterly winning, crowd-pleaser of a novel about a disgraced celebrity chef, her striving protégé, and their path through the kitchen to redemption.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRegina Benuzzi is Queenie B—a culinary goddess with Michelin Star restaurants, a bestselling cookbook empire, and multimillion-dollar TV deals. It doesn’t hurt that she’s gorgeous and curvaceous, with cascading black hair and signature red lips.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eShe had it all. Until she didn’t.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAfter an epic fall from grace, Queenie B vanishes from the public eye, giving up everything: her husband, her son, and the fame that she’d fought to achieve. Her shows are in rerun, her restaurants still popular, but her disappearance remains a mystery to her legions of fans.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLocal line cook Gale Carmichael also knows a thing or two about disaster. Newly sober and struggling, Gale’s future dreams don’t hold space for culinary stardom; only earning enough to get by. Broke at the end of the week, he finds himself at a local soup kitchen in one of the roughest parts of New Haven, Connecticut. But Gale quickly realizes that the food coming out of the kitchen is not your standard free meal—it is delicious and prepared with gourmet flair.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGale doesn’t recognize Regina, the soup kitchen’s cranky proprietor, whose famous black mane is now streaked with grey. It’s been more than ten years since Queenie B vanished into her careful new existence. But she sees Gale’s talent and recognizes a brokenness in him that she knows all too well. The culinary genius in hiding takes him under her wing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTeaching Gale, Regina’s passion to create is reignited, and they both glimpse a shot at the redemption that had always seemed out of reach. When Gale is chosen to compete on the hit cooking show, \u003cem\u003eCut!\u003c\/em\u003e, it’s a turning point for them both.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt’s Gale’s time to shine. And that means Queenie B might just have to come out of hiding...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Arotahi Agency","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47582859985132,"sku":"9780063393127","price":39.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780063393127-didn-t-you-use-to-be-queenie-b.jpg?v=1777447238"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/terri-lynne-defino.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}