A Beginner's Guide to Starting Over
by Gabi Coatsworth
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Pub Date Apr 23 2024 | Archive Date Jun 07 2024
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Description
It's time for widow Molly Stevenson to stand on her own two feet. With blind dates, a needy ghost, and her small-town bookstore in trouble, she's going to need all her inner strength to prevent another unhappy ending.
Forty-something Molly can't bear to remove her wedding band. Still grieving the death of her beloved husband, the last thing she needs is her sleazy landlord raising the rent to drive her bookshop out of business. Now, this mild-mannered indie bookstore owner must find the inner strength to turn the page to a brand-new chapter.
So she's relieved when the ghost of her husband arrives, claiming he's there to help. But is he?
With a little nudge from beyond the grave, Molly hatches a plan to revitalize her boutique and keep the doors open. But with everyone, including her spectral spouse, insisting she start dating again, Molly isn't sure what's worse - the dates she meets online or the love of her life trying to find her a new man - who's not quite as good as him. How will she find the courage to fight for herself?
A Note From the Publisher
Gabi Coatsworth was born in Britain but has spent most of her life trying to figure out how America works by living there. So if you find a British flavor in her books, don’t be surprised. Her memoir, Love's Journey Home, was published in May 2022, by Atmosphere Press, who will also publish her debut novel, A Beginner's Guide to Starting Over, in April 2023.
Unlike many writers, she can’t write in coffee shops because they’re too distracting, and she only drinks coffee as a last resort. She lives in Connecticut in a cottage that’s American on the outside, and English inside. If she’s not reading, writing, or traveling, you'll find her in her flower garden, and holding a cup of her preferred beverage, strong English tea – she believes Earl Grey is for the weak.
She runs writers’ groups IRL and on Zoom, and you can find her all over the internet. To learn more, or to sign up for special bonus materials, start here, https://linktr.ee/gabicoatsworth or on her website www.GabiCoatsworth.com.
Advance Praise
"Gabi Coatsworth's debut novel, A Beginner's Guide to Starting Over, tenderly explores grief, self-discovery, and reinvention in middle life. Readers will cheer for Molly as she learns that standing on one's own often requires getting comfortable with leaning on others. The heartwarming, hopeful tale is also a gentle reminder that it's possible to fall in love more than once in a lifetime." - Jamie Beck, Wall Street Journal bestselling author
"To start over, Molly Stevenson, a widow, mother, and owner of a bookstore, must let go. Not an easy task for a 50-year-old woman whose dead husband Simon is speaking to her from the grave—providing business advice and telling her who to date. Anyone who has had to begin again, to strike out on her own, make a new life and new friends, will relate to this debut novel... Gabi has been there and has an inspiring story with a happy ending to tell." Marilyn Simon Rothstein, author of Crazy to Leave You
"A warm, engaging novel about love, friendship, and starting over, with a protagonist you will root for from the very first page! Molly is resilient, honest, and complex—in short, everything you could ask for in a protagonist. This is a book about second-chance love and so much more, written by an author who knows how to tell a story. Lovely!" Barbara Josselsohn, author of The Lilac House and The Cranberry Inn.
"Unforgettable and nuanced, Gabi Coatsworth delivers a heartwarming novel about the risks we must take to have a second chance. This is a book begging to be read cozied up in a chair, a fireplace blazing, and a cuppa tea in your hand. Prepare to sit a spell—Molly's stumbling journey to embrace the future will keep you soaring through the pages and by the end, Molly will feel like a much-loved old friend." Carla Damron, Author of The Orchid Tattoo and The Stone Necklace.
"A Beginner's Guide to Starting Over follows the delightful journey of Molly Stevenson and her loyalty to a former love, while confronting the challenge of striking out on her own, and opening her heart to a new relationship. You will fall in love with the characters. A heartfelt read." Lita Harris, author of Christmas in Brookside Falls
"Gabi Coatsworth absolutely nails the emotional journey of a middle-aged woman faced with losing a love and starting over. Her humorous and uplifting style makes this a delightful read." Marie W. Watts, author of Only a Pawn
"...Readers will eagerly root for the highly relatable Molly Stevenson as she navigates unchartered waters later in life and allows herself to be open to love again..." BookLife
"A charming, warm-hearted story full of delightful characters you will love getting to know...a story about second chances, of how you can have one even when you don't think you want one...A great read with a strong female lead." Pamela Stockwell, author of A Boundless Place
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