Houston, TX, October 21, 2013 - Jessica Bell, a 30-something Australian-native contemporary fiction author, award-winning poet and singer/songwriter/guitarist doesn't write fairy tales - she writes books that explore the beauty within the beast. Bitter Like Orange Peel (Vine Leaves Press) is a raw and engrossing family drama that would shock your average princess.
Six women. One man. Seven secrets. And one could ruin them all. Kit is a twenty-five-year-old archaeology undergrad who doesn't like to get her hands dirty. Life seems purposeless. But if she could track down Roger, her missing father, maybe her perspective would change. Kit's attempt to discover the truth will seduce the reader with more panache than Christian Grey.A blend of dry comedy and raw heartbreak, Bitter Like Orange Peel explores relative values of circumstantial evidence, selective memory, and the understandable prejudgments we're all so capable of in the passionate protection of those we love. Family relationships are flawed. All we can do is paper over the cracks.
In addition to her first two novels, poetry collections (including Fabric, which was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards in 2012), and her three-book writing craft series, Bell has published a variety of works in online and print literary journals and anthologies. She is the Co-Publishing Editor of Vine Leaves Literary Journal, and the director of the Homeric Writers' Retreat & Workshop on the Greek island of Ithaca.
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