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	Catherine Chant is an award-winning writer from New England. In addition to serving as the FMAM webmaster and book review coordinator, Catherine is an editor at Chippewa Publishing LLC. She is also a PRO member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA) and an active member of the From the Heart Romance Writers (FTHRW) chapter, the National Association of Women Writers (NAWW) and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). A graduate of Boston College, she worked for fifteen years at her alma mater as a computing & communications consultant/technical writer and web content manager. She is currently working on a young adult time travel romance. She can be reached at webmaster@fmam.biz.

RIGGS PARK
Ellyn Bache
Harlequin NEXT, July 2005, $5.50, 291 pp.
ISBN 0-373-88053-7

Harlequin NEXT is off to a smashing start with RIGGS PARK, the story of two friends, Barbara and Marilyn, both approaching sixty, who revisit the Washington D.C. neighborhood where they grew up in search of answers about a third friend Penny. Penny may or may not have had a baby fathered by Marilyn's brother and Marilyn, in the wake of learning that her breast cancer has returned, feels she must learn the truth before she dies. The quest to uncover the secrets Penny kept hidden for all these years reveals more about the women's past than either of them thought possible.

RIGGS PARK is not your typical romance novel. But although the story starts off seeming like simply a story about female friendship, you realize by the end it's really been the story of a romantic relationship that spanned decades, a story of missed opportunities and finally a story of forgiveness.

RIGGS PARK is a poignant trip into the past, brimming with emotion at every turn. And the slow unveiling of the truth Barbara and Marilyn seek and how it changes their lives is that makes it such a fascinating read. Truly, this story was hard to put down. Several times throughout the book, I found myself uttering, "Oh, wow!" and then quickly turning to the next page to find the next revelation. The slow realization of the touching love story "beneath the story" is what made this book a winner for me.

Catherine Chant

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