We have some great summer reading planned for the book club starting with Joshilyn Jackson’s new release, Backseat Saints. In August we’ll be reading Elin Hilderbrand’s new book and later this year we are reading one of the most talked about books at BEA 2010. We understand summer is really busy so in addition to the author discussion, we will be bringing back the online discussion in Big Tent! If you want to read with us but can’t commit to the author discussion, you will still have an opportunity to share your thoughts and talk about the book with other Manic Mommies.

We have several copies of Backseat Saints to give away to listeners and book clubbers. The author discussion is scheduled for July 21. Watch for details on how to join the conversation closer to the date.

Synopsis: Rose Mae Lolley is a fierce and dirty girl, long-suppressed under flowery skirts and bow-trimmed ballet flats. As “Mrs. Ro Grandee” she’s trapped in a marriage that’s thick with love and sick with abuse. Her true self has been bound in the chains of marital bliss in rural Texas, letting “Ro” make eggs, iron shirts, and take her punches. She seems doomed to spend the rest of her life battered outside by her husband and inside by her former self, until fate throws her in the path of an airport gypsy—one who shares her past and knows her future. The tarot cards foretell that Rose’s beautiful, abusive husband is going to kill her. Unless she kills him first.

Hot-blooded Rose Mae escapes from under Ro’s perky compliance and emerges with a gun and a plan to beat the hand she’s been dealt. Following messages that her long-missing mother has left hidden for her in graffiti and behind paintings, Rose and her dog Gretel set out from Amarillo, TX back to her hometown of Fruiton, AL, and then on to California, unearthing a host of family secrets as she goes. Running for her life, she realizes that she must face her past in order to overcome her fate—death by marriage—and become a girl who is strong enough to save herself from the one who loves her best.

To read book club hostess Mari’s author interview, click here. You can also see the full list of selections for the rest of the year, in case you want to get a jump on your reading.

To enter this month’s giveaway, send an e-mail (comments on this post are not considered valid entries) to Mari.Partyka@gmail.com. Put Backseat Saints in the subject line. Please include your shipping address in the body of your message.

Winners will be selected at random following close of business on Friday, June 25.