Books
Last Bite, A Chicago Story with Sass
A mouth-watering home run of a beach read, this lighthearted romantic comedy featuring a newly widowed fortysomething takes the reader on a joyful romp throughout some of Chicago’s finest eateries – with a dash of Cubs baseball on the side.
In the heart of Chicago, forty-five-year-old Angie Sortino finds herself at a crossroads. Recently widowed, she discovers that her deceased husband, Vinnie, has left her penniless, and she is forced to take a job at Chicago City Hall as a cleaning woman until Vinnie’s City pension can be cleared up. Then her spirited twenty-two-year-old niece, Gina Paloni, and her best friend Kim Yang, approach her with a dream of starting a catering company targeting funeral parlors – and Angie sees a chance to reawaken her own culinary aspirations.
As the three women embark on this new venture, they face the challenges of the catering business, from securing clients to perfecting their menu. Angie and Gina’s love for the Chicago Cubs adds a playful twist to their journey, as they often find inspiration in the vibrant atmosphere of Wrigley Field. Gina’s youthful enthusiasm contrasts with Angie’s cautious nature, leading to hilarious mishaps, unexpected romantic encounters, and heartfelt moments.
Through late-night brainstorming sessions and spontaneous cooking experiments, Angie begins to find her voice, both in the kitchen and in her life. With the support of a respected funeral director, Gina and Kim, and an unexpected new love interest, Angie learns to embrace her worth and pursue happiness.
The next time your friends drop in for a visit, don’t panic. Grab this book, follow our tips, and discover the system that leaves time and energy for the more ‘interesting’ things in life.
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Scratch? My Ass!
Scratch? My Ass! is a unique, humorous, retro-style cookbook originally published in 1984 by Ethel and Blanche—the fictional, slightly risqué alter egos of author Amy S. Peele and her longtime friend Mindy Malecki. Blending real recipes (from appetizers to desserts) with playful commentary, the book features contributions from the once-thriving Ethel and Blanche Privates Club—a lively sisterhood of women who gathered for years in the greater Chicago area to share laughter, food, and friendship. Though the club is now a cherished piece of the past, its spirit lives on in these pages. This cult favorite also makes a cameo in Amy’s 2026 novel Last Bite, offering a delightful wink to longtime fans and new readers alike.
The next time your friends drop in for a visit, don’t panic. Grab this book, follow our tips, and discover the system that leaves time and energy for the more ‘interesting’ things in life.
Now Available on Audio!
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Hold
Sarah Golden and Jackie Larsen promised their partners they were out of the detective business. They declared “game over” after both of them almost lost their lives trying to solve their last medical mystery, and they’re happy with that decision: Sarah has finally allowed love and romance into her life, Jackie’s marriage is solid, and Jackie’s son, Wyatt, is still doing great with his year-old kidney transplant.
So when they go on their dream trip to Cuba, they are not looking for trouble. But all their plans go out the window when a desperate plea from a Cuban transplant surgeon puts the duo in serious danger with the Cuban government on the same day the four most prominent immunologists in the world–doctors who were on the verge of solving the huge rejection issues that have plagued the transplant community for over fifty years–are killed in a car accident in Chicago.
Soon, Sarah and Jackie find themselves dragged into the bowels of investigating venture capitalists and corporate greed–a terrain they know nothing about. As they uncover suspect clinical trials at major US transplant centers, including Sarah’s, their usual friends Biker Bob and Officer Handsome aren’t able to help them much, but they do receive assistance from an unlikely source: Sergio, who they helped to land in prison in Florida (and who is trying to win back his girlfriend), offers his help from the inside. Sarah and Jackie are armed with smarts, humor, and enough persistence to help them face the white-collared demons of corporate America–but with dangerous players gunning for them and death threats being made against their families, will they be able to solve this mystery before someone else gets hurt?
2023 First Place for Best Thriller
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Match
In this page-turning thriller, two nurses—best friends Sarah Golden and Jackie Larsen—team up to find a killer with the help of some colorful characters they refer to as Biker Bob and Officer Handsome. They are armed with big hearts, a raucous sense of humor, and tireless tenacity that equips them to face the life-and-death twists and turns they confront in the only style they both know: straight on and arm in arm as the friends they’ve always been.
What do politics, living donor kidney transplants, and the current opioid crisis all have in common? Informed by her thirty-five-year career in the organ transplant field, Peele expertly and authentically weaves all of these issues into one fast-paced, nonstop-adventure, fun romp of a buddy story that promises to keep readers turning pages after their bedtime.
Cut
Sarah Golden and Jackie Larson are both living in the San Francisco Bay area. Jackie is married to Laura Gallagher, the Assistant Medical Examiner in San Francisco. Sarah is happily single and working as a traveling transplant nurse in Miami. While in Miami Sarah has the misfortune of caring for Amanda Stein, the female version of Steve Jobs, who flew to Miami to get a liver transplant.
Jackie is a stay-at-home mom for their son, Wyatt, and finds herself pleasantly distracted helping Sarah track Amanda Stein and her boy toy – Sergio Torres. Sarah is learning Spanish so she can date Latino comedians while Jackie has all she can do to not tell the suburban soccer moms to go screw themselves. Sarah and Jackie’s escapades take them on an adventure with the rich, famous, and Cuban gangs in Miami, searching for the reason a white, wealthy, socialite received a liver from a Cuban gang member.
Aunt Mary’s Guide to Raising Children the Old Fashioned Way
In Aunt Mary’s Guide to Raising Children the Old-Fashioned Way, Amy S. Peele reflects on her childhood and discovers memories, both painful and funny, that yield meaningful life lessons. In this book, Peele delves into her sometimes chaotic, sometimes simple childhood, and reflects on the peace of mind she experienced at Lake Wawasee every summer. After you read this memoir, you’ll be compelled to look on the map to see if there really is a lake called Wawasee. You’ll want to be invited into Aunt Mary’s garage at 5 PM for Scotch and cards. You’ll relate to Peele’s underlying message: that parents and relatives do the best they can with the circumstances life sets before them.
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