Finding You/Knowing You: Two Brand-New Novels For One Wonderful Price! [Mass Market Paperback]

Maureen Child (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 18, 2003

Fall in love with two unforgettable new novels in one extraordinary volume!

Meet the Candellano family: Angela, the matriarch, Tony the oldest son and town sheriff, Nick and Paul, the twin brothers with completely different personalities, and Carla, the beautiful daughter whom Mama is still trying to fix up. And though Mama's brood is all grown up, they still gather every Sunday around her kitchen table-where anyone who falls for a Candellano had better be prepared to share laughter, love...and the best lasagna in town...

FINDING YOU
Carla Candellano has faced a tragedy she'd like to put behind her, but no one has been able to penetrate the wall she has built around herself-until she meets six-year-old Reese Wyatt. Reese hasn't spoken since her mother died last year, and it's friendship at first sight for Carla and little Reese. But it's the girl's worried father, Jackson, who arouses Carla's curiosity, and passion, in ways she never imagined...

KNOWING YOU
Ever since Stevie Ryan was a young girl, she was in love with her best friend Carla's older brother Nick Candellano. But Nick had to complicate things by growing up gorgeous-and breaking Stevie's heart. Now she's convinced that forgetting him is the way to go. And it's working out fine...until she and Nick's brother, Paul, spend one sultry night together. Has the right brother been under Stevie's nose all along?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Maureen Child infuses her writing with the perfect blend of laughter, tears and romance. Her well-crafted characters, humor, and understanding of what it means to be part of a family makes each of her novels a treat to be savored." --Jill Marie Landis, author of Magnolia Creek

"An absolutely wonderful contemporary romance. A delightful blend of humor and emotion, this sexy love story will definitely keep readers turning the pages." --Kristin Hannah, author of Distant Shores

"Heartwarming, sexy, and impossible to put down...Maureen Child always writes a guaranteed winner, and this is no exception." --Susan Mallery, author of Married for a Month

From the Inside Flap

St. Martin's Paperbacks is proud to be publishing Maureen Child, a quickly rising star in the romance arena, and introducing the first book in the breathtaking brand-new Candellano trilogy that will captivate you so much, you'll be anxiously awaiting the next one.

As a special treat to our readers, we're bringing you these two stunning romances back-to-back in one volume!

The unforgettable story spun in Finding You left us utterly spellbound. And her follow-up, Knowing You, only enchanted us more. That's why we're giving readers the exceptional opportunity of two outstanding romances in one volume.

Enter Maureen Child's world, and you'll discover a place where anything is possible, and romance is like none other you've ever experienced before...

And just one month later, the third Candellano book will be available for your reading pleasure.

You're invited to dinner at the Candellano's home...

Mama Candellano's Lasagna

Mama's pasta sauce remains a closely guarded secret...so, feel free to use whichever sauce you prefer. (But if you use jar sauce, don't tell Mama).

Grease a 13x9x2 glass baking dish and set aside

1 lb. lasagna pasta
2 lbs. Ricotta cheese (part skim is good!)
½ cup Parmesan cheese
2 raw eggs
3 tbs. Dried parsley flakes
shredded Mozzarella cheese

Cook the lasagna in boiling water until it's nearly done, (al dente will make the lasagna easier to slice and serve later) Drain and cool the pasta by running cold water over it. In a separate bowl, mix Ricotta cheese, Parmesan, parsley flakes and the eggs, stirring until well blended.

Make one layer of lasagna noodles in the greased baking dish, then add a layer of the cheese mixture, keeping it thick, but evenly spread. Ladle sauce on top, covering the cheese and noodles. Then repeat until you end with a layer of lasagna noodles. Ladle sauce over the top, then sprinkle with shredded Mozzarella.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling like crazy. Let the Lasagna cool for ten minutes to make the slicing and serving a little easier!

Mangia!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 704 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks; mass market edition (May 18, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312989202
• ISBN-13: 978-0312989200
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #851,117 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

USA Today best selling author Maureen Child is the author of more than ninety romance novels and novellas. Maureen is a five time nominee for the prestigious Rita award from Romance Writers of America.

One of her novels, A POCKETFUL OF PARADISE, was made into a CBS-TV movie called The Soul Collector, starring Melissa Gilbert, Bruce Greenwood and Ossie Davis.

Maureen was not only on the Texas set to watch her characters come to life in front of the cameras, she was also tossed into the last scene by her husband and the producer, who both thought this would be a fun way to humiliate an author!

When her kids were small, Maureen started writing as not only a way to stay sane, but in the hopes of finding a job she could do and stay at home with them. Sanity is still an issue, but she did manage to write her way into a career she wouldn't trade for anything.

Over the years, she's written under lots of different names and she prefers the term 'pseudonym' to 'alias'. As Ann Carberry, she wrote western historical romances. As Kathleen Kane, she wrote not only Americana romances, but western paranormal romances as well. As Sarah Hart, she wrote one really spectacular western paranormal that is still one of her favorites. And once, Ann Carberry even wrote a Victorian historical which she absolutely loved doing.

Under her own name, Maureen writes short contemporary novels for Silhouette Desire--books she loves to write because of their fast pace and condensed story telling. Maureen is also writing funny, contemporary paranormal romances for NAL and darker paranormal stories for Silhouette Nocturne.

Life is busy but when she isn't writing you can find Maureen sitting under her 'thinking tree', coming up with new ideas for even more stories. When she isn't dreaming up a new book or writing a current one, Maureen loves to travel. Her favorite vacation spot is Ireland, with Scotland coming in a very close second. She and her husband love a good road trip and Maureen's looking forward to the day when she can actually drive to Ireland. Talk about the best of both worlds!

Maureen lives with her family in Southern California and loves to hear from her readers. Visit her online at www.maureenchild.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maureen Child Does It Again!, May 1, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Finding You/Knowing You: Two Brand-New Novels For One Wonderful Price! (Mass Market Paperback)

Maureen Child is known for her humor, her characters and her sizzling stories. Whether it's category romances or paranormal stories, she never fails to satisfy. Now, she's giving big, single-title contemporaries a try and I say, Hurray! With Finding You and Knowing You, she's delivered two terrific stories peopled with characters you'll care about. Both fabulous books--and you get two under one cover! You'll laugh, you'll cry. These books are satisfying and unforgettable!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Way Contemporary Romance Should Be, May 14, 2007

By 

Jennifer Wardrip (Bloomington, Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Finding You/Knowing You: Two Brand-New Novels For One Wonderful Price! (Mass Market Paperback)

I had somehow managed to overlook Maureen Child's books for years, but discovered her recently with the Marconi Sisters Trilogy. Those three great books coerced me into picking up the Candellano Family Trilogy, starting with FINDING YOU/KNOWING YOU. And I'm so glad I did!

In FINDING YOU, we meet Carla Candellano, the youngest Candellano sibling, and only daughter. Surrounded by Mama, the family matriarch, Tony, the oldest brother and town sheriff, and older twin brothers Nick and Paul, Carla is the "baby" of the family that they all dote upon. Carla's life had, until two years ago, been spent working for Searchers, a company that performed search operations to find missing victims in earthquakes, hurricanes, or those lost in mountains or forests. Along with her dog, Abbey, Carla was one of the best at her job, and it was her life. She loved doing what she could to find missing people with the help of her pet--until the one day she found a boy that she knew personally, too late to save him.

Ever since then, Carla has drawn away from everything that matters to her. She quit her job, moved back home to Chandler , California , and so far has avoided her Mama's plan to find her a husband. She's contented herself with spending time with Abbey and the new pups she plans to train as search dogs. Until Jackson Wyatt and his daughter, Reese, move into the summer place across from her own house.

Jackson has come to Chandler as a last resort. His six-year-old daughter was involved in a tragic automobile accident over a year ago that took her mother's life, and she hasn't spoken a word sense. He only has the summer to somehow get Reese to return to the land of the living before her haughty and very well-to-do maternal grandparents ship her off to a pshychiatric facility.

FINDING YOU is contemporary romance at it's best. Three people, each lost in their own memories, regrets, and heartbreak, will have to learn to love and trust again to find their way back to a wholesome life.

In KNOWING YOU, we get the story of Paul Candellano and Stevie Ryan. Stevie grew up with a wandering mother who searched the world for her next wealthy husband, but after several marriages and so much moving around, at twelve Stevie had had enough and moved to Chandler to live with her father. His love, along with the love and acceptance of her best friend, Carla Candellano, and her family finally gave Stevie a feeling of belonging.

She had also fallen in love with Nick Candellano, the "aw-shucks, look at me, I'm the best" NFL playing brother. When she got him too many times with another woman, Stevie finally gave up on rescuing Nick. Instead, the last few years have been spent making her business, The Leaf and Bean, the best coffee shop it can be, and rescuing the stray animals that she always seems to find in Chandler .

Now, after Carla's wedding to Jackson , Stevie is feeling a little lost, a little lonely, knowing that her relationship with Nick is definitely done and over, and that she may very well be destined to live her life forever alone. Until a night spent with her good friend, Paul, Nick's twin, where things heat up and one thing leads to another. Suddenly, it's not just Paul's friendship she's craving, but his body in her bed.

Paul Candelllano has always had a crush on Stevie Ryan. Long before she hooked up with Nick, Paul wanted to be more than the shoulder that Stevie cried on when Nick's antics drove her to tears. Now, he's finally had Stevie physically, but he's not sure where it will lead. What will the Candellano's, especially Nick, think about a budding relationship between the quiet, responsible twin that the other half of the Nick/Stevie whole?

KNOWING YOU is the story of a woman who has to come to terms with a birth mother who is never going to be who she wants to be, the discovery of a sibling that doesn't need to be rescued, and the fact that true love has to be persued, regardless of consequences.

This book, full of two wonderful, heartwarming stories, is a true delight for your keeper shelf!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If I'd Only Known, November 2, 2007

By 

Amanda A. Adams (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Finding You/Knowing You: Two Brand-New Novels For One Wonderful Price! (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the first time that I have read this author and now I'm kicking myself for waiting this long. I've seen her books on selves for years but for some reason always pasted them by. My mistake. This book was wonderful!It was like a mix of styles of Nora Roberts and Jennifer Crusie. It had the emotions and the real world serious situations of a Roberts, but the laughter and unpredictability that Crusie is known for. I was drawn in to the Candellano family immediatly. They're loud and loving and Child does a great job of letting you into all of their lives, not just the main characters. This book gives the storys of Carla, the youngest of the group, and Paul one of the twins. There's still Nick's book the remaining twin and I've got that one ordered and on it's way now. Can't wait! I hear she has another series about three sisters and I look forward to starting that as well. It's always exciting when you discover a great author. If you've never read Maureen Child before, you're missing something good.