Fellow Wild Rose Press author Cara Bertoia has written a special short story, THE PERFECT BREASTS, for breast cancer awareness month. All proceeds received will go to cancer research. Pre-order your copy of this 47 page short story now and receive it on release day, September 29, 2023. Congratulations Cara and best of luck!
Hannah Clein will always remember the day she went to a department store with her mother to buy her first bra as her last best day, “B.C.” before the cancer. She considered herself an ordinary child who loved challah bread, reading, and her family – often in that order.
With a normal life in the rear-view mirror, we follow Hannah over three decades, as she navigates the tricky transition from girlhood to womanhood. All her life, she just wants to belong. Be normal.
In a tale that explores a women’s complicated relationships with her body, and the love of her life, we learn the psyche is a funny thing. What are the perfect breasts? And how does the loss of a loved one affect those left behind?
The Perfect Breasts mixes family lore with imagination in a compelling tale of loss, longing, and love.
Cara says:
I have published it on Amazon Kindle for breast cancer awareness month, and all the profits will be donated to cancer research. If you are a member of Kindle Unlimited set your calendar for Sept. 29th – when it will be available for reading.
Buy link (Pre-order until September 29, 2023):
The Perfect Breasts - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGMTYBFD
Editorial Reviews of The Perfect Breasts:
Brilliantly written, The Perfect Breasts is a riveting tale that chronicles the lifelong impact that breast cancer has on every aspect of the lives of each member of the Clein family. Author Cara Bertoia has penned a tautly emotional plot driven by love, loss, trust, family ties, and the inner strength one must summon to face adversity created by both human fallibility and fate rather than turning away.
The story moves at a comfortable pace with flawed, but believable characters who drive the plot. Readers find themselves rooting for the protagonists from the beginning to the end of the story. The characters evoke strong emotions in readers right from page one. This reader found herself wanting to hug Hannah on one page and throttle her on the next.
The Perfect Breasts is a book that should be required reading for every woman because it does not soft-soap the emotional effect of a life-threatening disease and forces readers to face a hard truth: The ultimate symbol of femininity and womanhood can either be a source of great strength and pride or when lost, a weapon to destroy one’s faith in life and one’s self. — Susie Black author of The Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series
The Perfect Breasts is a heartfelt story about breast cancer and how it affects all of our lives. Because, yes, almost everyone knows someone who has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
In this story we follow, Hannah, a Jewish girl through three decades, from the death of her beloved mother from breast cancer to becoming a self-sufficient woman. Cancer itself becomes a character burrowing into Hannah’s psyche. Knowing oneself is difficult enough, but with this added fear, Hannah struggles to find happiness.
Cara Bertoia handles the issue with sensitivity and compassion. She takes us on Hannah's journey. leaving us with hope and a promise for a good future. This is a story which should be read by everyone. — Janie Emaus author of Latkes for Santa Claus
From the Author:
When I was a child, I grew up in a very crowded house. I have three sisters. The way I would escape all the mayhem was by reading. From the time I could read I became a voracious reader. By the age of eight I was reading my parents’ novels, whatever books I could find. At night instead of counting sheep I would tell myself Cinderella type stories where I got to be the heroine. But my first real writing class was when I worked in high-tech in Boston. I took a class at Harvard Extension, and the professor read my story aloud to the group. He asked me to read it, but I was too self-conscious, because it was the first story I had ever written. From that day on I was hooked.
Author Bio:
Cara Bertoia grew up in a strait-laced Southern family, but she was always fascinated with casinos. In her twenties on a summer hiatus from teaching in North Carolina, she drove to California and became a dealer at Caesars in Lake Tahoe. She discovered that after teaching high school, handling an unruly gambler was a piece of cake. Her mother highly disapproved of her working in a casino, "a place so bad it has 'sin' in the middle."
Eventually, she succumbed to pressure from the family and returned east to take a hi-tech job in Boston. She also began working on her MFA in writing at Emerson. Her goal was to write the first realistic novel about casino life from the perspective of an experienced table games dealer. She is always amazed that normal and sometimes quite intelligent players become absolutely clueless in the casino. They repeat superstitious nonsense and no amount of logic can change their position, maybe her novel will.
While in Boston she was offered the opportunity to join Princess Cruises as a croupier. Jumping at the chance, she spent the next five years circling the globe. Sometimes life exceeds your dreams. She was awed by the wonders of Venice, the fjords of Norway, and the Northern Lights in St. Petersburg.
Cara returned from ships with a very special souvenir, her Scottish husband Ray. They went to work at the Spa Casino in Palm Springs, and now live in Hollywood, Florida, where she writes about her casino years while wistfully gazing out at the ocean.
She loves to connect with her readers. Please send her a picture with any or her work. She will post those pictures to social media.
Cara's Social Media:
mailto:carabertoia@yahoo.com
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