Lisa Gabriele Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Lisa Gabriele is a Canadian journalist, television producer and author of mystery & fiction books. She is the author of nationally bestselling novels, The Almost Archer Sisters and Tempting Faith DiNapoli with the later being optioned for adaptation into a television series by Insight Productions. She’s also written an erotic novel, S.E.C.R.E.T under the pen name L. Marie Adeline published in 31 different countries and a bestseller in several countries including, Holland, Brazil, and Canada. The novel has since been made into a trilogy.

She is the only Canadian author who has had the number one bestselling in both fiction and non-fiction. Lisa’s essays have appeared in different anthologies, and her writing has been featured in the Washington Post, New York Times Magazine, Vice Magazine, among other publications.

The Winters

The Winters is a daring book, in that it truly grabs without bias the story of Rebecca, by English author Daphne du Maurier and crafts a bold, fresh modern-day retelling of the story of Max Winter and new wife, after the death of his first wife, Rebecca. This book has been termed as the updated version and a modern-day retelling of Rebecca’s story originally written by Daphne Maurier.

Like the original version of the story, The Winters features an unnamed narrator, but the story shares a lot of similarities to its 1938 version. The main character is an American woman in her 20’s from Cayman Island, where she works at a local boat charter company that offers services to elite local clubs clients. It’s through her job that she meets Max Winter, a handsome and wealthy senator from New York who visits the Caribbean for both work and holiday.
Max is a widower; his wife perished in a grisly road accident two years ago. Despite this recent loss, Max and the woman fall in love and just within a month after they meet, Max proposes. Before she even comes to her senses, our female narrator is catapulted away to the Hamptons where her to be husband owns a luxurious seaside estate known as Asherley. The New York life takes some adjusting for our heroine, who in most cases finds, herself alone in their wealthy mansion as her ever busy husband travels for work in the political world. It doesn’t help that their house is filled with constant reminders of Max’s dead wife (Rebecca or Rebekah as she is often referred in the story) the wealthy but also beautiful socialite who strong presence can be felt even after death. To make matter even more complicated is Max’s daughter, Dani who is determined to make our heroine’s life a living hell at the mansion as she is unhappy with her father’s decision to remarry.

Dani’s revelation of some shocking information about the night when her mother died plants some seeds of doubts in the narrator’s mind. Was Max and Rebekah’s marriage full of secrets, or could their daughter be plotting a scheme to drive her away?

Like any other retelling, The Winters focuses on a familiar story, and this gives it plenty of opportunities for some interesting spins. This is a thrilling psychological thriller while Rebecca, the original version is dark with a menacing atmosphere, which even after Rebecca’s death affects the new wife. Max’s daughter Dani is the core of tension in the story both with her father and her new stepmom. The quarrels between Dani and her new mom are believable, and the teenage debate is also beautifully done. Dani appears confident in some aspect and yet vulnerable in other aspects and is still unable to come to terms with the demise of her mother and struggling with a relationship with her father. But all in all, she is very capable of destruction both to herself and her family as well.

Lisa Gabrielle has crafted a captivating story full of devious plotting, family secrets, greed, political ambition, and a search for true love. The unnamed narrator is a great character treading carefully through family tensions, focused on building relationships and addressing important issues in her life. The story is engrossing and entertaining while the plot is imaginatively crafted with some interesting surprises that built to a captivating climax.

The Almost Archer Sisters

The Almost Archer Sisters is the story of two women who share a dead mother and something else. Peachy, a college dropout now a married mother has lived all her life in a farm where nothing is grown, and the land is slowly sold off piece by piece. Her sister left Canada to study in New York and lives across the world living a dream life and only comes home once a month to have her stepfather cut her hair. While growing up both Peachy and Beth, their father Lou remained a strong family figure after the death of their mother when the girls were four and six years old respectively. Peachy had to play a mom’s responsibility towards Beth, and as distinct as their life choices were, the two remained close co-depending through one another.

After a life-shattering event, Peachy bolts from the farm, leaving her children overnight alone for the first time, Beth, with her guilt and her husband with his thoughts. She escapes to New York City for a weekend alone to do some soul searching in this strange city. With each character out of their comfort zone, the reader is able to see their true colors and their true potential. Beth adheres to her sister’s impulses, while Peachy’s husband contemplates on his own stupidity as loneliness while their father sends love to all while Peachy thinks about her lonely life.

The Almost Archer Sisters was initially written from Beth’s perspective, a character who is a version of the author. Lisa Gabriele would later redraft the story from Peachy’s point of view after scrutinizing her sister’s about motherhood. The author uses this story as a platform to discuss about family ties and sisterhood issues by creating a world that no one takes time to notice.