Book excerpt: Customers who like books by Nora Roberts, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and Debbie Macomber will enjoy this romantic and emotional story by award-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author Barbara Freethy. ASK MARIAH was a finalist in the RITA's for Best Contemporary Romance. This is a full length novel of approximately 100,000 words. From the back cover: Joanna Wingate knows something is missing from her life, something she never dreamed she'd find in a handsome stranger's children -- mischievous six-year-old twin sisters who look up at her adoringly ... and call her "Mama." Since his wife's accidental death, Michael Ashton has struggled with his many responsibilities as a single parent to twin daughters who, though they clearly love him, refuse to speak to him. Then he meets Rose and Lily's new teacher, and his emotions spin out of control. For Joanna Wingate is the mirror image of his late wife. Bizarre coincidence, a strange destiny... or something altogether different has joined these four lives. The twins believe Mariah -- a magical fortune-teller in a crystal ball -- has the answers. But only Joanna and Michael's willingness to confront long-buried secrets can guide their families back to wholeness ... and unite them in a love that seems meant to be.