Better Choices (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781572420397)

In her lifetime, Allison Clark has made many bad choices. Topping the list; she married the wrong man. Now, on the cusp of signing her divorce papers, she finds herself sandwiched between caring for her often difficult and dying mother and dealing with the seemingly endless drama of her rebellious teenaged twins.

When she thinks life couldn't possibly get any more complicated, Allison discovers her mother has concealed a family secret from her for her entire life. Why had her recently departed father been making large and unexplained monthly payments to someone through his personal attorney for nearly fifty years? What was the money for and where did it go?

Stonewalled by both the attorney and her mother, and prodded by the antics of her financially strapped brother, Allison goes on a quest to uncover the secret. Along the way, with the help of her zany aunts and her best friend, she begins to make better choices which completely change the direction of her life.

At her twins' eighteenth birthday party, and nearing the end, her mother checks off the last item on her personal bucket list and reveals the long-hidden family secret. Allison's world is immediately turned upside down and the revelation stuns family and friends alike.

Despite dealing with the serious topics of divorce, complicated family relationships and death, this is a lighthearted and life-affirming story full of funny and interesting characters. Even though the clues to solving the mystery are all in plain sight, only the most astute reader will see this third act plot twist coming.

Rod Pennington and Jeffery A. Martin have combined to write seven previous international bestsellers.