Description
Tori Carter is a sassy, multi-tasking diva who prefers for her life to run as smooth and hitch-free as the events she coordinates. No drama, no problems—that's Tori's idea of the good life. Her tendency to plan everything to the max has made her the most successful event coordinator in the business—and the number one problem solver for her family and friends. But when her perfect fiancee, Roland, chooses their wedding day to run off with the woman he previously claimed was just a good, "platonic friend", Tori is left without a Plan B-through-Z...or any idea what to do next. During a period of post-traumatic breakup blues, Tori suddenly has the epiphany that the best way to mend a broken heart is to simply: “Get back out there.” Against the advice of a personal Life coach, Tori dives headfirst back into the dating pool where she suffers through one dating disaster after another, while also dutifully tending to the never-ending needs of her zany, high-spirited group of family and friends; as well as a hectic career where her senior position is in jeopardy due to backstabbing and blatant sabotage.. Then there is Nelson. Tori's handsome, widowed neighbor who could possibly turn up the heat in ways she never imagined, if only he could somehow manage to get past the emotional baggage he still carries years after the tragic death of his much beloved wife. Told candidly through the pages of her journal, The Next Best Thing chronicles Tori's daily struggle to pick up the pieces of her once perfectly ordered life, while also learning to accept that no amount of planning can prevent the curve balls that Life sometimes throws your way. "The Next Best Thing" has been a top 10 bestseller in Germany for several consecutive months now, and is a 2009 African American Literary Award nominee for "comedy book of the year". The book has also received rave reviews from readers around the world, as well as from The American Library Association, African American Magazine, Written Magazine, Upscale Magazine, and Romantic Times Magazine. The following are just a few: "Delightful...a clever and refreshing mix of zany characters, humor, and heart." --Lutishia Lovely, author of A Preacher's Passion "I found this to be an impressive first novel. Event Planner Tori Carter brilliantly represents many women in today's society struggling to make sense of their lives. The author has complete command of her craft, and grabs the readers attention immediately and never lets go." Christy Kargman, Dallas, Texas "First time novelist Deidre Berry is truly an author to add to your reading list. Her voice is one the fiction world will be giving thumbs up to for years to come." -- The RAWSISTSAZ(tm) Reviewers BOOK LIST REVIEW: Tori Carter is a woman who knows what she wants down to the smallest detail, which helps her when she’s planning her expensive, over-the-top, picture-perfect wedding. Everything goes according to elaborate plan until, an hour and a half after he’s supposed to be at the church, her fiancé, Roland, sends her a text message telling her the wedding is off because he loves another woman. Shattered, Tori throws herself into her work as an event planner and very slowly eases herself back into the dating pool. It’s hard going, especially when every date turns out to be a bum, a druggie, or some other form of lowlife; but with well-meaning friends and a large, concerned family, Tori is able to put her life back together. At least it seems so, until Roland comes back into the picture. With a strong, powerful female lead and feisty, tough women as her support, Berry’s first novel is a fresh, vivid portrait of one woman’s trying experience. --Hilary Hatton