American Icon: A Novel

As Kate Haywood accepts her "Woman of the Year" award, she is truly happy for the first time in years. Finally she is being recognized: for building a homemaking empire of bestselling books, a top-rated television show, and an award-winning magazine. She has inspired women worldwide to serve homemade apple brown betty, to stencil their bathroom walls with pastel designs, to grow dozens of varieties of peonies in their backyard gardens. She is a role model to millions. But as she dutifully thanks her family in her acceptance speech, she has the nagging sense that something is missing. She knows that she hasn't been a perfect wife and mother, and she resolves to spend more quality time with her family, to have them come first for a change.

But that very night, her dream is destroyed. Peter, the literary agent who pitched Kate's first bestseller back in the 1980s, leaves her after more than twenty-five years of marriage. Kate's life is shattered. She is alone, and she knows that her critics are laughing as the dirty laundry of the world's most successful homemaker is hung out to dry.

Slowly, supported by the love of her daughter, Samantha, she fights back. But she has a decision to make. Is her business enough to keep her happy? Or should she put her career on a back burner and battle to save her marriage? Complicating matters, Steve Gardiner, a handsome sculptor, enters the picture and unlocks the passions that Kate hasn't felt in years. When shocking events conspire to deepen her bonds with both Steve and Peter, Kate is forced to decide between two very different lives. Safety, security, and family - or desire, excitement, and mystery......

Pat Booth is the bestselling author of such novels as PALM BEACH, BEVERLY HILLS, MIAMI, and MARRY ME. She is also the author of three books on photography and is herself an accomplished photographer. She lives with her husband and their two children in Palm Beach, New York, and London.