Books

Candlelight Bridge, A Novel
Goodreads
Flowersong Press (2024)
ISBN: 978-1-963245-07-3

Coming May 28th! Available to Preorder!

Candlelight Bridge, A Novel

In 1910, twelve-year-old Candelaria Rivera and her family flee across the Chihuahuan desert to America so her father and brother can escape getting drafted into Mexico’s Federales, and so her whole family can escape the rising storm of the Mexican Revolution. Meanwhile, twenty-year-old Yan Chi Wong flees the Chinese Revolution and a devastating loss, also bound for America, where he’s nicknamed Yankee.

Down the road, this unlikely pair meet in the border town of El Paso, where they discover each has something the other needs to help them meet the challenges of life on the edge of America. Together they build a life, help Chinese immigrants cross the U.S.-Mexico border, and start a business. But soon a terrible desire threatens to destroy their lives.

Candlelight Bridge is not a romance, but a tale of refugees seeking home in a world that doesn’t want them, of a young woman saving her family in a world ruled by men, of grudging partners struggling to survive the American Dream.

Praise for Candlelight Bridge

“If Maxine Hong Kingston and Luis Alberto Urrea were to come together to write a masterpiece, I imagine it would read much like Cara Lopez Lee’s brilliant novel, Candlelight Bridge. Set amid the Mexican Revolution and the ramifications of the Chinese Exclusion Act in the U.S., her characters form an unlikely union in El Paso, Texas. At once heartrending and deeply human, this is a story you won’t forget.”
—Susan Blumberg-Kason, author of Bernardine’s Shanghai Saloon and Good Chinese Wife

“From the very first sentence, readers are pulled into an epic, beautifully written, rich, and vivid story that leaves us breathless, hopeful, and excited for the sequel. This untold immigrant story is nothing short of amazing!”
—J.D. Mason, national bestselling author of The Real Mrs. Price and One Day I Saw A Black King

“This timely gem shines as does Candelaria herself, a born fighter if ever there was one. Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Mexican Revolution, the Riveras—an impoverished family escaping the long reach of war—head for what they hope is a better life in America. The story follows the oldest daughter, Candelaria, in an unexpected and sweeping saga that stretches from Mexico to China and into America. Settling in the wild west town of El Paso on the cusp of Prohibition forces Candelaria and her family to make dangerous and difficult decisions. Candlelight Bridge delivers a profoundly moving story of one strong and determined woman. Highly Recommended!”
—Randi Samuelson-Brown, author of Market Street Madam and On The Fringes

“Cara Lopez Lee is a talented and audacious author. And Candlelight Bridge is a wonderful book, a book to savor and revisit.”
—Luis Alberto Urrea, author of Good Night, Irene and The Hummingbird’s Daughter
“Sweeping yet intimate, Candlelight Bridge traces the epic journey of Candelaria and Yankee across China, Mexico and the borderlands of America. With these defiant and determined characters, Cara Lopez Lee powerfully portrays the costs of survival. Deeply moving.”
—Vanessa Hua, author of Forbidden City
They Only Eat Their Husbands

They Only Eat Their Husbands

Love, Travel, and the Power of Running Away

After a lover threatens to kill her, 26-year-old Cara Lopez Lee runs away to Alaska. There, she lands in a love triangle with two alcoholics: Sean, the martial artist, and Chance, the paramedic. Nine years later, sick of love, she runs away again, to backpack around the world—alone. This memoir recounts one woman’s journey to self-discovery with dazzling honesty and humor, taking readers with her on a year-long trek through China, Nepal, Thailand, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Ireland, with reflections on her nine years in Alaska.

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Praise for They Only Eat Their Husbands

“It’s rare when an author really opens up and divulges her innermost insecurities. Cara Lopez Lee… brings the reader right into her roller coaster world…”
—Susan Blumberg-Kason, author of the bestselling memoir, Good Chinese Wife

“The characters are as well drawn as those in novels, the relationship dynamics fascinating, and the journey of self-discovery very satisfying.”
—Barbara Wright, author of the award-winning novel, Plain Language

They Only Eat Their Husbands is a witty and moving story that truly captures the sense of wonder, self-discovery and adventure that unfolds when one throws caution to the wind and ventures out into the world alone.”
—Anne Fox, award-winning series producer for the Travel Channel

“Lee writes candidly about her adventurous—and sometimes tumultuous—journey through life. Her vivid prose draws you into that journey. Her passion makes you want to stay for the ride.”
—Valorie Burton, best-selling author of 10 books on living a fulfilling life, including Get Unstuck and What’s Really Holding You Back?

Where There's a Will

Where There’s a Will

A Novel

World War II hero Will Miner is close with his grandson, seventeen-year-old musician Dylan Mercer. So when Dylan’s best friend dies, he runs away to Grandpa’s to hide from his memory and his future. Dylan escapes choosing between college and rock-and-roll, disappears into the stories of eighty-one-year-old Grandpa Will, and discovers a surprise: before Will became a hero, he was a young rebel. Will’s tales of the circus, Route 66, riding the rails, and fighting a war, reveal he’s hiding his own losses. Where There’s a Will takes readers under the surface of one hot Tennessee summer, as grandfather and grandson spill secrets and discover a true bond between men.

Unexpected Prisoner

Unexpected Prisoner

Memoir of a Vietnam POW

When Lieutenant Robert Wideman’s plane crashed on a bombing run in the Vietnam War, he feared falling into enemy hands. Although he endured the kind of pain that makes people question humanity, physical torture was not his biggest problem. During six years as a prisoner of war, he saw the truth behind Jean-Paul Sartre’s words: “Hell is other people.” Unexpected Prisoner looks at how soldiers trapped in war often have the most troubling conflicts with those on the same side. Wideman’s memoir explores a POW’s struggle with enemies and comrades, Vietnamese interrogators and American commanders, his lost dreams and ultimately himself.

Goodreads

Praise for Unexpected Prisoner

“An eye-opener. I had developed a totally different picture of POW existence. Unexpected Prisoner is a must-read.”
—Billy Thornton, PhD, Vietnam War Veteran

“This is a truly remarkable account of experiences from within the walls of captivity.”
—Rick Fischer, Vietnam War Veteran, Army Pathfinder shot down in 1969

“Unless you were there, you will never truly understand what it was like being a POW in Vietnam. Robert Wideman and his remarkable book do an incredible job of putting you there!”
—Brad Hoopes, author of Reflections of Our Gentle Warriors

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