P Town


Romance - Contemporary
384 Pages
Reviewed on 01/04/2016
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

Author Biography

P Town is Howard Reiss’ fourth novel.

The Laws of Attraction, Howard Reiss’ third novel is an insightful and quirky legal thriller about a young woman’s fight over her elderly husband’s estate and her claim to be the reincarnate of his first wife, which leads to a rather unusual and somewhat comical trial to determine whether or not there is life after death. This novel is a Readers’ Favorite 5 star “guilty reading pleasure.”

Howard Reiss’ second novel, The Year of Soup was inspired by a dinner at a small restaurant in Northampton, Mass. when an old professorial looking gentlemen with a bottle of wine in a paper bag sat down at a table in the corner and was immediately joined by the young, female proprietor and chef. Although he couldn’t hear their conversation, he tried to imagine it and their stories as well. This novel received the Silver Medal for Best Fiction in the North-East Region at the Independent Publisher Book Awards in 2013.

Howard Reiss’ first novel, A Family Institution, published in 2011, was based on a true incident involving the discovery of an aunt hidden from the family who spent most of her life in Pilgrim State Hospital. The main character’s quest for the truth about what happened takes him to Pilgrim State where he takes a job in the records department, learns a lot about how the mentally ill and, in particular, his aunt was treated in the 1950s, and in the process turns his life and family upside down. It’s a serious subject approached with a strong comic touch and has been a growing favorite of book clubs around the country.

Howard Reiss is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Columbia Law School. He co-founded a soup kitchen in Nyack, New York where he lives and runs.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Tracy A. Fischer for Readers' Favorite

In a lovely story that combines love, happenstance and the connections that one can make with people brought together by circumstance, P Town by Howard Reiss is an unforgettable read. Follow the stories of a disparate group of characters who all find themselves in Provincetown for the summer. Each of the characters - Mara, Randy, Ernie, Horton and Reed - come from very different backgrounds and are wounded in their own way. The relationships that they form while in the lovely Cape Cod "P Town," as Provincetown is called, are ones that might serve to bring healing to each in their own way, if they are able to accept it.

I so enjoyed P Town. This book grabbed me from the very first page and kept me obsessively reading until the end. Author Howard Reiss has done a beautiful job in creating characters that his readers will connect with, relate to, and care about. If that isn't a hallmark of a great author, I am not sure what is. The author's scene setting is excellently done, and readers will feel as if they can simply slip through the pages to Provincetown while they are reading. Any reader who enjoys romance or simply a great piece of fiction would love this book. I highly recommend P Town. I look forward to reading more from the very talented Howard Reiss, and certainly hope that he is hard at work on his next book!

T.Patrick Mulroe

Seeing the cover of 'P Town' by Howard Reiss on a winter night I was transported to summertime P-Town. Reading the first page the journey to a different place and season continued. Opening the book did not disappoint. I could feel the sidewalks being rolled out after a long winter and hear the sound of the suitcase wheels being pulled from the ferry as the Season and the story seemed to begin for me all at once. Instantly, the characters and their settings came into view. Howard Reiss is a master at displaying his ability to 'paint' a scene with a few words, putting the reader in the center of Commercial Street outside Wired Puppy, enjoying a memorable meal at The Mews, recovering from the heat of the day after performing in front of Town Hall or bumping shoulders from one art gallery to the next all the way to North Truro. The characters are expertly drawn and entrenched, the best definition of the word, in storylines woven together into a tapestry not only serving as a backdrop but deserving enough to carry the title of the book.
Having a long history with Provincetown, long enough to set a few books of my own in P-Town, I can not stress enough what a pleasure it was to read 'P-Town' by Howard Reiss. The next best thing to being in Provincetown, this read is like taking a long sip of summertime...in January. Enjoy every moment of it.