Author JEFFREY STEPAKOFF--multi-talented writer of engaging fiction (see my review) is also a screen-writer, producer, teacher, and speaker

Fireworks Over Toccoa

Every so often that story comes along that reminds us of what it’s like to experience love for the first time—against the odds, when you least expect it, and with such passion that it completely changes you forever.

Lily Davis Woodward was married for just days before her husband was sent abroad to fight in World War II. Now he and the other soldiers are returning, and Lily and the small town of Toccoa, Georgia, plan a big celebration. Jake Russo, a handsome Italian immigrant, also back from war, is responsible for the elaborate fireworks display the town commissioned. After a chance encounter in a starlit field, he steals Lily’s heart and soul—and fulfills her in ways her socially minded, upper-class family cannot. Now, torn by duty to society and her husband—and the poor, passionate man who might be her only true love—Lily must choose between a love she never knew and a commitment she’d already made.

Debut author Jeffrey Stepakoff takes us to a moment in time that will resonate with readers long after the book’s unforgettable conclusion. Poignant and elegant, Fireworks Over Toccoa is a mosaic of all the emotions that only love can make possible.

MY REVIEW:   "Fireworks Over Toccoa", by Jeffrey Stepakoff, is just like life itself--either more or less than what you expect, but never exactly what you anticipate. At times I wasn't sure if I liked it, and then on the next page the story line would turn around and be completely captivating. I did like the characters very much. Lily Davis is a young Southern woman cultivated by her mother, Honey, to be a society belle. Her father, Walter, with whom Lily shares some private family jokes, lets her mother rule the roost. Lily has some private dreams, but she is a good and dutiful daughter, and marrying handsome and well-to-do Paul Woodward is no hardship. Just two weeks after their marriage, Paul, an executive with Coca-Cola, is sent off overseas in his role as a support services provider for the armed forces. During his absence of over three years, Lily is left in a sort of limbo. Definitely a bride, but barely a wife, Lily waits at home for Paul. Just before his scheduled return, Lily meets Jake Russo, the fireworks expert hired to put on a big welcome home show for the returning military personnel. Lily and Jake find themselves intensely drawn to each other, and their physical relationship is needy, raw, and life-changing. Once they join together in passion, their lives will never be the same. Lily's father, Walter, was my favorite character. There was more depth to Walter than anyone suspected, and he came through when he was needed. With this debut novel, Jeffrey Stepakoff has put his own creative twists and turns on a touching story of wartime romance and the sacrifices we never expect to make. I look forward to reading his second book, "The Orchard", in the very near future.

Book Copy Gratis Thomas Dunne Books

Reviews

“A luminous love story that readers won’t soon forget, Fireworks Over Toccoa transports you to another time and place. It is at once heartbreaking and triumphant—an affirmation of love in all its forms.”--NYTimes bestselling author, Emily Giffin

“Fireworks Over Toccoa pinches the heart, telling a poignant tale of love and loss, of making choices and letting go.  Lily and Jake's passion shimmers from the pages, enveloping the reader in their private kudzu-covered world.  With carefully-crafted characters, a lush and very real setting, this is a not-to-be missed book. Move over Nicholas Sparks!”--Karen White, award-winning author of The House on Tradd Street

“Fireworks Over Toccoa literally explodes with life.  Its insights about place and love versus duty are as sharp as an eagle’s eye.  I absolutely loved every character and hated for their story to end.  Kaboom!  A brilliant first effort from Jeffrey Stepakoff!  Congratulations!”--Dorothea Benton Frank, NY Times bestselling author of Return to Sullivans Island

"Fireworks Over Toccoa is the poignant recollection of a young woman's coming of age and finding love, set against the vivid tableau of small town America during the Second World War, Stepakoff skillfully crafts a remarkable tale of fate and chance, choice and consequences, rewarding readers with a mesmerizing experience."--Pam Jenoff, International bestselling author of The Kommandant's Girl and Almost Home

“Fireworks Over Toccoa is a terrific story--moving, whimsical and original, a real page-turner destined for the big screen.”—Joanne Harris, International Bestselling author of Chocolat

“An unexpected love affair of Lily Davis, a WW II bride, is brilliantly portrayed by Jeffrey Stepakoff. Filled with suspense and surprise, I couldn't put it down. As dazzling as the fireworks which brought this war-time couple together, their passionate love affair is spellbinding. I was mesmerized to the last page!”--Marjorie Hart, National Bestselling author of Summer at Tiffany 



 

The Orchard

The passionate second novel by the author of Fireworks Over Toccoa. Grace Lyndon is a rising ingenue in the world of perfumes and flavors; a stiletto-wearing, work-a-holic in Atlanta, she develops aromas and tastes to enthrall the senses. Dylan Jackson is a widowed single father whose heart and hands have been calloused in the fields of his North Georgia apple farm. When Grace happens to taste an apple picked from Dylan’s trees, it changes both their lives forever.

Determined to track down the apple’s origin, Grace sets off in the middle of the night where she finds not only a beautiful mountain orchard in the clouds, but the mysterious man who owns it. In Stepakoff’s heartbreaking eloquence, their sudden yet undeniable attraction is threatened—leaving readers with a momentous finale that proves Jeffrey Stepakoff is a master craftsman of the heart. 



 

The Melody of Secrets

Jeffrey Stepakoff's The Melody of Secrets is an epic love story set against the 1960s U.S. space program, when deeply-buried secrets could threaten not just a marriage, but a country.

Maria was barely eighteen as WWII was coming to its explosive end. A brilliant violinist, she tried to comfort herself with the Sibelius Concerto as American bombs rained down. James Cooper wasn't much older. A roguish fighter pilot stationed in London, he was shot down during a daring night raid and sought shelter in Maria’s cottage.

Fifteen years later, in Huntsville, Alabama, Maria is married to a German rocket scientist who works for the burgeoning U.S. space program. Her life in the South is at peace, purposefully distanced from her past. Everything is as it should be-until James Cooper walks back into it. Pulled from the desert airfield where he was testing planes no sane Air Force pilot would touch, and drinking a bit too much, Cooper is offered the chance to work for the government, and move himself to the front of the line for the astronaut program. He soon realizes that his job is to report not only on the rocket engines but also on the scientists developing them. Then Cooper learns secrets that could shatter Maria’s world...


Jeffrey Stepakoff

 

Jeffrey Stepakoff was raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he received a BA in Journalism. In 1988, the day after getting his MFA in Playwriting from Carnegie Mellon, he drove to Hollywood where he began writing for film and television.

Jeffrey has “written by” or “story by” credits on thirty-six television episodes, has written for fourteen different series and has worked on seven primetime staffs, producing hundreds of hours of internationally-recognized television, including the Emmy-winning THE WONDER YEARS, SISTERS, and DAWSON’S CREEK where he was Co-Executive Producer.

Stepakoff has also created and developed pilots for many of the major studios and networks, including 20th Century, Paramount, MTM, Fox and ABC. And he has developed and written major motion pictures, including Disney’s TARZAN and BROTHER BEAR, and EM Entertainment’s LAPITCH, THE LITTLE SHOEMAKER, Croatia’s selection for the 1998 Academy Awards.

A few years ago, Stepakoff returned to Atlanta, where he lives with his wife and three children, and began pursuing his long-held dream of writing fiction. His first novel, FIREWORKS OVER TOCCOA, published by St. Martin’s Press was a SIBA Okra Pick and an Indie Next List Notable. Stepakoff’s second novel was THE ORCHARD, and his third work was THE MELODY OF SECRETS.

Presently, Stepakoff speaks around the country, and teaches dramatic writing at Kennesaw State University.

http://jeffreystepakoff.com