"Thursdays at Eight", New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber's new hardcover novel from MIRA Books, is the story of four friends, each at a turning point in her life. Each woman's story is unique, told with the warmth and compassion that demonstrates why the author has become one of the leading voices in women's fiction today. Four women come to a journal-writing class with different needs and goals. What they found was friendship -- a closeness that they wanted to sustain long after the last day of class. Though they were very different in their ages, careers and life choices, the four developed a companionship that answered a shared need for acceptance, nurturing and support.

To maintain their newly found relationship, these four formed a breakfast club, promising to meet, without fail, on "Thursdays at Eight".

Clare is recovering from the devastating divorce that resulted when her husband left her for a woman young enough to be their daughter. Driven by anger and the need for revenge, she attempts to restart her life and regain her self-respect. But an unexpected turn of events will force her to look deep inside for forgiveness and compassion -- and for the woman she used to be.

Elizabeth is a successful professional in her late fifties. She's struggling with the loss of her husband when both of her grown children relocate to other parts of the country. Knowing she must find a way to overcome her feelings of abandonment, she vows not to waste another moment of her life, and will's herself to find fulfillment in her work and her friends -- and if her future should include the possibility of romance, even better!

Karen is a twenty-something aspiring actress. Sheprovides the sparkle in the group as she relates the humorous incidences of her as-yet-unsuccessful quest for stardom. Beneath her upbeat attitude, though, she suffers from her mother's disapproval and negative comparisons with her very respectable married sister. As she endeavors to find her own identity and decide her life's true course, she discovers that, even in one's own family, things are not always what they seem.

Julia is turning forty this year. Her husband's career is established; her children are growing up and she has just started her own knitting shop. Finally past her "mothering" years, she feels that her life is on schedule -- until she discovers she's pregnant! While her husband is delighted at the news, Julia is devastated and her teenage children are embarrassed and outraged at the inconvenience a new baby will mean for them!

As these women deal with the changes fate has thrown at them, their Thursday mornings at the Mocha Moments Cafe take on even greater importance in their lives. Their meetings are a time for emotional sustenance, unconditional acceptance and the true kindness offered by friends and confidants.