More Than by Diane Barnes

Have you ever felt you were More Than something?

More than just a pretty face. or More than your job. or More than a mother.

Meet Peggy. She lost her husband 24 years ago. She’s a mom to twins. She defines herself by those tow things. Three, if she dares to look in the mirror.

“You are obese, Mrs. Moriarty.”

Peggy is stunned. Sure she’s gained a few since her husband died, but when her kids gift her with a boot camp membership “to keep her around” she’s insanely insulted. But when she decides to request tickets to her favorite “Message From Beyond” TV show – she realizes if she makes contact with Patrick on the show, he wouldn’t recognize her this heavy, and decides to give it go.

“In Diane Barnes’s More Than, Peggy Moriarty finds herself unmoored when she sends her twins off to college while still grieving her husband’s loss fourteen years before. With a light touch, a dash of humor, and a pace that keeps the pages turning, Barnes has crafted memorable and relatable characters in this story of grief, friendship, and self-discovery.”
— Jennifer Klepper, USA Today Best Selling Author of Unbroken Threads

I admit, I didn’t like Peggy in the beginning AT ALL. I wanted to shake her and tell her to get her sh*t together for her kids and to stop being so negative! And at times some of the other characters were very much unlikeable as well. But as I read on and got to know them – there’s one thing that became clear. These people are REAL. I can’t relate to obesity, or being a mother and a widow – but as Peggy’s story came to light and you start to understand her, you can relate as a human and I soon came to adore her!

Her journey is fun – her friends are a hoot! Her new gym friend Roni is hysterical – the kind that helps you hide the cheat foods and when you don’t get caught, she takes you out to celebrate with wine and cake!

“A warm and wonderful novel about love and loss (of many kinds!) You’ll root for the relatable Peggy along her journey of parenthood, cardio boot camp, and self-acceptance. A book chockfull of heart!”
–Annie Hartnett, Author of Rabbit Cake 

It’s fun story that’s full of self-discovery, and some laugh out loud moments. It was inspiring and sweet and made me want to hang out with my best friends.

And it almost made me get up and work out for the first time in months. But then I remembered I am More Than my body and ate some Cheetos.

Thank you Suzy Approved Book Tours, Red Adept Publishing, and Diane Barnes for the gifted book!

You can get it here!

• Paperback: 302 pages
• Publisher: Red Adept Publishing (November 10, 2019)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1948051370
• ISBN-13: 978-1948051378

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About the book:

“You are obese, Mrs. Moriarty.”

Peggy Moriarty is stunned by her doctor’s words. She knows she’s let herself go a bit, but she thinks the young, skinny physician is exaggerating. Her husband’s death fourteen years ago left her to raise their twins, Grace and Greg, alone. But now that they’re teenagers, doing their own things, her only hobby is watching Messages from Beyond, a show about a medium who connects the grieving with their deceased loved ones.

When the twins leave for college, they give Peggy a gift certificate for an exercise class. At first, Peggy is insulted. But once the sting wears off, she realizes if she gets in shape, she might gain the confidence she needs to go on her favorite TV show and talk to her husband one last time.

With help from her new friends at the gym and Carmen Tavarez, the mother of Grace’s boyfriend, Peggy begins to emerge from her prolonged grief and spread her wings. She may soon discover that her sum is more than a mother, a widow, and her body.

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About the author:

Diane Barnes is the author of More Than (October 29, 2019 ), Waiting for Ethan (2015), and Mixed Signals (2016). She is also a marketing and corporate communication writer in the health care industry. When she’s not writing, she’s at the gym, running or playing tennis, trying to burn off the ridiculous amounts of chocolate and ice cream she eats. She and her husband Steven live in Massachusetts and dream of moving to Turks and Caicos – at least for the winter months. She hopes you enjoy reading her books as much as she enjoyed writing them. https://www.dianembarnes.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dianebarnes19/

Instagram:  https://instagram.com/dianebarnes777

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DianeBarnes777

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