{"product_id":"2940011919831","title":"Angel's Choice","description":"Almost eighteen, Anastasia was almost burned out   At least four hours a day at the piano, plus school work and nothing else can do that to a girl who at one time could giggle and say, \"Course I've got a name.\"  She watched her sister Helen dress for dates with Tex Whitmore, half owner of the Ching Chong Gardens, the upscale nightclub housed in what had originally been a bordello and Speak Easy.  She wondered why she herself could only wear white blouses and drab gray skirts and why was forbidden to play in public while she knew she had been ready for the concert stage years earlier.  Only once had she disobeyed. That was on her sixteenth birthday and she and Paul had snuck out.  That memory of playing the piano with a jazz group down on 17th Street was golden. She longed to go back.  There was a reason that Kansas City in the thirties was called Jazz Town.\u003cbr\u003eThe night Helen borrowed the green evening gown from the shop, Asia was on the edge of rebellion.  As she laid her hand on Timmy's and walked into the club imagining how it would be after a successful concert, she returned the slight smile from the man on the staircase.  Leslie Saunders slid his glass across the bar for a refill when he saw that smile.  Benjamin Alice was both friend and boss, but they didn't need that kind of trouble.  Word had it that people were getting tired of a city run by a crooked politician.\u003cbr\u003eHelen claimed that when Ben spoke to a beautiful woman, his voice sounded like one of the big cats at the zoo in Swope Park.    She didn't like the way her sister and Ben looked at each other during the tango, but she nearly panicked when he led her to the piano.\u003cbr\u003eBen laughed when Asia picked out a one finger version of Mary Had a Little Lamb, was amused when she played Ave Maria in the crowded nightclub, and was completely captivated even before she segued into Rhapsody in Blue.  He had a brief picture of her wearing Granny Mari's emeralds, and gave no thought to the supposed curse which had followed them through the centuries.\u003cbr\u003eAngel's Choice is the story of two sisters growing up in poverty, a father who has secrets of his own, and the two men they loved, Ben who came from old money and Tex who came from who knew where.  It's the story of one sister who had nightmares all her life, and one who practiced her life away at the piano, and the choices they faced.  It's the story of men who might have had judges in their pockets yet had uniforms in their closets because they had been taught honor.  And throughout it all, there is Leslie Saunders, who might not want a woman in his life, but who could  appreciate how a beautiful one looks; who watches it all and isn't afraid to meddle a bit.  It's the story of how a lively little four-year-old became Angel instead of Asia.","brand":"Trafford Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47080913371376,"sku":"2940011919831","price":5.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940011919831_p0.jpg?v=1763551194","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940011919831","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}