She made her way to the piano, praying she wouldn’t trip. When she looked out at the room, past the stage, she could see people at the two-top tables. At one of them was Richard Wu, sitting with a colleague. He gave her a little wave, and Hudson smiled at him. This was nothing like the scary darkness of the Pierre Hotel’s ballroom. She had friends here, people who were rooting for her. And as for the people she didn’t know, they were probably here for the two acts that followed her band. In which case Hudson wasn’t going to worry about what they thought.

  “Hi, everyone,” she said into the mic. “Thank you so much for coming. We’re the Hudson Jones Trio, and we’re going to start off with a song I wrote called ‘For You.’ ”

  She felt her heart flutter and the adrenaline shoot through her arms. But tonight she knew that she was going to be okay. She looked over at Ben. He smiled and nodded to say he was ready when she was.

  She smiled back, took a deep breath, and started to sing.

  acknowledgments

  First off, I would like to thank my agent, Becka Oliver, for her unswerving support and encouragement. She is the best advocate, and friend, a writer could ask for.

  I would also like to thank the following people: my wonderful editors at Poppy, Elizabeth Bewley and Kate Sullivan, who gave me valuable advice, suggestions, and feedback; Cindy Eagan, whose enthusiasm for this series makes me so happy; Matt Piedmont and Ethan Goldman, for schooling me in the basics of jazz; Janet Siroto, for her knowledge of Larchmont; JoAnna Kremer, for her impeccable copyediting; and Tracy Shaw, for her eye-catching cover design for this series. I am also indebted to John Lahr and his excellent article on stage fright, “Petrified,” in The New Yorker (August 28, 2006.)

  And, of course, endless thanks go to Edie, my family, and to Ido Ostrowsky, the coolest Gemini I know.

  Meet Emma Conway, daughter of a powerful New York State senator.

  Emma has never fit into the sweater set–wearing world of her conservative family, but when she accidentally lets her father’s presidential plans slip on national television, Emma finds herself thrown into the spotlight. Thankfully, she has her new friends and fellow daughters—Lizzie, Carina, and Hudson—to help her along the way.

  Don’t miss the fourth book in Joanna Philbin’s stylish and heartfelt series, starring a new daughter.

  Table of Contents

  Front Cover Image

  Welcome

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Acknowledgments

  Meet Emma Conway, daughter of a powerful New York State senator

  The Daughters Novels by Joanna Philbin:

  Copyright

  the daughters novels by Joanna Philbin:

  the daughters

  the daughters break the rules

  the daughters take the stage

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2011 by Joanna Philbin

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Poppy

  Hachette Book Group

  237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017

  Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com.

  www.twitter.com/littlebrown.

  Poppy is an imprint of Little, Brown and Company.

  The Poppy name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  First eBook Edition: May 2011

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  ISBN: 978-0-316-12580-2

 


 

  Joanna Philbin, The Daughters Take the Stage

 


 

 
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