Best of
Illness

2018

Don't Be Afraid


C.A. Harms - 2018
     That one day when a few little words changed our entire lives forever… Don’t be Afraid, he said. Life can change so quickly. One moment you can be smiling and feeling as if you're walking on clouds and the next, everything you love, everything you treasure crumbles at your feet. I told him to fight, I told him I needed him. We needed him. But there are just some fights that can't be won… He was my angel then, and he’s still my angel now. In a way, I believe he’s still looking out for us, giving us a future. Sometimes it’s as if I can still feel his presence, guiding us and keeping us safe. So, I won’t be Afraid. I'll live. I’ll fight. It’s what he would have wanted. I’ll do it for him…

Buttons in My Soup


Moshe Ziv - 2018
    This is without a doubt one of the most fascinating testimonies of that dark period, thanks to the author's ability not only to recount what he endured, but also to reflect on his feelings back then, in the camps. Existential difficulties preceded the deportation of Hungarian Jewry, yet nothing could have been worse than the extermination camps.Moshe was 15 years old when he arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau, yet he passed the selection and survived. The Nazis sent the occupants of his barrack to their death, while he managed to slip out of their hands, and survived. He was sent to Buchenwald, worked in hard labor in the quarry, and survived. By joining a new work group, on the spur of the moment, he arrived at a labor camp in Magdeburg Germany, where he also managed to survive. There were 2,800 prisoners with him at Magdeburg, 400 remained when the Nazis dismantled the camp and returned its inhabitants to Buchenwald. Only 200 completed the journey, and when liberation day came only 40 survived, including the 17-year-old author.

My Torin


K. Webster - 2018
    A fortune. And horses too.It’s too easy.Nothing in my life has ever been easy.What’s the catch?There’s always a catch.

The Girl With Two Lives


Angela Hart - 2018
    She arrives as an emergency placement at the home of foster carer Angela, who soon suspects that there is more to the young girl's disruptive behaviour than meets the eye. Can Angela's specialist training unlock the horrors of Danielle's past and help her start a brave new life?The Girl With Two Lives is the fourth book from well loved foster carer and Sunday Times bestselling author Angela Hart. Another true story from the experienced and bestselling foster carer – sharing the tale of one of the many children she has fostered over the years. A story of the difference that quiet care, a watchful eye and sympathetic ear can make to those children whose upbringing has been less fortunate than others.

The Stress Solution: The 4 Steps to Reset Your Body, Mind, Relationships Purpose


Rangan Chatterjee - 2018
    In this book, BBC One's Dr Rangan Chatterjee, draws on two decades of practice to show you how to make easy-to-follow and sustainable health and lifestyle improvements to your everyday life. Top tips include:· How to breathe to feel happier· How to schedule in "me time"· How to become less addicted to your phone· How to find and ignite your passionAt no extra cost, learn how to slow down and feel calmer and more in control of your life by investing in your long-term health. 'Small changes make a big difference - we can all benefit from reading this' - Jamie Oliver

Unbroken Promises


Nikki Ash - 2018
    We promised to always be best friends, to always put each other first, and that no matter what, no one would come between us. Little did we know that life had its own plans. We grew up and reality set in. We realized that not all love lasts forever, and some promises are meant to be broken. It’s ironic that the promises we made as kids, the ones we thought would hold us together, might just be the very thing that could tear us apart.

Too Scared To Cry


Maggie Hartley - 2018
    Contains previously published stories Too Scared To Cry, The Girl No One Wanted and A Family For Christmas - brought together in this heartwarming and inspiring collection for the first time. *****Maggie Hartley is one of the UK's most prolific foster mothers. This inspiring collection includes three heartbreaking, true short stories about the children who have passed through Maggie's care. TOO SCARED TO CRYWhen Ben and Damien arrive on Maggie's doorstep, the two toddlers are too scared to speak. More disturbingly still, their baby half-brother Noah is completely unresponsive - he doesn't smile or play or crawl. The three siblings have been conditioned to be seen and not heard, and it's up to Maggie to unpick what has caused this terrible void. THE GIRL NO ONE WANTEDEleven-year-old Leanne is out of control. With over forty placements in her short life, no local foster carers are willing to take in this angry and damaged little girl. Maggie is Leanne's only hope, and her last chance. If this placement fails, Leanne will be put in a secure unit. Where most others would simply walk away, Maggie refuses to give up on the little girl who's never known love. A FAMILY FOR CHRISTMASA tragic accident leaves the life of toddler Edward changed forever and his family wracked with guilt. Maggie must help this family grieve for the son they've lost and learn to love the little boy he is now. But will Edward have a family to go home to at Christmas?These heartwarming and inspiring short stories show the power of a foster mother's love, and her determination to help the children who come into her care.Note: These stories have previously been published as individual ebooks. True stories of foster care and adoption and one foster mother's attempts to help the children in her care heal from abuse, neglect and trauma.

Not That Kind of Love


Clare Wise - 2018
    

Hawk: Devil's Fury Book 3


Torrie Robles - 2018
    One chance at happiness. One chance at love… That is until you get two. Being left behind is all I’ve known. Left by my mother, my father, by her. Here one moment, gone the next, never thinking I’d lay eyes on her again until I did. No matter the cost, no matter the stakes, no matter where my loyalty may lie, I’m not gonna lose her again. Tessa Light can turn to dark in an instant. Happiness stripped away in a flash. Redemption is hard to come by. A chance that things can change. A second chance at life. A second chance at happiness. A second chance at love. Leaving was the hardest thing I ever did, but it was the only thing I could do. Now the choice has been taken from me, again. Now I have to go back. Now I have to face my past And him.

A Girl Behind Dark Glasses


Jessica Taylor-Bearman - 2018
    The severest form of a neuro immune disease called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis went to war with her at just 15 years old. From beneath her dark glasses, Jessica glimpses a world far different from the one she remembers as a teenage school girl. This true story follows her path as she ends up living in hospital for years with tubes keeping her alive. This harrowing story follows the highs and lows of the disease and being hospitalised, captured through her voice activated technology diary called `Bug' that enables her to fulfil her dream of one day becoming an author. It provides a raw, real-time honesty to the story that would be impossible to capture in hindsight.

Light


Susan Fanetti - 2018
    Roland “Fitz” Fitzgerald is having the worst holiday season of his life. His blood family is falling apart, and his chosen family is badly hurt and struggling to get back on its feet. He became a member of the Brazen Bulls MC to find brotherhood and a purpose for his life, but everywhere he turns, all he sees are dark shadows.There was light in his life once, but he lost it long ago.Kari Kovacs’ life isn’t perfect, but she’s content in it. She’s got her job, her friends, her family—most important of which is her young son, the light of her life. She devotes her attention to him and has decided neither she nor he needs more.She had a different kind of love once, but she doesn’t let herself dwell on its loss.On Thanksgiving Day, when Fitz is caught in a dark tempest of heartbreaking trouble, he runs into Kari. Their past rekindles at once. By New Year’s Day, their lives, and their futures, are full of light.Note: This Christmas story takes place toward the end of Stand, Book 7 of the Brazen Bulls MC series, and is Book 7.5 of that series.

The Dream Groom


Taylor Hart - 2018
    He didn’t want to take crap from his brother, he didn’t want to deal with a lippy waitress, and he really didn’t want random people calling him on the phone. Shayla Castle came to San Diego to finally live out her childhood dream. When she accidentally calls the mysterious phone number left on her table while waitressing, she never anticipated it would be the handsome jerkface soldier who chewed her out that morning. It confuses her even more when the same jerkface shows up the next night and saves her from an attacker. She never would have imagined she and soldier boy would start talking every night and she really never imagined he would convince her to let him do her bucket list together. After a hike at Torrey Pines, a helicopter ride, and surfing at Oceanside…she finds she just might be falling for this soldier boy. When things get heated, she’s left with a choice—let go of the past or lose a new dream she was just starting to discover.

Flat: Reclaiming My Body from Breast Cancer


Catherine Guthrie - 2018
    However, after years writing about women’s health and breast cancer, Guthrie is thrust into the role of the patient after a devastating diagnosis at age thirty-eight. At least, she thinks, I know what I'm up against.She was wrong. In one horrifying moment after another, everything that could go wrong does—the surgeon gives her a double mastectomy but misses the cancerous lump, one of the most effective drug treatments fails, and a doctor's error may have unleashed millions of breast cancer cells into her body.Flat is Guthrie’s story of how two bouts of breast cancer shook her faith in her body, her relationship, and medicine. Along the way, she challenges the view that breasts are essential to femininity and paramount to a woman’s happiness. Ultimately, she traces an intimate portrayal of how cancer reshapes her relationship with Mary, her partner, revealing—in the midst of crisis—a love story.Filled with candor, vulnerability, and resilience, Guthrie upends the “pink ribbon” narrative and offers a unique perspective on womanhood, what it means to be “whole,” and the importance of women advocating for their desires. Flat is a story about how she found the strength to forge an unconventional path—one of listening to her body—that she’d been on all along.

The Fake Fiance Groom: The Legendary Kent Brother Romances


Taylor Hart - 2018
    After a year of dealing with a dishonorable discharge, he’s in no mood to play nice at a bachelor auction. When a beautiful actress buys him, then announces he’s her fiancé … his barely endurable night has just turned to purgatory. After discovering her ex is engaged to her best friend (ex best friend, thank you very much) Scarlett Powers is desperate to find a fake fiancé to take to her brother’s wedding to show the happy couple she’s NOT a pity case. Good thing she spots the perfect bad-boy football player to take with her—Walker Kent. Too bad he turns her down! After re-negotiating terms of the fake fiancé deal, Scarlett soon finds herself in the middle of a controlling father, a cougar mother-in-law, and a crazy bridezilla who wants to personalize the wedding with DIY craft projects for the guests. When Walker sweeps her off her feet by taking her on an ‘off books’ date, she finds herself on a Ferris wheel, sharing things with him she’s never told another living soul. When a secret comes to light and she is forced to tell the truth, she has to make a choice—walk away or risk losing the only thing that’s ever been real.

Protected by the Lawman


Rhonda Lee Carver - 2018
    The gun. And the will to protect. Showing up to investigate a double homicide, Sheriff Phoenix Cade almost comes out of his boots when he sees the blonde--the only witness to the crime--covered in blood. He'd danced with her a few nights before and had every intention of getting her number until she threw up all over his shoes. Hell, his shoes would wash… Ria Portman has spent the better part of six years convincing her family and friends that she could take care of herself. The accident took her sight, but it didn’t take her independence. There were a lot of things she’d learned over the years, especially regarding men. They said they could handle her disability, but truth was, they lied. When her assistant and client are murdered in her studio she will have to rely on one man—the one man who makes her want to trust again. Phoenix is over his ex, but since he caught her cheating he’s compared relationships to playing with fire. It’s only a matter of time before a man gets burnt. Yet, Ria is different. She’s beautiful, smart, challenging, and doesn’t need him…even when she does. He should keep his head on straight because the killers want her dead and it’s his job to keep her safe. However, he’s realizing, a man in love becomes a giant. He’ll protect Ria with a force unlike any that has ever been seen before.

Let the Whole Thundering World Come Home: A Memoir


Natalie Goldberg - 2018
    In navigating this foreign landscape, Natalie illuminates a pathway through illness that is grounded in the fierce commitment to embrace the suffering directly. In the middle of this, her partner discovers that she too has cancer. The cancer twins, as Natalie calls them, must together and apart grapple with survival, love, and the rawness of human connection. This book is a moving meditation on living a genuine life in full bloom.

Ladder 54: Five Firefighter Romances


Maren Smith - 2018
    They're going to get what they need.Ladder 54 is a collection featuring five brand-new, spectacularly sexy firefighter romances from five superb authors. This blazing hot box set includes the following Kindle-melting books:The Dance Card by Maren SmithRylee Mercer has never had the courage to stop watching the world around her and actually play with anyone at the local BDSM club, let alone handsome, commanding firefighter Walker Daniels. But when she wins a date with Walker at a kink-themed charity auction by less than honest means, he takes it upon himself to make her confess, teasing and tormenting her naked, quivering body until she admits her naughty behavior and begs for the punishment she deserves.Light Me Up by Raisa GreywoodWhen Dr. Selene Alexiou travels to Big Banks, Montana for work, she hopes she can avoid Theo Papadakis, the schoolgirl crush who broke her heart. But when she hears about a charity date auction in which Theo--now a fireman--is participating, Selene decides to teach him a lesson. After placing the winning bid, however, her plan quickly goes awry. Infuriated by his scolding, she leaves town, but when he tracks her down will his skilled dominance prove irresistible?Rekindled by Adaline RaineDakota Channing returned to the sleepy little town of Big Banks hoping to gather the courage to explain to her ex-husband why she ran away. What she ends up doing, however, is bidding on a date with him at a charity auction. When she wins, she soon finds herself over his knee for the spanking he should have given her years ago, and as she lies naked and bound with her well-punished bottom sore both inside and out, he leaves her in no doubt that she still belongs to him.Sparked by Deception by Isabella LaaseWhen twenty-two-year-old Claire lets her twin sister Claudia talk her into pooling their money to bid on a date with firefighter Declan Kennedy at a kinky charity auction, the covert plan is for them to take turns over his well-muscled thighs. After Declan strips her, spanks her, and claims her hard and thoroughly, however, she cannot bear the thought of sharing him with anyone, especially Claudia. But will Claire's jealousy end up alerting Declan to their little scheme?A Hero for Lauren by Felicity BrandonMore than ten years ago, Lauren Roberts was rescued by firefighter Blake Anderson, and she's fantasized about him ever since. She jumps at the opportunity to bid on him at a charity auction, but she ends up winning more than she bargained for, and soon she is over his knee having her bare bottom spanked for disobeying his instructions. There's no doubt his stern dominance arouses Lauren, but when Blake discovers she's in real trouble, can he still be her hero?Publisher's Note: The books of Ladder 54 include spankings and sexual scenes. If such material offends you, please don't buy this collection.

Breaking Jess


H.B. Moore - 2018
    He hid her away from society so she couldn’t turn him in. But, in the end, he couldn’t hide her forever. USA Today bestselling author H.B. Moore brings you the psychological suspense novel: BREAKING JESS More thrillers & suspense novels by H.B. Moore: Poetic Justice Finding Sheba Lost King Slave Queen The Killing Curse About the author: H.B. Moore is a USA Today bestselling author, 6-time Best of State Winner, 4-time Whitney Award Winner, and 3-time Rone Award Winner. She's repped by Dystel, Goderich & Bourett

A Bubble


Geneviève Castrée - 2018
    Leaving behind a last note for a young child is an incomprehensible task; Castrée responds with grace and subtlety. Using precise, exquisite drawings of herself and her daughter, Castrée depicts changes in their daily routines as a greater story unfolds. Mother and daughter float from page to page, encased in a bubble that protects them from the outside world. A contemplation of love and loss, A Bubble is a lasting declaration, a final memory, a comfort for others experiencing grief, and a beautiful archive of one of the world’s most talented cartoonist’s final artistic achievements.Known for her hauntingly beautiful music (under the names Ô PAON and Woelv), engrossingly detailed album illustrations, and delicate, subtle comics, Castrée’s previous graphic novel, Susceptible, shows her rare ability to handle difficult personal material with intimacy and honesty. A Bubble acts as an extension of her life story and the final chapter of a beautifully full existence. Castrée passed away in 2016 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

The Smell of Rain


Cameron MacElvee - 2018
    Once back home in DC, her fiancée leaves, her military career ends, and her faith in humanity evaporates. With prescription drugs and alcohol her only relief from the pain, Chrys is on her way to becoming a statistic. That is until the State Department calls and offers her an important assignment—to serve as a diplomatic liaison and interpreter for a Turkish national living in exile. Reyha Arslan, a wise and elegant woman with a tragic past, shows Chrys that there’s still beauty to embrace and reason to hope despite the world’s cruelty. With Reyha’s help, Chrys’s broken spirit starts to heal and she learns that the most significant love is often the shortest lived.

No Sad Songs


Frank Morelli - 2018
    Between the shopping trips and the doctor visits with Grandpa, Gabe and his friend John try to salvage their senior year, meet girls, and make the varsity baseball team. It doesn’t take long for Gabe to realize that going to school and looking after a grandfather with Alzheimer’s is more work than he ever imagined. And when long-lost Uncle Nick appears on the scene, Gabe soon finds that living with Nick and Grandpa is like babysitting two grown men. Aside from John, the only person who truly understands Gabe is Sofia, a punk-rocking rebel he meets at the veteran’s hospital. When these three unlikely friends are faced with a serious dilemma, will they do what it takes to save Grandpa? If there’s a chance of preserving the final shreds of Grandpa’s dignity, Gabe may have to make the most gut-wrenching decision of his life—and there’s no way out.

The Art of Us


Hilaria Alexander - 2018
    Lena Andrews is bad at love, and has no intention of getting better at it. Men are good for one thing, and love isn’t it. She’s perfectly okay with finding happiness in her job as a comic book artist. Yet, she can’t shake the memory of her coworker’s kiss. Amos St. Clair has stayed the hell away from Lena Andrews for the last two years. Work has filled his time and he’s on the cusp of making a name for himself. When an opportunity to complete a project that’s dear to Lena’s heart presents itself, Amos seizes the opportunity – even if it means being with the woman he's avoided all this time. Through their mutual passion for art and each other, their love blooms like a lotus flower out of a dark, muddy pool. But, is their love strong enough to withstand the challenges posed by the most important job of their careers?The Art of Us is a standalone romance inspired by a true story. It is intended for readers 18+

Ordinary Magic: Promises I Kept to My Mother Through Life, Illness, and a Very Long Walk on the Camino de Santiago


Cameron Powell - 2018
    An unbreakable bond. And one unforgettable journey. ”An epic love letter . . . Stunning, unique, unlike anything I've read before.” -- Julia Scheeres, Jesus Land: A Memoir Cameron Powell has always struggled with goodbyes. On the day his marriage ends, he finds out his mother's cancer has returned-and this time there may be no escape. Faced with the prospect of more chemo and surgery, his German-born mother, Inge, vows to conquer a 500-mile trek across Spain, and Cameron pushes aside his fears to walk by her side. Joined by a misfit band of adventurers - a politically incorrect Spaniard, a theatrical Frenchwoman, a teenager who's never been far from home - Cameron and Inge write a fierce and funny travelogue about the rocky heights and hidden valleys of the Camino de Santiago. As a Camino memoir in the tradition of James Hitt or Bill Bryson, Ordinary Magic delivers. But the hardest stretch comes three years later, when Inge's health declines -- and Cameron, ready or not, must accept the challenge to remain as present to his mother as he can. As their journey shrinks to the room around a hospice bed, Cameron begins to record, in their blog, his real-time impressions of life's most difficult voyage. What he created is one of literature's great love letters and a uniquely unflinching insight into how we all truly can create love and meaning in our lives, even amidst the fear and sadness we’ll all face from time to time. “Powerful, inspiring —and, amazingly, almost impossible to put down.” - Mary Dearborn, The Happiest Man Alive: A Biography of Henry Miller Propelled by the searing immediacy of Cameron’s own fear and sadness, this deeply-felt memoir opens up new insight into what it means to be a man, and takes us - with wisdom, humor, and an overflowing tenderness - into one of the most challenging journeys true friends can ever take. If you like candid mother-son relationships (Inge’s last recorded words: “God I’m going to a hotel!”), humorous tales from the trail, and in-the-moment insights on living a life of resilience and purpose, then you'll love Cameron Powell's luminous, inspirational true story about pilgrimage, presence, and letting go. Ordinary Magic is the love story, the lifelong inspiration, the soulful laugh and cry you need in your life right now. Pick up your copy today by clicking the BUY NOW button at the top of this page! Then join our community celebrating the ordinary magic of love and resilience, and wake up your love for yourself and others. Studded with gems of spirited observation and wit. Is this black humor? If so, it’s of the most fond and loving sort, and Inge, Powell’s mother, emerges as an indelible heroine. Powell is a writer to watch. -- Mary Dearborn, Hemingway: A Biography AUTHOR INTERVIEW How did the story begin? Mom and I blogged while on the Camino de Santiago. Readers loved the travel writing, and said our journey was inspiring and hilarious. But when the Camino ended, I stopped blogging. What made you start again? Well, I had to write. I’d just realized, and was trying to accept, what I most feared: that my mother was going to die soon. My decision to share my path with others, on the blog, was one of the best I’ve ever made. The love was overwhelming, a light in my darkness. What surprised you most about readers’ reactions? People they saw the humor in it all.

Only the Positive


Elle Thorpe - 2018
    I’ve moved to Sydney to avoid the glares and the questions from the people back home, but there’s one thing I can’t run from—the guilt and pain that follows me relentlessly. All I can do is dull it with alcohol and casual sex. But then my new boss, Mr Dark and Delicious, deserted me, mid kiss, with my skirt hiked up and my shirt discarded on the alley floor. I should hate him―him and the secrets he’s keeping. But I can’t stay away. Because the pain and guilt he’s hiding mirror my own.Low...All she wanted was one night. That, I could do. I’m the king of casual. Love them and leave them, before they leave me. With chemistry off the scale, we couldn’t even make it home, both of us too impatient, ripping each other’s clothes off in the alleyway outside the bar. Then my phone buzzed, and one text message stopped everything. I couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. All I could do was run. I’m toxic, but I can’t tell her why. I can’t bear the look of horror I know would cross her face. But I also don’t know how to keep something so life altering from the woman I’m falling for. Not when I need her just to survive it.

Edge of Living


H.L. Day - 2018
     It's been a year since Alex stopped living. He exists. He breathes. He pretends to be like everyone else. But, he doesn't live. Burdened by memories, he dreams of the day when he can finally be free. Until that time comes, he keeps everybody at bay. It's been easy so far. But he never factored in, meeting a man like Austin. Hard-working mechanic Austin has always gone for men as muscular as himself. So, it's a mystery why he's so bewitched by the slim, quiet man with the soulful brown eyes who works in the library. The magnetic attraction is one thing, but the protective instincts are harder to fathom. Austin's sure though, that if he can only earn Alex's trust then the two of them could be perfect together. A tentative relationship begins. But Alex's secrets run deep. Far deeper than Austin could ever envisage. Time is ticking. Events are coming to a head, and love is never a magic cure. Oblivious to the extent of Alex's pain, can Austin discover the truth? Or is he destined to be left alone, only able to piece together the fragments of his boyfriend's history, once its already too late? Trigger warning: Please be aware that this story deals with suicidal ideation. If this is a subject you find uncomfortable, then this book is not recommended.

Give Me A Reason


Jennifer Miller - 2018
    Regret and pain her unintentional parting gifts. That will not be me.I won’t allow it.Instead, I will live my life to the fullest for the time I have left.I accept my fate. That’s my choice; my right.Oliver Gentry, my childhood best friend, has other ideas. He wants to give me a reason to stay.He wants to be the reason I fight.

Saving Sarah: One Mother's Battle Against the Health Care System to Save Her Daughter's Life


Janet Murnaghan - 2018
    The disease quickly ravaged her lungs and little body bit-by-bit. Fragile and frail, she had only weeks to live, when her mom realized the reality of Sarah's situation: transplant laws, restricting access to lungs based on arbitrary age restrictions, meant Sarah's options were limited. The injustice of her daughter's fate spurred Janet to start a public battle against outdated health care regulations and a battle to save Sarah's life.Janet transformed her pain and desperation into a voice for Sarah and other kids using social media to broadcast the unfairness, which was robbing Sarah of her right to life with the help of friends and family who emerged as Sarah's army. How does a family navigate catastrophic illness and life in a hospital, while still maintaining a sense of normalcy? Saving Sarah is a story of hope and courage, and a mother's determination to never give up. It's also the story of how a family--Janet and her husband Fran have four other children--reacts and adjusts when one of its members is in ongoing crisis."I need to fight, and I cannot fight and fall apart at the same time. Each single moment is all that matters." --from Saving Sarah

Cop's Fake Fiancée


Flora Ferrari - 2018
    No gray area. So it’s no surprise that I turn blue in the face when my best friend’s daughter asks me to be her fake fiancé. But what is a surprise is that she’s not expected to make it past December if she doesn’t get treatment for a rare kind of cancer. It’s treatment she can’t afford. I’ve sworn to protect and serve those who can’t, but now I’m swearing at myself tossing and turning trying to figure out how to help her without compromising my integrity and career as a police officer. May I don’t know what to expect when I ask my my deceased dad’s best friend to be my fake fiancé. Sure, he’s a sexy older man and I’ve had a crush on him for years, but this doesn’t count. But what counts for him the most is honor, integrity, and helping others which is why I feel so bad asking this cop to compromise and make me his fake fiancée. But the closer I get to death, the more I know the only life worth living is a life with him. And the closer I get to him the more real this all feels. Steven I’m thinking of ways to help her out, but I never thought I’d actually develop these kinds of feelings for her. It’s just that she’s a young woman now, not just my cute little goddaughter anymore. When she tells me the first time she thought up this idea for our fake relationship she was hoping it could lead to another kind of first time, it’s that moment I know I’ve got to not only be her first, but her one and only. I’m a man who knows what he wants and I want to turn this fantasy into a reality and there’s only one way to do that…make her mine. Forever. *Cop’s Fake Fiancée is an insta-everything standalone older man younger woman romance with an HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.

Invisible: How Young Women with Serious Health Issues Navigate Work, Relationships, and the Pressure to Seem Just Fine


Michele Lent Hirsch - 2018
    She did.Sophie navigates being the only black scientist in her lab while studying the very disease, HIV, that she hides from her coworkers.For Victoria, coming out as a transgender woman was less difficult than coming out as bipolar.Author Michele Lent Hirsch knew she couldn't be the only woman who's faced serious health issues at a young age, as well as the resulting effects on her career, her relationships, and her sense of self. What she found while researching Invisible was a surprisingly large and overlooked population with important stories to tell.Though young women with serious illness tend to be seen as outliers, young female patients are in fact the primary demographic for many illnesses. They are also one of the most ignored groups in our medical system--a system where young women, especially women of color and trans women, are invisible.And because of expectations about gender and age, young women with health issues must often deal with bias in their careers and personal lives. Not only do they feel pressured to seem perfect and youthful, they also find themselves amid labyrinthine obstacles in a culture that has one narrow idea of womanhood.Lent Hirsch weaves her own harrowing experiences together with stories from other women, perspectives from sociologists on structural inequality, and insights from neuroscientists on misogyny in health research. She shows how health issues and disabilities amplify what women in general already confront: warped beauty standards, workplace sexism, worries about romantic partners, and mistrust of their own bodies. By shining a light on this hidden demographic, Lent Hirsch explores the challenges that all women face.

Epidemic: Ebola and the Global Scramble to Prevent the Next Killer Outbreak


Reid Wilson - 2018
    A world unprepared for another outbreak. In December 2013, a young boy in a tiny West African village contracted the deadly Ebola virus. The virus spread to his relatives, then to neighboring communities, then across international borders. The world's first urban Ebola outbreak quickly overwhelmed the global health system and threatened to kill millions.As we are currently seeing, in an increasingly interconnected world in which everyone is one or two flights away from New York or London or Beijing, a localized epidemic has become a pandemic. Ebola's spread through West Africa to Nigeria, the United Kingdom and the United States sounded global alarms that the next killer outbreak is right around the corner--and that the world is woefully unprepared to combat a new deadly disease.From the poorest villages of rural West Africa to the Oval Office itself, this book tells the story of a deadly virus that spun wildly out of control--and reveals the truth about how close the world came to a catastrophic global pandemic. It is a story that serves as a cautionary tale for the COVID-19 epidemic currently spreading throughout the world.

Skybound: A Journey In Flight


Rebecca Loncraine - 2018
    Two years later, and after months of gruelling treatment, she flew in a glider for the first time. In that engineless plane, soaring 3000 feet over the landscape of her childhood with only the rising thermals to take her higher and the birds to lead the way, she fell in love. If illness meant Rebecca had lost touch with the world around her, gliding showed her a way to learn to live again.And so Rebecca travelled from the Black Mountains in Wales to New Zealand's Southern Alps and the Nepalese Himalayas to chase her newfound passion: her need to fly with the birds, to push herself to the boundary of her own fear. Skybound is the story of that obsession and of Rebecca's incredible journey from the ground, into the sky and back again.Taking in the history of unpowered flight, and with extraordinary descriptions of flying in some of the world's most dangerous and dramatic locations, this is a nature memoir with a unique perspective; it is about the land we know and the sky we know so little of, it is about memory and self-discovery.Just as she finished writing Skybound Rebecca became ill again. She died in September 2016. And yet, Skybound is still a book about learning to live again: deeply moving, thrilling and euphoric, this is a book for anyone who has ever looked up and wanted to take flight.

One Cornish Summer


Liz Fenwick - 2018
    With memories slipping away by the day, she flees to the one place she has always felt safe and peaceful - Cornwall, and the house her family spent so many summers in.Lucy is having her own crisis, and seizes the chance to follow her aunt to Cornwall. Curious about what has driven Hebe there after so many years, she also has to battle with the secret she has kept since her family's last summer there more than ten years ago.Both women will learn that memories live in our hearts and that sharing secrets can set you free... But can they find their way back to the things that are truly important to them?The perfect escapist read for fans of Rachel Hore, Lucinda Riley and Rosanna Ley.

Tempting Fate


Maria VickersShannon Nemechek - 2018
    Hope will help you to overcome and survive, but your life and outlook are forever changed. This collection of stories is about overcoming obstacles, surviving when it seems hard or impossible, and dealing with life changing events. **All proceeds will benefit Cancer Research Institute.

Tiny Drops


Dusti Dawn Rose - 2018
    Until one day, she's faced with a life threatening illness--one without a cure. Befriending her neighbor and finding support become her new normal. But will she have the strength to thrive when even her doctor doubts a long future? 2005 Harrison Wade is finally right where he wants to be--beside the woman who has owned his heart for more than a decade. Brice, his wild-haired wisp of a woman, has a love and grace unmatched by any other. Together they journey through the ins and outs of life until heartache becomes an unwelcome visitor threatening to steal their happiness forever. 2015 Brice has done her best to soften the edges of her jagged soul. But, sometimes the only way heartache can escape is to eat its way out, bit by bit, and by the end, it's hard to see what you're left with anymore. Chewed pieces of the person she once was, Brice must try to rebuild the life around her.

Back to You


Kim Breyon - 2018
    Even after a decade, the memory of the foster boy I once shared a room with continues to haunt my dreams. For five years, Riley helped me laugh when there was so little in our lives to laugh about. His gentle touch and stormy gray eyes were the only thing that could calm the swirling and turbulent thoughts and emotions within me. But in the blink of an eye, the safe harbor my best friend provided was ripped from my life without warning or reason. His unexplained disappearance set sail to a lonely and hopeless journey. Now, I am no more willing to let the memory of my best friend go than I am ready to give up the search for him, as hopeless as it may seem to those around me.And then a client asks me to locate a stolen treasure box. Clues have me heading from the city of Atlanta to a small, picturesque town in South Carolina called Reedsport. There, I hope to find the missing box; what I never expected was to find something else that I’d been missing for far too long. Could I have finally found a beacon of hope that would lead Riley Tanager back to me?

Hawaiian Holiday


Michele Paige Holmes - 2018
    Six days in paradise. One unforgettable Christmas. Hailey Walsh has always loved Christmas, and this year the holiday was supposed to be the most magical of all, spent with her large family and her fiancé in preparation for their wedding just two days after. Then Gage broke their engagement. Now, instead of playing in the snow with her nieces and nephews, Hailey’s building a playground with children she’s never met before, spending her Christmas with strangers in Hawaii, on a service program she hopes will lift her spirits and help her begin to pick up the broken pieces of her life and heart. Gage Stevens didn’t want to spend Christmas in Hawaii any more than he wanted to break his engagement, but sometimes fate has a way of slamming a guy against a wall and forcing him to tough decisions— for the good of others, be that his ex-fiancée or his mom. And while he’s certain that no ocean breeze or tropical wonderland can heal what’s wrong, one glimpse at a familiar head of red hair and Gage realizes fate may not be done with him yet. More romances by Michele: BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH SAVING GRACE LOVING HELEN MARRYING CHRISTOPHER TWELVE DAYS IN DECEMBER YESTERDAY’S PROMISE (Scottish Historical, Book 1) A PROMISE FOR TOMORROW (Scottish Historical, Book 2, coming Fall 2017) HEARTHFIRE ROMANCE COLLECTION, VOLUME 1 (box set)

The Medical Marijuana Guide: Cannabis and Your Health


Patricia C. Frye - 2018
    In 1996, California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana and since then, 28 other states, 2 U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia have followed suit. Now countless patients are reaping the benefits of this amazing resource which has been used to effectively treat everything from chronic pain to debilitating illnesses. In The Medical Marijuana Guide: Cannabis and Your Health, Dr. Patricia Frye takes a direct, no-nonsense approach to educating readers about cannabis and its medicinal qualities. After having retired from medicine, Dr. Frye was offered an opportunity to practice cannabis treatment. Intrigued, she educated herself on this emerging alternative and is now ready to share with others what she has learned. In this book, using humorous and touching stories from the many situations she has encountered in her practice over the years, Dr. Frye provides valuable information about the undeniable medicinal qualities of cannabis. This book helps to de-stigmatize this misunderstood drug and educate readers on the history of cannabis and how it is used by the medical community today. This is an accessible, enjoyable resource that will not only entertain readers, but may change their lives for the better.

Rebuilding Hope


Jessie G. - 2018
    Often described as strange and sickly, his attempts to conform only made him look foolish and a life-long diet of pills hasn’t provided a cure. Deciding to strengthen the only tool in his arsenal was liberating and learning became his greatest joy. But each episode is another reminder that his time is limited, and Holden intends to use everything he’s learned to help the small town of Hope before he dies. Alpha Crowley Lomond, Zenith of the Americas, isn’t exactly happy with his ascension. Leading isn’t the problem, it’s acting like he’s somehow better than every other shifter that chafes. But while living and working beside them may seem noble, Crowley is more than just an alpha. As Zenith, he’s their example, their teacher and guide, and the one they will turn to when their way of life is threatened. Meeting changes them in ways they never could have predicted and unveils a web of deceit that began long before they were born. Together, they will have to unravel the lies and reconcile the consequences if they are to protect the shifter way of life. Along the way, Crowley will become the Zenith his Kindred was born to love and their enemies will learn that there's nothing more dangerous than fated mates.

The awful wonderful Story of Us


Jolene Perry - 2018
    Feel strong. Be strong. Are the words that London chants to herself to get through the day. She lives in a house where rules are enforced with fists, and drugs change hands in a near steady flow. Cole uses his carefully placed camouflage of studious athlete to cover up a past he wishes he could erase, constantly counting down to keep himself in check. At school he pretends. At home, he hides. The two have a friendship based on an unspoken knowledge of past and present secrets. But when London’s dad sends her to the hospital, and Cole’s stepmom has the backstory, Cole steals the chance to help a friend. Running away together feels like the perfect plan to keep London safe, but with Cole’s stepmother working on an investigation against London’s father, the two are being attacked from all sides. Soon, it might not be a matter of fighting to stay together, but fighting to stay alive. This YA novel walks the line between thriller and contemporary love story. In the vein of Breaking Bad, this novel explores the dark world of meth dealing, abusive relationships, and first love.

Wherever You Are: A Memoir of Love, Marriage, and Brain Injury


Cynthia Lim - 2018
    Then in 2003, her husband Perry suffers a cardiac arrest and brain injury, lingering in a coma for ten days before slowly awakening. A different person emerges, one who has lost his short-term memory and is fully dependent on others. Married for twenty years, she doesn't know how much of his former self will return as she fights for the treatment and care he needs.She struggles with caregiving and working full-time while finding connection with the man she once knew and loved, whose brain will never again function as it did before. While wrestling with the urge to leave him in an institution and walk away, she discovers the strength and resolve that will allow her to build a new life. Wherever You Are is the story of a marriage after a spouse is forever changed by a catastrophic event. It is a story of redefining life with disability and discovering the real truth of love and marriage.

Stroke: A 5% chance of survival


Ricky Monahan Brown - 2018
    Fortunately, his girlfriend Beth is nearby. A few minutes later, the unconscious Ricky is wheeled into Brooklyn’s Methodist Hospital with a 5% chance of survival, and worse odds of any type of good outcome. Beth begins an eight-week vigil, grabbing an occasional nap on a waiting room floor. Then Hurricane Sandy does to New York what the haemorrhage did to Ricky’s brain. Amid the rubble of a battered city, brain injury, and lost jobs, Beth and Ricky start planning for a future together. After all, this is a love story.

Untouched


Jen Atkinson - 2018
    She hadn't met many boys really, being home-schooled her entire life. But after her mother's illness, Thankful is forced into public school her senior year. And that's where she meets the mysterious Liam Gregor.Exiled by the entire school and deemed as cursed by his classmates, Thankful is warned to keep her distance from Liam. But with one tempting grin, Thankful can't stop thinking about him. Befriending Liam may mean sending herself into exile, but his pull over her is strong.One touch and Thankful falling. Her skin on his and Liam's coffee brown eyes dissolve into a sea of blackness. Liam IS cursed. Will meeting Liam be something she regrets? Or something only she can be thankful for?

Aoba-kun's Confessions, Vol. 7


Ema Tōyama - 2018
    But it is short-lived, as an unexpected incident befalls them...! Mayo is heartbroken, and Nao gives her a shoulder to lean on. "I'll always have feelings for you, regardless of what happens." How will Mayo react to Nao's frank confession...?

Letting Go of Gravity


Meg Leder - 2018
    Parker didn’t.But now that Charlie is officially in remission, life couldn’t be going better for Parker. She’s landed a prestigious summer internship at the hospital and is headed to Harvard in the fall to study pediatric oncology—which is why the anxiety she’s felt since her Harvard acceptance is so unsettling. And it doesn’t help that her relationship with Charlie has been on the rocks since his diagnosis.Enter Finn, a boy who’s been leaving strange graffiti messages all over town. Parker can’t stop thinking about those messages, or about Finn, who makes her feel free for the first time: free to doubt, free to make mistakes, and free to confront the truth that Parker has been hiding from for a long time.That she keeps trying to save Charlie, when the person who really needs saving is herself.

Dispatches from the Heart: Transplanting One Heart and Transforming Many Others


Ed Innerarity - 2018
    He also had a heart condition called cardiomyopathy and needed a new heart. Ed refused to even consider a heart transplant until his doctor gave him two options: Get a heart transplant or check in to a hospice care facility. He didn't want to die.Dispatches from the Heart is a compilation of emails from friends, family, and the authors themselves describing Ed's journey through the heart transplant process. Full of compelling, inspiring, and often witty insights into this life-changing event, Ed and Paige share the challenges and triumphs they both faced before, during, and after Ed's life-saving surgery.This book is a tribute to those who helped make a second chance at life possible, an invitation into the intimate inner dialogue of a family ever changed, and a beacon of hope for those who may be part of a similar journey.

An Abled Life: Challenging the Limits of Polio


Thomas C. Wilczewski - 2018
    He was confined to an iron lung for over one year. In 1963 he graduated from A. Harry Moore High School, in Jersey City, New Jersey. After graduation he sought employment. It was a time when accessibility for the disabled was not part of societies concerns. He was given many excuses why he could not be hired. The underlying factor was he sat in a wheelchair. After much disappointment in seeking employment he started an engraving business with his brother Ed which they successfully operated for over thirty five years. November 27, 1984, was cold and dreary. On that day the life that Tom knew came to a screeching halt. An unscrupulous and incompetent construction crew that had been building a condominium next to his house had undermined the foundation of the home and his business. The family home and Toms business were destroyed. Tom in his wheelchair with his brother Ed and their nearly blind father barely escaped being trapped in the crumbling red brick dwelling. The Wilczewski family fought their way back from this devastating blow---Tom with his brother Ed started their business over again at another location in their downtown neighborhood. The high point in Toms life was marrying Antoinette who was equally accomplished and like Tom had polio.

Magical Memories (Magic #2)


L.S. Fellows - 2018
    And now, it’s all my fault they’re too late. I let him go too soon.Despite him having dementia.Despite them not visiting in over a month. But I won’t let anger win. After all, we’re all grieving, aren’t we?Surely, as a family, we can let bygones be bygones.It’s what Dad would want. Expect.It’s what he deserves.We have so much to be grateful for.So many fond and magical memories to share. Magical Memories is a fictional tale of loss, grief and moving on. A sequel to Magic O’Clock.