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Kazuki Kaneshiro - 2000
But nothing could have prepared him for the heartache he feels when he falls hopelessly in love with a Japanese girl named Sakurai. Immersed in their shared love for classical music and foreign movies, the two gradually grow closer and closer.One night, after being hit by personal tragedy, Sugihara reveals to Sakurai that he is not Japanese—as his name might indicate.Torn between a chance at self-discovery that he’s ready to seize and the prejudices of others that he can’t control, Sugihara must decide who he wants to be and where he wants to go next. Will Sakurai be able to confront her own bias and accompany him on his journey?
The Heart Echoes
Helena von Zweigbergk - 2013
While Astrid has remarried and had more children, she is suffocating under her husband’s kindness and cannot escape the pull of the past. Seeing Michael at their son’s high school graduation reawakens her grief and rage, along with more complicated and threatening emotions.Envious of Astrid’s seemingly stable life, Sandra is married to an alcoholic and drowning in debt. She turns to Lena for help at the worst possible time. Lena, fighting to stay alive, must finally confront a devastating secret she’s kept from Astrid since the summer Michael left. As the walls they’ve built between them crumble, the three sisters must try to forgive and to rebuild their shattered bonds…while there’s still time.
American Schism: How the Two Enlightenments Hold the Secret to Healing our Nation
Seth David Radwell
Raw and bitter emotions such as anger and resentment have crowded out any logical debate. In this investigative tracing of our nation’s divergent roots, author Seth David Radwell explains that only reasoned analysis and historical perspective can act as salves for the irrational political discourse that is raging at present. Two disparate Americas have always coexisted, and Radwell discovered that the surprising origin of these dual Americas was not an Enlightenment, but two distinct Enlightenments that have been fiercely competing since the founding of our country. Radwell argues that it is only by embracing Enlightenment principles that we can build a civilized, progressive, and tolerant society. American Schism reveals• the roots of the rifts in America since its founding and what is really dividing red and blue America;• the core issues that underlie all of today’s bickering;• a detailed, effective plan to move forward, commencing what will be a long process of repair and reconciliation.Seth David Radwell changes the nature of the political debate by fighting unreason with reason, allowing Americans to firmly ground their differing points of view in rationality.
Write My Name Across the Sky
Barbara O'Neal - 2021
Knowing her own involvement in his misdeeds decades earlier, Gloria realizes she could be the next arrest and must flee. But first, she needs to make sure her nieces are protected from any fallout.The sisters, though in their thirties, are still constantly at odds with each other. Willow, struggling to live up to their mother’s fame as a singer-songwriter, is recovering from a failed album and yet another heartbreak, while Sam is desperate to revive her floundering video game company.When circumstances out of their control bring the three women back together, they will each have to reckon with and reconcile their interwoven traumas, past loves, and the looming consequences that could either destroy their futures or bring them closer than ever.
Rapid Falls
Amber Cowie - 2018
The tragedy has become a local legend, but Cara has moved past her grief to have a successful career and a happy family. Pity about Anna. Recently released from incarceration, she’s struggling with addiction, guilt, and shame—a shattered life. Cara’s forgiveness seems to be the only thing that helps her pick up the pieces.But as Anna pulls herself together, her memories of that night on the bridge start to come into focus. And few of them match her sister’s.As past secrets unfold and nothing is what it seems anymore, Anna desperately searches for the truth. But what if Cara doesn’t want her to find it?
Crooked Little Lies
Barbara Taylor Sissel - 2015
A young man well known in their small town of Hardys Walk, Texas, Bo seems fine, even if Lauren’s intuition says otherwise. Since the accident two years ago that left her brain in a fragile state, she can’t trust her own instincts—and neither can her family. Then Bo vanishes, and as the search for him ensues, the police question whether she’s responsible. Lauren is terrified, not of what she remembers but of what she doesn’t.Unable to trust herself and unwilling to trust anyone else, Lauren begins her own investigation into the mystery of Bo’s disappearance. But the truth can prove to be as shocking as any lie, and as Lauren exposes each one, from her family, from her friends, she isn’t the only one who will face heart-stopping repercussions.
Sand Dollar: A Story of Undying Love
Sebastian Cole - 2012
Groomed since childhood to inherit the family fortune and business empire, the effect of living the life set down for him by controlling parents has left Noah out of touch with his inner self. Enter Robin, who -- in direct contrast to Noah -- is a vivacious, free spirit with no material possessions to speak of. Robin's love saves Noah by inspiring him to stand up to his parents and reclaim his true identity at all costs. But Robin harbors a secret that could devastate their lives forever. Is it enough for two soul mates to find each other, or are the forces that would tear them apart too great to overcome?Many years later, Noah lies in a hospital bed recounting his life of love and loss, only to discover a far greater truth about the past, present, and future. And the one certainty that remains unchanged in Noah's heart -- true love never dies.Looking for the next great love story? Look no further: read Sand Dollar: A Story of Undying Love!From the AuthorSand Dollar is a story about a love gained, a love lost, and through it all, a love that just won’t die. Although it’s considered to be a romantic fantasy — a kind of cross between The Notebook and The Sixth Sense – the book distinguishes itself from other romance novels in its genre by its honest portrayal of life as a recurring tragedy, a roller coaster ride of sorts between joy and heartache, and the faith needed to overcome it. Sand Dollar is a thought-provoking, emotional read that, among other things, might even have you yelling at the main characters at times. And not only is it filled with plenty of twists and turns, but the surprise ending will knock your socks off!BACK COVERWhat if you lost your true soul mate, the one person in life you were meant to be with? Would your love ever truly die? Not if you’re Noah Hartman, who refuses to let go of Robin after she inexplicably abandons their love and disappears from his life seemingly forever, her hidden secret yet to be discovered.And when you finally accept your fate and do your best to move on with your life, what do you say when the unthinkable happens: your true love Robin reappears as your wedding ceremony to another woman is about to commence, looks deep into your soul with her loving, tear-filled eyes, and tells you the one thing you’ve desperately longed to hear for all of these years?But the ending to this heart-wrenching love story has yet to be written, as Noah, old and sick in a hospital bed, tells his story of love and loss to Josh, a wise orderly at Mount Sinai Hospital. As his family members arrive to bid him goodbye, Noah discovers a far greater truth about the past, present, and future. Things are definitely not as they appear as the pieces of a shattered love are put back together in the remarkable final chapter of Noah’s life.PLOTThe story opens with Noah Hartman, eighty years old, lying on his deathbed recounting his life of love and loss to Josh, a compassionate orderly at the hospital. As Noah’s loved ones arrive one by one, they listen in on his story, and we’re transported back in time to Noah’s younger years.Though outwardly seeming to have it all, Noah, now thirty-five, is actually an empty, lost, and broken man running on automatic pilot. He has no true identity due to having allowed his powerful, wealthy parents to manipulate, control, and brainwash him from a young age. With the threat of disinheritance and withholding love and approval if he doesn’t comply with the plan they have for his life, Noah is lured in by the reward of great wealth and the illusion of running the family business empire some day.Enter Robin, twenty-five years old, who — in direct contrast to Noah — is a vivacious, free spirit. Full of life and always living in the moment, Robin’s love saves Noah by inspiring him to stand up to his parents and live his own life at all costs, reclaiming his true self.They get married, and while snorkeling in the Caribbean, the captain of the boat warns them not to disturb anything in the sea. Ignoring the exhortation, Noah dives down and snags a sand dollar from the ocean floor, whereupon it explodes in his hand. With the fragile sand dollar taking on new significance, Robin inexplicably leaves Noah shortly after returning from their honeymoon. Like a passing breeze, she disappears out of his life without a trace, seemingly forever.Years pass, and Noah still can’t get Robin out of his mind and out of his heart. After all, the one he loved the most would forever be the one who got away. That’s when he finds out about her hidden secret, the underlying condition responsible for her leaving. Noah has no choice but to move on with his life without her, meeting Sarah at the premiere of SAND DOLLAR, the movie he wrote about his time with Robin.Years later, it’s Noah and Sarah’s wedding day, and Robin discovers a clue that Noah had surreptitiously inserted into the movie, inspiring her to race to the wedding to try to stop it. With the wedding in shambles, the scene jumps back to present day, with both Robin and Sarah placed in Noah’s hospital room. But which one did he choose?As Noah wraps up his story, he discovers a far greater truth about the past, present, and future. Things are definitely not as they appear as the pieces of a shattered love are put back together in the remarkable final chapter of Noah’s life.LOGLINEA man on his deathbed describes his life of love and loss to a compassionate orderly, only to discover a far greater truth about the past, present, and future.For more information, please visit http://sebastiancoleauthor.com
Field of Schemes
Jennifer Coburn - 2013
But the simple, quiet life she seeks is nowhere to be found in the town where soccer is king and parents are far, far too involved in children's sports.When Rachel is scouted for an elite travel team, Claire is sucked into a world of high drama, backstabbing and deceit. The team manager plots a Wall Street-style hostile takeover. Parents sabotage players, serve as sports agents, and trade sexual favors for playtime.Off the field, Claire must navigate the brave new world of the suburbs and build a life that doesn't revolve around kids' sports. Nothing is simple in Santa Bella, though. Claire's neighbor is an outrageous flirt. She stumbles upon some dark secrets and unwittingly becomes the target of a very powerful enemy.As Rachel's team moves to the State Cup championship, Claire must develop a game plan of her own. It's time for her to fight back and show her daughter what it means to be a soccer mom who plays to win when it matters most.***"Soccer moms will laugh out loud (and cringe inwardly) in knowing agreement."- Kim Grunenfelder, author of "Misery Loves Cabernet""Jennifer Coburn's 'Tales from the Crib' is a deliciously fun, laugh-out-loud read about a woman's journey toward motherhood. You won't be able to put this book down until you arrive at the final, satisfying page."- Emily Giffin, author of "Where We Belong""'The Queen Gene' is entertaining...fresh, fast, and unpredictable...I didn't want it to end."- Jennifer Lancaster, author of "Jeneration X""I absolutely loved 'The Wife of Reilly.' It's so funny and snappy. It was a total delight...a riot from start to finish, but an intelligent, thoughtful one that says a lot about the nature of love and relationships."-Marian Keyes, author of "This Charming Man"
Youngblood
H. Peter Alesso - 2018
But when he woke a century later, he was gasping for breath in a deserted underground bunker.The post-apocalyptic world he found was divided between the valley settlers who lived a subsistence existence and their mountain dwelling overlords who reaped all the benefits of a 22nd Century lifestyle.Seventeen-year-old orphan, Kira, was a kick-ass huntress who knew how to survive in this environment. So, when Youngblood was attacked by survivalists and left for dead, she saved him and together they raced to unravel humanity's darkest secrets and find a cure.After such global devastation--one thing was certain--only a man from another century could piece together the truth and discover the power to change the future and save the world.A wildly inventive adventure full of hairpin twists. A thrilling tale that weaves together fate, courage, and love.For Fans of The Postman and The Time Machine.
Fortune in Blood
Phil Philips - 2016
But as the youngest son of a notorious gangster, it seems he can’t escape the life. Soon he’s forced to prove himself by leading a team in the heist of the century. Will he be able to pull it off?Vince was always worried about getting to lectures on time, and spending time with his hot girlfriend. But everything changes when he’s embroiled in his detective father’s world. Now he’s on the run for his life from the mob.FBI Agent Monica is smart, beautiful, tough and unyielding. Caught in the middle of the mob and the police, her loyalty is being questioned by both sides. But Monica seems to have her own agenda.In a world where corruption is rife, she will be tested to the limit. Who can be trusted and who will be left standing? And who will ultimately escape with all the money? A showdown is set in motion and no one will be left unscathed.˃˃˃ NON STOP ACTIONIn this elaborately plotted, fast-paced thriller, Phil Philips takes you on a roller coaster ride that will keep you guessing until the very last page.˃˃˃ Phil’s writing style has been linked to James Patterson and Matthew Reilly.˃˃˃ If you like heist thrillers and corruption in America this is the book for you
A Hundred Thousand Worlds
Bob Proehl - 2016
Now Val must reunite nine-year-old Alex with his estranged father, so they set out on a road trip from New York, Val making appearances at comic book conventions along the way. As they travel west, encountering superheroes, monsters, time travelers, and robots, Val and Alex are drawn into the orbit of the comic-con regulars, from a hapless twentysomething illustrator to a lesbian comics writer to a group of cosplay women who provide a chorus of knowing commentary. For Alex, this world is a magical place where fiction becomes reality, but as they get closer to their destination, he begins to realize that the story his mother is telling him about their journey might have a very different ending than he imagined. A literary-meets-genre pleasure from an exciting new writer, A Hundred Thousand Worlds is a tribute to the fierce and complicated love between a mother and son—and to the way the stories we create come to shape us.
The Talented Miss Farwell
Emily Gray Tedrowe - 2020
Dressed in couture YSL, drinking the finest champagne at trendy Balthazar, Reba, as she’s known, is the picture of a wealthy art collector. To some, the elusive Miss Farwell is a shark with outstanding business acumen. To others, she’s a heartless capitalist whose only interest in art is how much she can make.But a thousand miles from the Big Apple, in the small town of Pierson, Illinois, Miss Farwell is someone else entirely—a quiet single woman known as Becky who still lives in her family’s farmhouse, wears sensible shoes, and works tirelessly as the town’s treasurer and controller. No one understands the ins and outs of Pierson’s accounts better than Becky; she’s the last one in the office every night, crunching the numbers. Somehow, her neighbors marvel, she always finds a way to get the struggling town just a little more money. What Pierson doesn’t see—and can never discover—is that much of that money is shifted into a separate account that she controls, “borrowed” funds used to finance her art habit. Though she quietly repays Pierson when she can, the business of art is cutthroat and unpredictable. But as Reba Farwell’s deals get bigger and bigger, Becky Farwell’s debt to Pierson spirals out of control. How long can the talented Miss Farwell continue to pull off her double life?
The Taste of Ginger
Mansi Shah - 2021
All she did was fall in love with a white Christian carnivore instead of a conventional Indian boy. Years later, with her parents not speaking to her and her controversial relationship in tatters, all Preeti has left is her career at a prestigious Los Angeles law firm.But when Preeti receives word of a terrible accident in the city where she was born, she returns to India, where she’ll have to face her estranged parents…and the complicated past they left behind. Surrounded by the sights and sounds of her heritage, Preeti catches a startling glimpse of her family’s battles with class, tradition, and sacrifice. Torn between two beautifully flawed cultures, Preeti must now untangle what home truly means to her.
The Passion According to Carmela
Marcos Aguinis - 2008
Their erotic and ideological vicissitudes are driven by a reality they cannot control, like that of Homer’s characters. Invisible gods intervene in their lives to intertwine their physical attraction and intellectual admiration, courage and fear, secrets and unexpected complicity. They build their difficult and beautiful love in one of the most turbulent and romantic scenarios of Latin American history. They swim with the current; they enjoy it and enlarge it. But they are also dragged along by eddies that leave them breathless and turn their world upside down. Aguinis’ titles tend to be paradoxical. However, for this novel, he has preferred to place emphasis on the multiple meanings of the word passion. Passion refers to love, and also to the strength of ideals, to suffering, pleasure, salvation and the yearning for freedom. The emotional combat of the protagonists runs in parallel with the dizzying brilliance of concrete situations. This is what allows the suspense to grab the reader from the first page to the very end. A free-flowing, sweeping, and thrilling rhythm dominates the text, like that of musical passions. It should come as no surprise that this novel—where the voices of the female protagonist, her lover, and the omniscient writer alternate—has been written following Bach’s counterpoint model. From a distance, ineffable, we still hear the resounding epic of another war where the liberators sang to a different Carmela—also a torch, also a passion. Aguinis portrays his creations skillfully and renders them indelible. His skill in handling emotions does leaves no line void of poetry or consequences. And his extremely accurate style is a grounding that turns this work—situated in exceptional times—into one of the best love stories to mark out the course of literature.
Only the Truth
Adam Croft - 2017
He travels for work and plays the carefree bachelor when he can. But now, on a solo business trip, in a remote coastal hotel, he’s surprised to find Lisa in his bathroom. She’s dead.He has no idea how she got there but one chilling fact is clear: everything points to Dan having murdered her. Someone is trying to frame him. Someone who might still be watching. In a panic, he goes on the run. But even as he flees across Europe, his unknown enemy stacks up the evidence against him.Dan is determined to clear his name and take revenge on Lisa’s killer, but the culprit is closing in. And then there’s the agony of his own guilty conscience. No, he didn’t kill her—but is it all his fault?