And at the heart of every Maeve Binchy novel, the lives and loves of vividly drawn characters are deftly woven into unforgettable, beautifully realized tales. Now, in this charming audio set, three of Maeve Binchy's classic coming-of-age tales are collected together. These wonderful audio presentations represent the very best work of one of the world's most celebrated authors. And listening to her comforting stories feels just like coming home.The Copper BeechCarved on the trunk of the mighty copper beech tree that embraces the schoolyard in Sharcarrig are declarations of love, hope, and identity--the youthful dreams of the children who studied there. Now grown, yet shaped by their years in the schoolhouse, they lead different lives. The Copper Beech tells the story of these eight dreamers.Circle of FriendsCircle of Friends begins with the pair of Benny Hogan and Eve Malone from the village of Knockglen until they leave for university in Dublin and are joined by Nan Mahon and Jack Foley. Long-hidden lies emerge to test the meaning of love and the strength of ties held within the fragile gold bands of a circle of friends.The Glass LakeIn The Glass Lake, Maeve Binchy explores the unspoken language between mothers and daughters in an extraordinary story of a mother's secret, a daughter's courage, and the hidden bond between them that neither deceit nor death can destroy.

    At Home in Mitford/A Light in the Window/These High, Green Hills/Out to Canaan/A New Song/A Common Life/ In This Mountain/Shepherds Abiding

    As she learns how to accept the conflicts of her unorthodox home life and then her fellow students in a boarding school in Switzerland, we follow Katherine through all the torment, loneliness, and adorations and passions of a fifteen-year-old girl as she tries to realize her ambitions in the tumultuous world of the arts and make her own way to maturity.

    Enter a stranger with a ready grin, who says that his name is Micah and claims to have known Ava’s ex back in high school. Micah is currently “in between” jobs, and Ava feels led to offer him work doing odd jobs around her home. Little does she know that her simple act of kindness will challenge her faith, threaten the lives of the people she loves, and have her running for her life. Ava hopes that somehow she will be saved, but in the end, she may be forced to make a devastating choice in order to survive. Read the novella He Said His Name Was Micah today.

    One of the hostages has friends in high places and Spider Shepherd is put on the case. But as Shepherd closes in on his quarry he realises that there's much more at stake than the lives of the hostages and that the pirates are involved in a terrorist plot that will strike at the heart of London. False FriendsThe most wanted man in the world is dead. Now those loyal to him seek revenge. When Navy Seals track down and kill Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan, al-Qaeda realise they have a traitor in their midst. After the false friends are revealed to be two British students, Malik and Chaudhry, Dan 'Spider' Shepherd must teach the pair how to survive undercover. True ColoursThe Russian oligarchs are the world's new elite. They treat the world as their plaything, travelling without borders and living lives of unimaginable luxury without fear or restraint. But when an assassin starts killing off some of the world's richest men, an oligarch with friends in high places seeks the protection of MI5. And Spider Shepherd is placed in the firing line.

    'Mummy's Boy' is by turns heartrending as Larry recalls the relationship broken beyond repair with his father.

    A typical twenty-five-year-old woman might be looking to lasso a cowboy, but her only desire is to get on with life on the outside—despite her growing interest in the ranch owner. When she discovers a violent ex-lover followed her west, she fears the past she hoped to hide will imprison her once again.

    Ferguson Glen is an Episcopal priest and faded literary star, lover of God, women and liquor (but not necessarily in that order).Their lives intersect at LaVerne’s diner—"Smoke Meat," as the regulars call it. There they are joined by a cast of remarkable characters, including LaVerne’s devoted right-hand man, A.B. Clayton; blues legend ‘Mother’ Mary Weaver; and Sammy Merzeti, a young man with a bloody past – and a bloodier future.Thin Blue Smoke is an epic redemption tale, the story of two men coming to terms with their pasts. It is also a novel about faith, race, storytelling, bourbon, the language of rabbits, and the finer points of barbecue technique.Heartrending and bitterly funny, it marks the arrival of a vital new voice in American fiction.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    When thunder and lightning strike on the morning of Zoe Clark's wedding, her seemingly perfect world is turned upside-down as she loses her fiance to a pregnant girlfriend she never knew he had. With her engagement shattered, all her life's plans seem over. Unemployed, sinking deeply into depression, and wrongly blaming God for her troubles, Zoe seriously contemplates ending her life. But God sends Chase Farr to reintroduce Zoe to the importance of having God in her life. Yet when Zoe's friendship with Chase turns romantic, he suddenly backs away--further confusing Zoe with his decision to remain a virgin. Through life's twists and turns of celebration and sorrow, Zoe ultimately learns what it means to truly trust in God--but in the end, does this revelation come too late to fix things with Chase?

    The tale of a broken heart's awakening to hope.A moving, richly told story set in a small fishing village in coastal North Carolina, Patricia Hickman's novel portrays a witty, recently widowed herione who must learn to let go of the past--and discover God's surprising, renewing provision for her future.

    

    A war breaks out and the peaceful Gaea are no match for the brutality of the Holyan soldiers or the sheer destruction of the Holyan mages. Having no defense against the Holyan magic, the desperate Gaea hatch a plan to create a weapon capable of stopping the Gaea advance, before the weapon can be put to use, the Gaea are routed and their people were taken as slaves. Rae’al’nor was that weapon but was too young to be of any use and was taken as one of the slaves. As Rae’al’nor grows up, he is adopted by a Holyan noble and given the name Ray Riverdale. Ray was content in his life until the evil of mages is so strong he cannot ignore it any more. Join Ray as he remembers his purpose in life and transforms from prey to the Mage Slayer.

    Author Jesse May was seventeen years old and already hooked. By 1996, poker could be legally played in casinos in over twenty states of the union and five countries in Europe. Legalization changed the face of poker, and as the game came of age, so did May, who by 1989 had dropped out of the University of Chicago after one year due to irreconcilable differences between Tuesday- and Thursday-morning classes and Monday- and Wednesday-night poker games.Based on his experiences in the strange world of poker, May's debut novel Shut Up and Deal is the story of a nontraditional '90s slacker, a dropout with an incurable obsession and incredible stamina, who makes a career in a profession where the only goals are to stay in action and to not go broke. In Shut Up and Deal, a professional poker player takes readers along on his adventures over several years in and out of casinos and card rooms in locales such as Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and Amsterdam. Told in a catching, likeable voice, this story offers up one rip-roaring poker-table drama after another, with narrator Mickey ultimately finding himself in a spot that jeopardizes his entire bankroll and calls into question his morals, such as they are. In rhythmic, high-octane prose that is as addictive as the game it describes, Shut Up and Deal zooms in on the swirling, feverish microcosm of the contemporary poker world from its very first line and never cuts away.

    At that point, doubts begin to intrude on his previously untroubled existence.Dr. Abby Davis is tired of her family practice and at odds with God. Dealing with critically ill and dying patients has crushed her spirit to the point she’s ready to quit. But she soon realizes that there’s more to healing than ministering to the physical body.Scott Anderson was the oldest graduate of his seminary class. Then again, most of them hadn’t turned away from a medical practice, hoping to atone for past mistakes (including his wife’s death) by ministering to men’s souls. Now he hopes he hasn’t made a colossal mistake in switching careers. Each of these individuals becomes linked to the other, and each finds that God has a purpose for them—but, as it often does, the lesson comes with discomfort.