But Allison rises to the challenge of raising Westley's toddling daughter as though she were her own. Over the course of their lifetime together, Allison, Westley, and Michelle form the strong bond of family. As Allison struggles with infertility and finding her way during a time of great change for women, others--some she knows and others whom she never meets--brush and weave against the fabric of her life, leaving her with more questions than answers. From teen bride to grandmother, Allison's life chronicles the ups and downs of an ordinary woman's life to examine the value of what we all leave behind.

    But when their father's untimely death reveals an earth-shattering secret, everything they thought they knew about their family -- and their future -- changes overnight.Jen spent her childhood feeling like the ugly duckling, while Lynn longed to be appreciated for something other than her looks. Consequently, both sisters competed for their father's affections but were never satisfied. Jen still hasn't forgiven Lynn for fleeing to California to follow her dreams, leaving Jen to tend to their father and the family insurance business in Chicago's North Shore suburbs. Meanwhile, Lynn is living in exile in Los Angeles, forced to endure the pain of her humiliating divorce in silence because she is too ashamed to reveal her mistakes to her perfect older sister.As the youngest member of the trio, Courtney's life is also turned upside down due to her father's death, only for an entirely different reason; Courtney didn't even know he existed until after he was gone. Now she has to figure out what life looks like with two older sisters who can't stand each other while attempting to piece together her fractured youth.Although this tragedy should bring the sisters together, the depth of their father's betrayal coupled with their tumultuous past makes reconciliation nearly impossible. Only time will tell if the bonds of sisterhood are strong enough to mend past transgressions or if the sisters, and their secrets, will destroy the Summer family forever.

    Nothing was unusual that day. Until in the evening when the boy does not return. and a friend tells her mom that the boy never went to play that day. A frantic search begins with the neighbours and the boy’s friends pulling in all their resources. Does the boy return? Where did he go? Where was he taken? What happens at the end? Some Reviews: One of the most amazing short stories I have read in recent times – Rahul Bhatt A joy ride of read. A great beginning and an eventful ending, just loved the short story – Priyanka Sharma What a lovely story this is, it reminded me of my childhood – Sourav Mohanty

    The same girl, now on the cusp of adulthood, shares her family’s growing fears that her father has disappeared. Acclaimed author Ann Petry penned these and the other unforgettable narratives in Miss Muriel and Other Stories more than seventy years ago, yet in them contemporary readers recognize characters who exist today and dilemmas that recur again and again: the reluctance of African Americans to seek help from the police, the rage that erupts in a black man worn down by brutality, the tyranny that the young can visit on their elders regardless of race. Originally published between 1945 and 1971, Petry’s stories capture the essence of African American experience since the 1940s.

    A young priest on the other side of the screen is shaken by what he learns. A former college athlete with an MBA from a prestigious university, Father Joe Russo is not your typical man of God. Nine years earlier, his own life took a tragic turn and he gave everything up, committing his life to the church. Now his peaceful existence is being tested, and he finds himself questioning the God he serves, the vows he made, and someone he left behind.In this gripping thriller, a priest and an FBI agent work to uncover secrets and expose hidden crimes, but when it seems they have it all figured out, everything they think they know will be questioned.

    Her ten-year-old daughter, Riley, is whisked away by a corrupt social worker . . . along with any records the little girl ever existed. Fate catapults Riley into a dangerous, clandestine world of corruption and blackmail. What she learns could jeopardize a covert Russian operation, headquartered right in Washington, D.C., targeting the United States.Riley knows too much. She must be eliminated.Time is running out. Riley must try to outrun and outsmart Agent Nika Rolinska—fiction’s most shocking, ruthless new villain.

    From the first page of each of the edgy and unrelentingly intense stories in this debut collection, the teenaged characters are headed for big trouble. The adult world has mostly failed them, and they find themselves entering into highly charged situations where they make their own rules, with misguided understanding of the consequences. The stories burn hot and fast, providing searing insights into their world of sex, drugs, drinking, violence, and accidental grace, played out in small, tough towns. Written with raw directness and understanding that makes these nine stories impossible to forget, The History of Vegas announces an exciting, fresh talent with the impact of Mary Gaitskill, Mary Karr, and Jayne Anne Phillips.

    An unexpected inheritance. A chance for a new beginning. Lily’s no stranger to loss, but her life takes its most tragic turn the day her husband is killed. Unable to escape the memories surrounding her, she jumps at the chance to return to happy summer memories in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, where she spent summers as a teenager. She inherits Glass Beach Cottage from her late uncle and leaves behind the life she’s known, including her beloved son, for a new adventure.The rhythm of the ocean soothes her. Her heart begins to mend during morning strolls along the beach with her dog.  She encounters a kindness in the residents of the tiny coastal town. A young man who lost his hearing as a teen, a local shopkeeper who offers her a helping hand, and a widower and veterinarian, who persuades Lily to foster a new puppy, form her circle of friends.As guests come and go, she gains insight into the joys and sorrows of those who spend a few days at Glass Beach Cottage. Along with the healing power of the sea, Lily witnesses the strength of the human spirit and learns that the best remedy for her grief lies in the restorative power of helping others. Award-winning author, Tammy L. Grace, brings readers her new GLASS BEACH COTTAGE SERIES. The first book, BEACH HAVEN, is a heartwarming story of a woman’s resilience buoyed by the bonds of friendship, an unexpected gift, and the joy she finds in helping others.  Escape with a new favorite series and read BEACH HAVEN today. Read more from award-winning author, Tammy L. Grace HOMETOWN HARBOR SERIES Hometown Harbor: The Beginning (Prequel Novella) Finding Home Home Blooms Promise of Home Pieces of Home Finally Home COOPER HARRINGTON DETECTIVE NOVELS Killer Music Deadly Connection Dead Wrong GLASS BEACH COTTAGE SERIES Beach Haven STAND-ALONE BOOKS A Season of Hope (Christmas Novella)

    Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi,” William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” and James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” have been long regarded as literary classics, while others, such as Frank Stockton’s “The Lady or the Tiger?” and Ellis Parker Butler’s “Pigs Is Pigs,” are lesser known but well worth discovering.The carefully selected stories, each preceded by an illuminating headnote, powerfully illustrate the varied richness of our national literature and history. This beautifully packaged volume, containing the unforgettable classic short stories that evoke our shared American tradition and national identity, makes the perfect gift for the short story aficionado and novice alike.

    Meet the shy high school student with a crush on a girl dying of leukemia, the mother whale who beaches to save her offspring, the search for the VA hospital's lunatic who goes missing and never returns, and more. We are in the hands of a patient, master artist who watches the world unfolding around him, sees its protagonists' inadvertent mistakes, and observes them endeavoring to reclaim their dignity. These stories lift us far above the realm of entertainment, and instead enrich and enliven the psyche's oceanic heights and depths."--Marilyn Krysl

    First Lieutenant Nick Gallaher soon discovers several top Department of Defense research scientists, his father among them, were killed as part of an elaborate scheme to take possession of the game-changing laser system, codenamed Crossfire. This modern-day espionage thriller follows Gallaher at breakneck speed as he investigates and then races against time to stop the corporate black-market scheme before its consequences explode around the world. The story employs the latest in military technology from intense cat-and-mouse nuclear-powered submarine chases beneath the ocean waves, to turbulent, bullet-riddled jet fighter skirmishes in the sky, to Cape Canaveral rocket launches and space-based satellite flight deviations in low-earth orbit.

    A chainsaw-wielding Evil Dead fan defends herself against a trio of undead intruders. A bride-to-be comes to wish that the door between the physical and spiritual worlds had stayed shut on All Hallows' Eve. A lone passenger on a midnight train finds that the engineer has rerouted them toward a past she'd prefer to forget. A mother abandons a life she no longer recognizes as her own to walk up a mysterious staircase in the woods. In her debut collection, Christa Carmen combines horror, charm, humor, and social critique to shape thirteen haunting, harrowing narratives of women struggling with both otherworldly and real-world problems. From grief, substance abuse, and mental health disorders, to a post-apocalyptic exodus, a seemingly sinister babysitter with unusual motivations, and a group of pesky ex-boyfriends who won't stay dead, Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked is a compelling exploration of horrors both supernatural and psychological, and an undeniable affirmation of Carmen's flair for short fiction.

    A couple hires a partner for a threesome to rejuvenate their relationship after the birth of their child. An assistant at a prestigious literary journal reconnects with a middle school frenemy and finds his carefully constructed world of refinement cannot protect him from his past. In these and other stories, Tom Bissell vividly renders the complex worlds of characters on the brink of artistic and personal crisis--writers, actors, and other creative types who see things slightly differently from the rest of us. Surreal, poignant, squirmingly awkward--and always just a little bit off--this collection is a brilliant new offering from one of the most versatile and talented writers in America today.

    She captures the beguiling transformation from child to adult with humor, heartache, and desperation. From grieving mothers to fathers adrift, old flames to restless teens, the isolated characters in Doll Palace are united by conflicting desires, quiet rebellions, and the private struggles of the heart.

    In her new collection, gifted poet and novelist Kim Addonizio uses her literary powers to bring to life a variety of settings, all connected through the suggestion that things in the known world are not what they seem.In “Beautiful Lady of the Snow,” young Annabelle turns to a host of family pets to combat the alienation she feels caught between her distracted mother and ailing grandfather; in “Night Owls,” a young college student’s crush on her acting partner is complicated by the bloodlust of being half-vampire; in “Cancer Poems,” a dying woman turns to a poetry workshop to make sense of her terminal diagnosis and final days; in “Intuition,” a young girl’s sexual forays bring her closer to her best friend’s father; and in the collection’s title story, a photographer looks back to his youth spent as a young illusionist under the big tent and his obsessive affair with the carnival owner’s wife.The stories in this collection have appeared in journals ranging from Narrative Magazine to The Fairy Tale Review, and include the much loved "Ever After," which was featured on NPR's "Selected Shorts."Distracted parents, first love, the twin forces of alienation and isolation: the characters in The Palace of Illusions all must contend with these challenges, trafficking in the fault lines between the real and the imaginary, often in a world not of their making.