The Secret Sense of Wildflower: Named a Best Book of 2012 by Kirkus Reviews. Over 250 reviews! Small southern towns have few secrets. But when a grieving daughter confronts the local bad boy, she exposes a dark history. Appalachia, 1941. Thirteen-year-old Louisa May "Wildflower" McAllister's heart still aches for her father. A year after her dad's tragic sawmill accident, she relies on her strength of spirit and her heightened intuition to deal with a critical mother and cope with the aftermath.But when she's targeted by the town's teenage bully, she may need more than her "secret sense" to survive.Despite these hardships, Wildflower has a resilience that is forged with humor, a love of the land, and an endless supply of questions to God. But after an affront to her father's memory, she lets her anger get the better of her and unwittingly triggers a series of traumatic events that will change her life forever.Will Wildflower fall to another tragedy or will her faith in her family and herself be enough to carry her through?With prose as lush and colorful as the American south, The Secret Sense of Wildflower is powerful and poignant, brimming with energy and angst, humor and hope. Lily’s Song: A mother’s secrets, a daughter’s dream, and a family’s loyalty are masterfully interwoven in this much anticipated sequel to Amazon #1 bestseller The Secret Sense of Wildflower. “Wildflower” McAllister’s daughter, Lily, now 14, struggles with her mother’s reluctance to tell her who her father is. When a stranger appears on the family doorstep, drunk and evoking ghosts from the past, it threatens to break the close-knit McAllister family apart.Meanwhile, Wildflower has a deep secret of her own. When Lily discovers it by accident, it changes everything she thought she knew about her mother. The events that follow silence the singing she dreamed of sharing with the world.With her signature metaphors, Gabriel weaves a compelling tale that captures the resilience and strength of both mother and daughter, as secrets revealed test their strong bond and ultimately change their lives forever.Set in 1956 southern Appalachia, Lily’s Song stands on its own, and readers who are new to Gabriel will be drawn into the world she so skillfully depicts. As a sequel, it will captivate fans of The Secret Sense of Wildflower (a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2012), who have eagerly awaited more. Daisy’s Fortune: She must return to the place that twice brought her shame. She’ll have one final chance to save someone else. Tennessee, 1982. Wildflower McAllister thought she’d put the past behind her. But when she learns her mother is dying, she digs deep and returns to the small mountain town that stole her innocence and cast her out. And she has no choice but to pull her thirteen-year-old granddaughter Daisy right back into the ghosts of her painful history.As her mother passes, Wildflower’s grief turns to despair when Daisy’s fortune is read, predicting a dark future and the return of sinister threats. With her granddaughter keeping a terrible secret, Wildflower’s distress forces her to call upon the community that rejected her to prevent another tragedy from playing out in front of her eyes.

    Times-News, January 4, 1918Seeing something of himself in a struggling teenage boy, an old man faces one final challenge--and an opportunity to bring closure to a secret past.Spanning nearly nine decades, from the mountains of western Virginia, to a riverside mill town, to a farm in the Piedmont, this is the story of lives marked by tragedy, resilience, and, ultimately, the discovery of purpose and belonging.Inspired by a true story.

     As the weather begins to turn and the first traces of winter settle across the Western Front, the battle at Ypres comes to its bloody end. Both sides have been exhausted by the savage fighting. However, before the year is out, the British plan for one last assault on the enemy. With hundreds of tanks leading the way, the British plan to smash through the enemy lines with a steel fist, striking without warning against the Germans. Harry and his section, after the savage fighting at Ypres, are desperate for a respite from the fighting. However, before the winter finally settles over the Western Front Harry and his men must go over the top one more time. Attacking beside the men of the Tank Corps they must combat the enemy and their nerves as they fight to survive amongst the chaos of war as the last great battle of Nineteen Seventeen is fought.

    On every front the Allies are falling back, facing defeat and searching for victories. German U-boats are sinking ships off the East Coast and American efforts to stop these attacks are in disarray. The Japanese continue to win every battle and are pushing west into the Indian Ocean and south towards Australia. The Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral King, needs answers and strategies to change the direction of the war. He sends Professor James Brand and the Navy’s Science Team to Britain to meet the British war leaders and understand the technologies and tactics of their Allies. They need to learn fast and return to face the expanding Japanese menace in the Pacific.Mission to Britain is the second book in the series “The Naval Odyssey of Professor James Brand.”

    

    James Martingell is a self-made explorer, hunter and prospector, and few men know war-torn Southern Africa better than he does. He also sells guns to whoever can afford them. Offered a fortune to deliver a huge stock of weapons to would-be Boer rebels in the Transvaal, he believes he is about to be a rich man. Instead, he finds himself facing betrayal, imprisonment, open warfare and eventually murder as he becomes involved with international arms traders. Will he survive long enough to become the best known, and most feared, gun-runner in the world? And what about his beautiful wife and children? With so much at stake, he cannot afford to be beaten… ‘The Trade’ is the first book in the Arms of War saga.

    The German army is rampant, and Lieutenant Scottsdale and the British Expeditionary Force are trapped. Yet amid the chaos, Scottsdale must rescue two French scientists trapped behind enemy lines. What they know will tilt the balance of war towards the Allies.The brilliant and mercurial Helene Dubois is in hiding with her frail uncle, as they flee the advancing German armies. They must be found, but pursuing them is Schiller, a ruthless SS Officer, who will stop at nothing to prevent their escape.As they are caught up in the bloody rearguard at Dunkirk, Scottsdale and Dubois will find love, tragedy, and triumph as they fight to escape Schiller, in a story perfect for fans of Ken Follett, Rory Clements and Robert Harris.

    Kate must go to Aunt Mildred, a hard woman who runs a Liverpool boarding house, who puts the young girl to work at once. But Rose gets the wealthy widow Aunt Beattie, who lavishes her with gifts and attention. As one sister experiences hardship alongside friendship, and the other is spoilt and isolated, which will find happiness? For, at the end of the day, it is not what Kate and Rose have in life that counts, it is what they choose to make of it… When Day is Done is a heartwarming saga of the struggle to find happiness, perfect for fans of Helen Forrester, Katie Flynn and Pam Howe.‘As heartwarming as it is sincere, this is storytelling at its best’ Best

     Daphne Villiers, student nurse, is still suffering from the heartbreak of losing her fiancé two years earlier. A new arrival to the East End has the potential to brighten her spirits and turn her life around, but will she be able to let herself love again? With the help of her friends, Daphne might find that Easter really is the time for new beginnings.

    Party activists develop the plan - code name Zima and lie in wait...London 2013 - Richard is in London, working for a financial software company. He has held onto the Zima plan all this time and has been signalling he can activate it. Is anyone listening? Have others stayed true to the ideology?The "suicide" of Richard's work colleague shows British and Russian Intelligence have been listening and waiting too. Tension mounts as more players reveal themselves and the battle for power and control moves to Moscow. As the coil of agents, misinformation and mind control experiments connected to Zima unravel - where do allegiances lie? Can Richard trust anyone - even himself?Can MI9 stop a catastrophic act of sabotage on the banking system? Will the revolution succeed? Can Richard uncover the TRUTH and save himself?

    When an enigmatic stranger steals her heart, can she know he wants her for the right reasons?London 1808: Widowed at the age of twenty, Ann has no optimism for the future. At the beck and call of her domineering mother she longs to make a new life for herself with the legacy left by her late husband. But it's not that easy. Not when it means leaving her sisters behind. Her world is turned upside down when a curious gentleman stops to speak to her. Chas is new to the area, but he seems to know a lot about her … and he certainly looks well-to-do. Could he be her saviour? With newfound hope Ann dares to dream again, but Chas has a secret. Something he refuses to share. As their friendship grows, there are those who want to keep them apart … but when Ann stumbles upon Chas’s past, she realises that only she can decide what their future holds. Inspired by the compelling family history of author V L McBeath, The Young Widow is a standalone story in The Ambition & Destiny Series. Set in Georgian-era London, forty years before the start of this historical family saga, The Young Widow adds another dimension to this epic series. Get your copy today. Please Note: The Young Widow is written in UK English. Other books in The Ambition & Destiny Series: Prequel: Condemned by Fate Part 1: Hooks & Eyes Part 2: Less Than Equals Part 3: When Time Runs Out Part 4: Only One Winner Part 5: Different World

    ~Long and Short Reviews JENNY'S PASSION It was November 1863, and Captain David Reynolds of the Seventeenth Pennsylvania Cavalry was fully prepared to die. Someone had once told him that dying was quite painless. He didn’t believe it, though he secretly hoped it was true as he and his men prepared to ride into chaos and horror. The battle of Mine Run had begun. Jennifer Winston could hear the booming sounds of cannon fire miles away from her Virginia home. She knew that the war had begun two years ago but had been insulated from it all by her father. Little did she know that her life was about to irrevocably change, and she would be tested to the limits of her courage and endurance for a man—a man who was the enemy. LILA'S VOW Schoolteacher Lila Sutton finds her one true love when cavalryman Captain Jack Montgomery rides into Gettysburg. But their promises to be together mean nothing to the enemy, and when Lila receives word of Jack's death, she wants revenge. Imprisoned and desolate, Jack's only thoughts are of the love he left behind. With a future filled with turmoil and uncertainty, he can't see a way out. But he's a solider, and soldiers don't give up. In the midst of a brutal war, can a shattered love be restored?

    

     After five years of hard work, Elliott Maitland has succeeded to make profitable the ranch he bought on a whim from a gambler who had no interest in working with cattle. A frosty winter day finds Elliott in town, hoping to conclude his business before the blizzard starts in earnest. Sam, the owner of the mercantile, asks him to give shelter to the new schoolteacher, who just arrived in town and has nowhere to stay. Celestine Tillman is in desperate need of a job and a place to live. Being hired as a teacher in Wyoming is a blessing. Discovering that no one is waiting for her at the train depot and no room is available in town so close to Christmas is distressing. Going home with this rancher could be dangerous, but what choice does she have? This adventure packed fictional story is set in Laramie, Wyoming at the end of the nineteen century and presents a true picture of the western town with all the good and the bad, the modern and the old west mixed together. An enduring town moving forward and changing with the times.

     From Chapter 1: “Pearl,” Momma tried to make her voice strong. “I aim to whip you for what you done.” Those words struck me hard. Why was she saying a thing like that to me? “I saved you from those dogs,” I said triumphantly as I looked down at Momma’s bleeding legs. Surely she knew what would have happened to her if it hadn’t been for me. “You disobeyed me. You know better than to disobey me.” Her words troubled me something awful, and I shivered with dread as tried to think of a way to make her appreciate what I’d done. I didn’t deserve a whipping for saving her life. From Chapter 23: I had what few things I owned in a feed sack when Frank came in the door. “Them’s my hogs,” I told him. “I’ll cross the hill twice a day to feed ‘em. Don’t you dare do anything with ‘em.” “What are you talkin’ about.” “Your precious ma said she’d get Ralph’s shotgun and kill me if I didn’t get out of her house.” “No way,” Frank said. “Ask her yourself,” I told him. I heard the sound of Effie moving her wheelchair over the floor. “Frank, honey. I said no sech a thing. You know what a liar she is.” I lifted my chin and glared at Frank. I needed to see whose side he was going to take.” “Calm down,” he told me. “I’ll put Ma in bed so we can talk.” Those weren’t the words I needed to hear. “Oh, Frankie,” Effie moaned. “What are we gonna do with her?” Frank didn’t answer as he took hold of the chair. I slung the sack over my shoulder and left the house. The least I could do was see if Lizzie would welcome me for a few days or not. From the Epilogue: I saw the tiredness come to Aunt Pearl’s face and didn’t ask her any more questions. I’d been told hundreds of stories by dozens of family members as well as non-family members. Aunt Pearl was right. My favorite words when I was growing up were, “Tell me a story.” Most everyone willingly obliged. Some people would be slow getting started, but once they got their story telling ability warmed up, they would hold me captive for hours. Pearl’s story has taken me many years to write. Pearl died less than a year after I’d gone to see her with my trusty tape recorder in hand. Much to my regret, she told me what was true. I’d waited a little too long to tape her stories, but I could still replay those stories in my head. Most of the stories I remember came from Lizzie. Once she started talking she continued talking even when there was no one left in the room to listen. I’ve done my best to connect some of the stories I’ve been told together in order to make this book possible. These stories hold a lot of truth, but I want the readers to realize that I’ve taken an author’s liberty in order to fit each story together into what I hope to be both entertaining and insightful. Therefore, I’ve written this book as fiction. There’s no way I could possibly know what people were thinking long before I was born. No way I can second-guess exactly what happened and why it happened, no way I can claim this book to be non-fiction although it is based on real happenings.