The last thing he wants to do is fly to Chicago for a bachelor auction. But, how can he refuse to help the woman who nurtured him after his mother abandoned him when he was a toddler? Going back to the site of his deepest wounds is where he’ll meet his destiny, Daphne Turner. Adrian is disappointed when Daphne slips through his fingers after losing the bid to an old flame from his past. Reeling from the death of her uncle, Daphne accepts her best friend’s offer to attend a fundraiser in the windy city. Good cause or not, the idea of spending hard-earned money on a date is ludicrous. That is, until she locks eyes with ruggedly-handsome bachelor number twelve. Unfortunately, the night doesn't end as Daphne hoped. In the company of a sexy stranger to chase her blues away. Fate intervenes when Adrian and Daphne’s paths intertwine. However, Adrian's past threatens to rob them of a life of happiness. Will Daphne's love be enough to heal his wounded soul?

    

    Soon after, Abby and her mother find themselves out on the streets in the bitter cold. But the heartache has only begun, and each Christmas brings cruel twists of fate that change Abby's life forever. The factory job Abby thought would save her sends her running for her life. When she can run no more and collapses on the street, she is taken in by Lucas, a man she wants to trust but can't. She accepts the job he offers, buying time until she can escape. But freedom costs Abby many things, and her heart cannot stop thinking of Lucas. As Abby accepts her hopeless plight in life, Christmas approaches, a time of deep sadness for Abby. But an unexpected meeting brings hope to Abby, if only briefly. Can Abby find happiness amidst all the sorrow in her life? What has become of Lucas, the only man who showed kindness to her?

    But heartbreak awaits among the tidy gardens and green lawns and soon seventeen-year-old Alison is forced to take on responsibility for her out-of-work father and brothers and put her own ambitions aside.Love as well as loss threatens Alison’s future, however, and leads her into a relationship with teacher Jim Abbott, an affair which her brothers, even the brooding Henry, are powerless to understand, let alone prevent. Throughout the Depression years of the early 30s, the Burnsides – united by a shared heritage yet divided by their dreams – square up to the challenge of poverty and fight to hold the family together, whatever the cost.

    From Dakota’s Black Hills to the gold and diamond fields of Southern Africa, Jim O’Rourke and his daughter, Kathleen step from the sailing ship Eudora and take their covered wagon deep inside a vast and ancient wilderness. The land is raw-boned and unforgiving – the men and women who search its heart for wealth, love and adventure, even more so. Smoke from a thousand fires clung to a broken landscape and towering above it, churned from a vast and open wound in the earth’s crust, were those billowing clouds of powdered Kimberlite; as yellow, ochrous fingers they reached upwards for over a thousand feet, deep inside the heart of that darksome Colesberg sky.

    (Short story)"Everybody in the little town of Emery knew who Kinardley was. The few times they would unchain him from the tree for a little exercise; he would take off and be gone for days. During the time he was gone he would get into fights, flirt with the girl dogs and get into people's garbage."

    This historical tale has been unread for three millennia and so shakes the rabbi's faith that he kills to keep the object and the tale it tells to himself. So begins a quest to find the real Mount Sinai and a treasure buried within the Mountain of God. The treasure hunt engages the skills of a charming, beautiful but conniving Los Angeles realtor; her lover, an LAPD detective; a young and adventurous Silicon Valley billionaire; and a Harvard Egyptologist. SEEKING SINAI tests the limits of more than one man’s faith and becomes entangled in Middle East turmoil and political intrigue. Uncovering Sinai’s treasures also a presents a conundrum. Finding them would be the greatest archeological discovery of all time; revealing them to the world could jeopardize the moral foundation of the world’s greatest religions. Author Barry Pollack weaves an adventure story that takes you from ancient Egypt to California to the modern Middle East and back again. It’s a journey that weaves Jewish philosophy with the politics of oil and water and the meaning and value of faith.

    She decides to swap the hectic streets of London for a slower pace of life in the sleepy Kent village of Cloverdale St Mary, but her move to the countryside runs into problems when she finds that her new home is haunted. Meadow Cottage is still home to the man who re-built it from a derelict ruin twenty years before, the ghost of Harry Black. Candice defies his attempts to force her to leave and they agree to share the idyllic village home. The question is can a mortal and a ghost live together?

    To the daughter he’d left many years before. After crossing the desert, at the Colorado River, he comes across a woman and her young grandson, survivors of a brutal stage robbery. He finds himself in a small mining town in Arizona territory, wearing the badge of a Deputy U.S. Marshal, being the arm of the law in the town, tracking down outlaws and uncovering a sinister plot based on deception and corruption. A plan to rob, kill and terrorize, in the interests of cleaning out the Broke Knife Mine once and for all. Taking the wealth, and leaving nothing but dust and dead men behind. Pete Cooper encounters men who are cold blooded killers. He encounters honest men who work hard for a living. He also encounters a refined woman who, in spite of his rough edges, falls in loves with him. ‘The Guns of the Broke Knife Mine’, is a tale of the west. There’s action, intrigue, adventure, and even a little romance. It’s a tale of good men overcoming evil, and in a few cases, men overcoming the evil that lives within themselves. Does he ever make it back to Kansas to see his daughter? You ask. Well, I reckon you’ll have to read it to find out. Saddle up pard.

    

    But it's time to get on with her life. Could a seductive Italian, a smooth-talking charmer or backpacking around Australia be the answer?Lisa feels she's always lived in her sister's shadow. Maybe now it's her turn for some fun, whatever the consequences. But will her drunken antics land Beth in trouble?And when it comes to the crunch, will one sister have to give up what she wants so the other can have what she needs?Another entertaining page-turner from the No.1 bestselling author of Doesn't Everyone Have a Secret? – where things, and people, are not always as they first appear!

    Sometimes it feels like we are all on a different planet earth. Sometimes we are!

    Perfect for fans of Marnie Riches and Martina Cole.WHEN YOU'VE LOST EVERYTHING, YOU'LL STOP AT NOTHINGBillie Carlson left the police force under a cloud. Once a promising young officer she now works as a private investigator, rooting out insurance scams and spying on cheating spouses.One morning a distraught young woman comes into her office saying that her baby has been stolen. Her story seems unbelievable, yet something about her makes Billie want to help - Billie knows what it's like to lose someone too.To get to the bottom of the case Billie must rattle some dangerous cages and rely on old police friends for inside help. Soon she discovers a network of crime deeper and far more twisted than she ever could have imagined. But is she in way over her head?

    His past life experiences have made him the man he is today. It was never glamorous but it was necessary. Forced to be the man of the house at a young age, East has always handled business and family before anything. Settling down with one woman, has never fit into the hierarchy of his needs. Joi loves hard and at times too much. Her loyalty has kept her in a relationship with a man who does not value her as he should, but with no evidence of any wrong doing, Joi cannot bring herself to leave. Having something at the end of the day is better than nothing and Joi only has gut feelings. Joi’s best friend, Nyelle is all about her son. After news of her long time boyfriend’s infidelities comes out in the worst way, she is no longer concerned with a relationship. Taking care of home and making sure her son is happy is her only focus. In Vega’s mind it will always be loyalty over anything. That mind frame caused him to lose three years of his life. Now that he is home, Vega’s way of thinking has changed. No longer concerned with the fast life, Vega is ready to try something different. Each of these four have their own insecurities and doubts that they have to work through in order to see what’s in front of them. Each guarded for their own reasons, they must decide if the potential benefits of a new relationship outweigh the risks. Will they decide to take that leap or will the past stand in the way of what could a beautiful future?

    Jim's only complaint is that Sally is too soft hearted for her own good, always at the beck and call of any neighbour, friend or even stranger. Sally, on the other hand, accuses Jim of being a soft touch for anyone after a drink or two at the Rising Sun. Both accept that neither will ever change and they love each other and their daughter Daisy deeply. Theirs is a close-knit family in a close-knit community where gossip - both good and bad - abounds and neighbour looks out for neighbour and friend for friend. And when Sally's generosity leads to an inheritance it should mean a change of life for the better, instead it brings danger and difficult choices for them all...