It means someone in authority over you has decided that “coming in from the cold” is out of the question. It means you’d better run. Laynie Portland has masqueraded as Swedish citizen Linnéa Olander for close to two decades, the last seven years as the companion of Vassili Aleksandrovich Petroff, a reputable Russian scientist, former officer of the KGB and, at present, senior technology advisor to the Secretary of the Russian Federation’s Security Council. What Petroff doesn’t know is that, during her time as his woman, Laynie (Linnéa) has ferreted out and fed her handlers a treasure trove of political and technological intel. However, Petroff is a man with a pathological need to control every aspect of Laynie’s life. When Petroff’s jealous rages worsen, Laynie has had enough and petitions her agency to pull her out. She is told, however, that she is too well-placed to decommission; she is too valuable an asset where she is—and she fears that someone, someone in her chain of command, would rather risk her death under Petroff’s hand than lose the value and prestige her intel engenders. She is told, furthermore, that her request to withdraw poses a larger danger—because the abrupt departure of Linnéa Olander would trigger an avalanche of Russian suspicions, and those suspicions would extend to her company, Marstead International, the front for a joint U.S./NATO covert intelligence gathering venture. But Laynie is desperate: She knows how close to the edge she stands. She has acted the part of Linnéa Olander too long and her ability to maintain the façade she presents to Petroff is fragile at best. A single misstep could blow her cover. Faced with no viable alternative, Laynie runs. Petroff views Linnéa Olander’s disappearance as a personal affront. In his eyes, Linnéa’s disloyalty is the ultimate act of betrayal, and he swears to find and punish her. Simultaneously, Laynie’s Marstead superiors brand her as a rogue agent, a loose cannon who can no longer be trusted—and the “retirement package” they order for her includes a short walk off the deck of a ferry into the black, icy rollers of the Baltic Sea. How can Laynie escape both the Russians and her own agency—the very people she once trusted? Will no one help her? Or will the God in whom her sister Kari trusts extend his protection over her life? But why would he do that, Laynie asks herself, given the life I have lived?Laynie PortlandBook 1: Laynie Portland, Spy Rising—The PrequelBook 2: Laynie Portland, Retired SpyBook 3: Laynie Portland, Renegade Spy 12.02.2019Book 4: Laynie Portland, Spy Resurrected 06.02.2020

    Only one old man, Gypsy Deak, sticks by her, but Gypsy alone can’t raise a crew from the depleted population. In desperation, Alice turns to the only source of plentiful workers: the women of Melbourne. In a bold move, she and Gypsy empty a brothel, promising the escaped women a new life. Her all-woman (save one) crew put their backs and hearts into the voyage, but Alice finds training her sailors much harder than she expected. Her faith is tested to the limit. With a cargo to sell, angry brothel and tavern owners in pursuit, pirates to evade, and a mysterious stowaway, will the seafaring women of the Vera B. survive to tell the tale of this daring adventure?

    

    If she involves the authorities, the child will die ... and Judith's darkest secret to the world.Judith is teamed with a mysterious stranger with a carefully guarded secret of his own. But is Luke Becker an unwilling ally or an agent of the kidnapper? As Judith and Luke's mutual distrust wars against a growing attraction, the life of a small boy hangs in the balance. A boy unlike any other Judith has ever met.Eight-year-old Abel Palek will help Judith discover a faith and a life she has never imagined. But freeing him could cost her everything.Her career. Her reputation. And very possibly her life.

    Outnumbered eight to one, the Dutchman sits perched on a bench near Savage Peak, watching the fugitives as they ride out onto the open prairie. He adjusts the sights of his Remington No. 1 Rifle and waits as the first rider comes into range. When he stops shooting, three of her captors lay sprawled on the prairie...dead. After striking the first deadly blows, the Dutchman trails the group across South Pass through the unpredictable Wyoming springtime weather, like the fourth horseman of the apocalypse…and surely Hell goes with him.

    Although he is an Englischer Naomi can’t help the way she feels about Marcus. He’s generous and kind and makes her heart skip a beat every time he smiles in her direction. But her parents have no idea about Naomi’s infatuation with the Englischer. Instead, they are worried that she will become a spinster since at the age of twenty-four she is yet to start courting. They devise a plan to match Naomi and Elmer Fischer without her knowledge. Even as Naomi wades through uncertain waters while courted by Elmer and still in love with Marcus, she doesn’t notice Levi Hauptfleisch. As her best friend’s brother, Levi has always been there but Naomi’s has never taken a second look. When certain events take place that makes Naomi realize how brittle life can be and how quickly things can change, it’s time for her to look into her heart and face what she finds. Will Marcus be able to compete with the Amish boys vying for Naomi’s heart? Can Elmer make Naomi see that he is the better man? Will Levi always remain in the shadows? Find out in this clean Amish romance and let your heart be taken on a wild ride of romance, deceit, and loss.

    Jas’Mia thinks she has lost the love of her life, Bobby, to Shelby, the woman he has decided to marry. Jas’Mia seems to have lost everything, but soon blessings appear. Carlos is everything a woman could want in a Godly man. Money falls like rain and washes her struggles away but doing the right thing is not easy to do when wrong feels right. Can Jas’Mia walk with Christ if her steps are crooked?

    For three years she endured his neglect and forced poverty until her presence was requested by the high and mighty in-laws. To her shock, she learned some disturbing news that put her in a sticky situation. Living a long way from any family, she was forced to direct her own path taking her even farther from the security of loved ones. Just as she was about to plant roots, she heard from her absent husband with a threat to find her if she didn't return the money his parents paid her to disappear. Again she was uprooted and went even farther west into territory where it would be difficult to find her.

    Even though Quentin gave Chloe twenty million dollars to leave quietly, she longs for love and hopes that a move to Washington DC will expand her options to a new elite crowd. When Chloe meets ex-NFL star, Dustin McArthur, she thinks she's finally met the man of her dreams. He's sinfully handsome, lives in an exclusive neighborhood in Georgetown and knows how to show Chloe a great time, all while being the perfect gentleman. Chloe is sure she's struck the jackpot with Dustin, and hesitates to tell him about her past gold digger ways. But while Dustin seems like the whole package, there are a few chinks in his knight's armor. A wild past has left him with four children by four women, his finances are in disarray, and the A-list life he leads is merely smoke and mirrors provided by his NFL friends and Chi Kappa Psi Fraternity brothers. When Chloe and Dustin's secrets are revealed, will there be enough love to cover their multitude of sins? Or will Chloe's replacement fall short of the original? This is a novella.

    Growing up in a religiously strict home caused Dallas to do whatever it took to please her parents – even if that meant marrying her high school sweetheart, Seth, right after they graduated. Dallas and Seth had a genuine connection, but she didn’t think he was the man she was supposed to spend her life with. Still, she married him to make sure they didn’t have sex and start a family without making vows before God. After almost twelve years of hell on earth, Dallas is tired of the happily married First Lady façade that has been forced upon her. Just when she thinks she’s about to break free, tragedy strikes, and Seth’s evil deeds and enemies become her own. Silver lining? Ra Jake. When Ra Jake returns home, he has only two priorities – fix things with his ex, Cree, and successfully protect the Pastor’s wife. Under different circumstances, Ra would have turned down the job. Losing his last client has caused pain to plague Ra in a way that he never thought was possible. Had it not been for a favor being owed to an old friend, Ra would have never taken on the responsibility of guarding another human being’s life. Upon first meeting, Dallas and Ra would rather be anywhere than with each other. As time progresses, they create a genuine bond so deep it’s hard for anyone, Seth and Cree included, to be able to reach. But the old saying is… all good things must come to an end. Unfortunately, this rings true for Dallas and Ra, and they will have to fight for their hearts and their lives before Seth’s horrible decisions rob them of both.

     Now, she finds herself angry at God. She trusted Him and He took her only child. She prayed to Him and it seems as if He has turned His back on her. And if things could not get worse, hell keeps showing up at her door. What can she do, when she continually cries in the darkness but gets no answer? Where can she turn when it feels like her back is against the wall and there is no way out? Who can she depend on if God let her down? Questions Charlotte ponder when the memories snatch her from her sleep at 2:32AM. Questions that make her angry because to her, God has forsaken them.

    Political turmoil during the life of Jesus affected his ministry and caused him deep concern that he was not reaching the people with God’s message of love. Leaders in Palestine had been corrupted with Greek and Roman influence, causing a growing divide between the rich and the poor. Pharisees were fighting the trend by demanding a harsh adherence to Mosaic law laid down in Leviticus, which caused a greater burden on the poor, who could not follow the law of sacrifices for atonement. The people were desperately hoping for the messiah. After Herod Antipas had John the Baptist beheaded, Jesus knew of the real dangers he faced by those in power and by the Pharisees who saw thousands following him as a loss of their influence. After the second year of his ministry, Jesus knew that there were plots to have him killed. As a result, he shifted his ministry into areas away from Galilee and Judea, and he pleaded with people not to call him the messiah, the savior the people had been hoping for. The Last Shepherd is a story of how politics during the life and ministry of Jesus influenced his mission. But the gospels give only two of the events recorded in Luke 13:1–5. This novel records them all.

    See, the older we get the more that we’re supposed to recognize that God moves on his own time, but it gets hard. Honestly, I didn’t have a clue whatsoever that I would have to go through something in life so harsh as this. On the days that I felt lonely and like the walls were closing in on me, I just called on God. Some days I wake up in the morning and decide that I’m not praying anymore or I’m just tired. God would instantly tap me on the shoulder and whisper… “Just a little bit of faith, Annabelle. That’s all you need. Keep going.” “But God you said…” “Keep going, Annabelle.” Many nights I’ve cried in my prison cell while studying my Bible, tear drops blurring out my passage. I often wondered what my life would’ve been like if I wouldn’t have ever met him. I wondered what it would’ve been like if I wouldn’t have ever gone to that church. What it would’ve been like if my Mama would have never died and left me out here all alone? What it would’ve been like if I… Then God tapped me on my shoulder again, and I turned around looking for him. The small dark cell is where I was sitting as tears still poured from my eyes. I can still hear Him say. “Now imagine what it be like if you would have never accepted me as your Lord and savior. I know what I’m doing, Annabelle. I don’t make mistakes. Come here and let me show what I’m talking about…”

    I will wage war against these Christians, and I will emerge victorious. My name is Saul."St. Paul the Apostle is a towering biblical figure, but almost nothing is known about his early life as Saul of Tarsus.As death loomed over him at Mamertine Prison in Rome, under the watchful eye of his jailer and final follower Aurelius, he wrote: I will die tomorrow. In the morning, around sunrise.There are two things for which I am eminently grateful: That I have been permitted to have fought the good fight and finished the race marked out for me; and that I will not have to endure another winter in this place.Starting from that pivotal moment, blending historical fact with audacious creativity, the author of the award-winning I, Claudia propels us back through the life of the man who would become St. Paul. Her vividly imagined, well-founded tale of loss, transformation, and divine intervention will captivate believers and non-believers alike who yearn for the human truth and drama behind the scriptures. "I am convinced that Saul is a man for our times," explains Wilder, "primarily because he was interested in just one thing: truth."