Book picks similar to
Paige by Annette Lyon
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fiction
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Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties
Camille Pagán - 2018
Perpetually anxious, she’s also accumulated a list of semi-reasonable fears: falling air conditioners, the IRS, identity theft, skydiving, and airbag recalls. But never once did Maggie worry that her husband of nearly thirty years would leave her.On the day Adam walks out the door, everything that makes Maggie secure goes with him. Only then does she realize that while she’s been busy caring for everyone else, she’s become invisible to the world—and to herself.Maggie cautiously begins to rebuild her life with a trip to Rome, a new career, and even a rebound romance. But when a fresh crisis strikes and an uncertain future looms, she must decide: How much will she risk to remain the woman she’s just become?
Bread Alone
Judi Hendricks - 2001
Desperate for a change, she moves to Seattle, where she spends aimless hours at a local bakery sipping coffee and inhaling the sweet aromas of freshly-made bread. These visits bring back memories of the time she aprenticed at a French boulangerie, when her passion for bread-making nearly led her to leave college and become a baker.Once again, the desire to bake bread consumes her thoughts. When offered a position at the bake shop, Wyn quickly accepts, hoping that the baking will help her move on. But soon Wyn discovers that the making of bread—the kneading of the dough—possesses an unexpected and wondrous healing power—one that will ultimately renew her heart and her soul.
Such a Pretty Face
Cathy Lamb - 2010
Since that day, a new Stevie has emerged, one who walks without wheezing, plants a garden for self-therapy, and builds and paints fantastical wooden chairs. At thirty-five, Stevie is the one thing she never thought she'd be: thin.But for everything that's changed, some things remain the same. Stevie's shyness refuses to melt away. She still can't look her neighbors' gorgeous great-nephew in the eye. The Portland law office where she works remains utterly dysfunctional, as does her family—the aunt, uncle, and cousins who took her in when she was a child. To top it off, her once supportive best friend clearly resents her weight loss.By far the biggest challenge in Stevie's new life lies in figuring out how to define her new self. Collaborating with her cousins to plan her aunt and uncle's problematic fortieth anniversary party, Stevie starts to find some surprising answers—about who she is, who she wants to be, and how the old Stevie evolved in the first place. And with each revelation, she realizes the most important part of her transformation may not be what she's lost, but the courage and confidence she's gathering, day by day.As achingly honest as it is witty, Such A Pretty Face is a richly insightful novel of one woman's search for love, family, and acceptance, of the pain we all carry—and the wonders that can happen when we let it go at last.
Baptists at Our Barbecue
Robert Farrell Smith - 1996
Frustrated, and still single, Tartan makes a desperate bid to change his life and luck by accepting the first transfer that comes along at work. Fate lands him in a small town affectionately nicknamed Longwinded located deep in the mountains, somewhere in the American Southwest. Longwinded is home not only to some colorful personalities but also an equal number of Mormons and Baptists. Tartan's arrival breaks the tie and intensifies a feud that has existed for years between zealots on both sides of the argument. Suspicions really fly when someone hauls off half the double-wide trailer that has served as the Mormon's chapel. To make things worse, likely marriage prospects remain in short supply. Baptists at Our Barbecue is a story for people of all ages, a reminder that life is a barbecue to which God has invited all of us. Whom we sit by or pass the salt to is up to us. Bon appétit!
Throstleford
Susan Evans McCloud - 2008
Esther and her father, the local vicar, are the first to receive copies of the Book of Mormon. Both recognize truth in the book, but recoil from the challenges this knowledge brings. The new message affects the lives of other villagers as well: the Lutheran minister, the grocer, the stone mason, the local squire's son, the stable boy who finds a discarded Book of Mormon, and the innkeeper and his sons, who spearhead the opposition to this new faith. Faith, charm, and romance permeate this glimpse into nineteenth-century England and the early Church.
Midway To Heaven
Dean Hughes - 2003
Athletic, good-looking, musical, spiritual . . . nobody could be that good. Ned is sure there's something fishy about this boy his daughter seems so crazy about. He just has to find out what it is before it's too late. But how far will he go to prove his point, particularly when he keeps hearing the voice of his deceased wife questioning his every move? This lighthearted romp by bestselling author Dean Hughes is the perfect blend of romance, comedy, poignancy, and just plain fun! • The movie adaptation of Midway to Heaven is scheduled to be released on DVD in Spring 2011. • Dean Hughes is an award-winning and bestselling author of LDS fiction.
A Way Back To You
Emily Gray Clawson - 2013
Numbed by grief and overwhelmed by the responsibility of raising her three small children alone, she agrees to let them spend the weekend with a friend while she tries to get some much-needed rest at her parents’ home. But the next morning, Annabelle is suddenly sixteen again—and it just happens to be the worst day of her teenage years. As she relives the drama of high school life, Annabelle realizes that her future husband, Mitch, has just returned from a mission and is living on the other side of town. While getting Mitch’s attention is more complicated than she imagined, Annabelle discovers that she is stronger than she has been willing to admit, and there just might be a future for her after all.
Perennials
Julie Cantrell - 2017
But a garden shed fire and the burns suffered by one of her best friends seemed to change everything. Her older sister Bitsy blamed her for the fire—and no one spoke up on her behalf. Bitsy the cheerleader, Bitsy the homecoming queen, Bitsy married to a wealthy investor. And all the while, Lovey blamed for everything that goes wrong.At eighteen, Lovey turns down a marriage proposal, flees from Oxford and the expectations of attending Ole Miss, and instead goes to Arizona—the farthest thing from the South she can imagine. She becomes a successful advertising executive, a weekend yoga instructor, and seems to have it all together. But she's alone. And on her 45th birthday, she can't help but wonder what's wrong.When she gets a call from her father—still known to everyone as Chief from his Ole Miss football days—insisting that she come home three weeks early for her parents' 50th wedding anniversary celebration, she's at wits end. She's about to close the biggest contract of her career, the one that will secure her financial goals and set her up for retirement. But his words, "Family First," hit too close to home. Is there hope for her estranged relationship with Bitsy after all this time?Eva's journey home, to the memory garden her father has planned as an anniversary surprise for her mother, becomes one of discovering roots, and truth, and love, and what living perennially in spite of disappointments and tragedy really means. Eva thought she wanted to leave her family and the South far behind . . . but she's realizing she hasn't truly been herself the whole time she's been gone.
Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral
Kris Radish - 2006
Inside is a pair of red sneakers filled with ashes and a note that will forever change their lives. Katherine’s oldest and dearest friend, the irrepressible Annie Freeman, left one final request–a traveling funeral–and she wants the most important women in her life as “pallbearers.”From Sonoma to Manhattan, Katherine, Laura, Rebecca, Jill, and Marie will carry Annie’s ashes to the special places in her life. At every stop there’s a surprise encounter and a small miracle waiting, and as they whoop it up across the country, attracting interest wherever they go, they share their deepest secrets–tales of broken hearts and second chances, missed opportunities and new beginnings. And as they grieve over what they’ve lost, they discover how much is still possible if only they can unravel the secret Annie left them....
Happily Ever After
Susan May Warren - 2003
The only problem is, he isn't real.
Mona's dream is about to come true. With the help of her best friend, Liza, she's transforming an old Victorian house in the lovely lakeside town of Deep Haven into the Footstep of Heaven Bookstore and Coffee Shop. If only she could swing a hammer.Luckily for Mona, Joe Michaels—a handsome, mysterious handyman—agrees to help in exchange for rent in the apartment above her garage. But when disaster threatens her dream, Mona turns to her handyman for more than just household solutions and finds that some fairy tales have surprise endings. . . .
The Ball's in Her Court
Heather Justesen - 2009
As Denise's search leads her closer and closer to the one person she hoped she'd never have to face again, she begins to realize that her future depends on just one person--herself.This emotional and inspirational love story proves that life is full of unexpected twists and turns--especially when it comes to facing your demons, fighting for love, and finding happiness for the future.
The Christmas Sweater
Glenn Beck - 2008
We never wanted for anything, except maybe more time together....When Eddie was twelve years old, all he wanted for Christmas was a bike. Although his life had gotten harder -- and money tighter -- since his father died and the family bakery closed...Eddie dreamed that somehow his mother would find a way to have his dream bike gleaming beside their modest Christmas tree that magical morning.What he got from her instead was a sweater. "A stupid, handmade, ugly sweater" that young Eddie left in a crumpled ball in the corner of his room.Scarred deeply by the realization that kids don't always get what they want, and too young to understand that he already owned life's most valuable treasures, that Christmas morning was the beginning of Eddie's dark and painful journey on the road to manhood. It will take wrestling with himself, his faith, and his family -- and the guidance of a mysterious neighbor named Russell -- to help Eddie find his path through the storm clouds of life and finally see the real significance of that simple gift his mother had crafted by hand with love in her heart.Based on a deeply personal true story, The Christmas Sweater is a warm and poignant tale of family, faith and forgiveness that offers us a glimpse of our own lives -- while also making us question if we really know what's most important in them.
Dear Jane
Rachel Ward - 2016
But all of that changed when Quinn got a Dear Jane email. Now she's stuck at home with no boyfriend, no job, no major, and absolutely no social life. Will Quinn ever find the path that leads to her eternal happiness?
A Fresh Start in Fairhaven
Sharon Downing Jarvis - 2002
He's somehow pictured bishops as spiritual giants and inspired administrators, not as ordinary grocers with a pretty wife and three normal but rambunctious kids. Bishop Shepherd's immediate challenge is to bring together the diverse memberships of two wards that are being combined. In his new flock are Ida Lou Reams, the uncertain but warm-hearted relief Society president; Tashia Jones, an eleven-year-old black girl who comes alone to sacrament meeting; Roscoe Bainbridge, an older man dying of inoperable cancer; Ralph and Linda Jernigan, whose behavior would be humorous if it weren't so bizarre; and an assortment of other unforgettable characters, who all manage to find a place in Bishop Shepherd's heart.
Star Struck
Kathi Oram Peterson - 2016
Her movie-star status has led to some unpleasant interactions in the past, and even a few stalkers, but none has ever come close enough to her to seem dangerous—until now. When she receives a death threat on her personal cell phone, she is understandably shaken. Seizing the opportunity to take some time away from the limelight while the police investigate the phone call, Mercedes escapes to her remote cabin near Idaho’s Snake River. She knows it is the perfect place to lie low, but she doesn’t realize how low she’ll actually feel once she arrives. After days of suffering from a cold she just can’t shake, Mercedes visits the town physician, Luke Parker. The handsome doctor, a fan of the stunning celebrity, performs the necessary tests and is devastated at the unexpected diagnosis he must give her. Mercedes is sick—really sick. He knows she can handle crazy fans, but the news he has to give is another story. As Mercedes struggles to come to terms with her new future, she relies on Luke’s support. But neither imagines the disease is the only danger Mercedes is facing—because just out of view, someone is watching her and is determined to make good on their threat.