Book picks similar to
Inshallah by Sybil Powell
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Kissing the Canvas
Billy London - 2014
There’s just one small issue. If he can’t find a solution to his current visa situation, he’ll be out of the UK and ducking and weaving with government standard silver bracelets on his wrists. The pressures of his father’s greed and the anxiety of a past that continues to knock him down, steadily wear on him until chance leads him to green fingered, sarcastic mouthed, Liliana Asare who offers the light of a reprieve. Coming to an arrangement of mutual exchange, they both get what they want. Pasha gets to stay in the country and Liliana gets the financing for her florist shop. The whole scenario is perfect enough to list. Woman willing to marry him so he doesn't end up deported and she doesn't end up losing her livelihood? Check. Avaricious father satisfied? Check. Falling in love with his fake wife? Wait, that’s not on the list...
A Lady of Good Family
Jeanne Mackin - 2015
How this highborn woman with unconventional views escapes the dictates of society to become the most celebrated female landscape designer in the country is the story of her unique determination to create beauty and serenity while remaining true to herself. Beatrix’s journey begins at the age of twenty-three in the Borghese Gardens of Rome, where she meets beguiling Amerigo Massimo, an Italian gentleman of sensitivity and charm—a man unlike any she has known before....
MILF
Pepper Pace - 2014
For months they have been working on a work project that must be completed in less than 72-hours. When an unexpected problem arises the two are forced to undertake an all-nighter. Now, away from the conformity of the workplace, what will happen when a forty-two year old woman finds herself the unexpected focus of a twenty-five year old man’s attraction? And what lengths has Jon gone through in order to make sure it happens …
Who Will Hear Me When I Cry (Tucker, #5)
David Johnson - 2015
He provides the majority of care for his younger siblings and for his mother who is sick with cancer. His stepfather stays gone for days and weeks on drinking binges, only to come home to take out his anger and frustration on his family. This family’s nomadic life brings them to the house that Ella used to live in beside Tucker. Tucker sets her sites on the evil stepfather, while April, who has returned home with her own complications to live with Tucker, identifies with Benjamin’s struggles with being teased and bullied and decides she can help save him from self-destructing.This is a story of simple people engaged in heroic acts, the kinds of acts that change people’s lives.
How to Eat a Cupcake
Meg Donohue - 2012
Clair come from two different worlds. Yet, as the daughter of the St. Clair’s housekeeper, Annie grew up in Julia’s San Francisco mansion and they forged a bond that only two little girls who know nothing of class differences and scholarships could—until a life-altering betrayal destroyed their friendship.A decade later, Annie is now a talented, if underpaid, pastry chef who bakes to fill the void left in her heart by her mother’s death. Julia, a successful businesswoman, is tormented by a painful secret that could jeopardize her engagement to the man she loves. When a chance reunion prompts the unlikely duo to open a cupcakery, they must overcome past hurts and a mysterious saboteur or risk losing their fledgling business and any chance of healing their fractured friendship.
The Second Life of Amy Archer
R.S. Pateman - 2013
Her body was never found and the lives of her parents, Beth and Brian, were torn apart.On the tenth anniversary of the disappearance, Beth is alone, still struggling with the enormity of her grief and the horror of not knowing the fate of her only child. But the fear and confusion have only just begun, and Beth's world is turned upside down when a stranger knocks on her door, claiming to know what happened to Amy.Beth is introduced to a little girl who is the uncanny double of her missing daughter, who knows things that only Amy would remember; the name of her favourite toy, the place where she scratched her initials, what Beth likes for breakfast. But this can't be Amy, she hasn't aged a day...Now Beth is forced to question everything she has ever believed in, and push her faith and her sanity to the limits, if she is to find out the truth about what happened to Amy.
Yours
Tia Kelly - 2013
Javier Fernández felt like a man against the world until Teresa invited him into hers. For this love affair… one night might not be long enough.Yours is a romantic short story.
Ant Farm and Other Desperate Situations
Simon Rich - 2005
Armed with a sharp eye for the absurd and an overwhelming sense of doom, Rich explores the ridiculousness of our everyday lives. The world, he concludes, is a hopelessly terrifying place–with endless comic potential.–If your girlfriend gives you some “love coupons” and then breaks up with you, are the coupons still valid?–What kind of performance pressure does an endangered male panda feel when his captors bring the last remaining female panda to his cage?–If murderers can get into heaven by accepting Jesus, just how awkward is it when they run into their victims?Join Simon Rich as he explores the extraordinary and hilarious desperation that resides in ordinary life, from cradle to grave."Hilarious." -John Stewart
The Housemaid's Daughter
Barbara Mutch - 2010
Isolated and estranged in a small town in the harsh Karoo desert, her only real companions are her diary and her housemaid, and later the housemaid's daughter, Ada. When Ada is born, Cathleen recognizes in her someone she can love and respond to in a way that she cannot with her own family.Under Cathleen's tutelage, Ada grows into an accomplished pianist and a reader who cannot resist turning the pages of the diary, discovering the secrets Cathleen sought to hide. As they grow closer, Ada sees new possibilities in front of her—a new horizon. But in one night, everything changes, and Cathleen comes home from a trip to find that Ada has disappeared, scorned by her own community. Cathleen must make a choice: should she conform to society, or search for the girl who has become closer to her than her own daughter?Set against the backdrop of a beautiful, yet divided land, The Housemaid's Daughter is a startling and thought-provoking novel that intricately portrays the drama and heartbreak of two women who rise above cruelty to find love, hope, and redemption.
Enoch
Alton Gansky - 2008
But nothing in their training has prepared them for what they are about to encounter...A contemporary novel dealing with real spiritual warfare issues, "Enoch" will take you on a mind-bending, fast-paced journey through a story of good versus evil.
The Christmas Bus
Melody Carlson - 2006
The mayor plays Santa, every business is holiday themed, and there's a nativity for the kids each Christmas Eve. This town knows Christmas. But this year nothing goes according to plan.
When It Rained at Hembry Castle
Meredith Allard - 2021
When the 8th Earl of Staton dies, his eldest son, the unreliable Richard, inherits the title and the family’s home—Hembry Castle. The Earl's niece, the American-born Daphne, is intrigued by Edward Ellis, a rising author with a first-hand knowledge of Hembry Castle—from the servants’ hall. And Edward, though captivated by the lovely Daphne, has his own hurdles he must overcome. Can Richard come to terms with his title before bringing ruin on his family? Will Edward and Daphne find their way to each other despite the obstacles of life at Hembry Castle? When It Rained at Hembry Castle is a page-turning, romantic novel with vivid characters and an engrossing story that will keep you guessing until the end.
Secrets & Lies
Tia Sirrah - 2020
I always fall for the bad boys, the players, the men with "red flag" written all over their gorgeous faces. I should've learned my lesson after having my heart eviscerated into tiny, unrecognizable pieces. But no, not me. That would be way too simple, and my life is nothing but.Luca Fiore is Manhattan's Prince. He's sex in a suit personified, and he's also my stepbrother. I've moved back to New York, and he's offered me a place to crash until I find a place of my own. What could possibly go wrong?My subconscious screams, "EVERYTHING!"With his piercing gray eyes, sharp jaw, and dark hair, Luca makes me weak in the knees. And I would gladly get on my knees for him.Five years ago, I left home with a broken heart and a lifetime worth of sins. Now, I'm back with a naïve hope that I can make things right. How I expect to do that when I have no intention of confessing my sins remains to be seen. One thing is for sure. I have to stay away from the one person who was why I left home in the first place — the man who once called me his Achilles. His flower. His secret. His stepdaughter.I'm not the good girl in a love story. I don't deserve a happily ever after. I have secrets on top of secrets on top of secrets. I've sowed, and I've reaped, and something tells me karma isn't done with me yet.This is a BWWM contemporary romance novel. ***Warning: Contains mature subject matter. TRIGGER WARNINGS: rape, pregnancy-related issues
Provenance
Donna Drew Sawyer - 2015
Southern civility turns savage when Hank Whitaker’s dying words reveal the unimaginable. No one—not his socialite wife, Maggie, or young son, Lance—ever suspected the successful businessman, husband and father they loved, and thought they knew, was a black man passing for white. In 1931, in the segregated South, marriage between whites and blacks is illegal. Maggie faces jail for her crime of interracial marriage, but when Lance receives death threats to atone for his father’s betrayal, the family decides to flee the U.S. for freedom in racially and socially liberal society in Paris, France.Still grieving Hank’s death and fearful of their uncertain future as Europe marches toward war, Lance and Maggie mourn the lives they loved but lost. As they struggle to create new identities for themselves, they find a surprising community of artists and American expats that are on the same journey. In a new city, with new friends, new loves and exciting possibilities, they start to believe that it might be possible to change everything, even the past.Provenance is a sweeping historical saga about love, betrayal, tragedy, triumph, passion, privilege and the universal desire for acceptance—regardless of who you are or where you’re from.
Leave It to Claire
Tracey Bateman - 2006
Author and single mother Claire Everett is in for a rude awakening when she is forced to recuperate following an unexpected surgery and embarks on a six-step program designed to transform her life, her family, and her personal relationships, until she discovers that all she needs is God in her life