Bracing for Impact’s compilers and contributors know. They have both lived out that fear and survived, albeit badly hurt, in their own plane crashes.In this collection of true-life survivor tales, people from all walks of life—a freelance writer, a crew member of the Lynyrd Skynyrd band, a naval flight surgeon, a teenager, and a newlywed on her honeymoon, among others—recount their traumatic narrow escapes as engines stalled, fuel ran out, hazardous weather conditions descended, and landings did not go according to plan. In the face of death, as life flashed before their eyes—or not, as some wryly note—these survivors encountered the terrific split of before and after the crash. Their lives, though preserved, would change forever.Perhaps more significant than the crash itself is how each story plays out in the aftermath of the ordeal. In heart-wrenching, unrelenting honesty, these stories explore the wide spectrum of impacts on survivors—ranging from debilitating fear, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse, to a renewed sense of urgency, where survivors swear to live each day to the fullest and rededicate their lives to helping others.Including the 1977 story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash that killed lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and vocalist Cassie Gaines, Bracing for Impact is as much a horrific account of air disasters as it is a celebration and recognition of the people who survived them.Fans of the 2016 Clint Eastwood film Sully starring Tom Hanks will enjoy this edge-of-your-seat read!Features 45 black and white photographs of survivors and wreckages.

    When Doc, their mentor, went missing, the five teenaged heroes did their best to make the world a better place, stumbling from adventure to adventure without an overall strategy.The general public seems to be cheering them on, but a shadowy government agency lurking in the background, wants to round them up and force them to play by their rules. And they aren't going to take no for an answer — even if it means making an example of the young heroes. Meanwhile, a bigger threat, an escaped experiment who spreads sickness wherever he goes, is working his way toward the City to meet the Indestructibles head on, blaming them for what he has become. With Doc Silence gone, Fury apparently missing, and the Dancer slipping away into her own silent brand of vigilanteism, will Solar be able to hold her team together in the face of this looming threat? And who is the mysterious, neon-pink haired stranger who keeps appearing and then disappearing like an illusion on the Indestructibles' flying base? The Indestructibles have become a national sensation — but will they survive the fame? Please tune into the sequel The Indestructibles: Breakout to find out for sure.

    Vishal setsout to catch the murderer, while dealing with the resurgence of anirresistible desire for Aditi that he had buried years ago.Vishal is a witty, hard drinking, tough private detective who doesn'tmind getting his hands dirty as he races against time to catch ameticulous killer. Seduced by Murder weaves a web of noir andsuspense that keeps the reader riveted and guessing till the end.

    She’s the girl that went astray. Can they find a place where they’ll both belong… together? Kylee Bauer’s high school classmates voted her most likely to succeed, not knowing that she would skip town with a bad boy, get hitched, and get pregnant—not necessarily in that order. Now she’s back and desperate for a second chance to get things right, all while ensuring her daughter makes better choices the first time around. Ron Kidd loved growing up in his small Virginia hometown so much that he never thought to leave it behind. Now he’s landed his dream role as principal of the same elementary school he attended as a boy. Some of the more seasoned staff, however, aren’t sure he’s up to the job and will do whatever it takes to make his days harder. When his old crush returns home as a single mom with a troubled kid in tow, Ron is sure he can help… even though he must swallow his feelings for Kylee to avoid losing his already shaky position as school principal. Unfortunately for him, this mini-matchmaker isn’t willing to give up on securing a happily ever after for her mom. Will Ron be willing to risk it all in the name of love? And what will Kylee do when her past comes calling? Will love be just out of reach? Find out in this fun, funny, and heartwarming tale of just how far one little girl will go to bring these two grown-ups together.

    Couldn't put it down""a lovely account of real achievement""very well written and funny""an honest and humorous book""really enjoyed following the One Day Ahead team around France"One Day Ahead: A Tour de France MisadventureIt didn't even seem like a good idea when first suggested so how did Richard Grady get hooked into a 5000 kilometre drive around France in a motorhome? Maybe it was the lure of the world's premiere cycle race - The Tour de France - or possibly the desire to help a friend that seduced him but somehow he found himself as a member of the backup team to four riders cycling the Tour route one day ahead of the professional racers.Driving hundreds of kilometres every day, performing a variety of mundane chores and dealing with the vagaries of his travelling companions all combined to create a three week journey he regretted from the start.In this hilarious account Richard relates the misadventures of the 'One Day Ahead' team as they battle with the challenge of cycling the 3,497 km Tour de France route and he and the stalwart Sara battle to give the riders the best possible chance of achieving their goal. Filled with amusing anecdotes and facts this is a fascinating insight into the Tour de France for avid fans and the general reader alike.‘One Day Ahead: A Tour de France Misadventure’ was written on the suggestion of his psychologist girlfriend/therapist(!) after Richard struggled for two years to get over the experience. Every book sold helps.Warning: Contains some moaning however this will not be harmful to your health."cracking read and has got me planning my own cycling adventures""a Tour de Force. I admire anyone who takes on a challenge like this""a humorous book with many a chuckle at the woes of the hard done by support team""Richard made you feel like you were actually there & thankful, given some of the situations they got into, that you weren't!""by far the best cycling related book I have read in the last few years. I really did not want it to end"

    Follow Mira's story as she faces life as a single mother, wrestles with the constant call of the ocean to her mermaid nature, and joins an all-male salvage team who is less than thrilled to have her. When my mother died, I ran to the ocean like a coward. Its cradle of salt puckered my memories and withered my sorrow like a grape drying in the sun. I had cheated grief and was foolish enough to think I had gotten away with it.When Nathan died, I couldn’t run away. No matter how much I flinched, bending toward the Atlantic the way ivy strains for rays of light, I could not leave. Grief was back to take what belonged to it for the time it was allotted. I had everything I wanted a few short years ago. My mate. My daughter. A home, a family. It made my head spin to think how much could change so suddenly. I mused, wondering later if I was the only mermaid to ever walk fully through the five stages of grief. But I had my daughter.Targa had yet to turn, the color and shape of her fins were yet to be revealed, but she would. I had been so sure of it then. Siren genes are passed from mother to daughter, without fail. Young legs melded into a shimmering virgin tail in response to a salty sea. But Targa didn’t turn in response to ocean water, not the first time, not any time after that. Something was wrong. I shoved my fear down deep into some dark corner where Targa would not see it and said with a smile that we’d just have to keep trying. I had turned at the age of three, but if there could be late-bloomers in the human race, why not ours too?Her fifth birthday came and went, still she hadn’t turned. Concern sent its barbs into me like a thistle, then it rooted and grew.Targa and I had weekly late night secret swims in the Atlantic, which had once been fun but were now polluted with expectation and suspense. Coaching sessions (my idea), where I attempted human psychology exercises I’d found in outdated textbooks at the library; guided visualization, breathing techniques, and even a failed go at hypnosis. The memory of her skinny little frame sitting in a bathtub containing more salt than water (Targa’s idea) is still enough to fill my eyes with moisture.I don’t know exactly when she lost hope, but she hid it expertly, patiently participating however I asked.I ignored the creeping thoughts that whispered in my mind; she didn’t even like water, didn’t really want to go for swim, couldn’t hear the ocean calling her. I would shove the thoughts away violently, excusing them as nothing but my own anxiety. It was ridiculous. A daughter of a mermaid who disliked the ocean. Impossible. When I muzzled those fears, I became aware of others of a different kind. Not my own, but hers, for me.She could see the want in my eyes. Whatever mechanism bees and dogs used to smell fear, Targa had it for despair. She could sense it on me, reeking like cheap perfume. Her eyes dipped in desperation, her obvious desire not to disappoint me sliced through me like a white-hot blade from heart to gut. She thought she was my tormentor. The realization struck like a hammer and gave me the strength to do what was needed: Let it go.The ocean could call. I’d let the smell of it crucify me, the sound of its waves crash against me, echo through me, call me, beg me.Targa’s need and my love for her was greater. If she never turned and I was locked in a land-cycle for the rest of our lives, so be it.So be it.

    With over 600 5* and 4* reviews – you can now buy the first three books in the series for the price of two! Somewhere to Hide (Book 1, The Estate)Cath Mason has learned to be tough. The things she’s seen growing up on the Mitchell Estate, she’s had to be. Yet, even broken and beaten by life at times, she’s still the first person a woman in need of help seeks out. At Cath’s house, there is safety in numbers as well as a place to hide. No matter what trouble comes to her door, she won’t turn anyone away – because she knows what it’s like to live with secrets. But now a problem from her past has come back to haunt her, and she’s the one faced with a dilemma. What should she do first – help or be helped – despite being unsure she’ll ever be ready to confront her own demons? With danger around every corner, can Cath protect herself as well as the women whose safety is her paramount concern? Or has the potential for revenge already gone a step too far? Behind a Closed Door (Book 2, The Estate)Working on the notorious Mitchell Estate, housing officer, Josie Mellor, faces challenges every day, but not nearly as many as those of her tenants. Kelly Winterton is scared and alone after her partner has been jailed. Charlotte Hatfield has fled from her violent partner four times already. He’ll probably kill her if he finds her this time. Disowned by her family, someone is taking advantage of Amy Cartwright’s vulnerability. Who can she turn to for support? But Josie has her own problems to deal with too. As her home life deteriorates and she struggles to escape her controlling husband, she realises only a thin line separates her from the people she’s trying to help. When deadly violence erupts, will both she and her tenants become victims that no one will see? Fighting for Survival (Book 3, The Estate)When Caren Williams finds herself back on the estate she fought so hard to get away from, little does she realise she'll be living opposite her arch-enemy, Gina Bradley. Gina Bradley thinks she and her family rule Stanley Avenue so when Caren starts to become popular, she decides to hit her where it will hurt the most – she wants her husband. Lonely and depressed, Ruth Millington finds it a constant struggle to get through the dark times. Spiralling out of control, maybe she should let Gina's husband help her out when he comes calling. Brawling in the street, fighting on the square and conforming to peer pressure – it all comes down to holding your nerve. But this time not everyone will survive the notorious Stanley Avenue...

    DI Andy Tregunna is faced with the task of leading the investigation, but soon personal matters force him to step back.On compassionate leave and with little else to do than fight his own demons the unsolved case becomes more and more an obsession to him. As he is drawn deeper into a dark world of secrets, lies and revenge, his private investigation collides with his personal life.The truth is even more sinister than can be imagined...

    It is a tragic accident and no one suspects foul play, certainly not Gretchen’s best friend from college, Jamie, who’s been named the late author’s literary executor.But there’s an unfinished manuscript Gretchen left behind that is much darker than Tammyland: a book ostensibly about male country musicians yet centred on a murder in Gretchen’s family that haunted her childhood. In its pages, Gretchen seems to be speaking to Jamie from beyond the grave—suggesting her death was no accident... and that Jamie must piece together the story someone would kill to keep untold.

    The police like the wife for the crime. The D.A. likes Robin as an accessory-after-the-fact. Robin, though she feels sympathy for the widow and her young son, likes running with her dog and hanging out with her teddy-bear boyfriend, but she is a young attorney in need of work. The case promises to be the case of her career right up to the moment when everything goes ballistic.

    But what really exists in the war-torn "Eastlands," where no one is allowed to venture? What horrors lurk in that post-nuclear wasteland?When Michael discovers he is telepathic, a man who lives on the other side visits him with an offer of a new life. This outlaw knows something about Michael – about the power growing in his brain, which makes him unique and dangerous, and why certain triggers cause Michael to cry blood and lose control, causing death on a mass scale.To learn the truth about the experiment that created him – and stop a terrifying telepathic army on the brink of being unleashed – Michael must cross to the other side and join a community of freaks and rebels who don’t trust him, some of whom will stop at nothing to make him disappear.Will he tame his power and became an Ascendant? Or fuel it with hatred and become a Bloodcrier?

    When a flying saucer crashes into his fishing hole, Jimmy tries to use the stranded survivors to jump-start his TV career. This first contact isn't accidental though. The Galactic Pool's saddest excuse for a politician has committed sabotage while plotting to rule Earth. And he's about to find out what happens when you mess with Earthlings.*81,000 words with a courteous 0.0149% F-word rate*There are sex scenes, but they are strictly telepathic. (sorry)

    Her closest friend, Megan, is very different; somehow she swims through the chaos of her family with ease, the clutter on the stairs, the cat footprints on the kitchen work space. And while they could not be more different, Beth and Megan have a genuine friendship built on years of laugher, tears and true understanding of each other's strengths and weaknesses. Because that's what friends do, isn't it?But when Beth's daughter reveals a surprising secret, a wedge is driven between Beth and Megan. What begins as mild recrimination and misunderstanding develops into a full-blown row and then a simmering feud. As the two women square up to do battle in the London suburbs, there's everything to play for. All's fair in love and war...With her wisdom, insight and wicked humour, Fanny Blake shines a light on to female friendships, in this delicious tale of two so-called best friends.

    But six years after their wedding, they learned that Elliot, only 55, had pancreatic cancer - and would be lucky to live for a year or two.With a journalist's eye for intimate detail, Leslie shows how they made the very most of the time they had left together. Told with heart, humor and compelling immediacy, The Last Kiss is a love story about the life-affirming power of a passionate marriage, the importance of loyal friends, and the resilience of children growing up through one of life's harshest trials.This is the most important story she has ever told.

    His newest creation, Starr, proves to be as wild as the animals that inhabit Terra. There's no controlling her. To make matters worse, she hates Deus. So what's the one boy in the universe to do when the one girl in the universe loathes him? The only illogical thing to do. He falls in love.