But as she encounters the people who make Last Chance their home, it’s her heart that is flashing bright red warning lights. These people are entirely too nice, too accommodating, and too interested in her personal life for Lainie’s comfort-especially since she’s on the run and hoping to slip away unnoticed.Yet in spite of herself, Lainie finds that she is increasingly drawn in to the dramas of small town life. An old church lady who always has room for a stranger. A handsome bartender with a secret life. A single mom running her diner and worrying over her teenage son. Could Lainie actually make a life in this little hick town? Or will the past catch up to her even here in the middle of nowhere?Cathleen Armstrong pens a debut novel filled with complex, lovable characters making their way through life and relationships the best they can. Her evocative descriptions, observational humor, and talent at rendering romantic scenes will earn her many fans.

    It's not that he's a recluse; he hides to avoid rumors and throngs of teen girls throwing themselves at him because of his fame. When his team of friends is assigned a job at a new school, it's his one chance to finally be just Victor; not a local celebrity, or that guy whose parents have a huge house and lots of money. He wants to be normal, to be able to blend in and not worry about what everyone else is thinking or what they may want from him.Things change when he meets Sang Sorenson. She's beautiful and clever, though she hides her intelligence behind a veil of shyness and insecurity. But with just a look, she makes him say the stupidest things.Only things are wrong in her world. She's hiding something dark and terrible, the evidence of it in her haunted eyes. He barely knows her, but he'd give everything to help and protect her. Whatever it takes to keep her safe, he's in.

    But nothing was ordinary about the day she met ten-year-old Nick Anderson, a boy from the wrong side of town. Armed with only a tin of bee balm and steely determination, Alix treats the raw evidence of a recent beating that mars his back, an act that changes both of their lives forever.Through childhood disasters and teenage woes they cling together as friendship turns to love. The future looks rosy until the fateful night when Frank Anderson, Nick's abusive father, is shot to death in his filthy trailer.Suddenly, Nick is gone—leaving Alix alone, confused and pregnant. For the next fifteen years she wrestles with the pain of Nick's abandonment, a bad marriage, her family and friends. But finally, she's starting to get her life back together. Her divorce is almost final, her business is booming, and she's content if not happy—until the day she looks up and sees Nick standing across the counter. He's back…and he's not alone.Once again Alix is plunged into turmoil and pain as Nick tries to win her love, something she resists with all her strength. Only one thing might break the protective wall she's built around her emotions—the truth about Frank Anderson's death. But when that truth comes out and those walls crumble, neither Alix nor Nick is prepared for the emotional explosion that could destroy as well as heal.

    Even at the age of eight, she was everything I wasn’t: brave, bold, and beautiful. The night of my college graduation party, I finally made my move, but Piper only had eyes for one man—my younger brother. With a battered heart, I left for Vegas, determined to put her behind me. But eight years later, fate proved once again that it had never cared about my plans. Now, I’m back home, and determined not to fall into the same trap I spent the majority of my adolescence trying to escape. But when Piper finds herself at the risk of losing her medical license, I realize just how far I’m willing to go to protect her. I was twelve when Piper Kelley became mine. It’s time I let her know.