After her mama's death, the disfigurement symbolizes her pa's rejection and his selfish decision to abandon her in a rugged cabin on the mountain. His rejection and her scars convince Ella Dessa she'll never be worthy of love. When two brothers show concern for her safety and urge her to leave the cabin, she finds herself thrilled. But she's even more self-conscious of her blemishes. At the foot of the mountain, in Beckler's Cove, Ella Dessa finds shelter. She moves in with a pregnant woman whose gold-seeking husband has abandoned her. The overburdened woman needs help with her household of five children, and Ella Dessa is eager to repay her for a place of shelter. She finds afternoon work at the only store in the cove and jumps at the chance to attend school. God's grace brings friendship, even love. But will Ella Dessa ever be cherished for the inner beauty blossoming beneath her scars? Written for the General Market (G) (I): Contains little or no; sexual dialogue or situations, violence, or strong language. May also contain some content of an inspirational/religious nature. Similar women’s fiction novels in this genre may be categorized as: women’s fiction, inspirational women’s fiction, christian fiction, and clean, wholesome women’s fiction.

    And when a vicious migraine sends her to a saggy hotel bed and him to the marketing conference in her place, she is first relieved and then thankful.Weeks later, upon discovering she’s pregnant, Claire has no reason for concern. With the help of genetic counselors and fertility specialists, she and her college-sweetheart husband, Tim, have been striving for a sibling for their ten-year-old daughter, Ally. And now they have one: a precious baby boy they name Owen.But all is not well, and soon Claire begins spotting alarming quirks in Owen’s behavior that suggest he may be stricken with Batten Disease, the terminal illness that took her brother, Ricky, back in nineteen seventy-nine. If Claire is right and Owen is sick, other disturbing things may also be true. Things like: Claire has been raped; Owen is not Tim’s son; and Owen is going to die. As events unfold, Claire finds herself confronting unthinkable choices, the consequences of which could jeopardize her career, her marriage, and even her freedom.

    Healthy living, working his Pennsylvania farm, and mentoring troubled boys have brought him back from grief and illness into a whole new life. Emily Stern has recovered from losing her husband too young, and she can’t wait to get started on her dream: creating a rural retreat for struggling midlife women. The farm she’s inherited is the perfect place, so much so that she’s willing to move across the country to make it happen. But when Emily arrives at the Covenant Farm, she’s shocked to find her long-ago love, John Moretti, living there… and contemplating very different plans for the place. Forced to compromise by staying at the farm together, they quickly realize there’s still a spark between them. But only John knows what else stands between them: a secret that could break Emily’s heart. Jump into the final novella of the Sacred Bond series… a touching love story about sowing, reaping, and gathering in the harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. John 4:36

    Was her death the result of alcohol and drugs or something more sinister? Nobody knows: her body was never recovered. Now years later, a woman reads in disbelief the note addressed to her: Hello Grace, did you think we wouldn t find you? Those nine chilling words end Grafton s self-imposed sanctuary of witness protection. Now she and everyone she loves are in grave danger. Long believed dead, she has a secret that can change the world. She knows the man running for president is guilty of a double murder! But who will believe her?

    She packs up the kids and moves back to her hometown to escape the fallout. Trouble is – her problems don’t stay behind in California, but follow her all the way to Omaha, Nebraska. The FBI is tracking her every move, hoping she’ll lead them to her fugitive husband, while evil men threaten her family’s safety if she doesn’t give them what they want. Agent Samson Sinclair is assigned to keep an eye on Ivy. He is her only ally against threats and suspicions that come from every side. But can he keep their relationship professional when he finds himself falling for the woman he’s supposed to be protecting? Ivy’s attempt to assemble the broken pieces of her life may prove harder than she anticipated. Especially on her own. When the past intrudes on the present Ivy is forced to deal with why she ran from God in the first place and whether faith, once lost, can ever really be found again.

    Now her voice is failing, forcing her to find a new dream just as the secrets of her past come knocking at the door. Long-time friend Andrew Grant agrees to partner in a new business venture—but would he stick around if he knew her whole story? After the tragic loss of her father, twenty-one-year-old Ellie Evans headed to Nashville seeking more than just fame. For two years, she’s waitressed, strummed, and sung her way to what may finally be her big break when Olivia offers to sign her to the budding record label. More than anything, Ellie just wants to be seen: by her future fans, by Nick Perry—a fellow musician with a killer smile and kind eyes—and above all else, by the mother who abandoned her. If the spotlight never shines on her, will Ellie ever feel whole? One More Song to Sing is a romantic drama about the power of forgiveness, second chances, and a God who never fails to see us.

    In the aftermath of the fire, the town of Hinckley rises from the ashes, its people determined to rebuild their lives.But in the shadows, someone is watching, someone is waiting, someone who knows the secrets the fire lay bare. A rumor spreads of a mysterious figure that haunts the hills; monster, a ghost, or a memory?

    How will these church families handle the sins of their past and the challenges that life is giving them?Stacy Wilmington is on her way to college when a devastating secret from her father’s past threatens to ruin her relationship with him and causes her to commit a sin of her own. In hiding his past for so long, will Stacy’s father lose the two most important people in his life — his wife and his daughter?Terrence Montague, a man committed to providing for his wife, Stella, and daughter, Monica, finds himself caught up in an illegal drug delivering business that he knows is against the law and against his Christian convictions. Will he choose to love God and be true to his family over loving money?Meanwhile, the new assistant pastor of New Mt. Zion Missionary Evangelical Church, Dwayne Reynolds, believes he has left his past behind…only to discover that it has found him again. Will he choose to face it head on or hide it from the congregation that has come to love and trust his family? In the middle of all this drama, is Reynolds’ son, Jonathan, and Montague’s daughter, Monica. What does the future hold for them?

    They're wrong.Colom had the perfect childhood, the much-loved only child of a church pastor. Yet he wakes screaming from dreams in which his sister is drowning and he can't save her.Fiona turns to her husband, desperate to help their son. But David will not acknowledge that help is needed--and certainly not help from beyond the church.Then they find the suicide pledge.Fiona, in panic, takes Colom and flees... but when will she acknowledge that the unnamed demons Colom faces might be of her and David's own creation?This beautifully written and searching novel by poet Gerard Kelly explores the toxicity of secrets, the nature of healing, and the ever-present power of rain.

     Booklist, Starred Review! Mae Demaray retreats from life after her young grandson dies accidentally while under her care. What was once a quiet life in an old clapboard house on a quiet Minneapolis street, rich with the hues of security and love, is now shattered. But a decades-old family secret, based on an unlikely friendship over the years, brings redemption and restoration once it is revealed.

    But it seems his old life isn't quite done with him yet when he's tasked with making one last kill. It's one that could get him everything he has ever wanted; a house, some land, cash in his pocket, a future for him and his girlfriend, Daniella. But this one isn't like all the others. This one comes at a much higher price.The Darkest Heart is a journey through the shadowy heart of Brazil and the even darker mind of a killer, where fear is a death sentence and the only chance of survival might mean abandoning the only good thing you've ever known.

    We are to incarnate Christ in our time, being conscious of the presence and power of God within us in all of our thoughts and actions. This is what pastor Steve Long wants his congregation to understand. When Long challenges his prominent but self-satisfied congregation to become a living force for Christ in their small North Georgia town, he is blindsided by personal trials. Responding to Christ’s command “As the Father has sent me, so I send you,” Pastor Long tackles these difficult situations—and more—over a tumultuous week of trials and testing and ultimately learns (as he leads) what it means to walk In His Place.

     When a close friend is murdered in her NYC apartment, Violet Jackson fears the worst—her childhood stalker has returned. But there’s no evidence she had a stalker, then or now, and no one believes her. Plagued by panic attacks, Violet returns to her mother’s country estate in Hunters Ridge, a quiet Amish community, where she had found her center years earlier. Bad boy Theo Cooper got the discipline he needed in the army and a dose of reality when his dad got sick. Now, back in Hunters Ridge, he’s running the family’s lumberyard and stepping up to be a father to his young son. When Violet shows up in Hunters Ridge, Theo can’t believe his good fortune. He always regretted how their budding romance in high school—however unlikely—had imploded the night of senior prom. But Violet’s not interested in romance. She’s determined to get over her anxiety and return to her life in New York. When Violet becomes the target of an apparent stalker, Theo’s protective instincts make him determined to defend the woman he’s beginning to love, even if it means risking the life he’s built in Hunters Ridge—and his carefully guarded heart.

    Alone and unclaimed. Despite her shattered memories, she's made a quiet life for herself as museum curator. But then the blackouts start. Lost time, stranded in terrifying danger, frantic visions that can't be real. And now Kallie's journal has morphed into something else... What began as a romantic fairy tale becomes the tale of a woman plunged into crisis in the ancient misty islands of Minoan Greece, home to myth and legend. When a mysterious billionaire invites Kallie to scour the black market with him for the most valuable of all Minoan treasures, Kallie can't resist. Dimitri is wealthy, charming and good-looking, but she's not interested--not in someone who's clearly hiding secrets of his own.Meanwhile, Kallie's memories are bleeding through and her journal has turned violent. She's teetering on the verge of a breakthrough, but what devastating truth has she been suppressing? ”Best book I've read in years. [Higley] is a master storyteller!”  ~ Recent Amazon Reviewer ********************************************************************************Click the Look Inside button above to read the first chapter... ********************************************************************************Romantic Suspense Novel Categories: > Romantic Suspense Adventure > Romantic Suspense HistoricalWith page-turning romantic suspense and evocative scenes set in exotic locales, Higley's novels transport readers into a romantic adventure they won't soon forget.

    She knew how. Mildred could breathe the word no to a second cup of ice cream. Could resist drinking too much champagne. But when it came right down to a friend needing a favor, she might say no first, but if someone really needed her—really needed her! —she always said yes. That’s how Mildred ended up with strangers camped out in her spare bedroom, helping her friend Fran to start a new business at the antique emporium, and walking around the empty church with a dust rag in her hand even though she hated to dust. She couldn’t say no to dust for long either. The only real no Mildred had said in recent history was to a man who loved her. Hugh wasn’t the first man to pursue her. But he was the most recent. And she had been flattered but not interested—not in the way he wanted her to be interested. Hugh didn’t give up right away. He lodged himself near her at church. Found her in the church kitchen after a fellowship supper to aid in the clean-up. And finally, her would-be lover had just asked her outright. That was the moment when Mildred had to say no. Until then Millie had been artfully dodging him. Only her best friend Fran understood. Fran said when Mildred finally felt the regretful effects of that no, “We’re all of us such fools.” But they aren’t fools. Mildred Budge and her friends are just people trying to live inside the faith released from heaven through the One who didn’t say no. This is the first novel in the series about Mildred Budge and her friends—just ordinary people trying to live out an extraordinary hope available to anyone who realizes what kind of help he or she really needs. That hope has a name, and Mildred Budge knows it. Need hope? Need a friend. Mildred Budge is a very good friend. If you like spending time with people who are just ordinary but extraordinarily hopeful, then you’ll love this story. Get a copy of this first novel in the series and find out for yourself what church ladies really think. About the author: Daphne Simpkins is an Alabama writer who writes about a variety of subjects and often on the secret lives of church ladies. Befriend her on Facebook, Twitter, or Linkedin.com.