Book picks similar to
Wide Plank Porches by Laura Frances
southern
fiction
uplifting-feelgood
well-written
The Southern Belle Breakfast Club
Phyllis f. McManus - 2011
They called their little group "The Southern Belle Breakfast Club." They were able to face what life dished out to them as long as they stayed united as one. Sickness, death and even cheating husbands had been a challenge that they were able to overcome. Now, all this was about to change. They did not realize that one of them held a secret that would change their lives forever. Moments that are funny, moments that are sad, and moments that are awkward all come together to make for a heart warming story of these six women and their close bond of friendship.
A Million Miles From Home
Mike Dellosso - 2018
Ben and Annie Flurry have the perfect family, until an accident takes Annie's life and leaves their daughter severely injured. Now Ben struggles to come to terms with his own grief and guilt. As the past he tried to leave behind threatens all he holds dear, Ben makes the difficult decision to move back to his childhood home to seek the help of his mother — and the father he remembers as abusive and an alcoholic. His mother claims his father is a changed man, but Ben isn't so sure. Can he find the strength to be the dad and man his father never was? Or will the wounds of the past ruin Ben's chance to love again?
OLD HOUSE
Sharon Mierke - 2018
Who has not wondered about old houses as they passed by? Who was the builder? Did he take pride in his work? Were the inhabitants always happy or were there hard times? How many people passed through the doors? Old House is a story about one house. It is located in a fictitious valley in the state of Montana U.S.A. Through the course of one hundred years, these are the people who lived, laughed, loved, and cried as they called this old house their home. Each chapter in the book is a story in itself. It begins with the man who built the house in the late 1860s, and it continues with the people who found lodging and refuge in it - from a young man with a bounty on his head, an old man in search of gold, to a woman seeking protection.
Voices in the Night (The Haunting of Blackburn Manor, #2)
Blake Croft - 2020
The series is designed to be read in order, and you should read part 1 first (Strange Sanctuary). The complete series box set is also available —Blackburn Manor hides a terrifying and unnatural secret. Evil just got a new address…After months on the run from an abusive relationship, Linda Green is ready to slow down and start her life over again. Exhausted from ever-present fear and stress, she yearns for the peace that a fresh start can bring. A fresh start she hopes to find at Blackburn Manor.The lush green trees and serene nature surrounding the manor feel so calming to her frazzled soul that Linda is ready to take advantage of everything this peaceful oasis has to offer. No internet, no distractions. It’s perfect.Until she sees the faces in the window.Not one to believe much in the supernatural, Linda shrugs it off as just a feeling. But the longer she’s at the manor, the more the feeling of uneasiness grows. From the creepy old neighbor who watches her every move to the moving shadows and unexplained phone calls in the middle of the night, something is just not right.She can trust no one. Not even herself.As Linda begins to uncover the history of the place, she is sure that something strange is going on at Blackburn Manor. Something sinister that hides in the shadows, deep within walls cloaked with secrets.Something that will stop at nothing to keep those secrets hidden.The Haunting of Blackburn Manor is a chilling supernatural tale of what happens when a woman’s search for sanctuary turns into a desperate and terrifying attempt to save her own life. Evil truly has a new address...- Part One: Strange Sanctuary (released on March 4th);- Part Two: Voices in the Night (released on March 11th);- Part Three: Secrets in the Dark (released on March 18th);- Part Four: Legend and Lore (released on March 25th);- Part Five: A Call from the Beyond (released on April 1st);- Part Six: Ashes to Ashes (released on April 8th).Don’t miss the second installment of the Haunting of Blackburn Manor, a six-part series of suspense, supernatural horror and mystery.New to the series? Start with Strange Sanctuary, part One of The Haunting of Blackburn Manor.
The Secret Obituary Writer: What if obituaries told the truth?
Amy Martinsen - 2020
With information she receives at an anonymous email address, she produces mostly humorous, sometimes poignant, but always truthful obituaries that magically appear between sections A and B of the morning paper.When several cryptic emails question the official details of a man’s death, Lizzy elicits the help of handsome detective Jackson Clark. Together, they travel halfway around the world to search for answers . . . and maybe even find love along the way.With mystery, romance, and a hefty helping of humor, The Secret Obituary Writer will keep you entertained until the very last page.
Primeval Valley
Edward J. McFadden III - 2019
The town’s peace is shattered when a young boy is taken by a strange creature, and a distraught father goes on a desperate hunt only to uncover a valley that shouldn’t exist. A world where dinosaurs roam hunting prey. A world better left hidden.
Tiny Dancer
Patricia Hickman - 2000
Irish teen dancer Flannery Curry lives in this beautiful setting but feels stuck between two worlds—the one before her family’s tragic accident and the one that beckons her. While her self-identity has shifted drastically, her stepmother Vesta is intent on grooming her as a rising socialite among the community’s elite families. But out the Currys’ back door is a despised sunflower forest, a towering garden tended by an African American neighbor Flannery calls the “sunflower man.” Even though Vesta forbids any association with this man or his eclectic relatives and guests, Flannery discovers a secret photograph in her deceased sister’s keepsake box—a photo that implies Siobhan entertained a taboo relationship with the people beyond the sunflower forest.Now driven to know more about the taboo family Flannery has only watched from her bedroom window, she does the unthinkable and crosses into the sunflower forest. Now she is the one feasting and dancing under the alluring summer moon. To continue in her rebellion threatens to destroy her already fragile home life. But to remain in a state of blankness threatens her identity. How will she choose?Tiny Dancer is a story of survivor’s guilt and secrecy, a universal story of how humans find meaning in the midst of broken dreams.
Nullform 1
Dem Mikhailov - 2021
In this world, you have nothing — even your limbs are rented, and you'll have to pay up every day. In this world, you must complete tasks assigned to you by the System or be fined and stripped of everything, including your arms and legs. In this world, you're under unrelenting supervision. But in dark corners hidden from the System's watchful eye, violence, brutality, and lawlessness abound.In this world, you're assigned a number. You're a volitional Nullform. Now it's up to you to adapt to this reality and try to survive without ending up crippled. Just don't mess up, or you'll be wishing you were dead as you dig yourself deeper into an endless pit of debt. This world will not take pity on you. You'll have to work tirelessly to earn the right to live another day…Read the first book in a new series from the author who brought you Clan Dominance: The Sleepless Ones.An author who helped create the cult LitRPG genre.An author who never ceases to amaze!
Seeds of Hope
Debbie TremelDebbie Tremel - 2018
Hope can lie dormant in the tiniest of seeds. . .In the blink of an eye, Daniel’s world spirals out of control. He watches helplessly as the bodies of his father and friends are buried in stone. Those he loved would never know the breath of life again. In this overwhelming loss, he despairs. Was this the end of hope? The rest of his family and the others in their small alliance had already fled the destruction of society, headed for the northern wilderness. Can he possibly reach them on his own?Salvation can be found in the most unlikely place . . .If he does, will the wilderness be the sanctuary of which they dream? Are their skills good enough to survive in the wilds on their own? Will it be possible to survive the evils that emanate from the decaying world they left behind? And if they do, is it truly possible for something beautiful to grow from the damaged seeds of society?The heart is the doorway to any dream...Their journey is one filled with beauty and peril. Their dream; to create a better world, one in which future generations will live with peace, love and kindness. of society?
Mildred Budge in Cloverdale
Daphne Simpkins - 2014
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.
Carolina Moon Box Set, Books 1-3
Christy Barritt - 2019
As she’s about to flee back to Nashville, she finds a hidden journal belonging to her father. His words hint that his death was no accident.Small town mechanic Ryan Shields is the only one who seems to believe that Daleigh may be on to something. Her father trusted the man, but Daleigh’s instant attraction to Ryan scares her. She knows her life and career, however dwindling it might be, are back in Nashville and that her time in the sleepy North Carolina town is only temporary.As Daleigh and Ryan work to unravel the mystery, it becomes obvious that someone wants them dead. They must rely on each other—and on God—if they hope to make it home before the darkness swallows them whole.
Gone By Dark
Charity White can’t forget the horrific crime that happened ten years ago when she and her best friend, Andrea, spontaneously cut through the woods on their way home from high school. In the middle of their trek, a man abducted Andrea, who hasn’t been seen since.Since that fateful day, Charity has tried to outrun the memories and guilt of that one hasty decision. What if she and her friend hadn’t taken that shortcut? Why wasn’t Charity taken instead of Andrea? And why weren’t the police ever able to track down the bad guy?When Charity receives a mysterious letter that promises answers, she decides to face her worst nightmare. She returns home to North Carolina in search of closure and a touch of the peace that has eluded her for the past decade. With the help of her new neighbor, Police Officer Joshua Haven, Charity begins to track down mysterious clues. They soon discover that they must work together or both of them will be swallowed by the looming darkness.
Wait Until Dark
A woman grieving broken dreams. A man struggling to regain memories. A secret entrenched in folklore dating back two centuries.Antiquarian Felicity French has no clue the trouble she’s inviting in when she rescues a man outside her grandma’s old plantation house during a treacherous snowstorm. All she wants is to nurse her battered heart and wounded ego, as well as come to terms with her past. Now she’s stuck inside with a stranger sporting an old bullet wound and forgotten hours.Coast Guardsman Brody Joyner can't remember why he was out in such perilous weather, how he injured his head, or how a strange key got into his pocket. He also has no idea why his pint-sized savior has such a huge chip on her shoulder. He has no choice but to make the best of things until the storm passes.Brody and Felicity’s rocky start goes from tense to worse when danger closes in. Who else wants the mysterious key that somehow ended up in Brody’s pocket? Why? The unlikely duo quickly becomes entrenched in an adventure of a lifetime, one that could have ties to local folklore and Felicity’s ancestors. But sometimes the past leads to darkness . . . darkness that doesn’t wait for anyone.
Fringe Florida: Travels among Mud Boggers, Furries, Ufologists, Nudists, and Other Lovers of Unconventional Lifestyles
Lynn Waddell - 2013
If you’re looking for the outer orbits of America, come to Florida, and if you seek the Sunshine State’s funky-drumbeat fringe, you can do no better than Lynn Waddell.”—Tim Dorsey, New York Times best-selling author “Waddell takes readers to Florida’s wild side, where strippers, swingers, bikers, exotic animals, and carnies enjoy sun-kissed lives in America’s strangest state.”?Trevor Aaronson, author of The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI’s Manufactured War on Terrorism “Lynn Waddell’s riveting you-are-there reporting lives at the intersection where Florida’s wacky subcultures and seamy undersides meet up. When you read this book, make sure you’re standing over carpet—that way you won’t hurt your jaw from dropping it so many times.”—Craig Pittman, author of The Scent of Scandal: Greed, Betrayal, and the World’s Most Beautiful Orchid “A fast, fascinating read. Waddell delivers ten surprising subcultures you might not dare visit on your own.”?Lyn Millner, Florida Gulf Coast UniversityFlorida has a titillating underbelly that few tourists ever see. Beyond the theme parks and the beaches lies a periphery most residents know about but—out of decorum or discomfort?prefer not to discuss. In Fringe Florida, Lynn Waddell explores the exotic, sensational, and sometimes illicit worlds of the oddest state in the nation.Waddell takes the reader on a colorful journey to meet the most unconventional of Floridians in unbelievable and spectacular places. At Fetish Con, she befriends furries and pony girls. She travels to Cassadaga, the oldest active Spiritualist community in the South, where trained mediums converse with the dead, and to the Holy Land Experience theme park in Orlando, where one can eat a hot dog while watching a reenactment of the Crucifixion. She interviews the founder of the Leather & Lace Motorcycle Club, a Daytona Beach-area grandmother who hosts the club’s annual gathering, welcoming scores of lady bikers to camp out on the lawn of her subdivision home. At an Animal Amnesty Day outside Busch Gardens, Waddell meets exotic reptile owners who give up their beloved-but no-longer-manageable pets and others who vie to take home the cast-offs.If you’ve ever wanted to parade around on a pimped-out swamp buggy amidst a couple thousand beer-swigging mud boggers or fall asleep with a python hissing in your ear, been tempted to bring a Capuchin monkey in a stroller to a Little League game, or contemplated sitting on the beach waiting to be picked up by a UFO but couldn’t quite bring yourself to such extremes, Fringe Florida is for you.
Spooky Nook
Robert Swartwood - 2011
Spooky Nook is a 10,000-word "prequel of sorts" to The Calling, a supernatural thriller by Robert Swartwood.
The Silk Factory
Judith Allnatt - 2015
A beautiful, eerie story of love and memory. If you try to pick up the pieces, sometimes that's when they fall into place Rosie Milford inherits a house in an old silk factory after her mother's death and moves there with her young children. The discovery of a shocking truth about her own childhood, when she is already reeling from the breakup of her marriage, fills her with distrust and fearfulness. Then she starts seeing a strange child, wandering in the garden, who seems as lost as she is. In 1812, silk master Septimus Fowler has grand plans to keep his factory in step with the industrial revolution: he will plant mulberry trees, rear silkworms and import new mechanized looms. Orphan Beulah Fiddement works as a bobbin winder and has secrets that the master would go to any lengths to get. Caught up in a dark adult world of illicit love, rebellion and revenge, Beulah must put away her childhood and draw on all her spirit to protect those she loves. Beulah's story of guilt and bravery will echo down two centuries and change Rosie's life as she struggles to overcome the hand of her own past and find redemption.
The Secret of Everdon Manor: A modern Gothic (Everdon Series Book 1)
L.C. Kincaide - 2017
Almost immediately, she is drawn into the family’s dark and violent history and realizes that all is not as it first appeared. Wary guests, family secrets, and unexplained events leave her questioning what is real and what is illusion.What promised to be a fabulous weekend getaway at the family’s ancestral Georgian manor quickly devolves into a nightmare. Someone has an ulterior motive for keeping her trapped there, and by the time she discovers why, it may be too late.