I can see it on your face."For a moment, time seemed suspended as Nathan probed the inward recesses of his soul. There was still the incredulousness, still the sense of hearing something that couldn't possibly be true. And yet he knew it was. He knew without the least shadow of doubt that everything Joseph was telling him was true. And so, finally, with a wonder of his own, he said, "Yes, Joseph, I believe you."Pillar of Light — the first volume in the series The Work and the Glory — begins the epic story of the Benjamin Steed family. In the 1820s they move from Vermont to Palmyra Township in upstate New York in search of better farmland. There they meet a young man named Joseph Smith and are thrown into the maelstrom of conflict and controversy that swirls around him. Did he really see the Father and the Son in a pillar of light? Has he truly been visited by angelic messengers? What is all this talk about gold plates and new scripture? In short, is he a prophet and seer or a monumental fraud? The answers each one gives to these questions — intensely personal, potentially divisive — will dramatically affect the lives of the Steeds forever after.Author Gerald N. Lund here masterfully weaves together historical reality and high-powered fiction. In his hands this combination seems to make the reader an eyewitness to the early scenes of the Restoration, thus deepening one's understanding and appreciation of those momentous events. The well-drawn plot and fictional characters present a moving, gripping story. Here are Benjamin and Mary Ann Steed, devoted to each other as man and wife, yet at odds over religion; Joshua, their volatile son, who rebels and heads for trouble; the sensitive Nathan, their second son, in whom Joseph Smith's message strikes a responsive chord; the beautiful Lydia McBride, who captures the hearts of both Joshua and Nathan.This book skillfully explores the inmost motivations of Joseph Smith and his early followers and the responses of typical contemporary families to the claims he made. These people come to life in this powerful historical novel, a story that captures both the heartache and the happiness that came in the wake of Joseph's experience with the pillar of light.

    Christine is a shy, unadventurous woman whose fiancee broke off the engagement only a week before the wedding, and Paul is a former emergency room doctor whose glamorous lifestyle, stellar reputation, and beautiful fiancee are cruelly snatched from him one fateful, snowy Christmas Eve. Deep in the Amazon jungle, against a backdrop of poverty and heartbreak, they must confront their deepest fears and, together, learn to trust and love again.

    An inheritance from her aunt gives her the ability to make those dreams come true. She hires Dane, a handsome contractor, to help her get the bakery up and running and soon they’re moving toward their own happy ending.Unsure what to charge for her cakes, Abby has a crazy idea to let the customers decide what they think their cake is worth. This plan has its ups and downs, but the novelty of the idea makes her a local celebrity. When she is interviewed on television about the unusual idea, business booms and Abby has cake adventures she never dreamed possible. But as her fame grows, Abby is swept up in a whirlwind that threatens everything she values. With the challenges that face her, will she be able to determine what is worth the most?

    In 1858, to earn money to join her married sisters in Utah and to escape an unscrupulous guardian, twenty-one-year-old Tamsin flees her Massachusetts town and becomes housekeeper for a mysterious bachelor.

    socialite would never walk away from the power and prestige of marrying a sitting U.S. Congressman—especially not to live in the high desert out west, would she? At least that’s what Taya Kaye hopes the corrupt elected officials from inside the Washington beltway assume. Faced with the choice of disappearing into the witness protection program, or into the high desert, Taya opts for Colorado color country and a world far removed from the glamour and hype of high society. It’s not so secret as secluded, and surprisingly, after what she’s been through at the hands of those in power, Taya is just fine with that. It’s peaceful and simple. Unpretentious. Safe. After all, what could possibly happen to her in the desert, where the smell of the sagebrush after the desert rain is like a drug? And who knew she’d discover the most masculine and intriguing man she’d ever met out in the middle of nowhere? Sometimes power has more to do with strength, than with politics.Praise for Jaclyn’s booksAmazingly wonderful! Adorably fun! Sweetly romantic!I so want more from this author! Shauna Wheelwright

    But when tragedy strikes, Athena realizes friendship and love is the only way she can pull through, and she must, for the first time in her life, risk opening her heart.The Newport Ladies Book Club series is unique in that each Newport book is written from the point of view of a different woman in the book club. The first 4 books cover the same time period and the same book club meetings. But only with reading all 4 books, will you learn the whole story of each of the women and her full character journey. Think of it as a parallel series, not as a forward-moving series.

    And he has deliberately avoided the Beehive State ever since his mother was murdered in Salt Lake City when he was eight years old. Ready at first to defy his orders from Washington, he resolves to stick around when he's attacked by a man with ties to his past. But this undercover assignment is unlike any Matt has encountered before. Not only must he find the bad guys, but he also must deal with eccentric roommates, a giant of a bishop who is also his boss, a boisterous ex-Marine who wants to engage Matthew in a public display of ultimate machismo, and a seventy-five-year-old woman named Permelia who wants to marry him. And these are small distractions compared to the beautiful Hope Winslow, a woman with mountains of hair who adopts him as a surrogate big brother. But before he can think about love, Matt has to get rid of a few terrorists, including his mother's killer--and his own inner demons.

    After leaving her high-profile fianc

    She leaves behind the woman her ex-husband wanted her to be and hopes to find herself in a new, foreign place, a place to heal. Determined to isolate herself from relationships and practically the rest of the world, Liz settles in a small farming community south of Salt Lake City. She is gradually drawn into the lives of her neighbors, most of whom are LDS. She discovers wounds heal better in warmth and acceptance of friends.

    There was only one problem: polygamy - a lifestyle that Louisa could not escape and Andy would not embrace. As medical students at the University of Utah, Andy and Louisa fall in love - but can a mainstream Mormon and a Fundamental polygamist overcome the cultural barriers between them? Both realize that their choices will not only affect their own lives, but will also have an impact on their family, friends, and even their communities. Fearing that the sacrifices required of them would be too great, they go their separate ways. Yet for Andy in Kentucky and Louisa in Utah, life does not go as they'd planned. While Andy is serving as a country doctor and trying to bury his pain, Louisa is coming to terms with the fact that all is not as perfect in her tight-knit community as she'd believed. As doctors, each will have to choose between keeping the peace in their communities or doing what they know is right.

    It is a time of servitude and deprivation if you don't. And if you dare to believe the bold words of the prophet Abinadi, it is a time to fear for your very life.

    . .her teenage sister is spinning wildly out of control . . . her twin sister's childhood sweetheart is being lured away from her . . . her overzealous home teacher has stalker tendencies . . . Lizzie Benson's world couldn't be further from perfect, and the last thing she needs is a man to complicate her life. But then she meets then "untouchable " Will Pemberley - the outrageously cute institute president who thinks all coeds are on the hunt for a husband. When Will asks Lizzie out, she is determined to show him how "not on the hunt" she is.