To Lahore With Love


Hina Belitz - 2020
    Brought up in a household of stories, food and faith by her Irish mother and Pakistani Nana, she feels constantly torn between the two sides of her upbringing. Since the death of her father, she's found contentment cooking delicious recipes from his home city of Lahore, despite the protestations of her mother that being a chef is no career for a young woman. It's only with the love of her gorgeous husband, Gabe, that she's truly found happiness.When Addy stumbles across a secret that shatters her world, she desperately needs to escape and is drawn to the sights of Lahore and the family she's never known. Waiting for her there is Addy's final acceptance of who she is, and a long-buried family secret that will change her life for ever.

Twin Obsessions


LilMouse
    Suddenly Jesse finds herself unable to resist the heat that these two men create in her. Thrown into their arms by circumstances that were completely out of her control, Jesse slowly becomes the person she used to be but will it last? Will she be able to get over her fears of getting hurt and take a chance on two gorgeous men who would do anything to have her. Anything . . .Note: Extreme adult content.

Seminary Boy: A Memoir


John Cornwell - 2007
    Born into a destitute family with a dominating Irish-Catholic mother and an absconding father during World War II in London, John Cornwell's childhood was deeply dysfunctional. When he was thirteen years old he was sent to Cotton College, a remote seminary for boys in the West Midlands countryside. For the next five years Cornwell lived under an austere monastic regime as he wrestled with his emotional and spiritual demons. In the hothouse atmosphere of the seminary he strove to find stable, loving friendships among his fellows and fatherly support from the priests, one of whom proved to be a sexual predator.The wild countryside around the seminary, the moving power of church ritual and music, and a charismatic priest enabled him to persevere. But while normal teenagers were being swept up by the rock ’n’ roll era, Cornwell and his fellow seminarians continued to be emotionally and socially repressed. Secret romantic attachments between seminarians were not uncommon; on visits home they were overwhelmed by the powerful attractions of the emerging youth culture of the 1950s. But when they returned to Cotton College, the boys were once again governed by the age-old traditions and disciplines of seminary life. And like many young seminarians, Cornwell struggled with a natural adolescent rebelliousness, which in one crucial instance provoked a crisis that would eventually lead to his decision to abandon his dream of becoming a priest. Written with tremendous warmth and humor, Seminary Boy is a truly unforgettable memoir and a penetrating glimpse into the hidden world of seminary life.

My Forever June


DeAnna Kinney - 2014
    She is addicted to coffee and clutter, and with her quirks and mother issues, she is perfectly content to be alone, feeling her life is utterly complete. But when the adorable Tucker Mitchell helps her out of a sandy situation during an altercation on the beach, the powerful sparks are hard to ignore.Despite the facts that they are completely opposite and not looking for love, they fall—hard, neither one seeing it coming. And just when they think life couldn’t get any sweeter, illness strikes, blindsiding them both. Will they overcome despite the odds against them? Or, just when they have found each other, will fate play a cruel joke and separate them forever?

Staying Behind


Ken Liu - 2011
    Originally published in Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 61, the story is now also available online at tor.com as an excerpt of Liu's story collection The Hidden Girl and Other Stories.

Junkie Love


Joe Clifford - 2013
    Based on Clifford’s own harrowing experience with drugs as a rock ’n’ roll wannabe in the 1990s, the book draws on the best of Kerouac & the Beats, injecting a heavy dose of pulp fiction as it threads a rollicking narrative through a doomed love triangle, lit up by the many strange characters he meets along the way. Part road story, part resurrection tale, Junkie Love finds a way to laugh in one’s darkest hour, while never abandoning its heart in search of a home.

The Whole Town's Sleeping


Ray Bradbury
    A famous short story

Damien


the_rebellionxx
    Damien Stryker, notorious for his cold hard personality is someone you don't want to get too close to.Unfortunately for Serena Mclane, she doesn't have much of a choice.Always at the mercy of her family's name and legacy, Serena has to do as her father says.So when her father practically forces her into an arranged marriage with the one and only Damien Stryker;The truth comes out.Secrets are unveiled.And who knows? Maybe even love starts to bloom.

Fire's Kiss


Brittany Pate - 2017
    He's earned a reputation as a murderous madman. But in Embyr, he discovers something that could turn the tide of battle in his favor. Her control over fire can reduce an enemy to ash and her flippant disregard of him heats his blood in ways no one else ever has. She's beautiful, powerful and completely different from her violence-loving brethren.Embyr finds herself thrust into a war she wants no part of, targeted by a vicious vampire because of her cooperation with Ryder. As she learns to wield her demonic powers without letting the madness of her race overcome her, she also has to fight her attraction to a killer bent on her seduction.

Iris on Rainy Days (雨の日のアイリス / Ame no Hi no Iris)


Takeshi Matsuyama - 2011
    But she was then struck by a series of misfortunes and ended up in a robot-equivalent of concentration camp. Through experiencing and witnessing the sufferings towards herself as well as the people/robots around her, she eventually gained a better appreciation of life.

Take Me Home


Alex Hart - 2020
    The security guard at the mall hasn't had anyone come looking for her. Same goes for the local police, and the media. In fact, no one seems to be looking for little May at all.Harper knows from bitter experience what awaits May in Child Protection Services. But, without any clues, how do you put the needle back in the haystack? And who would just leave a child like this? And what if finding her home was the worst thing you could do? From the chilly streets of New York City to the electric blue skies of coastal Florida - this is an emotional, page-turning road trip that follows a trail of theories, all the way to a devastating revelation.

When I see your Face


Devika Fernando - 2014
    Having run away from her abusive husband, she tries to pick up the broken pieces of her life in a remote village, focusing on her dream to start her own cake business. Finding true love is the last thing on her mind. When she comes face to face with a man who looks exactly like the one she is struggling to forget, life throws the biggest challenge yet at her: Should she give in to his charm and care or is history going to repeat itself?

Why She Left Us


Rahna Reiko Rizzuto - 1999
    Rahna Reiko Rizzuto reveals the reason for her act--and its effect on four generations of her family--in a series of alternating narratives. A son, daughter, mother, and brother all chime in, and the author's sophisticated interweaving of their tales is what gives this debut novel much of its power.Rizzuto's book includes its share of violent and disturbing incidents. A daughter helps her mother give birth on the floor of a shack; a son accompanies his senile grandfather to the toilet; a brother delivers a swift kick to his pregnant sister's belly. Yet Why She Left Us never relies on mere sensationalism. For one thing, the author's prose is strong and vivid, and she's particularly good at evoking the passage of time: "My life doesn't come to me in any order," notes one character. "Moments flip-flop, overlap--sometimes they come only in splinters." This isn't, it should be said, a big-canvas portrait of wartime life. But Rizzuto has produced a minute and successful investigation of the moments that define what a family is.That leaves the initial mystery. To her credit, Rizzuto doesn't come up with a pat solution: instead, she offers up a collage of perceptions, which fuse into a kind of answer as the story progresses. In other words, this is the latest addition to a growing canon of diplomatic, Rashomon-like novels. Why She Left Us is a true study in perspectives--and a kaleidoscopic lesson about the nature of memory and forgiveness. --Rucker Alex, Amazon.com Review

Any Way You Want Me


Lucy Diamond - 2007
    Wry, funny and with a wonderful twist in the tale, 'Any Way you Want Me' is a novel of infidelity, motherhood and friends reunited that heralds the debut of a new voice in fiction, Lucy Diamond.

Here Comes the Miracle


Anna Beecher - 2021
    This is Joe.Decades before, another miracle. In a patch of nettle-infested wilderness, a seventeen year old boy falls in love with his best friend, Jack. This is Edward.Joe gains a sister, Emily. From the outset, her life is framed by his. She watches him grow into a young man who plays the violin magnificently and longs for a boyfriend. A young man who is ready to begin.Edward, after being separated from Jack, builds a life with Eleanor. They start a family and he finds himself a grandfather to Joe and Emily.When Joe is diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, Emily and the rest of the family are left waiting for a miracle. A miracle that won't come.Here Comes the Miracle is a profoundly beautiful story about love and loss; and about the beautiful and violent randomness of life.