The Upside of Down


Rebecca Talley - 2011
    "Excuse me?""You're pregnant."Her heartbeat thundered in her ears. "I'm what?"Natalie Drake certainly has her hands full raising a large family, dealing with her difficult mother, and maintaining a relationship with her rebellious teenager. Just when things seem to be going smoothly, she finds out another unexpected surprise--she's going to have a baby. Faced with so many challenges, Natalie must learn to trust in a plan that isn't what she imagined and discover that every situation has an upside.Beloved author Rebecca Talley carefully creates this touching and heartfelt story that is sure to inspire you. With true-to-life characters and situations, The Upside of Down will reignite your faith and remind you of the importance of family.

Emerald


M.L. Hamilton - 2010
    Worse yet, he learns that the one man who can help him is his enemy. Kiameron is the crown prince of DiNolfol. He is torn between two destinies - assuming the crown upon his father’s death or answering the call of his non-Human traits, abilities associated with the mysterious Stravad. The decision is made for him with the destruction of everything he holds dear. Armed with his burgeoning powers and a mysterious talisman that he does not know how to use, Kai strikes back at Gava, the despot who destroyed his life. Crippled by self-doubt and fear, he falters in his quest, until he meets a man who forces him to take action. However, his new ally is hiding secrets, secrets that will rob Kai of everything he holds sacred.

Body of Stars


Laura Maylene WalterLaura Maylene Walter - 2021
    A piercing indictment of rape culture, a read about what happens when women are objectified and stripped of choice--and what happens when they fight back.Celeste Morton has eagerly awaited her passage to adulthood. Like every girl, she was born with a set of childhood markings--the freckles, moles, and birthmarks on her body that foretell her future and that of those around her--and with puberty will come a new set of predictions that will solidify her fate. The possibilities are tantalizing enough to outweigh the worry that the future she dreams of won't be the one she's fated to have and the fear of her "changeling period" the time when women are nearly irresistible to men and the risk of abduction is rife.Celeste's beloved brother, Miles, is equally anticipating her transition to adulthood. As a skilled interpreter of the future, a field that typically excludes men, Miles considers Celeste his practice ground--and the only clue to what his own future will bring. But when Celeste changes, she learns a devastating secret about Miles's fate: a secret that could destroy her family, a secret she will do anything to keep. Yet Celeste isn't the only one keeping secrets, and when the lies of brother and sister collide, it leads to a tragedy that will irrevocably change Celeste's fate, set her on a path to fight against the inherent misogyny of fortune-telling, and urge her to create a future that is truly her own.

Find Layla


Meg Elison - 2020
    Except by mean girls who tweet about her ragged appearance. All she wants to do is indulge in her love of science, protect her vulnerable younger brother, and steer clear of her unstable mother.Then a school competition calls for a biome. Layla chooses her own home, a hostile ecosystem of indoor fungi and secret shame. With a borrowed video camera, she captures it all. The mushrooms growing in her brother’s dresser. The black mold blooming up the apartment walls. The unmentionable things living in the dead fridge. All the inevitable exotic toxins that are Layla’s life. Then the video goes viral.When Child Protective Services comes to call, Layla loses her family and her home. Defiant, she must face her bullies and friends alike, on her own. Unafraid at last of being seen, Layla accepts the mortifying reality of visibility. Now she has to figure out how to stay whole and stand behind the truth she has shown the world.

Go Down the Mountain


Meredith Battle - 2019
    At once dramatic adventure, moving love story and recollection of a vanished life, the story follows mountain girl Bee on her harrowing journey to discover the truth about her family, living and dead. Bee is a nervy, teenage beauty whose beloved father's sudden death in a snake charming accident has left her alone with her abusive mother. Her one salvation is Miles, the big-city photographer who promises escape and a life full of the adventure she craves. But when Bee is caught in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game with a government man who takes her family's land and won't stop until he claims her too, it may be Torch, the boy she grew up with on the mountain, who becomes the man she needs.

Children of the Origin Project


Asa S. Rubin - 2020
    But after they find a crashed spaceship in the forest with a dying giant inside, they are faced with a choice that will decide their destinies forever.In his last moments, the giant transfers his knowledge and secrets to them. A war is being fought among the stars, and they have been tasked with completing his final mission to save his people. But it’s not an easy decision whether to stay or go. Joining the war means going up against a murderous regime and its demon-like supersoldiers. But if they do nothing, not only will they be condemning a civilization of trillions, they will be risking an invasion of Earth itself.

I am a Rockstar: An Expert Guide to Success


Uma Vanka - 2020
    Reviewers of the book have recommended this as one of the best self-help books on Success, a self-help book that works, a guide that provides very simple steps, avoiding confusing mantras and a success book with something for everyone. Instead of listing boring textbook analogies, the author shares stories and experiences, making this an exciting and easy read.I am a Rockstar is your simple and end to end guide to Success, helping you to•Adopt positive thinking and winning attitude to succeed•Boost your self-confidence and self-belief•Control your life through a more straightforward, efficient, and productive perspective to life•Develop essential winning skills:::oEssential tools such as communication skills, leadership skills, negotiation skills, branding skills & presentation skillsoCritical life skills such as appreciation, discovering unknowns, turning weaknesses in

The River Road


Karen Osborn - 2002
    One spring night, while at home on a break from college, the threesome embarks on a night of adventure and experimentation, driving recklessly through the Connecticut Valley. Stopping at the French King Bridge, David -- full of hubris and hallucinogens -- dares to jump, mistakenly believing he'll be able to swim ashore. With this one act, he sets in motion an inexorable chain of events that indelibly alters the lives of everyone involved.Told through the alternating voices of Kay, Michael, and David's father, Kevin, The River Road is a closely observed and psychologically penetrating narrative of the accusations, murder investigation, and courtroom battle that follow.

Moon Water


Pam Webber - 2019
    Nettie’s lifelong nemesis is jabbing her with perfectly polished nails, while her hellfire and brimstone preacher refuses to baptize her. Amid this turmoil, a Monacan Indian medicine woman gives her a cryptic message about a coming darkness, a blood moon whose veiled danger threatens Nettie and those she loves. To prepare for the darkness, Nettie and her best friend, Win, make a treacherous journey into the mountains to build a mysterious dreamcatcher of ancient elements.

Grace


T. Greenwood - 2012
    Some are suffused with warmth and joy, others reflect the dull ache of disappointed dreams. For thirteen-year-old Trevor Kennedy, taking photos helps him make sense of his fractured world. His father, Kurt, struggles to keep a business going while also caring for Trevor’s aging grandfather, whose hoarding has reached dangerous levels. Trevor’s mother, Elsbeth, all but ignores her son while doting on his five-year-old sister, Gracy, and pilfering useless drugstore items.  Trevor knows he can count on little Gracy’s unconditional love and his art teacher’s encouragement. None of that compensates for the bullying he has endured at school for as long as he can remember. But where Trevor once silently tolerated the jabs and name-calling, now anger surges through him in ways he’s powerless to control.  Only Crystal, a store clerk dealing with her own loss, sees the deep fissures in the Kennedy family—in the haunting photographs Trevor brings to be developed, and in the palpable distance between Elsbeth and her son. And as their lives become more intertwined, each will be pushed to the breaking point, with shattering, unforeseeable consequences.

Yours


Angela Christina Archer - 2021
    Knowing the Germans could invade their quiet home the resident children of Guernsey are evacuated. Among them are Amelia Ashton, and her older sister Evelyn.The promise to stay safe.Forced onto the boat by her older sister, seventeen-year-old Amelia Ashton arrives in Weymouth with hundreds of other children. Although she is placed with a kind and loving foster family in Derbyshire, her world is torn apart. With all her communication cut off from her family, and the boys at school joining to fight in the war, Amelia struggles with her own desire to help. On a whim, she lies about her age and boards a train headed to volunteer with the Woman’s Land Army. Finding solace in the work of farm life, she reconnects with William, a young man from Derbyshire, and who doesn’t waste any time asking for her hand in marriage. Can Amelia start a new life without looking over her shoulder at what she left behind in Guernsey or will the war change everything?The promise to survive.Fearing for her parents’ lives, nineteen-year-old, Evelyn Ashton stays behind, living through the German occupation plaguing her once beautiful home—the island of Guernsey. Living under German rule, the residents find a new meaning of desperation and despair, trying to survive on rations and evade the threats of being sent off to a death camp. After her parents die in a bombing, Evelyn is left alone to fend for herself against her enemy, and when German soldiers take over her house, she seeks refuge in the only family she believes she has left—Henry—the man once interested in her sister. Can they find comfort in each other or will the occupation claim not only their love but also their lives?Two sisters. Two promises. One bloody war that changes their lives forever.

Brought To Our Senses: A Family Saga Novel


Kathleen H. Wheeler - 2016
    Wheeler's gripping novel is ambitious ..."  —Kirkus Reviews "Very highly recommended as a striking jewel that is a glowing standout ... tense, gripping, and eye-opening ..." —D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review WHEN ALL IS LOST FAMILY BEGS TO BE FOUND. Elizabeth Miller is a thirty-four-year-old mama's girl facing a crisis. Her divorced mother Janice receives a deadly Alzheimer’s diagnosis and becomes a volatile patient, and her fractured family tailspins toward their last resort—legal guardianship with disastrous fallout. Elizabeth soon exposes her mother's long-held secret, which lies at the root of her family's problems. With the lines blurred between right and wrong, she travels a path of reconciliation through the heartland of elder care. A cross between Still Alice by Lisa Genova and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, this family life drama is as memorable as The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks, as poignant as We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas, and as touching as The Things We Keep by Sally Hepworth. From the Great Depression in Nebraska to the 1970s divorce boom in Illinois, Brought To Our Senses chronicles the family saga of five generations over seventy-five years. The rocky relationships of four troubled siblings complicate efforts to care for an aging parent diagnosed with the mother of all maladies in the new millennium. Literature & Fiction Categories: Medical Family Life Family Sagas Domestic Life Mothers and Children Sisters Divorce Alzheimer's Disease Women's Fiction Contemporary Women United States/American

Billionaires on the Beach: The Complete Collection Boxed Set


Olivia Noble - 2014
    Her sexually adventurous best friend, Nicole, has convinced her to take an island vacation to let off some steam and relax. Eva does not expect to meet a handsome man with a rock-hard body that reminds her of a Greek god, on her first night on the beach. What results is a night of passion that will change her life... Book #2: Andreas will do anything it takes to get the gorgeous girl from the beach to start a real relationship with him. But the sensible Eva is determined to stand her ground. However, when being pursued by a sweet and handsome billionaire who happens to be amazing in bed... how can any girl resist?Book #3: Andreas and Eva have left the Bahamas together to attend to Eva's sick mother, and Nicole has been abruptly abandoned. She is starting to get the blues as her fantasy vacation turns sour without the company of her best friend-- until Andreas' brother shows up. Tyler, the fun and rowdy playboy, happens to be just her type, but things don't go too smoothly at their first meeting. Even though Nicole is pretty sure nothing will happen, she can't deny that sparks fly between them. It can't hurt just to flirt, can it? Meanwhile, Andreas and Eva find out whether their love can last in the big city. Eva is overwhelmed by how close Andreas has gotten so quickly, and is a little uncomfortable with him being involved with her personal family matters... Book #4: Eva finds herself relying more heavily on Andreas while her mother's condition worsens. Providing her with much-needed financial and emotional support, he digs his way deeper into her heart. She isn't sure if it was fate or accident that led her to him but with her mother's life on the line, she's just grateful he's around. Meanwhile, back in the Bahamas, Tyler and Nicole's casual fun starts to become deadly serious. They never expected to fall so hard and fast, and both of them are so scared to commit that it could destroy their budding romance before it ever really has a chance to begin.This book contains strong sexual content and is not intended for readers under 18.

Unthinkable Sins 2: The Family


Tiffani Quarles-Sanders - 2016
    Adultery. Betrayal. Murder. Hattie Durham committed some Unthinkable Sins in her lifetime, but now she’s gone, leaving her three sons and their wives behind to deal with the fallout. THE SONS… Junior – wants to escape his past as he learns the truth about how his mother died. But will his need for revenge and his own past sins come between him and the family he loves? Carl – has been carrying a terrible secret alone all these years and can’t bear the weight anymore. Can he keep it together with his family’s help or will the burden break him? Jerome – is blessed with everything a man could want – influence, power and a destiny to fulfill. But when life deals him an unexpected blow, will the family have his back or will they fall apart around him? …AND THEIR WIVES Donetta – finds her self-confidence growing along with her doubts about her husband’s fidelity. Are their marriage vows enough to keep her in the family now that she has what it takes to make it on her own? Trudy – senses the strain on the family in the wake of her mother-in-law’s death. Will she able to help keep the ones she loves from self-destructing or is her own life in danger? Susan – managed to escape an uncertain past, leaving behind a few bodies in her wake. Will her dreams of love and success finally come true or ultimately be overshadowed by Hattie Durham’s death? Find out now in UNTHINKABLE SINS 2: The Family

Rooked


Caitlin Sara - 2018
    . . Despite her desire for control, Ara Hopkins has always felt like a pawn—constantly being maneuvered by those surrounding her. Carrying a riddled past of abandonment by her mother, a jealous step-sister and exploitation by men she was supposed to be able to trust, Ara craves a social media certified life. So, when she meets her husband, a New York congressman’s son, she believes she’s finally won her game. Secure in a life her mother would approve of—and having firmly shut the door on her chaotic and miscalculated past—Ara feels she’s thriving. Until the night her husband is murdered. Thrust into a game of deceit and lies, Ara realizes that nothing is as it seems and that the past can quickly return to the present. The facade crumbles as relationships are tested and family boundaries crossed. Faced with losing it all, she discovers what a person is really capable of. Because in this game of life, it's either rook or be rooked. An intricately braided plot with unforeseeable twists and a sucker-punch ending, Rooked is a captivating thriller that shatters all perceptions.