Book picks similar to
Homesick Creek by Diane Hammond


fiction
southern-humor
20th-century-america
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You Wish...


Terry Tyler - 2011
    Do we control our own destiny - or might it be determined by fate, coincidence, luck...or even magic? Ruth, an amateur psychic with a husband who smokes cannabis for breakfast, is haunted by a tragic event from her teenage years which, she suspects, was the result of a wish she made on an allegedly enchanted stone. Too embarrassed to admit her fears, she keeps her secret to herself for twenty-five years. Petra is the perennial singleton amongst her friends, unable, she thinks, to fall in love. She comes across the stone at a Psychic Fair and makes a wish, just for fun. As the wish begins to come true she wishes she had chosen her words with more care. Spoilt, weight-obsessed Sarah wants nothing more than to be "size zero". As her life spirals downwards into the seedy world of drug abuse and addiction, she remembers the day at the Psychic Fair when she wished for her heart's desire. When Ruth learns of the fates of Petra and Sarah she is forced to confront her guilt and discover the truth about the Wishing Stone... Terry Tyler's debut novel is a quirky contemporary drama exploring the themes of family affairs, infidelity and guilt, incorporating jealousy, drug abuse and the obsession of a Facebook stalker, against a backdrop of secrets and superstition.

Remember Last Summer


David Heilwagen - 2016
    Still reeling from a bitter divorce, she is finally starting to move forward when the unthinkable happens. Kristen is diagnosed with an incurable form of heart disease. Unless she receives a heart transplant, the doctors say she will be dead within the year. With summer vacation fast approaching, Kristen enlists the help of her thrice-divorced sister, Jackie. She packs-up her two teenage daughters, Alison and Emily, and together they drive to an old family beach house on the shores of Sunset Cove, Michigan. It’s here that Kristen hopes to reconnect with her girls, while at the same time building memories that will live on long after she's gone. But the beach house is in a ramshackle state of disrepair – the paint is peeling, the shutters are hanging off, and there’s no television or internet, much to the despair of sixteen-year-old Alison. But Kristin is determined to bring her emotionally fractured family back together. And there, over one memorable summer, Kristen and her girls embark on an emotional journey that will raise them to the heights of love, forgiveness, and self-discovery, as well as plunging them into the dark depths of heartache and despair. Will Kristin be able to open her heart again? And more importantly, will she be able to bring her fractured family back together before time runs out…? Reminiscent of Nicholas Sparks, Remember Last Summer will have you reaching for a tissue, whilst praying for a miracle.

The Family that Lies


Lakisha Johnson - 2016
    With a father who thought the world of them, life was good. Until one day everything changed. While Grayce got love and attention, Merci got all the hell, forcing her to leave home. She never looks back, putting the past behind her until … her sister shows up over a decade later begging for help, bringing all of the forgotten past with her. Merci wasn't the least bit prepared for what was about to happen next. Merci realizes, she’s been a part of something much bigger than she'd ever imagined. Yea, every family has their secrets, hidden truths and ties but Merci had no idea she’d been born into the family that lies.

The Real Hoodwives of Detroit


India - 2012
    Sometimes referred to as the Murder Capital for the huge murder rate that never ceases to surprise us, The Murder Mitten, or The Dirty Glove for the state’s shape on the U.S. map. Detroit is home to many; scholars, rappers, athletes, parents, and concerned citizens, but the streets belong to those in the underworld; addicts, dealers, and the women who help run the show from behind the scenes…The Real Hoodwives of Detroit! No! You won’t see these ladies on any television show, but you will see them make appearances in court for their mans’ hearing, or at the county jail on visiting day. You might even catch them riding shotgun, with a nine tucked in their Fendi bag…waiting to pop off and protect their men at any cost. And of course, they make appearances in the hood, twenty-four seven…three hundred and sixty-five days of the year! Follow Nikki, Tonya, Chloe, Mina, and Gucci as they ride you through Detroit, one city-block at a time. Watch as the tales of the black and dangerous unfold right before your eyes. In Detroit, only the raw and real survive - living to see another day. These streets are known for breaking the weak and leaving them helpless, they aren’t made for everybody! Scared? You should be….WELCOME TO DETROIT!

When the Wildflowers Bloom


Rupa Bhullar - 2021
    

Afraid of the Dark


H.P. Mallory - 2021
    And a stiff drink, but that’s another story…It’s not long before I discover I’ve moved into the haunted house of the flirtatious and very much dead Drake Montague. Now I’m receiving kisses from unseen lips and caresses from ghostly hands. Soon I even begin to have vivid dreams, bringing me face-to-face with the incomparably handsome ghost of a 20th-century French policeman.Meanwhile, I’m also growing closer to my general contractor, Ryan Kelly—who is as charming as he is alive.The chill in the air could only suggest Drake’s jealousy from beyond the grave... men, right?Even though I’m definitely attracted to and interested in Ryan, I also can’t get Drake out of my dreams or my heart as I begin to uncover the frightening truth behind his death a century ago.*Previously published as the Peyton Clark Series

Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man


Fannie Flagg - 1981
    There, at The End of the Road of the South, the family malt shop freezer holds unspeakable things, society maven Mrs. Dot hosts Junior Debutante meetings and shares inspired thoughts for the week (such as “sincerity is as valuable as radium”), and Daisy Fay’s Daddy hatches a quick-cash scheme that involves resurrecting his daughter from the dead in a carefully orchestrated miracle. Along the way, Daisy Fay does a lot of growing up, emerging as one of the most hilarious, appealing, and prized characters in modern fiction.

The Terrace


Maria Duffy - 2012
    . .In Number Eight he wants a baby, she doesn't. The guy a few doors down just wants to find love. Across the street a single mum struggles to cope. While the people next door might appear to have it all, their mortgage holder knows different.When the street syndicate wins the National Lottery, it seems that things are looking up. Enter a New York production company on a mission to document a 'quintessential' Dublin community - just as it becomes clear that the winning ticket is nowhere to be found.Facades begin to crumble in the scramble to uncover the missing ticket and, as the gloves come off for the once unremarkable residents of St Enda's, it's game on with everything to play for.

The Saints and Sinners of Okay County: A Novel


Dayna Dunbar - 2003
    It’s the story of a woman whose ability to see the futures of others leads her right back into her own troubled past.It’s the summer of 1976, and it seems like the entire state of Oklahoma is celebrating America’s bicentennial. But in the small town of Okay, Aletta Honor has much more on her mind than flags and fireworks. She’s pregnant with her fourth child and hasn’t seen her husband, Jimmy, in weeks. Although she can guess where the hound dog has parked his red-white-and-blue van—in front of the local gin mill or outside the home of yet another woman for a little Yankee Doodle Diddle. Discretion is not in the man’s constitution.Flat broke and desperate for some cash, Aletta decides to set up a food stand on the front lawn during the Okay Czech Festival. But when a woman touches her hand in sympathy, Aletta is completely unsettled. She never touches anyone outside her family—if she does, she gets overwhelming visions of their lives and futures. It started when she was a young girl and has scared her ever since. Now Aletta immediately sees the woman in a tragic accident, and gives her a warning that will save her life. When the woman returns the next day to thank her, Aletta figures out how to save her own life. With all the courage she can muster—figuring the townsfolk will most likely think she’s nuts—she puts a sign in the front yard: ALETTA HONOR. PSYCHIC READER. DROP-INS WELCOME. But doing readings for people opens a door she thought she had locked long ago, as memories of a terrible event come flooding back. She may not be able to see into her future, but she realizes she must face the demons in her past if she’s going to make a new life for herself and her kids. First, though, she’ll have to tell a few fortunes. . . .Poignant, touching, and full of the kind of wisdom that can only come straight out of the heartland, Dayna Dunbar’s The Saints and Sinners of Okay County is a wonderful novel of a woman who confronts pain in order to reclaim her belief in herself, lay her past to rest, and bring order back to a life that has veered too far off track.From the Hardcover edition.

Happy Hour


Michele Scott - 2009
    The ones who laugh with you and cry with you. The ones that will always be there. These are the women of Napa Valley.Jamie is the editor-in-chief of Wine Lover's Magazine, a single mother and caretaker to her senile mother-in-law ~ a woman who thinks her daily caregiver is Dean Martin. Jamie is still recovering, financially and emotionally from the death of her husband several years earlier. And when she finds what could be the key to happiness, can she open the door and let it in? Or will her feelings of guilt and betrayal hold her back?Danielle is a vintner and the divorced mom of two. She's basking in what she knows is going to be a successful launch of her new wines. Wines she created on her own after her divorce. But what she doesn't expect is for her daughter to come home with news that will shock her to her core. Will an old flame help her accept the changes that are coming and find the love she's been missing in her life for so long? Or will a tragedy that no one sees coming change their lives forever?Kat is a sommelier, co-owner of a magnificent restaurant with her chef husband, and mother of a blended family. But is being deeply in love with your husband enough to get them through the teenage years, step-children and exes? And what happens when old faces return and she's faced with the knowledge that not everything is what you thought it was. What happens when she finds she was mad at the wrong person and finds out the "right one" was in the wrong? Can she forgive and move on? Can love overcome everything and truly bring a family together?Alyssa is an artist and gallery owner with a secret of her own. One she was hoping would stay buried deep in her closet. But the time has come for her to put someone else first, to face the past and to deal with her demons. What she never expected to find was love and her "home."No matter what is going on in their own lives, no matter the heartache or joy they're experiencing these four women are always there to love, support and encourage each other.

Pohutukawa Highway


Tammy Robinson - 2015
     For Jess, the campground holds bittersweet memories. It’s where she passed a childhood of carefree summers, but it’s also the scene of her first heartbreak at the hands of Hunter Aarden. The summer she turned seventeen he promised her he’d love her for always, then he drove out of camp never to be heard from again. Until now. After almost two decades, Jess is finally about to find out why. Both romantic and humorous, Pohutukawa Highway is a story that reminds us about the importance of family, and the magic of second chances.

Handle with Care


Jodi Picoult - 2009
    Every expectant parent will tell you that they don't want a perfect baby, just a healthy one. Charlotte and Sean O'Keefe would have asked for a healthy baby, too, if they'd been given the choice. Instead, their lives are made up of sleepless nights, mounting bills, the pitying stares of "luckier" parents, and maybe worst of all, the what-ifs. What if their child had been born healthy? But it's all worth it because Willow is, funny as it seems, perfect. She's smart as a whip, on her way to being as pretty as her mother, kind, brave, and for a five-year-old an unexpectedly deep source of wisdom. Willow is Willow, in sickness and in health.Everything changes, though, after a series of events forces Charlotte and her husband to confront the most serious what-ifs of all. What if Charlotte had known earlier of Willow's illness? What if things could have been different? What if their beloved Willow had never been born? To do Willow justice, Charlotte must ask herself these questions and one more. What constitutes a valuable life?

Paper Hearts


Debrah Williamson - 2007
    So when he comes across teenage runaway Chancy Deel sleeping in his garage, he sees an opportunity for both of them. Giving Chancy a home just might keep him from losing his. But in securing a place to live, these lonely hearts discover a place to belong.

Last Call


Laura Pedersen - 2003
    In fact, he now spends his days crashing funerals for the free food and insight into the Great Beyond. Then he meets Rosamond, a nun playing hooky from the Holy Orders. Hayden is smitten the instant her heavy silver cross smacks him in the face when she leaps up to do the wave at a ball game. Luckily, Rosamond has picked the right person to teach her how to live . . . and to love—because nobody does both better than Hayden MacBride.However, Rosamond’s years in the convent have not prepared her for the oddball characters of Hayden’s world. There’s his ever-fretful, vigilant daughter, Diana, the “Dutchess o’ the Sidelong Glance”; his sweet grandson Joey, struggling to break free of his mother’s overprotective embrace; Hayden’s bagpipe-blowing cronies; the Greyfriars Gang; neighbor Bobbie Anne, a “working girl” full of good advice and tender mercies; and Hank, the sexy architect contemplating the priesthood—a big mistake in Hayden’s book. For Hayden thinks that Hank should be married to his daughter and raising Joey. And he has an elaborate plan to make Hank see things his way. . . .In an uproariously funny novel of love, laughter, and one man’s final call at the riotous watering hole called life, Laura Pedersen proves that miracles are all around us—when we open our eyes and our hearts to embrace them.

Love Will Find a Way


Barbara Freethy - 2002
     Rachel fell in love at nineteen with a man who came into her life on a whirlwind of sunlight and romance. She married Gary Tanner, had his son, and thought she would live happily ever after. But fate had other plans. Gary died in a tragic accident … at least she thought it was an accident. Now, there are questions that need to be answered, and only one man she can turn to, Gary's best friend, Dylan. Rachel was everything Dylan Prescott wanted in a woman. But Gary met her first, so she became untouchable. For years he stayed away from her. Now Rachel is a widow, her marriage is over, and she turns to him for help. The passion he feels for her is no longer out of his reach. The life he always wanted is beckoning to him, but when the secrets come out, will their love find a way to survive? Reviews: "Freethy has once again penned an exceptional piece of fiction." - Library Journal "Freethy deftly weaves the evocative tapestry of family life, love and pain with a delightful splash of whimsy in this intense story of evolving emotions, of relationships taking form against the ultimate loom of resiliency and triumph. And triumph this story surely does." BookPage LOVE WILL FIND A WAY is a captivating, heart-tugging story of love and family, of dreams and second chances. Barbara Freethy is a master storyteller with a gift for spinning tales about ordinary people in extraordinary situations and drawing readers into their lives." Romance Reviews Today "Heartwarming and life affirming, LOVE WILL FIND A WAY ranks right up there with the other deep love stories that go beyond the traditional. Let it find a way onto your shelf." Romance Readers Connection IF YOU LIKE CONNECTED SERIES, don't miss Barbara's new family series, The Callaways, filled with love, romance and adventure! ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS (#1) SO THIS IS LOVE (#2) FALLING FOR A STRANGER (#3) BETWEEN NOW AND FOREVER (#4) NOBODY BUT YOU (A Callaway Wedding Novella) ALL A HEART NEEDS (#5) THAT SUMMER NIGHT (#6) WHEN SHADOWS FALL (#7) Coming September 2014