It changed her life and ours—there’d be no Food Network without her! Edgar Rice Burroughs sold his stories Tarzan and John Carter of Mars at 37. The latter will be a major movie next year, a century later. Bertha Benz learned how to drive at 39. She made the world’s first road trip. Susan Boyle electrified the world with her singing voice at age 48. English character actress Liz Smith got her first break at 49. She recently co-starred with Johnny Depp. Bram Stoker wrote Dracula at age 50. There’s a granny who took up hip-hop dancing at age 64, one who became a famous nightclub DJ at 68, and one who her ran her first marathon at age 86. She’s still running.These are some of the fascinating people you’ll meet in this compilation from the popular LaterBloomer.com blog. In the garden of life, a “late-blooming” flower blossoms right on time!

     Love Is Crazy Dakota London is a small town girl trapped in her small town life. When she meets Dominic Kane, a travel photographer she's admired for years, her life gets turned upside down. What Happened in Vegas Dakota and Dominic's wedding story. This novella is not available outside of this box set. Love Is Beautiful Chelsea London isn't looking for passion or fire. All she wants is safety. When she meets Max Santoro, a gorgeous cop with a bad attitude, she gets more than she ever expected. Blissed Out Chelsea and Max's wedding story. This novella is not available outside of this box set. Love Is Everything Hudson Knox is the kind of guy that should come with a warning label and that makes him perfect for Maya London in her quest for a no-strings-attached relationship. She thought a one-night stand would be nothing. Turns out it's everything.

    Is destiny just the past, rewritten?

    But missing him is soon replaced with the challenges and surprises right in front of her. What is her mother hiding? Why has her grandfather disappeared from their lives? Unraveling the mysteries brings about unexpected discoveries and connections, ultimately leading her to know herself and understand what matters most.

    Accident prone and unlucky in love. Her life has hit a stalemate. What better way to change things up than by playing Matchmaker. But Jess gets more than what she's bargained for. It also doesn't help that she lives next door to the worlds sexiest man. Fall in love with this tutu toting, pink wig wearing cutie and come along for the ride.

    She tells herself that she's imagining the whole thing, that nobody's trying to break into the house. And then, moments later, she meets the girl who'll change her life forever. There's a killer on the loose in the small coastal town of Croftby. One girl has already been found murdered and everyone is on edge. So when May meets Paula, it seems natural for them to stick together. Soon, however, May starts to realize that Paula is hiding some dark secrets. And by the time the truth comes out, it might be too late for May to escape someone who knows her inside and out. Friend From the Internet is a psychological horror thriller about two girls trying to hide from a killer, and about the dangerous obsessions that can break even the strongest of minds.

    Consumed with rage he hunts down Sid Drake’s killers and renders his own form of justice. But soon Jim finds himself lost, tangling with a vicious street gang and its ruthless warlord, William “J-Rock” Jackson. And so it begins, a long dark journey that pushes Jim deep into his own personal world of bitterness and revenge, and ultimately to the brink of disaster. Haunting nightmares ensue. Endless nights. A brutal biker gang nearly kills him. An angry detective wants him behind bars. And Jim’s girlfriend, Dr. Valerie Vick, the only woman he’s ever truly loved, has just made a painful announcement: She’s leaving. Suddenly Jim’s entire world seems to be falling apart, but through the leadership of two remarkable men he finds a new relationship with the Lord and new purpose for his life. But Jim’s enemy hasn’t forgotten him. J-Rock is out for blood…and Jim is his prey. J-Rock’s trap is both elaborate and cruel, and when Jim falls into it, he ends up in a hospital bed with a bullet in his spine, his willpower broken, and his proud spirit crushed. He finally reaches his lowest point and in a moment of quiet desperation cries out to God. And his prayers are heard. But Jim’s ultimate fight is yet to come—a fight to the death on the deck of a sinking boat with Valerie secured in the hold below. Will he succeed? Can he defeat J-Rock once and for all? Can he save the beautiful love of his life from a cold drowning death, and carry the gospel back to the ghetto street where his best friend died? He must, but to do so will require strength he never knew, the kind of God-given power known only to a man who has truly been…Tested By Fire. NOTE: the author uses strong language (in the opinion of some) in this story - words and phrases like, "Oh, Jesus" "My God" "God,help me." and "He was a fighter and damned proud of it."

    A tragic accident thrusts them into a world where they learn an even bigger secret: all the mythical beings they believed to be fictional are real. Guided by prophecies predicting the end of the world, the mysterious Dr. Tesla - who leads an alliance of supernatural beings - helps Jack and Violet come to terms with this new world, control the growing powers within them, and face an unspeakable evil determined to possess their very souls. Rebirth is the first in a series that follows Violet Ross; sarcastic, smart, rebellious and Jack Morrow; sensitive, brave and loyal, as they unlock the mysteries behind magic as old as time, team up with a centuries-old vampire, and expose the corruption within the inner sanctum of a mystical alliance - all while trying to graduate from high school.

    1 Best Selling author, Morris Fenris.Do you love stories that touch your heart? Then you will love the 12 romance novels in this box set. All novels are readers’ favorites with over 700 5-Star reviews. These have been put together for a short time only for your reading pleasure.12 Novels, over 2000 pages, over half a million words, yes 526,277 words of touching and tender romance. Enjoy these clean and wholesome love stories with enough twists to keep you turning the pages. An inspiring Christian romance collection that will warm your heart and your soul at Christmas and all year long.If you enjoy heartwarming Christian romance with a focus on love, faith and family, be sure to check out other books by Morris Fenris.

    The sleepy town of White Halls harbors a dangerous secret. On a picturesque street, two houses down from a lovely little park, in a quaint little home with a wraparound porch, lives a family that seems rather normal. Sure, their twenty-year-old son, Xander, still lives at home, but he’s going to college and dating the leader of the schools top sorority. It’s all very… normal. However, when a man is miraculously saved from being hit by a bus, Xander’s life turns in to the living embodiment of the tornadoes he can suddenly create with a flick of his wrist. Whether he wants this gift or not, Xander must learn to use his new ‘super power’ quickly if he wants to survive. For his kind is a dying race, and when this sleepy town has a sudden influx of new, blonde, fire wielders, no one is safe, especially Xander. It doesn’t help that one of these blondes happens to be the most beautiful girl he has ever seen. Xander can’t deny the instant connection he feels to her so, when she tries to kill him, it certainly makes things complicated.

    He meets a fan, an attractive woman, in a coffee shop and she plies him with compliments and a Mickey. The next morning he wakes up at a seedy motel naked, reeking of alcohol, alone, and confused. A blackmail ensues and he becomes entangled in a shadowy underworld involving strippers, prostitutes, gangsters, corrupt politicians, and cops. His wife and son leave him and he plunges into the mean streets of San Francisco seeking answers to the riddles at the heart of those seeking to destroy him.My main character in Between a Smile and a Tear, Jack Waters, a successful novelist, is a recovering alcoholic coming to terms with the damage his drinking has caused to his family and friends. He's trying his best to make amends, but is it too late? Is it impossible to right some wrongs?I've read a number of James Hall's antic thrillers set in Florida (primarily the Thorn books) with their wild and crazy bad guys and they inspired me to create my villain here: Wallace Unger. I tried to make him both humorous and scary, a counterpoint to the serious and darker action and themes of the novel.Wallace is wild and crazy, funny and dumb, but also unpredictable and a dangerous antagonist made even more fearsome by his employer, the amoral gangster boss, NIck Ravelli.This is a "bigger" novel than others that I have written, featuring multiple point-of-view characters, more subplots, a wider range including political and social forces impacting the characters, as well as a deeper attention to location and geography.I've tried to make San Francisco a major character in its own right here. I grew up in the city and know it well, but supplemented that knowledge with research and maps and a couple of trips back to the Bay Area. I think San Francisco, in all of its beauty and mystery, comes alive in the novel and I hope you agree.I put my heart and soul into this book and hope you feel that while you read.Thanks for taking the time.

    Or, perhaps, it's the ability to connect with the story, tap into that magical "relatability" factor that lingers long after the last page has been read. Any one of these elements is vital to a story, but rarely do we find books that have all of these qualities. However, The Only Way to Paradise is such a book.”–Michele Bell, Best-Selling Romance Author. (Five Stars) What causes picture-perfect suburban Oakwood residents, MacKenzie, Roxie, Sara, and Georgia to desert their therapist and fly off to Florence? Answer: A romantic Italian movie that prompts Roxie to ask: “If Italy is so healing and therapeutic what are we doing in Ohio?” Even Sara, the most duty-bound of the group, finally joins the pact they dub “The Crazy Ladies of Oakwood,” and only a week later, they find themselves in Florence. Embraced by the entire province of Tuscany, each woman becomes entangled in experiences she could never have foretold. Not only do they find the fascinating Italian men that Georgia promised, but new sides to themselves and each other. Against the glittering background of Florence, their dramas play out: MacKenzie returns to her student days as an art historian, discarding her identity as the controlling Oakwood charity patron and society hostess. Renewing her acquaintance with the David, she vows to let herself be sculpted rather than trying to sculpt others. MacKenzie finds not only a new talent, but a new man who appreciates it, just as her husband decides to re-enter her life. Roxie, who has always approached life as a circus, is drawn unwillingly into a passionate romance with a gorgeous Italian professor, Stefano. Her physical response to Stefano taps into lost memories, causing her to literally run from him. Roxie, a quirky and colorful Cubana, senses danger in visions and smells that resurface of a rotting summerhouse behind her Florida home. With his nurturing and passionate love, Stefano helps her to face the “broken piece” inside her. Sara unveils part of her that no one but her instructors know. She is an extraordinarily talented concert violinist. Normally trapped in the demanding life of an ob-gyn (scripted for her by her Vietnamese immigrant parents), she is temporarily freed. She performs for others for the first time, and experiences unprecedented joy. However, the coping mechanism she used to handle the pressure of her job threatens to destroy her new life. Georgia, a grieving widow, processes her life without Ben and without her violin career that ended early because of arthritis. Looking for a new passion in life, she finds that satisfaction comes to her in “giving back” to those around her the lessons and knowledge she has learned through her successes and mistakes in La Dolce Vita. Just as her perspective is changing, she reunites with her first love, Arturo, and must make a decision about the direction of her future life. Though ages have passed since the rebirth called the Renaissance, Florence still inspires change by breathing out its creative mix of energy, beauty, and courage. Where Michelangelo “set free” the David by sculpting a block of marble, each “crazy lady” finds her exterior “Oakwood” self burnished away by new experiences, revealing a new self. This burnishing is not a gentle process, but exuberant Italians help them through it with their all-embracing agape, or unconditional love.

    Always ready. Caddie Lyle strives to live up to the motto of the Coast Guard—and her father’s legacy—as she carries out rescue missions. But when she discovers other career opportunities and meets Guardsman Aven Holland, her heart begins to pull her in different directions. Aven is drawn to Caddie, too, but their duties allow little time together. As danger from Alaska’s coast and a secret from the past threaten their newfound love, will they be ready to trust God for a possible future together?

    But after her fiancé cheated on her, she ran away to Los Angeles, determined to start over. Hiding behind red lipstick and her grandmother’s pearls, she started working at her cousin’s bakery and drew up a practical plan for her future. But spilling cake all over herself in front of Hollywood’s hottest leading actor wasn’t part of that plan.Despite Mellie’s embarrassment, Hollywood star Jackson Traver seems strangely charmed by her. At first, Mellie can hardly believe her luck. How could the guy voted “Sexiest Man Alive” fall for a clumsy pastry chef? But once she gives in to temptation, she finds herself dining with A-list stars and shopping on Rodeo Drive…all while Jackson gives her a delicious taste of true desire. Now, Mellie’s not sure she can ever go back to her plan for a nice, sensible life. But can a red-carpet love really last forever?

    I did not write this book for sympathy or notoriety; I wrote it in an attempt to shed light on the ghosts that have haunted me for a lifetime, hoping that by putting them down on paper that I could look at them more objectively from a mature point of view and eventually free myself from them.