He was a guy who rarely cycled or had an adventure, a guy who was scared of the fairground rides as a child. But one day he changed; he became a guy with a quest. Armed with a bicycle, a toy bear and some optimism he flew to the north of Alaska and for the next two years rode it to the southern tip of South America in Argentina. This is his tale.

    Can a young girl escape a loveless home to seize elusive peace?Portugal. As a baby, Maria Trautman was abandoned at birth by her mother and was raised by her adoring grandmother. But when her grandmother passed away, the distressed child was sent to live with her cruel and cold-hearted mother.After enduring years of physical and emotional attacks, Maria built up the courage to leave her country and emigrated to Canada to seek sanctuary with her aunt. But when her uncle continued the very abuse she was so desperate to stop, Maria feared she would be forever trapped in a never-ending cycle of violence.In a passionate true account exposing unimaginably damaging upheavals, this heartfelt narrative follows Maria’s entry to adulthood and her quest to find one thing that always evaded her: happiness. And through vivid recollection of her own daunting challenges and tragic memories, Maria creates a beautiful tribute to the resilience of the human spirit.Discover the poignant truth of a courageous woman seeking healing through tremendous faith and forgiveness.If you like moving personal accounts, testaments of perseverance and powerful journeys, then you’ll love Maria Trautman’s memoir. Follow her heart wrenching story as she goes from suffering to living in happiness in her shocking memoir, After All...After All... Winner of the Literary Titan Gold book awardBuy After All… to reach the freedom that lies ahead today!

    Collection of 5 short stories – The Little Princess, No Place for Nathan, Daddy’s Boy, The Wild Child and Scarlett’s Secret – previously available as individual e-shorts.A collection of inspiring and moving real life short stories from foster carer and New York Times bestselling author Casey Watson.Darby, whose parents keep her locked in her bedroom, and who arrives pale and terrified one Christmas Eve.Nathan, who lives with his cruel, violent father, and no longer knows who he is.Paulie, just five, who’s been rejected by his mother, and accused of a sickening crime.Connor, who, at only eight years of age, is delivered to the Watsons in a secure prison van.Scarlett, who, along with her twin sister, Jade, carries the weight of a devastating secret.

    Then, never having owned a tin box on wheels, they accidentally bought a caravan. They named her ‘Kismet’ – which means ‘Fate’. Half way down the second bottle of CCC (Caravan Celebratory Champagne) they made the perfectly rational decision to go straight from being First-Timers to Full-Timers. Within a month, they had sold most of their possessions on eBay and rented out their apartment to tour in Kismet full time. They called it ‘Early Retirement’ and set out to Live the Dream by touring Europe with their surfboards on their roof. ‘Fur Babies in France’ is the story of their first year on wheels with Kismet and ‘Big Blue’ – their trusty tow vehicle (and toy box) - a Hyundai iLoad panel van. It was a steep learning curve; one that involved lots of breakages and started on Day 1 with a near-death experience! However, Jackie and Mark approach all of their mishaps and misadventures with more than a pinch of humour. And avoiding the crowds to tour France by the back roads, they finally found what they were looking for; beauty, peace and tranquillity, with a bit of windsurfing thrown in!

    This is incidental as it is about neither of those industries in particular. It is about the magic and wonderment of those days as seen through the eyes of a child – my eyes! It is about the days when imagination was the biggest plaything that we possessed. The days when a plastic football provided a whole summer's play. It is about the scrapes that I found myself in and the things that I observed around me, and how they made me feel. All the stories are true and I personally experienced every one of them. The names of the characters have been changed. The reason being that I have no idea of the whereabouts of many of the characters contained within my stories, so I have no way of asking them for their permission to include them in this book. Some have possibly passed away, and it would be unfair of me to mention them without their blessing. Anyone who knows me will know who they are though.

    He was a hot, dreamy man that could bring any woman to her knees." (The Proposition)This Collection contains the 4 stories:Book 1: The PropositionMegan is amazed when her fabulously rich and handsome boss decides to give her a very no-strings, very sexual proposition. She already found him highly desirable and he’d certainly assured her that no matter her answer, he’d respect it. So what was it going to be?Book 2: Illicit PropositionMegan has indulged in some pretty wild fantasies involving her rich handsome boss, Heath Mayer. But she soon finds out that reality is even more of a tantalizing thrill…They meet again and he makes her a proposition that is both tempting and full of dangerous promise. But before she is to succumb, she is given a taste of what is expected of her if she is to share his bed. The scene unfolds and more than ever she understands how careful you must be of what you wish for…Book 3: No-Strings PropositionHeath Mayer proved to want Megan more under his control than ever. Now that she’d agreed to make that weekend trip with him, Megan discovered how dark and challenging his desires truly were. Hungry for the chance to explore this new, exciting experience with him, Megan decides to keep her mind – and body, open to his demands. It was just for three nights, after all. No promises, no strings…just enough hot, pounding passion to leave her going up in flames… Book 4: Eternal PropositionMegan Kerry had some really hard choices – literally. Spending three hot nights with her sexy boss Heath Mayer had her falling deeper into his dark web. He demanded for nothing less than the entirety of what she had to give – herself. But would it be just for that no-strings weekend, or was it possible he would want more? Megan had to decide which role she wanted to continue to play in his life. His toy, or the woman with a chance of having his heart…***This series contains adult romantic these that will get all heart’s pumping!Preview:Oh fuck he’s hot, she thought, as she shook hands with Heath Mayer. She’d heard about their chief exec being quite the hunk, but did anyone have the right to be so freaking sexy? He just had to breathe and he was any girl’s hottest fantasy. Above six feet tall, wide shoulders, narrow waist – all round solid, hard. He had the kind of arresting face you’d see on any of those high fashion men’s magazines. Brooding good looks with the chiseled jaw and smoky eyes. His were a piercing grey, with hair so dark it seemed to have blue streaks in them. He had on a three piece suit that fit him perfectly, and gave the impression that his clothes cost more than Megan earned in a year. “This is Miss Kerry,” her superior, the VP of sales and marketing, was saying as he introduced her to the owner and CEO of the company.

    He was handsome, suave, charismatic, and just damn sexy. Plus, being a successful man was just icing on the cake. I could see Mason had a great heart. He loved his son. I respected him so much. And when he mentioned he was looking for a nanny… I quickly offered to help. Little did I know what I was putting myself into. The man who looked so perfect from outside had a broken heart. Soon, I realized he was too wounded…the scars were so fresh. Maybe I was too blind to think of a future with him. But once he knows I am carrying his baby… Would he be willing to open the doors to a world he had been cutting himself forever?

    This is the story of how she got to the top, and battled with everything she had to stay there. Sam’s memoir takes in the whole story, from being kicked out of ballet lessons as a child but being accepted on the boys’ sports teams, to working as a firefighter in West Yorkshire for ten years, tackling dangerous and adrenaline-fueled situations on a daily basis, and to taking up CrossFit at the comparatively ancient age of 27. Sam tells of what it took to become champion a mere three years later, and after a year out with a broken patella. Despite the numerous setbacks and debilitating injuries that have plagued her in the years that followed, when most other athletes would have thrown in the towel, Sam has fought, and continues to fight, to be the very best that she can be. Start Your Engines is the story of how, with a combination of grit, training and dogged motivation, it’s never too late to achieve your dreams.

     You'll giggle when an EMT reveals his/her most prized possession, shake your head at some of the RIDICULOUS behavior seen in the emergency room, and you'll relate to the frustrations and joy healthcare workers across the globe express in their submissions. Special sections within this volume include: That Darn Cat, DOGgonit!, As Heard on the Scanner, and many more.

    I know your secrets, I know them allI write in my journal as much as I can. I talk to Mr. Ted. He is my only friend. He understands when the bad man comes. He holds my hand when I have nightmares and my mummy doesn't hear me cry. Mr. Ted doesn’t tell. He won’t say when my daddy hurts me. He keeps my secrets and my stories. I love Mr. Ted. He is the only one who loves me back.Mr. Ted.I keep falling asleep. Bad things happen. I get sore all the time. But I don’t know why. My mum says it’s a demon. Because I got evil. Please make me be good.

    Will her brothers really insist she marry him?

    He is released back into the world without any support or counselling from the authorities.The child abuse and numerous court cases had almost destroyed him, and Stuart became reliant on drugs and alcohol. With his life spiralling out of control, Stuart attempts suicide a number of times. The last try leaving the doctors that resuscitated him incredulous he had survived.At the point of no-return, Stuart was sent to an hospital in the Scottish highlands to fight the demons that assailed him and rebuild his life. This is the remarkable story of his fight to be his own man.

    

    

    She was wrong … this is her staggering true story.‘This must be what prison is like,’ I thought as another hour crawled by. In fact, prison would be better … at least you knew your sentence. You could tick off the days until you got out. In the Bad Room we had no idea how long we’d serve.After years of constant abuse, Jade thought her foster mother Carol Docherty would be the answer to her prayers. Loving and nurturing, she offered ten-year-old Jade a life free of fear.But once the regular social-worker checks stopped, Carol turned and over the next six years Jade and three other girls were kept prisoner in a bedroom they called the ‘bad room’.Shut away for 16 hours at a time, they were starved, violently beaten, forbidden from speaking or using the toilet and routinely humiliated. Jade was left feeling broken and suicidal.This is the powerful true story of how one woman banished the ghosts of her past by taking dramatic action to protect the life of every vulnerable child in care.