Book picks similar to
Poems of Love and Marriage by John Ciardi
poetry
love-friendship
marriage
read-more-after-08
This is the Story of a Happy Marriage
Ann Patchett - 2013
Stretching from her childhood to the present day, from a disastrous early marriage to a later happy one, it covers a multitude of topics, including relationships with family and friends, and charts the hard work and joy of writing, and the unexpected thrill of opening a bookstore.As she shares stories of the people, places, ideals, and art to which she has remained indelibly committed, Ann Patchett brings into focus the large experiences and small moments that have shaped her as a daughter, wife, and writer.
The High Blue Arena
Jack Prendergast - 2012
Can a couple of rural coppers and a demoralised ragbag of accountant soldiers intercept the two boys, before they blunder into an old firing range infested with unexploded ordnance?Moira can at least rely on two unlikely allies; her estranged African friend Dahlila, and Social Worker Mildred Pierce. Even so, the beast has picked up her trail; as the double pursuit races toward a terrifying climax, Hardcastle will have to tap every ounce of his wavering resolve in order to halt an unstoppable madman. Yet even murderers have mothers, and ultimately, it is love that must prevail; thanks in no small part to the inexhaustible optimism and humanity of four remarkable women...
Grumpy Best Friend
B.B. Hamel - 2021
I had to escape my drunk, abusive father, but leaving her behind was the biggest mistake of my life.Now I have another shot at making things right. Jude’s new boss wants to build a factory outside of Philadelphia, and she brings me in to help.I’m thrust back into Jude’s world, and not much has changed. She’s still beautiful, still hilarious, and still hates my guts.Little by little, she’ll remember why we fell in love back in high school. I’ll make her pout, then make her laugh— then make her strip down and kiss me.And soon I’ll have her back, all grown up and perfect.Or else I'll lose the empire I built with my own calloused hands.Another hot grumpy man! Watch Lady Fluke’s assistant Jude find her happily-ever-after with Bret while they both face their broken pasts and grow together. It’s steamy and fun and I think you’ll fall in love with protective, growly Bret just like I did. As always, Grumpy Best Friend is a full length standalone novel with no cheating, no cliffhanger, and a happily-ever-after guaranteed. Enjoy! XO BB
The 20th Christmas
Andrea Rodgers - 2014
For two decades, she grieves the loss of Chase and struggles with her marriage to her husband, Alan. Meanwhile, Lydia Feller mourns the death of her estranged sister, who spent years living on the streets with mental illness and substance abuse. Lydia adopts the boy that she believes was her sister's son and raises him in a happy, stable home with her husband, Daniel, and their four children.God works in miraculous ways as, twenty years later, both women's worlds collide . . .
His Name Was Ben
Paulette Mahurin - 2014
Based on real events, Ben and Sara discover that when all else fails, healing can come in the most unexpected ways. Chilling and heart wrenching, His Name Was Ben is a triumph over the devastating circumstances and fear experienced when faced with a terminal illness. In this narrative, the power of love conquers shadows and transforms the very nature and meaning of what it is to be fully alive. From the award winning, best-selling author of, The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap, comes a story filled with soul and passion that will leave the reader thinking about it for days after the last page is closed.“Paulette Mahurin compassionately renders an insightful tale about love and life in the moment, when a moment is all there is. Both ordinary and extraordinary, Sara and Ben kept me up at night rooting for them, as did Mahurin of course, a writer of exceptional heart, for her tender and wise depiction of love against all odds. A rare pleasure, His Name Was Ben is not to be missed.”—Lee Fullbright, author of The Angry Woman Suite “Against the biggest of obstacles a couple can face, the positive message is that it is never too late to start living.” –Christoph Fischer author of Sebastian.
The Fireman's Wife: A Novel
Jack Riggs - 2008
As the low country of South Carolina burns in a seven-month drought, Cassie Johnson longs for escape: both from her husband, Peck, the town’s newly promoted fire chief, who seems more interested in saving everyone else’s life than in living his own, and from the low country marshes where Cassie has never quite felt at home. But as Peck and Cassie drift apart, their teenage daughter, Kelly, finds herself torn between her parents and her desperate need for normalcy. It will take a tumultuous journey back to the North Carolina mountains before Cassie can begin to understand the complicated love that resides, unrecognized, deep in her heart.From a masterly voice in Southern fiction, The Fireman’s Wife is an emotionally bare and moving novel about one woman’s struggle to do what’s right–for her family, for her love, and for herself.
Dancing on Broken Glass
Ka Hancock - 2012
They’re both plagued with faulty genes—he has bipolar disorder, and she has a ravaging family history of breast cancer. But when their paths cross on the night of Lucy’s twenty-first birthday, sparks fly, and there’s no denying their chemistry. Cautious every step of the way, they are determined to make their relationship work—and they put it all in writing. Mickey promises to take his medication. Lucy promises not to blame him for what is beyond his control. He promises honesty. She promises patience. Like any marriage, they have good days and bad days—and some very bad days. In dealing with their unique challenges, they make the heartbreaking decision not to have children. But when Lucy shows up for a routine physical just shy of their eleventh anniversary, she gets an impossible surprise that changes everything. Everything. Suddenly, all their rules are thrown out the window, and the two of them must redefine what love really is.An unvarnished portrait of a marriage that is both ordinary and extraordinary, Dancing on Broken Glass takes readers on an unforgettable journey of the heart.
The Highly Sensitive Person in Love: Understanding and Managing Relationships When the World Overwhelms You
Elaine N. Aron - 1996
And, if you are one of the 20 percent of people who are born highly sensitive, the risk of an unhappy relationship is especially high. Your finely tuned nervous system, which picks up on subtleties and reflects deeply, would be a romantic asset if both you and your partner understood you better. But without that understanding, your sensitivity is likely to be making your close relationships painful and complicated.Based on Elaine N. Aron’s groundbreaking research on temperament and intimacy, The Highly Sensitive Person in Love offers practical help for highly sensitive people seeking happier, healthier romantic relationships. From low-stress fighting to sensitive sexuality, the book offers a wealth of practical advice on making the most of all personality combinations. Complete with illuminating self-tests and the results of the first survey ever done on sex and temperament, The Highly Sensitive Person in Love will help you discover a better way of living and loving.
Shadow Tag
Louise Erdrich - 2010
In the vein of the novels of such contemporaries as Zoe Heller and Susan Minot, Shadow Tag is an intense and heart-wrenching story of a troubled marriage and a family in disarray—and a radical departure from Erdrich’s previous acclaimed work.
Old Heart
Peter Ferry - 2015
His oldest son, who had Down Syndrome has died, and his remaining two children want to move him out of the homestead lake house and into a retirement home in town. What Tom wants to do is to find the only woman he ever loved, a woman he met in the Netherlands where he was stationed during World War II.And so he slips away, deftly covers his tracks, and begins his search for her in Eindhoven. While his children try to track him down and then have him extradited back home, Tom delves into love and loss and the value of memory. Soon he catches sight of a woman he believes to be Sarah, the love he lost almost a lifetime ago.He will have to fight for her affections and forgiveness, even as he fights for the legal right to stay in the Netherlands in the name of love and family and all the remaining rights of an old man.
The Offing
Benjamin Myers - 2019
Poetry, perhaps, and a good glass of wine. A nice meal. Nature. Love, if you're lucky. One summer following the Second World War, Robert Appleyard sets out on foot from his Durham village. Sixteen and the son of a coal miner, he makes his way across the northern countryside until he reaches the former smuggling village of Robin Hood’s Bay. There he meets Dulcie, an eccentric, worldly, older woman who lives in a ramshackle cottage facing out to sea.Staying with Dulcie, Robert’s life opens into one of rich food, sea-swimming, sunburn and poetry. The two come from different worlds, yet as the summer months pass, they form an unlikely friendship that will profoundly alter their futures.From the Walter Scott Prize-winning author of The Gallows Pole comes a powerful new novel about an unlikely friendship between a young man and an older woman, set in the former smuggling village of Robin Hood’s Bay in the aftermath of the Second World War.
The Olive Grove
Eva Glyn - 2021
This is a chance to leave the past behind.But this island, and its inhabitants, have secrets of their own and a not-too-distant past steeped in tragedy and war. None more so than Vila Maslina’s enigmatic owner Damir Maric. A young man with nothing to lose but everything to gain…
Grow Old With Me
Melinda Evaul - 2010
Benjamin Pruitt plans to repair the town’s buildings before retiring to a solitary life. Sarah Campbell longs for freedom since her long task as caregiver has ended.Can Benjamin and Sarah piece the tattered remnants of their lives into a beautiful design to warm their waning years?Melinda Evaul and her husband enjoy traveling the back roads of North Carolina and Tennessee where rural culture and history are preserved through a unique art form—Quilt Barn Squares.Come follow her adventures along the Quilt Trails of America in this series of novels.
I Love You More
Jennifer Murphy - 2014
A scintillating novel of betrayal and conspiracy. Picasso Lane is twelve years old when her father, Oliver, is murdered at their summer beach house. Her mother, Diana, is the primary suspect—until the police discover his second wife, and then his third. The women say they have never met—but Picasso knows otherwise. Picasso remembers the morning beautiful Jewels showed up at their house, carrying the same purse as her mother, and a family portrait featuring her father with two strange boys. Picasso remembers lifting the phone, listening to late night calls with Bert, a woman heavily pregnant with Oliver's fourth child. As the police circle and a detective named Kyle Kennedy becomes a regular fixture in their home, Picasso tries to make sense of her father's death, the depth of his deceit, and the secrets that bind these three women. Cunningly paced and plotted, I Love You More is a riveting novel of misplaced loyalty, jealousy, and revenge.