He is grieving for the loss of his wife when the tunnel collapses and traps the bus inside. In the darkness that follows, he manages to fumble out of the bus with the only other survivor, an astute and gentle woman who reminds him of his late wife. Without any light to guide them and with only each other to depend on, they try to escape the stifling darkness and along the way find themselves confronted by their pasts and given their last chance at intimacy, and ultimately, absolution.A realist story that plays with surreal elements, the tale poses a simple question: what is the meaning of hope?

    Can it? A one night stand, an engagement and a wedding, all within the space between New Year’s and Valentine’s day. Could it be love? If so, is it meant to be?

    Come along for the ride to meet feisty Boston city girls who know what they want, and rugged Montana men who just need to be loved. It's 1900, and things are changing fast in sleepy Sun River. As the town begins to expand, its inhabitants are getting restless, looking for love and adventure. A Bride for Carlton Why would an accomplished governess respond to an advertisement in the Matrimonial Times? Myra Gilbert had never considered such a thing, but something has awoken within her and she is determined to take her chance on love. Carlton Green claimed his lands, and now has the deeds in his grasp. But something is missing in his life. Will his quest to find love fill that hole, or is there something from his past that could change everything and leave him with nothing? A Bride for Mackenzie Annie Cahill has had a tough life, forced to leave home and work from an early age to support her sick Mama and younger siblings. Always the one everybody else could rely on she decides to finally reach out to take something for herself. But will she find the courage to see it through? A Bride for Ethan Maggie Smith left her home and family behind her to forge a successful career. But she is beginning to wonder if it truly was worth all the sacrifices she has made. But her desire for a family and loving partner may be a challenge to far. Has she already had everything she dreamed of, and foolishly pushed it away? A Bride for Thomas Catherine Parker has been brought up in the lap of luxury, and has always expected she would someday make an expedient marriage, but when her Papa insists she marry a man she knows he despises she has no choice. But will she find the love and companionship she craves, or is she merely trading one kind of hell for another? Can she trust a stranger to care more for her than her own father? A Bride for Matthew Emily Wilkins has led a glamorous life, part of a famous Circus family she has her own Act and a loving family. But a dramatic accident in the Ring means she has to face up to the fact that she never felt she fitted in. With her faithful donkey Claude she sets out for Montana to heal and find herself, but she gets much more than she ever bargained for. A Bride for Daniel Alice Springham has worked as a maid in a top Boston hotel since she was a girl. But she is feeling restless. Not knowing what she wants she answers and advertisement in the Matrimonials that made her smile. She has no idea if it is love she is missing, or if she even wants to wed. Will she ever learn what it is she truly wants? A Bride for William Madelaine Crane has led a life of privilege, but her comfortable life has been ripped apart by scandal. Can she overcome the gossip and forge her way to a life of fulfilment and love despite their censure? A Bride for Aaron Frederica Milton has been struggling to find her place in the world since the tragic deaths of her parents. Her Aunt is making her life a misery, though she knows her kindly Uncle loves her - but it is time for her to take her destiny into her own hands. Our feisty heroine places an advertisement for a husband, but will she finally find what she truly longs for? A Bride for Gideon Alberta Freemont, the daughter of a prominent Boston politician knows all about the need to marry well and that love isn't always a consideration.

    But beneath the thin veneer of a successful, happy life trouble has eaten away the once-strong foundation of their relationship. It all comes crashing out in one final, fateful - and shocking - night.

    Is destiny just the past, rewritten?

    But now Shelly is dead—killed along with her husband, Peter, in a mysterious accident—and it’s Sophie who is left to raise those children, live at the Monterey mansion—and marry a Canfield man. Only this time the man is Thomas, Peter’s older brother. Because Peter is dead. Or is he? No body had ever been found. And Sophie and Thomas have unfinished business—a love affair, barely begun, cut off abruptly all those years ago. One that this time Thomas is determined to see bloom.…FREE BONUS STORY INCLUDED IN THIS VOLUME!Still the OneShe left him at the altar but an unexpected reunion might be just the thing to set them on the path to forever!Only a distress call could summon Lainey Morgan back to the small hometown she had run from, leaving the man she adored standing at the altar. Nothing in the ten years since had erased the pain of losing the baby Ethan Daniels had been marrying her for. Still, he always had been the best veterinarian around—and the stray dog that had attached himself to her needed attention. Almost as badly as she did. The years had only made Ethan want Lainey more. Both of them had done some growing up. Maybe this time, forever could be within their grasp…Originally published in 2013

    Now she’s on the hook for all the bills, and she needs a job that will pay her more than a teaching assistant’s meager salary. In desperation she finds herself at a party on the yacht of Andrew Winter, a playboy oil billionaire, hoping to land a job as his personal assistant. But the gorgeous stranger she ends up talking to isn’t Andrew Winter. In the dim light she couldn’t make out the color of his eyes, but it really didn’t matter. They were riveted on her, and that was all she cared about at the moment. What she can see is that he’s smoking hot, oozing testosterone, and interested in her. After the hit her ego has taken with her ex, the attention is nice. It isn’t going to get him anywhere, but that doesn’t mean she can’t have fun with it. Who wouldn’t take advantage of a little moonlight on a yacht with good company? But no one had bothered to tell Stephen he couldn’t have a taste, and now his soft lips are setting her on fire. Why couldn’t she enjoy it for just a little while? It wouldn’t hurt anything, would it?

    When her mother dies, Melissa is offered a home by wealthy Lilian Winterton, but she soon realises Lilian wants an unpaid seamstress. Treated as a servant by the Wintertons, Melissa is befriended by Reenie, a kitchen maid, and they enjoy dressing up in Lilian’s cast-off clothes. Wearing finery, Melissa meets handsome young artist James Pennington, but she runs away, frightened he will guess her true status. Scandal follows and Melissa is unfairly thrown out on to the streets. Can the rags of her life be sewn into riches...?

    An online forum for cancer support turns into a love triangle for an English professor, a Canadian fisherman, and an elementary school teacher living in Japan. A deer and a polar bear flirt via Skype. In The Hypothetical Girl a menagerie of characters graze and jockey, play and hook up in the online dating world with mixed and sometimes dark results. Flirting and communicating in chat rooms, through texts, e-mails, and IMs, they grope their way through a virtual maze of potential mates, falling in and out of what they think and hope may be true love.   With levity and high style, Cohen takes her readers into a world where screen and keyboard meet the heart, with consequences that range from wonderful to weird. The Hypothetical Girl captures all the mystery, misery, and magic of the eternal search for human connection.

    In a perfect life, these promises are easy to keep. When faced with spousal betrayal, idealistic oaths take a back seat. Justine Charles made the ultimate sacrifice for her dying husband. Will she rally after his death or be forced to give up a final chance at happiness?

    Bullied, assaulted or psychologically abused, their road to redemption was never easy, and for some there would be no redemption, only a descent into evil.These are the stories of people you know. The settings are mostly 60’s and 70’s UK and USA, the driving themes are inclusion and social justice - but the real key to these stories is that I withhold the protagonists’ identities. This means that your job is to find them - leading to that Eureka moment when you realise who's mind you've been inhabiting for the last twenty minutes.I should also add that this is a book that operates on two levels. Yes, there’s the game of identifying the mystery activist or actor, singer or murderer, but there is then the more serious business of trying to understand them. This in turn leads to the challenge of overlaying what you now know about these famous people onto what you thought you knew – not to mention the inherent challenge to your moral compass.These are people you know, but not as you know them. Peel back the mask and see.This book is dedicated to the victims of violent crime, the struggle against discrimination in all its forms and making the world a better place for our children. That is why 30% of all profits will be shared between Stop Hate UK, The North East Autism Society and Friends of the Earth.Simon Van der Velde January, 2021Backstories is published by Smoke & Mirrors Press.

    Fisher Amelie (author of The Leaving series), J.L. Bryan (author of the Paranormals series), Courtney Cole (author of The Bloodstone Saga), Wren Emerson (author of the Witches of Desire series), Amy Maurer-Jones (author of The Soul Quest trilogy), Tiffany King (author of the Saving Angels series) and Nicole Williams (author of the Eden Trilogy) come together in this captivating anthology to each write a short story about a character from their already existing novels. This lively group of authors shine in this anthology. If you enjoyed the following books: Jenny Pox (J.L. Bryan)The Understorey (Fisher Amelie) Fated (Courtney Cole) I Wish...(Wren Emerson) Soul Quest (Amy Maurer-Jones) Meant To Be (Tiffany King) Eternal Eden (Nicole Williams)Then you will love these short stories, each of which provides a further look at the characters you have already grown to love. The authors of The Glassheart Chronicles will be donating their profits from this anthology to Save The Children, an amazing organization that strives every day to help impoverished children in over 120 countries, including the United States.

     Colin Dawson and Kirsten Parker haven't spoken to each other in over a decade. During high school they were devoted sweethearts who thought their love would survive as they headed to different colleges. But Colin's bad decisions tore them apart and left Kirsten finding comfort in another man's arms. Losing her was the biggest regret of Colin's life and still haunted him. Now fourteen years after their breakup, Kirsten returns to their hometown of Dallas when her marriage disintegrates. She's invited to a night out with old high school friends and finds a newly divorced Colin joining them too. What happens when Colin comes face to face with the love of his life? Will fate give them another chance to make things right or will Kirsten's hidden secret stand in their way?

    But returning home to Gatlin, South Carolina was just the beginning...Wounded during a climactic battle, Link discovers that tending his injuries won't be as simple as visiting a doctor and that healing his arm should be the least of his worries. For being bitten by a Supernatural does more than break the skin -- it changes a person, inside and out, turning Link into someone more and more like the dark creature who injured him.In this never-before-seen short story by New York Times bestselling authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, listeners witness Link's heart-racing transformation. Dream Dark is set before the much-anticipated third Beautiful Creatures novel, Beautiful Chaos, and as a special bonus includes an exclusive sneak peek at the first five chapters.Dream Dark word count: ~10,000

    It was for the Isolation War that the American government contracted the ParaGen Corporation to manufacture the Partials—our last hope in reclaiming energy independence from China. And it was on these fields of battle that the seeds of humanity's eventual destruction were sown.Isolation takes us back to the front lines of this war, a time when mankind's ambition far outstripped its foresight. Heron, a newly trained Partial soldier who specializes in infiltration, is sent on a mission deep behind enemy lines. What she discovers there has far-reaching implications—not only for the Isolation War, but for Partials and humans alike long after this war is over.A powerful take of our world on the brink, Isolation gives readers a glimpse into the history from which Partials was born—as well as clues to where the Partials Sequence is heading next.