The Beech Tree


Don Phelan - 2011
    We follow Johnny and Margo, Johnny's lifelong, albeit socially taboo, friendship with his friend, “Bullet Joe” Rogan, a pitcher in the Negro Leagues.Johnny introduces his granddaughter, Debby, to the tree in 1957, an era of bobby socks, roller-skating carhops and Elvis music, and Debby meets Mason in 1967's Summer of Love, just before Mason is drafted to fight in Vietnam.For 30 years, Debby wonders whatever became of the boy who changed her life. Then she finds out.

I Quit! Now What?


Zarreen Khan - 2017
    Of endless weekdays, working weekends, making presentations, working with complicated Excel sheets, handling a boss with time-management issues and the general politics of the workplace. Sigh! After eight years of this life, her only personal insight is that she's terribly unambitious and constantly struggling to be an average performer in the competitive corporate world. When a colleague flashes the glint of a golden sabbatical she catapults into it headfirst. After all, one has to find one's calling at some point in one's life. So will the sabbatical miraculously change her life forever? Or will she go rushing back to her pocket money-generating job?

Driftwood: Stories from the Margarita Road


Anthony Lee Head - 2020
    Fleeing boredom, bad marriages, and dead-end jobs, these adventurers wander south to Playa Paraiso—a lush, unspoiled village on Mexico’s idyllic Caribbean coast. There they find the unpredictable, hedonistic, and sometimes frightening world of the tropics.At the center of this extraordinary group is Poppa, the irreverent and savvy owner of the local beach bar. As he tries to make sense of his own vagabond existence, he offers his fellow expats booze, advice, and the occasional helping hand. It is Poppa who tells the tales of these intriguing runaways, as together they encounter true loves, vicious drug dealers, charming rogues, clueless do-gooders, and a devastating hurricane. Against a backdrop of stunning blue water and endless white sand, they experience the heart’s tug of war between the need for a place to call home and the desire for the freedom to roam.Author Anthony Lee Head is very familiar with the dream of living in paradise portrayed in Driftwood: Stories from the Margarita Road. After leaving a long career as a San Francisco trial lawyer, he moved to Playa del Carmen, Mexico where for ten years he ran a small hotel and margarita bar near the beach.Travelers, wanderers, explorers and dreamers alike will see themselves in these unforgettable characters, all the while craving an icy boat drink on a sprawling beach. But be careful: if you stick your feet in the sand and come along on this journey, you may not want to go home again."... Joseph Conrad collides with Jimmy Buffett in a journey through the dark heart of Mexico's Riviera Maya."~ Bob Calhoun, bestselling author and journalist"Truly wonderful and moving tales; the author is a writer to watch."~ Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"Beneath the 'palm and balmy breezes' tone, a deep, empathetic humanity affords each character and event vivid authenticity."~ Peter Coyote, bestselling author and actor

Lindsey Kelk 5-Book 'I Heart...' Collection


Lindsey Kelk - 2013
    Follow Angela’s adventures from day one . . .When Angela Clark flees her best friend's wedding for New York, leaving chaos, an injured groom and a boyfriend in her wake, her adventures are only just beginning.Follow her through five hilarious and highly entertaining novels as her attempts to start a new life and new career – and a new love affair too – take her to Hollywood, Vegas, Paris and back to London. Being Angela, it's not long before she's in one scrape after another…

The Ordinary Truth


Jana Richman - 2012
    Now, thirty-six years later, the rift between Nell and her daughter Kate threatens to implode as Kate, now forty-six and a water manager for the Nevada Water Authority, plans to pipe water from a huge aquifer that lies beneath the family ranch to thirsty Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Nell's twenty-one-year-old granddaughter Cassie intends to unearth those old secrets and repair the resentments that grew in their place. Throughout the novel, sparse and beautiful landscapes surround an emotional wilderness of love, loss, and family.

The Royal We Free Preview (The First 7 Chapters)


Heather Cocks - 2015
    I guess it depends on what I do next." American Rebecca Porter was never one for fairy tales. Her twin sister, Lacey, has always been the romantic who fantasized about glamour and royalty, fame and fortune. Yet it's Bex who seeks adventure at Oxford and finds herself living down the hall from Prince Nicholas, Great Britain's future king. And when Bex can't resist falling for Nick, the person behind the prince, it propels her into a world she did not expect to inhabit, under a spotlight she is not prepared to face.Dating Nick immerses Bex in ritzy society, dazzling ski trips, and dinners at Kensington Palace with him and his charming, troublesome brother, Freddie. But the relationship also comes with unimaginable baggage: hysterical tabloids, Nick's sparkling and far more suitable ex-girlfriends, and a royal family whose private life is much thornier and more tragic than anyone on the outside knows. The pressures are almost too much to bear, as Bex struggles to reconcile the man she loves with the monarch he's fated to become.Which is how she gets into trouble.Now, on the eve of the wedding of the century, Bex is faced with whether everything she's sacrificed for love-her career, her home, her family, maybe even herself-will have been for nothing.

The Other Side of the Bay


Sean Dietrich - 2014
    With reminiscence and narration, a local sheriff must comb through his own humid world to unravel the truth behind the death of a local boy. But it’s not as easy as it seems, because no one is talking. The Other Side of the Bay is a remarkable portrait of the unique people in the Panhandle of Florida. The story weaves itself into the tall longleaf forests, and along the crests of the uneasy bay, telling a tale of the human spirit. This is a novel of how things aren't always as black and white as they ought to be, and how right and wrong aren't always easy to tell apart. It's an evocative tale that delivers its reader to the apricot sun rises and sepulchral storm clouds of their own bittersweet memories.

While You Were Mine


Ann Howard Creel - 2016
    But on V-J Day, her worst fear is realized. As celebrating crowds gather in Times Square, a soldier appears on her doorstep to claim Mary, the baby abandoned to Gwen one year earlier. Suddenly Gwen is on the verge of losing the child she has nurtured and loves dearly.With no legal claim to Mary, Gwen begins to teach Lieutenant John McKee how to care for his child, knowing that he will ultimately take Mary away. What starts as a contentious relationship, however, turns into something more, and Gwen must open her heart to learn that love means taking chances.While You Were Mine paints a vivid portrait of 1940s New York and tells an enchanting tale of the nature of love and trust.

An Ordinary Woman


Donna Hill - 2002
    So I may as well say it now. I slept with my best friend's husband. There is no explanation. Not a real one, anyway, not one that people will accept, especially people who know me. . .But I want to tell my side. . .Just hear me out. . ."Asha and Lisa have been best friends since grade school and they have always shared everything. A beautiful and accomplished photographer, Asha never seems to lack excitement or a man to share it with. Yet, for a woman who appears to have it all there is always "that something" she needs to make her feel whole. . .worthy.Lisa, "the good girl," has always dreamed of the perfect marriage to the perfect husband. Now she has both with Ross Davis and she has their future planned to the last, perfect detail.Ross didn't want to believe that he and Lisa had married too soon. He didn't want to believe that each day the man he thought himself to be was being stripped away by the woman he loved--leaving him feeling like a kept man instead of the man of the house.And then--betrayal. No one knows how it happened, how they could have done this to each other. But now, they each want to tell their side of the story.As Asha, Lisa and Ross travel down the road to discovery, you will root for them, hurt for them, hate them and love them. But you will never forget them.An Ordinary Woman is about the betrayal of the most sacred of trusts. It is about the that one moment when a single choice will change lives forever. It is a cautionary tale that dares to look deep inside the hearts and minds of the characters involved. Most importantly, An Ordinary Woman attempts to answer the question: How?

I Never Knew You


Patrick Higgins - 2020
    A promising career. Good health. A beautiful house. A promising relationship. Most importantly, she was a proud member of the largest and most popular megachurch in all of Seattle—the Blessed and Highly Favored Full Gospel Church.Everything started changing in her seemingly perfect life after a pastor visiting from China created such an uproar at her church, with messages most members found both mean spirited and judgmentally offensive, that Mark Lau was asked to leave and told never to come back.It took traveling all the way to Shanghai, China, with her best friend, Meredith Geiger, for Charmaine to discover the many differences between her church, which was opulent in every sense of the word, and Pastor Lau’s church, which was located beneath a dry cleaners, of all places.Even more telling were the messages both pastors preached. Despite that they taught from the very same Book, their messages couldn’t have been anymore polarizing. While Charmaine was instantly intrigued by the whole “underground” experience, Meredith was so traumatized that she cut short what had been the best vacation of her life, to go back to the States.But not before alarming Charmaine’s boyfriend of the grave danger they faced. Rodney Williams then told lead pastors, Julian and Imogen Martín, who flew 5,700 miles from Seattle to China, to rescue her from the so-called pastor who’d already caused some to leave their megachurch.Upon arriving, they learned their suspicions were quickly confirmed. Mark Lau had used his subterranean gathering place to radically change Charmaine’s way of thinking. Despite her strongest protests, they flat-out refused to believe that God had used him to transform her life and deepen her faith, to the extent that she finally had eternal assurance.Tragically for the Martíns, by the time they discovered the prosperity Gospel they’d been preaching was a false one, it would be too late…

Map of Stars


Catherine Law - 2016
    Eliza is to be married to Nicholas, her companion since she was a child. But when the pair are involved in a car crash, Eliza is rescued by a stranger, Lewis Harper, whose stunning green eyes she will never forget.As the war begins, Eliza's world begins to fall apart: her beloved brother Martyn is killed in action, and her once-beloved husband grows increasingly distant. And then, when her efforts to help the Dunkirk evacuees take her to the south coast, she spots a familiar pair of eyes.

The Optimist's Guide to Letting Go


Amy E. Reichert - 2018
    Seven days. One big secret. The author of The Coincidence of Coconut Cake unfolds a mother-daughter story told by three women whose time to reckon with a life-altering secret is running out.Gina Zoberski wants to make it through one day without her fastidious mother, Lorraine, cataloguing all her faults, and her sullen teenage daughter, May, snubbing her. Too bad there’s no chance of that. Her relentlessly sunny disposition annoys them both, no matter how hard she tries. Instead, Gina finds order and comfort in obsessive list-making and her work at Grilled G’s, the gourmet grilled cheese food truck built by her late husband.But when Lorraine suffers a sudden stroke, Gina stumbles upon a family secret Lorraine's kept hidden for forty years. In the face of her mother’s failing health and her daughter’s rebellion, this optimist might find that piecing together the truth is the push she needs to let go...

This Fine Life


Eva Marie Everson - 2010
    When she returns to her privileged life at home, she isn't sure where life will take her. More schooling? A job? Marriage? Nothing feels right. How could she know that she would find the answer waiting for her in the narrow stairwell of her father's apparel factory, exactly between the third and fourth floors?In this unique and tender romance, popular author Eva Marie Everson takes you on a journey through the heart of a young woman bound for the unknown. Discover the joys of new love, the perseverance of deep friendship, and the gift of forgiveness that comes from a truly fine life.

Chloe Sparrow


Lesley Crewe - 2014
    The Single Guy is a popular new reality series, where dozens of women are trying to woo bachelor veterinarian Austin Hawke. As the filming gets underway, though, accident-prone Chloe finds herself in one predicament after another: a wayward puck hits her in the face during a hockey game, she sprains her ankle at a dude ranch, and she falls out of a boat at high speed. But Chloe has bigger problems. The stress of her home life with her nutty but loveable Gramps and Aunt Ollie is getting to her, her job is consuming her, and painful memories from her past threaten to overwhelm her. To top it off, her co-worker Amanda is pressuring her to find a boyfriend. It doesn't take long before Chloe realizes that not having all her wishes come true might not be such a bad idea.

The Legacy Letters: his Wife, his Children, his Final Gift


Carew Papritz - 2014
    His words of wisdom, interwoven between deeply personal stories and poignantly-told memories, ultimately become the practical, moral, and spiritual guidebook for his children he’d never live to see, and for his wife, his redemptive act of love.“Live Life to the Fullest” becomes the father’s passionate plea to his family—and to all of us desiring to live the same way. Woman’s World Magazine writes, “This inspirational classic is the perfect comfort book for people hungry to find meaning in their lives.” Combining the best elements of such inspirational bestsellers as Tuesdays with Morrie, The Last Lecture, and Chicken Soup for the Soul, author Carew Papritz creates a timeless work that The Huffington Post calls, "A Must-Read Book of Wisdom for Life...exquisite, intimate, passionate, humorous, and genuine..."Back Cover Description of The Legacy LettersA tragedy begins.A husband and wife separate.He’s dying. She doesn’t know.She’s pregnant. He can’t return.Now he races against time—In the solitude of a mountain cabin.In a faraway mountain range.Trying to finish . . .For his children— his captivating stories and memories, turned into practical, moral, and spiritual instructions,now their “guidebook to life.”For his wife—his intimate words of great love and deep regret,now his journey of redemption, now her passage to forgiveness.Ultimately, he gives his final giftto her, to them, and now, to us all.The Legacy Letters