The Pepper in the Gumbo Paul Olivier, founder of a technology giant, clashes right from the start with the beautiful Creole bookstore owner determined to keep him out of Natchitoches' historical district. But nothing is ever as it seems and when secrets are revealed, will it mean a second chance for both of them? A Southern homage to You've Got Mail, this romance will delight classic literature lovers and romance movie fans. These Sheltering Walls An ex con who wears his crime on his sleeve. A woman drowning in an ocean of secrets. Can they find love and hope in each other? Lorelei "Henry" Byrne was born cursed. Being able to spot a lie with perfect accuracy sounds like fun, until you have to live with it. Her whole existence has been hobbled by her hidden talent. She’s estranged from her family, has only one friend, and couldn’t get through a first date if her life depended on it. She throws herself into her work as the new head of the Cane River Creole National Heritage Park, resolving to be content in her solitude… until she meets Gideon, a man with nothing to lose and no reason to lie. A story of grace and courage. b> Only Through Love /b> Charlie Soule couldn’t wait to get out of the Creole swampland and see the world. She left her little home town believing she could be anything. She comes back as a woman who can’t trust anyone. Austin Becket moves to Natchitoches to work at the local juvenile justice center, hoping to do some real good in the world. He'll do anything to forget about the mistakes he's made and the secrets he keeps, even from those closet to him. A story of hope, faith, and learning to trust again. A Star to Steer By People might think growing up in a family bakery is delightful, but Roxie Sunshine Hardy knows the reality. Spending countless sweaty afternoons inside Sunshine Bakery’s big, pink foam cupcake costume is the stuff of her nightmares. Those terrible days are far behind her now, but when her family needs her, Roxie decides to return to Natchitoches. It's only for a few weeks, and there isn’t a snowball’s chance in Dante’s Inferno that she’ll have to get into that cupcake suit. Moving from New York City , Andy hasn’t counted on how much he’d miss his brother, Mark. He can’t uproot Mark from his group home for the mentally disabled back in New York, so Andy tries to go on as usual. When an unlikely friendship blossoms with Sunshine Bakery’s anonymous dancing cupcake, Andy decides to stop pretending to be someone he’s not. He learns seizing the day isn’t just for poets, and life is too short to be without the people you love. A story of family, loyalty, and a true love that can’t be disguised. Fans of Maeve Binchy's Quentins, Jan Karon's Mitford series and Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove series will fall in love with The Men of Cane River!! *All books can be enjoyed as standalone novels.* CANE RIVER ROMANCE (The Men of Cane River Books #1-4) The Pepper in the Gumbo #1 These Sheltering Walls #2 Only Through Love #3 A Star to Steer By #4 AUSTEN TAKES THE SOUTH SERIES Pride, Prejudice and Cheese Grits #1 Emma, Mr.

    As soon as the memorial for him and six of their friends is over, she's resigning from student government. Really. Until someone scribbles a disturbing list on a bathroom wall: WHO DESERVED TO DIE IN THE FIRE? Names are quickly added, and soon she knows what it means. To get to the truth she has to go from grieving girlfriend to leading the fight against lies and bullies, all while confronting the terrifying questions about what really happened the night of the tragedy. Answers seem always out of reach. But, seriously, what stage of grief says Taryn has to be the one to fix what's wrong at Ideal High.

    Now if only she could keep Casey from sneaking into her heart. Excerpt His bright blue eyes pierced through me. I wasn't sure how long he had been looking at me. I ignored him at first, but found it impossible to concentrate on anything else. Eventually I met his gaze evenly, and watched as his lips turned up into a smirk. It took effort not to roll my eyes when he raised his eyebrows slowly. His eyes were burning through me; their intensity made me uncomfortable, but I wasn't going to let him know that. "Mr. Fitzgerald!" my new English teacher, Mr. Oldman, barked. "Could you please at least pretend to pay attention?" Mr. Oldman sounded so exasperated. There were still three months left before graduation, but most of the seniors were already acting as if they didn't need to be in school any longer. "Sure, Mr. Oldman," he said, never taking his eyes from me. I didn't back down even after realizing people were staring at us. "Casey, what do you find so fascinating about Ms. Fuller?" Mr. Oldman turned to him again a few minutes later after realizing he still wasn't paying attention. If it was the teacher's goal to embarrass him, it didn't work. His smirk just widened. "She's new," he said simply, his blue eyes sparkling. Casey's caramel brown hair was messy, his style trendy. He reminded me of every popular guy in high school, except for the confidence he exuded. It was as if he knew he was the shit and was daring anyone to say otherwise. "Casey, will you leave the poor girl alone?" Mr. Oldman sighed. "I've got your letter of recommendation done. Should I send it myself or does it need to go with yours?" Casey didn't respond. His eyes were still piercing through mine, a small smirk playing on his lips. "Casey!" Mr. Oldman yelled, causing both of us to look at him. He handed him a sealed envelope. "Get out of my classroom," he pointed at the door, defeated. "Don't you have friends to bother?" I let out a snicker, though I felt bad for Mr. Oldman. It was obvious he was at his wit's end. Casey seemed to be doing everything he could to push him over the edge. "I'm trying to make the new girl feel welcome," Casey explained, his eyes on me again. I picked up my book, finding my place with ease. "Thanks," I said shortly, "I feel welcome now." And I refused to pay him any more attention. He wouldn't stay with Mr. Oldman in the room, looking dangerously close to pelting him with dry erase markers. With the obvious dilemma before him, he backed down. He stared at me for a second longer, daring me to look at him and when I didn't, he left. I smiled to myself, turning the page leisurely. Mr. Oldman let out a chuckle, "Looks like he's finally met his match."

    Can their relationship survive sex, lies, and secrets from their past? ***** Forced out of boarding school after her mother's death, high school student Marley Thompson made a promise to never conform to the standards of others. Headed back home after a scandal in Australia, bad boy boxer Josh Baker returns to the same school. Sharing dark pasts and keeping their own secrets, Marley and Josh meet and find a connection they never thought they'd have. Still, Josh's friends and family try to end the relationship before it begins, and Josh has to move back to Australia after he graduates. Having been hurt before, will Marley and Josh let their relationship die? Or will they risk it all and fight for each other?

    As we got closer, I continued to tell myself: I don’t love you. I held your hand, I cried when you cried, I smiled when you smiled; but still, I told myself: No, I don’t love you. I must not love you, for I may leave this world anytime. But, just now, someone told me something meaningful. I was taking a rest at the park when I saw an old man in his seventies. We chatted, and he said this to me, “In love, either you love, or you don’t.” It was then I remembered the day when I walked you home. A frail old woman, also in her seventies, chatted with me. Somehow, our conversation also ended with this sentence, “In love, either you love, or you don’t.” In love, either I love you, or I don’t. Joanna, I have been thinking. I have been trying not to love you, but the fact remains: I love you. I can try to forget you, I can try not to love you; but still, it eventually boils down to this single sentence: I love you. Who am I to fight love?

    She’s as ordinary as any other 12-year-old.Except no matter how hard she tries, Cassie just can’t seem to fit in. Excited to fill the summer before her seventh grade year, Cassie enrolls in soccer camp. She can’t wait to improve her ball-kicking skills and make a few goals.But Cassie quickly discovers a few obstacles in her path. Namely: herself. As much as she wants to be, she just isn’t very good at the sport. Either camp will be her chance to improve, or it will be the last time she ever plays.

    Now a young teacher, she guards her heart carefully but finds herself pulled to mentor a child in need.Payton Runnells was 12 when his mother left. Now in foster care, he’s slow to trust anyone but senses that Josie might somehow understand the grief that grips him.As Josie and Payton lower their walls and forge a friendship, they begin to open themselves up to all life has to offer.

    

    Struggling to overcome the lasting repercussions and the stifling role of "school slut," she longs to escape a life defined by her past. With subtle grace, complicated wisdom and striking emotion, Story of a Girl reminds us of our human capacity for resilience, epiphany and redemption.

    Ali” to friends and family. Janelle Jennings: a forty-nine-year-old bestselling romance author, Botox-stuffed narcissist, four-time ex-wife (but who’s counting?), and all-around spoiled brat. What could these two possibly have in common? Uncork the wine. Bring out the calming chocolate. Ali Lawrence’s diva sister, Janelle Jennings, is making an unexpected visit to their hometown of Willoughby, Georgia, and Ali needs help. Since they were schoolgirls, Ali has suffered ridicule and criticism from her prom queen, beauty pageant older sister, whom their mother still coddles at Ali’s expense. Ali is suspicious of her sister’s motives for visiting Willoughby, and especially her odd behavior and uncharacteristically long stay. Something’s not quite right, and Ali is both curious and concerned. During this visit, Ali vows to stop being a bitter doormat and stand up to Janelle. But when Ali discovers a secret that has the potential to destroy Janelle’s career and tarnish her reputation, will she expose her sister, or, for the sake of family unity, will she protect her? Can the sisters finally come to terms with each other, admire their achievements, and ignore their faults, or will their relationship continue to disintegrate, bringing bedlam to Willoughby in the process? Someone has to take the first step: Will it be Janelle in her stepladder stilettos or Ali in her ratty, old running shoes?

    Or at least that's the way it's been for Slump. Since a child he had the responsibility of taking care of himself along with his younger brother and sister by any means necessary. The only thing he has ever been good at is killing, so good that the streets named him. "The Boogyman" but Slump faces a problem when he has to find out the hard way that not everyone is afraid of the Boogyman. He has one goal, get this money and get out fast. That's until his past begins to catch up to him. This classic tale by Jason Brent is sure to leave readers breathless.

    . . Thirteen year old Ephraim Wright suffers the depredations of war along with the white family who reared him. Raised with the family since he was two years old, he is never once required to call Jonathan Wright, his benevolent owner, "master." His speech, manners and outlook on life are more akin to his white "siblings than the other slaves in the community who chide him for being a "pet" and "talkin' like white folk." He is stranded between two worlds; that of free whites, and of enslaved blacks. His life is irreversibly changed when Confederate conscript officers take the family's oldest son at gun point and a bushwhacker gang guns down Jonathan Wright. The law forbids a slave to touch a firearm, because a “negro with a gun is a nervous thing to white folks.” But where his family is concerned, Ep is never one to care about what the slave laws say. By seeking to send men to hell, will Ephraim send himself there as well?Advance Praise for The Secret of Wattensaw BayouWhile reading the book my feelings of anger and resentment toward the institution of slavery and those who fought to protect such rights were sometimes overwhelming and required me to take a deep breath. Nevertheless, the story from a historical perspective, although it was a work of fiction, was masterly woven and I found myself with the urge to continue reading. . . The book is well written and the author provides a fascinating glimpse into the everyday existence of many Southern families during the Civil War. Commander Harold Barnes (US Navy, retired)

    Everyone seems so nice, so kind to one another. But all is not as it seems with her new friends, and soon she's caught in a maelstrom of lies, misunderstandings, accusations and counter-accusations, all happening very publicly in the relentless, hyperconnected social media world from which there is no escape.Six eighth-graders, four girls and two boys, struggle to understand and process their fractured glimples into one another's lives as they find new ways to disconnect, but also to connect, in Rachel Vail's richest and most searching book.

    She doesn't trust anyone, especially with her heart, and makes damn sure to keep herself guarded. With a steel cage wrapped firmly around her heart, She's promised herself she will never give anyone the chance to repeat history.Her world is lonely, but it's a risk she's willing to take, if it means there's no one to hurt her.But that's all about to change… Kayden:Is a hot, happy, outgoing,successful Southern gentleman that every woman dreams of, with an accent that’s truly panty melting. He is pure perfection in every way.He doesn't have a problem letting people into his world in fact he welcomes them in with strong open arms. He longs for the day he meets the right woman to settle down with, give his heart to and start a family of his own.That is until he meets Rena....Kayden knows his whole heart belongs to Rena and that he has to have her for himself, but Rena is adamant she has no room for love in her life.Will he break her and finally claim her heart?