Richly populated with complex, unforgettable characters, Wings of Grace is a fresh and engaging novel, Griggs' fines' to date. Because Lena Patterson never enjoyed a fulfilling relationship with her mother, she is determined to break the cycle and be there one-hundred percent for her now-pregnant daughter, Theresa Raised by her strong and loving grandmother, Lena looks forward to playing a central role in her own grandchild's life. Then an older woman shows up on Theresa's doorstep looking for Lena. Lena is dubious, convinced that the woman is just looking to get her hands on an heirloom necklace. As painful memories from the distant past re-emerge, the ties that bind a mother to her daughter seem primed to endure a wrenching test. Meanwhile, wedding bells are fast approaching for Pastor Landris and his fiancee, writer Johnnie Mae Taylor But circumstances are taking shape that threaten to place Landris's pastorhip, and his life, in grave jeopardy. Johnnie Mae, for her part, has embarked on a journey of her own. Performing research for an upcoming book, she crosses paths with Sarah Fleming, an old woman whose story will expose a range of startling truths and, ultimately, reshape the nature of Johnnie Mae's faith.

    The neighbor she hopes to marry chooses a town girl for his new wife.The Potato King listens to the radio preacher and prays for a miracle. Eddy Root fears a return to the asylum. A German war bride struggles to find acceptance in this tight-knit Scandinavian community. Woven throughout is the man who walks lizards, a grieving father, a disillusioned pastor, and the neighborhood gossipmonger. Shelterbelts chronicles the life of a community struggling to return to normal after war. This is a story true to history of those difficult times while rich in the complications of the human spirit.

    From the fresh new talent behind "After the Dance" comes a sparkling novel with charm, wit, and a side of Southern hospitality.

    But despite her good fortune, she's still missing someone special to share her life with—until a chance encounter changes everything... Handsome, rugged Jerome Kimbrough is hard to miss among the fellow citizens serving jury duty with Erica. And as the two get know each other over the course of a two week trial, their relationship soon extends beyond the courtroom and into a full-on passionate romance. Although they come from opposite worlds—Jerome is a working class, city sanitation employee—they’re both hard working dreamers with big ambitions. Yet while their differences aren't an issue for them, their friends, family—and Erica's ex-fiancé—disagree. As all involved are forced to confront their hidden stereotypes, can Erica and Jerome endure the challenges in store for them—including a startling secret from their pasts?...

    She passes her eleven-plus and wins a scholarship to go to a good grammar school, but her father refuses to believe that girls have the right to do anything other than look after their husbands and raise children.Struggling to fit in at her new school and picked on by the other girls, Janet befriends, Ruth, another lonely pupil whose Jewish family have suffered many hardships. Janet and Ruth forge a strong friendship through her school life and beyond. But will their friendship survive when Janet falls for Ruth’s brother, Ben –marriage to a Catholic girl would go against everything his community hold dear. When the whole world seems stacked against her, can Janet hold onto her dreams?

    

    Two time divorcee, Nelson Kennard, has finally found the love of his life - so he thinks, but his fiancée, Parris Stalls, has found another lover.Parris, a drop dead gorgeous schoolteacher with a body to die for, has been patiently waiting for Nelson's ship to come in. But after four years of waiting, she began to listen to her friends who told her numerous times to leave Nelson and find a man with some money.In comes the very wealthy Shenandoah Armstrong who has a twenty year old score to settle with Nelson. The fireworks begin when Parris finds out that Nelson became the man she always hoped he'd become. She never loved Shenandoah and never stopped loving Nelson. He still loves Parris, but will he take her back after catching her in bed with Shenandoah? Or has he found another and moved on with his newly found riches?

    As he questions God's existence in one of the darkest corners of the world, Gabriel creates a file where he stores any evidence of the divine--no matter how unseemly.

    The best stories are often about the lowest points in our lives - the soul-crushing jobs, the bad boyfriends, the terrible holidays, the betrayals and heartbreaks. These are the stories I tell people to make them like me, but, more importantly, they've helped me learn how to like myself.So this book is a collection of thankyous and acknowledgments:∗ Thank you to an ex-lover who marvelled at the fact he could get hard with me, even though I wasn't up to his usual standard.∗ Thank you to the coked-up real estate agent who, while lecturing me and my friend about the importance of travelling, fell down a flight of stairs.∗ Thank you to the woman who approached me after a gig and told me she hoped her daughter wouldn't end up like me.You've all taught me that you can't control who comes into your life or what happens to you, but you can decide just what it is you take from them.

    . . and deep humanity.  Daria emerges from a refugee camp a believer. She has lost everything, witnessed the unthinkable, and committed herself to a mission with a deadly conclusion. Indoctrinated, trained, and given a ticket to New York, she blends in, posing as an ambitious journalist—an “arrow” hoping to hit too many targets to count.   Dr. Sam Watterman is recruited too. Falsely accused and disgraced in the anthrax inquiries after 9/11, he is no longer a believer in causes. But the government that ruined his career now demands his expertise to locate a threat putting millions of Americans in peril.   In a country that fights wars on foreign soil but remains terrified of the cataclysm at home, Sam strives toward redemption and Daria desperately seeks both rebellion and enlightenment. Their lives will intersect at a place that will test their faith and make them each question what it means to have something worth dying for.   With a riveting plot that spans sixteen fraught, compelling days, Stephen Miller’s dazzling novel of literary suspense brings the war to a landscape both familiar and vulnerable: the America we call home.

    In this fascinating and instructive book, he reveals his personal story through the fictional character Ignacio Rodriguez. Ignacio is 40-something stressed-out entrepreneur who is utterly overwhelmed--he is at risk for a heart attack, is losing money at his business--where employee morale is at an all-time low, and has no time or energy for his family. At first, he ignores these problems, thinking that if he only works harder, things will all get better. Predictably, his life quickly gets out of control. His doctor recommends that he try meditation to regain balance in his life. Ignacio--who is skeptical--finds a spiritual guide, who helps Ignacio heal by finding his path in the secret of the seven seeds. The seven seeds represent the path to success and balance in life: self-knowledge, meditation, egolessness, service to others, goodness, balance, and freedom.

    So when local English teacher Carissa Melody Wayne is asked to appear on the weight-loss reality show Losing to Win, she agrees. She doesn't realize that others from her past will be joining her, including her high school nemesis, an acquaintance who's been nursing a long-time crush on her--and most shocking of all, Carissa's ex-fiancé, former NFL star Malachi Knight.As Carissa's group is split into pairs to compete in a series of challenges, she finds herself at the mercy of the chaotic Hollywood crew and cast members, and her own unfinished business. Soon enough, she discovers that her biggest challenge will be deciding what's really important to her, what she's willing to do to win--and how to do it with cameras following her 24/7...

    She works in the beautiful Yorkshire market town of Middleham and if her colleagues are occasionally challenging, then the horses are downright astonishing. Now, in Stable Lass, she takes us into the closed world of a top racing yard, from the elation of having several winners in one day to the almost indescribable grief of losing a horse. Like most stable lads and lasses, Gemma arrived in her yard as a teenager fresh out of racing college and had to cope with living away from home for the first time, as well as adapt to the brutal long hours, backbreaking work and often treacherous weather. She describes falling in love with Polo Venture, the first racehorse in her care, the pure exhilaration of riding him on Middleham Gallops for the first time and what happens when a horse takes against you, from the growling gelding Valiant Warrior to the potentially lethal Broadway Boy. She brings to life the characters around the yard, from straight-talking boss Micky Hammond to the jockeys starving themselves to make weight, the wealthy owners and the other stable lads and lasses who come from a range of different places and backgrounds. Stable Lass is a unique look into the world of horse racing filled with heart-warming stories and amazing thoroughbreds - some loveable, some cantankerous, all impressive.

    In Up, a practicing physician and NIH-funded researcher draws on her research and experience to show that our outlook on life— our unique patterns of thinking and feeling about ourselves, others, and the world—may be the key to how well and how fast we age. From wrinkles to cognitive decline, our outlook affects our health at every level. Using the framework of outlook GPS, Up illustrates how we can gauge our current attitude latitude and move to healthier ground. Tindle brings a fresh eye to attitudinal traits such as optimism, noting that it has many faces, including the face of her own struggling optimism. Using the 7 Steps of Attitudinal Change that she applies to her own patients, Tindle offers us a path toward healthy aging. Prescriptive and accessible, Up puts forward a paradigm shift in how we age and treat disease, giving even the most struggling optimists a chance for hope. It will appeal to readers of The Longevity Project by Howard S. Friedman and Leslie R. Martin as well as The Blue Zones by Dan Buettner.

    Now, she will stop at nothing to take her revenge and recover their wealth. Even travel across the country to marry the man’s son. With his focus on his sprawling Arizona ranch, Axel Forsberg has little time for wooing a woman, so when his father finds him a bride from the east, he trusts he won’t regret the convenience. Until horses go missing, barns burn to the ground, a range war begins…and he loses his heart.