Is love preordained? An old diary from when Jessie and Clare Coleman settled on the land in the 1840's provides a history of their life. But tucked between the pages is an unrequited love between Clare Coleman and a tall Native American. Does love and land come full circle? In this season of giving, will fate reach through time to give a gift of love? Andy Coyote settled into the job as foreman on the Coleman ranch. He's got custody of his thirteen month old daughter and the situation is perfect for both of them until Caroline Coleman returns home for Christmas and one of the worst blizzards in years hits the area. He's forced to accept Caroline's help to move a herd of cattle and mixed in it are several head from another ranch in the community. Cattle rustling still happens. Caroline Coleman has her dream job as a Washington, D.C., news anchor for a national broadcast, but home is in Wyoming on her family's ranch. She has everything that money can buy, but the things that she really wants can't be purchased. Raised with solid, hard working, family values, she knows her life in the spotlight isn't real. She wants a man who appreciates the ranch, loves her for who she is and not what she is, and she wants a family of her own. And she doesn't like the idea of Andy Coyote taking advantage of her grandmother.

     Caroline Harper has everything she could want--wealth, position, the attention of an eligible bachelor. When her brother’s news destroys all of that, Caroline must decide what kind of life she wants to create for herself. As the Harpers make their way along the grueling thousands of miles of Oregon Trail, Caroline discovers strength, poise and potential she didn’t realize she possessed. Strength that perhaps was not in a spoiled city girl at all. But will it be enough to survive and bring Caroline and her brother all the way to Oregon?

    It chronicles the path that led her family to her, and the unimaginable circumstances she had to endure as a victim of dog-fighting in order to make her way home. "As Bright as the Sun" will anger and inspire. It is filled with laughs and with tears. It is a story for every person who has ever advocated for and loved an animal, and in the end, "As Bright as the Sun" will make you want to stand up and cheer.

    Though branded by U.S. history as cowardly traitors, many of them were people of strong convictions and fierce bravery.

    But her quiet, isolated life takes an unexpected turn when her sister's husband, Wim, appears, a man she has not seen for ten years, since their urgent love affair ended in tragedy. Wim, now dying of cancer, feels the need to see Leandra one last time.In alternating, distinctly American voices -- one the twang of a New England Yankee, the other a gentle Southern drawl -- these two characters tell a wistful, wonderfully evoked story, from their first meeting, when Leandra was summoned to Boston to care for her pregnant, depressed sister, to the growing passion that led them beyond common sense and caution. As the narrative alternates between past and present, Leandra and Wim lay claim to the love they've denied themselves and each other.With a sure sense of language and the kind of detail that rings with truth, Susan Dodd creates characters who will resonate in the reader's mind long after their tale reaches its inevitable end. Soft-spoken, sensitive, and deeply moving, The Mourners' Bench is literary fiction at its best, a powerfully eloquent novel of love, loss, regret, and rediscovery.

    Dr. Newman is at the leading edge of creating the perfect educational environment for children, and all he requires is a hefty tuition—and your child at the age of six months.Christopher Carson is one of the “Newman Residents” who live at the Newman Home year-round. His parents, Richard and Carol, both Manhattan attorneys, may disagree about the specifics, but each wants what’s best for their son. For Richard, this means bringing Christopher, now six years old, home for one last summer vacation before the visits become brief and infrequent.Carol agrees with the staff: Christopher should stay at the school. And Christopher is confused, not sure where his real home is anymore. But Richard would like for their house to be Christopher’s home, at least for one summer.As Richard and Christopher spend more time together they become closer. Not long into Christopher’s visit, Richard begins to suspect that the Newman Home’s methods for developing their children into future leaders are too experimental, if not outright dangerous. His suspicions are confirmed when a secretive support group of Newman parents reaches out to him about their frightening experiences with the school.Richard’s investigations into the Newman Home quickly spiral out of control; he has underestimated the extent of the school’s power and connections—and Dr. Newman’s incessant drive to achieve a new level of success for the students. But what Dr. Newman underestimates may be even more powerful: one father’s determination to fight for his son against the odds.What follows in The Newman Resident is a whirlwind battle between a devoted father and an education system more terrifyingly powerful than he ever could have imagined. It’s a battle that forces him to confront how some will cross any line in order to create the “perfect” child.

    On her Texas spread near the town of Burnt Rock, the high-spirited woman heads her own horse ranch operation. It's an unusual occupation for a female in the 1870s, but as an expert horsewoman and a crack shot with a rifle, she's quite adept at taking care of herself. Determined to gain fame for her fine horses, Lee agrees to enter her magnificent coal-black stallion in a match race, never dreaming she's about to set into motion a string of events that will threaten herself, her ranch, and her friend-town marshall, Ben Flood. As gamblers, gunslingers, and shysters descend on Burnt Rock to bet on the now-famous race, Lee comes face-to-face with sinister men who seek to destroy her plans. Her true courage and strong faith shine through when she embarks on the most thrilling ride of her life. The first in a series of western novels, Stallions at Burnt Rock is a masterfully spun tale of a strong, virtuous heroine. It will captivate romance novel enthusiasts as well as fans of westerns and adventure.

    He goes searching for the only other witness to the fatal event, his sister's best friend. But instead of finding the answers he's looking for, he finds Sophie - an old woman with Alzheirmer's. Sophie lives with several cats in genteel but dreadful squalor, and has no memory of recent events. As a temporary outcast and labelled 'loser', Jonny takes refuge with her. In Sophie's house, past and present merge for both of them. Their accidental meeting changes their lives.

    Matriarch Em shows women as strong as men. They fight for justice with fast guns, smooth tongues, and hammer fists, against harsh nature - desert, hurricane - and villains. A nose for gold and weakness for ladies bring trouble.

    Her fears are confirmed when a youth fires a gun at the administrator, but that isn't the only shooting!

    Spooner thinks she's one of the world's more promising cellists. The world thinks so too. Given up by her mother on the day she was born, she believes she has almost raised herself--with just a bit of guidance from her unconventional father, Taxi. When Sib finally asks Taxi to take her to meet her mother for the first time, she knows it might mean breaking away from the man who has raised her. Finding your own path often means leaving those you love, and Sib is willing to take the risk. Yet as she and her dad wind their way across the country to San Francisco, Sib discovers she may not be as "self-made" as she thought. And as she learns more about the man she thought she knew, she finds out it's not simply her music that makes her special, but also the love from the parent she might have to leave behind.1986 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)1987 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)Best Books of 1986 (SLJ)Best of the 80's (BL)Young Adult Choices for 1988 (IRA)1987 Teachers' Choices (IRA)1987 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)Best of the 80's (English Journal)

    Hounded by Marshal Tom Baylor and his posse, Crockett, runs from one fearful, violent encounter to another. As time passes, he learns to make his way with the gun. But he is always looking for a place to call home, a place where he could live life in peace. He thinks he has found it when he lands in Mangas, Arizona Territory. There he meets wealthy, regal Don Esteban. And the hacendado’s daughter, the beautiful and spirited Magdalena. But a rival for Magdalen’s affections draws Crockett back into the world of danger and gunfire — and eventually a showdown that can only bring death.

    But the real challenge is the cowboy who's guiding her to it.

    His father has mysteriously disappeared, and Grant’s brother, Max, a lifelong rival, takes off on the day Grant returns, leaving him with a sickly flock and a pile of debt. When Max returns a year later with a young woman named Sophia, a contest of will begins between the brothers, reviving ghosts that Grant had hoped were banished from the homestead.

    Her novels entice us into a vanished world, peopled by characters who immediacy makes their joy, sorrow, heartbreak, and soaring love something we can share and savor. Eugenia Price chose Savannah, Georgia as one of the most fascinating cities of the South, as the setting of a quartet of novels that follow the fortunes of the city and families that gave it life.Orphaned Mark Browning was only twenty when he renounced his father's fortune and sailed to Savannah, his mother's birthplace...and the home of two remarkable women. The first is Eliza McQueen Mackay, his mentor's beautiful wife, whom Mark loves with a deep, pure love that can never be spoken. The other is lovely young Caroline Cameron, whose life is blighted by a secret that has tormented her grandparents for half a century--a secret that affects Mark more closely than he imagines. Desiring one woman, loved by another Mark must confront the ghosts of a previous generation, and face the evil smoldering hate, before he can truly call Savannah his home.