"Why do you want to do that?" "So Mama can find her way home," she said innocently.— This is the first Christmas without Mama, and John's family is struggling to face the holiday without his loving wife. However, eight-year-old Emily is convinced her mother will come and visit her on Christmas Eve. And right now, Emily needs her mother more than ever. Bring the magic and wonder of Christmas into your heart with this heartwarming picture book that is perfect for a wintry evening read-aloud. It just may begin a new tradition in your family. Published October 2006 32 pages

    In this novella, Trans-Siberian Orchestra creator Paul O'Neill spans generations, from WWII Germany to the modern inner-city, and fearlessly dives into the darkest places of the human condition to spin a modern parable about how, even in the grip of great evil, redemption is possible and the spark of hope can burn brightly.

    Life in America is far from peaceful for members of the Lund family. As Alaina deals with the painful loss of her home and her father, she makes a desperate choice and finds herself in a strange city among people of a strange faith. Her husband is a good man — but a man she has never loved. As she copes with the emptiness she feels, something in her heart begins to change . . .Meanwhile her sister Eleanor finds the lifestyle in San Francisco suffocating and without purpose. As she defies high-society rules and secretly attempts to stop the unnecessary suffering of children, she comes to find a passion in medicine. But when her actions are discovered, what will happen? Join gifted author Gale Sears in an eloquent and moving story of love, family, and forgiveness.

    A little girl name Rosie is creating miracles in the lives of its residents using the wondrous power of love. Because of Rosie, Cleston, a wood craftsman, finds his gift rekindled; Helen, an Alzheimer's patient, instictively trusts the little girl; Jake, the war veteran, begins to feel whole again; Ina, who, though blind, helps people see the beauty all around; and, most importantly, Bessie.Rosie and Bessie become inseparable best friends. Through Bessie, Rosie learns some invaluable life lessons, including Home is a place where you're surrounded by love. Just before Christmas, when the woman who had taught her so much about living speaks of dying, Rosie learns what true love and beauty and friendship really mean.

    Christmas Lights, Naman’s first work of fiction, evokes that same warmth and tenderness in stories set during the holiday season and centered on the lives of ordinary women. In separate vignettes, we meet Katherine, who is taking care of her ailing husband; Julianna, juggling with construction paper, scissors, and rubber cement in a room full of high-spirited four-year-olds; Adrianna, struggling with the difficulties of marriage; Cassandra, the busy mother of toddlers; Victoria, searching for a love to call her own; Alexandra, a young woman waiting for word from her doctor about an uncertain diagnosis; and Isabella, discovering the gift of motherhood. The lives of all the women come together in a moving conclusion that perfectly captures the heart and soul of the holiday spirit. Alternately laugh-out-loud funny and poignant, Christmas Lights celebrates the most significant aspects of the season. Small, beautifully designed, and full of festive cheer, it is the ideal gift for anyone longing to rediscover the magic of Christmas.

    Walsh lives with his family in the Daytona Beach area. This is his first novel.Can a gift from the past mend a broken heart?Ian Collins is an old man without his son. Patrick Collins is a young boy without his father. On his Christmas list are only three items. He wants the army to find his father. He wants to leave his grandfather's house. And he wants the dusty wooden soldier in Grandfather's attic--the one he is forbidden to touch.Set in December of 1943, The Unfinished Gift is the engaging story of a family in need of forgiveness. With simple grace, it reminds us of the small things that affect powerful change in our hearts--a young boy's prayers, a shoe box of love letters, and even a half-carved soldier, long forgotten. This nostalgic story of reconciliation will touch your heart.

    Orphaned during the Depression, he steals food to survive. When mischief lands him in juvenile court, he's offered a home by fellow ward member David Boone, but then suffers under Boone's unkind and unyielding treatment. And after Artie helps the victim of a robbery gone bad, he's abandoned by Boone and sentenced to juvenile hall. Then his luck and his life suddenly change. Mary Wilkerson, the feisty widow who was robbed, sees potential in Artie and takes him into her custody. Ray McCandless, the wise yet firm chauffeur, teaches Artie about cars, life, and the connections between the two. Under their care, Artie develops the desire and the ability to leave his past behind and grasp the hope in his future, which shines like Mary's luxurious Dusenberg. But when cornered by old enemies, will he defend his honor with his life? Jerry Borrowman masterfully combines emotion, morality, suspense, and humor in this tender coming-of-age story. Readers will struggle and rejoice with Artie as he discovers the value of integrity, the sweetness of family ties, and the reality of the American dream. And they will never forget the triumph that unfolds when a good boy with bad problems is given one last chance.

    Every summer a mysterious man known only as "Frank" arrives to help George Givens's grandfather with his farmwork. No one knows the hired man's last name, where he comes from, or why he always seems to be so sad. Once the season's crops are harvested, he disappears only to reappear the following summer. This routine continues for many years -- until one fateful Christmas Eve.The hired man never returns to the Givens farm after that day, and the mystery of his final disappearance seems destined to remain unsolved. Then, on Christmas Eve many years later, George serendipitously discovers the long-lost hired man's fate. This discovery teaches him a powerful lesson about the importance of family and the endurance of love."The Hired Man's Christmas" is a story of simpler times, but its message resonates across the years and in the hearts of fathers and sons even today.

    Not only does she train search and rescue dogs, but she’s a bestselling suspense author who has waterfront property in the beautiful mountain town of Grand Lake, Colorado. All is well until she receives a call to bring her dog Max and her snowmobile to help rescue a man who is lost in a blizzard up on Gravel Mountain. That man is the one person she never wants to see again—Ryker Anderson—the man who broke her heart the day he called three months before their wedding to say goodbye with no explanation as to why.After being gone for eighteen months, Ryker Anderson is back in Grand Lake where he hopes to win back the woman he loves. He only hopes Shelby understands why he left. Will he be able to convince Shelby that she can trust him with her heart again even though he broke it before?

    but there is no peace in Mt. Jefferson.In a small town where everybody seems to know everybody, there are still a few secrets. Three families find they are connected in ways they never suspected: an angry teen, a dying man, a lonely wife, a daughter in trouble . just ordinary people, muddling their way through ordinary challenges. Illness. Marriage. Bad decisions. Friendship. Faith. Forgiveness.Spanning three generations, O Little Town is a tender tale of love and redemption . and a lonely gravesite where roses mysteriously appear every Christmas. It will touch your heart.

    But attend the Christmas festivities of the Ton she must. Even if she has to go through hell just for the sake of her father.Nothing stings more than unrequited love and Ducnan Matthews, the Duke of Reedson, learned this the hard way. And despite living in sin for the past years, his heart still betrays him at the sight of the very woman who broke it.Threatened with financial ruination, Duncan desperately needs a wealthy wife and Kendra needs a savior. With their own futures at stake, it’s finally time to confront the past, to trust in each other, and against the odds, find the love they lost—if she will only say yes.

    A writer whose work has been called, “gripping” (Washington Post), “top-notch” (Chicago Tribune), and “marvelous historical fiction” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), Parry brings us a moving quartet of unforgettable tales that celebrate the simple and often forgotten pleasures of generosity, friends, kindness, and family. Our Simple Gifts is a wonderful gift of hope and joy from an unparalleled storyteller.

    Standing on a comer of the Avenue no longer fashionable for residence, it looked upon the swelling tide of business with an expression of complacency and half-disdain. Van Dyke's Christmas story about a mansion that speaks "not of money squandered but of wealth prudently applied" - the companion story to The Other Wise Man.

    She knows God handed her a life of hardship, especially when her Dad gives her away in marriage to a man she doesn't know. However, she proves to be a true mountain girl with spirit, determination, feistiness and fiery spunk. Laine's unabashed account of events, before and during the first months of her marriage, draws the reader spellbound into a story that will linger like mists shrouding distant mountains.

    She had dreams of Hollywood stardom, not dirty diapers and pigs. But when Robert Smith, a country boy from head to toe, offers her and her daughter a chance at a normal life, reputation intact, Evalyn can’t help but accept. Little does Robert know, Evalyn is keeping a huge secret. While Evalyn’s family members deal with prejudice in 1940s Texas, fertility, changes of the heart, and even a ghost come back from the dead, Evalyn must fight for her family or lose everything she has grown to love.