One of them, in particular, stands out as the grubbiest, most ill-spoken child they have ever met, but with her warmth and friendliness, Gloria Mulligan soon wins a special place in Sally???s heart. Sally hasn???t been lucky enough to have children of her own and she sees in Gloria the daughter she???s always wished for. Meanwhile Gloria, who has been starved of genuine affection from her own large family, secretly wishes that she will never have to go home again. But life seldom works out as we would wish and when the horror of war begins to take its toll, Sally, Gloria and the entire Blackpool community must face the consequences???

    His first big purchase is a simple beach house in a place called Bluepoint, a town on the far edge of the flexed arm of Cape Cod.It's in Bluepoint, during the summer of 1952, that Arthur's teenage son, Hilly, makes friends with Lem Dawson, a black man whose job it is to take care of the house but whose responsibilities quickly grow. When Hilly finds himself falling for Lem's niece, Savannah, his affection for her collides with his father's dark secrets. The results shatter his family, and hers.Years later, haunted by his memories of that summer, Hilly sets out to find Savannah, in an attempt to right the wrongs he helped set in motion. But can his guilt, and his good intentions, overcome the forces of history, family, and identity?A beautifully told multigenerational story about love and regret, Wise Men confirms that Stuart Nadler is one of the most exciting young writers at work today

    Sean's recklessness and Ana's sense of entitlement create a family secret that comes home to roost in the following generation. Sean's trail of sins and Ana's deceit and thirst for revenge lead to disaster for each of them.It is 1936. Emotionally deserted by distraught parents after the death of his baby sister, Sean refuses to abandon his father's forsaken American dream. Left to his own devices, the young man travels a road strewn with bad choices and risky behavior. Trapped into marriage and unexpected parenthood at a young age, Sean begins down a path of destruction - first stop - Ana Lapinski.Ana Lapinski is born with the gift of beauty. Her old-world parents are incapable of reigning in their willful, wild child. Time and again, Ana effectively abuses her God-given gift as a means to whatever end she desires - with one exception - Sean Kinnarney.FALLING OFF THE FAMILY TREE is a three-generation saga told against the backdrop of the first 70 years of the 20th century. The story moves from southern New Jersey to the wealthy suburban enclaves of the Main Line outside Philadelphia. It ends in tragedy on the Chesapeake Bay.

    England rules the waves and Wellington is taking on the French in the Spanish Peninsula, but the French Navy yet remains a potent threat, especially their fast, well-armed frigates. Also, another threat is creeping Northward; slaver/pirates in fast galleys from the North African coast, are raiding North, taking advantage of the warring Navies preoccupation with each other, to capture for slavery the highly valuable women and children of Northern Europe. Into this, Captain Reuben Argent sails his first command, HMS Ariadne, a fast, 32 gun, Spanish built frigate. He has moulded both his ship and crew into a tight fighting unit, which he immediately uses to capture La Mouette, a French 42 gun frigate. A brilliant start, but all is not well at home. The Enclosures movement could force his family from their farm, and his Admiral is their immediate neighbour, who hates the Argent family and will use any means available to force them from their home and gain their land. On top is Argent’s rivalry with “Flogger Cheveley” the Captain of the Herodotus, who has a very different concept of how to run a ship of the Royal Navy. Also, as Captain, Argent has to contend with the machinations within the community that is his own crew. The day comes when Argent has to make a career threatening choice, either, as ordered, to take a vital despatch to Wellington at the fastest possible speed or to search for the slaver that has just captured Cornish women and children, including members of his own family. In the background is the smuggling of linen from Ireland to France and his relations with the feisty Sinead Malley and the society beauty Charlotte Willoughby

    Along the way he learns the horrors of war, the evils of slavery, the plight of the slave, and the cost of freedom. By a twist of fate he becomes the pastor of a church of black slaves.

     Ari Thorgilsson builds a cargo ship, the Uxi, in a desperate attempt to save the family from poverty and ruin. Ari sails it out of his home in the fjords of Norway to the Orkney Islands and then into the Irish Sea, where a chance encounter makes an enemy of Ivar the Younger, a son of the Danish Viking Ivar the Boneless. While pursued by Ivar the Younger, a storm drives the ship onto the rocky coast of a hostile land, where the ship is wrecked he and the crew are captured by native Britons. Execution or enslavement seem to be their fate. But there is yet hope, for Artgal, king of the British kingdom of Alt Clut, is in need of warriors. He promises Ari a new ship if he and his companions garrison a fortress on the border with the Picts to the north, while he takes an army to fight the Angles in the east. Ari and his friends accept the offer, and plunge into a year of intrigue and battle in the depths of the land that one day will be known as Scotland, testing their mettle and their commitment to their honor. A Pictish invasion seems to spell the end of Ari’s dream of a new ship. And then a fleet of Danish Vikings sails into the River Clut to lay siege to Artgal’s fortress, thrusting that dream well beyond his grasp. Or does it?

    Born gets the action humming swiftly and continues at a breakneck pace, while weaving in elements of devotion, loss, and greed along the journey. Amid the virgin forests of North America, civilizations collide. 1755 A.D. Following the defeat of Braddock and his army, the Western Wilderness has suddenly become deadlier than ever. French and Canadian troops patrol at-will. Tribal warriors strike every settlement and traveler within reach. Ephraim Weber, a young scout and trader, must return to the scene of the battle and perhaps beyond to recover Bess, his betrothed and the mother of his children. Successful or not, he then must rush to warn the remaining British campaigns. The French have a hold of their plans, knowing when and where to strike! Along the trail, death and destruction pursue Ephraim at every turn. Allies may prove to be foes. Former enemies may become friends. The tale reaches a crescendo on a single day of bloody battles that run to and from a string of erstwhile serene locales. The Crimson Gauntlet is a tale of adventure and woe. It is a yarn of explosive personalities, failures, and triumphs. The Crimson Gauntlet is for anyone who yearns to become a firsthand witness to the pangs that foretold the birth of a great nation.

    Many Southerners were losing everything they had, many more people than just those few who had held slaves. While most tried to stay and hang on to the decorum of Southern gentility, a few decided that rather then lose their family farms and businesses it would be better to build a new life elsewhere. This is the story of one such group, who determined that their future and the futures of their friends and families was to be found in Texas. Jed Simpson and his partner Roscoe Sartain are joined by families from both North and South, black and white, and on the advice of a fellow Confederate, they stop in Rusk. Finding an old, now vacant, plantation, they manage to buy it and start rebuilding it as a small ranch, The Chalice. All is going better than any of them expected, until Jed’s past comes calling. Aided by friends both new and old, blood flows freely as Jed tries to put that past behind him once and for all. But the toll it takes may be too much for him as he faces down the last of his tormentors.

    Amid rising tensions among the Jews and the reigning Nazi party, Carl Mann--the patriarch of the Mann family--is forced to take a job in one of the scariest places imaginable: Literally in Adolf Hitler's backyard. In this unusual coming of age tale, curious young girls may say or do the wrong things, but how many times can the high-ranking German officials (and Hitler himself) look the other way? Can they survive in his backyard? This book is filled with suspense, historical detail, family life, and even a little romance. A great choice for book clubs with Book Club questions @garethompson-writer.com. The perfect gift for those who are love reading about World War II, as the setting is authentic. For middle schoolers, compare it to Diary of Anne Frank.

    How they find their way through the struggles are what pull you into these heartwarming stories.Women of Paragon Springs includes: Long Road Turning, Blue Horizons, No Other Place and Reap The South Wind. “If you enjoy western novels, such as Little House on the Prairie and Lonesome Dove, you will enjoy this series by Irene Bennett Brown.”

    

    Amongst his few possessions is a dagger which bears an unknown heraldic symbol. He joins a band of mercenaries heading for Venice where the Christians are assembling for the Crusade. On his journey from boy to manhood, discovering a surprisingly natural aptitude for combat, he encounters a secret Brotherhood and their avowed enemy The Order of the Blooded Cross. “The Crusader’s Blade” is the first of three novels that draw heavily on historical detail, intermingling real and fictitious characters and events to give an enthralling portrait of the religious battles of the age.

     Pilot Officer Harry Rose, fresh from training and eager to prove himself, is posted to Excalibur Squadron, a Hawker Hurricane fighter unit based in southern England. In the coming weeks and months of that fateful summer, as the outnumbered RAF battle grimly with the Luftwaffe in the skies above Britain, Rose will come to know what it is to love, and will experience both the glorious euphoria of success and the desperate bitterness of loss. As his friends dwindle in number, Rose knows that it can be only a matter of time before it is his turn...

    Tough times require tough choices, no matter if it’s in a Colorado winter or a race across New Mexico.In Blood Saga, Virgil Child returns his mother’s coffin to White Oaks, New Mexico Territory, to bury her beside his dead father. Child can’t find his father’s grave and as he investigates, he discovers how his birthright was stolen by Ed Keller and his allies. He sets out to right a wrong and get what’s his against all odds.The Preston Lewis Western Collection, Volume 2 includes: Escape from Silverton, Blood Saga, Vigilante Justice, New Mexico Showdown and Hard Texas Winter.

    Out of desperation, she posts an ad and begins a correspondence with a widowed farmer, Thomas. Desperate to escape her grim situation, she accepts his marriage of convenience proposal, looking forward to a fresh start in Nebraska. As her heart fills with hope, she journeys to Nebraska, looking forward to a fresh start and new life. But when she arrives, it is not Thomas who meets her but his brother, Jay. And when Emma learns a terrible secret, she realizes that her life in Nebraska will be just as grim as it was in Chicago. Too late, she realizes that she has made the biggest mistake of her life; a mistake that will cost her dearly.