Book picks similar to
Out On Top - A Collection of Upbeat Short Stories by Steve Morris
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Testing the Waters: The "un"planned Pregnancy of a Fifteen-Year-Old
E. McNew - 2013
She obsessively studies fertility more than doing her homework. She charts her monthly cycles and tracks her most fertile days on a log kept secretly hidden under her bed. After months of actively trying to conceive, she and her naïve nineteen-year-old boyfriend struggle through events that will shake their world, and shatter their over-confident assumptions of reality. From a giddy girl with a fantasy, to a pregnant fifteen-year-old struggling to reverse her backfiring plot, this memoir is an invitation into the common thought patterns which are shaping the future for many young girls today. By making the conscious decision to become pregnant, Elizabeth Jeter altered her life in ways that she never could have imagined. She inadvertently introduced herself into a world of ill-intended criminals and quickly plummeted into their dark world, forgetting her values and nearly completely losing her identity for the next four years.
Night Blind
Michael W. Sherer - 1988
In the space of a few months, he lost his only child, his public affairs job, and his marriage. Now, a year later, he delivers newspapers and washes dishes in a restaurant, able to face the world only at night. Blake figures he’s fallen about as low as he can go.But an elderly customer on Blake’s paper route is brutally slashed to death in her home, and Blake is charged with murder. In a desperate attempt to prove his innocence, Blake gets caught up in a maelstrom of murder and deceit involving a pre-Civil War secret naval intelligence mission, hundreds of millions of dollars in buried gold and a potential bio-weapon that could cause a worldwide pandemic.When the only man who can help him is assassinated, Blake finds himself on the run from the cops, a murderer and a shadowy rogue French military intelligence agent. His only hope of staying out of jail is his ex-wife’s law firm. His only hopes of staying alive are his wits and the sudden appearance of a beautiful and mysterious naval intelligence officer. But Blake’s not sure he can trust even them.Night Blind is a breathless thrill ride on and under the streets of Seattle as one man’s quest for the truth turns to a fight for survival—his own and possibly the world’s.
Kiss the Bride: The Wedding Dress\The Wedding Kiss\Sparks Fly
Lucy Kevin - 2014
She needs some of that magic to rub off when she meets charming P.I. Gareth Cavendish, who delivers some unexpected news. The Wedding Kiss Rose Martin is the owner of Rose Chalet. She's so busy planning weddings for everyone else that she doesn't realize her own special someone has been by her side all this time! Sparks Fly Businessman Will Scott only agrees to a feng-shui design consultation to be polite. He thinks the whole thing is hocus-pocus—until he gets to know interior designer Angelina Morgan and his no-nonsense demeanor falls under the magic power of love.
The Trade Off
Louise Maniscalco - 2014
Joyce Brown, President of Fashion Institute of Technology Go behind the window displays. Behind the racks. Two personal shoppers for Manhattan's biggest department stores have written a wildly dishy novel that goes behind the dressing rooms of New York’s fashion elite. At Frankel’s New York, the wives of billionaires and Hollywood celebrities sip champagne while stylists and tailors cater to every whim. And one person has made it her career to help these Amex-wielding shoppers create the perfect look. Bonnie Salerno Madden knows all of her client’s preferences, whims, and fantasies. She knows the price they paid to gain access to the salon where having Bonnie as their private shopper is a first-class ticket to being the toast of the New York high-fashion social scene. But while Bonnie is all elegance on the outside, she’s barely keeping it together on the inside. A single mom to a special needs child, she needs her high-pressure job to care for her family. And when that job is put in jeopardy, Bonnie will need to make some of the riskiest choices of her life to guarantee a better future for her son, and for herself. With the opportunity to live in her own fairy tale, will Bonnie have what it takes to make the trade off? “THE TRADE OFF is a riveting page-turner even for a non-shopper like me. The ultimate tale of New York life.”—David Patrick Columbia, newyorksocialdiary.com
With a Friend Like You
Fanny Blake - 2014
Her closest friend, Megan, is very different; somehow she swims through the chaos of her family with ease, the clutter on the stairs, the cat footprints on the kitchen work space. And while they could not be more different, Beth and Megan have a genuine friendship built on years of laugher, tears and true understanding of each other's strengths and weaknesses. Because that's what friends do, isn't it?But when Beth's daughter reveals a surprising secret, a wedge is driven between Beth and Megan. What begins as mild recrimination and misunderstanding develops into a full-blown row and then a simmering feud. As the two women square up to do battle in the London suburbs, there's everything to play for. All's fair in love and war...With her wisdom, insight and wicked humour, Fanny Blake shines a light on to female friendships, in this delicious tale of two so-called best friends.
Still Loved…Still Missed!
Mridula മൃദുല - 2019
These stories span characters and emotional states with canny details that touch the depths of your soul. Picturing the complexities of love, misery and mystery, the stories try to gnaw your heart like never before.• What does a flower teach us we often fail to see?• “The belly is an ungrateful wretch.” Is it true?• Ever wondered about the sparseness and illusions in life?• Does death put an end to true love?• Have all the ascetics won over their emotions?With the power of simple language, this book transports the readers to a world scarcely thought of in our bustling lives. The allegories maintain an intense rhythm of life prompting the readers to perceive things from a unique angle.“A whole bookful to make you think, cry, think again and move on.”
Where Love Finds You
Marilyn Grey - 2013
She left her number, but he never called. Wondering if he somehow missed the note on the back of the receipt, she spent her twenties waiting for this man to walk into her life again. After all this time, will Ella finally discover “the one” she’s been waiting for? Or, after being sent on various blind dates, will she give her heart to someone else?Meanwhile, Matthew Ryan breaks up with his long-time girlfriend. Searching his heart he wonders if there is really a “one” for every person, or if there is simply a good, better, and best. Where does Lydia, the girl who would do anything for him, fit into the story of his life? Confused, Matthew sets out to explore his options and find the love he’s been looking for his entire life. Will he find love before it’s too late or will he lose everything?
Shaman Stone Soup
Elizabeth M. Herrera - 2010
The author shares her personal stories that demonstrate how spirit guides, angels and enlightened beings can answer calls for help through miracles. You will read about the matronly ghost who overstayed her welcome, the spirits of ancient wise men who offered advice and a miraculous cure from cancer for a friend, the man who got out of his wheelchair to go hunting and fishing, a vivid dream and later chance meeting of a pastor who needed guidance, the metamorphosis of a schizophrenic, the loving afterlife contact from her mother who died unexpectedly, and many other stories.
Sexaholics
Pynk - 2010
United through Sexaholics Anonymous, these women try to recover from their dependence on wild, spontaneous, and even sometimes, dangerous sex. From whips and chains, to sex in public, they have done it all! Led by Dr. Rachel Cummings, each woman takes the first step to recovery by sharing her biggest sexual act with the group. Sexaholics takes readers through the outrageous experiences of four women on their long path to success.
Discretion
David Balzarini - 2013
Natalie’s father, a local politician, uses the opportunity to further his career by starting a media storm, causing panic in the area. Colin and his father, a retired NBA star, come under the microscope as the sheriff investigates. All anyone expects to find is a dead body. Colin’s friends support him, but with no answers to Natalie’s whereabouts and time running out, Colin makes a wreak-less move to find her–he seeks help from a mysterious source, leading him to the truth behind Natalie’s disappearance. Colin has to make the hardest choice of his life: commit a crime or lose her forever.Fifteen years later, Colin lives the good life with a high-profile career and a trophy wife in the waiting. When three new serial murders bring the FBI to the cold Natalie Merian case, Colin must answer questions about what happened at Lake Apache. He will reckon with the past. And his sins.
The Maze Bummer: A Parody of The Maze Runner
Steve Lookner - 2014
But until then, he'll be shoveling lots of klunk and hangin' with lots of dudes.Talk about a bummer. A maze bummer.Will Thomas ever get to hang out with a girl again? Find out...in THE MAZE BUMMER!
Abandoned
Warren Craig Shan - 2013
She was found abandoned on a park bench in Glasgow, Scotland when she was only two years old. Being unable to talk or explain herself meant that growing up within the Scottish welfare system was depressingly harsh.This all changes the day a young social worker named Kim comes into seven-year-old Emily's life. Kim suspects that there is definitely more to Emily than the workers in the social system have surmised. A suspicion that Emily is no ordinary sufferer of domestic trauma. Emily, through Kim, finds hope, guidance and the chance of a normal life. But when a teenaged Emily becomes a victim of assault, leading to the death of her attackers, it fires off an urgent need to find out who she actually is.Through the first person accounts of a social worker, a teenager, a gymnastics coach, an investigative agent and a sickly, elderly man, we observe Emily's often-perilous journey to discover her true identity and what led to her abandonment in the first place--what she eventually finds may be truly extraordinary.
We Rose Up Slowly
Jon Gresham - 2015
11, No. 1, June 2017 "Gresham's surrealistic stories, at their best, shake us from within, and deepen the notion that we are islands of consciousness; in this way, they compel us to confront our own intellectual detachments and emotional blindspots in order for us to engage better with the world. They are also fundamentally stories about our modern world, its cross-cultural realities, and the fractured lives we lead in them. We Rose Up Slowly is an absorbing and disturbing read definitely worth spending an afternoon with." Sam Ng in Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, July 2016 Read more about the book on the We Rose Up Slowly Facebook Page or on the author's website.
Who Killed Little Johnny Gill?: A Victorian True Crime Murder Mystery
Kathryn McMaster - 2016
He's your son. You wave goodbye to him one morning as he disappears into the swirling fog. And then he is gone. Forever.
This gripping historical crime fiction novel, based on fact, is set in Bradford, England,1888. It explores the horrific murder of Johnny Gill; a murder and mutilation so gruesome, it stuns a nation. Even hardened detectives are affected by its savagery, swiftly comparing it to the work of Jack the Ripper. "Who Killed Little Johnny Gill?" is Kathryn McMaster's debut novel. It is a noir page-turner that immediately immerses you in a maelstrom of emotions, keeping you in suspense as Chief Detective Constable Withers and his dedicated team of British detectives try and gather sufficient evidence to bring a conviction against their suspect. In 1888, police procedures and knowledge of Forensic Science are rudimentary and juries are exposed to persuasive newspaper reports and public opinion. Will justice prevail, or will the guilty walk free? This is one crime fiction novel you won't be able to put down until the last page is turned!
Powerless: A Superhero Novel
Tony Cooper - 2013
I haven't used my powers in almost two decades. I've been a night security guard for four years and not had a panic attack for nearly ten months.Then my old teammate and best friend Vincent is murdered by another power. My carefully constructed solitude crumbles around me as the Police, the Powered Crime Agency and the rest of the team search for answers.All I want is to find out who killed him without having to dredge up too much pain from the past, but when the super-powered killer comes after me, all I'm left with are nightmares.Please note, the 3rd edition of this book has the same ISBN but a new cover and expanded title, so this is an alternate cover of the book with the details below.ISBN: 9781301455171ASIN: B00B0JOR7M