Her theory proves true the summer she's 14, when she makes the decision to pick up a penny embedded in asphalt and consequently ends up stopping a robbery, getting a job, and meeting someone who changes her life forever-Miss Shaw. Together they form a friendship that dares both of them to confront secrets in their pasts-secrets that threaten to destroy them. Jenny helps Miss Shaw open up to the community around her, while Miss Shaw teaches Jenny to meet even life's most painful challenges with confidence and faith. This unexpected relationship transforms them both in ways neither could have anticipated, and the ripple effect that begins that summer goes on to bring new life to the people around them, revealing how God works in the smallest details-even in something as small as THE PENNY.

    The only problem is, he isn't real. Mona's dream is about to come true. With the help of her best friend, Liza, she's transforming an old Victorian house in the lovely lakeside town of Deep Haven into the Footstep of Heaven Bookstore and Coffee Shop. If only she could swing a hammer.Luckily for Mona, Joe Michaels—a handsome, mysterious handyman—agrees to help in exchange for rent in the apartment above her garage. But when disaster threatens her dream, Mona turns to her handyman for more than just household solutions and finds that some fairy tales have surprise endings. . . .

    Life can change at any given moment. Good or bad, one must make the most of it. Samantha Shaw thought she was giving each moment of her life a fair shot until former pro-football quarterback Wiley Black saunters into her world and shows the sassy tomboy exactly what she’s been missing. A sweet sports romance for fans of happily-ever-afters.

    Our joy and hope in raising children doesn’t change the reality that being a mom can be frustrating, stressful, and tiring. But just as God is using us to shape our children, God is using our children and motherhood to shape us.  In The Better Mom, author Ruth Schwenk, herself a mother of four children, encourages us with the good news that there is more to being a mom than the extremes of striving for perfection or simply embracing the mess. We don’t need to settle for surviving our kids’ childhood. We can grow through it.With refreshing and heartfelt honesty Ruth emboldens moms to:Find freedom and walk confidently in purposeCreate a God-honoring home environment Overcome unhealthy and destructive emotions such as anger, anxiety, and moreAvoid glorifying the mess of mom-ing or idolizing perfectionCultivate life-giving friendships At the heart of The Better Mom is the message that Jesus calls us to live not a weary life, but a worthy life. We don’t have to settle for either being apathetic or struggling to be perfect. Both visions of motherhood go too far. Ruth offers a better option. She says, “It’s okay to come as we are, but what we’re called to do and be is far too important to stay there! The way to becoming a better mom starts not with what we are doing, but with who God is inviting us to become."

    That is, in the eyes of young Lottie and Celia, members of the respectable Holden family who like nothing more than escaping the family home to explore.So when a group of Bohemians move into Arcadia, a grand Art Deco house on the seafront, Lottie and Celia are tempted into their alternative way of living . What ensues at the house has tragic and long-lasting consequences for all.Now almost fifty years on, Arcadia is being renovated, once again arousing strong feelings for the town's veterans. And as the house returns to life, so do the secrets buried within it from all those years ago, prompting the question: can you ever leave your past behind?

    On the cusp of adulthood, eighteen-year-old Penny Carson is swept off her feet by a handsome farmhand with a confident swagger. Though Trent Taylor seems like Prince Charming and offers an escape from her one-stop-sign town, Penny’s happily-ever-after lasts no longer than their breakneck courtship. Before the ink even dries on their marriage certificate, he hits her for the first time. It isn’t the last, yet the bruises that can’t be seen are the most painful of all.When Trent is injured in a welding accident and his paycheck stops, he has no choice but to finally allow Penny to take a job cleaning houses. Here she meets two women from very different worlds who will teach her to live and laugh again, and lend her their backbones just long enough for her to find her own.Gina Holmes ’ stunning literary talent glistens like crystal in Wings of Glass. With subtle brilliance, she takes us into the very heart of what makes us hungry to love and be loved. Simply stellar!” Susan Meissner, Author of A Sound Among the Trees

    Twenty years. One unexpected journey. Inseparable throughout college, Eva, Benedict, Sylvie, and Lucien graduate in 1997, into an exhilarating world on the brink of a new millennium. Hopelessly in love with playboy Lucien and eager to shrug off the socialist politics of her upbringing, Eva breaks away to work for a big bank. Benedict, a budding scientist who's pined for Eva for years, stays on to complete his PhD in physics, devoting his life to chasing particles as elusive as the object of his affection. Siblings Sylvie and Lucien, never much inclined toward mortgages or monogamy, pursue more bohemian existences-she as an aspiring artist and he as a club promoter and professional partyer. But as their twenties give way to their thirties, the group struggles to navigate their thwarted dreams. Scattered across Europe and no longer convinced they are truly the masters of their fates, the once close-knit friends find themselves filled with longing for their youth- and for one another. Broken hearts and broken careers draw the foursome together again, but in ways they never could have imagined. A dazzling depiction of the highs and lows of adulthood, Invincible Summer is a story about finding the courage to carry on in the wake of disappointment, and a powerful testament to love and friendship as the constants in an ever-changing world.

    

    Now, having left her father behind in Chicago for dreams of art school and marriage to an ambitious young doctor, she finds herself with a child of her own. But her mother's absence and shameful memories of her past force her to doubt whether she could ever be capable of bringing joy and meaning into the life of her child, gifts her own mother never gave.Harvesting the Heart is written with astonishing clarity and evocative detail, convincing in its depiction of emotional pain, love, and vulnerability, and recalls the writing of Alice Hoffman and Kristin Hannah. Out of Paige's struggle to find wholeness, Jodi Picoult crafts an absorbing novel peopled by richly drawn characters, and explores motherhood with a power and depth only she is capable of.“A brilliant, moving examination of motherhood, brimming with detail and emotion.” —Richmond Times-Dispatch“Jodi Picoult explores the fragile ground of ambivalent motherhood in her lush second novel. This story belongs to… the lucky reader.” —The New York Times Book Review

    But add another baby on the way (oops), a spouse that is nowhere to be seen and a relentless list of things she ‘should’ be doing, and Grace is starting to unravel.When the madness of modern-day motherhood finally pushes her to the brink, Grace and her friends decide to ditch the men in their lives, move in together and create a ‘mummune’ – sharing the load of chores, school pick-ups/drop-offs and endless Life Admin. The new set-up seems like a dream, but is life in this utopian village all it’s cracked up to be?Grace Under Pressure is a deliciously hilarious, honest and heartfelt portrayal of modern-day motherhood and the saving grace of female friendship.

    But with success comes the envy of New York society lady Payton Fitzsimmons. When her husband dies and the cracks begin to show in Carolina's world, the one constant is loyal customer, Seth.

    Left to raise a baby without the assistance of the married father, she has given up on finding a prince on a white horse to rescue her. Enter Cardiologist and single father, Ford Tucker. Dr. Tucker is all work and no play. He has dedicated his life to work and raising his daughter. When Ford becomes Maya’s Cardiologist, he is instantly smitten with her. Sparks fly and the passion’s hot as ever between the two. But just when Ford thinks he has finally found Ms. Right, and Maya thinks she’s found her prince, a devastating secret is revealed that will rock the core of their relationship. Will their bond survive the terrible secret? Or will Ford end up alone and Maya prince less?

    When Greg moves into town and finds out what she's doing, he thinks it's a great idea...so he starts doing it too! It's just one of the things that reserved, young David must tolerate as their friendship grows throughout the years. As they near adulthood, they grow not only closer to each other, but closer to God as well. David finds himself content in every way, but when tragedy occurs David must struggle to find his way back to God. Contemporary Christian Fiction: Top Rated... Best Selling... Award Winning! Don't let the fact that it's the first in a series scare you off - Chop, Chop is a complete, stand-alone novel that will NOT leave you hanging. Sequels are available, however, for those who wish to follow the characters further. Often pegged as a "Young Adult" novel, demographics show that most readers of the Chop, Chop series are actually between the ages of 25 and 55 (and the sequels are definitely geared toward that age group). Whether you're young or old, Chop, Chop is a true coming-of-age story about friendship, loss and forgiveness that is sure to touch your heart.

    

    A loving husband, two adorable kids and a gorgeous home. All she needs now is an au pair, for life to be truly perfect.Her friend Susie is content too. A brilliant psychotherapist, she’s got an elegant flat, a wardrobe of ball-busting suits, a sleek sports car and doesn’t need a man, thank you very much.The only jeans the friends normally encounter are the designer version. Then Emily learns about genes of a different kind and how she could be the carrier of a cancer-causing one. Emily doesn’t take much lying down and deals with this in her decisive way. But, can her marriage survive the aftershock?Emily’s news rocks Susie and makes her take a long hard look at her own self-sufficient life. Brought up by her loving but ditzy single mum, Susie has never known her father. Now she decides to do something about it. But she’s in for more than she bargains for!One thing’s for sure – life will never be the same again after a trip on this roller-coaster of discovery.'Fabulously funny and heartbreakingly poignant at the same time, Designer Genes tells an incredible story. Emma Hannigan has a strong, vibrant voice that'll touch you on every page.' --Cathy Kelly'Extradordinary story' --Ryan Tubridy Show - RTE Radio 1