Wealthy and titled, Joseph leaves home and takes to the sea as the ships surgeon to escape the pain of losing his family. He has no intention of settling down, but when Mercy becomes his assistant, they must fight against a forbidden love.

     Winter, 1660. Retired from the Army after twenty years of service, Major Thankful Russell's whole life till now has been made up of war and intelligence. And now in peacetime, he suspects no more war and, on current showing, precious little intelligence. The idea of spending Christmas surrounded by drunkenness and debauchery at His Majesty's court is more than he can bear - and so he begs leave, to spend a quiet family Christmas at home. The problem is, he doesn't have a family. And nor, with his scarred face and his shyness, does he ever expect to have one. But when an accident of fate returns him to the only place he's ever called home, it's down to his old commanding officer's daughter to teach him that not everyone sets so high a value on the outer wrapping of the most precious gift of all....

    Determined to escape Sophia's broken-down ranch as soon as she can, Karen resists connecting with its inhabitants - especially Dusty Stoddard, the driven director of the Golden T's summer camp for at-risk youth. Karen is not the only one who has been wounded; Sophia, Dusty, and the boys have all suffered tremendous pain and loss. But by the time Karen discovers this, it is too late to escape; they have become a part of her healing and she a part of theirs. For through their kindness and acceptance, along with the diaries of a remarkable women who died twenty-eight years before she was born, Karen will discover hidden secrets and amazing truths that could lead her to the greatest love of all.Winner of the 2000 Christy Award for Excellence in Christian FictionFinalist for the 2000 RITA Award for Best Inspirational RomanceFirst published by WaterBrook Press in September 1999

    This is a chance to leave the past behind.But this island, and its inhabitants, have secrets of their own and a not-too-distant past steeped in tragedy and war. None more so than Vila Maslina’s enigmatic owner Damir Maric. A young man with nothing to lose but everything to gain…