As she nears her ninety-first birthday, her daughter Jane, with whom she’s weathered a shaky relationship, suddenly moves back home. Then Millie’s granddaughter shares the thrilling surprise that she’s pregnant. But for Millie, the news stirs heartbreaking memories of a past she’s kept hidden for too long. Maybe it’s time she shared something, too. Millie’s last wish? For Jane to forgive her.Sixty years ago Millie was living a dream. She had a husband she adored, a job of her own, a precious baby girl, and another child on the way. They were the perfect family. All it took was one irreversible moment to shatter everything, reshaping Millie’s life and the lives of generations to come.As Millie’s old wounds are exposed, so are the secrets she’s kept for so long. Finally revealing them to her daughter might be the greatest risk a mother could take in the name of love.

    He's smart and handsome, yet haunted by memories that plague his sleep and send him flying for cover at sudden noises. Kathy Woodbridge is a white student in one of Richard's classes. She's pretty, idealistic, and drawn irresistibly to Richard's combination of charm and aliveness. It leads her into a relationship different from any she had expected -- and to a tragedy greater than any she can face. Lacey Greer is a secretary in San Pedro, California. When Kathy shows up at her office and is hired with no record of her past, Lacey wonders what Kathy could be running from. She's determined to find out, and to help if she can. Set in the early seventies, "Pacific Avenue" explores themes of love, belonging, helpfulness, hope, forgiveness, reconciliation, interracial marriage, and healing from the trauma of war.  ///////////////////////////////////////////////// Anne L. Watson, a retired historic preservation architecture consultant, is the author of numerous novels, plus books on such diverse subjects as soapmaking and baking with cookie molds. Anne has lived at various times in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and San Pedro, California, the settings of "Pacific Avenue." She currently lives in Friday Harbor, Washington, in the San Juan Islands, with her husband and fellow author, Aaron Shepard. ///////////////////////////////////////////////// SAMPLE I chose a window seat on the Greyhound, but I didn't look out. For almost the whole trip, I stared at the rough tan upholstery of the seat in front of me. It had a rip on one side and three dark stains.  A woman settled into the aisle seat. She raised her footrest, but it clunked back down. When I glanced her way, she caught my eye and smiled."How do you make these things stay put?" she asked. I meant to answer -- the words were lined up in my mind. But before I could say them, they slipped apart like beads when the string breaks. I gave up and studied the seat cover again. Still tan, still ripped, still stained. The next time I looked, the woman was gone. Evening came, but I didn't use my reading light. Late at night, awake in the breathing dark, I imagined running my fingers over the seat back, erasing the stains, mending the seam. In the morning, I almost believed I could fix it. So, I took care not to touch it, not to find out for sure. In the afternoon, the bus left the freeway and crept through downtown traffic. I turned then, and peered through the mud-spattered window. As far as I could see, Los Angeles was a city of warehouses. I sank back into my seat. When we reached the station, I claimed my suitcase and dragged it through the waiting room to the street. Outside I found blank walls and empty sidewalks. No direction and no one to ask.  Well, I ran away from college, then from New Orleans, and then Baton Rouge. Is it too soon to run away from here?

    A deeply evocative narrative about the profound connections between mothers and daughters, The Valley of Amazement returns readers to the compelling territory of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. With her characteristic insight and humor, she conjures a story of inherited trauma, desire and deception, and the power and stubbornness of love.

    But a tragedy that touches all of Atlanta sends her reeling in grief. When the family maid challenges her to reach out to the less fortunate as a way to ease her own pain, Mary Swan meets Carl-and everything changes. For although Carl is her opposite in nearly every way, he has something her privileged life could not give her. And when she seeks his help to uncover a mystery, she learns far more than she ever could have imagined.

    A girl disguised as a boy.A villain with a brothel to fill.A hero wondering why he’s in love with a lad in breeches.Serving murder, mayhem and pies, Stealing Mercy is a romantic adventure set in 1889 on the eve of the Great Seattle Fire when more than the city is set on fire.

    . . but won a treasure. Due to a lost wager, the Duke of Ravenham is obliged to bring a pretty little nobody from the country into fashion among the high-sticklers of London Society. Ravenham would never refuse a debt of honor, no matter how unorthodox, so he overlooks Miss Gordon's vulgar relations to do what is necessary, escorting the unsophisticated chit to balls, etc. But what he expects to be an irksome duty turns out to be something quite different as he falls under the spell of his protege's innocent charm. When he lost that wager, he definitely never counted on losing his heart as well! First impressions can be deceiving. Miss Gabriella Gordon only came to London at her mother's and sister's insistence, for she'd much rather assist in running her father's veterinary practice than attempt to fit into fashionable society. No sooner has she arrived in London than the exalted (and exceedingly handsome) Duke of Ravenham comes to call. The reason is less than flattering, however: due to a lost wager, the Duke is forced to bring Gabriella into fashion, a "favor" she would certainly refuse if her family would let her. But the more time she spends in the dashing Duke's company, the more conflicted she feels-- particularly when she discovers they have more in common than she ever dared dream. A sparkling traditional Regency romance from bestselling author Brenda Hiatt.

    What would you sacrifice for love? Your home? Your material possessions? Your family and friends? Your principles? Your life?PrologueDetrick, a seven-year-old Aryan boy, with blonde hair that shines like the rays of the sun rides his brand new bicycle down a main street of Berlin in 1923. Young and carefree, he’s fully experiencing freedom for the first time. It is mid-day and the street is filled with humanity. Vendors hawk their wares and haggle with potential shoppers, while a few of the new inventions called automoblies honk as make their way through the crowded roads. There is so much to look at, to smell, and to take in, the fresh baked bread, the chocolate candy, the fresh fruit. Detrick is swept away by all of the activities surrounding him, so he is not paying attention when suddenly a horse drawn cart appears causing him to fall. Embarrassed and upset he decides to walk his damaged bicycle home by a different path, one where he is unlikely to be forced to face his friends. A path through the Jewish sector of town. It is here that he meets Jacob Abdenstern, a lovable Jewish bicycle repair man who offers to help the little boy. Detrick having an alcoholic, anti-Semitic father finds a friend and much-needed paternal figure in Jacob. A relationship flourishes between the two of them that will alter both of their lives forever.

    Tall and soft-spoken, with eyes blue as stone-washed denim, Jesse Reid's intricate guitar riffs and supple baritone are poised to tip from fame to legend with this one headlining performance. That is, until his motorcycle crashes on the way to the show.Jane Quinn is a Bayleen Island local whose music flows as naturally as her long blond hair. When she and her bandmates are asked to play in Jesse Reid's place at the festival, it almost doesn't seem real. But Jane plants her bare feet on the Main Stage and delivers the performance of a lifetime, stopping Jesse's disappointed fans in their tracks: A star is born.Jesse stays on the island to recover from his near-fatal accident and he strikes up a friendship with Jane, coaching her through the production of her first record. As Jane contends with the music industry's sexism, Jesse becomes her advocate, and what starts as a shared calling soon becomes a passionate love affair. On tour with Jesse, Jane is so captivated by the giant stadiums, the late nights, the wild parties, and the media attention, that she is blind-sided when she stumbles on the dark secret beneath Jesse's music. With nowhere to turn, Jane must reckon with the shadows of her own past; what follows is the birth of one of most iconic albums of all time.Shot through with the lyrics, the icons, the lore, the adrenaline of the early 70s music scene, Songs in Ursa Major pulses with romantic longing and asks the question so many female artists must face: What are we willing to sacrifice for our dreams?

    Emma is left destitute, with her crippled mother and twelve-year-old twin brothers to care for. But she is not easily defeated and fights back.In her struggle to survive she must overcome, heartless wealthy relatives, racial bigotry, child abuse, corrupt financiers and choose between the love of two very different men: one a wealthy Sydney lawyer involved with the New Guard, a paramilitary anti-communist movement, and the other, a persecuted and penniless left-wing activist.The Light Horseman's Daughter offers a panoramic view of Australia in the 1930's--the big landowners of the outback, the corrupt bankers who supported them, the well-heeled elite of Sydney's affluent eastern suburbs, the abject poverty of the victims of the Depression, the idealists who joined the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War .This award-winning novel weaves all this into a riveting story with the human element at its heart. Emma McKenna is a heroine to remember.

    Yet Nell is determined to elude the duties and restrictions of matrimony. So when she finds herself pregnant at the age of 17, she refuses to divulge the name of the father and even her childhood friend Martin is kept in the dark.Nell's stepfather Hiram sends Nell to live at the Poor Farm of which he is a governor, to await the day when her baby can be discreetly adopted. Nell is ready to go along with Hiram's plans until an unused padded cell is opened and two small bodies fall out.Nell is the only resident of the Poor Farm who is convinced that the unwed mother and her baby were murdered, and the incident prompts her to rethink her decision to abandon her own child to her fate. But the revelations to which her questions lead make her realize that even if she manages to escape the Poor Farm with her baby, she may have no safe place to run to.

    With Romania recently allied with the Nazis, the Jewish population is in grave danger, undergoing increasingly violent persecution. The girl is placed in an orphanage and eventually adopted by a wealthy childless couple who name her Natalia. As she assimilates into her new life, she all but forgets the parents who were forced to leave her behind. They are even further from her mind when Romania falls under Soviet occupation.Yet, as Natalia comes of age in a bleak and hopeless world, traces of her identity pierce the surface of her everyday life, leading gradually to a discovery that will change her destiny. She has a secret crush on Victor, an intense young man who as an impoverished student befriended her family long ago. Years later, when Natalia is in her early twenties and working at a warehouse packing fruit, she and Victor, now an important official in the Communist regime, cross paths again. This time they are fatefully drawn into a passionate affair despite the obstacles swirling around them and Victor’s dark secrets.When Natalia is suddenly offered a one-time chance at freedom, Victor is determined to help her escape, even if it means losing her. Natalia must make an agonizing decision: remain in Bucharest with her beloved adoptive parents and the man she has come to love, or seize the chance to finally live life on her own terms, and to confront the painful enigma of her past.

    But a wish at a magical rock formation is about to change all that, in a most a-MUSE-ing way. . . . The three Sullivan sisters, named for the Three Graces of Greek legend who embody beauty, charm and grace, don’t live up to their names. Belle is no beauty. Charisma lacks charm. And Grace is somewhat less than graceful. But this doesn't deter their ambitious mother from bribing three bachelors to escort them to Colorado Springs’ beautiful Garden of the Gods. When the girls overhear their escorts mocking how little they resemble their names, each girl makes a wish at the magical Three Graces rock formation. Belle wishes aloud for beauty, but only so she can use it as a weapon to punish the cads who hurt her sisters. Her true wish is for revenge. Handsome viscount Kit Stanhope regrets his rude remarks and apologizes to Belle. He’s surprised when she tells him that's not enough. If he truly regrets his behavior, he has to make her beautiful in time for the Founders’ Day Ball. Kit isn’t sure he’s up to the task. But, intrigued by the spirited Belle, he agrees to assist her transformation from an ugly duckling into a swan with the help of a mysterious Greek dressmaker with muse-like qualities. Unfortunately, Belle makes a rather awkward swan. Still, after a few embarrassing escapades, she masters the flirtatious language of the fan and takes the town known as Little London by storm. Belle soon finds herself falling for the viscount and his sinful mouth. It seems he returns her regard, but she can’t renege on her promise to humiliate him . . . can she? Will her secret muse grant the wish she voiced . . . or the one she holds in her heart? Note to readers: This title was originally published in 2003 by Zebra Ballad.

    Then there’s Violet Devohr, Zee’s great-grandmother, who they say took her own life somewhere in the vast house, and whose massive oil portrait still hangs in the dining room.The Hundred-Year House unfolds a generational saga in reverse, leading the reader back in time on a literary scavenger hunt as we seek to uncover the truth about these strange people and this mysterious house. With intelligence and humor, a daring narrative approach, and a lovingly satirical voice, Rebecca Makkai has crafted an unforgettable novel about family, fate and the incredible surprises life can offer.

    . . to have your life change forever.Joplin Missouri, 1933, Kathryn Nash believes that her life has finally changed for the better. Her abusive husband of eighteen years, Clayton, has passed away suddenly and she has met an intriguing handsome stranger, John Stevens. Will a dark secret from Kathryn’s distant past surface and place Kathryn at odds with everyone in her world and set her life on a collision course with destiny that threatens her very life and the lives of those she loves the most? The Great Depression, The Great Midwestern Crime Spree, and the early incarnations of the Ku Klux Klan all converge on the small town and shape not only history, but the very course of Kathryn’s life. One Mississippi is a fast paced work of historical fiction that will keep you wondering what could possibly happen next and eager to find out just what can really happen in the time it takes to say the word “Mississippi.”