Book picks similar to
Cucumbers Have Thorns and Snakes Love Strawberries by Janice E. Sullivan
child-abuse
contemporary
paperback
trc
Wounded: A Love Story
Claudia Mair Burney - 2008
When it fades, her palms are bleeding. Anthony Priest, the junkie sitting beside her, instinctively touches her when she cries out, but Gina flees in shock and pain. A prize-winning journalist before drugs destroyed his career, Anthony is flooded with a sense of well-being and knows he is cured of his addiction. Without understanding why, Anthony follows Gina home to find some answers. Together they search for an answer to this miraculous event and along the way they cross paths with a skeptical evangelical pastor, a gentle Catholic priest, a certifiable religious zealot, and an oversized transvestite drug dealer, all of whom lend their opinion. It's a quest for truth, sanity, and grace . and an unexpected love story.
This Can't Be Life
Shakara Cannon - 2011
I’d been in bed for days in immeasurable pain from a broken heart. I was literally past my breaking point and done with this life. How do you keep living when your best friend is brutally murdered and the love of your life may be responsible? Lying in the dark with nowhere to hide from my thoughts and emotions, I felt alone, betrayed, deceived, hoodwinked, bamboozled, and lead astray! I needed to release the pain by any means necessary.” When the repressed traumas of Simone Johnson’s childhood resurface through a recurring dream, secrets are unveiled that explain the negligence of her mother and her deep distrust of men. The support of her best friends, Stacey and Talise, gives her strength, but when tragedy strikes, leading Simone into a chasm of darkness, who will be there to help her find her way out?Simone, Stacey, and Talise are your typical best friends navigating life. They brush shoulders with entertainment’s elite and experience great successes.Simone is living an extravagant lifestyle, which some may say has come to her easily. She doesn’t trust men and is willing to remain guarded to protect herself. Even though star NBA player, Deon Bradford ? a good guy, looking for a woman to love him for him – has her in his sights, and is making every effort to bring down her guard, Simone remains distrustful. She feels that she can do without a man’s love, until an unsuspecting man comes into her life and shows her what true love is really like, but is he who he portrays himself to be or will Deon win her heart?Talise is the romantic, who dreams of a marriage just like her parents. When she meets a man that she knows is her soul-mate, but later finds out that they stand on opposite sides of religion, will this be a deal breaker?Stacey is the brother, the shoulder, and the comic relief, but when Stacey falls in love, he falls hard. Will his need to give into his heart cost him the ultimate price?Once the secrets start tumbling out of the closets and no door is able to contain them, who do you turn to when your reality feels like a dream and you are sure that this can?t be life?
A Beautiful Mess
Brenda S. Anderson - 2019
After her husband admitted to an affair and that a child had been conceived, he left her and their young daughter for his new family. Now, she’s finally ready to put the pieces of her life together. She’s set to launch her own business and even thinks her heart might be open to romance—should the right man come along. But just when everything seems to be lining up, she receives a devastating call: her ex-husband and his wife have been killed in a car accident, and Erin is listed in their will as their daughter’s legal guardian. How can she be a mother to the child—let alone love the child—who broke up her marriage? Does she have the courage to start over yet again and turn this mess into a mosaic of beauty? A single mother’s journey from bitterness to forgiveness.
This Does Not Leave This House
Julie Coons - 2018
Suffering from physical and mental torment resulting in very low self-esteem, Julie often felt so completely alone during the many struggles of her life that she tried to take her own life. This book is her true story—telling all the secrets she was never allowed to tell to encourage and motivate others to heal their own lives and break the cycle of abuse. Her story shows that there is hope and life after abuse. Now that the secrets are finally out, Julie has found freedom. So can you. This Does Not Leave This House is a raw, poignant, and secret-revealing memoir written to lead a movement to break the silence of abuse and finally end its vicious cycle. With strength and resiliency, Coons provides a voice for the silent abused, letting them know they’re not alone. Justice and hope can prevail. The abused can become victorious. Read the heartbreaking true story of her journey to triumph above overwhelming obstacles.
Need for Speed
Brian Kelleher - 2014
While he and his team skillfully build and race muscle cars on the side, it’s not enough to keep the doors open. He reluctantly partners with his longtime rival, a wealthy, arrogant ex–professional racer, Dino Brewster. But just as a major sale to car broker Julia Bonet looks as though it will save Tobey’s business, a disastrous, unsanctioned race results in Dino framing Tobey for manslaughter. Two years later, Tobey is fresh out of prison and eager for revenge. To take Dino down, he plans to enter the high-stakes De Leon race—the biggest contest of underground racing in the world—to get the money to reclaim his family business and expose Dino’s deception. But getting there won’t be easy, as Tobey must run a high-octane, pedal-to-the-floor gauntlet, dodging cops coast to coast and dealing with fallout from a dangerous bounty on his car. Luckily, with his team—and the surprisingly resourceful Julia—on his side, he just might defy the odds . . .
Natural Born Hustler
Nikki Turner - 2010
She has more game in the streets than a basketball player does on the court, and her boyfriend, Fame, loves every single inch of her. But unlike her mother, who has been in one bad relationship after another, Desember is not going to wait on a knight in shining armor to save her, and even her love for Fame can’t stand in the way of Desember selling anything and everything—legal or illegal—that can turn a profit, so that she never has to depend on a man. The only thing Desember feels she’s lacking is a father to call her own. And her mother refuses to tell Desember who he is.When Fame finds himself at the wrong end of a gun, fighting for his life, Desember wants nothing more than to stand by her man, but Fame warns her from his hospital bed that she isn’t safe. Desember wonders if she was the real target. Her mother, concerned for Desember’s safety, arranges for her daughter to travel to Richmond, Virginia, to live with Desember’s father and his wife.And when her father’s identity is finally revealed, Desember learns that she is a Natural Born Hustler.But are her troubles really over? Or is the worst yet to come?
Love Songs
Katherine Stone - 1991
Where the rich watch each other grow richer, and the whispers of scandal are as relentless as the rhythm of the sea. Here three beautiful, lonely women--Julia, Diana, and Casey--struggle to find love--or save it. Each is driven by her own fears, desires, dearest dreams and a haunting hope of a life of love.
Dream Lover
Té Russ - 2012
Liz is content for things to stay just the way they are. But John's feelings for Liz begin to grow beyond a platonic friendship.Can he convince Liz to open her eyes and her heart to the beauty of what could be?
Soul and Diana
Jade Jones - 2017
Putting his dark past behind him, he decides to get a normal 9 to 5 working as a corrections officer at a minimum security prison in Gainesville, Georgia. Things are going swimmingly until the troublesome and mysterious Diana Prince crosses his path. She's annoying, obnoxious, and a pain in his ass. But on the upside, she's also beautiful, kind-hearted, and compassionate. When she's finally released due to lack of evidence, their relationship takes off in a whirlwind of lust. She's a rider and she's down to do whatever it takes to prove her loyalty--be it catching a body or a case. And the fact that she lovingly accepts his daughter is just the icing on the cake. All seems well until their perfect world is shattered by a sudden, tragic death, leaving Soul to take over a multi-billion dollar drug business. Not only does he inherit the company, he also inherits the enemies and debt that come along with it. Will Soul be able to juggle his duties as a father, husband, and businessman? Or will he fall prey to the rivals that are waiting to see him crash and fail? "Soul and Diana" is the highly-anticipated and riveting spin-off of the "Wife of a Misfit" series. If you loved "Cameron" and all of her juicy drama, you'll love this fast-paced, heart-gripping love story from national bestselling author Jade Jones.
Ma, Jackser's Dyin Alone
Martha Long - 2013
But in the hospital she sees a frightened, lonely old man and realises with a shock that he seems to regret his earlier actions.During her vigil, she is joined by Charlie, her beloved little brother, then the ma and some of her other siblings. All of them have suffered greatly and it is clear that no one connected to Jackser has escaped unscathed.But as she sits with him during his dying days, other memories of Jackser come back to Martha - fleeting moments of concern and kindness, and a sense of closeness as he recalled his own tormented past in one of Ireland's industrial schools. It is a vicious cycle of cruelty and loss that has played out, from which only her own tenacity and wit has provided an escape.Poignant, ribald, poetic and defiant, with its resolution of many unanswered questions about her life this is Martha at her best.
Frankie
Kevin Lewis - 1973
She tries to build a new life, but you can only stay anonymous when no one wants to find you. Hunted by both the police and shadowy assailants with powerful connections, the odds are stacked against a woman who will do whatever it takes to protect herself - and those who mean most to her ...
Homeland / The Bean Trees / Pigs in Heaven
Barbara Kingsolver - 2001
A Barbara Kingsolver Omnibus; Contains Homeland, The Bean Trees, Pigs In Heaven and 11 other short stories.
The Boy Who Cried Christmas
Dennis Bailey - 2020
For him, Christmas wasn't just about making a list, but making sure it was long enough. He also had a reputation for embellishing the truth. That is until a chance meeting with an angel on the streets of Manhattan ends with a journey back in time to the birthplace of Christianity. Eventually, he makes his way home with a story that could change all their lives. He only has one problem . . . no one will believe him.
Little Mercies
Heather Gudenkauf - 2014
She is a fiercely dedicated children's advocate and a devoted mother and wife. But one blistering summer day, a simple moment of distraction will have repercussions that Ellen could never have imagined, threatening to shatter everything she holds dear, and trapping her between the gears of the system she works for.Meanwhile, ten-year-old Jenny Briard has been living with her well-meaning but irresponsible father since her mother left them, sleeping on friends' couches and moving in and out of cheap motels. When Jenny suddenly finds herself on her own, she is forced to survive with nothing but a few dollars and her street smarts. The last thing she wants is a social worker, but when Ellen's and Jenny's lives collide, little do they know just how much they can help one another.A powerful and emotionally charged tale about motherhood and justice, Little Mercies is a searing portrait of the tenuous grasp we have on the things we love the most, and of the ties that unexpectedly bring us together.
It Should've Been Me
ReShonda Tate Billingsley - 2016
The problem is Hollywood doesn’t know that just yet…..and since her bills aren’t paying themselves, Tamara signs on to star in the new stageplay, It Should’ve Been Me. Get in, get out, get paid…that’s all Tamara wants to do. But her co-stars – including Donovan Dobbs, her ex that left her at the altar and Camille Woods, a young starlet with a serious grudge – could make this the worst decision Tamara’s ever made. Whatever it takes… Playwright/producer Gwen Tanner Weinstein has decided if her neglectful husband can’t give her love, she’ll take his money. And use it to make her stageplay dreams come true. She’s put together an amazing cast, sold out shows across the country and is ready to take her rightful reign as one of the top play producers in the country. If only she can keep the drama contained to the stage….and that sexy young merchandising guy out of her bed…. From shady crew members, to unscrupulous paparazzi, It Should’ve Been Me is bound to be turned into real life drama that will rival anything that could ever happen on the stage.