Sprinklers sprayed lawns; the hum of leaf blowers and weed trimmers filled the air, racing against daylight to finish their Saturday evening chores. On the street, kids played or clustered in groups around streetlights as if waiting for them to glow in the coming twilight. The amber lamps flickered on, glowing steady. Moths appeared almost as if breathed from the night air. Fireflies waltzed across lawns in weak but whimsical imitation of the nightlights of Fairbury. The lights flickered. Dimmed. Blackness shrouded the neighborhood as screams pierced the night air. One little boy. One terrified family. One loving community. Life changes–sometimes in an instant. For the Cox family, that change comes on a lazy June evening. A raven flies into a power line and falls to its death as a transformer blows. Three-year-old Nathan Cox points to the ground and says, “Look, Daddy!” Fire consumes a fence and Jon Cox leads his son to safety–or so he thinks. Impending twilight hides a live power line that lies in the shadows of the alley. Screams rip through the night air and the hearts of Jon and Kelly Cox as Nathan writhes in pain. Jon jerks his son to safety, but not before the damage is done. The paramedics agree. “He should be dead.” The doctors work through torturous therapies to heal him–therapies little Nathan doesn’t understand. His words rip through the hearts of his parents–his family. “Don’t hurt me, Daddy.” But through the pain, the fear, the loss of the carefree innocence of a life before trauma, bright moments appear and grow. Strangers from all over the world band together, united in prayer for the healing of one pain-riddled little boy. Strangers all across the country offer help in the way of fundraisers. And through it all, one community shows the power of uniting together in one purpose. Car washes, bake sales, business donations and discounts, donation cans, and a recycling drive appear one after the other in an effort to help offset the staggering financial burden of nearly a month in a hospital–without insurance. In one great leap of faith and show of love, a group of musicians gather to present a benefit concert. Businesses offer free fliers, matching donation funds, and volunteer time. People appear from all corners of the town to do their part to ensure that the concert is a rousing success. One theme runs through the course of each event and surmounts every obstacle. “God’s got this.” And little Nathan? He’s the inspiration that ties it all together. His heart wrenching cries and screams as he tries to walk again unites a community. His goofy smile and loopy comments add hope amid the pain of suffering. Ask him–just ask him what happened. He’ll tell you. “A bird died.”

    He’s a good-looking, smooth-talking former pro-basketball player, but he has a problem: He has never been satisfied with just one woman. Then he meets Terri and everything changes. Sort of.Genesis knows that Terri is perfect for him, and they become engaged. But Genesis just can’t seem to stop cheating on Terri nearly every chance he gets. Genesis’s best friend, Prodigy, constantly warns him that he’s going to mess up the best thing ever to happen to him, but Genesis is not ready to listen.After dealing with a family crisis, Genesis realizes the importance of his relationship with Terri, and he begins to change his cheating ways. He knows that once he says, “I do,” everything will fall into place. But it may be too late, because one of his past indiscretions comes back to haunt him, and Terri has a few surprises of her own for Genesis.

    But if “figuring it all out” and “wanting it all” were Olympic sports, Emily would have been a gold medalist in both categories. Never one to admit defeat in the face of the enemy, Emily gets back in the dating ring again and again. But, the more she tries to make her therapist proud, the deeper down the rabbit hole she goes. While recovering the pieces of her broken heart, straight-A Emily’s dating world morphs into a mad soirée of drug addicts, embezzlers, perverts, and pimps. Just as she begins to believe that a bottle of wine might be her only shot at happiness, a chance encounter with a man she should never should have met resets Emily’s buttons. What she experience next satiates her heart, her soul, and her stomach, as she frees herself from the perils of her mid-twenties and becomes exactly who she is supposed to be.

    He is an accountant, she the daughter of a successful businessman. They live in a comfortable middle-class village in Surrey. Then, during a party for their daughter Pippa's baptism, their son Jeremy is knocked down on the road outside. It is their worst nightmare, something they thought could never happen, and the consequences will affect each one of them more than they could possibly imagine. What is Claire's guilty secret, and can her wealthy, self-made father help? Will Mark, desperate to escape, have the nerve to leave? And how will Pippa be affected by the turmoil that began on the day of her own christening?'A compelling story about the way a family copes with a catastrophe' THE TIMES'A delight, a very polished read' CATHOLIC HERALD'An accomplished first novel' TATLER'Humane, thoughtful' HARPERS AND QUEENS

    What happens next triggers a series of events leading inexplicably to the cells of Lancaster Gaol.Lancashire, 1612: The most notorious witchcraft trials in England are taking place.Among the accused, three generations of the same family. A family rooted in Pendle, tied to the infamous Malkin Towers and always followed by a whisper of evil. A family destroyed by the evidence given by a nine year old girl…

    It is love at first sight as the two fall head over heels for each other, despite the influence of Justine's jealous friend, Simone. While Simone tempts Lucas with her raw sexuality, he struggles to keep his old ways in the past. Lucas and his partner, Noah, accept a dangerous undercover assignment that will topple the empire of the notorious drug lord, Nine. Can Lucas and Noah survive this dangerous bust? Will Lucas revert to his player ways with Simone's constant temptation? It's a race between love and lust, and what goes around definitely comes around as KARMA takes its toll.

    This season meet Brianna and Natalie. Best of friends but both deal with similar issues they both desire a man who isn’t actually theirs. Episode one- Meet the cast, get wrapped up in the sex, and guess the next secret as the drama unfolds as the Na Na rips havoc on these characters lives.

    Amelie-Anaïs, buried on the Nebraska hilltop where the family home resides, tells this story of deceit, survival, and love from beyond the grave. Following Willow's life and Willow's incredible passion to paint despite loneliness, a physical handicap, and being raised by a father plagued with secrets, Amelie-Anaïs weaves together the lives of four enigmatic generations."Not since 'The Lovely Bones' have we experienced such a moving tale of love, suspense, and family secrets narrated by a ghost. Lukas creates a complex, moving story with brilliant lyricism and hard won realism. She is a rare writer who makes you devour her words. Readers of Alice Hoffman and Anita Shreve will love this novel...and stay up all night to finish it!" -Jonis Agee, author of "The River Wife"“Margaret Lukas has written a page-turner of a novel. 'Farthest House,' boldly narrated by an unsettled spirit, is part-ghost story and a full-out love story of a family coming to terms with its mysterious past, much of it lived in an ancestral home set within a gorgeously rendered Nebraska landscape. Above all, Farthest House is the story of Willow, a bewildered little girl who grows into a passionate painter. I can’t remember the last time I rooted so enthusiastically for a heroine.” –Anna Monardo, author of "The Courtyard of Dreams" and "Falling in Love with Natassia"“Haunting and eerily beautiful, Margaret Lukas' 'Farthest House' is like the family treasure chest one finds in the attic. It may seem inviting at first, but open at your own risk. An ode to both what we should and should never know about the generations that preceded us, 'Farthest House' is an unsettling, unforgettable book.” Holiday Reinhorn, author of "Big Cats: Stories"

     Book One: TESS. From the wild decadence of late nineteenth-century Newport comes the tale of Tess Moran, a beautiful Irish housemaid in one of the grand summer "cottages," who makes a dark bargain with a man of commanding wealth — and falls in love in the bargain. Book Two: AMANDA. Marrying American money to an English title is a tradition of its own; but Amanda Fain, a brash heiress with money to burn, has a fondness for Bolsheviks and bootleg liquor that makes her an unlikely match for the reluctant, ironic, and impoverished English aristocrat Geoffrey Seton, who has been ordered to America to find someone who can pay the bills for the family estate back home. Book Three: LAURA. While the Great Depression grinds relentlessly on, Laura Andersson, a Midwestern farm girl with an improbable love of the sea, embarks on a bold adventure that promises riches but delivers passion, one that threatens all she holds dear. Book Four: THE HEIRS is the dramatic conclusion to the four-book series BY THE SEA. Economic hard times are a distant memory in high-flying, recent-day Newport, home of the oldest and most prestigious trophy in the world, the Holy Grail of sport--the America's Cup. Here, the descendants of Tess, Amanda and Laura play out their destinies, their paths crossing in unforeseen ways: Mavis Moran, Neil Powers, his daughter Quinta, and America's Cup skipper Alan Seton all find themselves caught in a web of mystery, sabotage, and conflicting desires. "A quality novel [that] contains many of those little epiphanies, those moments of recognition. [Part 1, TESS,] is what makes Stockenberg's book stand out from the rash of novels on class conflicts between Irish servants and their Yankee masters." —Providence Journal

    But Pomeroy plays by his own set of rules. He may be on the dole, but he’ll tip his breakfast waitress $20 just for being nice to him, even if it means he has to sit an extra hour on the street corner to make ends meet. He’s a skirmish-loving, dumpster-diving, ego-starved crazy who thinks that he can sing and that all women are in love with him—or should be. His parole officer, an Hispanic woman who tells Pomeroy he’s off-base and he 1) won’t become a rock star, 2) needs to find a decent job, and 3) would be better off if he stayed out of trouble, is totally exasperated by him. But Pomeroy is his own man, takes no advice, and has more wisdom that we’d like to admit. You may find yourself laughing when you shouldn’t. (“A good strong piss is better than sex. Lasts longer too.”) May find his egocentric opinions politically incorrect. ("There ain't a dyke alive ol' Pomeroy can't turn straight.") But don’t blame yourself if you start rooting for this anti-hero, you’ll have a lot of company. (Note: Adult language and situations.)

    This book tells the story of Anne and CC, two estate sale bloggers and antique hunters, who get more than they bargain for when they discover a killer who is hunting the antique hunters.

    C. Riggins, the epic storm is only one of the killers he’ll have to face as he undertakes a desperate journey.There’s also conflict behind the scenes at The Natural Environment Television Network (NE-TV) in Atlanta. Do they go public with a prediction of a historic snowstorm (social media is already atwitter)? Or do they follow a more conservative, meteorologically responsible route?

    What would be your first reaction?Drake Beckford, an up and coming young minister of El Shaddai Ministries, finds himself in a similar situation when he goes off to Bible School in Columbus, Ohio, entrusting his bride to be, Sasha McKay into the hands of his best friend, Levi Johnson. Sasha has been Drake’s first and only love since they were twelve years old and from that time to the present Drake has always believed her to be a woman of honor and integrity and she has never given him reason to doubt her love or her loyalty.However, unbeknownst to Drake, while he is away Levi has developed strong feelings for Sasha and it seems as if she, too, is fond of Levi. What will become of their budding attraction when Drake returns to make Sasha his wife? With that upsetting note wedged between his fingers, as he watches Sasha walk up the aisle to meet him, does Drake even dare believe such a wild accusation about her?If You Were Only Mine is the first book in H H Fowler's new novella Christian romance series, Real Love, which attempts to show what love really is, based on 1 Corinthians 13. For many can talk love talk, but not very many can walk the real love walk. Sit back and enjoy a whole new cast of characters that will no doubt leave you with times of reflection and questions about your own interpretation of what it means to express real love. Bestseller of Urban Christian Romance Series

    It is our hope that in this anthology you will find a story to love. We come from as varied backgrounds as we do locations. Hawaii to New York, California to Texas, and Texas to Tennessee; we have come together to share our love of storytelling. The characters within these pages are a wondrous mix as well. A flamboyant Knoxville designer, a 1900s investigative reporter, a neurosurgeon, a coroner, a woman dripping of Russian opulence and Parisian elegance, a detective that has simply had enough, and a Tennessee Police Chief all fill the pages and the imagination in Death of Choice. Come along with us to a Children’s Cemetery, 1920’s London, a daisy fresh diner in L.A., a fog shrouded barn, a small town in Tennessee, a Honolulu beach, and meet a collection of short stories from writers that will give you chills, thrills, and a set of tales you will long remember. Our hope is through these intriguing introductions you will discover an author or two you will want to read more of, and get to know better. Each of the authors in this anthology have many more books for you to enjoy. So find that spot where you love to curl up and read, and enjoy this collection of murder, mayhem and mystery. Micheal Maxwell Editor and Compiler September 2015

    All around him lights are flashing on and generators are powering up. Bang. The sound comes from the other side of the 15-inch thick steel door. One of Them. Above the bunker, a rabies outbreak has mutated into a deadly worldwide infection that attacks the very essence of being human, leaving only the most primitive desire: to feed. Against this onslaught, there is one defense - Bunker Z.