Three novels selected and condensed by Reader's Digest.

    

    You can always come home.” At the age of eighteen, musician and songwriter Cooper O’Connor took everything his father held dear and drove 1,200 miles from home to Nashville, his life riding on a six-string guitar and the bold wager that he had talent. But his wager soon proved foolish.Five years after losing everything, he falls in love with Daley Cross, an angelic voice in need of a song. But just as he realizes his love for Daley, Cooper faces a tragedy that threatens his life as well as his career. With nowhere else to go, he returns to his remote home in the Colorado Mountains, searching for answers about his father and his faith.When Daley shows up on his street corner twenty years later, he wonders if it’s too late to tell her the truth about his past—and if he is ready to face it.A radical retelling of the story of the prodigal son, Long Way Gone takes us from tent revivals to the Ryman Auditorium to the tender relationship between a broken man and the father who never stopped calling him home.

    When the lines between reality and TV land blur, they hope they can keep their relationship under wraps. But when Kat's grandmother, an eccentric star from Hollywood's golden age, mistakes their on-screen wedding proposal for the real deal, things begin to spiral out of control. Will their secret be front-page news in the tabloids? And can their budding romance survive the onslaught of paparazzi, wedding preparations, and misinformed family members?From the soundstage to a Beverly Hills mansion to the gleaming Pacific Ocean, Stars Collide takes you on a roller-coaster tour of Hollywood, packing both comedic punch and tender emotion.

    That's how I've gotten through nineteen years of life. It's what I do every single day—no matter how badly the odds are stacked against me.Persevere, and survive.Those are my two guiding words. I never knew either of my parents. I have no family and no home. The only person I could ever rely on was myself. In this cruel world, that's about as much as I could ask for.Love? Hah. Don't talk to me about love. I stopped believing in it the day my first boyfriend ripped out my heart three years ago.That's why love is the last thing on my mind when I leave a packed college bar with a captivating stranger. Yet everything changes when I'm awakened in the middle of the night by a pounding at the door. Suddenly, an arrangement meant for just one night threatens to become something much deeper. All expectations are thrown to the wind as I'm tangled in a dangerous world unlike anything I can believe. The man I met has secrets swirling around him like a dark cape. I'm about to become his biggest one...

    But as she encounters the people who make Last Chance their home, it’s her heart that is flashing bright red warning lights. These people are entirely too nice, too accommodating, and too interested in her personal life for Lainie’s comfort-especially since she’s on the run and hoping to slip away unnoticed.Yet in spite of herself, Lainie finds that she is increasingly drawn in to the dramas of small town life. An old church lady who always has room for a stranger. A handsome bartender with a secret life. A single mom running her diner and worrying over her teenage son. Could Lainie actually make a life in this little hick town? Or will the past catch up to her even here in the middle of nowhere?Cathleen Armstrong pens a debut novel filled with complex, lovable characters making their way through life and relationships the best they can. Her evocative descriptions, observational humor, and talent at rendering romantic scenes will earn her many fans.

    He worries about his weight, frets about his job, longs to get back with his ex-girlfriend, and wishes his ma would stop nagging him. To you and me, a pretty average guy. To Jesus, the raw material for a miracle . . . or two. When this ordinary guy stumbles into an extraordinary experience, everything seems possible, except staying stuck in that same dull life. Seeing and hearing Jesus right beside him rocks Philly’s world and reaches beyond him to his coworkers, his girlfriends and his family. Too bad no one else can see or hear Jesus there. Will Philly be rejected yet again? Will they just decide that he’s crazier than they imagined? Or will they let Philly’s contact with the Divine lift them out of their suffering and light their lives with hope?

    Dwight Edwards reminds us in his powerful book that the revolution, like the kingdom, is essentially within--that Jesus is still a King whose kingdom is the heart.”--Michael Card, recording artist and author of A Violent GraceWhat Actually Happened When You Came to Christ?Because of what God has done for every believer, you actually possess outlandish treasures you may never have dreamed existed. God has made "New Covenant" promises to each of us. And in fulfillment of those promises, He has placed within every believer four revolutionary provisions: a new purity, a new disposition, a new identity, and a new power.These lavish supernatural resources permanently reside within your soul right now--ready for release every day of your life on earth! Revolution Within shows what these four provisions really are and how to release them, so you can experience all the best God has for you. And when you do, you fulfill your God-given purpose in life. Because God doesn’t want us just to be spiritually whole but to be spiritually provocative. As you tap into this vibrant eternal reality, you’ll experience fresh intimacy with God, new liberty, a deepened sense of community with other believers, and a new capacity for ministry. And through it all you’ll grow in your passion for what God Himself is most passionate about: His glory.

     Detective Rebecca Palmer is hunting a serial killer bent on inflicting a warped sense of Biblical judgment. But, with so few clues, she struggles to catch his trail. The killer’s obsession with murdering single moms grips Rebecca’s heart with profound intensity, since she herself is a single mom. Will she be able to stop him before he takes another mother away from her child? Jared Johnson fought crime as a detective on the streets of Chicago but has decided to trade the inner city for the simpler life of the south. His brother said Hazel Hill, North Carolina is a great place to live, and Jared is willing to test his brother's claims. But is the move just another stop as Jared runs from his past, or will Hazel Hill be the place his restless soul can finally settle down? NOT ALONE is a Christian romantic suspense novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat as you cheer for love and justice to prevail. COMING SOON in The Detectives of Hazel Hill Series: Prequel Christmas Novella: A FRIGHTFUL NOEL Book Two: PURSUED Book Three: ON YOUR KNEES

    Desperate to escape his anguish, he takes a job halfway across the world and leaves everything behind: his home, his career, and his beautiful, bewildered wifeCIA agent Rhiana Daniels.When an undercover operative is kidnapped by a fanatical Arab faction in Yemen, Kams knowledge of the language and culture prove to be invaluable, and he is recruited to help rescue the agent. However, the mission becomes even more complicated when he learns that one of theteam members is his estranged wife.Traveling with a research group sponsored by Brigham Young University, Kam and Rhiana attempt to navigate the obstacles that distance and time have placed between them, even as they confront dangerous militants determined to prevent the agents rescue by any means necessary.From the lethal deserts of the Middle East to the battlefield of a troubled soul, best-selling author Willard Boyd Gardner delivers an unforgettable story of action and conspiracy, of heartbreak and betrayal, and of faith and forgiveness.

    It is a confidence in the power and goodness of God that leads us to make good decisions and allows us to surrender our lives to Him. As we strive to mature spiritually and lead lives pleasing to God, we all want more faith. Hebrews 6:12 says that we are to be "imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." One of the best ways to grow in faith is to imitate the lives of people who have shown great faith. Hebrews 11 guides us through the lives of men and women - like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Rahab, David and others - who have done just that. Real people with real lives and real problems, who had faith in a great God and trusted Him at pivotal moments in their lives. By drawing on some of the greatest lives of faith in the Bible, readers will come to see that God was worthy of these men's and women's trust and faith during biblical times in the same way that He is worthy of ours today.

    Everything that felt familiar in their relationship is being shaken. All they had hoped for in their future together is about to change.When Christy shares her life-altering news with Todd, she doesn't receive the joyful response she was expecting. Aunt Marti inserts a few strong opinions about how the young couple should navigate this difficult season and when Todd's dad asks for help renovating his Newport Beach home it's clear that nothing will ever be the same for them again. As Christy and Todd's relationship is radically altered will they continue to drift apart? Or will they come through the major shifts with a deeper love each for other and the One who brought them together in the first place?

    Three armies. One letter. One destiny.When World War II hits Walter Brewer's family in the worst possible way, he is torn between his love for two women, his family, and his country. A rural postal carrier in his hometown of Jamesville, North Carolina, Walter struggles to look after his brother’s wife and family as well as his own while his brother is stationed at Pearl Harbor. He has no idea his life is about to become entwined with a Nazi officer and a Royal Navy commando.Heinrick Schultz is haunted by his participation in Kristallnacht against the local Jews, but he is honored when called to serve in the German Special Forces. He leaves his wife and two daughters at home to serve in Africa under General Rommel.Darwin McCloud strives to make his father, a Royal Navy captain, proud. After participating in the invasion at Dieppe, Darwin’s true character is evident to all.The duty falls on Walter to deliver a letter that will tie all three families together. Will Walter survive his mission over France as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne on D-Day, or is the ultimate sacrifice Walter's destiny?This much-anticipated prequel to Don Brown's acclaimed Navy Justice series is packed with the ravages of love and war, romance and family, and ultimately the power of faith.

    Where the world stresses the importance of success, Bird invites readers to embrace nine specific failures in the areas of our personal lives, our relationships, and the church. Why? Because what human wisdom deems indispensable is so often an impediment to our spiritual growth, and what it deems insignificant is so often essential to it.With compelling examples from the Bible and today, Bird paints an enticing picture of the counterintuitive, countercultural life that God wants for us. He helps readers delight in all of the ways that Jesus turned the world upside-down, allowing us to experience true freedom, not from our weaknesses but in the midst of them.

    Determined to make the most of this unexpected free time, she heads to Montreal to visit her sister. On the way, she spots a tumbledown upstate farmhouse---one she’s seen in her dreams for years---and impulsively buys it on a hefty credit card advance. Over her husband’s protests, Ellen decides to drop out of the rat race and spend the summer living out her woman-who-runs-with-the wolves fantasy, communing with nature---her own included---in an effort to confront middle age and figure out how on earth she got there. Rather than peacefully tend her garden and puzzle things out, however, Ellen soon becomes embroiled in the exceedingly unique problems of two redneck, social misfit neighbors---an ex-biker and an aging chainsaw sculptor---while taking care of a narcoleptic dog and a child who doesn’t speak English.With Ellen’s quest for meaning and her concern for the welfare of others driving the plot, Anybody Any Minute is deeply layered, heartbreaking . . . and hilarious.