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The Mage


A. Giannetti - 2011
    When his old enemy Drusus unexpectedly reappears, Elerian attempts to rid the countryside of an ancient danger. The resulting struggle taxes Elerian's strength and magical powers to the utmost. It also inadvertently rekindles his curiosity about his origins, which are shrouded in mystery. With his grandfather's encouragement, Elerian leaves the safe countryside where he grew up, embarking on a series of journeys to the wild lands to the north and east with the hope of finding information that will unlock the secrets of his past. During his travels, he encounters a variety of strange, sometimes magical creatures and finds himself thrust into one dangerous situation after another. Elerian discovers that the Goblins are stirring again in the Middle Realm and accidentally reveals himself to their Dark King, with disastrous consequences for himself and the two old men who raised him.If you enjoy reading The Mage, look for the release of The Warrior in August, 2012. It will be followed by The Dwarf Kingdoms, The Quest, and The War of the Rings.

The Year of the Sawdust Man


A. LaFaye - 1999
    Living in the small town of Harper, Louisiana with a mama as free-spirited as hers has led to lots of gossipy small talk and mean rumors. But now Mama is gone, and all the townsfolk can talk about is who she might have run off with.Nissa's memories of the Sundays her mama would come home smelling of sawdust lead her to suspect some of the rumors could be true. Did her Mama go away with The Sawdust Man? And if so, does it mean she's never coming back?

Durable Goods


Elizabeth Berg - 1993
    Since their mother died, Katie and her older sister, Diane, have struggled to understand their increasingly distant, often violent father. While Diane escapes into the arms of her boyfriend, Katie hides in her room or escapes to her best friend’s house—until Katie’s admiration for her strong-willed sister leads her on an adventure that transforms her life. Written with an unerring ability to capture the sadness of growth, the pain of change, the nearly visible vibrations that connect people, this beautiful novel by the bestselling author of Open House reminds us how wonderful—and wounding—a deeper understanding of life can be.

Orphan Moon


T.K. Lukas - 2015
    Orphan Moon is a gritty, tell-it-like-it-is, in your face tale about a courageous young woman who fights to regain her life after a terrible massacre. As I read along, this novel had me cheering, crying, and white knuckling my Kindle. The book flows with themes of romance, dark family secrets, past family conflicts, hope and dreams, and the primal instinct of survival!"The Curious Dame - Amazon Five-Star Review1860 - Palo Pinto, Texas. Under the spectacular glow of a Comanche moon, a family is slaughtered, their homestead torched. Nineteen-year-old Barleigh Flanders survives the terrifying midnight raid. Fiercely determined to rebuild, she seizes an opportunity meant for another. Desperate, near penniless, her foolhardy scheme could prove calamitous, yet it's her only hope. Her grueling physical journey stretches from Texas, to Missouri, and into the rugged Utah Territory. However, it's her emotional journey that takes her to places of uncharted darkness, discovery, and redemption when old family secrets are revealed. What she accepted as her past turns out to be an elaborate lie that reaches across generations, reshaping her memories of the Grandfather she despised, the father she adored, and the mother she never knew. Along her journey, she encounters a mysterious stranger. In Hughes Levesque, Barleigh gains an unsought ally with dark secrets of his own. A Texas Ranger turned hired gun, Hughes makes it his personal mission to keep Barleigh safe. Doing so may cost him his life, his job, and his heart, none of which he's keen to lose. Orphan Moon is a heart-wrenching saga of family love, loss, and betrayal. Both a gripping adventure and a timeless love story, it gallops across the bleeding edge of the western frontier.

A Sinner in Paradise


Deborah Hining - 2013
    Jilted by her fiance, Geneva watches her seemingly idyllic life suddenly fall apart. Bereft and desolate, she packs up her nine cats and leaves her home in Washington, DC to return to her native hills of West Virginia where she plans rest and heal from her heartbreak. When Geneva's ambition, and machinations run up against rugged mountain ways, she finds herself flung from one perilous adventure, romance, crazy circumstance, and heartbreak to another. After facing illness, disaster in the wilderness and an encounter with an old mountain man who teaches her that her soul needs more than men, courtship, and adventure, Geneva finally finds what she's been missing. Ultimately, Geneva realizes she must face herself before she is free to truly love and be loved.

Blue Moon Promise


Colleen Coble - 2012
    When she discovers that their father's recent death was no accident, Lucy is eager to leave town. She accepts a proxy marriage she believes will provide safe refuge. But trouble follows her to Texas where her new husband is surprised to suddenly have a wife and children to care for.Nate Stanton always hoped he'd marry someday, but running the family ranch meant he had no time for romance. When his father deposits Lucy Marsh--a city girl--on his doorstep, with two siblings in the bargain, he expects ranch life will send her running on the first train out of town. But Lucy is made of tougher stuff than Nate imagined. When danger moves in, Nate finds he'd give anything to protect Lucy and the children he's grown to love. Even if it means giving up his ranch.Blue Moon Promise is a story of hope, romance, and suspense . . . immersing the reader in a rich historical tale set under Texas stars.

The Breaker Boys


Pat Hughes - 2004
    Anger—mainly  at his father and stepmother—is what gets him there and what prevents him from making friends. Then, in the spring of 1897, it gets him kicked out and sent home. To avoid his family, Nate disappears on his bicycle every day. In this way he meets the breaker boys, who do dangerous, dirty work for his father, separating coal from debris. Nate admires these Polish immigrants, especially Johnny, and longs to become his friend. But the only way is for Nate to hide that he is the boss's son. As Nate and Johnny's friendship marches toward the moment of truth, Nate discovers that the mine workers are plotting a strike. Should he warn his family or protect his friend?This fascinating second novel features a hero who is blessed—or cursed—with the ability to see both sides of a painful issue and to accept that no one is impartial.

The Undertaker's Wife


Loren D. Estleman - 2005
    He has raised it to an art through the high craft of the Connable Method. Through it, he has managed to transform the ugliness of death into a thing of dignity and beauty. Victims brutalized by war, street fights, tavern brawls, ambushes, fires, every hazard in a raw West---these, in his hands, become presentable. Everywhere on the frontier, which erupts with life and death, he offers his skill: to the rich of San Francisco, the bawds and ruffians of the Barbary Coast, to Kansas cowboys, outlaws, soldiers, and sheriffs. He is devoted to dignifying the dead.She is devoted to making her marriage whole, in spite of the tragedy that surrounds it and, most especially, in spite of the tragedy that in one terrible afternoon strikes at its center.Today the undertaker is called to disguise the suicide of a famous financier. It is high drama, for only his art can save America's financial markets. Her task on this day is secret, an act of understanding and dedication.In the end, it is the undertaker's wife who, through love, is able to transcend death.

Evil In Disguise


Deborah McClatchey - 2010
    Little do they know that the unsuspecting, yet odd-looking turtle, is a fiend in disguise. The town bully, Victor Lockett, kidnaps the reptile and finds out he’s made a terrible, terrible mistake! The turtle is now on the loose and the killings begin. Elmer Jacks, the pet shop proprietor, finally reveals the true identity of the turtle to the two boys. He says there is an old scroll that was lost which holds the answer to the cursed tortoise and can revert it back to human form. Charlie’s pretty neighbor, Sunni Russell, joins them on their hunt for the beast. With her help, they search the Internet for the answer to the reversal of the curse. But will they find it? And most importantly, if they find the turtle, will the special words on the scroll even work?

Four Nails


G.J. Berger - 2016
    Forced into a slave caravan that takes him through perilous lands and into a world at war, Ashoka befriends a special elephant. He and that elephant, Four Nails, together lead Hannibal's army over the Alps and down the back of Rome. Though a time of constant danger and uncertainty, Ashoka finds beauty and kindness while helping others enslaved for the pleasure of ruthless rulers. To survive this remarkable journey, the elephant trainer calls upon his unique ways with the great greys and a strength known only to those with nothing left to lose.Cover artist D L Keur

Cissy Funk


Kim Taylor Blakemore - 2001
    It's an unforgiving background to the violence in Cissy Funk's life. She's alone on a scrap of a farm with her mother and brother, and her mother hasn't recovered from the death of Cissy's baby sister. She's turned cold, and mean, and she's turned against Cissy, singling her out, leaving bruises and a breaking heart. When Cissy's Aunt Vera turns up, with her warm hugs and pretty clothes, it looks like there just might be hope on the horizon after all. Vera is determined to make sure Cissy is safe and loved, despite her sister in law, despite the hard times, despite her own fears. But these hard times are more than failed crops and no work. There's a trouble in Cissy's family that no one is willing to tell her about, and it's threatening to bring her fragile happiness crashing down. When there's nothing but dirt, dust, and the faintest glimpse of delight, Cissy has to find the strength to grab onto what she can. Her family might not be what she thought it was, but maybe it can be exactly what she needs.

Clio at War


Peggy Gardner - 2018
    Three missing women...Transported from freedom in New York City to the rigid guardianship of great-aunts, the precocious Clio sets about solving the puzzle of disappearing women, a problem that no one wants to discuss. A desperate scheme...An admirer of the ancient mapmaker Ptolemy, Clio maps her own war against a serial killer, unmasking suspects and long-held secrets, as she tries to understand why her mother fled her childhood home and left her with two odd aunts in a strange world.

Complete Katy Did Series


Susan Coolidge - 2012
    Katy is a tall untidy tomboy, forever getting into scrapes but wishing to be beautiful and beloved. When a terrible accident makes her an invalid, her illness and four-year recovery gradually teach her to be as good and kind as she has always wanted. Two sequels follow Katy as she grows up: What Katy Did at School and What Katy Did Next. Two further sequels relating the adventures of Katy's younger siblings were also published—Clover and In the High Valley. Also their father, Dr. Carr, a hard working doctor feature in a short story titled "Curly Locks” thus completing the entire Carr Family Chronicle.Susan Coolidge, pen name of Sarah Chauncey Woolsey (1835–1905), was an American children's author who is best known for her Katy Carr Series. The fictional Carr family of this series was modeled after Woolsey's own family and the protagonist Katy Carr was inspired by Woolsey herself; while the brothers and sisters "Little Carrs” were modeled on her four younger siblings.

Bound for the Promise-Land


Troy D. Smith - 2000
    From fugitive to Medal of Honor winner, Mann carries on to rise above the ignorance and intolerance of those who seek to bring him down; somehow gaining strength from the unimaginable losses he suffers and his own self doubt. Troy Smith does a great job of telling this man's story; providing a real insight not only to the emotional struggle that made Alfred Mann the individual he was, but the era that forged his heroic character. – Kit Prate 2001 WWA Spur Award Winner for Best Original Paperback

Blood Brothers


Gary McCarthy - 1989
    Don't miss this exciting action adventure western from America's great western storyteller, Gary McCarthy!