Summer was mine once. Leaving her behind to go to war was unforgivable. I survived... barely. Though my body is broken. I never expected to see her at the veteran’s support office. There are a million reasons I don't deserve her. I fell in with a bad crowd when I got back home. Worse than she can imagine. They’re still out to get me. My love is dangerous. And my secrets are deadly.
Freya is torn between her two mothers. Liv, her adoptive mother who nurtured and raised her, is earthy, no-nonsense. The total opposite to Melody: with her vibrant, explosive personality and extensive, brightly coloured wardrobe, Freya's birth mother is still apt to find herself thrown out of Top Shop for bad behaviour. Hard as it has been for Freya to try to reconcile her two families, it has been harder for her mothers. Proud of her mature and sensible adoptive daughter, Liv fears Melody's restless influence. Meanwhile, forced to give up her baby when she was just a teenager herself, Melody now craves Freya's love and acceptance - but only really knows how to have fun. Then tragedy strikes, and the bonds of love that tie these three women together will be tested to the max. Can they finally let go of the past, and pull together in order to withstand the toughest challenge life could throw them?
In her first novel, Serle presents an intensely romantic, modern recounting of the greatest love story ever toldNnarrated by Rosaline, the girl Romeo was "supposedO to love.
Simply told but deeply affecting, in the bestselling tradition of Alice McDermott and Tom Perrotta, this urgent novel unravels the heartrending yet unsentimental tale of a woman who kidnaps a baby in a superstore—and gets away with it for twenty-one years. Lucy Wakefield is a seemingly ordinary woman who does something extraordinary in a desperate moment: she takes a baby girl from a shopping cart and raises her as her own. It’s a secret she manages to keep for over two decades—from her daughter, the babysitter who helped raise her, family, coworkers, and friends. When Lucy’s now-grown daughter Mia discovers the devastating truth of her origins, she is overwhelmed by confusion and anger and determines not to speak again to the mother who raised her. She reaches out to her birth mother for a tearful reunion, and Lucy is forced to flee to China to avoid prosecution. What follows is a ripple effect that alters the lives of many and challenges our understanding of the very meaning of motherhood. Author Helen Klein Ross, whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, weaves a powerful story of upheaval and resilience told from the alternating perspectives of Lucy, Mia, Mia’s birth mother, and others intimately involved in the kidnapping. What Was Mine is a compelling tale of motherhood and loss, of grief and hope, and the life-shattering effects of a single, irrevocable moment.
In order to escape an arranged marriage and pursue her artistic passions in Paris, Lady Pippa Harrington needs the help of Gregory Sherwood, Lord Westdale, who blames her for the infidelity of the only woman he ever loved.
Adopting a shelter dog can come with many questions, but also endless love. A little boy imagines what life was like for his new dog before he adopted him from a shelter. Maybe he had a boy who loved him, but the family had to move and couldn't keep him. Maybe he belonged to someone who didn't appreciate how mischievous puppies can be. Maybe he was treated badly, and now he can be shown all the love he's been missing. This boy wonders about all of these things, but maybe they don't matter. Because now, his dog is home. Winner of the Humane Society KIND Children's Picture Book Award and the ASPCA Henry Bergh Children's Book Award, this touching story celebrates all who support, care for, and adopt shelter dogs.
I can't stand Wes Sullivan. There's only one problem: he's my new roommate. Wes is a cocky military man. He might have left the Army, but the Army hasn't left him. I hate everything about him. How he tries to control everything, including me. How his mood is always stormy and serious. And especially how good he looks in just a towel. I can't stand the sight of Wes's gorgeous abs, because it makes me want him... ...and he's all wrong for me. Okay, we have two problems. Scratch that—three problems. The third problem is that he knows my darkest secret now. He understands. And if he leaves now, I won't just lose his half of the rent. I'll lose my heart.
Grayson: If I had to use one word to describe my wife, it would be Mine. Emmalin is my life, my love, and the mother of my child. She's given me more than I deserve, and more than I ever wanted. Nothing ever came easy for us. Fight hard, Fuck harder. Now, someone wants to take it all away from me. Someone has a sordid tale to tell, that's a threat to both me, and my family, and it's one I can't defend. I have to fight back. But how do I fight for everything and prove my innocence when nothing makes sense and lies start to sound like the truth? How do I hold onto the only woman I've ever loved, even if she asks me to let her go? I can't. She's the one I refuse to lose.... Emmalin: Life with Grayson has never been more perfect. But life is also a bitch and then you die.
BIOGRAPHY: HISTORICAL, POLITICAL & MILITARY. A young combat veteran hides in his closet under a pile of clothes on bad nights. Another, home for five days, can't figure out how to talk to his wife. And a commander's spouse recounts the soul-draining effect of attending nearly one hundred memorial services...When therapist Elizabeth Heaney left her private practice to counsel military service members and their families, she came face-to-face with unheard-of struggles and fears. Emotions run deeply-and often silently-in the hearts of combat veterans in this eye-opening portrait of the complex, nuanced lives of service personnel, who return from battling the enemy and grapple with readjusting to civilian life. Presenting the soldiers' stories-told in their own words-as well as her own story of change, Heaney offers an intimate perspective, not of war itself but of its emotional aftermath. Some of these stories scrape the bone; others are hopeful, even comical.
