New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods touches readers' hearts with this all-time favorite winter tale of love and family… Once Sharon Adams had her future all planned—only to see it snatched away in a heartbeat, leaving her dreams in the dust. And then a fateful snowy night found two strangers at her door. The first was Cord Branson, an intriguing and irresistible stranger. And the second was a baby, the one she'd always dreamed, and long despaired, of finding… Loner cowboy Cord couldn't say exactly what had brought him to Sharon's door; he knew only that he had to go inside. And when he saw the lovely woman with that beautiful baby in her arms, for one wild and improbable second he imagined she was his. The baby theirs. And he knew that, whatever it took, somehow he had to make it happen…
Billionaire Luc Sabbatini may have ruthlessly cast Bronte from his life…but he'd be lying if he said he'd forgotten this sweet ballerina. That's why he's back, and ready to reawaken their lost passion. Only this time he finds Bronte isn't quite so biddable! Her better judgment is urging her to walk away. Bronte has been lured into Luc's lair before…This time, however, the secret she's hiding will have its repercussions!
“A rare and compassionate look into the lives of Americans who go unclaimed when they die and those who dedicate their lives to burying them with dignity.”—Matthew Desmond, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Poverty, by America For centuries, people who died destitute or alone were buried in potters’ fields—a Dickensian end that even the most hard-pressed families tried to avoid. Today, more and more relatives are abandoning their dead, leaving it to local governments to dispose of the bodies. Up to 150,000 Americans now go unclaimed each year. Who are they? Why are they being forgotten? And what is the meaning of life if your death doesn’t matter to others? In this extraordinary work of narrative nonfiction, eight years in the making, sociologists Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmermans uncover a hidden social world. They follow four individuals in Los Angeles, tracing the twisting, poignant paths that put each at risk of going unclaimed, and introducing us to the scene investigators, notification officers, and crematorium workers who care for them when no one else will. The Unclaimed lays bare the difficult truth that anyone can be abandoned. It forces us to confront a variety of social ills, from the fracturing of families and the loneliness of cities to the toll of rising inequality. But it is also filled with unexpected moments of tenderness. In Boyle Heights, a Mexican American neighborhood not far from the glitter of Hollywood, hundreds of strangers come together each year to mourn the deaths of people they never knew. These ceremonies, springing up across the country, reaffirm our shared humanity and help mend our frayed social fabric. Beautifully crafted and profoundly empathetic, The Unclaimed urges us to expand our circle of caring—in death and in life.
In this sexy romance, a wealthy Italian is reunited with the lover he never forgot only to discover that she is the mother of the child he never knew. Billionaire Luc Sabbatini may have ruthlessly cast Bronte from his life . . . but he’d be lying if he said he’d forgotten this sweet ballerina. That’s why he’s back, and ready to reawaken their lost passion. Only this time he finds Bronte isn’t quite so biddable! But once he discovers she secretly gave birth to his baby, he’s ready to do whatever it takes to claim what is rightfully his!
When the evening news reported a dead baby abandoned in a local dumpster, Linda Znachko's comfortable life changed. She was suddenly convicted—-God was asking her to provide a dignified burial for this tiny lost child. Linda said yes. She had no idea where that first small yes would lead. Linda found herself in places she never dreamed she would be: at the graveside of the child of an abused mother; by the side of a mother fighting for her lost child; and at the funeral of a Texas stripper who died two days before her baptism but left a legacy of love behind. When Linda stepped out of her comfort zone and into these implausible places with people she was unlikely to otherwise encounter, she discovered the life she never knew she wanted—-a life of saying yes to God whenever He asks. Today, Linda has a ministry that gives children a name in life, and dignity and honor in death. When she shares her stories of broken lives redeemed, other broken people respond, and so the ripple effects of that long-ago yes continue to spread, touching lives that yearn for healing, and underscoring the fact that every life matters to God.
*A New York Times Staff Pick* *An NPR Best Book of 2018* *A Buzzfeed Best YA Book of 2018* In Jen Doll's young adult debut novel, Unclaimed Baggage, Doris—a lone liberal in a conservative small town—has mostly kept to herself since the terrible waterslide incident a few years ago. Nell had to leave behind her best friends, perfect life, and too-good-to-be-true boyfriend in Chicago to move to Alabama. Grant was the star quarterback and epitome of "Mr. Popular" whose drinking problem has all but destroyed his life. What do these three have in common? A summer job working in a store called Unclaimed Baggage cataloging and selling other people's lost luggage. Together they find that through friendship, they can unpack some of their own emotional baggage and move on into the future.
Bessborough was Ireland's most notorious Mother & Baby Home. From 1922 to 1998 almost 20,000 women and children passed through its doors. In the first book of its kind, historian Michael Dwyer takes us inside Bessborough. Using an array of historical sources, Dwyer pieces together the relationship between the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts who ran the home, the local authorities who paid them to maintain women and children there and the state departments who oversaw its operation. Dwyer charts Bessborough's 76 year history and addresses the many controversies surrounding the Mother & Baby Home from vaccine trials to the extraordinarily high infant death rate and the mystery which still surrounds the location of over 800 infant remains.
Natural Born Lawman Texas lawman Justin Adams has always played by the rules. Until one day the deputy catches a petty thief attempting to steal a bottle of baby medicine. The imploring eyes of desperate single mother Patsy Longhorn - not to mention those of her feverish little boy - just might make him reconsider. After breaking off relations with her husband, Patsy is wary of men in general, and facing police deputy Justin Adams should have had her running for cover. But somehow this man makes her wonder if maybe the time has come to stop running - if maybe Justin is what she's been waiting her whole life to find. The Unclaimed Baby Sharon Adams once thought she had her whole future planned - until her dreams were snatched away and she was left running her family's convenience store. Then on a fateful snowy night she finds two strangers at her door. The first is Cody Branson, an intriguing and irresistible man from another town. And the second is a baby, the one she's always dreamed, and long despaired, of finding... Loner cowboy Cord couldn't say exactly what had brought him to Sharon's door on that cold and snowy night. But when he sees Sharon Adams with a beautiful baby in her arms, for one wild and improbable second he dreams of having a family again. And he knows that, whatever it takes, he has to find a way to make it happen...
