"We are a family on a journey to a place called wonderful" is the motto of Deza Malone's family. Deza is the smartest girl in her class in Gary, Indiana, singled out by teachers for a special path in life. But it's 1936 and the Great Depression has hit Gary hard, and there are no jobs for black men. When her beloved father leaves to find work, Deza, Mother, and her older brother, Jimmie, go in search of him, and end up in a Hooverville outside Flint, Michigan. Jimmie's beautiful voice inspires him to leave the camp to be a performer, while Deza and Mother find a new home, and cling to the hope that they will find Father. The twists and turns of their story reveal the devastation of the Depression and prove that Deza truly is the Mighty Miss Malone.
Time and events continually change the focus and fabric of the lives of Chikondra’s Minister Sirinoya and his lifemate, Deputy Minister Sandra Sirinoya. Clinging to their love and one another, they blend the responsibilities of unification and family with growing demands from across the Alliance for their unique combination of skill and experience in statesmanship. Alliance history careens along a perilous path. With only limited success, Zeteron strategies undermine stability of worlds within the Dil-Terra Interplanetary Alliance. Impatient, the shadowy enemy assumes new and ominous boldness. As Zeteron tactics transform into open challenge, many Alliance leaders are certain they face the looming threat of war. Despite dangerous risks, devoted diplomats continue the dogged pursuit of peaceful initiatives while keeping wary watch over events posing threats to the worlds they serve. They ponder a frightening concept. Does their planetary union possess sufficient will to resist what appears to be an inevitable march toward interplanetary war? All the while, increasingly troubling and terrifying events unfold. Questions begin to arise, even among Chikondra’s faithful spiritual guides. An ancient fairy tale comes to mind. Bits and pieces of an unsettled present seem oddly consistent with a long-ago legend. Does coincidence play games with the enchanted story? Or, does fable ring bells of tragic warning? Official Website: www.chikondra.com
The New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the Coldwater Cove and Shelter Bay series crafts an emotionally powerful tale of a workaholic lawyer struggling with her unconventional family while also longing for a passionate love of her own. Fighting legal battles eighty hours a week has left Raine Cantrell burned out and empty. Although she once dreamed that success might make the father who walked away without a backward glance take notice, the high-power big city lawyer now finds herself feeling very alone. Then she gets an urgent call from three kids in trouble in her Washington state hometown, and suddenly Raine is returning to face unresolved feelings, unhealed wounds—and an unexpected desire. Sheriff Jack O’Halloran, a man with tragedy in his past and a six-year-old daughter to raise alone, has three teens barricaded inside a house and the media clamoring for a story. He isn’t ready for Raine to invade his territory—or his thoughts. And Raine isn’t ready for anyone to touch her heart. Unable to deny their attraction to each other, their solution is adult, reasonable—and totally foolish. They decide to have a simple affair. But they are about to discover that love is rarely simple—and that lives can change forever in a single heartbeat. “Few storytellers have JoAnn Ross’s magical touch for creating warm and memorable characters whose lives you delight in visiting. Like cherished silver, Homeplace just shines” (RT Book Reviews).
"In my career, I've helped develop and polish many good stories. Few have been as memorable and enjoyable as "Heart of Courage." Once the editor, but now a fan, I eagerly await the next book in the series." --Arlene W. Robinson, Freelance Editor The island of Tandori has seen more war than peace for as long as anyone can remember. A battleground for the foreign canine and feline peoples of Everlet and Hohleran, Tandori is also home to an indigenous race of lizards that remains neutral in the ancient conflict, but hardly dormant. The ever-changing tides of war soon engulf Rhomand, a young canine officer who finds himself engaged in a battle deep in enemy territory, fighting both for his own life and the life of his childhood friend, Ayana. As the war surrounding Rhomand rages, a threat surfaces that knows no mercy and respects no race. It attracts the attention of Veia, a powerful mage and keeper of arcane arts. The foreboding signs, stretching from common battlefields to the secluded lizard cities, lead to an undertaking that envelops not only Veia and her companions, but also an unsuspecting Rhomand and Ayana. Should they fail, the fate of their world will become shrouded in darkness.
It's been five years since the original turtle lady, old Miss Lovie Rutledge, passed away, but her legacy lives on with some special women, especially Toy and her daughter, young Little Lovie. Toy Sooner kept her graveside vow to her beloved mentor. She left behind an abusive, dysfunctional lifestyle to become a strong single mother and aquarist at the South Carolina Aquarium. But success has taken its toll, leaving Toy fearful of change and risks. Caretta Rutledge, Florence Prescott and Emmaline Baker have all experienced loss. This summer, with each other's friendship and support, they will try to make their dreams a reality. The turtle season begins the day Toy rescues a sick sea turtle on the beach. When Toy brings the loggerhead to the aquarium, she begins a turtle hospital with the help of her boss, Ethan. As the summer progresses and the sea turtles take their measured steps toward healing and freedom Toy, Cara, Flo and Emmi must find their own strength to face their fears and move courageously toward their futures. Mary Alice Monroe delivers another deeply satisfying novel written with an eye to nature and keen insights into the connections between women.
Roland Degraft likes his life just the way it is. Hes got money, good looks, and a thriving football career and has no interest in love, marriage, and white picket fences. Until two girls breeze into his life in the most unconventional waysat least as far as Roland is concernedand he is thrown into a triple dilemma that threatens to change his life forever. Dilemma 1 He must make a choice. Getting this attracted to one girl is very disturbing, let alone two. Now he must make a choice, but based on what? Hes equally attracted to both of them. Dilemma 2 He must find the girl he chooses. One thing the girls have in commonthey both dont want him to find them. One uses the Internet as a shield, and the other uses the whole city. How does he find two girls who dont want to be found? Dilemma 3 He must make her starstruck. One girl thinks shes not good enough for him; the other believes shes too good for him. Either way, he must find a way to convince his choice that starstruck is the best thing to be.
Sabrina Sloan yearns for more adventure in her dull life. Finally deciding to push her boundaries and make her own rules in this captivating story of love, betrayal, and drama, Sabrina fights against what she was raised to believe in order to find her own happiness. Amidst her family’s religious history, Sabrina finds herself surrounded by secrets that change the course of her life and the future of her family. The Sloan Saga is a three book bundle of Church Chick, Blair X, and Twisted. Three friends. One love triangle. The most dramatic love story you will ever read.
A young Native American woman remembers her volatile childhood as she searches for her lost brother in the Canadian wilds in an extraordinary, critically acclaimed debut novel As she races along Canada’s Douglas Channel in her speedboat—heading toward the place where her younger brother Jimmy, presumed drowned, was last seen—twenty-year-old Lisamarie Hill recalls her younger days. A volatile and precocious Native girl growing up in Kitamaat, the Haisla Indian reservation located five hundred miles north of Vancouver, Lisa came of age standing with her feet firmly planted in two different worlds: the spiritual realm of the Haisla and the sobering “real” world with its dangerous temptations of violence, drugs, and despair. From her beloved grandmother, Ma-ma-oo, she learned of tradition and magic; from her adored, Elvis-loving uncle Mick, a Native rights activist on a perilous course, she learned to see clearly, to speak her mind, and never to bow down. But the tragedies that have scarred her life and ultimately led her to these frigid waters cannot destroy her indomitable spirit, even though the ghosts that speak to her in the night warn her that the worst may be yet to come. Easily one of the most admired debut novels to appear in many a decade, Eden Robinson’s Monkey Beach was immediately greeted with universal acclaim—called “gripping” by the San Diego Union-Tribune, “wonderful” by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and “glorious” by the Globe and Mail, earning nominations for numerous literary awards before receiving the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. Evocative, moving, haunting, and devastatingly funny, it is an extraordinary read from a brilliant literary voice that must be heard.
Living with his idol, a young man is consumed with jealousy and contemplates murder Jamey Vaughn is in his office, but Ethel Spock has been his secretary long enough to know that the great writer is not writing. She finds him as he always is, nearly naked on the couch, staring at the ceiling and reflecting on the fading glory of his long career. A young man is here to see him, an admirer named Louis Daignot, come from New York for the chance to meet Vaughn. Daignot makes Ethel uneasy, but Vaughn invites him in. He couldn’t know he’s welcoming the devil into his home. Daignot has an uncanny understanding of Jamey’s work, and his praise mesmerizes the older man. Ethel does what she can to protect her boss, but as the men’s relationship becomes twisted, Daignot usurps his mentor’s position. When the two writers commune, the first step is plagiarism. The next is murder.
