V: Victim. Violence. Vengeance. A woman with a murky past who kills herself-or was it murder? A dying old man cared for by the son he pummeled mercilessly. A lovely woman whose life is about to splinter into a thousand fragments. A professional shoplifting ring racking up millions in stolen...  more

V: Victim. Violence. Vengeance. A woman with a murky past who kills herself-or was it murder? A dying old man cared for by the son he pummeled mercilessly. A lovely woman whose life is about to splinter into a thousand fragments. A professional shoplifting ring racking up millions in stolen goods. A brutal and unscrupulous gangster. A wandering husband, rich and powerful. A spoiled kid awash in gambling debt thinking he can beat the system. A lonely widower mourning the death of his lover, desperate for answers that may be worse than the pain of his loss. An elegant but ruthless businessman whose dealings are definitely outside the law: the spider at the center of the web. And Kinsey Millhone, whose thirty-eighth-birthday gift is a punch in the face that leaves her with two black eyes and a busted nose.

Enidina Current and Mary Morrow live on neighboring farms in the flat, hard country of the upper Midwest during the early 1900s. This hardscrabble life comes easily to some, like Eddie, who has never wanted more than the land she works and the animals she raises on it with her husband, Frank....  more

Enidina Current and Mary Morrow live on neighboring farms in the flat, hard country of the upper Midwest during the early 1900s. This hardscrabble life comes easily to some, like Eddie, who has never wanted more than the land she works and the animals she raises on it with her husband, Frank. But for the deeply religious Mary, farming is an awkward living and at odds with her more cosmopolitan inclinations. Still, Mary creates a clean and orderly home life for her stormy husband, Jack, and her sons, while she adapts to the isolation of a rural town through the inspiration of a local preacher. She is the first to befriend Eddie in a relationship that will prove as rugged as the ground they walk on.  Despite having little in common, Eddie and Mary need one another for survival and companionship. But as the Great Depression threatens, the delicate balance of their reliance on one another tips, pitting neighbor against neighbor, exposing the dark secrets they hide from one another, and triggering a series of disquieting events that threaten to unravel not only their friendship but their families as well.   In this luminous and unforgettable debut, Michelle Hoover explores the polarization of the human soul in times of hardship and the instinctual drive for self-preservation by whatever means necessary. The Quickening stands as a novel of lyrical precision and historical consequence, reflecting the resilience and sacrifices required even now in our modern troubled times.

Can an Amish midwife earn her community's trust and bring the joy of new babies to Pleasant Valley? Amish midwife Sarah Mast moves to Pleasant Valley for a fresh start. But her aging aunt can no longer run the birthing center, leaving most of the responsibility to Sarah. Among those...  more

Can an Amish midwife earn her community's trust and bring the joy of new babies to Pleasant Valley? Amish midwife Sarah Mast moves to Pleasant Valley for a fresh start. But her aging aunt can no longer run the birthing center, leaving most of the responsibility to Sarah. Among those skeptical of Sarah's ability is neighbor Aaron Miller, who seems drawn to Sarah but pulls away when his own sister requests her services. And when a criminal complaint is filed against Sarah, she must pray for strength to defend her practice and win acceptance from the community she loves.

In the summer of 1838, Molly McGarvie's life twists down an unpredicted path -- she's alone on the wild frontier without her husband, Samuel. As she journeys from St. Lawrenceville, Missouri, to rebuild her life, she must provide for her family, keep them together, and push away unrelenting...  more

In the summer of 1838, Molly McGarvie's life twists down an unpredicted path -- she's alone on the wild frontier without her husband, Samuel. As she journeys from St. Lawrenceville, Missouri, to rebuild her life, she must provide for her family, keep them together, and push away unrelenting suitors -- but will the land prove too dangerous? Book one in the At Home in Beldon Grove series, THE EDGE OF LIGHT will captivate you with the true-to-life emotions of one woman's struggle to survive.

When wealthy plantation owner Cornelius Allen marries off his daughter Clarissa, he presents her with a wedding gift: a young slave woman called Sarah. It just so happens that Sarah is Allen's daughter as well, the product of a long-term sexual relationship with his slave Emmeline. When...  more

When wealthy plantation owner Cornelius Allen marries off his daughter Clarissa, he presents her with a wedding gift: a young slave woman called Sarah. It just so happens that Sarah is Allen's daughter as well, the product of a long-term sexual relationship with his slave Emmeline. When Clarissa's husband rejects her newborn son as illegitimate and sends Clarissa and Sarah back to the Allens, their return sets in motion a series of events that will destroy the once-powerful family. Told through the alternating view points of Sarah and Theodora Allen, Cornelius's wife, The Wedding Gift shines a glaring light on the brutal world of slavery in the antebellum American South. Marlen Suyapa Bodden's compelling historical novel explores how planters controlled slaves and free women alike, propelling them along a taut social tightrope as they struggled for freedom and autonomy in an oppressive and patriarchal world. The controversial and shocking ending is sure to leave readers aghast.

Lovely but tough as nails, Lael Click is the daughter of a celebrated frontiersman. Haunted by her father's former captivity with the Shawnee Indians, as well as the secret sins of her family's past, Lael comes of age in the fragile Kentucky settlement her father founded. Though she...  more

Lovely but tough as nails, Lael Click is the daughter of a celebrated frontiersman. Haunted by her father's former captivity with the Shawnee Indians, as well as the secret sins of her family's past, Lael comes of age in the fragile Kentucky settlement her father founded. Though she faces the loss of a childhood love, a dangerous family feud, and the affection of a Shawnee warrior, Lael draws strength from the rugged land she calls home, and from Ma Horn, a distant relative who shows her the healing ways of herbs and roots found in the hills. But the arrival of an outlander doctor threatens her view of the world, God, and herself -- and the power of grace and redemption.  

A shocking murder shatters the picturesque calm of Pennsylvania's Amish country -- and tests the heart and soul of the lawyer who steps in to defend the young woman at the center of the storm.... Plain Truth The discovery of a dead infant in an Amish barn shakes Lancaster County to its core....  more

A shocking murder shatters the picturesque calm of Pennsylvania's Amish country -- and tests the heart and soul of the lawyer who steps in to defend the young woman at the center of the storm.... Plain Truth The discovery of a dead infant in an Amish barn shakes Lancaster County to its core. But the police investigation leads to a more shocking disclosure: circumstantial evidence suggests that eighteen-year-old Katie Fisher, an unmarried Amish woman believed to be the newborn's mother, took the child's life. When Ellie Hathaway, a disillusioned big-city attorney, comes to Paradise, Pennsylvania, to defend Katie, two cultures collide -- and, for the first time in her high-profile career, Ellie faces a system of justice very different from her own. Delving deep inside the world of those who live "plain," Ellie must find a way to reach Katie on her terms. And as she unravels a tangled murder case, Ellie also looks deep within -- to confront her own fears and desires when a man from her past reenters her life. Moving seamlessly from psychological drama to courtroom suspense, Plain Truth is a fascinating portrait of Amish life -- and a moving exploration of the bonds of love, friendship, and the heart's most complex choices.

In 1863, the War Between the States creeps slowly yet inevitably toward its bloody conclusion - and eastern thoughts are already turning to different wars and enemies. Searching for a life and future, former Kentucky slave Britt Johnson is venturing west into unknown territory with his wife,...  more

In 1863, the War Between the States creeps slowly yet inevitably toward its bloody conclusion - and eastern thoughts are already turning to different wars and enemies. Searching for a life and future, former Kentucky slave Britt Johnson is venturing west into unknown territory with his wife, Mary, and their three children -- wary but undeterred by sobering tales of atrocities inflicted upon those who trespass against the Comanche and the Kiowa. Settling on the Texas plains, the Johnson family hopes to build on the dreams that carried them from the Confederate South to this new land of possibility -- dreams that are abruptly shattered by a brutal Indian raid upon the settlement while Britt is away establishing a business. Returning to face the unthinkable -- his friends and neighbors slain or captured, his eldest son dead, his beloved Mary severely damaged and enslaved, and his remaining children absorbed into an alien society that will never relinquish its hold on them -- the heartsick freedman vows not to rest until his family is whole again. Samuel Hammond follows a different road west. A Quaker whose fortune is destroyed by a capricious act of an inscrutable God, he has resigned himself to the role the Deity has chosen for him. As a new agent for the Office of Indian Affairs, it is Hammond's goal to ferret out corruption and win justice for the noble natives now in his charge. But the proud, stubborn people refuse to cease their raids, free their prisoners, and accept the farming implements and lifestyle the white man would foist upon them, adding fuel to smoldering tensions that threaten to turn a man of peace, faith, and reason onto a course of terrible retribution. A soaring work of the imagination based on oral histories of the post–Civil War years in North Texas, Paulette Jiles's The Color of Lightning is at once an intimate look into the hearts and hopes of tragically flawed human beings and a courageous reexamination of a dark American history.

Ellie Craig grieves the loss of three infant children, and when long-hidden secrets are brought to light, she must find a way to contact the family of her long-lost father. Meanwhile her husband, Matthew, faces controversy in his church and competition from a new arrival in Beldon Grove, who...  more

Ellie Craig grieves the loss of three infant children, and when long-hidden secrets are brought to light, she must find a way to contact the family of her long-lost father. Meanwhile her husband, Matthew, faces controversy in his church and competition from a new arrival in Beldon Grove, who claims to be both a minister and the son of the town's founder. Will Matthew find the courage to reclaim his church? And will his unexpected travel companion help Ellie's heart mend? Book two in the AT HOME IN BELDON GROVE series, The Promise of Morning engages readers with themes of overcoming tragedy, finding strength to meet daunting challenges, and trusting your heart to love again.

Luellen O'Connell is stunned and confused when her husband of just one month tells her he is leaving--and that he has another wife. Deeply wounded by this betrayal, Luellen decides to follow the dream she had set aside of obtaining a teaching degree. But her wayward husband left something...  more

Luellen O'Connell is stunned and confused when her husband of just one month tells her he is leaving--and that he has another wife. Deeply wounded by this betrayal, Luellen decides to follow the dream she had set aside of obtaining a teaching degree. But her wayward husband left something behind when he abandoned her. Can Luellen overcome the odds and achieve her dream? Can she hide her secret, or will it destroy her dreams forever? A moving story of tenacity and perseverance in the face of opposition, The Dawn of a Dream will inspire readers to discover and follow their own dreams.

Priscilla White knows she'll never be a wife or mother and feels God's call to the mission field in India. Dr. Eli Ernest is back from Oregon Country only long enough to raise awareness of missions to the natives before heading out West once more. But then Priscilla and Eli...  more

Priscilla White knows she'll never be a wife or mother and feels God's call to the mission field in India. Dr. Eli Ernest is back from Oregon Country only long enough to raise awareness of missions to the natives before heading out West once more. But then Priscilla and Eli both  receive news from the mission board: No longer will they send unmarried men and women into the field.  Left scrambling for options, the two realize the other might be the answer to their needs. Priscilla and Eli agree to a partnership, a marriage in name only that will allow them to follow God's leading into the mission field. But as they journey west, this decision will be tested by the hardships of the trip and by the unexpected turnings of their hearts.

Moments after Lisbeth is born, she’s taken from her mother and handed over to an enslaved wet nurse, Mattie, a young mother separated from her own infant son in order to care for her tiny charge. Thus begins an intense relationship that will shape both of their lives for decades to come....  more

Moments after Lisbeth is born, she’s taken from her mother and handed over to an enslaved wet nurse, Mattie, a young mother separated from her own infant son in order to care for her tiny charge. Thus begins an intense relationship that will shape both of their lives for decades to come. Though Lisbeth leads a life of privilege, she finds nothing but loneliness in the company of her overwhelmed mother and her distant, slave-owning father. As she grows older, Mattie becomes more like family to Lisbeth than her own kin and the girl’s visits to the slaves’ quarters (and their lively and loving community) bring them closer together than ever. But can two women in such disparate circumstances form a bond like theirs without consequence?

In four days, someone is going to kill me . . . Detective D. D. Warren is hard to surprise. But a lone woman outside D.D.'s latest crime scene shocks her with a remarkable proposition: Charlene Rosalind Carter Grant believes she will be murdered in four days. And she wants Boston's...  more

In four days, someone is going to kill me . . . Detective D. D. Warren is hard to surprise. But a lone woman outside D.D.'s latest crime scene shocks her with a remarkable proposition: Charlene Rosalind Carter Grant believes she will be murdered in four days. And she wants Boston's top detective to handle the death investigation. It will be up close and personal. No evidence of forced entry, no sign of struggle. Charlie tells a chilling story: Each year at 8:00 p.m. on January 21st, a woman has died. The victims have been childhood best friends from a small town in New Hampshire; the motive remains unknown. Now only one friend, Charlie, remains to count down her final hours.

Amish-raised Ada Rupp knows it?s time to make a commitment to the faith and join the church, especially if she wants a future with the handsome Amish widower Will Gundy.  But when she has the chance to travel to Switzerland as the caregiver of a young child, she leaps at the...  more

Amish-raised Ada Rupp knows it?s time to make a commitment to the faith and join the church, especially if she wants a future with the handsome Amish widower Will Gundy.  But when she has the chance to travel to Switzerland as the caregiver of a young child, she leaps at the opportunity. Anxious to learn more about her forebears, Ada enlists the help of a young Mennonite scholar named Daniel, but even as she develops feelings for him, she cannot get Will from her mind?or her heart. At a crossroads, Ada must decide what she is willing to give up from the past in order to embrace her future.

This wasn?t the adventure she?d signed up for? A sexy boss, a rough crossing, and pirates?all Brylie Winston wanted was a job to help her earn money to buy her own restaurant. She hopes to earn it by working as a chef on a cruise to Antarctica. But she?s slept with her boss, which throws her...  more

This wasn?t the adventure she?d signed up for? A sexy boss, a rough crossing, and pirates?all Brylie Winston wanted was a job to help her earn money to buy her own restaurant. She hopes to earn it by working as a chef on a cruise to Antarctica. But she?s slept with her boss, which throws her off-balance even more than the rough seas and warnings of pirates in the area. And he?s determined to have a repeat performance? Bad boy former snowboarder Marcus Devlin is running from his reputation, sent to learn the family business after decking a senator?s son and making the papers. So maybe he indulged in a last-minute fling before boarding his family?s cruise ship to Antarctica. Perhaps Fate is showing him that wasn?t so bad?the gorgeous redhead who snuck out of his bed is on the cruise. She?ll be a lovely distraction during his exile. But when modern-day pirates take over the ship, his instinct is to protect her and the other passengers. But what does a spoiled rich boy know about saving people?s lives?

Pennsylvania coal country, 1955. A community struggling with economic collapse, religious differences, and an encroaching underground mine fire. A mysterious entry in a dead man's diary. A father with a troubled past. A daughter's innocent curiosity. A house filled with secrets. ...  more

Pennsylvania coal country, 1955. A community struggling with economic collapse, religious differences, and an encroaching underground mine fire. A mysterious entry in a dead man's diary. A father with a troubled past. A daughter's innocent curiosity. A house filled with secrets. A debut coming-of-age story by author Patricia Hester now available. From Publishers Weekly: "Growing up in Pennsylvania coal country in the 1950's, in the mountainside town of Giant's Despair, young Molly Branigan discovers a hidden diary and begins to pursue the secret scandals of previous generations of her family in this cleverly constructed coming-of-age story set in a mining town suffering from both economic collapse and the fumes of a long-burning underground coal fire that's poisoning trees, water and people. The squabbles of family life under the stress of job loss, alcohol, religious differences and sudden death are sensitively and convincingly portrayed, as are the strong bonds that link Molly to her hard-drinking, former rail-riding father; her country-bred mother; and the diverse assortment of friends and relatives whose reluctantly-told stories aid Molly in piecing together the series of tragedies in the lives of her great-grandparents and their children. Foreshadowing both the environmental issues and the economic struggles of today, this debut unwinds slowly and effectively to a pervasively sad yet ultimately uplifting conclusion. An excellent story. . ."

Chloe Peterson is having a bad night.  A really bad night.  The large bruise on her cheek can attest to that.  And when her car skids off the side of a wet country road straight into a ditch, she's convinced even the gorgeous guy who rescues her in the middle of the rain storm...  more

Chloe Peterson is having a bad night.  A really bad night.  The large bruise on her cheek can attest to that.  And when her car skids off the side of a wet country road straight into a ditch, she's convinced even the gorgeous guy who rescues her in the middle of the rain storm must be too good to be true.  Or is he? As a successful photographer who frequently travels around the world, Chase Sullivan has his pick of beautiful women, and whenever he's home in San Francisco, one of his seven siblings is usually up for causing a little fun trouble.  Chase thinks his life is great just as it is -- until the night he finds Chloe and her totaled car on the side of the road in Napa Valley.  Not only has he never met anyone so lovely, both inside and out, but he quickly realizes she has much bigger problems than her damaged car.  Soon, he is willing to move mountains to love -- and protect -- her, but will she let him? Chloe vows never to make the mistake of trusting a man again.  Only, with every loving look Chase gives her -- and every sinfully sweet caress -- as the attraction between them sparks and sizzles, she can't help but wonder if she's met the only exception.  And although Chase didn't realize his life was going to change forever in an instant, amazingly, he isn't the least bit interested in fighting that change.  Instead, he's gearing up for a different fight altogether... for Chloe's heart.