Showing results by author "Leah" in All Categories

Twelve stories: A young girl, desperate for a way out of her small town, finds support in an unlikely place. A ranger working along the Blue Ridge Parkway realizes that the dark side of the job, the all-too-frequent discovery of dead bodies, has taken its toll on her. Haunted by his past, and his future, a tech sergeant reluctantly spends a night with his estranged parents before being deployed to Afghanistan. Nearing 50 and facing new medical problems, a woman wonders if her short stint at the local chemical plant is to blame.

Mastering the Art of Saying 'No': Boundaries for People Pleasers is a transformative guide that empowers individuals to break free from the cycle of people-pleasing and embrace the liberating power of setting boundaries. If you often find yourself saying "yes" when you really mean "no," sacrificing your well-being to meet others' demands, this book is your roadmap to lasting fulfillment.

Kane Calloway swore he'd never let anyone close to him again - that way he'd never feel the pain of loss. Living a life of reckless abandonment has brought him face to face with his demons. No more running. Either he gets married or spends time in jail. Neither sentence is appealing, but if he stays out of jail, he can at least help keep two small children from going hungry. Newly widowed, Faith Masterson is struggling to keep up with chores while tending to her two daughters.

From the outside, Elena Vega’s life appears to be an easy one: the only child of two professional parents, private school, NYU. But her twenties are aimless and lacking in connection. Something has always been amiss in her life: her father, the brilliant but deeply troubled Santiago Vega. Born in rural Puerto Rico, Santiago arrived in New York as a small child. His harsh, mercurial father returned to the island, leaving Santiago to be raised by his mentally ill mother and his formidable grandmother.

Isabel Fontaine’s lavish lifestyle came to a crashing halt the night the General Chanzy sank. At 18, she had everything — fine luxuries, a prominent family, and an extravagant estate in Marseille. The one thing she didn’t have was her freedom. As the sole heir to the Fontaine fortune, her future was forged with a betrothal to a stranger from a foreign country, but when her family perishes at sea, Isabel sees this as a chance to hide her identity and change her fate.

It's 1864, and civil war is devastating the country. When a speaker at the church shows sisters Eliza and Maggie a copy of Matrimonial News and tells them of the opportunities for women as brides in the west, Eliza sees a glimmer of hope in a world of widows and spinsters. But she’s skeptical. Maggie is excited, and with their mother enthusiastic about a brighter future for her daughters, the sisters set off to the west to start a new life.

"I am always with you. I will always be here." This was the promise Ella’s mother betrayed thirty years ago when she walked into the sea, leaving her five-year-old daughter alone in the world. Ella’s been angry ever since, building up a wall to protect herself. But that all changes the day she opens a newspaper and finds those ten little words printed in a classified ad. Ella refuses to believe her mother could still be alive - that would mean she did want to live, just not with her daughter. So she throws herself into finding out exactly what happened all those years ago.

When the resurrectionists of Fissure's Whipp begin disappearing, 18-year-old Allie knows someone is after their blood - or, more accurately, the genetic mutation that allows their blood to heal wounds, save lives, and even bring back the recently deceased. She's trained her whole life to protect herself by any means necessary, from self-defense classes to extensive weapons training in knives. Now she’s gone so far as to befriend a homeless boy named Ploy who unknowingly trades a few nights a week on her couch in exchange for being a human tripwire to those hunting her.

Sarah Price has never regretted trading her MFA for a steady job so that her husband, Nathan, could write fiction. But at age 35, her world is turned upside-down by a shocking revelation: Nathan's upcoming novel, Infidelity, is based on fact. Reeling from his betrayal, Sarah is plagued by dark questions. How well does she really know her husband? More important, how well does she know herself?

September 1854, Oregon Territory Laney and her group of spinsters, dubbed the ‘Sparrows’ have arrived safely in Oregon City. They are moving forward in hopes to find a better life. They all have challenges to overcome. Putting their pasts behind them of being the eternal ‘Plain Jane’ and embracing their own worth is easier said than done. Sophia Greaves is the local beauty on the verge of womanhood. Her mother is hatching matchmaking scenes, while her heart is healing from a secret heartbreak. She turns her healing time into a mission and focuses her energies on her community. She ...

Emma Lee Abingdon lived the happy life of a debutante until the murder of her parents shattered the world she knew. With a murderer on the loose, staying in her house wouldn't be safe, and the sheriff recommended that she hide out until the perpetrator is caught.

Cord McGraw never intended to take up the life of an outlaw, but desperation changed the course of his life. A one-time deal; that's all it was meant to be. He only needed enough to see him through until he got the pay owed him. Someone was counting on him, and he couldn't let her down.

In these hilarious and thought-provoking stories from today’s top middle grade authors, fourteen young people are each coping with a recently discovered minor superpower. One can shape-shift—but only part of her body, and only on Mondays. Another can always tell when an avocado is perfectly ripe. One can even hear the thoughts of animals in the pet store—which can be about as heart-tugging as you might imagine.

When her daughter is eight, Leah McLaren’s mother abruptly fled her life as rural house wife in search a glamorous career in the city. In the chaotic years that follow, Cecily lurches from one apartment, job and toxic romance to the next. In a home without rules or emotional boundaries, Leah and Cecily become confidants—a state of enmeshment that suits them both. Their bond is loving but also marked by casual indifference. Cecily’s self-described parenting style of “benign neglect” is a hilarious party joke, but for her daughter it’s reality.

Newly famous actor Charlie Outlaw said too much in an interview, and now his fans have turned on him, and his girlfriend, actress Josie Lamar, has left him. He's fled to a remote island in search of anonymity, but his solitary hike into the jungle takes him into danger he never anticipated. As Charlie struggles with gaining fame, Josie struggles with its loss. The star of a cult TV show in her early 20s, Josie has spent the 20 years since searching for a role to equal that one, and feeling less and less like her character, the heroic Bronwyn Kyle.

In the enchanting world of hospitality, Drake, Adam, Talia, and Jason are some of the most influential in their profession. Success and luxury come with a price when deception is used as a stepping stone. How well does one really know their coworkers? Invited to attend a Friday meeting in the executive suite, the lights go out and the doors bolt shut. Trapped with no way to escape, the team has to encounter cryptic clues about their past indiscretions and darkest secrets. They either confess to their colleagues or pay the ultimate price.

Book 6 of the Wildflowers series - The continued stories of the women and men of the Willamette Valley. Violet Griffen has overcome so much over the last years and she is finally happy in her new life. She does not want change, but she knows that change will come as the relationship with Reynaldo Legales, the ranch foremen next door, grows. Will she be able to move forward or stay where she is safe and happy. Galina Varushkin deals with growing pains as she comes of age. The complicated relationships she has with her family only makes her second guess herself and her decisions moving ...

Arianna Huffington is one of the world's most prominent business leaders in media. As cofounder and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post, she built the first internet newspaper, which eclipsed the traffic of the New York Times and won the Pulitzer Prize. This concise but richly detailed biography provides an overview of Huffington's life and career, chronicling her journey from Athens to London, New York, Washington and California, across seven decades.

When Samantha Cross goes to her brother's employers to ask for help, she had no idea that it would change her life forever. To repay their debt, they both have to live and work at the Dakota Ranch for one year. Samantha has no option but to accept.

Her brother's employers, Shayne and Jackson Montgomery, are not what she expected. Jackson, the younger brother is too handsome and charming to resist, especially when he sets his sights on her.

Based on a true story, Prisoner 88 is the story of ten-year-old Jake, sent to the Old Idaho Penitentiary in 1885 to serve a five-year sentence for manslaughter. Issues of racism, justice, literacy, and frontier life inform James s story, with a compelling first-person voice that instantly transports the reader to the 19th-century American West.