Bonjour, my name is André Chevalier. It has been my joy and my great honor to help those who have lost their way.
Not long after I began my journey, I met two such wounded souls. Renata Koreman, my little mouse. She came to me as a child—shy, mute, injured… broken. It took oh-so many years to start to bring her back to herself! Yet, I could not fully heal her.
Years later, Grant Wilkinson, he too fell into my hands. The ex-Army Ranger was badly disfigured and saw himself as a monster. Isolated by secrets, solitary and self-contained, his colleagues affectionately named him ‘Frosty.’ Yet, how should one behave when besieged by a lifetime of confusion and guilt?
The moment I saw him, I thought of her and I wondered. The eyes, they cannot always see clearly. And the heart? Ah, the heart can only guess at the truth. So it was that I remained uncertain.
Could the mouse and the monster heal each other?
Pay It Forward is a wondrous and moving novel about Trevor McKinney, a twelve-year-old boy in a small California town who accepts a challenge from his teacher. This challenge offers a chance to earn extra credit by coming up with a plan to change the world for the better—and to put that plan into action.
The idea that Trevor comes up with is so simple and so naive that when others learn of it, they are dismissive. Even Trevor himself begins to doubt when his "pay it forward" plan seems to founder on a combination of bad luck and the worst of human nature.
In the end, Pay It Forward is the story of seemingly ordinary people made extraordinary by the simple faith of a child. It is a story of hope for today and for many tomorrows to come.
Tessa has everything to lose. Hardin has nothing to lose… except her.
After a tumultuous beginning to their relationship, Tessa and Hardin were on the path to making things work. Tessa knew Hardin could be cruel, but when a bombshell revelation is dropped about the origins of their relationship—and Hardin’s mysterious past—Tessa is beside herself.
Hardin will always be… Hardin. But is he really the deep, thoughtful guy Tessa fell madly in love with despite his angry exterior—or has he been a stranger all along? She wishes she could walk away. It’s just not that easy. Not with the memory of passionate nights spent in his arms. His electric touch. His hungry kisses.
Still, Tessa’s not sure she can endure one more broken promise. She put so much on hold for Hardin—school, friends, her mom, a relationship with a guy who really loved her, and now possibly even a promising new career. She needs to move forward with her life.
Hardin knows he made a mistake, possibly the biggest one of his life. He’s not going down without a fight. But can he change? Will he change for love?
Lost. That one single word best describes my life at this very moment. I lost the last games of the season and both my team and my coach blame me. I lost the last two months because I drowned in my own despair like a complete loser. And I lost the only girl who ever mattered because I was afraid being with me would destroy her.
But now I realize how truly lost I am without her. She has become my story…and even though she acts like she’s moved on, I know she still thinks about me just as much as I think about her. She’s beautiful, sweet—and so damn vulnerable, all I want to do is help her. Be there for her. Love her…
If only I could convince Fable to give me a second chance. Then I wouldn’t feel so lost anymore, and neither would she. We could be found together. Forever.
A Christmas Memory is a heartwarming short story by Truman Capote, first published in 1956. This autobiographical recollection of Capote's rural Alabama boyhood has become a modern-day classic.
Seven-year-old Buddy knows that the Christmas season has arrived when his cousin, Miss Sook Falk, exclaims: "It's fruitcake weather!" Thus begins an unforgettable portrait of an odd but enduring friendship between two innocent souls—one young and one old—and the memories they share of beloved holiday rituals.
This reminiscence of a Christmas shared by a seven-year-old boy and a sixtyish childlike woman is filled with enormous love and friendship, capturing the essence of holiday spirit and nostalgia.
When I was little, I believed in Jesus and Santa, spontaneous combustion, and the Loch Ness monster. Now I believe in science, statistics, and antibiotics.
So says seventeen-year-old Zac Meier during a long, grueling leukemia treatment in Perth, Australia. A loud blast of Lady Gaga alerts him to the presence of Mia, the angry, not-at-all-stoic cancer patient in the room next door. Once released, the two near-strangers can’t forget each other, even as they desperately try to resume normal lives.
The story of their mysterious connection drives this unflinchingly tough, tender novel told in two voices.
When Queenie Hennessy discovers that Harold Fry is walking the length of England to save her, she is shocked. Her note had explained she was dying. How can she wait? A new volunteer at the hospice suggests that Queenie should write again; only this time, she must tell Harold everything.
In confessing to secrets she has hidden for twenty years, she will find atonement for the past. As the volunteer points out, 'Even though you've done your travelling, you're starting a new journey too.' Queenie thought her first letter would be the end of the story. She was wrong. It was just the beginning.
We have all heard it before. From a mother, father, friend, or maybe a complete stranger. "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." But what if it wasn’t? Parker Bale finds himself in this exact predicament.
A gentleman with a very unique past, Parker completed college and is on the hunt for a job. Almost immediately, he is offered the career of a lifetime. His new assignment? Find a woman to love. His boss? Kenton Ward - a self-made millionaire with a strange desire to witness a love he never had an opportunity to experience.
One small catch... Parker must sign a contract with Kenton, binding him to conditions of the search for a woman. Eagerly, he signs the document without reading the legal language.
Victoria Fisker doesn’t trust people, has no faith in the male species, and lives a quiet life keeping to herself and caring for her narcotic-addicted mother. Can they look beyond their sordid pasts? Can Parker fall in love under the scrutiny of an employment contract? Can Victoria learn to trust?
The love depicted in Finding Parker is not simply read, it is experienced. After reading this novel, you will without a doubt view love differently…and question the life you have been living.
“I wanted to resist, allowing the night to go on forever. As we walked along the beach, I pressed my feet into the sand firmly, leaving an impression deep enough to last a lifetime. And I did not look back...”
If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you’re going to fall in love with My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by twelve bestselling young adult writers, edited by international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins.
Whether you enjoy celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or New Year's, there's something here for everyone. So curl up by the fireplace and get cozy. You have twelve reasons this season to stay indoors and fall in love.
Forced to represent an outlaw biker, a married attorney must come to terms with her feelings for her client while avoiding the danger he brings into her sedate life.
President of the Lost Kings MC, Rochlan "Rock" North, hasn't managed to find a woman capable of making him want to curb his wild ways—until he meets sweet, innocent, married lawyer Hope Kendall. Forced to represent the outlaw biker, Hope is rattled by her immediate attraction to Rock. Hope is a good girl in a good marriage. Rock thrills her, but she's not going to throw away everything she's built on a fling with her criminal client.
Rock respects Hope enough to leave her alone, even as he realizes he's become a little obsessed with her. When their connection endangers her life, he'll have to destroy her in order to save her. After tragedy strikes, Rock is determined to earn Hope's forgiveness and convince her that even with their staggering differences, they're meant to be together.
Book 1 of the Liliana series
Boom! That deafening sound changed Liliana's life forever. Her mother sits dead beside her, shot to death on the streets of Chicago.
Within weeks, Liliana is sent to live with a father she doesn’t know in Colombia - a foreign land filled with challenges for Liliana. While working to pay off her father’s debt, she meets the love of her life, who frees her from her father's illusory home, only to bring her into a new world of twisted surprises, dangers, and deceit.
Danny Goldstein has always lived in the shadow of his identical, twin brother Sam. But when a hurricane of events forces him into the spotlight, he starts to realize that the only thing he’s truly afraid of is himself.
With the help of his costume changing friend Cher, a famous gay uncle with a mysterious past of his own, two aging punk rocker parents, and Rusty, the boy who will become his something to live for, Danny begins to realize that the music of the heart is truly the soundtrack for living.
Life loves a good curveball…
Seventeen-year-old Annie Lucas's life is completely upended the moment her dad returns to the major leagues as the new pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals. Now she's living in Missouri (too cold), attending an all-girls school (no boys), and navigating the strange world of professional sports.
But Annie has dreams of her own—most of which involve placing first at every track meet… and one starring the Royals' super-hot rookie pitcher.
But nineteen-year-old Jason Brody is completely, utterly, and totally off-limits. Besides, her dad would kill them both several times over. Not to mention Brody has something of a past, and his fan club is filled with C-cupped models, not smart-mouthed high school “brats” who can run the pants off every player on the team.
Annie has enough on her plate without taking their friendship to the next level. The last thing she should be doing is falling in love.
But baseball isn't just a game. It's life. And sometimes, it can break your heart…
Deacon has an ugly history, a history that broke him, leaving him a ghost of a man. Out of necessity, he left the normal world to descend into the criminal world and found he fit. So he stayed. Cold as ice and living off the grid, Deacon has no intention to connect, not with anyone.
Then he returns to some remote cabins in the Colorado Mountains and finds they have new owners. One of them is Cassidy Swallow, a young woman willing to work hard to live her quiet dream in a house by a river surrounded by aspen and pine. Suddenly, Deacon finds he’s at war. Cassidy’s pull for him to connect is strong. He fights it, but he loses, always coming back for more. But when he does, he gives her nothing.
From the first time she sees him, Cassidy knows Deacon is dead inside. She knows he’s the kind of man who could destroy a woman. But one night when Deacon’s control slips, Cassidy takes a chance. He might break her. He also might be her dream come true.
Two souls meet at a dark railroad crossing... There's no hint this night will be the beginning - and end - of everything.
Lily doesn't exist any more - old Lily, anyway. That night made her different, rewrote her life, tore up everything she thought she knew and understood.
How do you go back to normal after you've met someone who has turned your life upside down? When you fear the passionate connection but don't want to live for anything else? When those few moments were the most intense and intimate of your life and it was the barest taste of what you could have together?
How do you find the strength to not run away from something that has the power to shatter your heart?
Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable (including spanking and bondage). Content intended for adults only.
This book lays the foundation for the story that unfolds in the remaining four books. It has sweet interludes, moments of intense seduction, and some suspense and intrigue. It is meant to introduce you to the world and characters, with the tale picking up in subsequent installments.
Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn’t kept her from leading a quietly happy life...until now.
Suddenly Willow’s world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a baffling world. The triumph of this book is that it is not a tragedy. This extraordinarily odd, but extraordinarily endearing, girl manages to push through her grief. Her journey to find a fascinatingly diverse and fully believable surrogate family is a joy and a revelation to read.
To Whom it May Concern,
It was easy to call us forbidden and harder to call us soulmates. Yet I believed we were both. Forbidden soulmates.
When I arrived in Edgewood, Wisconsin, I didn’t plan to find him. I didn't plan to stumble into Joe's bar and have Daniel's music stir up my emotions. I had no clue that his voice would make my hurts forget their own sorrow. I had no idea that my happiness would remember its own bliss.
When I started senior year at my new school, I wasn’t prepared to call him Mr. Daniels, but sometimes life happens at the wrong time for all the right reasons.
Our love story wasn’t only about the physical connection. It was about family. It was about loss. It was about being alive. It was silly. It was painful. It was mourning. It was laughter. It was ours.
And for those reasons alone, I would never apologize for Loving Mr. Daniels.
-Ashlyn Jennings
Lullabies is a sequel to the hugely popular, best-selling Love & Misadventure. This collection continues to explore the intricacies of love and loss, set to a musical theme.
Love's poetic journey in this new, original collection begins with a Duet and travels through Interlude and Finale with an Encore popular piece from the best-selling Love & Misadventure.
Lang Leav's evocative poetry speaks to the soul of anyone who is on this journey. Her talent for translating complex emotions with astonishing simplicity has won her a cult following of devoted fans from all over the world.
Lang Leav is a poet and internationally exhibiting artist.
Detective Paul Daniels has spent four and a half years mourning the loss of his wife. He’s been doing his best to raise their daughter, Chloe, with the help of his in-laws. When they inform him right before Thanksgiving that they’re going to be moving over two hours away, Paul finds himself without anyone to watch Chloe while he’s at work.
Little did he know that meeting his baby brother’s girlfriend and her sister, Megan, would change everything. Megan Carson took a few wrong turns in her life, but she was doing her best to get back on track. When Paul mentioned his need for someone to watch his daughter, she quickly volunteered to be his live-in nanny. It didn’t take long for Chloe to work her way into Megan’s heart, and not much longer for her to realize that she was falling in love with Chloe’s dad.
Megan’s life hasn’t been all roses. In fact, it’s been downright ugly at times. But she’s determined to set things right and build herself a future. Will she be able to convince Paul to give a relationship between them a chance, or will their age difference put a halt to their future before it begins?
Three weeks. Two sisters. One car. A True Story.
Raina can’t wait to be a big sister. But once Amara is born, things aren’t quite how she expected them to be. Amara is cute, but she’s also a cranky, grouchy baby, and mostly prefers to play by herself.
Their relationship doesn’t improve much over the years, but when a baby brother enters the picture and later, when something doesn’t seem right between their parents, they realize they must figure out how to get along. They are sisters, after all.
Raina uses her signature humor and charm in both present-day narrative and perfectly placed flashbacks to tell the story of her relationship with her sister, which unfolds during the course of a road trip from their home in San Francisco to a family reunion in Colorado.
You have to teach your heart and mind how to sing together... then you'll hear the sound of your soul.
Mia Kelly thinks she has it all figured out. She's an Ivy League graduate, a classically trained pianist, and the beloved daughter of a sensible mother and offbeat father. Yet, Mia has been stalling since graduation, torn between putting her business degree to use and exploring music, her true love.
When her father unexpectedly dies, she decides to pick up the threads of his life while she figures out her own. Uprooting herself from Ann Arbor to New York City, Mia takes over her father's cafe, a treasured neighborhood institution that plays host to undiscovered musicians and artists.
She's denied herself the thrilling and unpredictable life of a musician, but a chance encounter with Will, a sweet, gorgeous, and charming guitarist, offers her a glimpse of what could be. When Will becomes her friend and then her roommate, she does everything in her power to suppress her passions—for him, for music—but her father's legacy slowly opens her heart to the possibility of something more.
Sweet Thing explores the intensity and complexities of first love and self-discovery.
Nikolai Leokov never thought he'd fall in love with the only girl he's ever befriended. Valentina Tomic has issues with commitment after the ultimate betrayal. When Tina decides to make broody Nik's day better, she never thought she would end up friends with the hard man.
Nik has never had a woman be so affectionate to him without expecting something in return. Nik and Tina cordially invite you to read Friend-zoned. A story of friendship, humour and love.
Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon—the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him the bitter neighbor from hell, but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn't walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?
Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove's mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents' association to their very foundations.
Lucy - There is a love so fierce it cannot be measured.
A heart so strong it will never slow.
There is a promise so sure it can never lie.
He promised me that love forever. Even when it wasn't enough.
Cameron - Forever. Everlasting. Eternal.
There is no measure of time. No sounds of the ticking of a clock.
Just the rising and falling of the sun.
And our own sense of forever.
But our forever isn't always.
How do you keep going when you feel like your life is over?
Maggie never thought she’d see Clay again. So, she attempts to put her life back together after her heart has been shattered to pieces. Moving on and moving forward, just as Clay wanted her to.
Clay never stopped thinking of Maggie. Even after ripping their lives apart and leaving her behind to get the help he so desperately needed. He is healing... slowly. But his heart still belongs to the girl who tried to save him.
When a sudden tragedy brings Maggie and Clay face to face again, nothing is the same. Yet some things never change. Can the darkness that threatened to consume them be transformed into something else and finally give them what they always wanted? And can two people who fought so hard to be together, finally find their happiness? Or will their demons and fear drive them apart for good?
The thing about love is that even when it destroys you, it has a way of mending what is broken. And in the shadows, you can still see the light.
If I Stay Collection recounts the poignant story of Mia, a gifted cellist, who is faced with an unimaginable choice after a tragic accident claims the lives of her family. This collection delves into survivor's guilt, personal growth, and the power of love and music to heal.
Join Mia on her journey as she navigates the complexities of life, love, and loss. Will she choose to stay, or let go? This is a tale of resilience and hope that will resonate with anyone who has ever faced a crossroads in their life.
When it comes to love, there’s no such thing as conventional.
Everyone thinks Colton Neely is special. Lilly Evans just thinks he’s fascinating. Once friends when they were younger, their bond is cut short due to her accident-prone nature, and they go their separate ways. Years later, they meet again, and Lilly learns that there is something special about the boy she once knew, but she has no idea what it all means. And she’s not sure if she’s ready to find out.
When he walks through the corridor of her school the first day of her senior year, she knows that it’s time to get to know the real Colton Neely. The more she learns, the deeper she falls. Their friendship grows into love, even as Colton does not express it in words. But one decision threatens to break down the world that Lilly has tried so hard to integrate into, and she must figure out if the relationship can survive if they are apart.
Set amid the austere beauty of the North Carolina coast, The Notebook begins with the story of Noah Calhoun, a rural Southerner recently returned from the Second World War. Noah is restoring a plantation home to its former glory, and he is haunted by images of the beautiful girl he met fourteen years earlier, a girl he loved like no other. Unable to find her, yet unwilling to forget the summer they spent together, Noah is content to live with only memories...until she unexpectedly returns to his town to see him once again.
Like a puzzle within a puzzle, the story of Noah and Allie is just the beginning. As it unfolds, their tale miraculously becomes something different, with much higher stakes. The result is a deeply moving portrait of love itself, the tender moments and the fundamental changes that affect us all. It is a story of miracles and emotions that will stay with you forever.
He was my boss, my brother’s friend, a widower, an ex-felon, and a man I’d seen casually with a handful of women. But he was everything that gripped me, both the good and the bad. Worst case scenario if things turned awkward between us, I could go somewhere else. I’d gotten over epic heartbreak before, one more wouldn’t kill me.
After moving to Austin following six months of unemployment back home, Iris Taylor knows she should be glad to have landed a job so quickly... even if the business is owned by a member of the same motorcycle club her estranged father used to belong to. Except Dex Locke might just be the biggest jerk she’s ever met. He’s rude, impatient and doesn’t know how to tell time. And the last thing they ever expected was each other.
But it was either the strip club or the tattoo shop. … she should have chosen the strip club.
Hendrik Groen mag dan oud zijn, hij is nog lang niet dood en niet van plan zich eronder te laten krijgen. Toegegeven: zijn dagelijkse wandelingen worden steeds korter omdat de benen niet meer willen en hij moet regelmatig naar de huisarts. Technisch gesproken is hij bejaard. Maar waarom zou het leven dan alleen nog maar moeten bestaan uit koffiedrinken achter de geraniums en wachten op het einde?
In korte, ogenschijnlijk luchtige, maar vooral openhartige dagboekfragmenten laat Hendrik Groen je een jaar lang meeleven met alle ups en downs van het leven in een verzorgingshuis in Amsterdam-Noord. Op de laatste dag van het jaar zal het nog moeilijk zijn om afscheid te nemen van dit charmante personage...
Six years ago, Dewayne Falco's life took a tragic turn. He lost someone he never expected to lose and, burdened with guilt, he distanced himself from others. But when the girl across the street, Sienna Roy, returns, Dewayne is reminded of all they both lost: his younger brother, Dustin.
As Dewayne encounters a miniature version of Dustin at the door, he realizes that not everything was lost. Sienna, who once loved Dustin—the boy next door, the high school basketball star, and her best friend—is back in Sea Breeze. She's grateful to have a home for her and Dustin's son but struggles to forgive the Falcos for abandoning her when she needed them the most.
Betrayal, lies, and forbidden attraction threaten to end Dewayne and Sienna's story before it even begins. Can they find the strength to overcome their pasts and embrace a future together?
John Green's The Fault in Our Stars meets Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park in this beautifully written, incredibly honest, and emotionally poignant novel. Cammie McGovern's insightful young adult debut is a heartfelt and heartbreaking story about how we can all feel lost until we find someone who loves us because of our faults, not in spite of them.
Born with cerebral palsy, Amy can't walk without a walker, talk without a voice box, or even fully control her facial expressions. Plagued by obsessive-compulsive disorder, Matthew is consumed with repeated thoughts, neurotic rituals, and crippling fear. Both in desperate need of someone to help them reach out to the world, Amy and Matthew are more alike than either ever realized.
When Amy decides to hire student aides to help her in her senior year at Coral Hills High School, these two teens are thrust into each other's lives. As they begin to spend time with each other, what started as a blossoming friendship eventually grows into something neither expected.
After a tumultuous divorce, Coco Pinchard has found love with the gorgeous, hunky, four-years-younger-than-her-so-technically-a-toy-boy, Adam. Her career as an author is finally a success, and she has fabulous friends in Christopher, a neurotic middle-aged socialite, and Marika, a slightly alcoholic dog walker.
Coco is even learning to cope with her awful ex mother-in-law, Ethel, who despite the divorce, still thinks it's fine to criticize, especially when Coco and Adam decide to take the next step, and move in together... But hours before move-in day, Adam ends their relationship without explanation and disappears.
After the initial shock and anger (and an 'I told you so' from Ethel), Coco sets out to discover what has really happened, and uncovers a shocking secret Adam has been hiding from her...
Full of hilarious twists and turns, Coco Pinchard's Big Fat Tipsy Wedding is a witty, heart-warming, romantic comedy - the stand-alone sequel to the no.1 bestselling, The Not So Secret Emails of Coco Pinchard.
We Need New Names is an exciting literary debut that tells the unflinching and powerful story of a young girl's journey out of Zimbabwe and to America.
Darling is only ten years old, and yet she must navigate a fragile and violent world. In Zimbabwe, Darling and her friends steal guavas, try to get the baby out of young Chipo's belly, and grasp at memories of Before. Before their homes were destroyed by paramilitary policemen, before the school closed, before the fathers left for dangerous jobs abroad.
But Darling has a chance to escape: she has an aunt in America. She travels to this new land in search of America's famous abundance only to find that her options as an immigrant are perilously few.
NoViolet Bulawayo's debut calls to mind the great storytellers of displacement and arrival who have come before her, while she tells a vivid, raw story all her own.
"It may have been four years, Kyle, but that doesn’t mean I don’t remember how you operate." I snatched her hand as she reached to open the door to the studio. I wasn’t ready to end this moment alone with her. "You don’t think I’ve learned a few things since then?" She smirked and shook her head. "New tricks. Same dog." It was impossible not to take her words as a challenge. I pushed her back until she was pinned against the door and leaned in close enough that our breaths mingled. Her eyes snapped wide the same way they always had whenever I’d invaded her personal space, and I watched, satisfied, as she sucked in a lung full of air and held it. "That mentality will be your downfall this time around, Val." I leaned in, letting my lips linger at her jawline for a moment too long before bringing them to her ear. "Same old tricks," I whispered. "New man." With that, I kissed her cheek and breezed past her into the studio, leaving her flustered and in need of another moment to collect herself all over again.
Rockstar to the core, six-time Grammy Award-winning musician Kyle Hamilton has it all—money, fame, talent, good looks, and a job he loves. His only regret in life: walking away from a certain notorious virgin because he was too prideful, stubborn, and even afraid to give her the only thing she asked of him—his abstinence.
Four years and a broken heart later, Kyle realizes that sex isn’t everything, and he suddenly can’t stop thinking about the girl that got away. Virgin Val Jensen got under his skin like no one else ever has. He wasn’t ready for her then, but things are different now. He’s grown up, he’s learned a few things, and he’s finally figured out exactly what he wants, or, rather, who he wants.
Kyle Hamilton wants a do-over, and this time he’s willing to do—or not do—whatever it takes.
Note from the author: A is for Abstinence is the second and final installment in the V is for Virgin series. While V is for Virgin was a young adult book, A is for Abstinence is a new adult romance and was intended for a more mature audience. Not only is this story told from the perspective of a notorious bad boy, the characters have grown from the first book and are older now. The book was written with a more mature audience in mind. It's still PG-13 (I don't write graphic sex scenes) but it's not as clean as my YA romance. Please keep that in mind if you're a sensitive reader or thinking about passing it to your teenage daughters.
Heartbreaking and timely novel by Afghan-American author follows one man’s journey from New York to the clutches of the Taliban and into an unintentional polygamist union. "He is picking up the same bags with the same clothes Lisa packed and folded a year ago. He wishes he were like his clothes, untouched by external forces."
Family man Nick Blake is living in New York City and working for the United Nations. Born and raised in the United States with broad knowledge of the Afghan culture, he is living the All-American life with his wife, Lisa, and their children. His life is turned upside down when, while on a diplomatic mission to Afghanistan, Nick is kidnapped and finds himself in the clutches of the Taliban. Omar Farhad’s debut novel Honor and Polygamy follows Nick throughout his eighteen months in Afghanistan and the devastating and unexpected turns his life takes, as he learns the true meanings of home, history and culture. After being held captive for several months, Nick is forced to marry the sixteen-year-old Shaista. Although he cannot forget his beloved wife and children back home, he finds himself falling in love with his second wife and, overwhelmed with guilt, is torn between his old life and his new one.
Honor and Polygamy is far from simply a captivating fiction story, but is also a brilliant commentary on the United States’ situation with Afghanistan. Farhad expresses his views on both the political and the cultural sides of Afghanistan. Politically, he is predicting how he feels the war will ultimately end, while culturally, he shows readers not familiar with Afghanistan that the 35-year-old war has created a population, which is uneducated, disloyal, and without identity. The United States and many other nations have continuously disrupted Afghanistan with no clear political objectives, and, in his novel, Farhad explores the consequences of these actions. The story of Nick Blake represents the reality of the Afghan culture and the results and disappointments of the political realities in Afghanistan, and shows readers just how unaware we all are of other cultures.
Written by an author who has lived both the American and Afghan ways of life, Honor and Polygamy is a harrowing, haunting and deeply moving tale for our times.
The Past…
As childhood sweethearts, Brian and Melissa's plans were simple: finish school, get married, and live happily ever after. Unfortunately, life didn’t go as planned. Melissa went away to college, and Brian married her best friend.
The Present…
Seventeen years have passed and Brian's stable family life has come crashing down around him. His wife’s a cheater, his teenage daughter is hiding things from him, and Melissa is back in town to remind him of what he lost all those years ago. Melissa's returned home, ready to forgive and focus on her future, but that all changes the day she gets a desperate phone call from Brian’s daughter, Erin. Thrown back into Brian’s tumultuous life, Melissa struggles to move beyond the pain of his broken promise.
The Future…
While working together to save Erin from the evil web she’s caught in, Melissa and Brian fight to fix the past or face losing each other all over again.
He was lost and alone. Then he found her, and the future seemed more fragile than ever.
As a child, Landon Lucas Maxfield believed his life was perfect and looked forward to a future filled with promise—until tragedy tore his family apart and made him doubt everything he ever believed.
All he wanted was to leave the past behind. When he met Jacqueline Wallace, his desire to be everything she needed came so easy…
As easy as it could be for a man who learned that the soul is breakable and that everything you hoped for could be ripped away in a heartbeat.
Sera Delos has a secret. She wishes it were something important or life-altering like owning a key to a blue Police Box that’s home to a time-travelling alien, or that she must hide the secret identity of her alter-ego. No, Sera’s secret is un-extraordinary. At twenty-five, she’s never been kissed.
There just haven’t been many opportunities for the self-proclaimed nerd. There have always been too many shows to watch, too many books to read, and the rest of the time is spent fangirling over Tom Hiddleston.
When the hottie next door and his son need a ride to the hospital, and Sera becomes the only available driver, her life is changed forever. Hunter MacLaine makes Dean Winchester seem like a mediocre-badass, even if he is a diabetic and doesn’t think much of himself.
An old flame, nerdy references and the ups and downs of slowly falling in love with her next door neighbour, Sera’s wondering the obvious. Maybe, just maybe, if all the nerd-gods are smiling down on her, Sera Delos might have just found the man who her first kiss belongs to.
What happens when the one that got away comes back?
Rachel and Ben. Ben and Rachel. It was them against the world. Until it all fell apart. It’s been a decade since they last spoke, but when Rachel bumps into Ben one rainy day, the years melt away.
From the moment they met, they’d been a gang of two; partners in crime and the best of friends. But life has moved on. Ben is married. Rachel is definitely not. In fact, the men in her life make her want to take holy orders…
Yet in that split second, Rachel feels the old friendship return. And along with it, the broken heart she’s never been able to mend.
Hilarious, heartbreaking, and everything in between, you’ll be hooked from their first ‘hello’.
Lena Rose Winter is a typical seventeen-year-old girl, or so everyone thought. She has a secret, something she hates talking about. She knew what love is, and she dreads it, especially after losing someone close to her heart.
Liam Christopher Black is far from your typical bad boy. He's a good guy, the one who sits at the back of the class, not making any sound. They say that time heals everything, but he's nowhere near being healed, especially after the news of his family dying in a car crash traumatized him enough for him to lose his voice.
Becoming friends with someone is a risk because you could always end up caring too much, but Lena is willing to face it. She fought for the boy and for his friendship, and they ended up falling for each other. HARD.
It seemed as if the world doesn't want them together as they face struggle after struggle to beat the odds. But will the risks be enough for their relationship to survive? And amidst the trials and bad experiences, will both of them learn to truly love again?
He’s thirty-eight. I’m twenty-three.
He speaks Spanish. I speak English.
He lives in Spain. I live in Canada.
He dresses in thousand-dollar suits. I’m covered in tattoos.
He’s married and has a five-year-old daughter. I’m single and can’t commit to anyone or anything.
Until now. Because when they say you can’t choose who you fall in love with, boy ain’t that the f*#king truth.
To a restless dreamer like Vera Miles, it sounded like the experience of a lifetime. Instead of spending her summer interning for her astronomy major, she would fly to Spain where she’d spend a few weeks teaching conversational English to businessmen and women, all while enjoying free room and board at an isolated resort. But while Vera expected to get a tan, meet new people, and stuff herself with wine and paella, she never expected to fall in love.
Mateo Casalles is unlike anyone Vera has ever known, let alone anyone she’s usually attracted to. While Vera is a pierced and tatted free spirit with a love for music and freedom, Mateo is a successful businessman from Madrid, all sharp suits and cocky Latino charm. Yet, as the weeks go on, the two grow increasingly close, and their relationship changes from purely platonic to something… more. Something that makes Vera feel alive for the first time. Something that can never, ever be. Or so she thinks.
Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they’re rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan.
But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father. Their relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and—finally—a reunion in the city where they first met.
A carefully charted map of a long-distance relationship, Jennifer E. Smith’s novel shows that the center of the world isn't necessarily a place. It can be a person, too.
If someone had told me a year ago that I was about to fall in love, go on an epic road trip, ride a Triceratops, sing on a bar, and lose my virginity, I would have assumed they were on drugs. Well, that is, until I met Beckham.
Beck was mostly to blame for my recklessness. Gorgeous, clever, undeniably charming Beck barreled into my life as if it were his mission to make sure I never took living for granted. He showed me that there were no boundaries, rules were for the spineless, and a kiss was supposed to happen when I least expected.
Beck was the plot twist that took me by surprise. Two months before I met him, death was knocking at my door. I'd all but given up my last scrap of hope when suddenly, I was given a second chance at life. This time around, I wasn't going to let it slip through my fingers.
We set out on a road trip with nothing to lose and no guarantees of tomorrow. Our road trip was about young, reckless love. The kind of love that burns bright. The kind of love that no road-map could bring me back from.
As surprising as it is moving, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is an unforgettable tale of transformation and second chances, an irresistible affirmation of why we read, and why we love.
We are not quite novels. We are not quite short stories. In the end, we are collected works.
A. J. Fikry's life is not at all what he expected it to be. His wife has died; his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history; and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. Slowly but surely, he is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island—from Chief Lambiase, the well-intentioned police officer who's always felt kindly toward him; from Ismay, his sister-in-law, who is hell-bent on saving A.J. from his dreary self; from Amelia, the lovely and idealistic (if eccentric) Knightley Press sales rep who persists in taking the ferry to Alice Island, refusing to be deterred by A.J.'s bad attitude.
Even the books in his store have stopped holding pleasure for him. These days, he can only see them as a sign of a world that is changing too rapidly.
And then a mysterious package appears at the bookstore. It's a small package, though large in weight—an unexpected arrival that gives A.J. the opportunity to make his life over, the ability to see everything anew.
It doesn't take long for the locals to notice the change overcoming A.J., for the determined sales rep Amelia to see her curmudgeonly client in a new light, for the wisdom of all those books to become again the lifeblood of A.J.'s world. Or for everything to twist again into a version of his life that he didn't see coming.
Ember Walsh was always the quiet one, enjoying a book and a glass of wine over the noise and crowds of a club. But when her best friend asks her to come out and meet the boy she likes, Ember's world is turned upside down.
He appears like a mythical avenging angel, inked, gorgeous, and completely out of her league. But with one look, Ember no longer wants the quiet; she wants him.
Trace Montgomery has buried his damaged past with women and fighting until one day he meets an angel and suddenly he wants more, he wants her. For her, he's determined to overcome his demons. But will the dark secret that links their pasts bring them closer, or will it tear them apart?
On May 13th, 1939, five strangers boarded the MS St. Louis, a German ship leaving Hamburg on its way to Cuba. Four of the five were Jewish. There was much joy and excitement on the dock because the passengers who boarded that ship believed that they were the lucky ones. Hitler himself had promised them safety in Cuba, far away from Nazi Germany and the murderous Third Reich.
But, unbeknownst to the poor souls who began their journey to Cuba that day, they were about to embark upon a voyage of danger. The path of the MS St. Louis would take them on a dark and terrifying roller coaster ride. They would discover that all of their dreams had been built on Nazi treachery, secrets, and lies. As their lives hung in the balance, each one of those five strangers would be put to the test.
However, the voyage that began on that bright spring afternoon was only the beginning of the story. As the ship navigated her way through the ocean, events would occur, secrets would be withheld, and friendships would be forged that would bind these five people together for the rest of their lives.