Miles. Kerry wanted hundreds of miles between her and the hometown that never felt much like home. College held all the promise of new beginnings. Academics and tests always made more sense to her than people and feelings. Her complicated family couldn't seem to give her room to breathe, but reinventing herself will prove harder than she imagines. When the plane touches down in California, Kerry's new life begins. Leslie can't hide from the choices she's made. Her life, and the life of her entire family, is forever altered and maybe permanently fractured. After losing so much, keeping Kerry safe is paramount. When Mark, the man she loved and left behind, is her only hope in a dangerous situation, she knows she's playing with fire. It's a risk she's willing to take. The turbulent push and pull between longing for independence and begging time to slow down ensues as mother and daughter tug in different directions. Kerry demands to break free and Leslie can't help but hold on. When they both lose their footing and tumble away from all the things they thought they wanted, who will be there to catch them?

Gwen and Griff were supposed to be coasting through the first year of marriage. They'd known each other since childhood and there were no surprises left to discover. When their plans of growing their family take a detour, Gwen wonders if the road they're on will ever lead her to happiness. Can she mourn and hope all at once?Leslie has inched her way closer to making amends. Divorcing her husband and blindsiding her children with a painful, decades-old secret has left everyone in tatters. One thread at a time she's begun to sew them back together. She's pioneering new ideas in the business world. Falling in love with her old flame. Getting to know the daughter she abandoned at birth. But her sons are still out of reach. When one needs help she finally sees hope for a future. There are no perfect families. Only best laid plans and how to deal with what happens when they fall apart.

Book 1: The Bend in Redwood Road
Book 2: The Pier at Jasmine Lake
Book 3: The Bridge in Sunset Park
Book 4: The Stairs to Chapel Creek
Book 5: The Cabin on Autumn Peak

Eighteen years ago a teenage pregnancy changed Kate Worthington's life forever. Faced with many difficult decisions, she chose to follow her heart and embrace an uncertain future with Glenn Ferguson, her devoted first love...and the father of her baby. At the same time, in another part of the world, sixteen-year-old Ryan Hamilton makes his own share of mistakes, but learns important lessons along the way. Twenty years later, Kate's and Ryan's paths cross in a way they never expected, which makes them question the possibility of destiny. Even when all seems hopeless, could it be that everything happens for a reason, and we end up exactly where we are meant to be?

Author Bio:
Julianne MacLean is a USA Today bestselling author of numerous historical romances. She is a three-time RITA finalist, and has won numerous awards, including the Booksellers' Best Award, the Book Buyer's Best Award, and a Reviewers' Choice Award from Romantic Times for Best Regency Historical of 2005. She lives in Nova Scotia with her husband and daughter, and is a dedicated member of Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada. Please visit Julianne's website for more information.

Shop The Color of Heaven series

"Must read.... A masterful tale of love, conflict, and revenge depicting a young man's journey to adulthood in war torn Central Europe." —Reedsy Discovery

"An epic tale, told with great care, like a mural painted with a fine-tip brush, a blend of past and present. It's a remarkable debut novel." — Don Tassone, author of Francesca

In this moving, coming-of-age novel set in the heart of Eastern Europe during the years between the World Wars, a random act of violence by local anti-Semitic thugs casts Wolchi, a trusting and superstitious teenage boy, and Leja, his bookish but independent older sister, on a life-changing journey through a world gone mad.

The story unfolds over 15 years in the small towns of Western Ukraine, the urban sophistication of 1930s Krakow, and a wartime Soviet Union. A flawed, but loving Jewish family struggles with daily indignities—and its own betrayals and secrets—until WWII begins and they are shattered.

To survive, Wolchi goes to work in a Russian war factory, and Leja joins partisans fighting the Nazis. When they return home at war's end, hardened and pragmatic, the evil that murdered their family members was still walking the streets. That's when they knew: Vengeance was the key to their future.

With crisp prose and an eye for unique detail, The Days Before Tomorrow captures untold history and human complexity in a way that will linger long after the last page is read.

Author Bio:

Mark Hass is an author, educator, journalist and former public relations executive who has written previously about science, history and Jewish mysticism.

Three reasons I'm getting in a car with a stranger by Josie Woodmere:

1. My POS car is on fire on the side of the highway.2. The guy in the truck doesn't look like a murderer... in fact, he's hot.3. Even if he tries something, I'm confident I could take him.

Hottie in the truck, Brinn McRae turns out to be straight-laced and so not my type. Plus, I'm not looking for romance. I have to find a job and my estranged brother.

The universe must have different plans because the first job my Daytona temp agency sends me to is Brinn's flight school. And if I thought we weren't compatible before, working in his small office makes me question my feelings. The only problem is I'm not sure if I want to loosen his straight-laces or choke him with them.

I don't know if he's man I want, but I'm the girl he needs.

The bestselling novel, The Memory of Music One Irish family - One hundred turbulent years: 1916 to 2016 Betty O'Fogarty is proud and clever. Spurred on by her belief in her husband Seamus's talent as a violin-maker and her desire to escape rural life, they elope to Dublin. She expects life there to fulfil all her dreams. To her horror, she discovers that they can only afford to live in the notorious poverty-stricken tenements. Seamus becomes obsessed with republican politics, neglecting his lucrative craft. And, as Dublin is plunged into chaos and turmoil at Easter 1916, Betty gives birth to her first child to the sound of gunfire and shelling.But Betty vows that she will survive war and want, and move her little family out of the tenements.Nothing will stand in her way. One hundred years later, secrets churn their way to the surface and Betty's grandchildren and great-grandchildren uncover both Betty's ruthlessness and her unique brand of heroism.

A gripping and emotional novel that will leave you wondering about the neighbors next door...

On a cold January night, Sharon Lemke heads outside to see a lunar eclipse when she notices something odd at the house behind her backyard. Through her neighbor's kitchen window, she sees what appears to be a little girl washing dishes late at night. But the Fleming family doesn't have a child that age, and even if they did, why would she be doing housework at this late hour?

It would be easy for Sharon to just let this go, but when eighteen-year-old Niki, a former foster child, comes to live with Sharon, she notices suspicious activity at the Flemings' house as well. Clearly a little girl lives there, even if Suzette Fleming denies it. When calling social services doesn't result in swift action, Sharon and Niki decide to investigate on their own.

**Now a USA Today Bestseller **

Lisa Hodges needs to make a decision fast. Thanks to her dead husband's gambling addiction, their savings is almost gone. In her early fifties with a large, waterfront home on Nantucket to support, Lisa hasn't worked in over thirty years, has no in-demand skills and is virtually unemployable.

Her only options are to sell the house and move off-island, or, she could use her cooking and entertaining skills and turn her home into a bed and breakfast. She desperately needs it to succeed because she has four grown children with problems of their own and wants to stay close to them.

Her oldest daughter, Kate, has a fabulous career in Boston--working as a writer for a popular fashion magazine and engaged to a dangerously handsome photographer, who none of them have met.

Kate's twin, local artist, Kristen, has been reasonably content with her on-again off-again relationship with an older, separated businessman.

Her son, Chase, runs his own construction business and is carefree, happily dating here and there but nothing serious.

Youngest daughter, Abby, is happily married to her high school sweetheart, and they've been trying to have a baby. But it hasn't happened yet, and Abby wonders if it's a sign that maybe their marriage isn't as perfect as everyone thinks.

Come visit Nantucket and see how Lisa's new bed and breakfast has an impact on almost everyone in her family. It's the first book in a new series that will follow the Hodges family, friends, and visitors to Nantucket's Beach Plum Cove Inn.

About the Author
Kelley, Pamela M.: - Pamela M. Kelley lives in the historic seaside town of Plymouth, MA near Cape Cod and just south of Boston. She has always been a book worm and still reads often and widely, romance, mysteries, thrillers and cook books. She writes women's fiction, small town romance and suspense and you'll probably see food featured and possibly a recipe or two. She is owned by a cute little rescue kitty, Bella.

"School scandals and the fragile bond between a boy and his mother give The Nine a wide-ranging appeal that extends beyond its ivy-clad setting." —Clarion Reviews

Hannah Webber fears she will never be a mother, but her prayers are finally answered when she gives birth to a son. In an era of high-stakes parenting, nurturing Sam's intellect becomes Hannah's life purpose. She invests body and soul into his development, much to the detriment of her marriage. She convinces herself, however, that Sam's acceptance at age fourteen to the most prestigious of New England boarding schools overseen by an illustrious headmaster, justifies her choices.

When he arrives at Dunning, Sam is glad to be out from under his mother's close watch. And he enjoys his newfound freedom—until, late one night, he stumbles upon evidence of sexual misconduct at the school and is unable to shake the discovery.

Both a coming-of-age novel and a portrait of an evolving mother-son relationship, The Nine is the story of a young man who chooses to expose a corrupt world operating under its own set of rules—even if it means jeopardizing his mother's hopes and dreams.

More Reviews & Awards:

2020 14th Annual Indie Excellence Juror's Choice Award
2020 14th Annual National Indie Excellence Award-Winner in Contemporary Novel and Regional Fiction: Northeast
2020 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Finalist in General Fiction
2020 International Book Awards Finalist in Literary Fiction
2020 Best Book Awards Finalist in Literary Fiction
2019/2020 Reader Views Literary Awards 2nd Place Winner in General Fiction/Novel
2019 Foreword INDIES Gold Winner for Thriller & Suspense (Adult Fiction)
2019 Beverly Hills Book Awards Winner in Literary Fiction, Regional Fiction: Northeast, and General Fiction
2019 Foreword INDIES Finalist in Thriller & Suspense (Adult Fiction)

"Blasberg moves seamlessly between…points of view…A good choice for fans of thoughtful coming-of-age dramas." —Booklist

“The Nine uncovers the underbelly of an elite private school, revealing decades-long corruption, while also exposing how the fervent dreams of mothers for their children can shatter families. Jeanne Blasberg delves with unflinching precision into the chasms between parents and children, a novel revelatory for the author's willingness to scrutinize both mother and son and their stifling bond.” —Randy Susan Meyers, bestselling author of The Widow of Wall Street and Waisted

“The Nine is one of those suspenseful, highly addictive novels that keep you saying, ‘just one more chapter’ until suddenly you've stayed up all night to finish it. Hannah and Sam—the tenacious, devoted mother and her humble, endearing son--make an irresistible team as they take on the dark narcissism and systemic exploitation of an elite world that attempts to break them. I love this book's iconoclastic impulse and its ultimate faith in the values of work over privilege, and love over loyalty.” —Christopher Castellani, author of Leading Men

“Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg's compelling new novel, The Nine, is a complex and beautifully wrought tale of the sacrifices parents and children make to join the ranks of the elite, and the shocking secrets they find once they get there. It will surely be catnip for book groups—Dead Poets Society crossed with a conspiracy thriller, with a helicopter mom's midlife crisis thrown in for good measure—and it'll keep the reader turning pages as fast as she can.” —Holly LeCraw, author of The Swimming Pool and The Half Brother

"...A poignant mother-son drama...In fluid prose, Blasberg combines two tales through two alternating voices." —Kirkus Reviews

"The Nine…delivers a tightly plotted tale that taps the vein of secret terror every first-time parent harbors when sending a child on their own into the world. With devastating precision, Blasberg mines the insecurity, the denial, the projected hope, and ambition of a mother singularly devoted to her only child—played against revelations of dark doings at an elite prep school…A painful, beautiful book." —Barbara Stark-Nemon, author of Even in Darkness and Hard Cider

Author Bio:
Jeanne Blasberg is the author of Eden: A Novel, winner of the Beverly Hills Book Awards for Women's Fiction and finalist for the Benjamin Franklin Award for Best New Voice in Fiction and Sarton Women's Book Award for Historical Fiction. After graduating from Smith College, she embarked on a career in finance. Though she worked primarily with numbers, she was always interested in writing. After holding jobs on Wall Street, at Macy's, and writing case studies at Harvard Business School, she turned her attention to writing memoir and fiction. Blasberg founded the Westerly Memoir Project. She sits on the board of the Boston Book Festival and Grub Street, one of the country's preeminent creative writing centers, where she enjoys being part of a community of enthusiastic learners. She and her husband have three grown children and split time between Boston, MA and Westerly, RI. She loves to travel, play squash, ski, and take in the glorious sunsets over Little Narragansett Bay.

 

Independently published with She Writes Press

Evelyn is thankful that Parker Cafe-oops, Sea Glass Cafe-is finally profitable and growing. The townsfolk love to come in for the sweet, mouthwatering delights she bakes... especially the old family recipe for peach pie.

But is it the peach pie that keeps bringing Rob Bentley back to the cafe, day after day?

Rob is in Moonbeam helping his sister, Violet, restore the very neglected Murphy's Resort. A resort she bought without consulting him and he thinks is a terrible idea. But when had Violet ever listened to his advice?

Heather and Jesse can't catch a break either. Their son gets into serious trouble at school. Trouble he swears he wasn't involved in, but all the evidence points toward him.

Read more about the lives of the Parker women. More secrets are revealed. And yet another town festival as Evelyn and Rob become friends... and maybe a bit more. Oh, and a wedding. But who's getting married?

Grace Parker's Peach Pie is book five in the Moonbeam Bay series.

MOONBEAM BAY - the series
The Parker Women - Book One
The Parker Cafe - Book Two
A Heather Parker Original - Book Three
The Parker Family Secret - Book Four
Grace Parker's Peach Pie - Book Five
The Perks of Being a Parker - Book Six

Three sisters. An inherited Nantucket restaurant. One year before they can sell.
Mandy, Emma and Jill are as close as three sisters who live hundreds of miles apart can be. They grew up together on Nantucket, but Mandy is the only one that stayed.Jill lives a glamorous life in Manhattan as a co-owner of a successful executive search firm. Never married, she is in her mid-thirties and lives in a stunning, corner condo with breathtaking views of the city and Hudson river. Everyone thinks there's something going on with her partner, Nick, because as a workaholic, she spends more time with him than anyone else. But there's never been anything but friendship between them and Nick loves being a bachelor in NYC.
Emma lives in Arizona and is an elementary school teacher and an aspiring photographer. She met her college professor husband, Peter, in grad school and they've been married for over fifteen years. In recent years, she's noticed that Peter has grown distant. But when he shares a surprising secret, she doesn't see it coming and her world is turned upside down.
Mandy followed her high school boyfriend, Cory to Boston College, and right after graduation, they married and settled in Dover, just outside of Boston. Cory joined a successful hedge fund, while Mandy took a job at a downtown financial services firm as an administrative assistant. She quit a year later, when Blake, the first baby came. Two years later, when Brooke was born, Cory left to open a competing Hedge Fund and they moved home to Nantucket. Now that the children are older, Mandy has more free time and is eager to do more than just volunteer with local charity events. But Cory doesn't want her to work. He thinks it doesn't reflect well on him and appearances are everything to Cory. Though when Mandy finds a second cell phone in his gym bag, she begins to question what is really going on.
When their beloved grandmother, Rose Ferguson passes peacefully in her sleep a week before her ninety-ninth birthday she leaves them quite a surprise. In addition to her Nantucket home, they learned that she was the silent owner of Mimi's Place, one of Nantucket's most popular year-round restaurants.
There is of course, a catch--she left the restaurant equally to Mandy, Emma, and Jill--and also to Paul, the chef for the past twelve years.
And before they can sell, all three girls need to work at the restaurant for a period of one year--or else their shares will go to Paul--who was also Emma's first love.

About the Author
Kelley, Pamela M.: - Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling author.

Motherhood adds and subtracts at a feverish pace. More belly laughs and moments of awe. Far less sleep and hardly any self-care. With the toddler years in full effect, Gwen has found herself both overwhelmingly happy and suddenly rudderless. Seeking a work/home balance proves baffling as she watches her identity float off like pollen in a summer breeze. When a family friend seeks out her expertise as a geneticist to solve a long-forgotten cold case, Gwen feels a bit of her old self returning. Being able to give someone their identity and provide peace for a family in turmoil is a purpose she deeply connects to. But the situation has the potential to create palpable danger she may not be able to avoid.

Being a grandmother suits Leslie perfectly. Lightheartedly sharing hard-won lessons and indulging and spoiling as often as she can. She's the keeper of the cookies and the soothing song that magically induces sleep. However, with the promotion to grandmother comes the uncanny ability to see and know when trouble is brewing. The urge to protect pushes her into overbearing territory.

Gwen and Leslie must once again navigate the complexity of their relationship as their roles continue to shift. Leaning on Griff and Mark, the women are forced to decide if self-preservation outweighs the chance to give a long-forgotten Jane Doe her identity back. And perhaps peace to her waiting family.

Book 1: The Bend in Redwood Road
Book 2: The Pier at Jasmine Lake
Book 3: The Bridge in Sunset Park
Book 4: The Stairs to Chapel Creek
Book 5: The Cabin on Autumn Peak
Book 6: The Shore at East Bonnet Beach
Book 7: The Field on Oakwood Farm

The highly anticipated new novel from the multiple award-winning author of Queen of the Owls . . .

What if you had a second chance at the very thing you thought you’d renounced forever? How steep a price would you be willing to pay?

Susannah’s career as a pianist has been on hold for nearly sixteen years, ever since her son was born. An adoptee who’s never forgiven her birth mother for not putting her first, Susannah vowed to put her own child first, no matter what. And she did.

But now, suddenly, she has a chance to vault into that elite tier of “chosen” musicians. There’s just one problem: somewhere along the way, she lost the power and the magic that used to be hers at the keyboard. She needs to get them back. Now.

Her quest—what her husband calls her obsession—turns out to have a cost Susannah couldn’t have anticipated. Even her hand betrays her, as Susannah learns that she has a progressive hereditary disease that’s making her fingers cramp and curl—a curse waiting in her genes, legacy of a birth family that gave her little else. As her now-or-never concert draws near, Susannah is catapulted back to memories she’s never been able to purge—and forward, to choices she never thought she would have to make.

Told through the unique perspective of a musician, The Sound Between the Notes draws the reader deeper and deeper into the question Susannah can no longer silence: Who am I, and where do I belong?

 

Author Bio:

Barbara Linn Probst is a writer, researcher, clinician, and “serious amateur” pianist living on a historic dirt road in New York’s Hudson Valley.

Barbara’s novels (Queen of the Owls, April 2020, and The Sound of One Hand, coming in April 2021) tell of the search for authenticity, wholeness, and connection. In both novels, art helps the protagonist to become more fully herself.
Queen of the Owls has been chosen as a 2020 selection by the Pulpwood Queens Book Club, a network of more than 780 book clubs across the U.S.

Author of the groundbreaking book on nurturing out-of-the-box children, When the Labels Don't Fit, Barbara also holds a PhD in clinical social work and is a frequent guest essayist on major online sites for fiction writers. 
 

Independently published with She Writes Press

Seventy-year-old Goldie Sparrows faces declining finances, questionable health, and a late husband who torments her from the beyond. She seeks refuge in her butterfly garden, which is filled with voices and memories from long ago.

Jocelyn Anderson is a struggling writer who finds escape from her custody battle in the journal of her late mother-in-law. As she gets pulled through the pages of time, Jocelyn discovers her own husband has a hidden history she knows nothing about. Is this secret now Jocelyn's to keep?

Krystal Axelrod is living a life she never dreamed she could have. And yet the demons of a dysfunctional childhood and mean girl culture from her cheerleading days cast their shadow over her ability to feel whole, capable, and worthy. Does Goldie hold the key to Krystal's path to freedom?

A masterfully crafted tale of love, friendship, betrayal, and the risks we take in the pursuit of justice.

About the Author
Simonetti, Suzanne: - Suzanne Simonetti grew up in the New York suburbs just outside of the city. After earning a BS in marketing, she spent several years writing press releases, until she left her corporate job to focus on her passion for crafting fiction. She lives on Cape May Harbor with her husband. When not on her paddle board or yoga mat, she can be found at the beach trailing the shoreline for seashells, scribbling in her notebook, and channeling dolphins for meaningful conversation.

After thirteen years on the run, Violet McLaughlin returns to Carter's Crossing, South Carolina, in 1962, with her young daughter, Sassy. The Crossing is right outside of Beaufort and the turmoil of the Civil Rights movement will forever leave its scars on the young and impressionable girl.

As Sassy stands before the imposing white farmhouse for the first time, with no knowledge of her history but that the McLaughlin's are her kin, Sassy begins a journey that will tear her apart before it heals her.

Growing up among secrets that will forever damage her relationship with her mother, she attempts to make sense of her past. But will her passion for art and her love for Thomas Tierney be enough to sustain her future?

Will the journey she must take to discover the truth be worth it?

When a middle-aged woman's husband is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, their secret lives collide head-on, revealing a tangled web of sex, lies, and DNA and forcing her to decide whose life to save-her husband's or her own.

About the Author
Taylor, Valerie: - Valerie Taylor was born and raised in Stamford, Connecticut. She had a thirty-year career in the financial services industry as a marketer and writer. After her divorce, she spread her wings and relocated her career, first to Boston and then to Seattle. When she retired, she resettled in Shelton, Connecticut, to be near her two grown children and granddaughter. She's a published book reviewer with BookTrib.com; and a member of the Westport Writers' Workshop, the Independent Book Publishers Association, and the Women's Fiction Writers Association. She enjoys practicing tai chi and being an expert sports spectator. What's Not Said is her debut novel. The sequel, What's Not True, will publish in August 2021. The next book in this trilogy is in the works. She currently resides in Shelton, CT.

In her second novel, Valerie Taylor--award-winning author of What's Not Said--gives readers another romantic comedy interwoven with forbidden love, infidelity, and family.

With the court date set for her divorce and the future she'd planned with a younger man presumably kaput, Kassie O'Callaghan shifts attention to reviving her stalled marketing career. But that goal gets complicated when she unexpectedly rendezvous with her former lover in Paris. After a chance meeting with a colleague and a stroll along Pont Neuf, Kassie receives two compelling proposals. Can she possibly accept them both?

Kassie's decision process screeches to a halt when her soon-to-be ex-husband has a heart attack, forcing her to fly home to Boston. There, she confronts his conniving and deceitful fiancée--a woman who wants not just a ring on her finger but everything that belongs to Kassie. In the ensuing battle to protect what's legally and rightfully hers, Kassie discovers that sometimes it's what's not true that can set you free.

About the Author
Taylor, Valerie: - Valerie Taylor was born and raised in Stamford, Connecticut. She had a thirty-year career in the financial services industry as a marketer and writer. After her divorce, she spread her wings and relocated her career, first to Boston and then to Seattle. When she retired, she resettled in her home state to be near her two grown children and granddaughter. She's a published book reviewer with BookTrib.com and a member of the Westport Writers' Workshop, Women's Fiction Writers Association, and the Independent Book Publishers Association. She enjoys practicing tai chi and being an expert sports spectator. What's Not True is the sequel to What's Not Said, published in 2020. The next book in this trilogy is in the works. She currently resides in Shelton, CT.

Welcome to Whispering Pines, a quaint resort on the serene shores in Minnesota lake country, and a heartwarming saga that beautifully weaves together the complexities of modern family life with the unexpected gifts of midlife reinvention.

Two weeks ahead of Christmas, a jarring layoff from a twenty-year career sends single mother Renee Clements back to life's crossroads. She's been here before. Reluctant but resilient, she prepares to dive into the job hunt. Or is it finally time to focus on her own dreams instead of building someone else's? While the idea is tempting, she's still responsible for raising two teenagers.

Frustrated, Renee pushes pause. She'll wait until after the holidays to make any life-altering decisions. A serendipitous trip to Fiji and a chance encounter with a handsome stranger offers a glimmer of romance, but now isn't the time to add yet another complication to her already messy world.

Could the final bequest by her dear Aunt Celia provide the answers? The opportunity to reopen Whispering Pines, a charming and historic lake resort, beckons her to a path less traveled. It's not just a potential business venture; it's a legacy passed down to her, a gift wrapped in memories and possibilities.

Torn between a longing to recreate the idyllic childhood summers she spent at her aunt's resort and facing the challenges of her current reality, Renee will have to choose. Perhaps, along the way, she'll discover more than she ever expected.

Whispering Pines, book one in Kimberly Diede's Gift of Whispering Pines series, explores the depths of motherhood, the courage required to navigate and embrace change, and the unbreakable ties of family.