Death stalks the guests at a seaside resort...

While staying at Brighton with the formidable old Mrs. Montford, Anna Fairweather witnesses a drowning. Suspecting the "accident" is something more sinister, Anna begins a search for the truth - and the killer.

Does a belligerent brother-in-law carry an old grudge? Is the victim's grieving husband a little too quick to move on? With an entire hotel full of suspects, Anna must uncover the secrets, and the motives, the hotel guests and employees are desperate to hide. But with the clock ticking, will Anna get to the bottom of the mystery - or find herself at the bottom of the ocean?

A portrait of death...

Anna has barely had time to settle in at the Montford town home in London, when she is drawn down a new path of danger. After she witnesses a stabbing in an alley, it's up to Anna to find the killer - before the killer finds her.

When suspects abound, Anna must delve into the art world and the personal life of the victim, searching for the truth. Will the reintroduction of her employer's attractive nephew, Jerome Townson, complicate matters? And will the stirring of old shadows from her past blind Anna to the dangers of the present?

The dramatic continuation of the Emerald Cove saga from a USA Today Bestselling Author.

Moving to the Cove gave Rebecca De Vries a place to hide from her abusive ex. Now that he's in jail, she can get back to living her life as a police officer in her adopted hometown working alongside her intractable but very attractive boss, Franklin.

When Franklin's ex-fiancee comes back to town it will disrupt everything developing between the two of them.

Cindy's ex-husband has returned to the Cove as well, along with the woman he left her for. And it isn't long before his presence disrupts Cindy's burgeoning relationship with the town doctor, his former best friend. A face-off with the girlfriend throws Cindy into a tailspin, but in the end she'll have to make a decision about what, or who, is more important to her.

Meg and Brad get some good news, but with his paraplegia they'll learn once again that nothing is as easy now as they'd hoped it would be.

Please note: This book is the third instalment in the ongoing Emerald Cove saga.

Eric Northcraft is struggling to raise his three daughters without his wife, who recently died of cancer. While he misses his late wife, Emily, he must do his best to be both a father and mother to his young daughters.

Lisa, the oldest at fourteen, loves horses, an interest not well-supported by his teacher's salary. Grace, his middle child, is physically and intellectually challenged, mentally more like a five-year-old than a girl of eleven. Monica, the youngest, is the rebellious one and is convinced her father loves her sisters more than he loves her. They each deal with the loss of their mother in different ways, some good, some bad.

As Lisa finds a way to be around the horses she loves so much, Monica grows more rebellious and difficult. Grace, however, is happy with her canaries, preferring to sit and listen to their beautiful singing while doing her best to convince her family of the happiness they can bring.

Meanwhile, Eric is having difficulties at work. One of his administrators is causing problems, and his best student, an African-American girl with issues of her own, refuses to be coaxed into attending college, even on a scholarship. When tragedy strikes once again, Eric and his family must deal with its outcome.

A story of resilience, love, and the beauty that surrounds us to help us through life, Canaries' Song will make you laugh, cry, and finally, turn the last page with feelings of joy and satisfaction. It will remind the reader of Tabb's acclaimed novel, Floating Twigs.

He didn't just break her heart, he broke her soul...

When a bomb exploded at her college, Caitlyn Carlson's life changed in an instant. Ten years later, she's no longer a vulnerable, trusting girl, but a tough, ruthless, FBI agent. But her hard exterior covers a deep, aching hole in her heart.

Quinn Kelly has changed his life, too, trying to make up for the horrific mistakes of his youth. But some mistakes can't be outrun or forgiven. Some feelings don't stay buried, no matter how hard you try.

An explosion at a local university takes them back to the past, to the one place they never wanted to go again...and to each other. They barely survived loving each other the first time around. The secrets and lies almost killed them. Will this be their second chance, or will this be the end of everything?

Don't miss this thrilling romantic suspense by #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Barbara Freethy

Also Available in the Off The Grid: FBI Series

Perilous Trust #1

Reckless Whisper #2

Desperate Play #3

Elusive Promise #4

Dangerous Choice #5

Ruthless Cross #6

Critical Doubt #7

Fearless Pursuit #8

Daring Deception #9

Risky Bargain #10

What the readers are saying...

"The action was intense and kept me on the edge of my seat Barbara Freethy is an amazing writer who captures the reader's attention from the very first sentence, so much so, I read this book in one sitting." 5 Stars Booklover's Anonymous

"Barbara Freethy writes a beautiful, edge of the seat story, full of intrigue, mystery and romance. This is my favorite FBI series Can't wait to read the next book " Christine - Goodreads

"PERILOUS TRUST is a non-stop thriller that seamlessly melds jaw-dropping suspense with sizzling romance, and I was riveted from the first page to the last." USA Today HEA Blog

"You will love Reckless Whisper. From the first sentence of the book until you end, you are on a suspense filled ride." J. Stryker - Goodreads

"Words cannot explain how phenomenal this book was. The characters are so believable and relatable. The twists and turns keep you on the edge of your seat and flying through the pages. This is one book you should be desperate to read." Caroline on Desperate Play

A NEW BEGINNING THREATENS TO END IN DISASTER

The Kansas plains offer Nell a chance to support her small family and bring Sarah up away from the prying eyes that might discover her illegitimate birth. But when her only ally among the seminary's leaders dies, Nell finds herself at the mercy of people she doesn't entirely trust-and she's not in a position to escape.

As her talent as a dressmaker improves her fortunes, Nell attracts the attention of two suitors and struggles with the problem of reconciling love, independence, and respectability for her daughter's sake. Shocking news from back home and another death at the seminary force a decision.

A disastrous winter journey, a treacherous game, and an impossible love could wrest control of Nell's life out of her hands for good.

About the Author
Steen, Jane: - Jane Steen grew up in England but lived in Belgium and the United States as an adult, before returning to the UK in 2016. Her corporate writing career included translation, editorial guidance for lawyers, contract drafting, writing fundraising appeals, marketing for realtors, and freelancing as a communications consultant. Jane is an independent writer of historical fiction, concentrating on the Victorian mystery sub-genre. She is a member of the Alliance of Independent Authors, the Historical Novel Society, Novelists, Inc., and the Society of Authors.

Buckle up for an emotional journey of hijinks, heartache, and a hot slow-burn in this marriage-in-crisis romance about going the distance to make love last.

Aiden
I’ve spent twelve years loving Freya Bergman and twelve lifetimes won’t be enough to give her everything she deserves. She’s my passionate, tender-hearted wife, my best friend, and all I want is to make her happy. But the one thing that will make her happiest is the one thing I’m not sure I can give her: a baby.

With the pressure of providing and planning for a family, my anxiety’s at an all-time high, and I find myself pulling away, terrified to tell my wife how I’m struggling. But when Freya kicks me out, I realize that pulling back has turned into pushing too far. Now it’s the fight of a lifetime to save our marriage.

Freya

I love my cautious, hard-working husband. He’s my partner and best friend, the person I know I can count on most. Until one day I realize the man I married is nowhere to be found. Now Aiden is quiet and withdrawn, and as the months wear on, the pain of our growing distance becomes too much.

As if weathering marriage counseling wasn’t enough, we’re thrown together for an island getaway to celebrate my parents’ many years of perfect marriage while ours is on the brink of collapse. Despite my meddling siblings and a week in each other’s constant company, this trip somehow gets us working through the trouble in paradise. I just can’t help worrying, when we leave paradise and return to the real world, will trouble find us again?

Ever After Always is a marriage-in-crisis, opposites-attract romance about a sensitive, fierce-loving woman and her resilient husband who has anxiety disorder. Complete with island vacation antics, a sibling prank gone wrong, and a steamy slow burn, this standalone is the third in a series of novels about a Swedish-American family of five brothers, two sisters, and their wild adventures as they each find happily ever after.

Author Bio:
Chloe writes romances reflecting her belief that everyone deserves a love story. Her stories pack a punch of heat, heart, and humor, and often feature characters who are neurodivergent like herself. When not dreaming up her next book, Chloe spends her time wandering in nature, playing soccer, and most happily at home with her family and mischievous cats.

“In today's world where we seem to have the answers to everything at our fingertips, trekking into the unknown reminds us to question everything. Because we are the only ones who hold our answers. Ayelet Baron guides you as you learn to say yes to life and experience it as never before.” —Tim McDonald, speaker, guide, and former Community Director at The Huffington Post

At a certain point in your journey, you may not know where you’re headed but you become more curious and courageous to experience life and all it has to offer. Your heart knows when you’re ready to take the first few steps. And once you do, nothing will ever be the same. No one can do this work for you; it’s your job to become fully aware that you are standing at a juncture of possibilities. Are you entertaining thoughts about a healthier direction in your life? Are you ready to experiment and try things on to see what actually fits you?

Through all of the knowing and unknowing, the visible and invisible, facts and mystery, loss and gain, sanity, and insanity of it all—you are here. Trekking into the unknown takes courage because it forces you to realize how much you don’t really know. F*ck the Bucket List inspires you to ask questions, dig deep, and create your own meaning. The story starts and ends at your own pace. 

This isn’t just another self-help book, spiritual book, or memoir—it’s an experience, beyond categories and labels, that asks each of us to tap into the universal wisdom that says we can live our lives our own way. This book is for anyone who is ready to question everything, and simply say f*ck it—or whatever words you choose to use—when something in life no longer serves you. Are you ready to discover the wonder of you (Book 1, for the Soul), trek into the unknown (Book 2, for the Adventurer), and trust your heart (Book 3, for the Health Conscious)?

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More Reviews: 

“F*ck the Bucket List for the Adventurer is a monumental read, that rare book which speaks to your deepest self. For anyone beginning to challenge the path they've been on, this book is a blueprint for changing your life, an excursion into wisdom and awareness that gets richer with each step.” —Lynnda Pollio, multi-award winning author, author of Trusting the Currents

“This book dispels common myths of what holds us back in our growth and dispenses practical wisdom for anyone on a personal development journey and who is asking the deeper questions. Ayelet cuts through the noise and helps the reader find the necessary focus to make peace with the past in order to truly stand in the present.” —Rick Snyder, CEO, Invisible Edge and author, Decisive Intuition

“F*ck the Bucket List for the Adventurer: Trekking into the Unknown is a primer for the courageous heart on the journey to true self-discovery. Ayelet does not do the work for you in this process of divine discovery but she points the way across the threshold. As she says, the way forward involves action and commitment to a goal which might seem hazy but she is there as a companion to accompany you on perhaps the greatest adventure of your lifetime. The journey to YOU!” —Flicka Rahn, musician, author, sound healer and educator

“Ayelet Baron speaks directly to that still, small voice in your head whispering that your life could be healthier and more meaningful. Read this book and step into the adventure that is your life.” —Anne Janzer, author of The Writer's Process

Author Bio:

Ayelet Baron is a visionary author, healer, and global futurist. She was recently recognized on Forbes as one of the world's top female futurists. In the midst of a very successful career as a global strategy executive at Cisco Systems, she went through her own transformation. She wrote this book trilogy because she wished she had this universal guidance when she started on her own journey. Her dream is to help unleash millions and millions of people, who are ready to do our inner work, and become the architects of humanity.

Book Excerpt:

Introduction: There is Another Path

The wind is a powerful force of nature that we cannot actually see—but we can experience it in other ways. We only become aware of the wind when we hear the trees swaying against it, or see waves rippling in the ocean, or feel a breeze caress our faces. The wind reminds us not to deny or ignore the natural human impulse to explore the unknown with curiosity. The wind, like our breath, reminds us that we’re alive.

Imagine, for a moment, that you’re a magnificent apple tree. You have deep roots that are constantly seeking minerals and water to keep you alive. You’re deeply connected to the Earth and trust in its guidance as you connect and communicate with other trees, fungi, and plants underground. Some of your roots break away and follow an unknown path as you continue to nourish yourself—and in that one act of expanding, you find yourself choosing a different direction. Your roots battle through some extremely hard soil and break through to survive.

The people who walk by on the sidewalk notice that your roots have created cracks in the concrete. They talk about cutting you down, ridding the sidewalk of the messy tree that doesn’t understand its place. A debate begins on what to do with you, and your life depends on their decision. Some see you as a hazard and want to take you down for disturbing their pathway. But there’s Ruth, a wise woman who sees you and reminds everyone that you provide delicious fruit

and much needed shade. “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations,” she says. “Maybe it is we who need to become aware of the cracks in the sidewalk and adapt accordingly?”

When we live in a concrete jungle, nature feels separate and becomes a place where we schedule walks or time to breathe. But when we realize that we’re always living as part of nature, there is no separation. We have the opportunity to go within ourselves through healthy practices that help us reflect deeply on who we are. In nature, time stands still, as there is only the light of the day and the darkness of the night to become familiar with.

It is easy to meditate in a quiet room or on a mountaintop, but can you meditate in a crowded space? Jiddu Krishnamurti, a twentieth century philosopher, helps us see that, “One is never afraid of the unknown; one is afraid of the known coming to an end. The more you know yourself, the more clarity there is. Self-knowledge has no end—you don’t come to an achievement; you don’t come to a conclusion. It is an endless river. You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing and dance and write poems and suffer and understand, for all that is life.”

Living Out Loud

This isn’t just another self-help book, spiritual book, or memoir—it’s an experience, beyond categories and labels, that asks each of us to tap into the universal wisdom that says we can live our lives our own way. I’d like to share upfront that this book is not for everyone. It’s for those of us ready to start questioning everything, and to simply say fuck it—or whatever words you choose to use—when something in life no longer serves you. This book will help you become more aware of the choices you make. It will help you come to truly know yourself and understand your purpose as a living, breathing, healthy creator of your life. We were born to color with vivid imaginations and live like never before in unity—not conformity or uniformity. Are you ready to discover the wonder of you (Book 1, for the Soul), trek into the unknown (Book 2, for the Adventurer), and trust your heart (Book 3, for the Health Conscious)?

The F*ck the Bucket List book trilogy has been created not to dictate meaning, but to inspire you to ask questions, dig deep, and create your own meaning. The story starts and ends at your own pace. Once you connect with your own rhythm, you can go on an adventure of a lifetime. These books, like a journey, are a collaboration with the expansiveness of the universe. There are many expeditions we will explore together when we step into the unknown. These expeditions will encourage you to acknowledge the invisible bars that may be holding you captive, allowing you to free yourself from some of the most constricting barriers you’ve built. These barriers aren’t made from material like steel, but rather are infections of the mind, such as believing fear-based stories that jail you in an invisible prison of misbelief.

This book will guide you toward accepting that there is always a way to live a life of meaning. It’s up to each of us to become aware of this, accept it, and weave our lessons into an integrated web of life. No one can do this work for you; it’s your job to become fully aware that everything’s here to be discovered when you let your kindness, beauty, truth, and power shine through with your abundant natural light.

You stand at a juncture of possibilities. Are you entertaining thoughts about a healthier direction in your life? Are you ready to experiment and try things on to see what actually fits you? By doing so, you’re opening yourself up to opportunities that were not available until you acted on them. Every action you take, and every thought that precedes it, ushers you into a connection of probabilities and experiences that were not available before. It’s up to you to take the action necessary to better understand what’s healthy and toxic for your wellbeing. By just taking a few small steps, you can (and will!) get closer to understanding who you are and why you’re here. You have within you every capacity to create. Imagine a life where you have nothing to prove to anyone but yourself. Imagine what might happen if you decided to adopt the bold mindset of an adventurer and trek into the unknown. The possibilities are endless.

Are you prepared to take some brave and adventurous steps toward changing restrictions in your life and opening up to a broader range of imagination and transformation? If so, you might discover the universe encouraging you to address your own darkness and guiding you to step into your own light. In doing so, you will find yourself clearing away parts of your life that have caused you pain and hardship. You very well may experience some mind-boggling breakthroughs or mystical moments as you reach deeper into the wisdom and abundance of your soul.

Isn’t it interesting that we have constructed our current healthcare system to mainly focus on our physical bodies and assess whether they’re ill or healthy? Much of the medical community addresses depression, burnout, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and other mental health issues, as well as a host of physical issues, with chemicals or psychiatric solutions. This is, of course, because there’s more money to be made by dispensing medication to people suffering from a host of diseases. But what if there was a natural alternative to holistically healing ourselves?

Physicists like Nikola Tesla, Albert Einstein and Max Planck introduced the quantum world, which we cannot physically see, filled with vibrations and frequencies. Planck invited us to become aware of the connectedness of our universe when he said, “Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are a part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.”

We accept, in faith, a whole world that is invisible through smart devices, microwaves, radio and television waves, and now, the Internet. What if we started accepting what is in our hearts and let our intuition and deep knowing serve as our internal compass? Our bodies need a balance of the physical and the spiritual to live in harmony. Without this, life falls out of whack with our soul, and we lose our connection to both the visible and invisible worlds around us.

Trekking into the unknown is not just a physical journey—it’s about getting in touch with your courage and humility and discovering what has been hidden or suppressed within you. This means exploring both your light and dark sides. It means addressing some of your biggest fears, wounds, and subconscious programming—as well as your unrealized potential. Trekking into the unknown means embarking upon a journey of seeing the weaknesses and the gifts that you’ve been hiding deep within yourself, out of fear of criticism or rejection.

One of the reasons I’ve dedicated my life to sharing these universal messages is that I wish I’d had books to tap into when I got lost on my path of trekking into the unknown—simply to let me know that I wasn’t alone and I wasn’t going crazy. I read, talked to a lot of people, and forged unlikely partnerships, but what I found still left me mostly depleted. This trek often took me down rabbit holes searching for answers, or somebody to guide my journey, only to find people trying to convince me they knew everything when they didn’t. I had a hard time when they told me they knew how I felt or that they had been in my shoes. They may have believed they knew what I needed, but in the end, they didn’t have a clue. They were not me, and I was not them. And we were all doing our best.

I am a voracious learner and when I recognized that they were making shit up or were too focused on “saving” the world, I simply took the action to walk away. They would talk about the vast importance of love, yet they struggled to express it, and clearly had their own traumas to deal with, like everyone else walking the earth. With some, I experienced firsthand the challenging relationships they had with their own children, and the pain that surrounded their own inability to access the love they talked and preached about. I listened intently, but too often, their actions didn’t match what they were saying. This helped me learn to identify who was toxic and who was healthy for my wellbeing. This helped me move away from the hero, victim, and villain stories of our time so I could experiment with what was possible for me.

I didn’t want to fight for my life anymore in a world designed for division, suffering, and just survival. I wanted peace and a renewed sense of sanity in a world where I felt I was simply going crazy. There was no one to talk to openly about what I was going through, and I lost many friendships and relationships along the journey in pursuit of living life my way. I realized that some people had never been healthy for me, though I had once thought they were. But the people who matter deeply to me are still here. Every day is another opportunity to learn as I step into my own uncharted waters without a manual, referring only to my internal compass and the currents to guide me to live out loud in my own way.

My own journey has raised many questions, and I’ve gained wisdom from questioning the different expeditions I’ve experienced. This is what inspires me to encourage you to venture beyond your perceived safety or comfort zone and understand the invisible bars that may be holding you back—and the doors and windows that are waiting to swing open when you’re ready to acknowledge them and live out loud in your own way. No longer needing to mask who you truly are.

Every single one of us experiences challenge, trauma, and heartbreak. No one is spared the opportunity to fully experience life. But how we choose to respond is personal. As we wonder, imagine, and expand our hearts and minds beyond what we can physically see and perceive, we’ll be able to access more information from within ourselves and our natural surroundings. There is a flow to life, and one of our biggest opportunities is to be curious enough to explore the unknown.

We were born into a natural world where the earth, air, space, water, and fire harmoniously play with each other. Beyond our physical environment, humankind created man made systems like the military, the government, education, business, and many more that we’ve been taught to adapt and conform to. Is it really so insane to believe that we could live in a world without war and conflict? Or in a world with an alternative means of education or healthcare?

This is one of the biggest challenges we each face today: resisting the societal conditioning that tells you that you must accept and save these existing systems that no longer serve the vast majority of humanity. Are you going to continue to believe in the programming our ancestors created when it was based solely off self-preservation and survival? What about thriving? Isn’t that more appropriate, now that we have evolved as far as we have? Isn’t it time to question everything about your current reality? Isn’t it time to find your roots and discover with healthy eyes what programs, beliefs, and systems are hurting you at the core? Isn’t it time, most of all, to begin imagining and creating healthy systems that truly support you and lift your spirits with pure joy?

By aligning with nature, you may choose to explore whether the Earth has started a major reset without us. We are each at a point in time of healing and letting go of what no longer serves us. Many of us are already striving to become more aware of the unhealthy aspects of our lives. Identifying those unhealthy aspects can empower you to step into the role you play in creating a healthy, fulfilling life for yourself—where you’re thriving instead of merely surviving according

to an obsolete playbook. If you’ve begun this journey or are looking to start, a great way to begin is by making conscious choices about what you consume.

Trekking into the unknown means facing yourself and what’s possible for you as a creator of a healthy life. When you start following the compass of intention, curiosity, and courage, nothing will lead you astray. Are you constantly living in the past and playing the same character or role in someone else’s comedy, musical, drama, thriller, mystery, tragedy, or horror show? Like the Earth, are you entering a time of reset? Being curious about the unknown and focusing on your opportunity to create—without the external divisions of old systems and societal programming—allows you to experiment with healthy scenarios for yourself with other adventurers who are willing to question, experiment, and co-create.

Some Walks We Take Alone

Wherever you go, there you are. This saying reflects our tendency to constantly want to be going places, as though escaping to a different location will change our reality. But no matter where we go or what we do, we take ourselves and all our baggage with us. When you feel restless or stressed, it might be helpful to channel your feelings into going inside yourself rather than filling your time with external distractions. Sometimes, you may just need a change of perspective, and that’s what many of us are being called to do now. We are relearning how to embrace joy and balance in our lives. This is an opportunity to question whether you’re being true to yourself or

compromising in some way. This journey asks you not to be afraid to be your true self and express yourself in whatever way feels healthy to you.

True freedom is experienced when you unleash your full potential by going deep into the corners of your mind and freeing it from the known. I hope that these words that were entrusted to me can help you apply practical ways of developing your personal power. The universe is here to give whatever level of push you may need, so you can move in whatever direction you feel called to take.

Life is different for each of us. You are at your own stage of understanding why you’re here, and how to use the gifts you’ve been given. It is the trek of a lifetime, and there is no overnight formula for success. It’s personal and fluctuates as you grow and learn how to nurture your body, mind, and soul. Nothing remains stagnant. There’s a physical and spiritual evolution that is unfolding when you become fully aware of reality and step into the unknown.

The true human journey is one of love, forgiveness, compassion, imagination, courage, and a deep connection to the intelligence of nature. The Greek philosopher, Plotinus, reminds us, “The stars are like letters that inscribe themselves at every moment in the sky. Everything in the world is full of signs. All events are coordinated. All things depend on each other. Everything breathes together.”

Through all of the knowing and unknowing, the visible and invisible, facts and mystery, loss and gain, sanity, and insanity of it all—you are here. While you may go to bed dreaming of paradise or wake up from a nightmare where you visited hell, you must always remember that every experience is an opportunity to understand your state of mind. For many of us who are busy living our lives or making a living, trekking into the unknown may mean being still—a place we’ve been unconsciously avoiding because we fear what we might discover.

Being yourself is a gift. When you choose to invest in yourself, you can also begin to transform your mental models by accepting that what seemed to work in the past may not be the healthiest way to engage in the future. You may have been taught not to burn bridges, but life teaches us that some bridges take us nowhere and that it might be more beneficial to abandon them altogether.

All you need to pack on your journey is curiosity and courage. A young person may decide that she wants to leave the big city she grew up in to create a community around a healthy way of living—which is also very ancient. Her dream may be to focus on regenerating the land by tapping into what’s truly essential in her life and those she cares for. It may be an extremely foreign choice for her family and friends to understand, and some may call her crazy, but it takes the crazy ones who marvel at the wonder of possibility to trek into the unknown. Our world is calling us to create individual and collective visions, aspirations, and realities that we have within us. We are being guided into the unknown to forge healthy paths, accept each other, respect varying perspectives and, above all else, to care deeply about ourselves, each other, and the planet.

When you accept that no one really knows what is best for you, things will break open and fall apart. Our culture has claimed that success can only be achieved when referring to decaying principles and obsolete ideologies, such as relying on authorities for answers instead of looking inward and asking yourself what feels healthy for me.

When you don’t comply with the status quo and societal norms, you’re often shamed, blamed, and ridiculed. Isn’t it interesting that you were most likely taught loyalty to others before yourself? Why have so many of us placed our faith, trust, and loyalty in the hands of politicians, business leaders, brands, influencers, philanthropists, musicians, movie stars, and celebrities? How could anyone, outside of you, possibly know what’s best for you? And why do you believe they have your answers? It’s healthy to shed limiting beliefs and the toxic people in your life who are holding you back. It’s healthy to abandon bridges that go nowhere and clear a path to trek into the unknown. There’s no manual where you’re headed, because you don’t need one to get to where you’re going. Curiosity, courage, and the mindset of an adventurer is all you’ll need to venture into a journey of a lifetime.

Trusting Ourselves Creates Alchemy and Synchronicity

We choose whether or not to consume healthy or unhealthy beliefs, foods, and products, and to excuse hurtful behaviors and allow people to treat us in healthy or unhealthy ways. Our beliefs, and the way we have been conditioned, help us justify these choices, while turning our backs on healthy behaviors, beliefs, and people that can enrich and support us. There are millions of reasons why we can’t align our minds with our hearts and continue to do what’s deemed “right” and “good” at our own expense. But once we become aware that there is another way, we must take responsibility for how our lives are orchestrated. Being responsible means that we’re fully accountable for whatever we create—be it healthy or unhealthy. There will be more revealed about this throughout the book as we explore the power behind being the architects of our own lives.

We have the power to choose to not be what others want us to be, regardless of how angry or disappointed they may become. Society, government, friends, and family seem to have a clear idea of how we should live our lives, but that doesn’t mean we must yield to that idea. When we choose a path, we learn whether it’s healthy or unhealthy for us, and continuously make course corrections and upgrades. When we continuously reach into the past and take the same paths we’ve always taken, we stay stuck in our rut and can only see the shadows reflecting in our caves. Life is for the living, and while there’s sadness, grief, and heartache, loneliness is a choice, as we explored in F*ck the Bucket List for the Soul. Life can also flow with abundance when we allow ourselves to experience health, joy, and play.

When you believe that you will never be or have enough— whether it’s money, food, emotions or something else entirely—you will experience thoughts and actions that stem from a place of lack. Unlike society, which teaches a scarcity-mindset, nature teaches us there’s enough for all of us as we experience the warmth of the sun, the radiance of colors, and the intelligence of trees and fungi beneath our very feet. In his book, Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures, Biologist Merlin Sheldrake states that he was drawn to fungi because they consist of a variety of humble yet astonishingly versatile organisms. By simply doing what they do regularly, such as, “eating rock, making soil, digesting pollutants, nourishing and killing plants, surviving in space, inducing visions, producing food, making medicines, manipulating animal behavior, and influencing the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere, fungi are a truly fascinating thing. Fungi’s work is transformational—for instance, they turn biomass into soil and recycle dead organic matter back into organic life. They also

have a dark side, with poisonous varieties. And yet, they are mostly invisible to us.”

What mindset are you bringing with you every day? What baggage are you carrying around? Can you see what’s scarce or abundant in your life and the universe? You can look for the demons in the shadows, call out the evil ones, and judge yourself for not being good enough. Or you can become aware of what you’re creating and allow yourself to take a step into the unknown. As the architect of your life, you have the power to shift your thought process to better assess what and who is healthy or unhealthy for you. What type of life do you want to create? What world do you want to co-create? Here you now are—aware and curious enough to dare. What do you choose to bring with you on this journey and what will you leave behind?

Albert Einstein reminds us that, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.”

Are you ready to embrace your adventurous side and take a walk into the unknown?

Enjoy your adventure!

With deep gratitude,

The Universe with Ayelet

If you hope well in life, everything turns out fine. But hope for Rhodesia is fading...

Granted a Crown Land farm, all Bobby Preston wants is a life of happiness. With a woman by his side. His estate to flourish. A family. With that, he proposes marriage. To a girl he barely knows...

Full of optimism and excitement, Katie accepts and begins her voyage to Africa. Spending her first night under the African stars, it all seems perfect. But then doubts begin to set in. Tensions are rising with stirrings of a vicious conflict on the horizon. Black nationalism continues to grow, and the future is looking very bleak. For some...

The best of times are over and for Britain, its domination in Africa is beginning to crumble. Peter Rimmer's tenth outing, Full Circle, in the massive Brigandshaw Chronicles, will leave you with so many questions and a deep yearning for all it once was.

A heartbreaking doctor's visit. A fate she never saw coming. She'd dig deep for the strength she so desperately needed...

Seattle, 2015. Jenny Lisk was happy with a perfectly normal, busy life. But after the usual bustling week, Friday night turned from downtime into mild alarm when her forty-three-year-old spouse shared that he'd been feeling dizzy. And after ten days of his condition steadily worsening, she still wasn't prepared for the stunning news: He was terminally ill.

Reeling from his diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumor, Jenny suddenly became not only a wife, mother, and career woman, but also a cancer-patient caregiver and parent of grieving children. And her many fears and uncertainties swirled around one relentless question:

Did she have what it takes to help her young family survive?

Through a vulnerable, honest account of preparing for the death of a loved one, Jenny shares tips and information about childhood grief, how to be there for mourning friends, and ways online communities provide essential support. And for those who feel lost and alone, or are grappling with any kind of loss, her deeply personal journey provides a universal beacon of hope.

Future Widow: Losing My Husband, Saving My Family, and Finding My Voice is a brave and raw narrative that doesn't pull any punches on the realities of caregiving and bereavement. If you like captivating stories, authentic inspiration, and understanding the grieving process, then you'll find encouragement in Jenny Lisk's touching memoir.

Buy Future Widow to rebuild a life today!

“With lyrical prose and unforgettable characters, Hepburn's Necklace proves that Jan Moran is a writer at the top of her game and a storyteller to remember.” —Kristy Woodson Harvey, USA Today bestselling author of Feels Like Falling

A vintage necklace. A long-hidden secret. A second chance for love.

When costume designer Ariana Ricci leaves her groom at the altar, she seeks solace at the Palm Springs home of her great-aunt, a Texas-born Hollywood legend who began her career as an extra on the film Roman Holiday. While opening yellowed, 1950s letters postmarked Italy, Ariana discovers relics from her great-aunt's hidden past, including an intriguing necklace that Audrey Hepburn gave her during the filming of the movie.

Aching for a fresh start and the chance to resolve an unfinished story, the two embark on a journey to the sun-dappled shores of Lake Como, Italy that will illuminate secrets of a bygone era and offer second chances to each of them—if they are bold enough to seize them. Escape on a heartwarming journey to Lake Como and the set of Roman Holiday in Hepburn's Necklace today.

Author Bio:

Jan Moran is a USA Today bestselling author of women's fiction. She writes stylish, uplifting, and emotionally rich contemporary and 20th-century historical fiction. Midwest Book Review and Kirkus have recommended her books, calling her heroines strong, complex, and resourceful. Her books are also translated into German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Turkish, Bulgarian, Lithuanian, and other languages. Jan studied writing at the UCLA Writers Program, sailed on Semester at Sea, and graduated from the University of Texas and Harvard Business School. She lives near the beach in southern California.

Shop the Heartwarming Family Sagas Standalone Fiction series

Addie Snyder's first novel is becoming an overnight sensation. Unprepared for being thrusted in the limelight, she is desperate to shelter her brother, Owen, who has Down syndrome. After her father abandoned them when Owen was just a baby, she is his sole guardian after her mother passed away. She must protect him from the harsh world, but how can she do that with public events coming up? An unlikely ally in her cold and emotionless publicist, Jameson Ford. As a former Navy Seal, Jameson has his own demons, but there is something about Addie that defrosts his icy wall. Together, they navigate the twists and turns as her book becomes a world-wide phenomenon.

Her life becomes even more complicated when her long-lost father arrives threatening to take Owen away from her and her distant relatives trying to hoard in on Addie's success. But, through the drama, Addie maintains her humor while popping chocolate kisses as if they were Xanax and seeking solace behind her computer creating stories that fill her soul. Even though all of her dreams are coming true, no one can prepare her for what lies ahead. It's true when they say, be careful what you wish for.

About the Author
Jones, Allison: - Allison Jones was born and bred in Louisville, Kentucky. She has spent most of her career writing for various regional publications and growing her blog, Square Peg, Round Hole, an online diary that provides a humorous account of her real life. When she isn't writing, she enjoys hanging out with her husband Brian, and two sons, Bailey and Bryce.

Former elementary school teacher and mom of 3, Melissa McCann, presents readers with a new and encouraging way to help wiggly toddlers calm down and read with their loved ones. Inspired by her own bedtime routine with her son, Melissa introduces us to Mama and Little Fox. Join them as they get ready for bed with snuggling, counting, and so many different ways to say. "I love you." The book has a simple message, yet its colorful and playful art will keep your toddler enamored. Now more than ever, kids need to hear how special they are. This book is a great way to show how much your little sunshine means to you in a beautifully easy way.

About the Author
McCann, Melissa: - Former elementary school teacher, mother of 3 young rascals. Melissa grew up in Santa Barbara, CA where she currently resides with her husband and children. Melissa attended UC Berkeley for college. Having lived in New York, Italy, San Francisco after college, Melissa found herself wanting to be back in her beautiful home town of Santa Barbara to continue her teaching career and start a family. Melissa is a foodie to her core, a lover of travel, adventure, and firmly believes in trying new things and stepping out of one's comfort zone. Being a mother is Melissa's favorite part about herself, however that has not come without its challenges. Her first book was a project inspired by her son, Charlie, and the strategies she used to help navigate her way through those infamous toddler years and the struggle to inspire a love of reading. Her hope in writing this book is for it to find its place with other mothers who might also be in the throws of toddlerhood and in need of some new ways to show and receive that intense yet incredible love.

Perfect for fans of C.S. Harris and Anne Perry, and devotees of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.

When the body of gentlewoman is found in a Romani caravan, and a second woman from the village of Birch Hill goes missing, Redmond and Haze must peel back the layers of lies, prejudice, and misdirection to discover who’s truly behind the crimes.

With little connection between the victims, no obvious motive, and few clues, the case is their most challenging to date. Can they solve it before the killer strikes again?

Author Bio:

Irina Shapiro will be first in line if recreational time travel ever becomes a reality, but for now, she must rely on flights of imagination, traveling through time and space vicariously through her characters. Irina particularly enjoys stories set in the past, where the characters must navigate the volatile political climates of their time while still managing to live, love, and cause mischief.

Irina has always had a particular fascination with the paranormal, and explores some of these themes in her books. She believes that nothing is truly impossible; true love can transcend space and time, and live on forever.

Shop the Redmond and Haze Mysteries series

Izzy's life is about to change soon in the biggest way possible. She is excited and nervous and torn about whether or not to give her ex, Rick Savage another chance. Rick has tried to be a better man. He's gone through anger management classes and really seems to be making an effort. But is that enough? Does she owe it to him, to them, to try one more time? Or is it okay for her to move on and possibly even consider a future with someone else? Not that she is looking to do that, but there is someone else who she has known as a friend for a long time. He's a very good friend and at times she wonders if there could be something more there. But, she has bigger things to consider first. Someone other than herself and it's all new to her. But, her sister Mia is there to help. Izzy is now living with Mia since her condo was renovated. And Mia has a promising new romance. And there's a lot going on with the Hodges family too. Kate has a very big announcement and Lisa learns that she has been violating a major rule for her bed and breakfast. So changes are coming.

The arrangement was just meant to fix their marriage.

No one was supposed to get hurt.

But when the rules of this open marriage are broken, the consequences are sinister.

Ainsley Greenburg is a fixer.

It's what she prides herself on.

So, when she realizes her marriage is at its breaking point, she makes a decision to repair it, no matter the cost. Approaching her husband to propose the arrangement is supposed to be the hard part, but Peter agrees to the salacious plan almost immediately.

The rules are simple:

• They will each date someone new once a week.
• They will never discuss what happens on the dates.

Soon, though, the rules are broken, turning terrible mistakes into unspeakable consequences.

When the only person they can count on to keep their darkest secret is each other, new questions and deceits surface. Can they truly trust the person they share a life with, or will the vicious lies that have mounted over the years destroy everything they've built?

Once, Peter and Ainsley vowed to stand together forever, but as they push boundaries of deception, suspicion, and temptation, each begins to wonder if 'til death do us part may come sooner than they'd intended.

In this third installment of the Chronicles of the Medieval Underworld, a primordial force strikes the countryside, causing death and destruction in its wake. It's up to Thurmond, Sarah, Roscoe, and Torgul to figure out what's happening and stop it before a war breaks loose.

After years of difficult missions and escaping death, Thurmond and his witch companion, Sarah, have finally been initiated into the Brotherhood of the Underworld Adventurers. Their dedication is tested quickly as the people of Gorgonholm have fallen under a dark and dangerous spell-wives poison husbands, old friends viciously attack each other and, most importantly, the wild neighboring Keltin clans plan to invade and slaughter them all.

To save the city, Thurmond and his steadfast comrades are tasked with finding Malaichai, the only wizard powerful enough to defeat this eldritch force. Their perilous journey is filled with old foes and haunted traps. Worse yet, the wizard Malachai has gone mad with necromancy and has an obsession with melding humans and animals to create hybrid creatures. Their mission keeps getting stranger, but with a war quickly approaching, the crew will risk anything to save the people of Gorgonholm.

From the subterranean vaults of a malicious necromancer to the crash and chaos of a medieval battlefield, The Battle of Gorgonholm will have you on the edge of your seat rooting for the unlikely heroes.

About the Author
MacKenzie, Robert John: - Robert John MacKenzie is an experienced educator with an abiding enthusiasm for medieval history and literature. He has traveled extensively throughout Europe, exploring museums, castles, and battlefields. After living for years in Asia and Europe, he now resides in northern California.

It was intoxicating. Thrilling. It was so unlike her. Aila was always a good wife. Never reckless. Always faithful. Until she wasn't.

Aila Sorenson doesn't know what happened to her marriage. She actively participated in building the life she and her husband, Ben, created but she no longer recognizes herself when she remembers the role she dreamt up fifteen years ago.

While Ben has been building a successful career as an attorney in Seattle, Aila has remained in the shadows taking care of their home and tending to their children while struggling to find a balance between the monotony and the chaos. They appear to be shining pillars of marital perfection-attending church on Sundays, volunteering, and surpassing every expectation society has of them-but deep down, Aila knows their marriage is crumbling. She often wonders if Ben even realizes it.

When Aila unexpectedly runs into someone from her past, the illusion she and Ben created begins to shatter. While many merely wonder about the road not taken, Aila runs down it full-speed. After months of authentic and insatiable passion, Aila rivals her devotion against her desires and must decide which one is worth fighting for.

HEEDLESS. STUBBORN. DISGRACED.

Small town Illinois, 1870: Desperate to avoid marriage, Nell Lillington refuses to divulge the name of her child's father and accepts her stepfather's decision that the baby be born at a Poor Farm and discreetly adopted.

Until an unused padded cell is opened and two small bodies fall out.

Nell is the only resident of the Poor Farm who is convinced the unwed mother and her baby were murdered, and rethinks her decision to abandon her own child to fate. But even if she manages to escape the Poor Farm with her baby, she may have no safe place to hide.

Does love conquer all? Nell's not so sure.

Adjusting to wedlock isn't easy for a woman whose initial aversion to the married state took her to the Poor Farm. When a tragedy out of the blue prompts her to repay past debts, her charitable instincts threaten to wreck her happy new life. What does she really want-and what does she really need?

Attraction to an old friend shakes Tess's world. Can she change his indifference to love?

Martin struggles with demons from his own past as he oversees the rebuilding of the store and the creation of a new home. Will his ambitions hurt those he loves the most?

Young Sarah faces the antagonist who knows the secret that might ruin her future.

Join the beloved characters from the House of Closed Doors series as we bridge the years between Nell's story and Sarah's, interweaving stories of love and despair, darkness and light in the turbulent Chicago of the late 1870s.

About the Author
Steen, Jane: - Jane Steen grew up in England but lived in Belgium and the United States as an adult, before returning to the UK in 2016. Her corporate writing career included translation, editorial guidance for lawyers, contract drafting, writing fundraising appeals, marketing for realtors, and freelancing as a communications consultant. Jane is an independent writer of historical fiction, concentrating on the Victorian mystery sub-genre. She is a member of the Alliance of Independent Authors, the Historical Novel Society, Novelists, Inc., and the Society of Authors.

Meet the Parker Women...

Donna and Evelyn, two fifty-something sisters who live in the small town of Moonbeam on the lovely Moonbeam Bay. Evelyn is known for her culinary skills and orchestrating every charity event that crosses her path. Donna runs the Parker General Store that has been in their family for generations, ever since Grace Parker and her husband opened it. The town of Moonbeam has always referred to all the women descended from Grace Parker as "the Parker women."

Their daughters, Olivia and Heather, are more than cousins, they are best friends and born on the same day.

Donna's daughter, Olivia, helps out at the store and has big plans for it-if Donna would ever give her a chance to implement any of them.

Evelyn's daughter, Heather, is a well-known illustrator who pops into town now and again-just what is she hiding from?

Then there is the matriarch of the family, Patricia. She's rather-difficult.

Read the heartwarming saga of The Parker Women, their friends, and family in the new Moonbeam Bay series.

And if you're familiar with Kay Correll's other books? Camille Montgomery is in book one of this series and just wait to see what happens with her

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

CONFLICTING DESIRES AND A DANGEROUS CITY

Chicago, 1876: Martin was doubtless joking when he told Nell that if she got herself mixed up with a murderer for the third time, he'd disown her. But

when Martin himself is arrested for murder, Nell's dreams of a new life appear to be swallowed up in the web of secrets she constructs to help him.

Secrets that threaten to alienate everyone Nell holds dear.

As Nell steps out into a new world of possibilities, she is assailed by the conflicting desires of loved ones who have had their own lives upended. Can she find her role in Chicago's commercial kingdom-and stay out of danger?

About the Author
Steen, Jane: - Jane Steen grew up in England but lived in Belgium and the United States as an adult, before returning to the UK in 2016. Her corporate writing career included translation, editorial guidance for lawyers, contract drafting, writing fundraising appeals, marketing for realtors, and freelancing as a communications consultant. Jane is an independent writer of historical fiction, concentrating on the Victorian mystery sub-genre. She is a member of the Alliance of Independent Authors, the Historical Novel Society, Novelists, Inc., and the Society of Authors.

“A story worthy of more than 5 Stars.” —Wild Sage Book Blog

The wholesome second book in USA Today bestselling author Tess Thompson's Emerson Pass Historicals historical romance series.

Her love died on a battlefield. He carries a torch for a woman he’s never met. Can the tragic death of a soldier entwine the souls of two strangers?

Colorado, 1920. Josephine Barnes wrote every day to her beloved fiancé battling in the trenches of the Great War. Devastated when he’s killed in action, she vows never to marry and buries her grief in the construction of the town’s first library. But she’s left breathless when she receives a request from a gracious gentleman to visit and return the letters containing her declarations of desire.

Philip Baker survived the war but returned home burdened with a distressing secret. Though he knows it’s wrong, he can’t stop reading through the beautiful sentiments left among his slain comrade’s possessions. Plagued by guilt, he’s unable to resist connecting with the extraordinary woman who captured his heart with her words.

When Josephine invites Philip to join her gregarious family for the holidays, she’s torn by her loyalty to a ghost and her growing feelings for the gallant man. And as Philip prepares to risk everything by telling her the truth about her dead fiancé, he fears he could crush Josephine’s blossoming happiness forever. 

Will they break free from their painful pasts to embrace a passion meant to be?

SCROLL FOR SAMPLE!

Author Bio:
Tess Thompson is the USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author of contemporary and historical romantic women’s fiction with nearly forty published titles. When asked to describe her books, she could never figure out what to say that would perfectly sum them up until she landed on “Hometowns and Heartstrings.”

Book Excerpt:

Chapter 1: Josephine

The letter from Phillip Baker came on paper as thin as our pond’s ice after a first autumn freeze. Perhaps that delicate paper should have been a clue as to what was to come. How my life would change. One could not skate on ice that thin. How right I was.

I read his correspondence twice, thinking through his offer. With a lightness in my steps that did not match my heavy heart, I walked to the window of my parents’ sitting room. A first snowfall had blanketed the valley where my father’s estate dwelt between two Colorado mountains. Our winter wonderland had come late this year. A brilliant, sunny, crisp fall had gone on for months. Given all that the last few years had bestowed upon us, we gratefully enjoyed every moment.

We’d survived the days and days of worry over my twin brothers fighting in France and the threat of the Spanish flu to the troops. Then, a second wave—the deadliest wave—of the Spanish flu had plundered the world. A third in the fall, threatening us once more. Emerson Pass had managed to remain isolated enough that we’d been spared.

Finally, though, it seemed as if the world would return to our lives before the war. Papa and Mama had seemed to be able to breathe again for the first time since the boys had enlisted, not yet seventeen, having lied about their age. Our dear friend Isak Olofsson had also survived. All three were home now. Not quite the same, but physically intact.

Not all of our boys returned to Emerson Pass. We’d lost Francis Lane. I hadn’t known him well, but he was part of us. A soul lost. Buried in a cemetery across the seas. A young man who would never know what it was like to marry, have children, grow old.

And I’d lost Walter Green. He was not one of us. No one but I mourned him here. I had enough grief for a whole town.

The first letter from Phillip Baker had come in the fall of 1918. I could remember every word.

My name is Phillip Baker. I’m not sure if Walter ever mentioned me in his letters, but we knew each other for a brief time when we were children and then, by coincidence, were assigned to the same unit for basic training and sent to France together. I’m writing to tell you that Walter was killed in action last week. I was aware of your correspondence with him and that you would want to know. I’m sorry. He died bravely and without any suffering.

Just a month before the end, he’d been killed in action. The promise of our future together snuffed out before it began. I’d had only two weeks with him. Two weeks of bliss. Now I had only the memories. They would have to sustain me for the rest of my life. I would be a spinster. A librarian spinster and auntie to my six siblings’ children.

I touched my fingertips to the cold glass. Snow fell steadily outside the windows. In Colorado, we had at least a dozen words to describe snowflakes. Today it was a dry, fat flake. Good for skiing, according to Flynn and Theo. A new sport they’d fallen in love with after their time in Europe. They’d come home determined to bring skiing here to Emerson Pass. The sport of the future, Flynn had declared. A way for our town to continue to grow and flourish. Shops would be built around the visitors. They’d seen it in the Alps. It would work here too, they’d told Papa. He’d agreed to let them use part of their trust for the investment in their future. They were now happily planning away for the new version of our town. They’d cleared trees on the northern mountain for runs and built a lodge from the logs. In the spring, they would complete the rest of the needed details. By next winter, if all went well, skiing would have come to us for good.

I returned to the letter, reading the neat handwriting.

November 20, 1919

Dear Josephine,

I hope this letter will find you well. I’m also hopeful that you’ll remember who I am. If not, I’ll be mortified. Since returning from the war, I’ve been in New York City. Unfortunately, I became very ill last year with the Spanish flu. While convalescing, I remembered your descriptions of Emerson Pass from the letters you wrote to Walter. (He often read passages to me and the other men.)

Your descriptions of the wildflowers, sky, and trees have convinced me to travel west in pursuit of my own place of belonging. I’ve decided to take a leap of faith and come to Colorado, perhaps to settle for good. I’m writing to see if I might visit you and your family? I ended up with your letters and the books you sent. I feel guilty that I haven’t sent them to you before now, as I’m sure you’d like to have them.

My request and trip may sound strange to you, but there’s nothing or no one keeping me here. I grew up in an orphanage and have never truly had a home.

We all looked forward to your letters, as Walter shared many stories of you and your family with the rest of us lonely boys who, sadly, had no one writing to us. From your stories, I feel as if I know you all. I’d be honored to bring your letters, novels, and photograph and to meet you and your family.

I’m also hopeful that your father and brothers might have ideas for me in regard to work. Before the war, I apprenticed with a cabinetmaker. If they know of anything, I’d be pleased to hear of it.

If you’re amenable to my visit, I thank you kindly and look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Phillip Baker

His request to visit wasn’t the strange part. I found it odd that he made no mention of Walter, other than to say he’d shared my letters. An image of Walter laughing during one of our picnics flashed before my eyes. His sunny head of hair and light blue eyes had transfixed me from the start. He’d had an infectious smile that made me feel dizzy. I’d met him in Denver while I was attending a librarian conference. He’d been passing through on his way to report for duty. Our meeting had been pure chance. He happened to be out that warm evening while I walked in the park with colleagues. I’d thought at the time it was destiny. I now knew it was the day that led to my broken heart. Did I wish I’d never met him and be spared the pain of losing him? I couldn’t answer that question.

I pressed my forehead against the glass. If only the coolness would numb the rest of me. Even for a few minutes. To feel like my old self instead of a worn-out, dried-up spinster. I would be twenty-three on my next birthday. Most women were married with a child by this age.

“What is it, Jo? Why did you sigh?” Papa asked from behind his newspaper.

I hadn’t realized I’d sighed. Papa knew me too well. After everything we’d been through together, it was no wonder. I turned from the window and stepped nearer to the couch where he and Mama Quinn were having their tea. “It’s a letter from Walter’s friend. The one who wrote to tell me of Walter’s death.”

“Yes, we remember.” Mama’s eyes immediately softened with sympathy. “What does he want?”

“He wants to come out here for a visit and possibly to stay. My letters were a travel brochure, I guess.”

Papa lowered the paper onto his lap. “How interesting.” His English accent, according to my friends, remained as strong today as it had been when he came to America so many years ago. I, however, could not hear it. He sounded only like my beloved Papa.

“Does he have a wife and family?” Mama folded her hands together on her lap. I’d pulled her from reading. The novel, My Ántonia, was face-open on the couch next to her. Her fair hair was arranged in waves pulled back into a bun at the nape of her neck. Younger than my father by fifteen years, she was blessed with delicate, even features and a heart-shaped face.

Just over ten years had passed since she’d arrived to open the first school of Emerson Pass and my father’s heart. Almost immediately she’d become the heart of our family. All five of us thought of her as our mother. Since their marriage, two little sisters had come, bringing our total to seven. Papa called us “The Lucky Seven.”

“He has no family of any kind,” I said. “In fact, he was raised in an orphanage. I have the feeling he’s in need of a fresh start and work. He thought Papa might have ideas for him.”

“How sad. We’ll help him in any way we can.” Mama set her teacup onto its saucer and fixed her kind brown eyes upon me. “Unless there’s a reason you wouldn’t want him to come here?” The anxious way she looked at me lately filled me with guilt. Papa, Mama, and my sisters had been worried about me. I hated knowing I caused them concern. My job was to be the responsible, steady eldest, not the sad, mopey mess I’d become.

“No, not at all,” I said. “Should we invite him to stay with us? Just until he can figure out what to do next?”

“Yes, we’ve room for him if he doesn’t mind bunking with the boys.” Papa drained the last of his tea and set aside his cup. “I’m keen to help any man who fought in that terrible war.”

“He says he trained as a cabinetmaker.” I hugged my middle as I walked over to the fire that roared in the hearth, crackling and snapping. “He says Walter shared the contents of my letters with him and the rest of the boys. I find that…perplexing.”

“Which part?” Mama asked.

“That he shared them. My letters were intimate, meant for only one pair of eyes.” I looked down at my hands to keep from crying.

“Darling, it doesn’t really matter,” Papa said softly. “If your letters brought them some relief, isn’t it an honor?”

“I suppose.” I sat in one of the armchairs and watched the fire. One end of a log looked like the nose of a fox.

Mama smoothed her hands over the top of her day dress made of crimson organza. “Phillip must stay for Christmas.”

“Yes, I agree,” Papa said. “He shouldn’t be alone for the holidays. We’ll take care of him until he can get on his feet. The boys can show him around town, do a little carousing.”

“Alexander, carousing?” Mama raised her eyebrows and looked properly mortified. “Our boys do not carouse.”

Papa didn’t answer, but his eyes twinkled as he gazed at her. My chest ached with both gratitude and sorrow. Their love pleased me. Yet it also brought to light what I’d lost. I’d hoped Walter and I would share a life as they had.

Mama returned her gaze to me. “Jo, what’s troubling you?”

“We don’t know Phillip,” I said. “What if he’s awful?”

“I doubt he will be,” Mama said. “He was so kind to write to you about Walter’s death.”

“That’s true. If he’s Walter’s friend, he must be all right,” I said.

“We didn’t really know Walter,” Papa said.

I sucked in my bottom lip to hold back a retort. Never in my life had there been any discord between my parents and me. However, they hadn’t approved of my whirlwind courtship with Walter. Which was in no way his fault. He hadn’t had time to come home with me and meet my family. “He was here such a short time. There wasn’t an opportunity for him to court me properly. He planned to, when he returned from the war.”

“Yes, of course, darling. We understand,” Mama said in a soothing voice.

“Yes, yes, quite right.” Papa followed up too hastily. No one wanted to upset me these days. I missed when my family treated me normally. Now it felt as if I were a fragile piece of china no one wanted to break.

“May I read the letter?” Mama asked.

I nodded and handed it over the tea set. She unfolded the letter and began to read.

“Sweetheart, have a biscuit,” Papa said to me. “You’re looking much too thin.”

I obeyed, not having the energy to disagree, and put a cookie, which Papa called a biscuit, on a plate. He poured a cup of tea and set it on the table front of me. He believed most problems could be solved after a cup of tea. Given my troubled mother’s death when I was nine, I’d known differently for a long time.

Mama folded the letter and put it back in the envelope. She had a strange look on her face, somewhere between puzzled and intrigued. “I think it might be good for you to have him here.”

“You mean to tell me stories about Walter?”

“Not that exactly,” Mama said. “He’s someone of your own age group. Perhaps he will become a new friend?”

Mama and Papa exchanged a glance I couldn’t decipher.

“I don’t need friends. I have Poppy and my sisters.” Poppy and I had grown up together. Their parents had died when Poppy was young and her older brother, Harley, had raised her while acting as groundskeeper and gardener. Poppy had been away for the better part of two years, working as an apprentice to a veterinarian in cattle country. I’d missed her more than I’d thought possible. She had just always been there and now she was off to her own adventures. “Poppy will be back in a few weeks. But I shall be a good hostess, don’t worry.”

“Regardless, we can’t let a hero be alone during what’s supposed to be the merriest time of the year.” Mama had the biggest heart in the world, rivaled only by my sister Fiona, who seemed to think it was her job to look after every single person in the world.

“I’ll write him this evening and ask if he’d like to stay with us,” I said.

All four of my gaggle of sisters rushed into the room. Those who thought only boys were loud had never met my sisters. Harley had taken them into town in the sleigh to ice-skate for the afternoon. The pond in the center of town had frozen solid for the first time this season just last night.

“You won’t believe what Delphia did,” Cymbeline said, without concern over interrupting the adults.

Delphia, in preparation for the admonishment, tore a cap from her mushroom of blond curls and glared at her older sister. “I didn’t do it.”

At sixteen, Cymbeline lorded over the younger ones. Fiona, thirteen, was the protector. Adelaide, or Addie as we called her, was quiet and shy and obedient to bossy Cymbeline’s wishes. Four-year-old Delphia, bless her, had the same fire as Cymbeline. From the time she could talk, she was having none of the dictatorship.

“She challenged a boy twice her age to a race,” Cymbeline said. “And when she didn’t win, she knocked him to the ground.”

Delphia’s bottom lip trembled. “I didn’t.”

“The whole thing was an accident.” Fiona placed her hand on Delphia’s head. “She slid into him because she was going so fast. Anyway, she learned it from you, Cym. You’re always racing boys.”

“That’s different.” Cymbeline’s color heightened, making her even more beautiful than the moment before. God help us all, she was stunning and looked more like a woman than a girl. Mama always said we only had two types in this family. Fair and blond, like her, me, and the two youngest girls. Or dark hair and deep blue eyes, like Papa, the boys, Cymbeline and Fiona.

“Come here, little one,” Papa said to Delphia.

She trudged over to him. He pulled her into his lap. “Tell me what happened.”

She looked up at him with angelic eyes. “It’s what Fiona said. I was going fast, pretending that a monster was chasing me, and then I ran into him.”

“Did you say you were sorry?” Mama asked.

“Yes, that’s not the problem,” Cymbeline said as she grabbed a cookie from the plate. “She said she was sorry and then she planted a kiss on him. On his cheek.”

I had to cover my mouth with my hand to hide my smile.

“His cheeks looked like an apple,” Delphia said. “I just had to kiss one.”

I caught Mama’s eye. She seemed to be trying not to laugh but kept it together enough to say, “Delphia, you mustn’t ever kiss a boy.”

“But why?” Delphia blinked her big blue eyes.

“Because it’s not proper,” Mama said.

I noticed Addie was shivering. “Come here, doll. I’ll warm you up.” I tucked her into the chair next to me and rubbed her cold hands between mine. Addie was quiet and serious like me. I adored her.

“Mama and Papa kiss all the time,” Delphia said.

“They’re married.” Cymbeline plopped into an armchair next to me. “You don’t understand anything about how the world works.”

“Cym, don’t say it like that. She’s just a little girl.” Fiona went to stand in front of the fire with her hands behind her back.

“I’m your baby,” Delphia said as she gazed up at our father. “Right, Papa?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you’re allowed to kiss boys.” Papa put his chin on her head and looked over at me with eyes that danced with humor. Mama always says it was his dancing eyes that drew her to him. I knew exactly what she meant. “You’re my baby, which means you can’t love any boy but me.”

“I won’t do it again.” Delphia let out a long-suffering sigh, as if all the fun in the world was taken from her.

“Besides the unfortunate incident with the apple cheek,” Mama said, “what else happened?”

“That ridiculous Viktor Olofsson was skating with all the girls, one after another.” Cymbeline shook her dark curls. “He had the nerve to ask me.”

“What did you say?” I asked, knowing the answer, but teasing her anyway.

“Jo, don’t be daft,” Cymbeline said. “I would never let that big oaf touch my hand.”

He was a large man but most certainly not an oaf. Although his shoulders were thick and wide like a Colorado mountain, he was a gentle, intelligent soul who I suspected had a deep and long-lasting crush on Cymbeline. “I think he’s like a hero in a storybook. Brave and strong.” I’d once seen him pick up a wagon off a man’s leg when the horse had bucked and broken free, leaving his owner under a wheel. With almost white hair and light green eyes, he looked like the Vikings in one of the history books I had in the library.

Cymbeline’s eyes flashed as she stuck out her plump bottom lip and scowled. Strangely, her sour expression did nothing to disguise her beauty. “He’s such a show-off, doing tricks on the ice.”

“You do tricks on the ice,” Fiona said, not unkindly but more as a fact. “All the same ones Viktor does.”

Her observation was correct. If Viktor learned a trick on the ice, Cymbeline practiced until she’d conquered it.

Mama had confided in me more than once that she was afraid Cymbeline would never be satisfied living in a man’s world as we do. If she’d been old enough, I had no doubt she would have volunteered to be a nurse in the war effort overseas.

“Well, be that as it may,” Mama said, “we have exciting news. Jo’s acquaintance, Phillip Baker, is coming to stay with us for the holidays.”

“The one who wrote to you about Walter?” Fiona asked.

“The same,” I said. “How did you remember?”

Fiona shrugged. “I remember everything about my family. Anyway, it wasn’t like I could ever forget that day.” Her eyes glistened. “I shouldn’t like to ever see you that way again, Jo.”

I held out my hand to her. “Come here, sweet sister.” She sat on the arm of my chair and I patted her knee. “You don’t have to worry. I’ll never give my heart to anyone else. I’m the spinster of the family.”

Chapter 2: Phillip

The train chugged up a slope so steep I was certain we would not stay on the tracks. Across from me, a baby in her mother’s arms cried. To distract myself from my fears of falling into the abyss below me, I pulled out the letter from Josephine. I breathed in the faint smell of her perfume that lingered on the paper. My imagination? Perhaps. Regardless, this one was to me, unlike the stack I’d read too many times to remember. Letters that were not written to me. By a girl who didn’t belong to me.

It’s a terrible thing to hate a dead man.

Yet I knew him for who he truly was. When I’d known him as a child in the orphanage, I’d recognized immediately how he used his charm to get what he wanted. Even the nuns fell for his act. When he ran away at age twelve, I genuinely think their hearts were broken. Women, even ones sworn to love Jesus, couldn’t help but fall for Walter Green.

Hope lurked inside me, goading me into this fool’s errand. After cheating death a second time by recovering from the Spanish flu, I would not rest easy until I came west and told Josephine the truth about the man to whom she’d pledged her eternal love. If not for me, I knew she would love a ghost, possibly forever. Josephine Barnes was a loyal woman. Nothing would deter her unless she understood what kind of man he really was under all that golden-haired, blue-eyed charm. I couldn’t bear the thought of a woman like her spending the rest of her life remembering a man who never really existed. Walter Green was not the man she thought he was. I was the only one left alive to tell her the truth.

He hadn’t loved her. There were other women who wrote to him. All who believed he would marry them when he returned from the war. All targeted for their wealth. Playing the odds, he’d said to me one time. The more he had waiting, the more likely he would marry into money. Those were to secure his future. Countless dalliances with nurses were just for fun.

Yes, I wanted her to know the truth. But it wasn’t for purely altruistic reasons. I wanted her for myself. As I’d convalesced after the flu, I’d read the letters she’d sent to Walter hundreds of times. I’d stared at her photograph until I memorized every detail of her pretty face. The stories of her close family and the beautiful mountains where she lived had moved me more than they should have. In truth, I’d fallen in love with her. Was I lonely? Yes. I’d been lonely all my life. This was something else entirely. In addition to my yearning for a family and my romantic nature, I had this odd sensation of a deep connection between the two of us. The idea of fate, even soul mates, had crossed my mind. Was there a reason beyond mortal comprehension that I’d been the one who ended up with the box of her correspondence?

Could I pinpoint the exact moment I decided to write to her and ask if I might come to visit? Not really. It was more of a gradual thing, an expansion in my mind of what might be possible. Even though I knew her affection toward me was unlikely, I had to try. A man like me didn’t win a rich, beautiful girl like her. I was poor and uneducated. My only skills were those of a cabinetmaker. Yet I had hope. I’d escaped the war and then the flu. I had to take a chance.

I glanced down at the letter, reading it one more time.

Dear Phillip,

My family and I would very much like you to come for a visit. Whether you decide to stay permanently in Emerson Pass or not, we’d be honored if you’d spend the holidays with us.

I hope you won’t find my large and somewhat obnoxious family too overwhelming. I’ve asked them all to be on their best behavior, but that’s not a guarantee. You’ll bunk with my twin brothers. They also served in the war. I’m sure you’ll all become fast friends.

Papa and my brothers will be happy to help you find employment if you decide to stay.

I shall look forward to meeting you soon.

Sincerely,

Josephine Barnes

I folded the letter and put it back in the envelope, then traced the letters of my name, written by her hand.

Walter, I thought, you lucky, conniving bastard. He’d held that hand in his own.

The train had made it to the top of the peak. I looked out the window to snow that sparkled under the sun. Josephine hadn’t exaggerated about the piercing blue hue of the sky.

The baby stopped crying. Her mother, a pretty blonde woman wearing a gray traveling suit and matching hat, apologized to me for the noise. “The altitude hurts her ears.”

“No need to apologize, ma’am. We were all babies once.”

She peered back at me with obvious curiosity. “Do you know someone in Emerson Pass? Most people who head our way either live there or are visiting family or friends.”

“I’m visiting the Barnes family.”

Her face lit up with a bright smile. “The Barneses. They’re very close friends of mine. I’m Martha Neal. I was the second schoolteacher in Emerson Pass, but now I’m married to the town doctor. He was an outsider who moved to town to take over the practice of our last doctor and somehow managed to make me his wife.” She indicated the baby with a dip of her chin. “This one is named Quinn, after our first teacher in Emerson Pass, who is now married to Alexander Barnes. But you know all that, I suppose?”

How much should I say? My natural tendency was to remain taciturn. When one’s lived the kind of life I have, sharing too much led to either pity or fear, as if being an orphan or poor were contagious. “I served in the war with Josephine’s beau, Walter Green. When he died he left a few items that I thought she might like to have. It’s taken a while to get out here. My name’s Phillip Baker.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re a friend of Walter’s?”

Not exactly a friend. “That’s correct. Did you know him?”

“No, no. I’ve only heard about him from Josephine. Those of us who attended school together are quite close. We meet for tea at least twice a month to discuss books and gossip. Oh dear me, where are my manners? I’m happy to meet you, Mr. Baker, and I’m terribly sorry about Walter. We lost one of our boys and the whole town cried for a week. What you must have seen, I can’t imagine.” Martha bounced Quinn on her lap. The baby babbled and chewed on her fist.

“Thank you. He wasn’t a close friend. We served together, that’s all.” The car jerked, causing both Martha and me to sway slightly. I gripped my seat with both hands.

“Our poor Josephine. His death broke her heart. We all hoped she’d move on, but so far she hasn’t.”

“How so?” I couldn’t help but ask. What luck to meet Martha. I’d gather as much information about Josephine as I could. The nuns often told us that the more we knew about a subject, the better we could make a decision or persuade others to our cause.

“She’s sworn herself to spinsterhood and running the library. Which is disappointing to the eligible bachelors in town. Given half a chance, most of them would snatch her up if they could. She’s remarkable. Did you know she brought the library to us with funding from Andrew Carnegie?”

I nodded. She’d written in detail about the building and opening of her library. As if Walter had cared. I’m not sure he’d ever read a book. “Yes, Walter mentioned that to me.”

“May I ask what you’re bringing to her?” Martha adjusted Quinn to the other knee.

“The letters she wrote to him. There are stacks of them, and I thought she might like to have them. I wanted an excuse to come out here, too. I’m thinking of staying.”

“I hope you will.” She smiled at me. “We’re friendly in Emerson Pass. I think you’ll love it as much as the rest of us do. And how kind of you to bring the letters. Jo walked to the post office every Monday and Friday with a letter in her hand. Without fail, even though he almost never sent one in return. Do you know why he wrote back so seldom?”

He was too busy sleeping with nurses to reply to Josephine’s heart-wrenchingly beautiful letters. “I’ve no idea, really. He wasn’t the writing sort, I guess.”

“Have you brought the books she sent, too?” Martha asked.

She knew about the books? “Yes, I wanted to return them to her for the library. They gave me such pleasure during difficult times. I wanted to make sure others could enjoy them.”

“You like books?” Martha watched me with a more serious expression on her face.

“More than anything.”

“And Walter?”

“Excuse me?”

“Did he like books? Martha asked.

“I can’t say that he did, no.” He’d always tossed them over to me the moment he took them from the box Josephine had sent. The candy he’d kept for himself. He’d had a terrible sweet tooth.

Her glaze flickered to the window. “How odd.”

“Ma’am?”

“Josephine told me he’d written to her two times about how much he enjoyed the books, even mentioning specific plots and characters. She was thrilled, of course.”

I flushed. I’d told him what to write in those letters so that she continued to think of him as a scholar. Both times he’d tricked me into describing the plots. I couldn’t help myself but to discuss books with enthusiasm.

Martha peered at me through narrowed eyes. “May I be frank about something?”

“Of course.” Where was she going with this?

“I’ve suspected there might have been others. Women, I mean.”

I bit back a bark of surprise. Martha was no fool. I almost smiled with triumph. “What makes you think this?”

“When my husband was courting me, he was already a busy country doctor, yet he wrote me love letters at least once a week, and we lived in the same town. All he had to do to say hello was walk over to my parents’ store. All of which leads me to believe that Walter’s feelings weren’t what he’d professed them to be. What’s the old saying? Actions speak louder than words.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s not for me to say.”

“You shouldn’t play poker.”

“Poker?”

The baby began to fuss. Martha reached into a bag by her side and came out with a hard-looking biscuit and handed it to Quinn. “I can see by the look on your face that there was more to this Walter than Josephine knew.”

I moved my gaze away from her, flustered by this interrogation, and looked out the window. We were now on actual ground, passing through a dense forest of fir and pine trees. If Martha was an example of what I was to face in Emerson Pass, then I better get my story straight.

Given that I was only four when they died of yellow fever, I had only a few memories of my parents. One of them was of my mother scolding me for lying about taking a cookie without asking. Tell the truth, Phillip, even when you know you could get away with a fib.

However, Martha was a stranger to me. I didn’t want Josephine needlessly hurt. If she were to learn Walter’s true character, it should come from me.

“Mr. Baker?”

I returned my gaze to Martha. “Men don’t speak often of matters of the heart.”

“But what about men who face death daily? Don’t they confess their fears? Their loves?”

I was starting to feel rather sorry for Martha’s husband. “I’m not sure what you’re asking.”

“You are sure.”

I didn’t say anything.

“I’ll be clearer,” she said. “Was he in love with Josephine? Was he planning on marrying her as she thought?”

“Respectfully, Mrs. Neal, I’m not sure I know, even if it were for me to say.”

One eyebrow rose. “I see.”

I was afraid she did.

“May I ask,” I said, drawing the words out long, “if his intentions were not completely pure, what would you advise me to tell Josephine?”

She stared at me for a few seconds. Even the baby had stopped chewing on her cookie to focus on me. “I suppose that depends on your intentions. Have you come to hurt her?”

“Of course not. The opposite.”

She gave me a satisfied smile. “May I take a guess, Mr. Baker, about your actual intentions?”

“Of course.” Despite the chill of the train’s car, my shirt clung to my back.

“You’ve fallen in love with her photograph. And perhaps you’ve read her letters, which made you aware of her intelligence and good heart. You most certainly are the one who told Walter what to write about the books.”

I coughed and returned to the view of the landscape.

“You’ve come to get to know her,” Martha said. “To see if your instincts about her are correct.”

“What if I have? Will you rat on me?” I turned back to my interrogator.

She gave me another satisfied smile. “How fortunate that we were to meet today.”

I swallowed and waited for the blow. Was there any other way for her to interpret my actions? Traipsing across the country because I thought I was in love with a girl I’d never met would not be greeted with approval.

“Josephine is my dear friend whom I love very much. However, I also have excellent instincts about people, and I’ve thought from the beginning that something wasn’t quite right with this Walter character. Josephine has been practical and steady her entire life, but in this particular instance, I think she was taken away by the idea of love.”

“Don’t underestimate his charm,” I said drily. “He’d perfected it over time.”

“How long had you known him?”

I drew in a deep breath. I was in too far now. “I knew him for a brief time when we were children. We were at the same orphanage for a year or so. Until he ran away.”

Both eyebrows raised this time. “Ran away? To where, I wonder?”

“In all truthfulness, I don’t know.” He’d run away at twelve, unable to abide by the nuns’ rules. Even during all the hours we’d spent together during the war, he’d not filled me in on exactly where he went or how he survived during the time before he joined the army. I had a distinct feeling that he’d been involved in criminal activity.

“Were there other women? Is he a charlatan? Did he want her money?” Martha asked. “Please, Mr. Baker, tell me the truth.”

“I believe all those things to be true.”

“Believe or know?”

“Know.”

“And the others?”

“All from wealthy families. He was ensuring his future upon his return.”

She was quiet for a moment. Her cheeks had flushed red and she repeatedly tapped her foot as if she wanted to bore a hole through the floor. Finally, she turned to look at me.

“This is what you’re going to do, Mr. Baker. Give it a few days before you tell her of Walter’s true intentions. I’m afraid it’ll drive her away. Kill the messenger, if you will.”

“Yes.”

“Spend time with her. Maybe use a little charm of your own to thaw her out, perhaps show her how much life there is to live.”

“Being charming’s not really my strength. I’ve nothing to offer, really.”

“But you’ve come anyway?”

“Ever hopeful.”

“You’re handsome. That will help.”

I almost laughed. “I am?”

“Yes. Have you not seen yourself in the mirror? Strong jawline. High cheekbones. Sapphire-colored eyes. Enough hair for three men. My husband will be jealous of that, I can assure you.”

“Walter looked like the god of the sun or the like,” I said. “All golden.”

“Yes, I can imagine the type.” She wiped drool from Quinn’s chin with a handkerchief before looking back at me. “One piece of advice. If you win over her family, that’s half the battle. They’re as tight a clan as they come.”

I nodded. “That much was clear from the letters.”

She made a noise somewhere between a yelp and yap. “You did read them. I knew it.”

“I’m ashamed to admit it, but yes. He’d stored them all in a box. I took them with me after he was killed.”

“Did you not have letters of your own?”

“No. There’s no one. Never has been.”

“There should be.”

It was my turn to study Martha. “What makes you think I’m any different from Walter?”

“My parents own the dry goods store in town. I’ve spent my whole life watching people from behind the counter. I can tell an honest man when I see one.”

I had no idea what I’d done to make her think I was honest, but I didn’t ask. She’d figured out everything else rather quickly.

“Her family invited me to stay for the holidays,” I said. “Which astounded me.”

“Get ready, Mr. Baker. That’s just the beginning. In Emerson Pass no one’s allowed to be a stranger for long. Before you know it, you’ll feel like you’ve been here forever.”

As if the train agreed, it slowed as we approached the station.

“Welcome to Emerson Pass,” Martha said. “Where you can belong if you only ask.”

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About the Author
Reinicke, Lisa: - Lisa Reinicke is the majority holder of Our House Publications and author of 4 published children's picture books for sale on Amazon and independent bookstores. Lisa was honored with the Mom's Choice Gold Award for lifetime literary excellence for her children's book Wings and Feet in 2017. She is a storyteller and author of 35 children's stories appearing on local TV shows, elementary schools, and bookstores. The stories have been published in 3 collective recordings for distribution for A Goodnight Sleep Company. She also produced online (virtual) training for service advisors and technicians. Lisa served as head writer and on-camera talent in the videos. Her books are entertaining yet focus on social issues that engage children and parents to discuss. Her four children were all uniquely different ranging from physical differences, adoption, and physiological disorders that lead her following experts in each field to help children overcome the stigma around being different. Lisa passionately works raising money for charities that improve children's lives physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

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