stories in and

Off Balance

Off Balance by Tiffany Costa

Juliette had plenty of love in her life. She owned and operated a a ballet studio bursting with students, parents, and staff that she adored. Sure, there was a gaping hole in the romantic love department, but she was happy. Everything was going right. Until her teenage student, Kelsey Delgato, revealed that she had been abandoned by her mother and needed a place to stay. With a birth certificate in hand naming a man Kelsey didn’t recognize as her father, Juliette tracks him down and makes the call. Only to find out that Caleb Ramirez didn’t know Kelsey existed either. After the shock of a lifetime and a move across the country, Caleb Ramirez is thrown even farther off balance when his alliance with Juliette begins to feel a little more like friendship. Then a bit like attraction. And then a lot like love. Thrown together by circumstance, the three navigate the unknown together in this heartfelt, raw story about whether genetics really does play a role in family and whether or not we can choose who we love.


Sweet Torture

Sweet Torture by P.L Waites

What happens when you accidentally send a text to your best friend's dad that was not meant to be for his eyes? Elona, who is eighteen, is on the cusp of a new chapter- her final year of high school. A dream she has her sights on becoming a model. But beneath her confident exterior lies a secret crush on someone unexpected- Mr. Crane, her best friend's father. Three years ago, after the tragic loss of his wife, Mr. Crane, a painfully handsome man, stands as a hardworking billionaire, a symbol of both success and unspoken pain. His world intersects with Elona's through her best friend, their shared street, and his friendship with her dad. One fateful day, a slip of a thumb changes everything. Elona accidentally sends Mr. Crane a series of revealing photos intended for her best friend. As he sits at the boardroom table, he receives the unexpected images. His gaze lingers on the screen, he has a choice to make. Will he confront the accidental message, risking a fragile friendship and potentially igniting emotions neither anticipated? Or will he grapple with his own desires in silence, seeking a way to navigate this uncharted territory without disrupting the lives around him?


Book of You & I: When Two Souls Collide

Book of You & I: When Two Souls Collide by G Severino

OLIVIA WOODS IS CONVENTIONAL, DOWN-TO-EARTH, AND COMPOSED. She's the kind of girl who goes out of her way to do the right things for others but forgets about herself. BRANDON COLLINS IS UNCONVENTIONAL, A CREATIVE SOUL, AND PRONE TO ECCENTRICITY. He values facts over feelings, and his ability to detach from emotions can sometimes make him lonely. When the universe pushes them together under unfavorable circumstances, like lovers from the past and secret relationships, they try to stay apart. But their feelings are too strong to ignore, and they become swept up in a love like they've never felt before...until their true colors start to show. Even after their first kiss, their first touch, the first time they ever laid eyes on each other; were they destined to meet and fall in love, or was their relationship doomed from the start? *Inspired by true events*


Well, Well, Well

Well, Well, Well by Jody Wenner

No one wants to hear about another person’s dream—unless they’re in it. Bren Wendell, a Midwestern journalist, is compelled to write a column about a seemingly benign dream but worries it will be a career breaker; instead, it spreads like a virus. Letters start pouring in, and to the entire newsroom’s shock, they are not all written by angry boomers. Thousands of readers claim they’ve had the same dream. And somehow Bren has been deemed head weaver. As the country slips into hysterics over its meaning, Bren and her co-worker Zack head out to tackle several of the wackier stories for the newspaper. Feeling pressure to find solid answers, Bren sets aside her own personal problems and digs deep into the investigation. When someone leaks private information about her to the press, the masses deify her on a whole new level, making the work more difficult. A strange conversation she has with a retired psychology professor leads her to wonder if she alone could be responsible for all of the madness she’s witnessed. In order to right the wrong and get things back to normal, Bren has to switch gears and prove the dream wasn’t real.


Holiday Headaches

Holiday Headaches by Melina Druga

Nobody said parenthood was going to be easy, but the holidays are really taking it out of Cassandra Hardwick’s family in the third Christmas interlude of The Rock Star’s Wife. Cassie and her husband haven’t established a solid parenting routine, given that he’s usually on tour. Now, with Nat at home in the Chicago suburbs and the 2004 holiday season fast approaching, these first-time parents have their hands full with baby Megan. Meanwhile, back in Sterling, Cassie’s cousin and his wife are experiencing what can only be described as Murphy’s Law run amok. From a photo with Santa gone horribly wrong to an automotive accident that keeps right on giving, these two sure aren’t getting the gladdest of tidings this year. Finally, in Minneapolis, Cassie’s sister and brother-in-law try to salvage some merriment for their sons and daughter in the face of mounting debt — one that threatens to force them to move back to Sterling. Can these three couples find some Yuletide magic, or are they headed for a disastrous holiday season? Told in three vignettes that range from side-splitting to serious, Holiday Headaches is the perfect Christmastime read for fans on the go.


The Reason Jude Exists

The Reason Jude Exists by A Morgan

‘Amy and my love story began when my first love story ended. What you’re about to read won’t be pretty, but it is an epic tale of love, personal growth, and the things in life that both get in the way and open the door to the best relationships of our lives.’ -Jude Kendrick ~ When Jude became a widower and a single dad aged just thirty-six his life went into a tailspin. Now he tells his unique and heart-wrenching story of how he navigated the complexities of falling in love again, overshadowed by grief and reluctant fatherhood. Falling in love in your late thirties presents many challenges, not least because very few people get to this age without excess relationship baggage. Jude has more than his fair share with his dead wife and overflowing black book. Amy on the other hand, hasn't had children yet, and with the clock ticking, Jude is far from the right man for her to get involved with despite his overwhelming belief that he is. Their story takes place in middle-class England where success is measured by impressive careers, beautiful homes, and fancy cars; yet everyone is failing miserably where it truly at being happy. With his heart on his sleeve and his ego in check, Jude takes a chance at happiness with Amy in the face of the external forces threatening to keep their love tantalisingly out of reach.


A Trashy New Year Romance

A Trashy New Year Romance by Sinnamon Carnelian

Start the new year off with a bang in this captivating tale of resilience and unexpected romance. Paige never expected her world to crumble right before her eyes on New Year's Day. But when she catches her long-term boyfriend engaging in a scandalous affair with her own stepsister, her whole life implodes. Fueled by heartache and determination, Paige decides to leave it all behind and returns to her hometown. As she dives headfirst into the uncertain waters of starting over, Paige finds solace in an old friend's generous job offer. Working at a bustling restaurant and bar seems like the perfect escape, but nothing could prepare her for the enigmatic Duke Griffin, her new boss. Who seems more interested in her than her work ethic. In this tale of redemption, unexpected connections emerge as Paige navigates the tangled web of her shattered past. Will she find the strength to heal her heart, or will Duke's undeniable charm become an enticing distraction? Join Paige on her riveting journey as she discovers that sometimes unexpected beginnings can lead to happy endings.


A Trashy Christmas Romance

A Trashy Christmas Romance by Sinnamon Carnelian

Holly Jolly Cromwell hated Christmas after being born on it. Everything about it annoyed her. The repetitive music. How it took over November and smothered Thanksgiving. Those creepy elves that were supposed to watch the children and make sure they were nice and not naughty. Most of all, she was sour over the fact that she could never celebrate her birthday. Her older brother and golden child of the family never grew out of his childhood bullying and tantrums over her getting both Christmas and birthday gifts her first birthday, and it followed her long into her adult years. She forced herself to smile and get through it for the sake of her younger siblings and keeping the peace with her parents. However, year after year of being the backup caregiver for her younger siblings and dealing with the golden child, she found herself starting to slip. A chance meeting at a club leads her into the arms of a man who has the missing pieces she never knew she lost.


you are also a rock (and a frog)

you are also a rock (and a frog) by Astarion B. Wilde

you are also a rock (and a frog) is all about finding the Light from having lived inside the Dark for far too long. Understanding we are all connected as we share the same breath and the stars in the sky. Healing from the deepest wounds allows you to open your eyes and see the world in its true beauty. Readers will follow Wilde's journey of grief and growth to love and compassion for themselves and the world they share.


Out of the Shadows

Out of the Shadows by D M Macdonald

In Hannah Tree's flotsam life only two things motivate her, injustice and the desire to destroy the person who ruined her life. Troubled loner Hannah Tree's drifter lifestyle changes forever when she meets the statuesque Gloria Starr. Gloria, who sees something in Hannah that Hannah cannot, pulls her off the streets, gives her a job and puts a roof over her head. She also encourages her to turn her fierce pursuit of justice into a detective business. Hannah isn't so sure, but since ramming justice down abusive people’s throats is something she's always done she figures she might as well be paid for it.  But when, by a twist of fate, Hannah stumbles across the man who ruined her life, her burning need for revenge takes over. Heedless of the consequences Hannah pursues her obsession down dark and dangerous pathways, exposing appalling abuses at every turn, risking not only her own safety but that of everyone around her. But those responsible do not tolerate meddlers. In the end Hannah's quest to save the victims of these vicious criminals, and bring down her bitterest enemy, threatens to cost her everything—including her life.


Route

Route by Janyce Denise Glasper

Set in fictional Dandelion, Ohio and split in six parts of the heart, Route is an evocative coming of age story centering the complex dialogue between a frequent passenger and an attached bus driver. Josephine Benson, a shy, inexperienced artist and avid reader raised to believe that men are big bad wolves, realizes that even the most devout soul needs human connection. Wes Jenkins, a pragmatic former Marine, provides stimulating pleasures in their journeys and learns other perspectives through visitors who seek him for therapeutic purposes. With vulnerable moments of warmth, humor, sensuality, maturity, and joy, two guarded secret keepers transition from bus to bus, from past to present, discovering the spectrums of goodness together.


Cheryl

Cheryl by Michael Parkes

A sudden tragedy. A family torn asunder. A woman disillusioned with the formerly comforting, now cloistering, confines of suburbia. Cheryl Decker's life is forever changed by the death of her eldest daughter, as are the lives of her husband, Scott, and surviving daughter, Melinda. Spiraling into multiple addictions, her level-headed best friend Beverly and the chaos loving fellow addict Matilda each comfort her in their own unique ways. Navigating blackmail, PTA meetings and her own demons, Cheryl is forced to do worse and worse things in the pursuit of appeasing crazed blackmailing divorcees, her dead daughter's mystery contact, and discovering why her daughter leapt off the balcony. How well do you really know your neighbours? The suburbanites of Cheryl are sophisticated on the surface, but beneath that thin veneer, there are addictions, hedonism, and ever more sinister predilections... A dark, though at times humorous, story that captures the grim side of living in the "perfect" suburb where not everyone is as prim and proper as they appear to be, nor are they nearly as moral. Contains possibly disturbing scenes and substance abuse.


The Final Say

The Final Say by Brandie Nikole

They said all I’ll ever be is damaged goods.I don’t deserve the joys of life, ’cause I don’t care about the lives of others.Too bad their words don’t hold any merit when it comes to my life.I’m the boss.The only captain of this yacht.I’m the only one with the final say.Accompany Jerome on his journey as he walks his truth and follows his own rules. Nobody better get in his way, or they’ll find just what they’re looking for.Jerome: The Final Say


The Weary God of Ancient Travelers

The Weary God of Ancient Travelers by Jessica Stilling

Who is Lydia Warren? That’s what she’d like to know. An amnesiac, she vaguely remembers arriving in Santorini with this one-armed man she instinctive trusts but cannot recall his name. She guides us through the fog that is her mind, and her odyssey towards understanding that is even further complicated by memories of a life not her own from before she was born.


Wish List

Wish List by Amanda Pampuro

If Amazon could talk, what would it say about you? Wish List follows woman's life told through things she bought online, as told by the shopping algorithm that sold them to her. ARgurl16 first logs onto Hermes as a teenager and the platform continues to watch over her throughout her life as she transitions from broke college student to single woman looking for love, and eventually into motherhood. Hermes is data-hungry and obsessive, as it struggles to understand its own identity alongside the wants of its millions of users so that it can suggest buying the very best earplugs and coffee mugs. This concise novella is The Death of Ivan Ilyich for the reader with a guilty pleasure for Buzzfeed listicles. Readers haunted by Guy Debord’s Society of the Spectacle or Niccolò Machiavelli will enjoy this slice of life.


Jordan's Penny

Jordan's Penny by Stefanie Stratton

Jordan Stephens, the embodiment of perfection, was convinced early on that he deserves the best. From his dashing sex appeal to a successful career, he surrounds himself with luxury, wearing tailor-made suits, flaunting his expensive Benz, and bedding women equally gorgeous. One thing remains off-limits—commitment. He can't even commit to an assistant, cycling through one attractive, unqualified assistant after the next. Their beauty is all that matters... until their job performance makes him look bad. Penelope Matthews, Jordan's replacement assistant, is nothing like her predecessors. Forced to wear unfashionable clothing and hide behind makeup, Jordan's looks won't distract this full-figured woman. She knows her lane and stays in it. Experienced with demanding men, she'll wow him with color-coded spreadsheets, and an exceptional work ethic. And wait until he tries her tea. As long as she stays under the radar, impervious to her boss, she'll emerge unscathed. After surviving her tumultuous probationary period, the pair forms an undeniable connection that flips their worlds upside-down. With secrets lingering between them, they must decide which path to take: the one they've been traveling, or the road that leads to each other. **This book contains sensitive topics**


Abolish the Rose

Abolish the Rose by Alanna Irving

"Surely I have better things to do with my time." Camille Addison resents the hand life has dealt her. Enrolling in an evening class to distract herself from memories of frustration, she finds herself instead turning to face the tumult of relationships, loss and love that has led her to where she is. Abolish the Rose, by Alanna Irving, takes us on a journey through the past in search of meaning in the present. Through a vivid catalogue of heart-warming and harrowing life experiences, we are drawn to question, along with Camille - how much control do we have over the path our lives take? Would we change the past if we had the chance? What is a life well lived?


Pursuing Liam

Pursuing Liam by Lisa Lanay

Find out if Taryn and Liam can go from friends-to-lovers-to-forever in this funny, light-hearted, contemporary romance that will melt your heart. At thirty-four years old, veterinarian Taryn Williams wants a baby. After a failed attempt to adopt, she believes her chances for a family are dismal. But that all changes when Liam McGregor, hunky Chicago Fireman and part-time mural artist, offers her the opportunity to fulfill her dreams. Taryn believes their agreement perfect, until she realizes that she wants Liam as more than her baby daddy; she wants him too! There’s no turning back for Taryn by the time she accepts that marriage and a family are not on Liam’s radar, but can she convince him otherwise? Invicta Libertas, Latin for Invincible Freedom. It’s the code Liam has lived by since graduating college and he has the tattoo to prove it. He does his own thing, and knows what he wants…until he offers to help his gorgeous friend-with-benefits, Taryn Williams, and his world is turned upside down. He agrees to a no-strings attached arrangement because he believes anything else would threaten his freedom and his dream of becoming a full-time artist. Soon, Liam finds himself questioning his decisions because his heart has determined that is has plans of its own, including love for Taryn and their baby, something he can no longer deny and isn’t sure he wants to.


My Dawn Is Only Five Hours Away

My Dawn Is Only Five Hours Away by Dion Anja

Dion Anja's first poetry collection explores the various shades of life from a young-adult woman's point of view such as love, death, nature, anger, and fairies. Fueled by her imagination and surroundings, Anja aims to resonate with your heart and soul because she believes poetry is a shared feeling regardless of place and time. All of the poems have been written in the chaotic atmosphere of the pandemic and this ephemeral state of existence urged Dion to self-publish.


Until My Soul Gets It Right (The Bibliophiles Book 2)

Until My Soul Gets It Right (The Bibliophiles Book 2) by Karen Wojcik Berner

From the author of "A Whisper to a Scream" comes a story about growing up, making peace with your past, and finding a little love along the way. In her first novel, Karen Wojcik Berner introduced book club members Sarah and Annie. Now, it’s time for another bibliophile to take center stage. Catherine Elbert has never been good at making decisions, whether it was choosing an ice cream flavor as a small child, or figuring out what she wanted to be when she grew up. The only thing Catherine knew for sure was there had to be more to life than being stuck on her family’s farm in Wisconsin. While watching a PBS travel show, Catherine becomes entranced by Portland, Maine. The ocean. The lobsters. The rugged coast. Nothing could be more different from the flat, nondescript farmlands of Burkesville. Despite her parents threatening to disown her and her brothers taking bets on how many days until she comes home, Catherine settles on Peaks Island, off the coast of Portland. She was finally free. Or so she thought. “Until My Soul Gets It Right” is the second book in Berner’s Bibliophiles series. Unlike most series that follow one character through various adventures, each Bibliophiles novel focuses on one or two members of a fictional suburban classics book club, revealing their personal stories while the group explores tales spun by the masters. This edition contains a Reader's Guide and book club discussion questions.


Million Dollar Question

Million Dollar Question by Ellie Campbell

What can rock your world faster than winning or losing a king’s ransom overnight? Just as a huge financial scandal throws New Yorker, Olivia Wheeler, from wealth and success to bankruptcy and shame, struggling impoverished single-mother Rosie Dixon wins an unexpected million pounds. Good luck? Bad luck? Who can tell? Both women have more in common than they realize. While Olivia struggles to survive her humiliations, fleeing broke and homeless to London, shy unassuming Rosie discovers sudden riches arrive with their own mega-load of problems. Can workaholic career-obsessed Olivia find a passion for something earthier and warmer than power and prestige? And can Rosie sift through envy and greed to discover true friends, true family and even true love? Two strangers who’ve never met. Yet neither realizes how each is affecting the other’s destiny or the places their paths touch and fates entwine. How will they surmount the pitfalls and perils of their outrageous change of fortune? That is the million dollar question.


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