Donna VanLiere's books movingly portray ordinary people reaching for more meaningful lives. In The Christmas Promise, she follows two seemingly separate individuals and shows how their lives intersect. Chaz McConnell realizes that his life is empty-and he's made it that way. He goes home every night to a bare apartment. For the first time in his life, he's working at a job that will last more than a few weeks, as security for Wilson's Department Store....

When sixteen-year-old Chelsea Martin's future stepmother gives her a total makeover, she attracts all of the wrong boys and drives away many girls, but her friend Janelle keeps telling Chelsea to be true to herself, while helping her find a way to catch the eye of Nicholas, the one "non-jerk" at school.

Fearing that her legal guardian plans to abandon her to return to France, ten-year-old aspiring scientist Lucky Trimble determines to run away while also continuing to seek the Higher Power that will bring stability to her life.

Historical. Set in mid-17th century Boston, this tale of passion, puritanism and revenge is one of the foremost classics of American literature. Its heroine, Hester Prynne, is compelled by her own moral autonomy to wear the scarlet letter but she emerges as a woman with her integrity intact.

"Anji Baard Moen, recently widowed in Norway, returns to Blessing, North Dakota, with her children. She quickly settles back into life there, teaching in the high school and writing articles for the "Blessing Gazette". In the midst of an unexpected crisis, Anji is thrust into a role she never imagined, and an old friendship begins to show signs of developing into something more. Meanwhile, Thomas Devlin, a minister without a post, has arrived in...

Dorothea Benton Frank once again takes us deep into the heart of the magical Lowcountry where three amazing middle aged women are bonded by another amazing woman's death. Through their shared loss they forge a deep friendship, asking critical questions. Who was their friend and what did her life mean? Are they living the lives they imagined for themselves? Will they ever be able to afford to retire? How will they maximize their happiness? Security?...

Phoebe Starbuck has always taken care of her father-worrying enough for both of them, as he chases one whim after another. Now, for the first time, she's doing what she wants to do: marrying Captain Phineas Foulger and sailing far away from Nantucket. As she leaves on her grand adventure, she takes two gifts from her father, but desires only one: her great-grandmother's journal. The second gift? A "minder" in the form of cooper Matthew Mitchell, a...

"Kait Whittier has built her magazine column into a hugely respected read followed by fans across the country. She loves her work and adores her grown children, treasuring the time they spend together. But after two marriages, she prefers to avoid the complications and uncertainties of a new love. Then, after a chance meeting with Zack Winter, a television producer visiting Manhattan from Los Angeles, everything changes. Inspired by the true story...

"When Maggie and Emily meet as girls on the Nantucket beach, they are instant best friends--even though Emily's mother would much prefer she play with the daughters of senators and statesmen than a seamstress's kid like Maggie. But after many golden summers spent building sandcastles and sharing their dreams for the future, Emily and Maggie grow apart. In her twenties, beautiful and spirited Emily worries she'll never amount to more than the glittering...