Two courageous young women, tied together by blood and shared passion, will risk everything to save what they love most.
For as long as she can remember, Allie Massey, a gifted physical therapist, has dreamed of making her grandparents' ten-acre estate into a trauma recovery center using equine therapy--a dream her grandmother, Nana Dale, embraced wholeheartedly. But when her grandmother's will is read, Allie is shocked to learn the property has been sold to a developer.
Decades earlier, headstrong Dale Butler's driving passion is to bring home the prized filly her family lost to the Great Depression, but with World War II looming, she's called upon in ways she never could have imagined. And while her world expands to include new friends and new love, tragedy strikes close to home one fateful night during the Battle of the Atlantic, changing her life forever.
As Nana Dale's past comes to light in Allie's search for answers, Dale's courage and persistence may be just what Allie needs to carry on her grandmother's legacy and keep her own dreams alive.
You'd be surprised at what gets through when everything else is taken away. Abbie Jowett always has every detail perfectly planned out, including her husband's upcoming surprise fiftieth birthday party. But when he surprises her instead with news that he's leaving, she feels her life unraveling. Already distressed by her son Bobby's determination to take a gap year in Europe in addition to her father's failing health, Abbie is immobilized by grief. Bobby Jowett has dared to take a gap year to really think about his future. His first stop is volunteering at a refugee center in Austria where he meets a beautiful Iranian girl named Rasa. For idealistic Bobby, it is love at first sight. On the spur of the moment, he invites her to join him in hiking the famed French Camino. But his mother, out of desperation, has also chosen to follow him to France. Caroline Lefort, a young photojournalist, is writing an article about pilgrims on the Camino. However, she has been like a wandering pilgrim herself for the past ten years, having abandoned her family after a devastating event. As the lives of these people intersect, they find that the Camino strips them bare, calling each one into deep soul-searching. Against all odds, can they find themselves again?
Could she ever share the secret of The Awful Year? There is one story that novelist Josephine Bourdillon shirked from writing. And now she may never have a chance. Trapped in her memories, she lies in a coma. The man who put her there is just as paralyzed. Former soldier Henry Hughes failed to complete the kill. What's more: he never received full payment-- funds that would ensure surgery for his son. As detectives investigate disturbing fan letters, a young but not-so-naive Paige Bourdillon turns to her mother's turbulent past for answers. Could The Awful Year be worse than the one they're living now? Set against the flaming hills of North Carolina and the peaceful shores of the Mediterranean Sea, When I Close My Eyes tells the story of two families struggling with dysfunction and finding that love is stronger than death.
The Singleton family's fortunes seem unaffected by the Great Depression, and Perri--along with the other girls at Atlanta's elite Washington Seminary--lives a carefree life of tea dances with college boys, matinees at the cinema, and debut parties. But when tragedies strike, Perri is confronted with a world far different from the one she has always known. At the insistence of her parents, Mary 'Dobbs' Dillard, the daughter of an itinerant preacher, is sent from inner-city Chicago to live with her aunt and attend Washington Seminary, bringing confrontation and radical ideas. Her arrival intersects at the point of Perri's ultimate crisis, and the tragedy forges an unlikely friendship. The Sweetest Thing tells the story of two remarkable young women--opposites in every way--fighting for the same goal: surviving tumultuous change.
The war is over, but Emily faces a battle in following her heart.
Emily has a secret: she's in love with one of the freedmen on her family's plantation. Meanwhile, another man declares his love for her. Emily realizes some things are not as they seem and secrets must be kept in order to keep those she loves safe.
Four Southern women are at a turning point in history . . . and in their own hearts.
To Mend a Dream by Tamera Alexander
The Civil War cost Savannah Darby everything-her family and her home. When Aidan Bedford, an attorney from Boston, buys the Darby estate, he hires Savannah to redecorate. Can she find a mysterious treasure before her job is finished?
An Outlaw's Heart by Shelley Gray
When Russell Stark returns to Fort Worth, he's determined to begin a new life. But when he arrives at his mother's homestead, he discovers that she is very ill and the woman he loved is still as beautiful and sweet as he remembered. With time running out, Russell must come to terms with both his future and his past.
A Heart So True by Dorothy Love
Abigail knows all too well what is expected of her: to marry her distant cousin Charles and take her place in society. But her heart belongs to another. A terrible incident forces Abby to choose between love and duty.
Love Beyond Limits by Elizabeth Musser
Emily has a secret: She's in love with one of the freedmen on her family's plantation. Meanwhile, another man declares his love for her. Emily realizes some things are not as they seem and secrets must be kept in order to keep those she loves safe.
The glimmering Huguenot cross she so innocently wears leads her deep into the shadows. When Gabriella Madison arrives in the French village of Castelnau in 1961 to continue her university studies, she doesn’t anticipate being drawn into the secretive world behind the Algerian war for independence from France. And the further she delves into the war efforts, the more her faith is challenged. The people who surround her bring a whirlwind of transforming forces — a wise nun who knows more about the war and Gabriella’s past than she’s saying, a lost little girl who is carrying secret information, and a debonair man with unknown loyalties who pursues Gabriella. When she discovers a long-hidden family secret, it leads to questions about trust, faith in action, and the power of forgiveness to move beyond the pain of the past.
“One intriguing era in France’s history, one unforgettable cast of characters, and one of the best writers in the CBA today all add up to one incredible read!” — Ann Tatlock, award-winning author of Promises to Keep
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Love for war's victims keeps them apart. Will love for each other see them through? The slightest spark will ignite an explosion. And the tinderbox of broken political and racial relations in 1960s France and Algeria provides plenty of kindling. In the midst of the chaos, Gabriella Madison guards the orphans in her care while battling jealousy with Anne-Marie Duchemin, David’s former flame who has recently arrived in Castelnau, France. Even more problems arise when the townspeople start expressing their discomfort with the multicultural orphanage. They want it shut down … permanently. Meanwhile, David is trapped on the other side of the Mediterranean, caught in the turmoil of a country gone mad. He seeks a way to guard his life and, at the same time, protect the refugees he came to help. But even if he accomplishes his mission, can he get out of Algeria alive?
“Elizabeth Musser avoids preaching and simplistic answers, choosing instead to portray a God who cares in the midst of life’s complexity.” — Publishers Weekly
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Faith and love could cost them everything. When Rislène Namani meets Eric Hoffmann in 1994 France, the spark between them ignites a firestorm of trouble. She fears the repercussions from her staunchly Muslim family for her attraction to a Christian. Yet Eric captures her heart. More than that, his faith captures her soul — a faith she comes to embrace. And it all stirs up a wasps’ nest of danger, mystery, and love that could cost her everything, even her life. The risk is real, especially when Rislène’s family discovers her secret. Eric must save her from a forced marriage in Algeria. As the civil war in Algeria escalates in the midst of Ramadan, and poverty and social ills in France boil over, their lives become as tumultuous and uncertain as the world around them. Clinging to faith, they fight a battle as contemporary as today’s headlines.
“A wonderful tale of love, sacrifice, war, and courage, written in stunning detail. Elizabeth Musser is an amazing storyteller.”
— Susan Meissner, author of A Sound Among the Trees
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In the sequel to ABA best-seller The Swan House (K1143), Ellie Middleton must deal with her troubled relationship with her mother before it's too late. Mary Swan is battling cancer. Ellie, just out of drug rehab, is the only one who can care for her. As they work to mend their broken relationship, they finally come to terms with their past through faith. Ellie realizes that her mother's life hasn't been as perfect as she once thought.
A southern region ABA and Book Sense best-selling author, Elizabeth Musser sets this coming-of-age novel in 1960s Atlanta. Sixteen-year-old Mary Swan Middleton is devastated when her artistic mother is killed in a plane crash. The family maid, seeing Mary's loneliness and desperation, suggests she volunteer to help the poor. Soon, Mary realizes there is more to life, love, and faith, than she ever knew.
