For the first time in her life, thirty-year-old Marissa Siler feels completely alone. Not only is she miles away from her friends and family, but she feels as though God has deserted her as well. Marissa's five-year relationship with her fiance, Brett, fell apart when he cheated on her. Heartbroken and insecure, Marissa allows herself to be swept off her feet by an old high school friend, Chuck Bartlett. Within two months, Marissa and Chuck are married and moving from Washington to Montana. But when Marissa is diagnosed with breast cancer, her new husband decides marriage is not for him. A dumbfounded, once-again heartbroken Marissa is left to face her illness on her own. After undergoing a double mastectomy, Marissa spends the next ten months getting her life back together. She quits her job, buys property in Eureka, and takes in five horses to board. She knows all she can do now is take care of herself and her horses and vows never let herself rely on anyone again. When the new town vet comes out to check on one of the horses one summer afternoon, Marissa is speechless to find he is none other than Jesse Norris, her high school sweetheart and one true love. When Jesse moved to find work after graduation, the two lost touch but never forgot each other. Will Marissa allow herself to fall back in love with Jesse? Or will Jesse's painful secret keep them apart? Will Marissa and Jesse get A Special Second Chance?"

America's most distinguished commentator on foreign policy, former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, offers a reasoned but unsparing assessment of the last three presidential administrations' foreign policy. Though spanning less than two decades, these administrations cover a vitally important turning point in world history: the period in which the United States, having emerged from the Cold War with unprecedented power and prestige, managed to squander both in a remarkably short time. This is a tale of decline: from the competent but conventional thinking of the first Bush administration, to the well-intentioned self-indulgence of the Clinton administration, to the mortgaging of America's future by the "suicidal statecraft" of the second Bush administration. Brzezinski concludes with a chapter on how America can regain its lost prestige. This scholarly yet highly opinionated book is sure to be both controversial and influential.

A former parole officer shines a bright light on a huge yet hidden part of our justice system through the intertwining stories of seven parolees striving to survive the chaos that awaits them after prison in this illuminating and dramatic book. Prompted by a dead-end retail job and a vague desire to increase the amount of justice in his hometown, Jason Hardy became a parole officer in New Orleans at the worst possible moment. Louisiana’s incarceration rates were the highest in the US and his department’s caseload had just been increased to 220 “offenders” per parole officer, whereas the national average is around 100. Almost immediately, he discovered that the biggest problem with our prison system is what we do—and don’t do—when people get out of prison. Deprived of social support and jobs, these former convicts are often worse off than when they first entered prison and Hardy dramatizes their dilemmas with empathy and grace. He’s given unique access to their lives and a growing recognition of their struggles and takes on his job with the hope that he can change people’s fates—but he quickly learns otherwise. The best Hardy and his colleagues can do is watch out for impending disaster and help clean up the mess left behind. But he finds that some of his charges can muster the miraculous power to save themselves. By following these heroes, he both stokes our hope and fuels our outrage by showing us how most offenders, even those with the best intentions, end up back in prison—or dead—because the system systematically fails them. Our focus should be, he argues, to give offenders the tools they need to re-enter society which is not only humane but also vastly cheaper for taxpayers. As immersive and dramatic as Evicted and as revelatory as The New Jim Crow, The Second Chance Club shows us how to solve the cruelest problems prisons create for offenders and society at large.

A powerful message of hope for anyone burdened by shame and for everyone who longs for a fresh, passionate, and fierce life. Now in convenient trade paperback and featuring a bonus section for guided reflection. This retitled edition of People of the Second Chance centers on HOPE. Every fierce and free life starts with that at the core. And every reader longs for a passionate and unstoppable spirit. This book will equip the reader to fight for hope and victory for others and also themselves. Foster's examination of hope is one part challenge, two parts encouragement. He forces the reader to ask the following questions: How did I lose it? How do I get? How do I give it? Each question is broken down into core concepts that are essential to a life devoted to the power of fierce and free living: awareness, discovery, ownership, forgiveness, acceptance, and freedom.

Everyone deserves a second chance. Nate and his teenage daughter need a fresh start, so they move back to the village where he grew up. Nate's transgender, and not used to disclosing his history, so it's hard living where people knew him before. When Nate reconnects with Jack-his best friend from school and unrequited crush-his feelings return as strong as ever. Jack's returned home to get his life in order after an addiction to alcohol caused him to lose everything: his job, his driver's licence, and nearly his life. He's living with his parents, which is less than ideal, but rekindling his friendship with Nate-or Nat as Jack once knew him-is an unexpected benefit of being back home. Jack is amazed by Nate's transformation, and can't deny his attraction. Trying for more than friendship might ruin what they already have, but the chemistry between them is undeniable. Doubting his feelings are reciprocated, Nate fears he's risking heartbreak. Jack's reluctance to tell his parents about their relationship only reinforces Nate's misgivings. With both their hearts on the line and their happiness at stake, Jack needs to make things right, and Nate has to be prepared to give him a second chance.

Taylor Edwards family might not be that close - everyone is a little too busy and overscheduled, but for the most part, they get along just fine. Then Taylor's dad gets some devastating news, and her parents decide that the family will spend on last summer together at their old lake house in the Pcocono Mountains. Crammed into a place much smaller than they are used to, they begin to get to know each other again, but as the summer progresses they're more aware than ever that they're battling a ticking clock. And as Taylor tries to deal with the drama at home, she is faced with the fact that the friends she thought she'd left behind haven't actually gone anywhere. Her former summer best friend is still living across the lake and still as mad with Taylor as she was five years ago, and her first boyfriend has moved in next door… but he's much cuter at seventeen than he was at twelve. Can one summer be enough time to get a second chance - with family, friends, and love?

From USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author, Laramie Briscoe, comes the special edition of a fan favorite series. Nobody writes blue collar romance like Laramie Briscoe, and nowhere is it more apparent than in the Moonshine Task Force: Special Edition Series. This edition includes a never-before-released short story, as well as all the slices of life scenes and text messages I've written for this couple. Life isn’t promised, love isn’t easy, and relationships aren’t always clean, but everyone has their soulmate who is willing to forgive when it would be better to forget. Trevor “Tank” Trumbolt I never thought in the blink of an eye my life could change, but it did. Cresting a hill driving to my favorite fishing spot, I was hit head-on by a teenager with no regard for anyone’s life but his own. The recovery process has been hard, painful, and damn near beating me down. The bright spot? Blaze. Surviving the wreck has given me a second chance to make a life with her. Not knowing if I’ll ever be able to rejoin the Moonshine Task Force again has brought my world into focus. It’s made me realize what’s important. Blaze. Stella. My brothers. My sister. The ego that ran Blaze away before isn’t here any longer. What’s left is a man who’s holding his heart in his hands and a burning hope that once I’m healed she’ll still be around. Daphne “Blaze” Coleman There’s only been one person in the world who’s accepted me for who I am - from the fiery red of my hair and vibrant tattoos covering parts of my body to the smartness of my mouth and my desire to be matched in the bedroom. That man is Trevor Trumbolt. When he asked me to give up my job as an EMT because he saw the dangers I face one scary afternoon, it spelled the end for us. Now that he’s been injured, he needs my help and my love. I’ll give it all freely, but in the end I’m gonna need him to understand one thing about relationships. The give and take, love and sadness, pleasure and pain is a two-way street. He’s either in this with me or he’s not, but at the end of the day, I won’t let him boss me around. If there’s anything that can handle the steel of a tank – it’s the heat of a blaze.