I never believed in fate. Destiny was something magical, something written in the stars. I was a world away from having that kind of excitement in my life. I was alone, praying for a baby, that little miracle I could hold in my arms. My husband fought me at every turn, but I knew I would break him down one day. It was just a matter of time. In the end, fate took the shape of my best friend and her husband, who were desperate for a baby. Desperate for that miracle, that hope, that joy in their lives. I wanted to give that to them. I wanted them to have the family they were striving for. With my help, they would finally have everything they ever wanted. On the day I found out their little miracle was coming, fate intervened again. It would turn my world upside down, shattering my life into a million pieces. It was on that day I realised things were about to become really complicated.

As soon as Eric proposd to Cynthia, she began planning an extravagant wedding ceremony she knew would be the talk of the town for months, if not years to come. But in the midst of planning for the big day, glaring relationship issues began to surface. The intense drama between them justifi ed postponing the wedding, which was a wise thing to do. Instead of walking down the church aisle headed for the altar, they found themselves reluctantly walking down a long hallway leading to the offi ce of a spiritual life coach. During the sessions unresolved hurts and unanswered questions stemming from their childhoods slowly emerged. I invite you to read and observe the process as they receive emotional healing. A healing workbook is included as an addendum if you choose to embark upon your own journey of healing. My prayer is that you come to know the One who promises you...“A Love Affair for Life.”

In this touching and delightful memoir, Norman Podhoretz charts the ups and downs of his lifelong love affair with his native land, and warns that to turn against America, from the Right no less than from the Left, is to fall into the rankest ingratitude. While telling the story of how he himself grew up to be a fervent patriot, one of this country's leading conservative thinkers urges his fellow conservatives to rediscover and reclaim their faith in America. A superb storyteller, Podhoretz takes us from his childhood as a working-class kid in Brooklyn during the Great Depression -- the son of Jewish immigrants singing Catholic hymns in a public school staffed by Irish spinsters and duking it out on the streets with his black and Italian classmates -- to his later education, his shifting political alliances, and his arrival at a happy personal and intellectual resolution. My Love Affair with America shows us a gentler and funnier Podhoretz than readers have seen before. At the same time, it presents a picture of someone eager to proclaim, against all comers, that America represents one of the high points in the history of human civilizations. In this powerful, elegantly written, and poignant cautionary tale, Podhoretz pleads with his fellow conservatives not to fall, as some have lately done, into their own special brand of anti-Americanism, as he reminds them of the disastrous consequences that followed the assault by the New Left against the United States in decades gone by. Warm in feeling and brilliantly perceptive, My Love Affair with America points the way back to a thoroughly unabashed love of country -- the kind of patriotism that has rarely been encountered in recent years and that is as invigorating as it is inspiring.

“I Hope You Have a Good Life addresses the most fundamental questions about adoption, families, life, and love. . . . Heartbreaking and beautiful.” —Publishers Weekly “A passionate memoir of love retrieved.” —The Times (London) “Campbell Amstrong understands and communicates the devotion of mother and daughter and the special poignancy of their brief and stress-filled time together.” —Kirkus Reviews The remarkable story of two extraordinary women who had to live a whole lifetime of caring in a few short weeks. When Campbell Armstrong and his first wife became lovers, she shared her most intimate secret with him—as a teenager she had given up her first child for adoption. Years later, at the side of his ex-wife, Armstrong witnessed a mother and daughter unite in the most overwhelming circumstances. With compassion and empathy, Armstrong presents the triumphant reunion of his estranged family with a delicate grace that captivates the joy and despair, sadness and laughter they felt when joined. He paints a beautiful and unforgettable portrait of a mother and daughter brought together out of desperation, but whose lives ultimately provide an uplifting, redemptive story. I Hope You Have a Good Life is an inspirational memoir, a testament to the human spirit and to the ability of families to reunite when it matters most.

This series of entwined biographical sketches recounts how, in the Romantic Era, love affairs, often illicit, were transformed into novels, memoirs, and published correspondences. We make the intimate acquaintance of great writers like Mme de Staël, Chateaubriand, George Sand, and Anatole France, who, however, fall gradually under the suspicion of pursuing their amorous entanglements for “good material.” The tale ends with a moving account, based on unpublished sources, of the strange, intense friendship of Marcel Proust and Jeanne Pouquet, the girl who became the model for Gilberte in Swann’s Way. Disenchanted yet compassionate, this book explores how our affections may be exalted (and at times betrayed) by our desire to refashion them as stories.

The thrilling conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Lone City trilogy, which began with The Jewel, a book BCCB said "will have fans of Oliver's Delirium, Cass's The Selection, and DeStefano's Wither breathless." For too long, Violet and the people of the outer circles of the Lone City have lived in service of the royalty of the Jewel. But now, the secret society known as the Black Key is preparing to seize power. While Violet knows she is at the center of this rebellion, she has a more personal stake in it—for her sister, Hazel, has been taken by the Duchess of the Lake. Now, after fighting so hard to escape the Jewel, Violet must do everything in her power to return not only to save Hazel, but the future of the Lone City.