Decades of Loss, an Unsolved Mystery, and a Rift Spanning Three Generations Hazel DeFord is a woman haunted by her past. While berry picking in a blackberry thicket in 1943, ten-year old Hazel momentarily turns her back on her three-year old sister Maggie and the young girl disappears. Almost seventy years later, the mystery remains unsolved and the secret guilt Hazel carries has alienated her from her daughter Diane, who can’t understand her mother’s overprotectiveness and near paranoia. While Diane resents her mother’s inexplicable eccentricities, her daughter Meghan—a cold case agent—cherishes her grandmother’s lavish attention and affection. When a traffic accident forces Meghan to take a six-week leave-of-absence to recover, all three generations of DeFord women find themselves unexpectedly under the same roof. Meghan knows she will have to act as a mediator between the two headstrong and contentious women. But when they uncover Hazel’s painful secret, will Meghan also be able to use her investigative prowess to solve the family mystery and help both women recover all that’s been lost?

In our chaotic, high-tech age, the lines between work and home, public and private, are becoming increasingly blurred. In this changing time, Jackson explores the ever-changing role of home in our lives and sets out to update our idea of home. What's Happening to Home? goes beyond debates about square footage and working moms, to shed light on the larger questions surrounding the idea of home. How can we find refuge without shortchanging the work lives so many of us value? How can we preserve times and spaces for intimacy and reflection without returning to rigid ideals of the past? Jackson offers an inspiring and illuminating look at the future of home, the centerpiece of our lives. - Author website.

Reiki is an ancient, hands-on healing art with origins in the Tibetan sutras. It has been used primarily by individuals in a daily practice that helps recharge, realign, and rebalance energy in the body. Today Reiki is joining other complementary therapies in the conventional settings of hospitals, hospices, counseling centers, emergency rooms, intensive care units. Nurses, physical therapists, surgeons, midwives, and anesthetists report that Reiki can help manage pain and promote healing. Counselors and caregivers treating those with terminal illness find that Reiki gives patients an increased physical, emotional, and psychological ability to cope. Reiki Energy Medicine explains the body's energy system, and describes how Reiki can be used in a variety of settings to balance energy and create the conditions needed for healing. Reiki Energy Medicine is the first book to show how this ancient art of touch therapy can work within our mainstream health care system. As our health-care system challenges institutions to offer high-quality but cost-effective service, Reiki can be an important tool that can help maximize patient care and minimize recovery time. Reiki does not require complicated techniques or extensive training: practitioners of many disciplines are able to easily incorporate it into their specialties.

An insider's hilarious, whirlwind account of his years spent globe-trotting in search of the holy grail of handbags: the Birkin For more than twenty years, the Hermès Birkin bag has been the iconic symbol of fashion, luxury, and wealth. Though the bag is often seen dangling from the arms of celebrities, there is a fabled waiting list of more than two years to buy one from Hermès, and the average fashionista has a better chance of climbing Mount Everest in Prada pumps than of possessing one of these coveted carryalls. Unless, of course, she happens to know Michael Tonello . . . Michael's newfound career started with an impulsive move to Barcelona, a vanished job assignment, no work visa, and an Hermès scarf sold on eBay to generate some quick cash. But soon the resourceful Michael discovered the truth about the waiting list and figured out the secret to getting Hermès to part with one of these precious bags. Millions of dollars worth of Birkins later, Michael had become one of eBay's most successful entrepreneurs—and a Robin Hood to thousands of desperate rich women. With down-to-earth wit, Michael chronicles the unusual ventures that took him to nearly every continent, from eBay to Paris auction house and into the lives of celebrities and poseurs. Flirting with danger, Michael recounts the heady rush of hand delivering his first big score to famed songwriter Carole Bayer Sager in Paris; how he had to hire thugs to rescue a bag that one of his "shoppers" held for ransom; and the story of the Oscar-worthy performances that allowed him to snag "reserved" bags from other, less dogged Birkin seekers. Whether he's relating his wining and dining, buying and selling, dodging and weaving, laughing and crying, or schmoozing and stammering, Michael is a master raconteur who weaves together tales of hunting Birkins in the world's most posh locales, memories of meals that would make any gastronome salivate, anecdotes of obsessed collectors with insatiable desires, and sweetly intimate stories about his family, friends, and finding true love. The result is a memoir that is distinctive, fun, page-turning, and as addictive as its namesake.

The state's case against Chuck Delgado is foundering as things heat up and turn deadly. Frank and Loretta can help, but will they risk their hearts' desires to do the right thing? And will Maggie embrace an old love? Return to the world of Rosemont as the people of Westbury seek their happy ending.

Presents the text of Alice Walker's story "Everyday Use"; contains background essays that provide insight into the story; and features a selection of critical response. Includes a chronology and an interview with the author.

Look for Robyn's new book, The Best of Us, a story about family, second chances and choosing to live your best life--order your copy today Join Robyn Carr, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Virgin River and Thunder Point series, as she explores the healing powers of rural Colorado in a brand-new story of fresh starts, budding relationships and one woman's journey to finding the happiness she's long been missing Between the urban bustle of Denver and the high-stress environment of a career in neurosurgery, Maggie Sullivan has hit a wall. When an emergency high-risk procedure results in the death of a teenager, Maggie finds herself in the middle of a lawsuit--and experiencing levels of anxiety she's never faced before. She knows she needs to slow down before she burns out completely, and the best place she can think to do that is Sullivan's Crossing. Named for Maggie's great-grandfather, the land and charming general store at the crossroads of the Colorado and the Continental Divide Trails have been passed down through the generations and now belong to Maggie's eccentric father, Sully. When she shows up unannounced, he welcomes her with open arms, and she relishes the opportunity to indulge in his simple way of life. But shortly after arriving, Maggie's world is rocked once again and she must take on more responsibility than she'd planned. Though she's relieved a quiet and serious-looking hiker, Cal Jones, is willing to lend a hand, Maggie is suspicious of this mysterious man's eagerness to help--until she finds out the true reason for his deliberate isolation. Though Cal and Maggie each struggle with loss and loneliness, the time they spend together gives Maggie hope for something brighter just on the horizon...if only they can learn to find peace and healing--and perhaps love--with each other.