You are holding a collection of stories, the aim of this collection is to equip and inspire you to make a positive impact in your own community, through relationships and creative initiatives. In this material, you will read about Dave and Will who developed gardens on wasteland in inner city London council estates, encouraging residents to be part of the process of renewal and creativity by growing plants and vegetables. Will hosts community harvest feasts, bringing together local residents to eat their own locally-grown produce. Andy in his 20s, started a lunch club for isolated elderly people, rallying his student friends to help serve homemade meals in a borrowed church hall. Pauline responded to a news bulletin about the lack of housing for refugees and asylum seekers, by setting up homes across North London to provide safe housing. Annie set up regular meals in her church building for homeless people and rough sleepers. Mark started a football club for local lads from an estate in London, most of whom were from extremely difficult backgrounds and not in education or employment. Countless others have weeded gardens for families referred by social services, mentored children in foster care and painted a wall in a refuge. Abroad, Mick and Ruby moved into an inner city slum community in the heart of Manilla for 9 years with their young children. At the heart of City Lights are stories and friendships. Find out more about City Lights. regenerateuk.co.uk

A single dad is determined to persuade the prickly woman of his dreams that they can be more than a fling in this heartwarming romance from New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne Alexandra McKnight prefers a life of long workdays and short-term relationships, and she’s found it in Hope’s Crossing. She’s just been offered her dream job at an exclusive new restaurant being built in town. But when it comes to designing the kitchen, Alex finds herself getting up close and personal with construction foreman Sam Delgado. At first glance, Sam seems perfect for Alex. He’s big, tough, gorgeous—and only in town for a few weeks. But when Sam suddenly moves into a house down the road, Alex suspects that the devoted single father of a six-year-old boy wants more from her than she’s willing to give. Now it’s up to Sam to help Alex see that, no matter what happened in her past, together they can build something more meaningful in Hope’s Crossing.

More than a century ago, lighthouse keeper Linus Harris left his beloved wife and waded into the ocean with three other men to reunite with their mermaid lovers. The mysterious Mermaid Mutiny of 1888 has become legend for the residents of Cradle Harbor, Maine, honored by the town’s Mermaid Festival every August, when wind chimes are hung from seaside porches to drown out the alluring sound of mermaid song. For thirty-five-year-old Tess Patterson, the legend is more than folklore; it’s proof of life’s magic. A hopeless romantic who is profoundly connected to the ocean in which she lost her mother, Tess ekes out a living as a wood-carver and longs to find a love as mystical as the sea. But when she’s hired to carve the commemorative mermaid sculpture for the coming festival, a chance to win the town’s elusive acceptance might finally be in her grasp. For Tom Grace, life’s magic was lost at eighteen, when the death of his parents left him to care for his reckless brother, Dean. Now thirty-five and the new owner of Cradle Harbor’s prized lightkeeper’s house, Tom hopes the quiet town will calm Dean’s self-destructive ways. But when Tom discovers Tess working on her sculpture, an unlikely and passionate affair ignites between them that just might be the stuff of legend itself—even as it brings to the surface a long-buried secret that could tear everything apart. CONVERSATION GUIDE INCLUDED

Boxing : Photographs by Larry Fink is a quiet masterpiece drawn from the blue-collar, workaday world of the sport. From reflective prefight meditations to ringside flurries of feints and jabs, from jocular pstfight camaraderie to a handler's sweet consolation of a swollen combatant, Fink registers the grace, beauty and paternal love that belie this brutal American pastime, capturing fighters and their managers in surprisingly candid repose.

Jessamine Brady loves her Shaker sisters and brothers, but can't stop imagining life and love in the outside world.

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Faerie Wars Chronicles, Herbie Brennan, comes this heart-pounding middle-grade adventure—think The Da Vinci Code for tweens. Reminiscent of the Percy Jackson and Artemis Fowl series, this edge-of-your-seat thriller involves an ancient curse, a murder, and a conspiracy by a secret society. When Edward Michael “Em” Goverton uncovers the key to a five-hundred-year-old deadly prediction by the prophet Nostradamus, personal tragedy morphs into international crisis. Soon Em finds himself enmeshed in a sinister web of shocking events where nothing is quite as it seems. But the ominous forces behind the plot are not about to sit back and let their plans be ruined, and soon their net begins to close in on Em. It’s a race against the clock for Em and his friends to prevent a catastrophe that threatens the lives of an entire generation.

Laura Stutzman leaves her Kentucky community for Middlefield, Ohio, with one purpose: to find Mark King, the man who pledged his love to her, then left, so that she can move on with her life.