When Mary Turner entered the world, she was already her parents' least-favorite child. Filled with ambition but always seeming to be lacking some crucial skill, Mary left home immediately after graduating high school and set her sights on the endless horizon before her. Mary had had a difficult childhood; when she was young, her grandparents had died in a tragic accident that left the entire family--especially her father, Kenneth--shrouded in a heavy grief. Once on her own, Mary kept her eyes fixed on the future, and soon that future came to include a man named Adam. Though Adam and Mary had a difficult relationship, they eloped in Las Vegas and returned home a (mostly) happily married couple; it wasn't much later that they became first-time parents. After Scotty was born, however, Mary began exhibiting concerning symptoms. She struggled to bond with her child and experienced increasingly volatile emotional swings. Soon after, Mary was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Mary struggled to cope with her mental illness, and as the years passed, she began turning to drugs and alcohol to soothe her aching mind. She began neglecting, and eventually abusing, Scotty, and the family quickly started to deteriorate. Eventually deciding that Adam and Scotty would be better off without her, Mary packed up her car and ran away to Las Vegas, where she made the bulk of her money by moving illegal drugs. Her time there was a thrilling and dangerous whirlwind, but Mary knew it had to come to an end eventually. Next, she landed in Sedona, Arizona, where she led a quiet, peaceful life, nothing like the one she'd left behind in Vegas. Still, Mary knew she would need to return home and reconnect with the family she'd abandoned. Instead of finding Adam, Mary found Luke, an old friend and fellow addict. Once reunited with Luke, Mary quickly fell in love with him and agreed to help him smuggle drugs out of the country. She was caught at the Dublin airport, however, and sent to prison, where she learned she was pregnant with Luke's child. Her child was taken from her to live with her father. Petals also offers a deeply poignant and introspective look into the many facets of mental illness, substance abuse and recovery, death, heartbreak, joy, and forgiveness. It is through its diverse cast of characters that the reader is allowed a look into the minds and senses of all those touched by Mary's journey. Best suited for readers who enjoy fast-paced action combined with a deeply emotional and introspective narrative, Petals is a multi-generational story of everyday humans who must learn to cut their own paths amid the wild, yet heartbreakingly beautiful, garden that is life.

A guide to drying and dehydrating fruits, vegetables, meats, and herbs provides instructions on using a dehydrator, oven and sun-drying techniques, and recipes using dehydrated foods.

The book deals with variety of themes. The most appreciable thing about the themes is that the themes are quite new and make the readers feel that they are connected to their lives. The ideas are put in such way that it makes the reader feel that whatever happens in the lives of the characters resemble somewhere to his life. Most of the stories are tragic in nature and on reading the tragedies of the characters, the readers are bound to be moved. The book provides new reading experience to the readers. Emotions dealt with are so powerful that they compel the reader to read the book from the beginning till the end. Some stories carry suspense and to understand it, the reader has to wait till the end of the stories. Unexpected happenings, games of destiny, human errors committed unknowingly, failure and final demolition of the characters and sudden rise in the lives of the characters attract the readers towards the book. The stories are so novel that every reader who has a feel for reading and whose favorite genre is short stories would read this book without fail.

SHE'S HOLDING ON TIGHT. As a teen, Dawn ran from a life on the streets straight into the arms of Jimmy "Mad Dog" Sanchez, a biker who promised to be her knight in shining armor. But his love was just another cage. Years later, Dawn's former life still has its hooks in her and she'll do whatever it takes to break free. When Cade "Ryder" O'Connor, a member of a rival club, makes her an offer, Dawn finds herself in a different, hotter kind of trouble with one irresistible Sinner... WILL HE GIVE HER THE RIDE OF HER LIFE?Cade is an outlaw biker with allegiance to one thing and one thing only: The Sinner's Tribe Motorcycle Club. But when it comes to the stunningly sexy, fiercely independent Dawn Delgado, Cade finds himself...hungrier for more. Trouble is on Dawn's heels and he wants to be the answer to her prayers, whether she wants him to be or not. What can't be denied is the red-hot attraction between them. However, as they fall deeper, the danger rises and Cade may have to sacrifice it all...in Beyond the Cut by New York Times bestselling author Sarah Castille.

Gather around the immortal fire and listen to time traveling, universe hopping, interdimensional storytellers who share with you the stories of life, death, love, and despair across the cosmos in Jamal Barbari’s debut short story collection, Shades of Mortality. Paired with each tale is a unique illustration drawn by 9 different talented artists who show their interpretation of 20 unique stories. This collection weaves the audience through dynamic tales across the multiverse and will have you question the very essence of mortality and what it means to you.