Steven needs a mother for his five children. Emily wants a famiy and a home of her own. So thier marriage seems like a good arrangement for them both. But when Emily sets out with Steven for east Texas, she certainly never planned on her home being a battlefield, as Steven fights to earn his own children's love and acceptance. The marriage brings a few surprises to Steven, too. Can these two lonley hearts bridge thier differences and reach out to the other? Or will they always be married in name only?

Love is all you need... or is it? Penny's about to find out in this wonderful debut.Penny is sick of boys and sick of dating. So she vows: no more. It's a personal choice. . .and, of course, soon everyone wants to know about it. And a few other girls are inspired. A movement is born: The Lonely Hearts Club (named after the band from Sgt. Pepper). Penny is suddenly known for her nondating ways . . . which is too bad, because there's this certain boy she can't help but like. . . .

Maybelle Lane is looking for her father, but on the road to Nashville she finds so much more: courage, brains, heart--and true friends. Eleven-year-old Maybelle Lane collects sounds. She records the Louisiana crickets chirping, Momma strumming her guitar, their broken trailer door squeaking. But the crown jewel of her collection is a sound she didn't collect herself: an old recording of her daddy's warm-sunshine laugh, saved on an old phone's voicemail. It's the only thing she has of his, and the only thing she knows about him. Until the day she hears that laugh--his laugh--pouring out of the car radio. Going against Momma's wishes, Maybelle starts listening to her radio DJ daddy's new show, drinking in every word like a plant leaning toward the sun. When he announces he'll be the judge of a singing contest in Nashville, she signs up. What better way to meet than to stand before him and sing with all her heart? But the road to Nashville is bumpy. Her starch-stiff neighbor Mrs. Boggs offers to drive her in her RV. And a bully of a boy from the trailer park hitches a ride, too. These are not the people May would have chosen to help her, but it turns out they're searching for things as well. And the journey will mold them into the best kind of family--the kind you choose for yourself.

From the author of How to Save a Life comes a heartfelt story of two people finding the courage to choose love, no matter how hard it may be. Gemma thought she had her future all mapped out. She had a wonderful husband, a cute apartment, and plans to start a family. But just months after their wedding, illness took her husband from her. And now she finds herself trying to think up new dreams, when all she really wants are her old ones back. Across town, Dan’s also rethinking his life. He’s about to meet his twelve-year-old daughter, Casey, for the very first time. She’s tracked him down because she needs a place to stay for the summer while she receives treatment for a brain tumor at the city hospital, and Dan is terrified he won’t be up to the task of taking care of her; after all, he’s structured his entire life so that no one has to rely on him. But when fate (with the help of Gemma’s scruffy terrier, Bear) brings these three strangers together one scorching July morning, there’s an instant connection among them. And it soon becomes clear that this summer could change everything—if only they’ll let it. Will Gemma, Dan, and Casey be brave enough to let love in and build a new life together? Or will they let fear keep everything they’ve ever wanted just out of reach?

A scientifically groundbreaking, eloquent look at how we benefit -- psychologically, physically, and interpersonally -- when we practice gratitude. In Thanks!, Robert Emmons draws on the first major study of the subject of gratitude, of “wanting what we have,” and shows that a systematic cultivation of this underexamined emotion can measurably change people’s lives."--

Immerse yourself in the discomfiture of five couples who are virtual strangers when they agree to wed for practical reasons. Emily marry Steven for the sake of his children. Regina’s family has arranged for Diedrich to come from Germany as her groom. Chiquita is bartered in marriage to Eduardo to cover her father’s debts. Pearl accepts Jason’s hasty proposal to help him run his family’s farm. Sarah Jane is forced to marry Painted Hands, a trail scout, for propriety’s sake. Can romance develop despite awkward beginnings?

An enthralling story from the 100-million-copy bestselling Queen of Romance, first published in 1930 and now available in eBook for the first time.