His wedding to Julia should have been the happiest event of Ben Carreras's life. And it was, until an old flame turned up claiming the baby boy in her arms was Ben's son–and threatening to put him up for adoption if Ben didn't take him.

His wedding to Julia should have been the happiest event of Ben Carreras’s life. And it was, until an old flame turned up claiming the baby boy in her arms was Ben’s son—and threatening to put him up for adoption if Ben didn’t take him. Ben couldn’t deny the baby was his, or deny him a loving childhood. But how could he tell his new bride that he had a son who was about to become part of their family? He could only hope that their love for each other was strong enough to cope with this totally unexpected wedding gift….

A bride with cold feet might just make the mistake of a lifetime... Includes two bonus novellas to help you celebrate the seasons! A week before your wedding is one heckuva time for your ex to ride back into town, stirring up trouble. But that's exactly the predicament Darla McAdams finds herself in. Darla's on the verge of breaking up with her fiancé, Will Jackson—only a week before the wedding. Her parents would disown her, but Darla's sure that her Granny Roxie will understand when Darla tells her that her first love, Andy, has come back to town. Thank goodness for a wise granny's reminiscences of her own sassy wedding at just the right moment... Praise for New York Times bestselling author Carolyn Brown: "Loved it, loved it, loved it! What great characters! What a great story!"—Joanne Kennedy for One Lucky Cowboy "Fans of beloved Southern films...will flip for this charming small-town tale."—Woman's World for The Sisters Café "A sweet story about building family out of what life hands you."—Kirkus Reviews for Talk Cowboy to Me

In 1852, when prestigious Alabama plantation owner Cornelius Allen gives his daughter Clarissa's hand in marriage, she takes with her a gift: Sarah—her slave and her half-sister. Raised by an educated mother, Clarissa is not the proper Southern belle she appears to be, with ambitions of loving whom she chooses. Sarah equally hides behind the façade of being a docile house slave as she plots to escape. Both women bring these tumultuous secrets and desires with them to their new home, igniting events that spiral into a tale beyond what you ever imagined possible. Told through the alternating viewpoints of Sarah and Theodora Allen, Cornelius' wife, Marlen Suyapa Bodden's The Wedding Gift is an intimate portrait of slavery and the 19th Century South that will leave readers breathless.

In this heartfelt and thoughtful book, Christopher Heuertz writes of the dangers of isolation, the challenges we face when we join together and the struggles and joys that emerge from genuine community bonding. “Ironically, as much as we yearn for deep friendships and meaningful communities, many of us seem to be unable to find our way into them. Even if we know we’re made for community, finding one and staying there seems almost impossible. Though we hate to admit it, if we stay long enough in any relationship or set of friendships, we will experience failure, doubt, burnout, loneliness, transitions, a loss of self, betrayal, frustration, a sense of entitlement, grief, and weariness. Yet it’s these painful community experiences, these tensions we struggle to navigate, that hold surprising gifts.” —FROM THE PREFACE IN A STRIKINGLY confessional tone and vividly illustrated through story, Unexpected Gifts names eleven inevitable challenges that all friendships, relationships, and communities experience if they stay together long enough. Rather than allowing these challenges to become excuses to leave, Chris Heuertz suggests that things like betrayal, transitions, failure, loss of identity, entitlement, and doubt may actually be invitations to stay. And if we stay, these challenges can become unexpected gifts. *** Betrayal, failure, loss of identity, doubt. If your relationships have suffered from any of these pitfalls, this book will show you that staying together can create something more—even something beautiful. IN THIS HEARTFELT and thoughtful book, Christopher Heuertz writes of the dangers of isolation, the challenges we face when we join together, and the struggles and joys that emerge from genuine community bonding. Whether readers are forming a new community, searching for deeper community, or participating in a longtime community, they will find inspiration, caution, guidance, and encouragement as they discover the beauty of pressing in to the ambiguities of growing relationships in this tender and honest testimony about how we are woven together by grace.

Always a bridesmaid? Only her best friend's wedding could bring Abby Hamilton back to her Michigan hometown. But when the bride runs away, the reception turns into an unexpected homecoming party for Cloverville's prodigal daughter. Everyone's happy to see Abby…except Clayton McClintock, the bride's straight-arrow older brother and Abby's unrequited crush. Where Abby goes, trouble follows. But Clayton has to admit the adult Abby is very different from the rebellious eighteen-year-old who left without a backward glance. She runs a successful business and is a single mother to an adorable four-year-old, who is quickly stealing Clayton's heart. Suddenly a man with no intentions of settling down is thinking about making a home and a family…