Dr. Marcus Samuels is a medical missionary in Japan, and his life has been God's work despite a severe anxiety disorder. After 12 years, he aches to start his own family life back in the States. Spurred into motion by his mother's sudden illness, he's caught off-guard when he realizes just how much he'll miss Keiko Oichi, a fellow pediatrician at the Children's Christian Mission Hospital. Keiko grew up in the United States as a foreign exchange student. Her conversion to Christ, as well as getting to know Marcus, have radically altered her emotionally-detached acceptance of her traditional Japanese future. When Marcus says he's leaving Japan for good, she feels lost at the prospect of losing him. When Keiko's parents learn of her conversion and feelings for a Christian man, the couple faces a crossroads in love and faith that will change both of their lives irrevocably.

Ashley Savage grew up in a troubled home with a competitive, pampered sister and an abusive mother who played at being a Christian when she needed to...and led Ashley to more addictions than one child could handle. As an adult, Ashley tells herself she's put the extreme fears of the past behind her, but she spends most of her time repairing the crumbling wall holding back the horrors she's not willing to face ever again. The one man who has the annoying habit of getting through her defenses is Jay Samuels, a military chaplain and soon-to-be pastor. Much as Ashley wants to leave him behind, Jay is ambitious to a fault where she's concerned. He hears only what he wants to hear-and he doesn't want to hear that she doesn't love him as much as he loves her. But even Jay doesn't realize the extent of all she's buried...and what keeps her from giving herself willingly to the God she knows is drawing her inexorably to Himself, to the one place she can't run, where she can no longer hide...

As a teenager, Justine MorrisOs escape from the pressures of caring for her dying father was stolen moments with Joshua Samuels. But their tender, desperate liaison found them facing teen pregnancy. Afraid of their Christian familiesO responses to the situation, they married quickly and built a life for their child. But now that their daughter is ready to fly the nest, Justine can no longer ignore the truth: She and Joshua havenOt had a real marriage for a long time. Maybe they never had one at all. Joshua is only too aware that his wife is an independent woman who never really needed him. After nearly two decades of marriage, heOs quit trying to get more than a piece of her at a time. Without their daughter holding them together, he knows the chasm between them will grow to epic proportions. Their empty nest looming, they face the hard questions. Had they married in loveEor out of a hasty sense of responsibility? Is it worth the effortEor better to simply let go?

All good things must come to an end, but bad things continue forever? Vashti Samuels, Rozlyn Gosnik, and Justice Adams grew up together as the children of lawyers in Peaceful, Wisconsin. The three were best friends all their lives. Never once did Vashti realize Roz felt only jealousy and animosity for her. When the truth came out their friendship fractured, and Vashti couldn't make things right no matter how hard she tried. Meanwhile, Justice and Roz began a stormy relationship that segued into a volatile marriage. Years later, Justice ends up in the hospital after Roz commits suicide and nearly extinguished his life in the process. He makes it clear Vashti is the last person he wants to hold his hand during his convalescence and grief. His life has always been spent in the middle between Roz and Vashti and, even with Roz's death, he's not free. Vashti insists she only wants to be friends again, but deep down she knows if she can't have his heart she'd rather have nothing at all.

Detached and ignored for most of her life, Brayla Sullivan is the awkward, ugly duckling destined for spinsterhood who's never been kissed, never gone anywhere beyond the small town she was born and raised in. When she starts corresponding with a man from a ""Meet Exotic Singles"" website and he suggests they meet, she drops everything to fly to him in a last-ditch effort to find her happily-ever-after. The only son in a family of daughters, Shaun Levi, Peaceful's Chief of Police, has never looked the part of a dashing hero. Brayla has been nothing more than a buddy he's known all his life. But, when a kiss between them on New Year's takes a turn for the what-have-we-done?, he sees a side to his old friend he never anticipated?and the consequences may just leave him without a friend or a prayer of convincing her they could share so much more. What follows is a series of unfortunate events in which everything goes wrong?

Clumsy GirlÕs Guide to Having a Baby is the follow-up to Clumsy GirlÕs Guide to Falling in Love. Clumsy GirlÕs Guide to Falling in Love begins the tale of Zo' Rossdale, the clumsy girl who always has her elbows, feet, eyes, and brass-red hair going in the wrong directions. Curt Bertoletti has spent years trying to forget the seriously messed-up Zo' and her embarrassing ways. Even as he vows that he wonÕt stray again, he canÕt help remembering how well he and Zo' fit together. TheyÕd truly been two abnormal peas in an even stranger pod. For better or worse, Zo' will always be Zo'Ñthe clumsy girl with her dress tucked into her pantyhose, toilet paper stuck to her shoe and trailing in her wake. If Zo' will always be Zo', the only question left is, can they both live with that fact? Forever? Clumsy GirlÕs Guide to Having a Baby continues the tale of clumsy girl Zo', back, married to the love of her life, Curt, and setting off on another crazy adventureÑmaybe the most fun and dangerous of all. Having a baby!