In 1910 Minnesota, Nilda Carlson's dreams are coming true. Though her first few months in America were difficult, her life now resembles the images that filled her daydreams in Norway. She and her younger brother Ivar live in their own house, just a short distance from her older brother and his family. Together they work the farm and fell trees for lumber. They plan to grow a dairy herd, weave rugs out of their own wool, and make skis to sell. Everything is going right. The only thing missing from Nilda's life is love. But though she has two suitors--a quiet schoolteacher and a handsome lumberjack--Nilda feels hesitant. A terrifying experience in Norway has made her cautious where men are concerned. When she thinks she sees the man in question, all her fears come flooding back. Is it possible the danger has followed her across the Atlantic? If Dreng Nygaard is truly in Minnesota, all of her dreams for the future could come crashing down around her.

"'I am trapped,' she screamed silently, no one in the room hearing her inner pleas. 'I am trapped in a cage of poverty and mediocrity and If I don't get out I will die.' Only the sound of her typewriter could be heard that night echoing throughout the shack that she had called home. Grace Metalious wrote the stories that no one dared to write before that time. A midcentury tale of small-town life in New England to the hustle and bustle of New York City and to the unforgiving film studios of Hollywood, her story unfolds. Her infamous novel Peyton Place catapulted her from obscurity to the top of the literary world. This is a classic scenario where art imitates life and so does this novel. The young author coping with literary and financial success, without realizing it creates her own Peyton Place where she herself had to reside. The seasons of Grace is a fictional account based on the author's life; sometimes dark, sometimes shocking, but always authentic"--Back cover.

Nilda Carlson has been trying to save enough money to go to America for months, so when a letter from Einar and Gerd Strand arrives, offering to pay her ticket, she jumps at the chance. Her younger brother Ivar accompanies her, and they can't wait to join their brother Rune and his family in the northern forests of Minnesota. Signe and Rune Carlson are thrilled to welcome Nilda and Ivar to America, but life on the farm remains a struggle. Though Gerd has softened and grown to love the Carlson family, Einar is still harsh and unforgiving, obsessed solely with felling as many trees as possible. Rune is trying to build a new home for his wife and children, but Einar refuses to help and forbids anyone from the nearby community from stepping foot on his land. What dark secret must lie in his past to have caused him to isolate himself--and anyone living under his roof--in this way? When a tragedy lays the truth bare, the Carlsons and Strands will have to come together like never before and become a true family.

'The perfect read for a cosy winter's evening beside a crackling log fire' Sussex Life Diamonds are forever. And hold a thousand secrets... When Grace Manners moves to a little cottage on the Wittering Manor estate, she hopes it will be the perfect new beginning after her life was torn apart seven months ago. Ever since her husband disappeared, along with most of their money, Grace has struggled to make ends meet - but now, working for the eccentric Fraser Stratton, she has her own space to make her delicate jewellery once again. Yet as Grace begins to uncover the story behind a beautiful diamond brooch, she becomes drawn into a mysterious family secret that threatens to destroy what little she has left... Praise for Kate Lord Brown: 'Absolutely exquisite' Marian Keyes 'A wonderful, escapist, nostalgic read' RED 'Sweepingly romantic' Katherine Webb 'Captivating' YOU 'A story of love and adventure, of loss and pain, and heroism' DAILY MAIL ---------------------------------------------------- Previously published as The Christmas We Met

Grace in Africa is a sweeping historical three-part saga of slavery and freedom that takes the reader from an island off the west coast of Africa to Southern plantations and finally on to Canada. All her life, Grace Winslow, the daughter of a mixed marriage between an English sea captain and an African princess, has been forbidden to ever approach Zulina, the fortress that juts out into the sea off the African coast. In book 1, when she escapes the family compound to avoid an odious betrothal, she is swept up in a slave revolt. As the truth about Zulina unfolds, Grace begins to grasp the brutality and ferocity of the family business—the capture and trade of slaves. Held for ransom, viciously maimed by a runaway slave, and threatened with death, Grace is finally jerked into reality when her parents leave her to die rather than negotiate with the slaves. Grace sympathizes with the plight of the captives, and she is genuinely moved by the African Cabeto’s passion, determination, and willingness to sacrifice anything, including his own life, for his people’s freedom. With much of the island in flames, and the slaves freed, Grace is abandoned by her parents. Where shall she go? Her old nursemaid Mama Muco, opens a missionary Bible that she has managed to save and points to Isaiah 61: “The Lord has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound…to give unto them garlands of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning.” It’s a new beginning for Grace. Of Kay Strom’s 34 published books, four have been book club selections, nine have been translated into foreign languages, and one has been optioned for a movie. Her writing credits also include numerous magazine articles, short stories, two prize-winning screenplays, books and stories for children, and booklets for writers. Her writing has appeared in several volumes, including More Than Conquerors, Amazing Love, The NIV Couple's Devotional Bible and The NIV Women's Devotional Bible, and The Bible for Today's Christian Woman. Her work also is included in a number of compilations, including various books from the Stories for the Heart series. Her best-known book is Once Blind: The Life of John Newton, which is packaged with the recently released DVD Amazing Grace. She also has written several books with her husband, Dan Kline. Kay is a partner in Kline, Strom International, Inc., leaders in communication training. See www.kaystrom.com.

While Grace supports her artist husband, Wellington Holmes, as he recovers fully both mentally and emotionally from a deliberate plane crash, the faith-based power couple now face a new set of seasons in their lives. Grace celebrates the development of a ground-breaking Liquid Art Intelligence product, and Wellington opens the doors to the Wellington Holmes Art Academy. They are the subjects of a new movie; revel in a newfound romance; see delightful, discerning, and renewed family ties with their two children; and facilitate a growing Artist Wife Organization with national members. But it’s evident all is not well in their life seasons. Grace’s secret admirer could get her killed, and evil threats are commonplace. In Grace’s Seasons, author Sharron Bedford-Vines skillfully exploits deep-seated involvements in Grace and Wellington’s lives. In this, the second book, she features the Artist Wife Organization, detectives, an old nemesis, and new arch enemies as they surface from throughout the world disrupting their glamorous and cosmopolitan fine-art, celebrity lifestyle.