#1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts fulfills Small Town Dreams in this collection of two novels where people find love when and where they least expect it. First Impressions Entrepreneur Vance Banning took a residence in rural Maryland to escape business pressures—and relationships with women pursuing his bank account. To the community, he’s a moody, out-of-work carpenter with a chip on his shoulder. To next door neighbor Shane Abbott, he’s just a man who needs a little kindness in his life. Vance’s suspicions of the stunning beauty’s intense interest in him start to fade when he realizes Shane’s compassion is honest and joyful—giving his heart permission to experience true love. Less of a Stranger Megan Miller’s beloved grandfather has run Joyland Amusement Park her whole life. But he’s not as young as he used to be, so she agrees to help him keep their family playground going even if it means sacrificing her own dreams. So when David “Katch” Katcherton thinks he can just buy Joyland with a quickly scrawled check, Megan isn’t about to let some wealthy, attractive hotshot with a need for speed take her and Pops on a merry-go-round ride—no matter how much fun and joy he’s determined to bring her...

Single mom Jena Crowe is desperate for a day off. Work at her diner never ends, her two boys are bundles of energy, and she’s pretty sure her oldest is about to shift into something furry or feathery. Added to that, changes are coming to the tiny desert town of shapeshifters. Changes not everyone will welcome. Caleb Gilbert was looking for a fresh start, and the quiet town of Cambio Springs seemed like just the ticket for a more peaceful life. Now if he could just get the spitfire owner of the local diner to go on a date with him. But when murder rocks their small community, Caleb and Jena will have to work together before the secret of their safe haven is exposed. Shifting Dreams is the first novel in Cambio Springs, a paranormal romance series from ten-time USA Today bestselling author Elizabeth Hunter.

At the beginning of the 21st century, many people are taking stock of their lives. For those who live in a congested city or suburb, moving to a small town is high on their list of priorities. This book explains how to select a town, and then how to become accepted, how to find a job or start a business, and how to help children adjust to a new lifestyle.

“An impeccably rendered depiction of the strains of adolescence. . . . Broadly relevant to our present cultural moment . . . This is a beautifully written, humane, and extremely compelling book.” — Emily St. John Mandel, Book of the Month pick “Rapturous. . . . Like a deft Texas two-step, Parssinen’s work swings through local terror and youthful awakening.” — Time Out New York “Blend H.G. Bissinger’s “Friday Night Lights” and Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” with Laura Moriarty’s “The Center of Everything” and you would have the flavor of this atmospheric book.” — Kansas City Star “The finest Salem-inspired novel since Esther Forbes’ 1928 A Mirror for Witches. . . . Parssinen keeps her plot tight (and increasingly unsettling, even creepy), she never lets her characters become mere chess pieces, and she is near perfect in portraying her swampy southeast Texas setting.” — Dallas Morning News “Beautiful and awful, enraging and sad, atmospheric and page-turning: an accomplished novel.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “I devoured The Unraveling of Mercy Louis. It is everything I hope for in a book: beautifully written, loaded with suspense, and filled with characters I cared deeply about. A great novel that I will be recommending to everyone.” — Kathleen Grissom, New York Times Bestselling author of The Kitchen House “Urgent, deliciously dark and sumptuously gothic. . . . Like the girls on Mercy’s basketball team, who ‘balance so perfectly between control and chaos,’ Parssinen has an intuitive grasp of language’s vital rhythms.” — New York Times Book Review “Beautifully written and skillfully crafted, The Unraveling of Mercy Louis is a compelling tale of longing and loss that evocatively examines the harsh realities of female adolescence.” — Kimberly McCreight, New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia “Past crimes run a dark thread through this coming-of-age fable that calls to mind Laura Lippman’s stand-alone novels and even The Scarlet Letter. Parssinen excels here at capturing the dueling emotions that rule teenage girls’ relationships, and the dire consequences of societal pressures.” — Booklist “The Unraveling of Mercy Louis is the story of a Texas town that fears everything its girls offer. A deft and thoughtful novel of feints and dodges about a community brought to its knees by prejudice, disappointments, and a past that can’t be changed.” — Miranda Beverly-Whittemore, New York Times bestselling author of Bittersweet “A mysterious murder sends a quiet town--and a quiet girl--into turmoil.” — Cosmopolitan “Parssinen is an incredible writer and storyteller. . . . She transports you to teenaged life in small town Texas, and presents the evangelical and psychic/psychological with nuance and thoughtfulness. . . . Keija’s storytelling grips, while dangling you beyond the precipice of comfort.” — Ann Imig, Founder & Editor, Listen to Your Mother “The language is lyrical and the story beyond gripping. . . . This is a book you can truly get lost in, and trust me, you will not want to be found.” — Hello Giggles “A page-turning oracle of a novel and a chilling reminder of the consequences rendered when young women are exalted as pillars of perfection and demonized for daring to be human.” — Ploughshares “An intricate and suspenseful literary novel that makes you want to slow down to appreciate Parssinen’s rich prose. . . . A compelling, thought-provoking story.” — Bustle “A propulsive, soulful novel about heat of all kinds: the sultry oppressiveness of a bayou summer, the searing power of first love and of religious fervor, the sweaty euphoria of sports, the unpredictable crackle of adolescence. Parssinen’s storytelling grabs, her characters haunt.” — Maggie Shipstead, author of Astonish Me and Seating Arrangements “A powerful and profoundly haunting novel--as explosive as a thriller, as wise as a myth, and as chilling as the news. . . Parssinen illuminates the dark heart of a modern hysteria and the complicated humanity of the people caught in its grip.” — Jennifer duBois, author of Cartwheel and A Partial History of Lost Causes “This is the best work of fiction inspired by the Salem witch trials in decades.” — The Week “Keija Parssinen’s novel is a pitch perfect look at where we so often go wrong in raising our girls, using religion as a weapon against female desire. With echoes of Megan Abbott and Stephen King, The Unraveling of Mercy Louis is bravely unsettling.” — Attica Locke, author of Pleasantville and Black Water Rising “A lovely, thoughtful, disquieting story of the effects of small-town pressures on a remarkable young woman.” — Shelf Awareness “The solid pacing and strong characters provide a captivating read with the same tension and pleasures of being caught up in a well-matched and high-energy basketball game.” — Library Journal “Sumptuous and thoughtful.” — Missouri Life “A suspenseful novel about a Texas town’s golden girl and the mysterious condition that takes her down.” — popsugar.com “This small oil refinery town is the perfect setting for Keija Parssinen’s winning Southern gothic novel about high school basketball star Mercy Louis. . . . This book may keep you up at night, but it’s worth it.” — Bookish “Parssinen weaves romance, mystery and fantasy with contemporary issues. Mercy’s story depicts what happens when girls are expected to be perfect and end up being human.” — Vox Magazine “Parssinen’s work is a cry from the heart against the merciless manner in which young women are raised in ultra-conservative communities.” — Iron Mountain Daily News “A powerful novel that beautifully demonstrates how we grow and change. . . . Parssinen is an author to keep in our sights.” — Cedar Rapids Gazette “A thrilling mystery that combines the power of Stephen King’s CARRIE with those same accusatory girls from the Salem Witch trials . . . A rich and compelling novel.” — TeenReads.com “Vivid imagery...mysteries swirl about the town...Like the best-seller Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, the ending is not neatly wrapped up with all questions answered. That’s life. There is always uncertainty. Unlike Flynn, Parssinen offers hope that better days lie ahead.” — Tulsa World “Parssinen has created fully realized teen characters in a small, religious Southern town straight out of a Carson McCullers short story.” — School Library Journal

We live these days in a virtual nation of cities and celebrities, dreaming a small-town America rendered ever stranger by purveyors of nostalgia and dark visionaries from Sherwood Anderson to David Lynch. And yet it is the small town, that world of local character and neighborhood lore, that dreamed the America we know today—and the small-town boy, like those whose stories this book tells, who made it real. In these life-stories, beginning in 1890 with frontier historian Frederick Jackson Turner and moving up to the present with global shopkeeper Sam Walton, a history of middle America unfolds, as entrepreneurs and teachers like Henry Ford, George Washington Carver, and Walt Disney; artists and entertainers like Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, Carl Sandburg, and Johnny Carson; political figures like William McKinley, William Jennings Bryan, and Ronald Reagan; and athletes like Bob Feller and John Wooden by turns engender and illustrate the extraordinary cultural shifts that have transformed the Midwest, and through the Midwest, the nation--and the world. Many of these men are familiar, icons even—Ford and Reagan, certainly, Ernie Pyle, Sinclair Lewis, James Dean, and Lawrence Welk—and others, like artists Oscar Micheaux and John Steuart Curry, economist Alvin Hansen and composer Meredith Willson, less so. But in their stories, as John E. Miller tells them, all appear in a new light, unique in their backgrounds and accomplishments, united only in the way their lives reveal the persisting, shaping power of place, and particularly the Midwest, on the cultural imagination and national consciousness. In a thoroughly engaging style Miller introduces us to the small-town Midwestern boys who became these all-American characters, privileging us with insights that pierce the public images of politicians and businessmen, thinkers and entertainers alike. From the smell of the farm, the sounds and silences of hamlets and county seats, the schoolyard athletics and classroom instruction and theatrical performance, we follow these men to their moments of inspiration, innovation, and fame, observing the workings of the small-town past in their very different relationships with the larger world. Their stories reveal in an intimate way how profoundly childhood experiences shape personal identity, and how deeply place figures in the mapping of thought, belief, ambition, and life's course.

For Sophie, small town life has never felt small. With her four best friends—loving, infuriating, and all she could ever ask for—she can weather any storm. But when Sophie’s beloved Acadia High School marching band is selected to march in the upcoming Rose Parade, it’s her job to get them all the way to LA. Her plan? To persuade country singer Megan Pleasant, their Midwestern town’s only claim to fame, to come back to Acadia to headline a fundraising festival. The only problem is that Megan has very publicly sworn never to return. What ensues is a journey filled with long-kept secrets, hidden heartbreaks, and revelations that could change everything—along with a possible fifth best friend: a new guy with a magnetic smile and secrets of his own.

Fresh out of high school, Babe Vogel should be thrilled to have the whole summer at her fingertips. She loves living in her lighthouse home in the sleepy Maine beach town of Oar’s Rest and being a barista at the Busy Bean, but she’s totally freaking out about how her life will change when her two best friends go to college in the fall. And when a reckless kiss causes all three of them to break up, she may lose them a lot sooner. On top of that, her ex-girlfriend is back in town, bringing with her a slew of memories, both good and bad. And then there’s Levi Keller, the cute artist who’s spending all his free time at the coffee shop where she works. Levi’s from out of town, and even though Babe knows better than to fall for a tourist who will leave when summer ends, she can’t stop herself from wanting to know him. Can Babe keep her distance, or will she break the one rule she’s always had - to never fall for a summer boy?