A story of love and hardship between a man and a woman who grew up from childhood in rural Italy during the rise of Benito Mussolini and World War II.

The tranquility of Mars is disrupted by humans who want to conquer space, colonize the planet, and escape a doomed Earth.

How parenting became a verb, from Dr. Spock and June Cleaver to baby whispering and free-range kids. When did “parenting” become a verb? Why is it so hard to parent, and so rife with the possibility of failure? Sitcom families of the past—the Cleavers, the Bradys, the Conners—didn’t seem to lose any sleep about their parenting methods. Today, parents are likely to be up late, doomscrolling on parenting websites. In Long Days, Short Years, Andrew Bomback—physician, writer, and father of three young children—looks at why it can be so much fun to be a parent but, at the same time, so frustrating and difficult to parent. It’s not a “how to” book (although Bomback has read plenty of these) but a “how come” book, investigating the emergence of an immersive, all-in approach to raising children that has made parenting a competitive (and often not very enjoyable) sport. Drawing on parenting books, mommy blogs, and historical accounts of parental duties as well as novels, films, podcasts, television shows, and his own experiences as a parent, Bomback charts the cultural history of parenting as a skill to be mastered, from the laid-back Dr. Spock’s 1950s childcare bible—in some years outsold only by the actual Bible—to the more rigid training schedules of Babywise. Along the way, he considers the high costs of commercialized parenting (from the babymoon on), the pressure on mothers to have it all (and do it all), scripted parenting as laid out in How to Talk So Kids Will Listen, parenting during a pandemic, and much more.

April and I have been torn apart for eight years. I didn’t think she’d leave me after I joined the military. But her letter shredded me into pieces. She’d clearly told me that we weren’t meant to be. That everything we felt for each other was meaningless. I didn’t believe her. And I shouldn’t have. There was something else at play. April is my best friend’s little sister and he’s overprotective of her. There’s still time to find out the truth. Because I’m returning home. And April is no longer just my ex girlfriend. She’s also my employee. My forbidden, tempting, and gorgeous employee. And she’s hiding a secret. A huge secret that I should’ve known about years ago. I don’t think I could forgive her for keeping it from me. But first… I have to find out what kept us apart. And how I can make her mine forever. A full-length second chance secret baby romance. Best friend’s li’l sister, secret baby, boss employee relationship…this one checks all the forbidden boxes. The perfect HEA and absolutely no cliff-hanger! ‘Eight Long Years’ is a part of the Heart of Hope series but stands alone. Books do not have to be read in order.

Private investigator Nat Marley searches for a friend of a client in New York City.