The holidays are in full swing in the western Pennsylvania village of Solitude. Then a beloved member of the community dies suddenly and unexpectedly during a sleigh ride to a festively decorated covered bridge. Suspicions and fear abound as the police aided by sleuths Fannie and Dana seek justice and to vindicate the death of a dear friend. This is the 24th in the Amish Country Murder Mystery Series. Views: 53
Another great title in the best-selling Go Girl series. Chloe's nervous about going back to school. She has to get used to a new teacher and harder work. But she didn't expect to be the only one to find the new maths so difficult. Is everyone else really smarter than Chloe? Views: 53
Cannibals, crazies, zombies- call ‘em whatever you like, but we’re overrun with them. I spent months keeping a low profile and scratching out a decent living among the ruins until my luck ran out. It didn’t seem that way at first, when The Boss and her all-female gang “rescued me.” But I learned quickly being the only rooster in a hen house makes for a better fantasy than a way of life. Views: 53
Molly O'Hara's young sister Nell is beautiful, spirited, and sweet, and the fact that she hasn't spoken for the last seventeen years--since she was eight--certainly doesn't reflect on her intelligence. After all, it's Nell who does the books for Enchanted Cottage Antiques, which she and her sister operate jointly. Truth is, Nell was home alone with their mother when the woman was murdered, and from that day forward Nell hasn't spoken. She understands, she can make herself understood; it's just that she doesn't utter a word. Rummaging in boxes at a tag sale, Nell comes across an old New York theater Playbill that will change the girls' lives. It will break the monotony of their rather lonely existence in the small North Carolina town from which they have never ventured--and will also shatter the peace they've managed to achieve there. It will send them rocketing to New York, to England, and to New England, in search of a family they didn't know they had. And it... Views: 53
With the world embroiled in the Great War, power-hungry forces threaten to tear apart the state of Texas in a secret plot to rule the resource that will fuel the future. In The Austin Job, James Starr, bronc rider turned politician, stumbles into a high stakes game of power and lies that he must master before it masters him. Views: 53
"Lee Woodruff knows how to get to the heart of the matter on every occasion."--Alice Hoffman A bright June day. A split-second distraction. A family forever changed.Life is good for Maura Corrigan. Married to her college sweetheart, Pete, raising three young kids with her parents nearby in her peaceful Chicago suburb, her world is secure. Then one day, in a single turn of fate, that entire world comes crashing down and everything that she thought she knew changes.Maura must learn to move forward with the weight of grief and the crushing guilt of an unforgivable secret. Pete senses a gap growing between him and his wife but finds it easier to escape to the bar with his friends than face the flaws in his marriage.Meanwhile, Maura's parents are dealing with the fault lines in their own marriage. Charismatic Roger, who at sixty-five, is still chasing the next business deal and Margaret, a pragmatic and proud homemaker, have been married for four decades, seemingly happily. But the truth is more complicated. Like Maura, Roger has secrets of his own and when his deceptions and weaknesses are exposed, Margaret's love and loyalty face the ultimate test.Those We Love Most chronicles how these unforgettable characters confront their choices, examine their mistakes, fight for their most valuable relationships, and ultimately find their way back to each other. It takes us deep into the heart of what makes families and marriages tick and explores a fundamental question: when the ties that bind us to those we love are strained or broken, how do we pick up the pieces?Deeply penetrating and brimming with emotional insight, this engrossing family drama heralds the arrival of a major new voice in contemporary fiction.Praise for Those We Love Most:"Lee Woodruff has written a beautiful, humorous, poignant page-turner about the complexities of love and marriage, tricky family dynamics, and the power of the human heart. Everything you want in a great read is here, including wonderful storytelling that builds to a satisfying ending. Loved it."--Adriana Trigiani "Those We Love Most is an engrossing story about family fragility, rupture, and redemption. Woodruff's beautiful and unflinching portrayal of the grief, betrayal, guilt, tenacity, and love that engulf this family in the aftermath of a devastating tragedy will keep you turning pages till the end."--Sue Monk Kidd"Flawless, breathtaking, and oh-so-real, Those We Love Most is a beautifully written book about family, love, betrayal, forgiveness, and how we pick up the pieces in the wake of unthinkable tragedy. When I turned the last page, I found myself missing the characters already. I can’t recommend this book highly enough. "--Harlan Coben"Those We Love Most is a poignant, heartwarming story that follows you beyond its pages. Woodruff skillfully makes the Corrigan family real--fallible and vulnerable, ultimately strengthened by the undeniable power of love. I grieved and cheered for them all, and finished the book with a big smile on my face."--Catherine Coulter"I opened Those We Love Most when my plane took off from Boston, and didn't look up again until I landed in Miami. In between, I cried and smiled and nodded, and turned pages faster and faster. It's one of those novels."--Ann HoodFrom BooklistWoodruff, who is married to Bob Woodruff, the newsman who suffered a traumatic brain injury while covering the war in Iraq, brings her own experience in dealing with sudden tragedy to bear in her first novel (after Perfectly Imperfect, 2009, a collection of essays). Maura Corrigan’s settled suburban life changes in an instant when her eldest son, nine-year-old James, is hit by a car. Reeling from a welter of emotions, including guilt that she was texting instead of keeping an eye on her son, Maura feels too overwhelmed to try to deal with the distance in her marriage as her husband copes with the tragedy by spending evenings at the local watering hole with his college chums. Meanwhile, her parents must confront the rift in their own marriage when evidence of her father’s years-long affair comes to light. Woodruff is surprisingly subtle in her nuanced portraits of the complexity of marriage, the far from well-intentioned people who seem to thrive on tragedy, and the great struggle to find meaning in life. Candid and heartfelt, this is sure to please fans of women’s fiction. --Joanne Wilkinson Views: 53
Twenty-year-old Ward de’Ath expected this to be a simple job—bring a nobleman’s daughter back from the dead for fifteen minutes, let her family say good-bye, and launch his fledgling career as a necromancer. Goddess knows he can’t be a surgeon—the Quayestri already branded him a criminal for trying—so bringing people back from the dead it is.
But when Ward wakes the beautiful Celia Carlyle, he gets more than he bargained for. Insistent that she’s been murdered, Celia begs Ward to keep her alive and help her find justice. By the time she drags him out her bedroom window and into the sewers, Ward can’t bring himself to break his damned physician’s Oath and desert her.
However, nothing is as it seems—including Celia. One second, she’s treating Ward like sewage, the next she’s kissing him. And for a nobleman’s daughter, she sure has a lot of enemies. If he could just convince his heart to give up on the infuriating beauty, he might get out of this alive… Views: 53
When a strange invitation to go to the Corrib at dapping time arrives from their Uncle Pakie,Cowlick, Róisín and Rachel are intrigued. But when they arrive with their cousin Tapser,ÊPakie has disappeared and the only clue to his whereabouts is a puzzle in the form of a poem about the Corrib king. But who is the Corrib king? And what has he to do with their uncle's disappearance? It's a mystery they must solve, as their uncle's life depends on it.ÊTheir search leads them from the mysterious Illaun na Shee to the delights of Titania's Palace, where they encounterÊthe Little People, magic and a fairy queen. Using only their wits, and with the help of some new friends, can the cousins find their Uncle Pakie before it's too late? "All the elements of a gripping adventure story - enchantment in the air, a riddle to be unravelled, a mystery to be solved." Sunday Press Views: 53
Amazon.com ReviewAmazon Best Books of the Month, April 2011: Onward is not a puff piece. In just under 400 brisk pages, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz details the multitude of factors--the recession, new consumer behavior, overexpansion--that led to the company's downturn during 2007-2008. Obviously, Schultz was successful, and his book has plenty of valuable lessons about management and leadership--standard features for most business books. But the most interesting thing about Onward is Schultz's honesty about the whole process, from his determination to make difficult personnel changes to his admission that he considers it a personal failure when he sees someone with a competitor's cup of coffee. Schultz even makes the chapters about his agonies over the company's breakfast sandwiches a fascinating study in the minute decisions that go into running a multibillion-dollar company. Conflicts, raw emotions, high stakes: Onward is a business book that goes beyond feel-good maxims and actually has a story to tell. --Darryl CampbellFrom Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. In 2000, Starbuck's founder and CEO Schultz (Pour Your Heart into It) stepped down from daily oversight of the company and assumed the role of chairman. Eight years later, in the midst of the recession and a period of decline unprecedented in the company's recent history, Schultz-feeling that the soul of his brand was at risk-returned to the CEO post. In this personal, suspenseful, and surprisingly open account, Schultz traces his own journey to help Starbucks reclaim its original customer-centric values and mission while aggressively innovating and embracing the changing landscape of technology. From the famous leaked memo that exposed his criticisms of Starbucks to new product strategies and rollouts, Schultz bares all about the painful yet often exhilarating steps he had to take to turn the company around. Peppered with stories from his childhood in tough Canarsie, N.Y., neighborhoods, his sequel to the founding of Starbucks is grittier, more gripping, and dramatic, and his voice is winning and authentic. This is a must-read for anyone interested in leadership, management, or the quest to connect a brand with the consumer. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. Views: 53
Who knew that the hot career choice for recent college grads would be farming? Lynda Hopkins, a farmer's girlfriend, took her master's degree in environmental science communication and planted kale, radishes, and tomatoes on a small farm in Northern California to earn a living (sort of). What at first sounds pastoral and idyllic soon becomes a series of challenges as the realities of what it takes to run a farm come to light. From making the classic neophyte agronomist error of getting emotionally involved with her chickens to ruminating on the value of radishes, Hopkins's retelling of life on a farm in the modern age is engaging, even gripping. Through it all, Hopkins cultivates a sense of belonging, and with a lot of hard work and a little luck, she becomes quite a bit more than just a farmer's girlfriend. Views: 53
