Have you ever wished you could go back and do something all over again and do it differently? I know I have; we all have. Th e choices that we make every day not only effect our lives but the lives of those that are around us that we may not even be aware that it has effected somebody else's life. Many times we do not have a choice in the decision we make and we can only make the best of what may be a really bad situation. You will see in this story of Alyson -that she like so many of us did not always have a choice in what life handed her. Th e choices she did have were limited or forced upon her by others' ultimatums. You will read about choices that Alyson made that you think the girl absolutely has lost her mind.

You may ask yourself, "Is she crazy?" "What was she thinking?" Other times you may feel as scared as she was and want to hug her and comfort her when she huddles in a corner shaking from pure fear. You may even wish you could crawl inside the pages and knock a few folks on their behinds. Alyson keeps going and she forever tries to make others happy, she tries to do what is expected of her, and she tries to be the perfect student, child, daughter, sister, wife and mother. You will read about the many times that she failed at each of these.

A convenient marriage Could save them both... Battle-weary Viking Lord Hafual plans to tend his lands, raise his son and recover from the traumatic death of his wife. So nobody is more surprised than him when his neighbour, Lady Elene, publicly announces their intention to wed! Learning the danger Elene faces if he refuses stirs feelings of protectiveness, and a longing in Hafual he'd long-since buried. So, for better or worse, he'll make Elene his bride...

The Valente family has left their Sicilian village of Catania, where they have been living at the foot of a menacing volcano, to fulfill their dreams in America. They settle in a coal patch town in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, nestled in the glorious Laurel Mountains. Paul Valente age thirteen, first generation American, emerges as the provider for the family of ten after his father's crippling mining accident.

Struggling to find his identity as a man and a miner in a brutal underground world, Paul battles prejudice inside and outside the mine. He is strong, with a passion for the American lifestyle of flashy clothes, cars, and jazz music, which his father cannot understand.

"Little Catania" is a story of heroes and scoundrels, both men and women-a saga of two families-the close-knit Valentes and the floundering Mianis-that delves into love/hate relationships as the Miani family, delicately tethered together by feelings of parental abandonment, struggles for acceptance from a father living in a world of his own mind's creation. A chronicle of life's events, goals, and tragedies as mining families face their challenges in stride, "Little Catania" pays homage to miners, the forgotten heroes of an industrial war.

It is 1925 in Savannah, Georgia, as five-year-old Nicie walks through her slum neighborhood and wonders who she really is. Raised by her grandmother, aunt, and uncle and given no details of her biological parents, Nicie feels angry and alone. She longs to belong, but Nicie is the victim of secrets.

Called Nice Chile by her grandmother, Nicie is undernourished and bears the unfortunate knowledge that she is not wanted. Her grandmother cares for her, but when Nicie is six, her grandmother passes away, changing her life forever. Haunted by recurrent dreams about her parents, Nicie finds a kindred spirit in a new friend, Miss Missy Mock, who soon tells her the story of her family of another place and time and slowly unlocks the mysteries of her identity. Missy takes Nicie's hand and leads her into the past, where she is about to find the amazing grace she has been searching for her whole life.

In this historical tale set in the Deep South, the truth is finally revealed to a little girl determined to discover her identity and realize the happiness she deserves.

Mother and Child by Sunday Times bestseller Annie Murray is a moving story of loss, friendship and hope over two generations . . . Jo and Ian's marriage is hanging by a thread. One night almost two years ago, their only child, Paul, died in an accident that should never have happened. They have recently moved to a new area of Birmingham, to be near Ian's mother Dorrie who is increasingly frail. As Jo spends more time with her mother-in-law, she suspects Dorrie wants to unburden herself of a secret that has cast a long shadow over her family. Haunted by the death of her son, Jo catches a glimpse of a young boy in a magazine who resembles Paul. Reading the article, she learns of a tragedy in India . . . But it moves her so deeply, she is inspired to embark on a trip where she will learn about unimaginable pain and suffering. As Jo learns more, she is determined to do her own small bit to help. With the help of new friends, Jo learns that from loss and grief, there is hope and healing in her future. 'Humane, heartbreaking yet hopeful. Annie Murray at her absolute best.' - Kate Thompson, author of Secrets of the Homefront Girls

Transplanted Canadian Doug Loggins is the new principal at Palm Oasis High School-in a small desert community located in California's Colorado Desert. A local tribe, the Napoc Band of Whitewater Indians, flaunting state law, open a gaming "Casino." Doug must deal with ancient squabbles, local politics, and disputes about the meaning of sovereignty in addition to his own administrative duties.

But these ordeals are nothing compared to the situation he faces when one of his students, Simone Garcia, turns up dead. Loggins and authorities suspect a drug related death, but in pursuing justice they butt heads with the leader of the Napoc nation, Reginald "Cisco" Tramhurst, a powerful figure who was instrumental in getting the "Casino" built on Indian land.

When Loggins joins forces with the beautiful Anna Carpenter, a recently divorced Palm Oasis prosecuting attorney, he's surprised at their instant attraction. But the closer they come to the chilling truth surrounding Simone's death, the more their newly burgeoning relationship is threatened. In chasing the links to Simone's death, Doug encounters a life threatening attack, an entrepreneur of questionable character, a frequently contumacious peace officer, a double named attorney and the true survivor, Brutus. In a desperate chase, Doug takes to the air to find a killer and save a life.

From the translator of the bestselling Poetic Edda (Hackett, 2015) comes a gripping new rendering of two of the greatest sagas of Old Norse literature. Together the two sagas recount the story of seven generations of a single legendary heroic family and comprise our best source of traditional lore about its members-including, among others, the dragon-slayer Sigurd, Brynhild the Valkyrie, and the Viking chieftain Ragnar Lothbrok.

Dean Arnold, the main character of the first part of this trilogy, continues his quest for peace of mind. To do this he feels the need to be free from all the mental torture he has been experiencing. The guilt he feels in his little brother's death, coupled with his mother's cold rejection of him, plus the loss of his first love and the strange behavior of his father give him sufficient cause to escape.
His departure from home came as a whim. He wondered what his brother's Harley would feel like when fully loaded for a long trip. Before he knew it he was headed east on highway 20 and he never looked back.
Dean Arnold soon finds out freedom has its cost. Along the way he pays the toll. Good and evil are his companions and he switches between the two. Pete Leocker, a peg-legged artist, Decker, and escapee from and asylum, and a beautiful blind singer are instructors for him as he attends the University of Life.
Dean Arnold, eager to understand the meaning of his existence, reaches out and grabs life by every branch of knowledge he can and holds on for dear life.

A classic novel, heartbreaking and emotional, from Sunday Times bestselling writer Josephine Cox, 'hailed quite rightly as a gifted writer in the tradition of Catherine Cookson' Manchester Evening News. A Time For Us is perfect for fans of Lesley Pearse and Rosie Goodwin. Lucy Nolan is the golden girl. The only daughter of local grocers, Sally and Mike Nolan, she's grown up in a home of total love and security. The one thing her heart desires is that Jack Hanson might ask her to marry him, and when he does eventually propose, Lucy is prepared to give up everything to be with him - even though it means leaving her beloved parents to live abroad where Jack has been offered an exciting business opportunity. But then, almost on the eve of the marriage itself, tragedy strikes. And for the first time in her life, Lucy is forced to realise that Fate, which has been so kind to her, can also be just as cruel.

Salvatore Esposito, Anthony Albanese, and Christopher Cameron-the "Columbus Avenue Boys"-are somewhat related, as they share lineage back to before the turn of century. Having grown up together in a small community north of New York City, each became successful in his own right. Chris moved to Dallas to be a portfolio manager with a financial firm while Sal and Tony earn their living the hard way-by being enforcers and major earners for the mob.

Tony's grandfather, Pops Scala, tells them a horrific secret from the Scalamarri family past: twelve members of their family were massacred at the hands of Bugsy Siegel and his ruthless gang from Murder Inc. in 1935. Pops was the sole witness and lone survivor, and he was more than happy to pull the trigger and end Bugsy's murderous life.

Now fifty years later, Pops convinces the "Columbus Avenue Boys" they must leave the underworld life for good. Since one cannot just give two weeks' notice to the Gambino crime family, the three blood brothers devise a plan to infiltrate the inner workings of the Mafia in the 1990s to avenge the massacre in their family tree.

"Columbus Avenue Boys" chronicles the Scalamarri family tree throughout the twentieth century and presents a historical perspective of the life and struggles of an Italian immigrant family as well as that of America's organized crime.

A spellbinding eco fable for fans of David Mitchell, Richard Powers, and Margaret Atwood. Structured like the rings of a tree, this remarkable novel moves from a futuristic world in which only one forest remains to the start of the twentieth century, where two young boys survive a train crash, setting them on a path that will forever change their lives and the lives of those around them.

Wandering Potatoes focuses on life choices made by five women in an Irish-American family: Kate O Neill, who in 1839, marries, against her father s will, and emigrates to America; Brigid, daughter of Kate, who travels west in 1877 with her husband and children to witness the death of Crazy Horse; Eileen, Brigid s daughter, who in 1900 leaves an Oregon convent after ten years as a nun; Helen, Eileen s daughter, who sails in 1949 across an ocean with four children to join her husband; and Katie, daughter of Helen, who in 1969 turns her back on marriage to join political movements for civil and equal rights. Based on stories passed on from mother to daughter, this novel provides a people s history of Irish famine and immigration, the Civil War, the Indian Wars, women roles at the turn of the century, the Korean War, global expansion, the women s movement. Through these lives of adventurous women in one Irish-American family weave themes of oppression, discrimination, courage, compassion, integrity, the challenges of bridging differences and the contradictions of being both deprived and privileged, oppressed and oppressor, characteristic of American history.