M Stein

The choices we make in our middle years contribute to the quality of the rest of our lives. Those that served us well in the first half of life may not work for us in the second. Dr. Hardin, founder and director of Midlife Consulting Services, wove together research, personal experiences, stories, and exercises to show how to live and age well.

Avery moved to Lake Tahoe for the quiet. She didn’t get that. What she found made her question everything she knew about the world. Basil, her aging golden retriever, has aged in reverse. Her new neighbors make flowers grow in winter. And her student, pale-eyed Bay, can freeze a bully’s heart in his chest. Then there’s Duncan. After Duncan is captured in the Greensward, Avery thinks her biggest challenge is to rescue him, until ICE Agent Graham Braddock shows up at her door, claiming Duncan Sommerfeld is an illegal alien. Oh, if he only knew. Even so, she has to keep her promise to Bay - the promise that she would bring his father home to both of them, but how the heck did you accomplish the impossible?

Leaving Sacramento after her divorce, Avery Nolan retreats to Tahoe with her golden retriever, Basil, looking for change. After Basil discovers a hidden clearing with three standing stones, everything that Avery thinks she knows is suddenly upended. Each move she makes brings her closer to a world imagined only in fairy tales and to unraveling the secrets her family has guarded for decades - secrets that will give Avery more adventure than she ever thought imaginable.

Recurring nightmares haunted D'laine Jackson when she woke from an eight-month coma following a tragic accident. Four images were branded in her head: a dark-haired, handsome princely young man, a fierce reptilian monster, a white furry creature whose red eyes implored her with some unspoken message, and an ominous black robot. Now, five years later, D'laine was getting ready to go off to college. During one last shopping trip with her father and brothers for dorm supplies, a blanket of fog rolled out of the sky at the mall, in broad daylight in plain sight of dozens of witnesses. When the fog pulled back D'laine was gone. When she woke, her nightmare turned into reality.

Marly's been doing the best with what life's dealt her. Losing her husband a decade ago and raising two kids on her own made her self-reliant and unapologetic. When she's pushed to the limit after losing her job, what's a girl to do? Audition for a spot on a DIY show, naturally.

In the last few months, Peyton has solved multiple cases for the FBI, while Marco has learned to navigate his role as police captain. Navigating their personal relationship has proven more challenging, however. Marco’s jealousy over Peyton’s newest friend, Mike, causes friction between them, but although he tries to curb it, he can’t deny a growing feeling that something isn’t right with this man.

When a famous author agrees to teach a writing course at the library, amateur sleuth Deena Sharpe eagerly signs up. But on the second day of class, the author's wife dies in a car crash, and the police suspect foul play. Is it a hoax to teach his students about plotting a murder mystery? Not likely. Deena dives into the investigation when a friend is accused of the crime. With her brother's help, she must clear their friend's name and stay out of trouble with the town's newest detective. As if that weren't enough, it's her husband's birthday and her pushy mother-in-law is coming to town. What's a Southern gal to do?

The mystical green planet of Rendaz is home to devout goddess worshiper and university professor, middle-aged Beautimus Potamus - who also happens to be a hippo plagued by hot flashes and poor self-esteem. Beautimus forms an alliance with Samuel S. Goodwings, a younger womanizing, atheist praying mantis. When these two are together, life morphs from the mundane into the fantastic. Our unlikely duo solve mysteries, bring a murderer to justice, and even help end a war, while experiencing their own trials, triumphs, and tragedies.

For months, Peyton and her partner, Marco, have been searching for the serial killer known only as the Janitor, but every investigation ends in defeat. He moves like the wind, striking and disappearing without a trace, leaving no evidence behind. Peyton, herself, fell victim to his attack. Now she struggles to focus on her job when her every moment is filled with nightmares of him. Forced to deny her trauma in order to stop him, Peyton fears this case is destined to end a hail of bullets and blood. She's just not sure whose.

Clove Calloway thought she ended her nightmare life when she stabbed herself. When the darkness took over, she thought she'd find peace. Seeing her husband die by the hands of his traitorous brother, Trent, destroyed her. Little did she know, her dreadful life without Turner is just the beginning. She awakens from one nightmare right into another, confined in a house with the Master Manipulator of them all. Now, she's fighting for her life instead of trying to end it.