Kathleen Schweikl

In the rugged Pacific Northwest lies the Olympic National Forest - nearly a million acres of impenetrable darkness and impossible beauty. From deep within this old growth forest, a six-year-old girl appears. Speechless and alone, she offers no clue as to her identity, no hint of her past.

Nothing bad can happen at the Ritz; inside its gilded walls, every woman looks beautiful, every man appears witty. Favored guests walk through its famous doors to be welcomed and pampered by Blanche Auzello and her husband, Claude, the hotel’s director. Until June 1940, when the German army sweeps into Paris, setting up headquarters at the Ritz. Suddenly, with the likes of Hermann Goëring moving into suites once occupied by royalty, Blanche and Claude must navigate a terrifying new reality. One that entails even more secrets.

For fans of Radium Girls and history and WWII buffs, The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line takes you inside the lives and experiences of 15 unknown women heroes from the Greatest Generation, the women who served, fought, struggled, and made things happen during WWII - in and out of uniform, for theirs is a legacy destined to embolden generations of women to come.

With the storm behind her, Georgia Carpenter looks forward to reaching her goal of reopening the inn left to her by her great aunt. It seems very attainable, too, thanks to all the help she’s been getting from family and friends. She and Travis Taylor, her handsome handyman, seem to be on a good path, as well. In fact, everything is going swimmingly until a rival in town does the unthinkable and creates all kinds of chaos.

On one of the city's hottest nights, New York Police Lieutenant Eve Dallas is sent to Central Park - and into a hellish new investigation. The victim is found on the rocks, just above the still, dark water of The Lake in the park. Around her neck is a single red ribbon. Her hands are posed, as if in prayer. But it is the eyes - removed with such precision, as if done by the careful hand of a surgeon - that have Dallas most alarmed.

There’s a wedding on the horizon, and Georgia Carpenter couldn’t be happier. But that doesn’t mean she’s lost sight of everything that still needs to be done to get the Sea Glass Inn ready for opening. Not only is she preparing for that, but the magazine photoshoot is right around the corner, too. As is the town council election. Most people think Travis Taylor, the inn’s handsome handyman, is a shoo-in, but with Lavinia Major as his opponent, anything could happen. And probably will.

Rachel Rinehart’s Christmas season is on the brink of disaster when her record label suddenly drops her, threatening to end her music career. Then she receives a mysterious Christmas card, and everything starts to change.... Inside the card are lyrics to a classic Christmas carol urging her to return home to Crystal Falls, the snowy mountain town she left behind 15 years ago.

With the full realization of her inheritance before her, Georgia Carpenter is overwhelmed by the generosity of her late great aunt. What lays ahead of Georgia, however, is more work than she’s ever done in her life. Then another family member arrives unexpectedly, and things change in a way she never imagined possible. But what’s another curveball in the crazy game of life? She thinks she can handle everything being thrown at her, along with the help of Travis Taylor, the handsome handyman she inherited from aunt.

For 18 years, Jude Farraday has put her children’s needs above her own, and it shows - her twins, Mia and Zach, are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill moves into their small, close-knit community, no one is more welcoming than Jude. Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable. Jude does everything to keep her kids on track for college and out of harm’s way. It has always been easy - until senior year of high school. Suddenly she is at a loss.

Mary Roberts is an impoverished child living in a council flat in 1950s London. When she and her sister are left at an orphanage by their mother, they don't think their lives can get any worse. Harry Evans is an orphan who finds himself, with Mary and her sister, on board a ship bound for Australia. They're sent to a farm school for children, where abuse and neglect are rife. A journey that will change their lives forever and from which they’ll never return.