Rural Life

Marriage in Japan I went out for lunch with my partner at a cafe the other day that stood across the train station in a Japanese desolate rural town where I live. To call it a cafe is a bit too fancy. It’s not the likes of Starbucks but rather a small old mom-and-pop diner that was built well over 30 years ago and remained as it was, which perfectly matched this old town itself. We sat at the table and overheard a conversation from the table next to us. Three old women in their eighties sat around the table by the window. “She has passed away, too.” “This could be the last time we ...

Grace first met Mimi when she blew into their sons’ toddler playgroup like a warm bay breeze that loosened Grace’s tight spaces. Despite differing approaches to life and parenting, the fast friends raised their kids together while cementing a sisterlike bond that neither believed could be broken. But when a string of ill-fated decisions results in a teen party with a tragic outcome for Grace’s son, the friendship is ripped apart and an already-splintered community explodes.

A spicy holiday romance featuring a grumpy hockey star turned CEO, a determined lawyer fighting for her community, and a Taylor Swift-loving turtle. Perfect for fans of Theodora Taylor, Helena Hunting and Pippa Grant! All I want for Christmas…is you! TESSA I never meant to fall for Grant Thompson. He's arrogant, stubborn, and represents everything I'm fighting against in this town. But when he dives into a frozen pond to save my nephew, I start seeing beneath that polished corporate facade. Now he's pretending I'm his fiancée, and what started as a Christmas charade is feeling ...

The Taylor sisters spent every summer at their family’s lake house, but as they grew up, they also grew apart. Now, in honor of their late mother’s wishes, they reunite on Evening Island, each hoping to find the best part of themselves they’d left behind.

Ten-year-old Grace is in search of a subject for her fifth-grade history project when she learns that her four times-great grandfather once stabbed his lover to death. His grisly act was memorialized in a murder ballad, her aunt tells her, so it must be true. But the lessons of that revelation—to be careful of men and desire—are not just Grace’s to learn. Her family’s tangled past is part of a dark legacy in which the lives of generations of women are affected by the violence immortalized in folk songs like “Knoxville Girl” and “Pretty Polly” reminding them always to know their place.

It's an invitation Steph can't refuse when she's handpicked to compete at the prestigious National Trust property Coleton Fishacre. With the country's top garden designers as rivals and a stunning historic estate for inspiration, it feels like a dream come true. But things quickly turn thorny when the youngest competitor falls mysteriously ill and Steph suspects foul play. Her fears are confirmed when a scream echoes through the gardens, leading her to the horrific sight of a dead body at the foot of the cliff.

An exquisite new collection from a Pulitzer Prize-winning master of the short story, the culmination of a five-decade career: work that takes us beneath the placid surface of suburban life into the elusive strangeness of the everyday.

Joy made her way from Houston back to Orchard County to prepare for the passing of her father. How will Anthony, her childhood sweetheart, be able to tame his unbridled attraction for her during this difficult time? The Fruits of Orchard County is a Christian Romance Series predicated on the Fruits of the Spirit verses found in Galatians 5:22-23. The setting is a rural Michigan county where there is an abundance of orchards and fields of vegetables. Life in Orchard County is laid back and full of rich traditions and family values. This clean romance series will give you a heartwarming ...

In midwinter in an English village, a teenage girl has gone missing and everyone is called upon to join the search. The villagers fan out across the moors as the police set up roadblocks, and a crowd of news reporters descends on what is usually a place of peace. As the seasons unfold and the search for the missing girl goes on, there are births and deaths, secrets kept and exposed, livelihoods made and lost, small kindnesses, and unanticipated betrayals. Reservoir 13 explores the rhythms of the natural world and the repeated human gift for violence.

A bet turns them from friends to lovers, but a secret stands in the way… What would you do if your friends said they’d donate two-hundred dollars to a kids’ charity if you went on a date with your best mate? Billie is determined not to fall for Jonah Sharpe. The lusty firefighter might rescue kittens from trees and children from burning buildings, but Billie would rather date anyone in New Zealand than this outrageous flirt, especially after her last relationship ended so badly. Her friends have other ideas, though, so she agrees to go on one date. But one turns into two and then into...

A second chance to win back the love of his life… Ever since Beck’s wife, Josie, moved out of their family home with their son, he’s been trying to win her back, but Josie refuses to reconcile. As much as he loves her, he knows if he doesn’t do something drastic, he’s still going to be working in his bar, waiting for her, in twenty years’ time. So he’s applied for a new job in another town, and when their divorce comes through after Christmas, it’ll be time for him to move on. Caught up in a cycle of pain and grief, Josie’s retreated into her shell, cutting herself off ...

Maria Delgado is fully prepared to turn her new inn into the holiday wonderland she’s always dreamed of. Good thing she has a month before Christmas to fix it up, toss up every single decoration imaginable, and restore it to its former glory as Love Springs prime meeting place, right? Except one very grumpy bartender who owns the bar down the block is seriously trying to ruin her festive vibe. Jameson McAllister hates everything about Christmas. The absolute last thing he wants to deal with is the walking winter wonderland who just moved in down the street. So when Maria insists she’s ...

The award-winning, humorous true story of an animal-phobic, city robotics engineer who learns too late that his new bride's dream is to have a farm where she can rescue ex-racehorses. When the newlyweds take a Meyers-Briggs Personality Test for fun, they discover their marriage is doomed. There is only one problem: they took the test after the wedding.

It is All Souls Day, and the spirit of Marcus Conway sits at his kitchen table and remembers. In flowing, relentless prose, Conway recalls his life in rural Ireland: as a boy and man, father, husband, citizen. His ruminations move from childhood memories of his father's deftness with machines to his own work as a civil engineer, from transformations in the local economy to the tidal wave of global financial collapse. Conway's thoughts go still further, outward to the vast systems of time and history that hold us all.

Clare Rivers longs to understand the world, but first she must learn to understand herself ... Born in the 1960s on a UK apple farm, Clare Rivers is a girl out of time, living in a family and a world that makes little sense to her. Determined to carve out her place somehow, and with her deep love of her father to see her through, Clare begins a unique journey to discover the reasons for her own existence. If she can. However, accompanied by the oddities of family, school and the strange lyrical life of the apples, can Clare really find a place within herself to call home? This novel will ...

Clara Whittaker loves Christmas more than anything! So when her aunt and uncle decide to retire, she jumps at the chance to run the family business in Love Springs - the beloved Whittaker Christmas Tree Farm. Clara firmly believes that a little Christmas spirit can solve almost any problem. Unfortunately Christmas is right around the corner and all of Clara's belief in Christmas magic isn't enough to miraculously get the town council to approve the permits for all the new events she wants to hold on the farm... Thankfully she now lives right next door to an experienced farmer who knows a ...

Lisa and Elliot have been best friends ever since the day they met as children. Popular, bright and sporty, Lisa was Elliot's biggest supporter when the school bullies made his life a misery, and for that, he will always be grateful. Twenty years later, life has pulled the pair apart, and Lisa is struggling. Her marriage is floundering, her teenage kids are being secretive and she's so tired she can't think straight. So when Elliot knocks on the door, looking much better than she remembers, she can't help but be delighted to see her old friend again.

When a Texas rancher meets a stubborn island veterinarian, sparks fly—and not only the romantic kind. Dr. Elaine Hopewell came to Chincoteague Island to rebuild her shattered career, finding solace in the wild ponies she’s devoted herself to protecting. The last thing she needs is Cole Walker—an arrogant Texas cowboy with a poorly behaved cattle dog—disrupting her research and her carefully isolated life. Cole has one mission: investigate a suspicious breeding operation and return to his family’s ranch. Simple and temporary. But when he discovers Ellie’s fight to save ponies ...

When a car carrying five teenagers home from a party crashes into a brick wall, the consequences are devastating - not just for the young people directly involved, but also for their families, their friends and the wider community. By 2:30 a.m. the whereabouts of most of the kids were known. Most - but not all. Because, for a small handful of parents, there was no response to their frantic calls and messages.

When you're blind, you see with your heart... Teddi Life’s tough. I can’t argue with that. I’m not referring to being blind. That brings its own challenges, but I’ve never let it hold me back from doing anything I wanted to do. I’m talking about losing my partner before the age of thirty. I thought I had it all figured out—marriage, kids, the whole parcel, neatly tied up with a bow, but it wasn’t meant to be. While Will lay dying, he made me promise never to love anyone else. I did, of course, because that’s what you do, and I meant it, at the time. And then I met Ethan. ...