Short Family

In the powerful, haunting stories of Munro’s collection, men and women, in the midst of contemporary quandaries and crises, recall the long-buried yearnings, dreams, and hard choices that have given shape to their lives.

Death by devil's food—but was it really the cake? Savannah Stanton thought she was finally settling into small-town life in Spring Grove. But when a prestigious judge drops dead during the town's annual Dessert Festival—right after sampling Holly's signature devil's food cake—Savannah finds herself kneading through far more than just dough. With the bakery's reputation at stake and whispers of sabotage rising like badly proofed bread, Savannah must sift through a cast of colorful suspects: a fiercely competitive rival baker, a resentful estranged brother, and a host of other townsfolk...

The first thing every listener will want to know is whether Anne Shirley appears in these stories of Avonlea and Spencervale. She certainly does. As a matter of fact, page one starts off in this manner: "Anne Shirley was curled up on the window seat of Theodora Dix's sitting room one Saturday evening, looking dreamily afar at some fair starland beyond the hills of sunset. Anne was visiting for a fortnight of her vacation."

"Dragos Takes a Holiday": When the Cuelebre family heads to Bermuda for some much needed R&R, it’s no ordinary weekend in the sun. Between Pirates, treasure hunting, and a baby dragon…what could possibly go wrong? "Pia Saves the Day": The Cuelebres have moved to upstate New York where they finally have the space to indulge their Wyr side, and Liam can grow in safety. Their idyllic situation is shattered when Dragos is injured and stripped of his memory.

Beloved New Yorker writer Lore Segal, at ninety-five years old, is a national treasure. Working at the height of her powers, in this story collection she turns her gimlet eye and compassionate humor on aging and life in the slow lane. From the master of the short short comes a collection of sixteen new stories featuring old friends who have loved and lunched together for over forty years. These erudite, sharp-minded nonagenarians offer startling insights into friendship, family and aging.

When Ava Barnes’s boyfriend, Justin, proposes after a whirlwind romance, the young couple embarks on a quest that will test their love. For generations, engaged couples in Ava’s family have traveled into the Everglades to retrieve the egg of the magnificent frigate bird in order to bake it into a marriage cake. Those who succeed live happily ever after, while those who fail are destined for heartbreak. With Ava’s beloved grandmother gravely ill, never has the marriage tradition meant so much.

Ginny O'Toole has spent a lifetime repaying her family's debt, and she's finally at the end of her servitude with one last job. Of course, it couldn't be easy. After stealing the computer files that will free her once and for all, she finds herself on the run from a pissed off vampire who has never fallen for her helpless act. A deadly predator too sexy for his own good. If he doesn't knock it off, he's going to see just how powerful she can really be.

A long-haired woman moves into the priest's house and sets fire to his furniture. That Christmas, the electricity goes out. A forester mortgages his land and goes off to a seaside town looking for a wife. He finds a woman eating alone in the hotel. A farmer wakes half-naked and realises the money is almost gone. And in the title story, a priest waits on the altar for a bride and battles, all that wedding day, with his memories of a love affair.

From her many well-loved novels, Hilma Wolitzer - now 91 years old and at the top of her game - has gained a reputation as one of our best fiction writers. These collected short stories - most of them originally published in magazines including Esquire and the Saturday Evening Post in the 1960s and 1970s, along with a new story that brings her early characters into the present - are evocative of an era that still resonates deeply today.

This book is part of a series that provides short and simple explanations of different professions. It focuses on the profession of social work. It examines social work in general, breaks down specific types of social workers, and discusses the education and training required to become a social worker. It uses language and terminology that is understood by the average person, and it is written for easy comprehension at all reader levels

A Thrilling Western Finale You Won’t Want to Miss! A powerful tale of courage and hope in the heart of the West When FBI agent Seth Ryder is called back to his small Montana hometown by a letter from his father, he has no idea that his latest case will collide with family history in ways he never imagined. Joined by his fearless FBI partner, Nora, Seth must navigate a dangerous investigation while reconnecting with his siblings in the close-knit community of Ryders’ Bluff. But Jules Bishop, the corrupt land developer, is ready to stake his claim—and this time, the stakes are higher ...

The events of a fateful, long-ago summer in Tuscany reverberate across three generations of women. With God’s guidance, can they let go of the past — and find the happily ever afters they deserve? A life-affirming box set filled with romance, redemption, and healing! BOOK 1 : LEAST EXPECTED Can such complete opposites find a way to make their love work? When Maggie Golding, unconventional and artistic 50-something, agrees to help a friend by working as a window dresser at Pettett & Mayfield's London department store, she never expected to fall in love with Edgar Pettett, staid and ...

Celebrate the holidays with New York Times bestselling author Jenny Colgan’s Christmas Island Collection, featuring two novels—Christmas on the Island and Christmas at the Island Hotel—two romantic and festive tales set on a charming island off the coast of Scotland.

Assembled here are stories new and old, spanning from 1960 to today. Meet the death-defying motorcycle trick riders in the carnival's Devil's Tub, a man who keeps an alligator in his bathtub, a Chinese launder in Coney Island in search of love, a frontiersman who saves himself from a mauling grizzly bear by hiding in a beaver dam, three men from a circus looking for trouble at a rodeo, a washed out boxer trying to hang onto his career, and dozens of others rich characters.

A couple awakens in a home in the woods to find themselves rapidly aging as their toddler remains unchanged. A work-worn employee navigates conspiracy theories and the threat of violence in an abandoned office. A tour guide leads a troublesome group to an ancient structure, apparently nonhuman in origin, discovering along the way that the most mysterious creatures of all are right beside him.

A gripping and emotional short story, The Good Son follows Ethan, a man haunted by childhood abuse and the scars left by an alcoholic stepfather. After his mother’s death, Ethan is forced to confront the man who shaped his darkest impulses—and reckon with the kind of father he’s becoming himself. Spanning decades of trauma, rage, and redemption, this story explores the brutal legacy of violence—and one man’s quiet decision to end the cycle.

People come to Kiss County to fall in love. But who has time for that? I'm juggling two jobs to save my family’s inn. Falling in love? Not on my to-do list. But then Carter Cartwright, a handsome bachelor, rolls into Small Town and books a room. Suddenly, I'm feeling things I didn’t plan for. I don’t have time for love. But Carter is determined to make time for me. His advances are hard to resist, but I’m not about to open up to a man just passing through on his way to Big City dreams. Welcome to Kiss County, where saving my family’s inn might just mean losing my heart. The Hot ...

Enjoy four classic Lone Star romances from New York Times bestselling author Diana Palmer!

The Harden Brothers' Stories begins... A Bride for Bear-Tired of living in his oldest brother’s shadow, Barrett Harden, Bear to family and friends, accepts his inheritance from his parents and decides to strike out on his own. Unfortunately, he must agree to the terms of his inheritance. He needs to find a business to purchase or start his own in the town of Silver Springs, Colorado. Then, Bear only has three months to find a wife after he purchases the mercantile. If he fails in either venture, he must return to the ranch and work off the money he spent. His younger brother urges Bear to...

The strong but flawed women of Mothers, Tell Your Daughters love and betray one another; their richly fraught relationships can act as anchors, lifelines, or deadly poison. Bonnie Jo Campbell's working-class protagonists are at once vulnerable, wise, cruel, and funny, and they are always getting into or out of trouble.