Short Family

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.

"A bend in the road is not the end of the road . . . unless you fail to make the turn." ~Anonymous Short and light, a few stories about things unexpected in life, but what's wrong with happy endings or new beginnings? A bit of history, a little mystery and some optimism too.

This is the story of the O'Neill family from Lawrence, Kansas. Jim, a 45 year- old man with two children; Jay, 13 and Adrianna 11. The kids are out of school for summer vacation. They are setting out by car to find the ancestral home of Jim's grandfather, who lived in Sterling, Illinois. A diary which was found in Jim's grandfather's house in Lawrence, revealed that there was a treasure to be found on the property of the Sterling homestead. The treasure can be found by solving riddles and clues. Jim's wife died in a terrible car crash a year and a half ago. One month before the accident, ...

Lonely, thanklessly courteous, and without the benefit of status, Gordon Schulmeister is only tolerated in his younger, hip, and gentrified Oakland neighborhood. Now, amid the tensions of a pandemic, the cantankerousness of his landlord, and dog sitting an intimidating pit bull, Gordon has never felt the target on his back so acutely. To keep his neighbors off his heels, with some hope and a sigh, Gordon might have to finally speak up.

In 1956, Updike published a story, "Snowing in Greenwich Village," about a young couple, Joan and Richard Maple, at the beginning of their marriage. Over the next two decades, he returned to these characters again and again, tracing their years together raising children, finding moments of intermittent happiness, and facing the heartbreak of infidelity and estrangement.

Set in the author’s native Belfast, the ten stories in Sweet Home lay bare the heartbreak and quiet tragedies that run under the surface of everyday lives. A lonely woman is fascinated by her niqab-wearing neighbours; a middle-aged teacher becomes obsessed with a young Gaelic football player; and an employer covers for his two employees caught having sex in a public toilet.

When Avery learns Sean's dark secret, everything changes. His confession blindsides her. Sean has a shady past, she knew that from the beginning, but this is so much worse than she thought. There's a dangerous side to Sean. It's alluring and frightening at the same time. Avery has to decide if love can overcome anything or if she should protect her heart.

A mothers love is something else, she always knows, what's good for your health, but strangers beware and stay away, if you don't , you learn the hard way. A pie is baked and she brings it to your place, shortly after you feed your face, lick clean your plate and don't leave a trace. One last thing, don't forget to say Grace!

Another Friday night in the small fishing village along the New Jersey coast. A return to see how everyone has fared in the last five years and who's made the right and wrong decisions in their life. Check back in with Willie, April, Tommy, George, Frankie, Gary, Billy, Jimmy, and Garrett 10 years after the events of the original Belford Stories!

"The things you're having me do… I was such a good girl before you came along." Abbi and her hunky older neighbor have always shared a close bond, playing all manner of friendly games with one another. Now that she's full-grown with some lovely adult parts, it's time to up the ante of their playtime… What begins as a perverted round of peekaboo leads to a risky game of pull-out, and they'll keep playing until her bumped belly spells game over. ~5900 words

Thirty years ago, David Leavitt first appeared on the literary scene with a gutsy story collection that stunned readers and reviewers. Just 23, he was hailed as a prodigy of sorts: “remarkably gifted” (The Washington Post), with “a genius for empathy” (The New York Times Book Review), and “a knowledge of others' lives...that a writer twice his age might envy” (USA Today). “Regardless of age,” wrote the New York Times, “few writers so effortlessly achieve the sense of maturity and earned compassion so evident in these pages.”

Over the past decade, Simon Van Booy has been listening to people’s stories. With these personal accounts as a starting point, he has crafted a powerful collection of short fiction that takes listeners into the innermost lives of everyday people. From a family saved from ruin by a mysterious benefactor to a downtrodden boxer who shows unexpected kindness to a mugger, these tales reveal not only the precarious balance maintained between grief and happiness in our lives but also how the echoes of personal tragedy can shape us for the better.

Grace had never been more terrified...the pain was relentless. Nothing in her life prepared her for this. She desperately needed somewhere safe...someplace she could hide. Someone she could trust with her life. It was dark...and getting darker. Ronan Hendricks didn’t recognize her voice. Not family...not friends. Probably not an enemy. But he didn’t need the years he’d spent as a detective to recognize what he did hear... Fear. In a desperate moment of hope, a single number saved her life. Then a complete stranger opened his home offering safety yet Grace knew danger surrounded them.....

When a snowstorm pummels the western half of the country, three couples find once off-limits love just in time for Christmas. An unforgettable holiday anthology from best-selling authors Jennifer Ryan, Maisey Yates, and Lia Riley.

Free on Kindle Unlimited KDP for KIDS★★★★★5 STAR REVIEWS★★★★★ "I enjoyed reading stories of real children with my child. The actual family photos were an extra special touch. It made the stories so personal."This book covers family relations and provides young children insight to what's right and wrong. It is a learning tool that is fun to read.This book is a collection of real life adventures of two brothers as they were growing up. For ages 3-10 years old.

Mia Russo spent 10 years working undercover, entrenched in the dregs of society, before handing in her shield. Opening her own pawnshop is a piece of cake in comparison. All she needs is the bad attitude she developed on the streets and the shotgun under her counter to keep law and order. Until the day Zeke McBride walks into her shop. Zeke knows Mia has every right not to trust him. He was the one who chose the next op instead of her.

Some bonds are unbreakable...Chris Andersen had spent years throwing himself into one project then another...one painting and then the next one...all in an effort to bury the profound grief he had never completely faced... Enduring is the seventeenth novella in the ongoing story of the Andersen family. Livia Andersen was a woman who held her family together with a quiet smile and an iron will. It’s been months since her death and her children and grandchildren she leaves behind continue to grapple with the shifting changes in their lives now that she’s gone. Chris Andersen is searching ...

Livia Andersen was a woman who held her family together with a quiet smile and an iron will. It’s been months since her death and her children and grandchildren she leaves behind continue to grapple with the shifting changes in their lives now that she’s gone. For some of them it is about far more than adjusting to her absence in their lives. Trisha Andersen doesn’t do anything without careful deliberation. She can’t remember the last time she made plans involving a man that had her questioning her own judgment. Maybe it’s the simple fact that she’s never made plans with a man ...

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 ...

On Ash Wednesday in 1908, Swiss German immigrant Fritz Hirter arrives at his children’s school, where he is the lone custodian. But soon after lessons start, a fast-moving fire breaks out—its cause is unknown, but its effects are horrifying. Although Fritz is soon cleared of any responsibility for the catastrophe, the community continues to suspect him, supremely testing Fritz and his family.