Small Town America

It's 1951, and Miranda's mother has just married into one of the wealthiest families on Winthrop Island, a glamorous haven set off the New England coast. But beneath the surface, the island is a delicate balance of tension between the wealthy summer families who holiday there and the Portuguese fishermen and domestic workers who keep the island going. As Miranda begins to fall for Joseph, the lighthouse keeper's handsome son, the tension rises inexorably to the surface, and an explosive end to the summer will change everyone forever....

1973 Lubbock, Texas is the setting for this tale of mystery and the hidden lives of children as told by an eight year old girl. Her “vivid imagination resulting in hyperbole” sheds light on a local woman’s suicide, as well as providing a rare insight into the secret lives of her and her sisters. Holidays and school events create the timeline, as that is how children tell time, and retell some humorous vignettes regarding family, friendship, and budding love. She has the support of the many adults in her life, yet they are often seen in opposition to her imagination.

Black Jack Hollis was a daring outlaw before he was shot down. In the wake of his death, it's discovered that Hollis left behind an infant son. Elizabeth Cornish, coowner of the Cornish Ranch alongside her brother, Vance, takes it upon herself to raise the child as her own. Elizabeth names the boy Terry Colby and gives Terry a fictitious aristocratic background, believing the way the boy is raised will determine the man he will become. But Vance is convinced that Terry is destined to become an outlaw himself.

A dying man, Hank Peyton, tells his son Jerry Peyton that, after a lifetime of evil deeds, his only gift to his son will be his extremely valuable gun called The Voice of La Paloma. When Jerry is wrongfully accused of horse thievery, a cunning sheriff blackmails Jerry into stealing the gun from his father in exchange for a clean slate, even though the sheriff has already found the real horse thief.

Paige Langford’s life is about to change. The self-made author, and podcaster, accepts a bet from the mayor of a tiny town in New Hampshire to see if she can resist its Christmas charm. She never expected the owner of the local bed and breakfast, Eli Ryder, and his eleven-year-old daughter, Lucy, to be the charms she wouldn’t be able to resist. Unfortunately for Eli, Paige isn’t ready to fall in love with him, or Christmas, at first sight.

Will Macey's chance at summer romance go up in smoke? Small town florist Macey Edwards is focused on running her small business. Independence Day is an opportunity to take a day off and spend it with friends, but she's definitely not looking for love. When her next door neighbor opens a fireworks stand, Macey is annoyed and swears she'll get it closed down. But, there's something about Sam's crooked smile that lights her heart on fire. Sam comes to quaint Charles Town, West Virginia, to help his aunt and uncle after an injury leaves their new fireworks stand floundering. When he meets Macey...

In Summer over Autumn, Howard Mansfield sifts through the commonplace and the forgotten to discover stories that tell us about ourselves and our place in the world - in this case, Hancock, New Hampshire.

Cops in the Wilderness How the COVID-19 Pandemic Impacted Rural Policing As cities emptied, the countryside changed—forever. When the COVID-19 pandemic sent shockwaves through urban life, millions fled crowded cities for the open spaces of rural America. But what happened when the stressors of big-city living followed them into small-town communities? Cops in the Wilderness explores how the pandemic didn't just change public health—it transformed the very landscape of rural law enforcement. Through sharp analysis and on-the-ground perspective, this book uncovers the hidden challenges ...