Southern Fiction Family

Eight-year-old Tessa Lee and her little brother, Travis, are left at a campground by their mother and her boyfriend, a crooked-nosed man named Goose. All the two children have is a tent, their bags of clothes, the firefly cloak they'd used for covers the night before, and a phone number printed in magic marker on Travis' back. Tessa Lee knows that her momma and Goose have skedaddled in a car with recently changed license plates. She just doesn't know why.

Fifteen years ago, a family member stole the money Hunt Knox had saved for college, while three of his siblings and his father hid the truth and told him to get over it. Betrayed by their lies and thievery, Hunt joined the army and wound up flying Apache helicopters in Iraq. Now, he's a chopper pilot for an oil company in Houston, Texas; his father has been dead for six years; and he's finally returning home to Blessings at his mother's dying request.

Cooper Gosling has just answered 500 questoins, and her results indicate that she's abnormal enough for polar life. Cooper's not so sure that's an achievement, but she's got nothing left to lose, so she accepts a one-year assignment to the National Science Foundation's Artists and Writers Program in Antarctica. There, she encounters the Polies, a group of misfits that only have in common their conviction that they don't belong anywhere else. But when a fringe scientist arrives, he brings them to the center of a global controversy.

The theme of trust, betrayed or fulfilled, runs through this collection of short stories: Parents lead children into peril, husbands abandon wives, wives manipulate husbands, and time undermines all. Love pangs, a favorite subject of the author, take on a new urgency as earthquakes, illnesses, lost wallets, and deaths of distant friends besiege his aging heroes and heroines.

Welcome to Angel Falls, a deep-south small town in the heart of L.A. (That’s Lower Alabama, y’all.) Injury shatters Casey Alexander’s dream of becoming a prima ballerina, so she opens a dance studio in her home town of Angel Falls. Among her students are the daughters of her high-school sweetheart Ben and his wife Melody, Casey’s ex-best friend. Witnessing Ben and Melody’s happy-ever-after on a weekly basis fuels her determination to find someone of her own to love. But eligible men are scarce as hen’s teeth in the quaint little town on the backside of nowhere. Until a sexy ...

On a bright June day in 1965, a dozen girls - classmates at a Blue Ridge women's college - launch a ramshackle raft on a trip down the Mississippi. Their journey, inspired by Huckleberry Finn, is duly reported in the Paducah, Kentucky newspaper. 35 years later, four of the "girls" reunite to cruise the river again. This time, it's on the luxury steamboat The Belle of Natchez. This time, when they reach New Orleans, they'll give the River the ashes of a fifth rafter: Margaret ("Baby") Ballou.

Rhea's neighborhood is fading away—the mom-and-pop shops of her childhood forced out to make space for an artisanal kombucha brewery here, a hot yoga studio there. And everywhere, the feeling that this place is no longer meant for her. Because while their little corner of South L.A. isn't perfect, to Rhea and her two best friends, it's something even more important—it's home. And it's worth protecting. But as more white people flock to their latest edgy, urban paradise, more of Rhea's friends and family are pushed out. Until Rhea decides it's time to push back.

Is she beyond the reach of redemption? Jolene Spencer had been perplexed from the first mention of Micah Abrams. Why would a grown man uproot his life and move two states over at the urging of Jo’s momma? How did he and Ma even meet? And he’s raising a daughter by himself. Where is the child’s momma and how does she fit into his plans? When Jo first sees him standing on the front porch, staring like a deer caught in the headlights and seemingly unable to speak, she pegs him as a shy one. But then he walks in with a confident swagger and mingles with her family like he’s been there ...

In the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains, one family walks the line between survival and scandal. It's 1948 in Revival Cove, a tight-knit town nestled deep in Western North Carolina. Corinth Mayer is counting down the weeks until her wedding, but doubts keep creeping in. Her fiancé dreams of fast-paced city life, while she clings to the simple, rooted world she has always known. Worse still, gossip whispers that she’s not good enough for him—especially with her last name. The Mayer family’s reputation precedes them. While Corinth and her mother hold fast to their faith, her daddy ...

You can always go home…but what will you find when you do. Jonathan Hansen is about to find out. For years they’ve hidden a huge secret…an island that was home to their small town, the families and friends who live there, and the secrets they've kept for generations. But danger might be right beyond the water’s edge. Together, two guarded hearts are willing to face the impending threat and the danger it poses to the peaceful tranquility of their home. Ainslin O’Cleary wasn’t the type to over-react but she was beginning to feel a little desperate. She loved her home and ...

As the truth wrecks what she’d thought was her happily ever after, can Abbie open her heart to her destiny? Abbie Dayton loves her small town roots, but the dating options are limited. At least until the new in town super handsome gym owner asks her out. This might be the excitement she needs. A diversion from her boring analyst job is always welcome. And it looks like Cody just might be The One. Robert Seymour loves his Georgia home town, though his memories are clouded by poverty and need. Growing up poor drove him to strive for more – to help himself and his family. He’s far ...

During the day when there is a break in the day’s labor or in the evenings when the sunlight is waning, stories are told from Texas porches. Although these are usually short stories, they can be long, and thus continued at the next porch sitting. They contain humor, sadness, suspense, mystery, philosophy, and instruction about the human condition and, in general, the journey of living. The storytellers find the rhythm of life for themselves, and the listeners hear valuable lessons and truth. Tales from the Texas Timberlands, Volume 1 celebrates this storytelling about East Texans with ...

Julia Martin grew up wealthy, but it wasn’t until she met her husband, Jack, that she knew true happiness. He made her feel worthy and loved. Their marriage was also an escape from her sister’s bullying, her father’s scrutiny, and her chilly and enigmatic mother. But when tragedy strikes on the night she gives birth, Julia’s happiness is shattered. She has no choice but to return home to her family’s South Carolina mansion, where the grief and guilt buried in her mother’s past await her.

If you think your family relationships are complicated, think again: you haven't seen anything like the ones in Bon Temps, Louisiana. Sookie Stackhouse is dealing with a whole host of family problems, ranging from her own kin (a non-human fairy and a telepathic second cousin) demanding a place in her life, to her lover Eric's vampire sire, an ancient being who arrives with Eric's 'brother' in tow at a most inopportune moment.

Alex se oupa het grys hare, dra valstande en kyk graag na reis-programme op TV. Maar op ’n dag raak hy skielik mal oor...BREIIINNNSSS! Dit is duidelik dat Oupa besig is om in ’n zombie te verander. As Alex hom van dr. Zuurman en die zombiepolisie wil red, gaan hy ’n paar briljante planne, goeie vriende en hope broccoli nodig hê. En miskien kan hulle op die koop toe ook hulle droom bewaarheid om die Victoriawatervalle en Egipte te siene kry!

Thirteen years ago, Jori Trahan’s boyfriend vanished without a trace. Now, after moving back home to Alabama to care for her ailing grandmother and autistic brother, she comes face-to-face with the deadly mystery behind his disappearance. Jori has a rare form of synesthesia, meaning she can “hear” colors; to her, tones of voice are as unique as fingerprints. With the help of this ability and a sympathetic cop, Jori comes dangerously close to uncovering the truth. But those responsible will go to any length - including murder - to keep their dark secrets buried.

When guerrilla soldiers strike Santiago's village, they destroy everything in their path -- including his home and family. Santiago and his four-year-old sister escape, running for their lives. But the only way they can be truly safe is to leave Guatemala behind forever. So Santiago and Angelina set sail in a sea kayak their Uncle Ramos built while dreaming of his own escape.

Five strangers soon find there is very little stronger than family ties. Everyone has a story... Stories of family, friendship, sisterhood, the magic of new beginnings and angst of struggling family relationships...mothers, daughters, brothers and sisters, sons and cousins...all finding their inner strength, facing life’s unexpected challenges, and sometimes starting over after tragedy and heartbreak, and every once in a while...finding the one true love of a lifetime. Amanda’s legacy was simple and unbelievably complicated...her sons were determined to make it happen exactly as she ...

Death at South Hills is a gripping English murder mystery set in the picturesque coastal town of Lynden Sands during the 1920s. Immerse yourself in a tale of intrigue, deception, and family secrets that will keep you guessing until the very end. When Mark Northbridge and his sister Stephanie arrive at the newly opened hotel in Lynden Sands, they are unaware of the dark mysteries that lie ahead. Their family estate, South Hills, stands at the center of unresolved tensions and a haunting disappearance. Garrett, their nephew, has been missing since the war, leaving a void filled with ...

Jo-Lynn Hunter is at a crossroads in life when her great-aunt Stella insists that she return home to restore the old family house in sleepy Cottonwood, Georgia. Seeing the project as the perfect excuse for some therapeutic time away from her self-absorbed husband and his snobby Atlanta friends, Jo-Lynn longs to get her teeth into a noteworthy and satisfying project. But things are not what they seem, both in the house and within the complex history of her family.