Town Histories

Clarinda, Iowa, population 5,000, sits two hours from anything. There, between the cornfields and hog yards, is a ball field with a bronze bust of a man named Merl Eberly, a baseball whisperer who specialized in second chances and lost causes. The statue was a gift from one of Merl's original long-shot projects, a skinny kid from the ghetto in Los Angeles who would one day become a beloved Hall of Fame shortstop: Ozzie Smith.

The mother of Matthew Shepard shares her story about her son's death and the choice she made to become an international gay rights activist.

A wild and gripping novel about one woman's quest to reintroduce wolves to the Scottish Highlands at any cost. Inti Flynn arrives in the Scottish Highlands with fourteen grey wolves, a traumatised sister and fierce tenacity. As a biologist, she knows the animals are the best hope for rewilding the ruined landscape, and she cares little for local opposition. As a sister, she hopes the remote project will offer her twin, Aggie, a chance to heal after the horrific events that drove them both out of Alaska.

In The Other Side of the River, his eagerly awaited new book, Kotlowitz takes us to southern Michigan. Here, separated by the St. Joseph River, are two towns, St. Joseph and Benton Harbor. Geographically close, they are worlds apart, a living metaphor for America's racial divisions: St. Joseph is a prosperous lakeshore community and 95 percent white, while Benton Harbor is impoverished and 92 percent black. When the body of a black teenaged boy from Benton Harbor is found in the river, unhealed wounds and suspicions between the two towns' populations surface as well.

It’s the summer of 1919, and Ellen O’Brien has her whole life ahead of her. Young, in love and leaving home for her first job, the future seems full of shining possibility. But war is brewing, and before long, Ellen and everyone around her are swept up by it. As Ireland is torn apart by the turmoil, Ellen finds herself facing the ultimate test of love and loyalty. A hundred years later and Clare Farrell has inherited a dilapidated old farmhouse in County Meath.

His drug- and alcohol-fueled antics made world headlines and engulfed a city in unprecedented controversy. Toronto mayor Rob Ford's personal and political troubles have occupied center stage in North America's fourth-largest city since news broke that drug dealers were selling a videotape of Ford appearing to smoke crack cocaine. Reporter Robyn Doolittle was one of three journalists to view the video and report on its contents in May 2013.

From one of the most beloved Western authors comes an epic historical tale of adventure and romance in the great wilderness. Against the epic backdrop of the building of the Union Pacific Railroad across plains and deserts and through the mountains to meet up with the Southern Pacific in Utah comes a sprawling, historical tale. Warren Neale is a brilliant civil engineer who is constantly confronted with construction problems. He is sided by Larry Red King, a Texas gunfighter and friend.

In its youth, Portland, Oregon, was a bit like a rough-and-ready logging camp with a gritty, hard-punching deep-water port. Lusty lads dallied with hard-eyed beauties in dark alleys, and captains forked over “blood money” to buy men for their crews from shanghai operators. From the seedy waterfront to the notorious North End, Portland's sin sector offered vices packaged in pint glasses and perfumed corsets.

Jade Colton and Jasen Prospero are still adapting to their new wealth, thanks to their discovery of Choctaw Indian Chief Greenwood Leflore’s buried gold. Meanwhile, their friend and FBI Special Agent Elizabeth Keys has finally convinced private investigator Marcus Bianco that it’s time to consummate their flirtatious relationship. Things are looking good, so naturally, the group falls headfirst into another mystery. On a midnight journey down the Natchez Trace, Jade and Jasen have a ghostly encounter at Windsor Ruins, the crumbling remains of a once great antebellum plantation. Soon ...

Andy Adams (1859-1935) was born to pioneer parents in Indiana, worked in Texas for a decade driving cattle, and settled in Colorado Springs, where he penned his cowboy narratives. The Log of a Cowboy chronicles a five-month drive of three thousand head of cattle from Brownsville, Texas, to the Blackfoot Indian Reservation in Montana. This classical work of fiction provides fascinating insights of everyday life on the Great Western Cattle Trail with a team of 12 cowhands, a cook, a horse wrangler and a foreman.

Another fascinating journey from best-selling travel writer - David Gardner. Follow David and Wendy as they explore the less-traveled hilltop towns of Tuscany and Umbria. In this journey, they seek an Italy beyond the tourist loop, taking a deep-dive into two distinct and historic regions where life slows and community thrives. These are places that have survived and flourished throughout millennia, maintaining their traditional roots. Travel with this couple as they move beyond the sanitised snapshots to uncover what it means to be Italian in these small, close-knit communities. It is in ...

When a drought reveals a sunken town beneath Seabreeze’s lake, Charlotte Greenfield and retired detective Luke Harrison uncover long-buried secrets—secrets someone is willing to kill to keep hidden. As they unravel a web of corruption, greed, and tragedy, they must race to expose the truth before it’s lost beneath the surface forever.

Royalty...it was more than just a word to her. It was her life. But not for long. Marlie loved her family dearly, even when she didn’t like them very much. But their life wasn’t the life she wanted for herself. Maggie had always fulfilled her responsibilities, she’d always done exactly as she was expected to...she knew no other way. Until now...until after reading a letter from her father suggesting she visit her niece and learn how to do as she pleased every once in a while, including the joy of eating pizza at her slightest whim. The last thing Maggie expected when she showed up at ...

Before the Reckoning, there was the Rising. In the wake of the Civil War, the prairie town of Coldwater, Kansas is still finding its shape—restless, divided, and perched on the edge of change. For Will Mertens, a quiet German immigrant carving a life from the unforgiving soil, the war never reached his doorstep—but its consequences are everywhere. When Mary Harper, the defiant daughter of a local matriarch, falls into his life, their union will challenge every unspoken rule of Coldwater’s rigid social order. As the years pass, Will and Mary build something rare: a family, a farm, a ...

Two ex-lovers. One cozy lodge. And a snowstorm they’ll never forget. Emberleigh: Covering a Christmas hockey game in Pine Ridge was supposed to be just another holiday assignment. But when a blizzard trapped me in a cozy lodge with the one man I never wanted to see again—Logan "Bear" McKenzie, coach of the Denver Warlords team—I knew this was more than just a storm. Our past is as frosty as the snow piling up outside, but there’s a fire between us that refuses to die. As the holiday lights twinkle and the world outside freezes, can I keep myself from falling once again for the man ...

Who knew buying a chest of odds and ends at a yard sale could be dangerous? In an instant, Emily London goes from being thrilled to fighting for her life. Luckily, Quinn Lawson is there to save the day. The moment Quinn saw Emily, he knew he found the treasure he’d been looking for in his life. Now, the only problem is keeping her safe. Together, they search his family history to figure out what is so important about an old key and his great-grandmother’s sewing box that some would kill for.

“A well-plotted and highly-emotional historical novel. A FINALIST and highly recommended.” - A Wishing Shelf Book Awards Finalist "It was difficult to tell what was lightning, air fire or ground fire. It seemed we were trying to navigate a sky filled with fireworks within the middle of a storm. The plane shuddered, losing altitude in a dive that was too steep and too fast. Concerned that the stalling engine's fire and tail rip may ignite the load of ammunition within, I instinctively banked, aiming offshore to the water below." Maddy survived and now she wants to know why. Racked with ...

Will a little meddling from Granny Mae and a touch of mistletoe magic be enough to turn enemies into lovers in time for a merry Christmas? Meredith: Returning to Kings Valley was supposed to be simple: revive my family’s beloved café and keep our town’s traditions alive. I never imagined my biggest challenge would be Kris Knight, the smooth-talking developer with grand plans to modernize our historic inn. From the moment we met we were at odds—our visions for the future couldn’t be more different. But a surprise kiss under the mistletoe has turned everything upside-down. Suddenly, ...

Decades of cuts to local government amidst rising concentrations of poverty have wreaked havoc on communities left behind by the modern economy. Forty years after the anti-tax revolution began protecting wealthy taxpayers and their cities, our high-poverty cities and counties have run out of services to cut, properties to sell, bills to defer, and risky loans to take. In The Fight to Save the Town, urban law expert and author Michelle Wilde Anderson offers unsparing, humanistic portraits of the hardships left behind in four such places.

When a centuries-old windmill in Seabreeze is set for restoration, a shocking discovery inside its walls uncovers hidden chambers, coded journals, and a Revolutionary War-era secret. Charlotte Greenfield and Luke Harrison race to unravel the truth behind a forgotten network of spies, but someone is determined to keep the past buried forever. With history whispering its secrets and danger closing in, Charlotte must solve the mystery—before the winds of the past turn deadly.