Black Inked Pearl: A Girl's Quest by Ruth Finnegan An epic romance about the naive Irish girl Kate and her mysterious lover, whom she rejects in panic and then spends her life seeking. After the opening rejection, Kate recalls her Irish upbringing, her convent education, and her coolly-controlled professional success, before her tsunami-like realisation beside an African river of the emotions she had concealed from herself and that she passionately and consumingly loved the man she had rejected. Searching for him she visits the kingdom of beasts, a London restaurant, an old people's home, back to the misty Donegal Sea, the heavenly archives, Eden, and hell, where at agonising cost she saves her dying love. They walk together toward heaven, but at the gates he walks past leaving her behind in the dust. The gates close behind him. He in turn searches for her and at last finds her in the dust, but to his fury (and renewed hurt) he is not ecstatically recognised and thanked. And the gates are still shut. On a secret back way to heaven guided by a little beetle, Kate repeatedly saves her still scornful love, but at the very last, despite Kate's fatal inability with numbers and through an ultimate sacrifice, he saves her from the precipice and they reach heaven. Kate finally realises that although her quest for her love was not in vain, in the end she had to find herself – the unexpected pearl.
Shot Down: The true story of pilot Howard Snyder and the crew of the B-17 Susan Ruth by Steve Snyder For the first time, the full and complete story of the B-17 Flying Fortress Susan Ruth is shared in unbelievable detail. Author Steve Snyder’s story of his father, Lieutenant Howard Snyder, and the Susan Ruth crew, provides in-depth details about many aspects of World War II few understand or know about including the: • separation for young families as men went off to war; • training before heading to foreign soil; • military combat operations; • underground and resistance and what Lt. Snyder did when he joined it; • German atrocities toward captured crew and civilians; • behind-the-scenes stories of the Belgium civilians who risked all to save American flyers who were in the air one moment, spiraling down in flames the next; • creation and dedication of the monument to the Susan Ruth and its crew located in Macquenoise, Belgium in 1989 Shot Down was created from the vast number of letters and journals of Howard Snyder; diaries of men and women on the ground who rescued, sheltered and hid the crew; and interviews conducted by historians. Centered around the 306th Bomb Group in Thurleigh, England, it is informative, insightful and captivating. For most, 70 years is a long time ago. World War II fades in importance as each year goes by. Shot Down moves history out of the footnotes into reality, keeping the stories of real people alive as they experience being shot down. You are there, almost holding your breath as Lt. Snyder gets his crew out of his B-17 when bailing out over Nazi occupied Europe.
Motions and Moments: More Essays on Tokyo by Michael Pronko Motions and Moments is the third book by Michael Pronko on the fluid feel and vibrant confusions of Tokyo life. These 42 new essays burrow into the unique intensities that suffuse the city and ponder what they mean to its millions of inhabitants. Based on Pronko's 18 years living, teaching and writing in Tokyo, these essays on how Tokyoites work, dress, commute, eat and sleep are steeped in insights into the city's odd structures, intricate pleasures and engaging undertow. Included are essays on living to size and loving the crowd, on Tokyo's dizzying uncertainties and daily satisfactions, and on the 2011 earthquake. As in his first two books, this collection captures the ceaseless flow and passing flashes of life in biggest city in the world with gentle humor and rich detail.
Firstborn Destinies: Lies (Volume 1) by M. L. Lacy Have you ever wondered if your life—your destiny, was preordained? If someone or something has played a part in the choices you make; in the direction your life takes? Everything Kelsey has always thought to be true is shattered, when, her grandmother reveals secrets about Kelsey’s past. Having thought her parents died in a house fire when she was just three years old, her grandmother confesses the hurtful truth that, though they’d loved her dearly, her parents had in fact moved away and left her in her grandparents’ care. All Kelsey has to help her make sense of this new revelation is a box of letters and cards, and precious few clues—one of which is the pendant she has worn since birth. Having promised to never take it off, she learns the necklace is a powerful amulet, meant to protect her from some unknown evil. Now Kelsey must find out why her parents left her, and why and from whom she is in such danger. It was written in his destiny that Justin, a magickal and the firstborn of his Royal House, wed the firstborn of another Royal House—Hannah. He is not and has never been in love with Hannah, and has been defying what was written, when he meets Kelsey, a tourist who has stopped in his hometown looking for answers. Will Justin be able to prove to his family his Writings are wrong, when what he feels for Kelsey is what he is supposed to feel for Hannah? Will Kelsey have time to find the answers she seeks, as the foretold danger gets closer? Will they be able to fulfill their destinies before it’s too late?
Under the Desert Sky by Sara Luck Phoebe Sloan isn’t afraid of hard work—she couldn’t have survived on the Arizona frontier if she were. But ever since her husband was killed in a ranch accident, she’s struggled to make ends meet and preserve her young son’s birthright. Her last gamble was to start raising ostriches—the plumes are prized by fashionable city ladies—and it could work, but someone’s determined to sabotage her efforts. Enter Christian de Wet, a South African importer who finds himself drawn to the fragile but determined Phoebe. He begins helping her around the ranch as a kindness, but the two quickly find that the heat rising between them has nothing to do with the Arizona desert! When the saboteur finds a way to endanger not just the ranch, but Phoebe’s family, will she have to forsake her happiness to save her son?
From Bags to Riches: A Jessie Stanton Novel by Sandra Bricker Jessie Hart has struggled to put her Adornments boutique on the map, but when a celebrity stylist with her own reality show makes the shop a hot spot, Jessie’s hard work is finally paying off. Just as her dreams are coming true, she gets the word: her beloved grandfather in Louisiana is diagnosed with cancer. Of course she feels the pull to see him, but that means returning to the very place she worked so hard to escape. To add further complication, “husband” Jack turns up again and he can’t help but notice the new-and-improved Jessie. As he fights through his residual legal battles, he makes every effort to win her back and marry her for real this time…before Danny gets the chance. In her quest to find the success, true love, and faith that has always eluded her will God really lead her right back home?
