Child Marriage

Josh is still flying high from his team's tournament win at Coopers­town when his parents start talking about a divorce. Now his dad is challenging him to play the best of the best at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. But does he just want to get Josh out of the way? Two things are sure: His father's new girlfriend, Diane, is looking to change things, and Josh is determined to get her and her terrible son out of his life.

Twelve-year-old Juillet is preparing for the worst summer ever. She and her mom are staying in the seaside neighborhood of Ocean Park, California, for a month, where her mom will be working at the local hospital and Juillet will be on her own, like always. Her dad is off in Europe with his new girlfriend, and her best friend, Fern.... Well, Juiller isn’t allowed to talk to Fern anymore. Fern took the blame for Juillet’s goth-girl clothes and “not-real” fears, like sharks and rip currents and the number three.

Alice is angry at having to move to Rainbow, Georgia - a too small, too hot, dried-up place she's sure will never feel like home. Then she gets put in charge of walking her elderly neighbor's dog. But Clarence won't budge without Miss Millie, so Alice and Miss Millie walk him together. Strolling with Clarence and Miss Millie quickly becomes the highlight of Alice's day and opens her eyes to all sorts of new things to marvel over.

Patricia “Sweet Pea” DiMarco wasn’t sure what to expect when her parents announced they were getting a divorce. She never could have imagined that they would have the “brilliant” idea of living in nearly identical houses on the same street. In the one house between them lives their eccentric neighbor Miss Flora Mae, the famed local advice columnist behind “Miss Flora Mae I?”

Low-wage workers make up the largest group of employed parents in the United States, yet scant attention has been given to their experiences as new mothers and fathers. Work Matters brings the unique stories of these diverse individuals to light. Drawing on years of research and more than fifteen hundred family interviews, Maureen Perry-Jenkins describes how new parents cope with the demands of infant care while holding down low-wage, full-time jobs, and she considers how managing all of these responsibilities have long-term implications for child development.

Eleven-year-old Sport Rocque is living a happy life, keeping his father's absentmindedness under control, and managing the family budget. When Kate, Sport's new - and nice - stepmother enters the picture, things couldn't be better. Then comes the news: Sport's wealthy grandfather has just died and Sport is a multimillionaire. But millions of dollars equals millions of problems, as Sport soon discovers when his mother returns and kidnaps him to double her share of the inheritance! Life at the Plaza Hotel is no fun when you're a prisoner. Will Sport manage to return his life to normal?

Motherhood isn’t always what’s expected. One woman may delight in navigating the unknowable, while another may look to the past to chart the course ahead. Still another may have the urge to redefine the relationship between mother and child. For each, the journey can be heartwarming and heartbreaking, ever changing and challenging. In these provocative stories, acclaimed authors probe the growing pains that can change the lives of both mother and child in ways they never imagined.

Believe is the fourteenth 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 only been months since her death and the four children she leaves behind continue to grapple with the shifting changes in their lives now that she’s gone especially her youngest daughter, Claire. Claire Andersen Slavik came to her lakeside cabin shortly after her mother’s death. She needed the refuge it offered her at a time when little else did. She’s had several visitors over the last several months ...

She's sworn off love. He wants to give his daughter a loving home. Neither of them want to risk their heart. It should be a perfect marriage. After her fiancé dumped her just weeks before the wedding, elementary school teacher Rebecca “Rusty” Matthews vowed never to fall in love again. She’s completely happy with her life in small-town Sweetapple Falls, Oregon. If marriage and a family isn’t part of God’s plan for her life, she’s fine with that. She has her work, her faith, her friends, and chocolate. Who needs romance? Reluctantly divorced mechanic Tom Davis suddenly becomes a...

Princess Yashodhara Jadeja of Bhatewar isn’t at all keen to get married. With her tarnished past, she knows that her married life would never be easy. But, between her father’s Will and her mother’s persuasion, she’s left with no choice. Prince Indrajeet Thakore of Udaipur agrees to meet Yashodhara as a prospective wife after his grandmother, Rajmata Santhini Devi, persuades him. While no cymbals crash at their first meeting, the couple grow to like and respect one another before they agree to tie the knot. Both belong to royal families and both have responsibilities. Over and above...

Better late than never… Mike ‘Handsy’ Wheeling could fix anything – except his marriage. Honoring his wife’s wishes to leave her alone was killing him slowly. He was so tired of the fighting that he ran, taking an assignment on the other side of the world to get away from her. Put the ‘iron’ on the target… Meredith Wheeling was tired of hurting and frustrated that Mike kept refusing to give her a divorce. They could barely tolerate each other anymore and did not know what possessed her to marry him years ago. When the broken man appears on her doorstep out of the blue, could...

Relentless is the fifteenth 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. Some look back at what else has been lost to them. Chris Andersen is looking forward with anticipation to the future spread that's out in front of him…one that he didn’t expect. But he is also looking behind him at what was lost and never ...

Twelve-year-old Victoria Reeves is all set for her “First Magnificent Summer with Dad,” even though it’s been more than two years since she last saw him. She’s ready to impress him with her wit, her maturity, and her smarts—at least until he shows up for the long road trip to Ohio with his new family, The Replacements, in tow. But that’s not the only unpleasant surprise in store for Victoria. As Victoria captures every moment of her less than magnificent summer in her journal, she discovers that the odds are stacked against her in the contest-no-one-knows-is-a-contest.

During 1927, Thea, only nineteen, married in a white framed country church which smelled of peonies and sprigs of lilac flowers. The wedding rites were recited on a Sunday afternoon in late May so none of the farmers, including her father and her groom, missed a day from field work. Thea raised her eyes to the heavens and prayed. Please help me be a good wife. She and her family would face the Depression, grasshoppers, the Dust Bowl, and near poverty. However, it was the kitchen that challenged Thea. It became a personal war that challenged her very sense of being. The young bride didn't ...

Set in Blackpool, Lancashire. After emerging from a coma, Molly is thrust into a world of deceit, betrayal, and hidden truths. Haunted by amnesia, she struggles to piece together fragments of her past, clinging to the one person she trusts implicitly. Her previous marriage holds dark secrets of abuse and undisclosed conditions that remain shrouded in her lost memories. As a team of detectives races against time to unravel the mystery of her disappearance, Molly's husband becomes the prime suspect in her supposed murder. PC Carter harbours a gut feeling that Molly is still alive, sparking a ...

Open the Door to Lavish Love Have you struggled to love yourself? Do you wonder what people think about you? Does fear keep you from moving forward in relationships? Author Lindsay Morgan Snyder explains how your Inner Critic may be holding you back and how you too can walk in love, joy, and freedom. A recovering self-saboteur, Lindsay endured the enemy's debilitating taunts for decades. Through personal stories and spiritual revelations, Lindsay shares how she evicted her Inner Critic and accessed renewing conversation with the Holy Spirit. She invites you to join a conversation with your ...

The stories about everyday situations by award winning author, Sheli Ellsworth, target women, ages 35-80. Sheli Ellsworth has a master’s degree in psychology she uses mainly to annoy family and friends. After many years traveling the world as a Navy wife, she lives with her husband and children in Southern California where she hikes, writes articles, short stories and professional book reviews. More of Sheli’s sardonic wit can be seen on her blog, Dear Miss Betty—advice for those who need to be slapped. Go to dearmissbetty.com. Some of the 24 Chapters: Plump Shiny Lips Anyone? Have ...

Odawahaka has always been too small for Maggie's big scientific ideas. Between her stuck-in-a-rut mom, her grumpy grandpop, and the lifetime supply of sludgy soda in the fridge, it's hard for Maggie to imagine a change. But when Lena moves in, with her creative spirit and outrageous perspective, middle school takes off with a bang. Someone starts pulling the kind of pranks that send their rule-loving new principal into an uproar. Suddenly the same old football games, election for class president, and embarrassing stories feel almost exciting.

More often than you think, a couple’s life seems a continuous course around pain and disappointment. Maybe, you feel stuck in a relationship that seems to have nothing more to give, and you are wondering if there is something wrong with you. You don’t need to endure these situations any longer.

While researching a story that will make or break her career, she finds the man who can change her life forever - the Son of a Preacher I never thought I’d have to choose between Truth and Love… until I met Austin Jones. See, I’m a reporter, and I get a big assignment to investigate the mega church that Austin’s father runs. In order to dig up the richest dirt, I’m getting close to Austin – flirting, going to services, whatever it takes. As I dig deeper into Austin’s life, I realize how great he is… Handsome, smart, and on top of all that he’s got a truly beautiful soul. ...