Friendship Fiction

Always a bride's maid--never a bride. That's part of the story of the life of Mildred Budge in this third novel in the series. But there is more to know about this Sunday School teacher who has been recruited to be a maid of honor for her good friend's wedding. As someone who has routinely had to muzzle herself at weddings by not calling out when the preacher asks if anyone knows a reason these two should not be wed, "It's not going to work out," this new role of supporting the bride has its challenges for this church lady of the South, Mildred Budge. But being a bride's maid also has its ...

Otis and his farm friends love to play hide-and-seek. Otis especially loves to be "It", finding his friends as they hide. Yet when the newest addition to the farm - a bounding puppy who can't sit still and has a habit of licking faces - tries to hide, he finds his attention wandering and is soon lost in the forest. Night falls and Otis, knowing his new friend is afraid of the dark, sets out to find him. There's just one problem: Otis is "also" afraid of the dark. His friend is alone and in need, though, so Otis takes a deep breath, counts to 10, and sets off on a different game.

Three lonely riverside dwellers - a boy, a firefly, and a cricket - are all trying to make sense of unexpected changes in their world. Each has a secret dream, but each finds himself trapped. Becoming friends brings them happiness and solidarity, but more changes are in store. Each character stands up to his greatest fear, and, in doing so, finds his greatest strength.

When Sam comes home one day to find two mystery pugs left on her porch, she's sure it's destiny. She's always wanted a dog of her own, even though her parents say that their catering business keeps the family too busy for a pet - let alone two! But Sam has to take in the sweet, abandoned pups...at least until their real owners turn up. Only she's not quite prepared for how hard it is to wrangle two frisky dogs, especially when she sneaks them into the parties her parents cater.

She’s building rockets for NASA— but can she build the life she truly wants? At just twenty-seven, Jeanie Florence is blazing a trail few women have ever walked—as one of NASA’s brightest young engineers. While America races to put a man on the moon, Jeanie is quietly making history behind the scenes, her calculations propelling astronauts into space. But when it comes to love? She’s still stuck firmly on the launchpad. Her heart belongs to Bill Booker—an older, married astronaut whose orbit she knows she has no business entering. But emotions don’t always follow logic, and ...

Pax and Peter have been inseparable ever since Peter rescued him as a kit. But one day the unimaginable happens: Peter's dad enlists in the military and makes him return the fox to the wild. At his grandfather's house 300 miles away from home, Peter knows he isn't where he should be - with Pax. He strikes out on his own despite the encroaching war, spurred by love, loyalty, and grief, to be reunited with his fox. Meanwhile Pax, steadfastly waiting for his boy, embarks on adventures and discoveries of his own....

After her father loses his job, Sonia Nadhamuni, half Indian and half Jewish American, finds herself yanked out of private school and thrown into the unfamiliar world of public education. For the first time, Sonia's mixed heritage makes her classmates ask questions - questions Sonia doesn't always know how to answer - as she navigates between a group of popular girls who want her to try out for the cheerleading squad and other students who aren't part of the "in" crowd. At the same time, she's dealing with what it means to have an out-of-work parent.

Dora the Explorer celebrates friendship day by visiting all of her friends!

Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren’t really honest with each other. But what if they were? And so he writes—in a plain, green journal—the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local café. It’s run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves - and soon find each other In Real Life at Monica’s Café.

When the student council decides to host a dance as their next fundraiser, Jada feels nervous and queasy. She's excited to give back, but she can't dance! Still, she's determined to help the cause and show she cares. She practices her moves, gets help from friends, and even does research at the library to prepare - but will it be enough to help her create change in her community?

When a little girl gets a plush stingray for her birthday, it makes friends with some of her other toys as they all try to navigate in the world of real people.

An inspiring and sweet story about friendship growing into forever love. When Carrie is reunited with her childhood neighbor Lucas at a friend’s engagement party, it’s obvious why she—and every other girl in school—had a crush on him growing up. In fact, he’s even more handsome and charming than ever. With her thirtieth birthday approaching, she recalls their teenage promise to marry if they are both still single—a promise she doesn’t know if he remembers and she still dreams might come true. From a New York Times bestselling author, don’t miss this sweet reunion of ...

Forty-four-year-old Alice Holtzman is stuck in a dead-end job, bereft of family, and now reeling from the unexpected death of her husband. Alice has begun having panic attacks whenever she thinks about how her life hasn't turned out the way she dreamed. Even the beloved honeybees she raises in her spare time aren't helping her feel better these days.

Laid off from her department store job, Carmen has perilously little cash and few options. The prospect of spending Christmas with her perfect sister Sofia, in Sofia’s perfect house with her perfect children and her perfectly ordered yuppie life, does not appeal. Frankly, Sofia doesn’t exactly want her prickly sister Carmen there, either. But Sofia has yet another baby on the way, a mother desperate to see her daughters get along, and a client who needs help revitalizing his shabby old bookshop. So Carmen moves in and takes the job.

The island’s getting smaller homes, bigger families, and one very overdue baby. It’s the holiday season on Christmas Key, and the whole island is wrapped in lights, tinsel, and anticipation. Holly Baxter—mayor, mom-to-be, and reality TV wrangler—is nine months pregnant and busier than ever. With HGTV crews arriving to film the launch of a beachfront tiny home community, the pressure is on…and so is the swelling, heartburn, and back pain. As stargazers descend for a once-in-a-lifetime meteor shower, Holly’s juggling a lot of things: a surprise visit from Coco that brings ...

Cassie has sworn off men after yet another bad date though, deep down, she’s still looking for Mr. Right. A long-haired, tattooed biker is definitely not him, so there’s no harm in a few Harley rides through Sonoma. Right? Julie married her high school sweetheart too young and now wonders how her life became all about leaky faucets and checkbook balances. Maybe love isn’t enough to sustain the perfect couple.

Before Christmas Key became a year-round holiday haven, Bonnie Lane was just looking for a reason to start over. When Bonnie’s husband dies suddenly, she’s left grieving, restless, and unsure of what comes next. Her grown sons have lives of their own. Atlanta no longer feels like home. And all Bonnie knows for sure is that she needs a change. One trip to a tiny island off the Florida coast changes everything. At the time, Christmas Key isn’t the bustling, beachy paradise it is today. Jack Frosty’s doesn’t exist. Holly Baxter has just graduated high school. And the island is still ...

A historical fiction book set in Baltimore during the early 19th century. Baltimore 1812 offers readers a captivating journey into the heart of America's early struggles during the War of 1812. Through the intimate and personal lens of young Lettice Mayfield, experience the highs and lows of life in Baltimore when patriotism, love, and familial bonds are tested like never before. As the narrative unfolds on a lively June evening in 1812, Lettice eagerly awaits her uncle's return, only to be met with the grave news of British forces capturing American sailors, including a family friend. This...

When four graduates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they're broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their centre of gravity. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride.

Jewel Stone has it all—the perfect marriage, a bestselling author career, her dream home—or so she likes everyone to believe. But between her writer’s block and her husband losing his job, her picture-perfect life is in shambles. And inspiration just isn’t hitting…until she receives a call she never expected: her former best friend needs her help. When Shelby Andrews wakes up in the hospital after a biking accident, she can’t remember the last twelve years. She knows she owns a bookstore on the beach, but she has no memory of Lacey, her nineteen-year-old adopted daughter.