Growing up poor and largely abandoned on the streets of 1920s Chicago, Anna Finnegan has struggled her entire life. Until a talent manager discovers her and brings her into the world of theater. Now years later she's about to start shooting her first movie. Arriving on location in Redstone, Texas, in 1932, Anna steps off the train and collides into Dalton Barnes. He's lived in Redstone all his life and hates how the big city out-of-towners are gawking at the small-town locals like him.

Louise Watkins has her hands full. Her mother had been the town midwife, but after her daughter Alice died under her care, she refused to assist in another childbirth. So Louise has assumed the work. She also takes care of Alice's six-year old, Charlotte, because the child's father was lost in World War I. But Louise's principal job is running the boardinghouse that is the family's main source of income. One day, Charlotte befriends a stranger, a man who has taken refuge in an old cabin in the woods nearby....

Gwendolyn Foster's life seems like a dream come true. A bright future in front of her, the successful, traditional man her parents wanted at her side. What more could a girl ask for? But Gwen has a different dream altogether - to be a writer - and she won't rest until it comes true. Strong arms to support her, not own her...that's what she needs. And she finds them in the most unexpected of places.

Clara Sinclair has learned to live one lonely day at a time. It was the only way she managed to survive her husband's death in World War II and raise their young son alone. But now she's at a loss as to how to handle the defiant teenager he has become, even as she struggles to keep her family financially afloat. She's fresh out of ways to turn her luck around - until a daring stranger's unexpected kindness sparks hope she hasn't felt in a long time....

When Luke McCutcheon finds Faith Brown about to give birth in her rickety wagon, his first instincts are to ride for help. Instead, he stays and delivers a beautiful baby girl. Unable to leave the pretty young widow and her little son and newborn unprotected in the Montana wilderness, he brings them along on his family's cattle drive, to the absolute delight of the other friendly cowboys.

Naomi Bowes lost her innocence the night she followed her father into the woods. In freeing the girl trapped in the root cellar, Naomi revealed the horrible extent of her father’s crimes and made him infamous. No matter how close she gets to happiness, she can’t outrun the sins of Thomas David Bowes. Now a successful photographer living under the name Naomi Carson, she has found a place that calls to her, a rambling old house in need of repair, thousands of miles away from everything she’s ever known.

Harry Booth started stealing at nine to keep a roof over his ailing mother’s head, slipping into luxurious, empty homes at night to find items he could trade for precious cash. When his mother finally succumbed to cancer, he left Chicago—but kept up his nightwork, developing into a master thief with a code of honor and an expertise in not attracting attention—or getting attached.

Evangeline Keating came West because she had to: after her husband's passing, she needed to build a new life for her young daughter, and marrying a stranger from Montana Territory was her best chance. After a difficult winter journey, she arrives at an isolated outpost called Springwater Station. But the handsome man who's come for her is not her husband-to-be, and Evangeline soon finds herself thrust into a most inconvenient - and highly improper - arrangement.

As the Korean War ends, practical and well-mannered army nurse Corinne Ford returns stateside to live in the Mississippi town of Conroy with her new fiancé, Private First Class Elijah Dunne. She wonders if their love is strong enough to overshadow their differences, but upon her arrival to Elijah's backwoods stomping grounds, she understands that culture shock is the least of her worries.

New York Times best-selling novelist Nora Roberts captivates millions of fans with her provocative blend of scorching passion and chilling suspense. With Carnal Innocence, she creates a gripping tale of murder, infatuation, and true love in a small southern town. After beautiful concert violinist Caroline Waverly breaks up with her conductor and lover Luis, she escapes to her late grandmother’s home in Innocence, Mississippi.

After enduring a childhood of horrific abuse and crushing poverty, Tucker seeks refuge in her rural Tennessee home. The three grandchildren she is raising are her only connection to the outside, and her demeanor is purposefully rough. But her world is turned upside down when a new neighbor, Ella, moves into the old McDaniel place next door.

In the summer of 1916, Private Daniel Baker marches into battle with the boys of Nova Scotia's 25th Battalion. Out of brutal necessity, Danny has steeled himself against the trials and horrors of war, but he is completely unprepared to meet the love of his life in war-torn France. Audrey Poulin has the soul of an artist. She lives alone with her grandmother in the quiet French countryside, where her only joy is in her brush and palette. When by chance she encounters Danny, the handsome young soldier captures her heart and inspires her painting.

Ripped from her life and thrown back to the roaring '20s, a modern woman must learn to navigate gangsters, flappers, and organized crime. London paramedic and caregiver for her sick grandmother Roseanna Chapman has her hands full. But, when she is cast back in time and witnesses a murder, she finds herself stranded and in danger. In 1921, Daniel Alderman’s a feared and ruthless gangster.

"She who loves and runs away, lives to love another day" was Jacy Tiernan's credo. Only this fair-haired beauty had never loved again after Ian Yarbro. Ten years ago, she had fled her beloved Australian homestead with a shattered soul. Ian, the rugged sheep rancher who'd awakened her young heart to the most exquisite pleasures, had sired the child of another woman. Unable to forgive him, Jacy ran off to New York to live with her wealthy divorced mother, leaving behind all dreams of happiness. Now Jacy had returned to Corroboree Springs to care for her ailing father.

Patrick Lahm is down on his luck. Late for his book signing, out of gas, and stuck in a storm. He hitches a ride to the Kurtain Motel, where he is forced to spend the night. The small motel seems harmless enough at first, but as the night drags on, Patrick and the other guests slowly begin to realize there is a lot more to their temporary lodging than meets the eye. Something evil is at work at the Kurtain Motel; something that creeps into the deepest, darkest corners of your mind and tugs at the chords of sanity until they finally break.

"She who loves and runs away, lives to love another day" was Jacy Tiernan's credo. Only this fair-haired beauty had never loved again after Ian Yarbro. Ten years ago, she had fled her beloved Australian homestead with a shattered soul. Ian, the rugged sheep rancher who'd awakened her young heart to the most exquisite pleasures, had sired the child of another woman. Unable to forgive him, Jacy ran off to New York to live with her wealthy divorced mother, leaving behind all dreams of happiness. Now Jacy had returned to Corroboree Springs to care for her ailing father.

No one knows where the Tufa came from or how they ended up in the mountains of east Tennessee. When the first Europeans came to the Smoky Mountains, the Tufa were already there. Dark-haired and enigmatic, they live quietly in the hills and valleys of Cloud County, their origins lost to history. But there are clues in their music, hidden in the songs they have passed down for generations.

Young love — that was what Nadine and Hayden had. The kind of love that captures the soul and never dies. That is, until Hayden’s father swindled Nadine’s family, and they didn’t see each other for thirteen years. When his father suddenly dies, Hayden returns home to the family’s lakeside mansion — and to his first love. But Nadine and her two young sons aren’t quite ready to trust again. Soon Hayden is left trying to work through mistrust and misinformation to gain the love of the girl no amount of money could make him forget….

Roanna Davenport grew up a wealthy orphan on her grandmother’s magnificent estate, Davencourt. There, she wanted for nothing - except to be loved by her cousin Webb. When he marries another, Roanna is devastated, but life at Davencourt takes an even darker turn when Webb’s new wife is found bludgeoned to death. After the shocking murder, Webb leaves for Arizona, abandoning the privileged life that he had once believed was all he wanted. Years later, a grown-up Roanna walks back into his life to bring him home.

Sweetgrass is a historic tract of land in South Carolina that has been home to the Blakely family for eight generations. But Sweetgrass — named for the indigenous grass that grows in the area — is in trouble. Taxes are skyrocketing. Bulldozers are leveling the surrounding properties. And the Blakelys could be forced to sell the one thing that continues to hold their disintegrating family together.

When Bonnie McKutchen left her wealthy husband in a storm of heartache and betrayal, she fled New York with nothing but the dress on her back. Eli McKutchen finally caught up with her in a Washington mining town, outraged to find his beautiful wife dancing for money in a gaudy saloon. Yet as his temper flared, so did his passion...for nothing could extinguish Bonnie's blazes once she set them.

Brooding and sexy Rafe Di Luca has returned to his family's luxurious vineyard resort and discovers that a long-ago quarrel has ignited once more, forcing him to work with Brooke Petersson, the woman he seduced...and betrayed.

The Clayborne brothers were a rough gang of street urchins - until they found an abandoned baby girl in a New York City alley, named her Mary Rose, and headed to Blue Belle, Montana, to raise her to be a lady. They became a family - held together by loyalty and love, if not blood - when suddenly a stranger threatened to tear them apart.

Her husband’s suicide left Nora MacKenzie alone, and his shady Wall Street dealings left the Manhattan socialite penniless. By a miracle, she’s held on to their mountainside farm - and she’ll keep holding on, no matter what. The property is Nora’s one chance to wring some dignity out of the sham she’s been living. The Vermont locals think she’s a city girl on a nature kick, but she’s not afraid to get her hands dirty. Nora’s serious about learning the farming business...if she can figure out where to begin.

Years and distance kept the memories at bay. But back at home, the past is ready and waiting to haunt her... Eighteen years have passed since Joy's childhood best friend, Jenny, met her death in a tragic car accident just a few days after their senior prom. A broken Joy left their small Kentucky hometown shortly after - determined never to come back. But when her father's illness forces her to return, she realizes that neither time nor distance have truly healed her troubled soul.

Famous criminal defense attorney Jackson Moore thought he had left his bad-boy past behind him — but his childhood sweetheart had different plans for him. Rachelle Tremont thought she could forget her tragic small-town history by writing about it in her nationally syndicated column. She hadn't counted on Jackson Moore's return, or on the way her blood ran hot at the sight of him. He was determined to discover the town's secrets with Rachelle — and in doing so, uncover some secrets of their own.

Writer Cari North thought she knew all there was to know about plot twists—until she stumbled across her ex-fiancé, Lance Morgan, digging a shallow grave in the Louisiana woods. After one horrifying moment of shared recognition, Cari knew her life hinged upon whether she could outrun Lance and the hurricane-spawned tornado that was barreling down on their heels.

The facts are public knowledge: five people have been murdered. Each has died from a blow to the head. And the media-dubbed Prince Charming killer has left a “calling card” with each victim. A single thornless rose. But there’s another fact...one that the police haven’t made public. Something no one, except the killer and the police, should know. But Gabriel Donner does - and he can’t figure out why. All he knows is that he’s begun hearing voices, sleepwalking and dreaming vividly of the murders...as they happen.

In the still shadows of the confessional, a madman tauntingly reveals his plan for a murder he is going to commit, pulling Father Thomas Madden into a twisted game by disclosing his next intended victim: Tom's sister, Laurant. In a frantic race to protect her, Tom calls upon his best friend, elite FBI agent Nick Buchanan, to track the predator who is closing in on Laurant. Now, as an electrifying attraction grows between Laurant and Nick, so does the danger - and one false move will cost both of them everything that matters.

This collection of nine short stories by Flannery O'Connor was published posthumously in 1965. The flawed characters of each story are fully revealed in apocalyptic moments of conflict and violence that are presented with comic detachment.