Almost Paradise

A heartfelt debut about a spunky girl determined to save her family and find her way home. Twelve-year-old Ruby Clyde Henderson’s life changes the day her mother’s boyfriend holds up a convenience store, and her mother is wrongly jailed for assisting with the crime. Ruby and her pet pig, Bunny, find their way to her estranged Aunt Eleanor's home. Aunt Eleanor is an ornery nun who lives in the midst of a peach orchard on Paradise Ranch. With a little patience, she and Ruby begin to get along, but Eleanor has secrets of her own—secrets that might mean more hard times for Ruby. It's not going to be easy for Ruby Clyde and Eleanor to heal old wounds, face the past, and learn to trust each other. But with enough little pieces of love, they might be able to bring their family together again, and learn that paradise isn't a place—it's the feeling of being home. Corabel Shofner's ALMOST PARADISE is a funny and heartfelt story of determination, belonging, and the joys of loving one another.

For the audience that read Maria Flook's New York Times bestseller, Invisible Eden, this is the extraordinary story of a high-stakes murder case set in the high society world of East Hampton—the playground of New York's superrich. On October 22, 2001, handsome multimillionaire financier Ted Ammon was found bludgeoned to death in the magnificent East Hampton mansion he'd built with his beautiful—and volatile—wife, Generosa. She stood to make millions, but it wasn't the money that made Ted's friends suspicious: Generosa Ammon had a history of violent outbursts and bizarre obsessions. A talented decorator, Generosa had fashioned a lavish lifestyle for her husband and their two children, divided between Fifth Avenue, the Long Island estate, and a manor house in England. But when Generosa discovered Ted had a mistress, her demons were unleashed. She began a very public affair with Danny Pelosi, a strikingly handsome womanizer who was also her electrician. She called him her "tool belt guy." But he was also an ex-con with a mile-long rap sheet who was suspected of playing a pivotal role in Ted's murder and the final destruction of a once-perfect family. In Almost Paradise, New York Times bestselling author Kieran Crowley, who has covered the Ammon case from the time it broke, recreates the three tumultuous lives that intersected fatally in East Hampton that fall. He tracks Generosa's lonely transformation from angry teenager—orphaned, unwanted and abused—to temperamental Manhattan artist and Society Wife. He follows the rambunctious odyssey that transformed Danny Pelosi from banking executive's privileged son, to street fighter and down-on-his luck alcoholic, to unsuccessful contractor charged with murder. And he chronicles the charmed life and tragic death of Ted Ammon, whose money and status couldn't save him from the machinations of those around him and his ultimate brutal demise.

When Serena Skye applies to work with abused and troubled horses in the round pen at an isolated Nevada guest ranch, she instantly notices that her prospective boss, Julian Rose, is drop-dead gorgeous. After he hires her, Serena begins to work her magic with the horses—all while secretly pining for Julian. But Serena has no idea that underneath the brilliance of equines runs a dangerous ground that will soon propel her on an unexpected journey through the darkness of insanity. After just two days, Serena has already impressed Julian with her wrangling skills, saved his life, and shared a passionate kiss with him. As they cautiously begin a romantic relationship, Julian discloses that he has not seen his schizophrenic wife, Miranda, in eight years, after she was committed to a mental institution after murdering two horses and nearly killing him. Too frightened to divorce her for fear of deadly repercussions, Julian has just learned that Miranda has been released early—and is roaming the nearby desert with a gun. In this gripping psychological drama, a young wrangler becomes unwittingly embroiled in a perilous struggle where she must devise a way to save the animals and people she loves from the madness that threatens their paradise.

Peter Grant and Craig Walters have been friends for over 20 years, having first met in college. Their friendship endured throughout the years, first as roommates and then as neighbors, and relocated from New York to Los Angeles. Now, the two explore a deeper relationship as they express a long ignored love for each other. Craig, an openly gay man, shows Peter a world he never knew existed. In the process, Peter learns of the difficulties and discriminations that gay people face every day in America. Almost Paradise explores the gay subculture in America from the perspective of these men and their friends and families. The topic is treated with a certain amount of humor, indicative of the handling of the situation by most gay Americans. Underneath the mirthful veneer is an example of what life can be like for gays if they band together, as well as what this country would be like for heterosexuals were all the gays to leave.

Enthusiasm and nerves are running high on board the nuclear-powered Coast Guard cutter Broadsword as the crew prepares for their maiden voyage. Confident that they have prepared and trained for every possible contingency during their deployment, they are eager to get underway. But a new storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico is about to sweep these sailors into truly uncharted waters. As the winds settle, chaos reigns on the command deck. Instruments are malfunctioning, and the crew struggles to make sense of nonsensical readings. The only explanation seems impossible, but soon it's one they have no choice but to accept as their new reality. They have been transported back to the Mid-Cretaceous, a voyage of nearly 92 million years into the planet's past. It's a time of unrecognizable peril and challenge for the crew, where incredible beasts control land, sea, and air. A warm and humid Earth presents a changing landscape of geologic instability, super storms, and shifting continents. Lead by the enigmatic JD Stoner, the ragtag crew races to understand their new situation and find a way home. Survival is far from guaranteed in an environment rife with danger that none of them is equipped to handle. Can a group of twenty-first-century humans survive long enough to make it back to their own time?

Debbie Macomber dazzles in a contemporary update of Snow White. Despite the picturesque view, it’s a kiss that turns an unlikely pair into a fairy-tale romance. A mountain cabin. A moonlit night. And not a stepmother around to spoil the moment. For a burnt-out grad student looking for a little fun, this camp is paradise . . . well, almost. With seven mischievous girls in her cabin, Sherry White barely has time to whistle while she works. Then there’s the camp director, who may be the most gorgeous man Sherry’s ever met—and the most serious too. Even after they share a perfect kiss under the stars, Sherry wonders whether they’ll ever see eye to eye. When Jeff Roarke founded his camp for gifted children, he had a vision of rigorous education and self-improvement. Now Sherry is about to ruin everything with her insistence that kids need to let loose and play. Sherry’s minions are driving him crazy, but the worst part is, Jeff’s beginning to think that resistance is futile. Because Sherry is messing with his agenda, his head . . . and his heart. Published by Debbie Macomber Books

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From bestselling author Susan Isaacs comes a rich family saga about marriage, wealth, and celebrity in the midst of personal tragedy—and about the ties that bind us together and the missed opportunities that tear us apart. Nick is stunningly handsome, the blue-eyed scion of a blue-blood New York family. Rich, talented, confident he will become the world's most famous movie star. Jane is delightfully funny, a dark-skinned, dark-haired, half-Jewish, half-German daughter of the Midwest. Smart, gifted, loving, she will become famous in her own right as well. From the time they first meet in their Social and Intellectual History of the U.S. course at Brown University, it's love at first sight. Coming together from two very different worlds, they will cast off adversity and disapproval to forge a life filled with work, love, and children. But fame and success come at a high price—their marriage. Just when it seems the promise of their love might be renewed, an accident leaves Jane hovering between life and death. Now, it's not only their union that might not survive, but Jane, too... Almost Paradise is vintage Susan Isaacs, a witty, poignant, and engrossing tale of a man, a woman, and a passion wondrous, heartbreaking, and unforgettable.

Sam Hamill is that rare figure whose life is continually in dialogue with the rich and diverse tradition of poetry, whether that dialogue takes the form of translating the work of a poet long dead, writing a poem in celebration of the work of a contemporary poet, or musing on what it means to be a poet himself. A true poet's poet—and also the founding editor of Copper Canyon Press, one of the most influential publishers of poetry today—Hamill has been part of America's poetry scene for decades and has won numerous prizes and awards for his work. This collection presents the best of Hamill's work from his thirteen books of original poetry and from his numerous critically acclaimed works of translation, as well as a number of new, previously unpublished poems.