Broken Branches

Parker James had it all! Fame, fortune, and any women he wanted. Taking a break after a decade of touring with his band, he desperately needs to catch up on the things he was missing. Parker goes back to Boston, where it all began, to put his life back together, to establish roots and find the one thing he wants most in his life, love. At the night of a charity gala, she catches his eye, but he never anticipated the intense magnetism he would feel toward Laurel Scott when she entered the room. Did she even notice that the "Rocker" with a secretive past was staring at her? Did he notice what was haunting her?

Cassie Ramseys nightmares are ruining her life. She left her birthplace of New Orleans and moved to Washington State in an effort to escape the mysterious past that has haunted her all her life. Abandoned as a child, she knows nothing about her parents. She knows only of her dreamsdreams that forcefully tug her away from her husband and daughter. Cassie cant fight it any longer. She has to go back. Forty years before, a cruel shipping magnate named Bernard Moody raised two daughters, Margaret and Esther, in New Orleans. The sisters were bound for tragedy. When they fell in love with the same man, one sister was willing to do anything to get what she wanted, but what she wanted threatened to rip the already fragile Moody family apart. When Cassie finds out about these women and their unloving father, she is driven to uncover the truth about them. As she watches her own family fade away on account of her morbid obsession, the Moody familys past could turn out to be her future. Is digging up the past worth ruining the future? Cassie must make this decision on her own as she searches for her heritage and the ghosts that haunt her dreams.

Lisette Auburn, a lovechild, was born out of wedlock against family orders. She grew up with her mother’s love and devotion, and her cousins' friendship, but high family expectations and well-kept secrets hung over her like dark shadows. Now a young woman, her happy life is turned upside down when a tragic death of a close relative opens a Pandora’s box of trouble. She finds herself caught in the middle of fierce conflict as the family's strength is put to the test and the elders' power challenged. For generations the elders have controlled with firm, unyielding hands, expecting them to live as dictated, but times have changed. Facing rebellion and division, the elders are forced to come to terms with their smothering love and domination to witness the fatal results in their children. No one is safe from the secrets or the pain unleashed, and no one is prepared for the destruction to come. Meanwhile, an unseen entity watches and guides them as a horrible chain of events sends their lives out of control. Will love and blood ties be enough to save them from themselves? Or will they need something, or someone, more powerful?

How to invite God to step in and break the cycle of dysfunction Elizabeth Oates is no stranger to a dysfunctional family. She may look like the quintessential soccer mom now, but her childhood was full of uncertainty, abandonment, and many very dark days. Without a positive role model, an emotionally stable family member, or a consistent community, she had to forge her way ahead just to survive day to day. It wasn't until she was preparing for a family of her own that she began to learn the lessons that would lead to a more hopeful future for herself, her husband, and her children. Now she shares those lessons with other women struggling to create healthy families despite their own unhealthy family foundations. Through introspective and probing questions, Mending Broken Branches guides the reader to accept her past, understand her present, and find a vision for her future. The interactive design includes space to work through the journaling prompts provided, as well as extra-wide margins for notes of reflection while reading. With the gentle voice of a trusted mentor, Elizabeth encourages and equips women to cultivate strong, flourishing, God-honoring lives, and to break the cycle of dysfunction.