Finding Felicity

For Felicity Winters, a life of excitement and passion is overrated. Her small-town, mundane existence is enough--at least, that's what she tells herself. But in her heart of hearts, she longs to trade her spot at the supermarket checkout lane for soil samples and a shovel about a thousand and one miles away. But as her ailing father's caretaker, Felicity's dreams of adventure, love, and greater purpose seem just out of reach. That is, until an unlikely twist of circumstances lands her face-to-face with spontaneous, chivalrous, and irresistible (albeit disenchanted) movie star Hale Monroe. In the wake of his desperate escape from the world of materialism, Felicity's unassuming kindness and selflessness draw Hale into a life he never thought possible. Suddenly, Hale finds himself inexplicably connected to the quirky yet lovable community who refuses to give up on him. Through a whirlwind of small-town shenanigans, Felicity and Hale find their lives becoming more and more closely intertwined. But when an old flame threatens to reignite the past, will the connection between Hale and Felicity grow cold? Can Felicity overcome the ghosts of her past and embrace her God-given purpose?

Felicity meets Fangirl in this contemporary novel about a young woman who must leave behind her fantasy life—inspired by her favorite WB show from the 1990s—and create a real one at college. Caroline Sands has never been particularly good at making friends. And her parents’ divorce and the move to Arizona three years ago didn’t help. Being the new girl is hard enough without being socially awkward too. So out of desperation and a desire to please her worried mother, Caroline invented a whole life for herself—using characters from Felicity, an old show she discovered online and fell in love with. But now it’s time for Caroline to go off to college and she wants nothing more than to leave her old “life” behind and build something real. However, when her mother discovers the truth about her manufactured friends, she gives Caroline an ultimatum: Prove in this first semester that she can make friends of the nonfictional variety and thrive in a new environment. Otherwise, it’s back to living at home—and a lot of therapy. Armed with nothing more than her resolve and a Felicity-inspired plan, Caroline accepts the challenge. But she soon realizes that the real world is rarely as simple as television makes it out to be. And to find a place where she truly belongs, Caroline may have to abandon her script and take the risk of being herself.

Felicity has spent the last five years running from everyone. Her family. Herself. Her God. Using her talent for dance in the Las Vegas clubs, she thinks God will never look for her there, but she is wrong. A chance encounter with her childhood friend, Rory, reminds Felicity exactly how much she left behind, but it is an act of violence that brings her to her knees.

Passed over for a promotion at work, Devin wonders if his life has meaning; will he ever find that elusive happiness human beings all seek. While at a party attempting to drown his sorrows, the host suffers a tragic accident. Moments later, Devin meets the beautiful and mysterious Felicity, who somehow knows this dead man's tale. Felicity offers to share with him the whirlwind romance of Professor Ardor, who gets lost in the deceptive perfection of escapism. Using this and subsequent allusive stories, Devin's interactions with this enigmatic woman help him uncover the faulty ways people search for happiness, when the feelings they find are fleeting. Only then, can he discover genuine happiness and bring lasting meaning to his life.

Finding Felicity is the story of a woman and her step-daughter and tells how love within their family triumphs over serious relationship problems. There are psychological insights into grief and dysfunctional marriage, development of the characters as they deal with these situations and a suspenseful escape from Bangkok to Sydney. The setting is these two cities in 2006. Chapter One begins in Sydney with Lydia waking to face the funeral of her much-loved husband, Richard. She is supported there by her step-children, Richard's son J.C. and daughter Margaret. At the wake, the question arises: why is Felicity (Fliss), the youngest step-child, not there? Lydia has a hunch that something is wrong in Felicity's life. When she visits the memorial garden where Richard's ashes are scattered, she feels his presence and talks to him, as she does throughout the book. She vows to Richard to visit Bangkok and look into Felicity's life there. On the flight to Thailand, Lydia reviews the experiences and characters of her three step-children.

WE ALL JUST WANT TO BE HAPPY. Ten voices. Ten narratives. Ten short stories about the search for happiness.

Writers of the Future grand prize winner Randy Henderson presents a dark and quirky debut in Finn Fancy Necromancy, his tale of the magical and dangerous Arcane world that exists alongside our own. Finn Gramaraye was framed for the crime of dark necromancy at the age of fifteen, when the surviving victim of a dark ritual was found in his bedroom. Convicted and exiled to the Other Realm for twenty-five years—twenty-five years as a disembodied soul, tormented by the Others—Finn is now being set free. But his return is met by a magical attack on his escorts, and he finds the body of the woman he was accused of attacking all those years before, freshly murdered with necromancy—the perfect frame job. Finn has only a few days to discover who is so desperate to keep him out of the mortal world, and find enough evidence to prove it to Arcane Enforcers who already view him as a criminal. Unfortunately, his family is little help. Father has become a mad magical inventor. Brother Mort fears that Finn wants to take over the family business. Sister Samantha is now a jaded hacker allergic to magic. And simple but sweet brother Pete still believes he's a werewolf because of a childhood dog bite. Finn is joined by Zeke, a former Arcane Enforcer and fellow exile seeking to prove himself worthy of returning to duty—even if that means proving Finn guilty. Together, they will battle magical creatures, family drama, and the challenges of Finn's love life as they race to solve the mystery of who wants Finn returned to exile, and why. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.