Gardenias

A month after the United States enters World War II, the country is in upheaval and so is the Erhardt family. Nine-year-old Lark, her mother Arlene, and Aunt Betty are heading for San Diego, far away from Harvester, Minnesota and Arlene s shiftless husband. In the booming wartime economy, Arlene and Betty are soon at work, leaving Lark alone to explore their new neighborhood, a wartime housing project full of others with similarly uprooted lives. Away from prying eyes and small town expectations, the two women begin to forge new lives and new dreams dreams that Lark isn t always comfortable with. This richly detailed novel, told through Lark s observant eyes, reflects the era s tumultuous events in the everyday dramas of its memorable, finely nuanced characters."

"Everybody has a story. You listen to that story, Honeygirl, and your story will come find you." Her Grand Lady spoke these words when Abby was just a girl, spending the summer in rural Louisiana, surrounded by an extended, loving family. She's been listening carefully ever since. Now Abby is raising her own family thousands of miles away. And even though Hawaii might seem like paradise to some, it's a long way away from those idyllic days she remembers, sitting with her grandmother, learning about the beauty and mystery of life. So Abby has just one wish: that her daughter Hannah might be touched by the beauty of her 92-year-old Grand Lady's stories, before it's too late. But when Hannah finally does spend time with Grand Lady, the old woman crushes her tender spirit. And a mother-daughter journey home becomes an adventure of discovery-about the importance of family and the healing found in forgiveness. In Gardenias for Breakfast, mothers and daughters may recognize a branch or two from their own family trees and find themselves wishing not only for Grand Lady's guidance but also for Hannah's ability to smell the clouds.

Sometimes in life you have to take a risk and step outside of your normal safety net to be able to achieve happiness. You have to dare to explore the unknown. Then, and only then, will you have an opportunity to find out how much life has to offer you. No matter the age or time in space, LOVE is there available for each and everyone of us; It is ours for the taking. It is a divine gift from our creator. Believe in it. Feel it in your heart. Destiny will guide you to it. Some of this story is based on real events, and some is fiction. But regardless what it is fiction or reality, the message is that. LOVE is and always will be, the most powerful force in the world.

The faint scent of gardenias meant that he was near and that is where she wanted him. They lived in different worlds but Colin and Beth found each other in spite of the obstacles which stood in their way. Their passion went beyond reality and nothing could stand in their way because being together was more important than anything in either world. If you dream of the perfect lover this is the book for you. Colin will make you fall in love with him and Beth will plant herself in your heart.

Private eye Bill Crane is back, in his fifth and final case, working and drinking as usual with his old sidekick, Doc Williams, and a new member of the gang, Ann Fortune, who is posing as his girlfriend - and disapproves of his carousing. The trio has been sent to a Chicago suburb to investigate a murder and death threats made to the family of an industrial magnate. Alternately impeded and abetted by the many attractive women of the family, Crane cracks the case in his own inimitable way, following a trail of clues including the perfume of gardenias, the lipstick marks on the dead man's face and the crimson cat.