Lucky Enough

When my daughter started fourth grade, it was Addison's fourth school in five years. It wasn't how we planned it, but as someone who moved around a lot as a kid, I knew this school year was going to be tough. Every morning, I wrote my daughter a note about life, school, or growing up, and I'd slip it in her bookbag or her lunch box to find later in the day. I shared the notes on Twitter and Facebook using #DadLunchNotes. Before I knew it, the notes became something others were seeking each day, including Addison's teacher and principal. While I knew others enjoyed the daily life lessons I penned in Sharpie, I wanted to stay true to my intended purpose-being there for my daughter and helping guide her through this difficult school year.

A baseball star’s luck is tested in this action-packed story—perfect for fans of Mike Lupica and Tim Green—from the author of The Kid Coach. Like many athletes, Trey is superstitious. How could he not be when he just made the Ravens travel baseball team thanks to his lucky charm, a piece of rare sea glass he found on his grandmother’s beach? This stroke of good fortune reinforces Trey’s superstitions, and his rituals only become more important to him. Despite some teasing from his teammates, he persists in never stepping on the foul line, obsessively tapping the corners of home plate when he’s at bat, and always choosing the same lucky bat. And his tactics are working; he’s doing quite well on the field and in the batter’s box. Then one day Trey can’t find his lucky sea glass. His performance begins to slip, and he’s convinced his future with the Ravens is doomed. Things don’t start to improve until Trey’s uncle reminds him of his grandmother’s favorite saying: “The harder you work, the luckier you get.” Can Trey take these words to heart and find his swing again . . . even without his lucky charm? This ebook features an afterword about famous real-life players with their own lucky charms and superstitions. Discussion Guide available “A former kids’ baseball coach and the writer of the Washington Post sports column for young readers, Bowen adds an entertaining note on baseball superstitions. . . . The straightforward story will appeal to young players as well as older ones intimidated by longer novels.” —Booklist

“Must Love Dogs has already been a major motion picture, and now New York Times bestselling author Claire Cook’s hilarious and heartwarming book series is begging to hit the screen again.”—New York Journal of Books If you live in Marshbury, Massachusetts, that picture postcard perfect seaside town an hour south of Boston and the epicenter of the Irish Riviera, it’s pretty much mandatory to be a little bit Irish for the whole month of March. Preschool teacher Sarah probably should have warned John about that once they bought the Hurlihy family house. And she definitely should have told him that half the town would be watching the St. Patrick’s Day parade from their front yard. In her defense, Sarah has a lot on her plate. Hormones are flying every which way as she and John ramp up their fertility journey, their five rescue cats get spayed and neutered, and assistant teacher-slash-housemate Polly gets ready to give birth with Sarah’s bossy big sister as her labor coach. To add to the chaos, a new garage addition with a secret exit is about to go up, Sarah’s dad is still living and dating away in his mancave, they can’t seem to get that canned ham trailer removed from the yard, and one of the dogs needs a name change. And like that’s not enough, Bayberry Preschool is filled with malarkey and shenanigans and a wily green leprechaun is on the loose. If you’re lucky enough to enjoy another fun adventure with Must Love Dogs’ loveably quirky cast of characters, you really are lucky enough. Jump right in—you’ll be wagging your tail in no time. The Must Love Dogs series: Must Love Dogs (#1) Must Love Dogs: New Leash on Life (#2) Must Love Dogs: Fetch You Later (#3) Must Love Dogs: Bark & Roll Forever (#4) Must Love Dogs: Who Let the Cats In? (#5) Must Love Dogs: A Howliday Tail (#6) Must Love Dogs: Hearts & Barks (#7) Must Love Dogs: Lucky Enough (#8) “Reading about how life goes for this wacky marvelously lovable family becomes addictive.”— Examiner “A beach tote couldn’t ask for more.”—Kirkus “The exuberant and charming Claire Cook is one of the sassiest and funniest creators of contemporary women’s fiction.”—The Times-Picayune "Claire Cook (Must Love Dogs) has built a brand writing light-hearted women’s fiction blending kernels of the absurd and comedic in compulsively readable combinations.—Shelf Awareness “Wildly witty."—USA Today "Cook dishes up plenty of charm."—San Francisco Chronicle "Funny and pitch perfect."—Chicago Tribune "A HOOT."—The Boston Globe "A hilariously original tale about dating and its place in a modern woman's life."—Book Page "[Cook's] poignancy and sassy humor resonate with readers; her theme of reinvention uplifts and inspires." -Savannah Magazine

“Evanovich…with a dash of CSI.” – Publishers Weekly (review of Lucky Stiff) Lucky’s story comes full circle in the conclusion of the Lucky O’Toole Vegas Adventures. Home: A refuge. An escape. Where the heart is. After a high-body count trip through Europe, Lucky O’Toole, the Chief Problem Solver for the Babylon, Las Vegas’s most over the top Strip casino, is home and searching for peace, quiet and a quick fix for a broken heart. She should know better. Her father is failing in his fight to regain his health after taking a bullet to the chest. Her mother, Mona, is increasingly desperate to be “useful” which usually results in her being anything but. Her love life is in shambles. The DEA is after her, but not giving a hint as to why. The NBA is in town for their All-Star break extravaganza highlighting the new rookies. Somebody got cute and put a Bugatti on top of her hotel. And a dead guy turns up in delivery bay seven with his skull bashed in. Not exactly the soft reentry Lucky had hoped for. But she can handle it. Until her father, after checking himself out of the hospital, summons Lucky for a “family” meeting. A secret from his past puts the future of the Babylon and the family in jeopardy. And he expects Lucky to fix it. Worse, a financier who played cat-and-mouse with Lucky around the globe, striving to leave her holding the bag, could hold the key to her saving it all. Can she trust him? Does she have a choice? Find out by getting your copy of this light, funny, romantic mystery today! AN INTERVIEW WITH DEBORAH COONTS Why did you decide to write humor? I’m not sure I decided to add snark to the Lucky books, specifically to Lucky’s own voice, it just happened that way. When I was a kid, my mouth always got me into trouble. Finally, I’ve found a way to harness the sarcasm for the Forces of Good—or at least in a way not to anger my grandmother. And when Lucky started talking to me, she had a strong dose of sass in her. The Lucky O'Toole Vegas Adventure series is hard to categorize. Is that by design? When I set out to write Wanna Get Lucky?, I knew I wanted to write a romp through Las Vegas. I had the characters and the setting but no real understanding of narrative drive. So, I threw a young woman out of a tour helicopter into the middle of the Pirate Show and let the story unfold. A bit of murder to keep the plot moving, some wisecracking and Vegas mischief to make you laugh, and some romance to keep it interesting. A bit of a mash up, but it works. PRAISE FOR THE LUCKY O’TOOLE VEGAS ADVENTURE SERIES “Lucky’s story is funny, fast-paced, exuberant and brilliantly realized.” - Susan Wiggs, #1 New York Times bestselling author “Get ready to win big--with a novel that will keep you glued to the pages all the way to the end.” - Brenda Novak, New York Times & USA Today bestselling author "More fun than a winning streak in Vegas. Lucky O’Toole is a character with brains, beauty, and a wry sense of humor. Readers will want to meet her again—and soon." - Diane Mott Davidson, New York Times bestselling author "Deborah Coonts...entrusts the sleuthing to a brainy beauty who sees the lighter side of human folly." - New York Times Book Review "Las Vegas is the perfect setting for this witty tale of misdirection and larger-than-life characters. Fans of J. A. Konrath's Jack Daniels series will love this." - Library Journal, starred review “A whirlwind of a kooky crime novel, and readers will enjoy every minute of it. Coonts provides the perfect solution for readers waiting for the next Stephanie Plum book.” - Booklist

"How long has it been since you last did it? Do you want it?" The first time we met, he circled around my waist and charmingly asked me in my ear. Until a long time later, I wondered if I had fallen in love with him, or if I had simply fallen in love with the lust he had given me and was unable to extricate myself. He was the shiny fifth brother of the Diamond King. He wanted what kind of woman he didn't want, but he had to force his way through a married woman like me. His enthusiasm made me feel like a moth to a flame, and I didn't care even if my body was smashed to smithereens ...

The challenge of this book is one that proved attractive to the writers, eliciting quite a a wide variety of interesting thoughts, that I urged them to keep to themselves and surprise me. I feel confident the resulting views are not only appealing, but quite possibly will also encourage you to think along more positive lines. Many of the writers believe that luck is more of a state of mind rather than mere chance. Others who claim that it is better to be born lucky than rich, and I must say that I too think along these lines. There are writers who write of the circumstances where they met their true soulmate after the breakup of an unhappy marriage. Of course everyone is aware of lucky Lotto winners, the fortunate few who appear with annoying regularity in our newspapers, or even more irritatingly, on our television screen, smiling at the camera just to tell us that 'life will not change'. Who are they trying to kid?

Imagine discovering you have a talent you never knew existed - that this gift would lead you to a soul-transforming journey. Camille Quintella is a young girl who recently lost her mother. She meets Amenda Dorion, an eccentric woman, who posseses a special power that helps Camille recognize her own inner strength. The Silver Thorn offers hope, praises individuality and renews the faith that love can survive forever for those who believe.

Smart or Lucky? How Technology Leaders Turn Chance into Success About the Book: An insider’s look at the combination of luck and smarts you need to succeed in today's changing tech world. To be successful in any highly competitive market, you have to be smart, but you also have to be lucky by being at the right place at the right time. The most successful technology entrepreneurs understand the value of the combination of luck and smarts and make it work for them. Those who fail are the ones who may be lucky but get complacent, believe they're the smartest players in the market, and fail to make the changes needed to sustain leadership. Smart or Lucky? is for business leaders who are interested in learning what it takes to be successful in emerging markets and how to sustain success over the long term. It shows entrepreneurs how to recognize a lucky break and have the foresight to take advantage of it. Offers concrete lessons based on well-tested principles that have broad applications for business leaders and entrepreneurs across industries Based on experiences with hundreds of successful and failed companies in the software market over three decades Author’s method has resulted in expanded revenue and increased market success for both large and small companies Informative and highly detailed, this is a must-read for all business leaders and emerging entrepreneurs who want to understand how to stay nimble and succeed in complicated, competitive markets.