M Y In A Kara

Young adult R recently moved to a small English town called Lybster to start a new life. One day after walking home, he's suddenly hit by a truck and saved by a local deathrock band who call themselves Cursed Consolation. In addition to making music, they introduce themselves as paranormal investigators, who are skilled in practicing witchcraft and want him to join them. When a girl named Jackie and R eventually grow closer as friends, she offers to help him contact someone from his past to hopefully get closure. But it goes terribly wrong, and they are left with a mess bigger than they anticipated. In order to handle the situation properly, the band is forced to face their painful pasts and one another, all propelled by a dangerous force out of their control.

Kara Marcus is desperate to forget the past and move on. But she can’t escape her choices—especially when she finds herself falling in love… Since the first day she stepped into her childhood Southern Baptist church, two truths have been engrained in Kara Marcus’s head: sex before marriage is bad and murder is a sin. And that’s why Kara can never forgive herself for what she did at the age of sixteen. Now, as second semester of freshman year comes to a close, Kara has stood by her high school boyfriend, Ethan. But as they seem to grow further and further apart every day, Kara realizes that she has feelings for someone else: Ethan’s roommate Colt. Suddenly, Kara’s clear-cut world shifts out of focus, and she’s torn between what her head tells her is right and what her heart is desperately pushing her to do—even if it means committing another undeniable sin... Melissa West lives near Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and daughters. She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies and a M.S. in Graphic Communication, both from Clemson University. She pretends to like yoga, actually likes shoes, and could not live without coffee. Her writing heroes include greats like Jane Austen and Madeleine L’Engle.

It was one day in October that a familys life would be forever changed. Some could say for the better, while others may argue for the worse. Kay Wagner, a registered nurse since 1985, spent most of her professional career in critical care settings. Her love has been in caring for patients in the specialized area of neurology/neurosurgery, those with such disorders as strokes, back and spinal cord injuries, aneurysms, and brain tumors. Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined that such skills would be put to the test in her own personal life. Her oldest daughter Kara would be diagnosed with a brain cyst that was to be surgically treated with a shunt. Acting on her professional instincts as a nurse and more importantly on her gut instincts as a mother, she delves deeper into her daughters diagnosis and finds that Kara had not only a cyst, but a rare malignant brain tumor. Karas Courage is a heartwarming true story that will take you on a journey of uncertainty, fear, and humbleness as experienced by the author in her forever conflicting roles as a nurse and as a mother from the other side of the stretcher.

"Kara in Black takes place January through March of 2003, beginning prior to the invasion of Iraq and finishing three days after the invasion. Eighteen-year-old Kara's older sister, Della, is leaving to join her Army unit and travel to Kuwait to prepare for the possible invasion of Iraq. While Della is proud to serve and proud to be a woman in the Army, is ready to prove herself, and believes in the policies of the administration, Kara, after thinking about such things for the first time in her life, begins to oppose her sister going, and the impending war itself. Their dialog begins as Della is preparing to depart to join her unit and continues by phone up to the night before the invasion. Together with Juanita and Sue Ellen, two of her friends, Kara researches the first Gulf War to try to understand what may occur in this one. As the research continues and questions multiply, a rising chorus of voices opposes Kara: Sue Ellen, other students, Della, Della's best friend Rachel, and, seemingly, the majority of the American people. To understand more about war and its effects on people, Kara talks to Stevens--Juanita's former stepfather--a decorated Vietnam vet who speaks directly from the reality of his combat experience. Kara finds her way to Women in Black, an international organization, begun in Israel, which holds nonviolent vigils protesting violence toward women and children. Motivated by Steven's revelations, her love for her sister, and her budding political sensibility, Kara (with Juanita) decides to open a local chapter of Women In Black to protest the invasion of Iraq. Throughout the play Kara struggles with her feelings of isolation, frustration, fear, ignorance and helplessness to begin to understand her own views and to find the courage--against the opposing voices--to express herself publicly on matters important to her."--Publisher's website.

Based on memories of Vera Kara, daughter of the Austrian brew master to Czar Nicholas, the Kara family story is at times a fairy tale and a nightmare. In three generations, they lose four fortunes and must repeatedly surrender their way of life. Although their story could be of hate and regret, it is instead of hope for tomorrow, as the family rebuilds after each tragedy by relegating life's disappointments to the dustbin of yesterday.

They’re beloved members of the Gansett Island family… But they’ve never had their own book until now! Dan Torrington and Kara Ballard take center stage for the first time ever in this prequel novel. Revisit their story from when they first appeared in FALLING FOR LOVE through HURRICANE AFTER DARK, with many new scenes, characters and backstories as we prepare to follow Dan and Kara to Bar Harbor, Maine, to deal with the most intense Ballard family drama yet. This is an 87,000-word preview ahead of the upcoming DOWNEAST story, which will pick up right where Dan and Kara’s story left off in HURRICANE AFTER DARK.