Nothing In Common But Life

Nathan - leaves a job he loves to nurse his wife through her final stage of cancer. Lured back to work several years later, he becomes an unwitting participant in a major procurement scam. Meanwhile he encounters the woman he had an affair with years ago who has haunted his dreams. Will he renew their relationship and revive the passion of his youth, or will he go to jail? Annie - devastated by her divorce, she retreats into a shell of embarrassment, anger and guilt. Grudgingly stepping back into the real world, she meets a suave, debonair man who sweeps her off her feet. When her exs affair ends he appeals to Annie for forgiveness. Annies sympathy for him creates a dilemma between old feelings and her new lover. Which man will she choose? Cody - hopes for college end when he is forced to run the family farm after his parents untimely deaths. He falls in love, but is rejected. Humiliated, he joins the Army and serves two combat tours in Afghanistan. He returns home to Texas, starts college, and meets a rich coed. They fall in love and she gets pregnant. What happens next reinforces Codys view of life as bitterly unfair. Carol - the African American Lt. Colonel prosecutes sexual harassment cases in the Air Force. Working a case against a popular officer, she uncovers his seamy underside and his political connections in Washington. She is drugged by associates of the accused and posed for lewd pictures. The accused expects the case to be dropped and that Carol submit to his sexual demands using the pictures as blackmail. Carol agonizes over giving in to the man and saving her career or defying him and ruining her life. Bernie - the night watchman finds three million dollars in cash in a duffel bag. He learns from a police friend that a local gang has had their drug money stolen. Bernie cautiously begins to spend the money and the cop, suspicious, threatens to expose Bernie unless he gets a share of the cash. How can Bernie keep his discovery a secret and use the money to give his family a better life? And what should he do about the cop who can ruin it all?

★“Heartwarming, imaginative and beautifully illustrated, Nothing in Common is the story of how a shared experience can bring two people together through thoughtfulness, observation and compassion.” –Shelf Awareness, starred review A tender and timely story of compassion and finding common ground with others, perfect for fans of I Walk With Vanessa and Thank You, Omu! Two neighbors both love to watch the old man and his dog from their windows, but they never wave to each other. After all, they have nothing in common. But everything changes when they are the only ones who notice that one day is different—there is the old man, but where is the dog? In this lyrical picture book, two strangers learn about the many ways the world connects us—even if the only thing we have in common is how much we care about someone else. Filled with whimsy and warmth, Nothing In Common is a tender friendship story that reminds us to always lead with compassion.

Smile! It's not just the end of your marriage, it's the beginning of your second chance! Missy Benson has a two and a half carat diamond engagement ring with color grade H, VS2 clarity and a value of $36,000. It's absolutely gorgeous, practically flawless, and let's be honest, really big! But what the successful Chicago realtor doesn't have anymore is a husband. After 12 years of marriage, her husband, Paul, a handsome, wealthy attorney has devastated her by breaking up their marriage for Priscilla Sommerfeld, a young, personal trainer, who according to Missy's sassy assistant, J.J., looks more like a Las Vegas stripper than a fitness expert. Not sure what to do with her ring, and with no financial issues to worry about, Missy decides to put it up for sale on Craigslist. The price: 99 cents! The catch: She gets to pick the buyer. In essence, she's looking for the perfect guy, but not for herself. Her hope is to regain faith that good men do exist, and that marriages can last forever. Now referring to herself as "the divorced girl," Missy interviews dozens of young men who are vying for the huge ring. It's a contest that includes outrageous characters, hilarious and sentimental stories, and two finalists, both of whom Missy adores and who she must choose between. Then there's Parker Missoni, the sexiest contestant by far, who drives her crazy with his brutal honesty, and at the same time stops her heart with his deep brown eyes. Divorced Girl Smiling is the story of a woman's journey to do whatever it takes to heal herself from divorce. It's about acceptance, reflection, taking accountability for mistakes, and appreciating all of life's wonderful gifts. In other words, if you have the guts to put the past behind, admit your mistakes, embrace your future, and give love another chance, you will surely be a divorced girl smiling.

Do you and your partner argue about the same things over and over again? Are you often confused about why your partner is so angry with you? Are things getting worse and worse even though you’ve tried everything you can think of to make them better? In this breakthrough guide to repairing romantic relationships, therapist and marriage researcher Dr. Stephen Betchen presents a powerful new explanation of what leads to this kind of escalating conflict in couples and how you can repair your relationship and find a whole new level of happiness. Based on his extensive experience as a couples’ therapist, Dr. Betchen has discovered that the prevailing idea that opposites attract is wrong. Instead, one of the strongest forces that attracts people to one another is that they share a hidden, inner conflict in their lives—an unconscious struggle within themselves that each of them developed growing up—which he calls a "master conflict." The fact that a couple shares a master conflict acts as an almost magnetic force of attraction, but, over time, master conflicts often begin to push a pair apart—many of the very things you most appreciated about each other start to grate on you, producing increasing hostility. The good news is that by identifying the master conflict that you share, you and your partner can take the steps to break the cycle of fighting and come to a new place of understanding and happiness in your relationship. Often, just the realization that you have this hidden conflict acts as a powerful cure, allowing you to appreciate each other once again and to be empathetic about the things that have been irritating you both. From his years of work with couples, Betchen has identified the nineteen most common master conflicts—such as getting your needs met vs. caretaking; giving vs. withholding; commitment vs. freedom; power vs. passivity—and for each he provides vivid stories of couples who have struggled with them, as well as simple tests that help you to: • Identify the core master conflict that is causing your relationship problems • Understand the origins of your conflict and how it drew you to your partner • Diagnose how the conflict is now pushing you apart • Come to new terms with the conflict to save your relationship As Dr. Betchen writes, knowledge of a master conflict is power, and Magnetic Partners is an empowering guide that will help you not only to identify and control your master conflict, but also to bring your relationship to a new level based on deeper understanding, ultimately leading to greater fulfillment and long-term resilience. Partners

What was existentialism? At its heart, Noreen Khawaja argues, existentialism was an effort to translate Protestant piety into a secular philosophy. While there have been many attempts to define existentialism from within as a coherent philosophical program and even as a movement, Khawaja s book is the first study of existentialism from the standpoint of intellectual history and the first to look systematically at the role that Christianity played in the development of existential thought. Focusing on Soren Kierkegaard, Martin Heidegger, and Jean-Paul Sartre, Khawaja illuminates the key moments in existentialism s reconstruction of Protestant piety within the confines of secular philosophy. Heidegger once described his work as an exercise in the piety of thinking. Khawaja s book shows the historical and systematic truth behind this metaphor. Notwithstanding Heidegger, thinking has not always been a pious act. But for a certain group of European intellectuals in the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it became so. "The Religion of Existence "will appeal to scholars of modern Christianity, philosophers, and historians of European philosophy, as well as those engaged with the theoretical and historical problems of secular and post-secular modernity. "