Once Upon A Falling Star

The year is 1935. Bettina, just turned six, is spending her summer vacation with Granny and Dada, her grandmother and grandfather, in Kalenda, a small North Texas town. In addition to her grandparents, the household includes Franky, their cook / housekeeper / laundress, whose husband Professor, principal of the K-12 Negro school, drives Franky to work and spends time at the kitchen table with Dada, discussing world events, and Rufus, the gardener / handyman / chauffeur. Frequent visitors are Nanny, Granny's crippled younger sister, and her husband, Harry, who drive into town from their small farm in an old Pierce Arrow which only Nanny can drive and only in second gear, and Uncle, Granny's younger brother, who lives alone near the railroad tracks with his two hunting dogs. Among the colorful townsfolk are Dolly (wife of Jolly), who has no children but has a wondrous doll collection for all the town's children to enjoy; Scrap, the trash man, who drives a mule-drawn cart to pick up castoffs which he turns into treasures; Miss Annie, the widow of a sea captain, who wears trousers, smokes an occasional cigar,and drives a bright yellow roadster; and Woodrow, confused but harmless, who thinks he is the President of the United States. But through all the delights of a carefree, almost magical summer, is woven the shadow of eight-year-old Billy Jack, the mostly unsupervised son of a mother long gone and a father who works in the oil fields. Billy Jack has told Bettina that Mrs. Crone, a strange neighbor who dresses all in black, is a witch. Bettina is afraid of Mrs. Crone, as well as of the frowning life-size angel with its sword unsheathed, which Mrs. Crone erected at the entrance of Townview Cemetery.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts presents four illuminating stories of romance, passion, and magic... In Nora Roberts's "Ever After," an ancient star pendant sends an enchanting woman to an otherwordly land—where she introduces a skeptical stranger to the magical powers of love. In Jill Gregory's "Catch a Falling Star," a young woman forced to marry a barbarian invokes an ancient spell—as an unexpected passion consumes her heart. In Ruth Ryan Langan's "The Curse of Castle Clough," a beautiful professor uncovers a shocking series of secrets while appraising the contents of a haunted castle—and falls in love with a desperate lord who's fighting to save everything he holds dear. In Marianne Willman's "Starry, Starry Night," a lovely lady is drawn into the tragedies of the past—and finds that true love always stands the test of time.

This coming-of-age story by multiple-award-winner Meg McKinlay is about loss and grief, dealing with change and fighting to hold on to what you can, while letting go of what you can’t. It’s 1979 and the sky is falling. Skylab, that is. Somewhere high above Frankie Avery, one of the world’s first space stations is tumbling to Earth. And rushing back with it are old memories. Things twelve-year-old Frankie thought she’d forgotten. Things her mum won’t talk about, and which her little brother Newt never knew. Only ... did he? Does he? Because as Skylab circles closer, Newt starts acting strangely. And while the world watches the sky, Frankie keeps her own eyes on Newt. Because if anyone’s going to keep him safe, it’s her. It always has been. But maybe this is something bigger than splinters and spiders and sleepwalking. Maybe a space station isn’t the only thing heading straight for calamity.

Shivya Nath quit her corporate job at age twenty-three to travel the world. She gave up her home and the need for a permanent address, sold most of her possessions and embarked on a nomadic journey that has taken her everywhere from remote Himalayan villages to the Amazon rainforests of Ecuador. Along the way, she lived with an indigenous Mayan community in Guatemala, hiked alone in the Ecuadorian Andes, got mugged in Costa Rica, swam across the border from Costa Rica to Panama, slept under a meteor shower in the cracked salt desert of Gujarat and learnt to conquer her deepest fears. With its vivid descriptions, cinematic landscapes, moving encounters and uplifting adventures, The Shooting Star is a travel memoir that maps not just the world but the human spirit.

Successful career gal Kendall Haynes is tired of wishing on stars for a home and a family. Can God’s dreams for her be even better than her own? Is life about accomplishing plans . . . or wishes coming true . . . or something more? Dr. Kendall Haynes’s plans to have it all—a career, a husband, a family—are eluding her. Now that she’s thirty-six, she needs to stop wishing upon a star and face reality: Some dreams just never come true. Air Force pilot Griffin Walker prefers flying solo in the air and on the ground—until a dangerous choice ejects him from the cockpit. His life becomes even more complicated after the sudden death of his parents makes him the guardian of his sixteen-year-old brother. There’s no way his life will ever get back on course now. When their lives collide during a near tragedy, Kendall and Griffin must decide if they can embrace the unexpected changes God has waiting for them.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts presents four romantic stories of impossible dreams come true... In Nora Roberts’s “In Dreams,” a beautiful young woman is drawn to a castle in the forests of Ireland and becomes the link to a stranger’s past—and the curse that has trapped him forever in the eternity of his own dreams. In Jill Gregory’s “The Sorcerer’s Daughter,” the fate of a captive wizard depends on his lovely daughter—and the intentions of a spellcast adventurer who dreams of a priceless treasure, and a love that could be the greatest reward of all. In Ruth Ryan Langan’s “The Enchantment,” two strangers seek refuge in an abandoned estate on a storm-swept night—only to discover that their most elusive dreams of romance are as enchanted, and as real, as true love itself. In Marianne Willman’s “The Bridge of Sighs,” an American art appraiser becomes haunted by dreams of a lonely young girl while visiting Venice—a vision that illuminates a tragic past, and a future of endless love.