Stepping Out on A Limb is a collection of new stories “with refreshing ideas.” A summary of taking the stories one more step or to the edge of exciting reading. The flavor is exciting and the plots are rewarding.ONE NIGHT STANDWhen two strangers meet in an Atlanta bar they indulge in a one night stand. Unknowingly, later on, it will involve them in an experience they never expected. JUNCTION 447, US HIGHWAY 10A surprising event unveiled in this story causes the truths of a group of people to be exposed. The awakening moments spiral out of control and cause them to take a loss.EXIT 537Each of us is on a journey, taking life as it come to us. What lies ahead appears from where we have been, directing our ways as we go. No one knows where the chips will fall. Life is unexpected; you have to be ready at all times.THE WITHERING VINEIn the valley of Uz, near the plains of Omar, a young man name Aaron lived. He was a keeper of the ground and the Lord watched over him. He was truly blessed with an enriched life until trouble came. Would he endure to the end or give up? That is his test.THE CURSE OF THE SCARECROW MURDERSThree young men start off with a bullying incident that leaves a town in ruins. The night fires and the raging flames haunt the night sky and lurk over the town as the smell of death lingers in the air.

A hot one-night stand—and an unexpected pregnancy—lead a young woman to someone she can depend on, from the viral TikTok author of Next of Kin and Next to You.“A beautiful love story, full of joy from beginning to end!”—New York Times bestselling author Sarah AdamsWinnifred “Win” McNulty has always been wildly independent and not one to be coddled for her limb difference. Win has spent most of her life trying to prove that she can do it all on her own. With some minor adjustments, she’s done just fine.Hooking up at a costume party with the incredibly charming Bo changes everything. Win finds herself pregnant—and decides to keep the baby. While Bo is surprisingly elated to step up to the plate, Win is unsure of whether she can handle this new challenge.Together, Win and Bo decide to get to know one another as friends and nothing more while they embark on this parenting journey...

Andrew Sullivan—youngest ever editor of The New Republic, founding editor of The Daily Dish, hailed as "one of the most influential journalists of the last three decades" by The New York Times—presents a collection of his most iconic and powerful essays of social and political commentary from The New Republic, The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, New York magazine, and more.Over the course of his career, Andrew Sullivan has never shied away from staking out bold positions on social and political issues. A fiercely independent conservative, in 1989 he wrote the first national cover story in favor of marriage equality, and then an essay, "The Politics of Homosexuality" in The New Republic in 1993, an article called the most influential of the decade in the gay rights movement. A pioneer of online journalism, he started blogging in 2000, and helped define the new medium with his blog, The...

   MaryJo Mullaney is out on a limb. High in a tree in the middle of a gusting rainstorm. No glasses. No shoes. No coat. Rescuing her cat, Jack— who doesn't realize he needs rescuing. Banker by day, hacker by night, she's given up on the male species. Except Jack.    Coding his next blockbuster software release, millionaire developer Travis Lockwood, discovers a spy perched in the tree outside his second floor window. A rival developer out for a little espionage. This time he'll take matters into his own hands.     Rescuing MaryJo is a breath of fresh air for the workaholic loner. Convincing the beautiful hacker that a hot, no-strings affair is better than a relationship may prove challenging. Because MaryJo has rules. Specifically, a seven-date-rule. When corporate espionage morphs into threats against MaryJo, they will battle a faceless enemy bent on destruction. At stake: his company...

Her most controversial book is one you will never forget. An outspoken thinker, a celebrated actress, a truly independent woman, Shirley MacLaine goes beyond her previous two bestsellers to take us on an intimate yet powerful journey into her personal life and inner self. An intense, clandestine love affair with a prominent politician sparks Shirley MacLaine's quest of self-discovery. From Stockholm to Hawaii to the mountain vastness of Peru, from disbelief to radiant affirmation, she at last discovers the roots of her very existence. . . and the infinite possibilities of life. Shirley MacLaine opens her heart to explore the meaning of a great and enduring passion with her lover Gerry; the mystery of her soul's connection with her best friend David; the tantalizing secrets behind a great actor's inspiration with the late Peter Sellers. And through it all, Shirley MacLaine's courage and candor new doors, new insights, new revelations-and a luminous new world she invites us...

When Elise McAlister's hang glider is shot down, she survives the fall to find her troubles have followed her to the ground. There's a gunman chasing her and, worst of all, he runs her right into Henry "Cutch" McCutcheon's arms. With the generations-old feud between their families, depending on any McCutcheon is difficult. And depending on Cutch, the man who loved her but left her, seems disastrous. But Cutch won't lose this chance to win Elise back--and keep her safe. Together, they take to the skies again to find the source of the deadly secret, little knowing someone's already setting them up for a fall....

Faberville bookstore owner Claire Malloy is ruminating over the state of her love life when she gets disturbing news. Elderly Miss Emily Parchester is up a tree. Chained to an old oak, packing a thermos of tea and a gun, the retired schoolteacher is ready to go down with the ship, or rather the tree, before she'll let another historic piece of Farberville be bulldozed in the name of "progress," i.e., developer Anthony Armstrong's condominiums.With Miss Parchester armed, and therefore dangerous, Claire fears this noble act will end tragically. Unfortunately, it does-when someone murders Armstrong. And suddenly Claire herself is out on a limb: a baby has been left on her doorstep, the child's teenage mom is suspect number one in Armstrong's death, and Claire needs to find the real killer fast. Especially when she discovers Miss Parchester knows more than she's willing to tell....From Publishers WeeklyIn Hess's 14th lighthearted mystery to feature bookseller sleuth Claire Malloy (after 2000's A Conventional Corpse), Emily Parchester, a lady of "a certain age," has been persuaded by the Farberville, Ark., Green Party to chain herself to a platform in a tree to protest the planned construction of a new housing development. On arriving home, Claire learns that her 16-year-old daughter, Caron, has taken in a young guest-the baby born to a mother known only as Wal-Mart. While feeding the baby and watching the local news for coverage of Miss Parchester's vigil, Claire is stunned to learn that the developer of the tract the Green Party is trying to stop has been found dead, and that the infant's mother has been brought in for questioning. Claire undertakes to get Miss Parchester out of the tree and reunite the mother and child, despite the repercussions for both her bookstore and her personal life. Farberville boasts a large population of eccentric characters, many of whom are old friends by now. (Fans of Margaret Maron's Judge Deborah Knott will appreciate "Judge Derby Nott," a tip of the hat from one master to another.) With her wry asides, Claire makes a most engaging narrator. The author deftly juggles the various plot strands, letting the local news reporter fill in the action in which Claire is uninvolved. The surprising denouement comes off with eclat.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalWhen a local developer tries to level a bunch of trees, a protester chains herself to one of them-while the developer's daughter apparently abandons her baby on bookseller-sleuth Claire Malloy's doorstep. By the time Claire tracks her down, the woman has been charged with murdering her father. Likely to be requested by fans of the series (e.g., Dear Miss Demeanor).Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

'My mother has just the two modes of operation. Either slightly dramatic or seriously dramatic. That this is the latter means just the one thing. That my day is about to get worse...' And for single mum, Abbie, life is complex enough. So once her eldest son, Seb, has gone on his gap year, she's decided it's time to make changes. She's just left her old job and started a new one (to escape the gorgeous man-who-turned-out-to-be-married), and is planning some space for herself at long last. But fate seems to have something else in mind for Abbie, in the shape of her demanding and incorrigible mother, whose feckless fourth husband, Hugo, has just died. Temporarily in a wheelchair after a recent knee op, Diana - retired TV fitness icon and dancer - will need looking after, so will have to move in. Still, Abbie tells herself - gritting her teeth - it won't be for more than a few weeks... However, Abbie hasn't figured on the sudden arrival of Hugo's 20 years' estranged son. A suave TV Weatherman, Gabriel Ash not only owns the deeds to what they thought was Hugo's house, but also has plans of his own...