A Nun With A GunSister Felicia dislikes the serene life at the Blessed Garden Convent, most especially the goats. Instead of obedience and prayer, every night she escapes her room to make sure a visiting nun, Sister Mary Grace, survives her stay unharmed.When a mysterious vagrant arrives to assist the convent caretaker, Sister Felicia goes on high alert. Is this man something more than he seems, something deadly and dangerous?Josiah Gallagher has his own concerns. Who is the beautiful young nun who prowls the ground when the rest of the nuns are sleeping? The nun who removes her homespun robe to swim naked in the convent spring?When Sister Felicia is kidnapped by mysterious assailants, Gallagher comes to the rescue. Stranded in the desert, they are forced to rely on each other for survival. Sister Felicia's courage convinces Gallagher she is more than she seems. She reluctantly comes to the same conclusion about him.As their pasts and missions...

Once, Julianna was plain Julie Ann, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who dared to love the son of the town's most powerful family. Gray loved her, too, and married her to give their unborn child a name, but sometimes love isn't enough. Ten years later they meet again. Despite their painful past, both are helpless to deny a love that never died.Former lovers are reunited as a hurricane approaches the island of Oahu.Once, Julianna was plain Julie Ann, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who dared to love the son of the town's most powerful family. Gray loved her, too, and married her to give their unborn child a name, but sometimes love isn't enough. Ten years later they meet again. She is successful, beautiful, and certain that a decade ago he betrayed her, but despite their painful past, both are helpless to deny a love that never died. As secrets are slowly revealed and new and surprising friendships develop with otherrefugees from the storm, the past and present come together in one tumultuous explosion.From Glowing Embers is the first book of a four book series set among four islands in the Pacific. Smoke Screen, Rainbow Fire and Out of the Ashes follow, featuring characters introduced here.

In the rich, evocative prose that earned high praise for WEDDING RING and ENDLESS CHAIN, Emilie Richards crafts the third tale in the Shenandoah Album series, resonant with the power of love and family tiesConfused about her troubled marriage, Kendra Taylor needs time to sort out her feelings. Retreating to an abandoned cabin left to her husband, Isaac, by the maternal grandmother he never knew, she is quickly welcomed into the rural community of Toms Brook. She soon becomes curious about a beautiful heirloom quilt and the past Isaac has always refused to explore. The unusual quilt clearly has a story to tell, and Kendra hopes that helping her husband connect with his roots may also help him reconnect with her.At first Isaac's reluctant visits to the cabin only underscore the difficulties in their marriage. But as circumstances force them to piece together a new relationship, Isaac discovers that the history of a family he never knew may hold the key...

"After Godwin "Win" Dorchester, a former minister of the Consolidated Community Church, dies suddenly during a celebration of his return to Emerald springs, his memorial service is cut just as short. The coroner's office has requested an autopsy, and Aggie is the first to learn why. Win, beloved among the congregation, was murdered--and the number one suspect is his widow"After a former minister dies suddenly upon his return to Emerald Springs, his memorial service is cut just as short. Aggie Sloan-Wilcox, wide of the current minister, knows why. The poor old guy was murdered. But who in this bucolic village could be capable of such a crime?**

Originally published as A Stranger's Son, a classic romance from USA Today bestselling author Emilie Richards about two strangers brought together by a gift neither of them could have imagined...Talented, successful rock musician Devin Fitzgerald is thinking about a change of pace. He never expects to have his whole life upturned when he stops to help a stranded car and discovers the woman inside is in labor. Now, he wants nothing more than to be a father. But first he has to convince Robin Lansing to let him into her life...and her guarded heart.Originally published in 1997

Lost in a landscape of boiling mud pools and geysers, Paige Duvall wonders if she's finally descended into hell. The land her mother inherited in New Zealand is not the pastoral paradise she hoped for, a place where the worldly young woman hoped to recover from another failed relationship. Instead one wrong step can end her life. Then the devil himself, Maori sheep farmer Adam Tomoana, emerges from the swirling mists to guide her to safety.While she must rely on Adam to guide her home, is it safe to trust this man with her heart? While she is fascinated by their encounter, only Adam knows that it's not their first. Both are battered souls; both need healing, as does Adam's small silent son. But to heal, both must tell the whole truth, and there are secrets in Paige's past, and relationships she can't remember.If Adam reveals them, will he drive her away, or will he win her love forever?

Meet the unconventional Aggie Sloan-Wilcox, a minister's wife with her own calling: helping troubled  souls in need of justice.  When the naked body of a murdered woman turns up on Aggie's front porch--and suspicion falls on Aggie's husband--she doesn't have a prayer of clearing his name unless she can uncover the truth in a town not known for confessing its sins. **

When Aurore Gerritsen watched her lover kill her father, it was just one act of violence in a long chain of dramatic events. Years later, behind the iron lace gates of wealthy New Orleans, beneath the veneer of her society name, linger secrets that Aurore Gerritsen has hidden for a lifetime, and truths that threaten to change forever the lives of her unsuspecting family. Now, as Aurore faces her own mortality, she needs to reveal those secrets that have haunted her for so many years. Aurore seeks out Phillip Benedict and asks him to tell her story. He's intrigued, but wonders why the matriarch of a prominent white family would choose to confess her sins to an outspoken black journalist. Finally Phillip agrees, but though he thinks he's ready for anything she might say, the truth is that nothing can prepare him for the impact of Aurore's shocking revelations.**

Nine people have gathered for the reading of Aurore Gerritsen's will. Some are family, others are strangers. But all will have their futures changed forever when a lifetime of secrets is finally revealed. Aurore Gerritsen left clear instructions: her will is to be read over a four-day period at her summer cottage on a small Louisiana island. Those who don't stay will forfeit their inheritance. With the vast fortune of Gulf Coast Shipping at stake, no one will take that risk. Tensions rise as Aurore's lawyer dispenses small bequests, each designed to expose the matriarch's well-kept secrets. Longtime loyalties are jeopardized and shocking new alliances are formed as the family feels the sands of belief shifting beneath their feet. As a hurricane approaches and survival itself is threatened, the fourth day dawns and everyone waits for the final truth to be revealed.**

"Richards pieces together each woman's story as artfully as a quilter creates a quilt... Transcendent, endowed with warmth and compassion."—Booklist Three generations of women discover the healing gift of family, memories and loveNeeding time to contemplate her troubled marriage, Tessa MacRae agrees to spend the summer helping her mother and grandmother clean out the family home in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. But the three women have never been close. Helen, the family matriarch, is domineering and sharp-tongued. Nancy, Tessa's mother, appears to be little more than a social climber. And Tessa herself is in turmoil following a family tragedy that has affected them all.Now, with the gift of time, Tessa's eyes are opened, and she begins to see her mother and grandmother for the flawed but courageous women they are. As she restores a vintage wedding ring quilt pieced by her grandmother and quilted by her mother, the secrets that have...

Could a lifetime of memories...be a lifetime of lies?All her life Ryan Gracey watched her perfect older sister from afar. Knowing she could never top Wendy's achievements, she didn't even try. Instead Ryan forged her own path while her family barely seemed to notice.Now Wendy shares two little girls with her perfect husband while Ryan mourns the man she lost after a nearly fatal mistake in judgment. The sisters' choices have taken them in different directions, which is why Ryan is stunned when Wendy calls, begging for her help. There's been a murder—and Wendy believes she'll be wrongfully accused.While Wendy lays low, Ryan moves back to their hometown to care for the nieces she hardly knows. The sleuthing skills she's refined as a true-crime podcaster quickly rise to the surface as she digs for answers with the help of an unexpected ally. Yet the trail of clues Wendy's left behind lead to nothing but questions. Blood may be thicker than water,...

Two Strangers Brought Together By A Gift Neither Of Them Could Have Imagined...Talented, successful rock musician Devin Fitzgerald is thinking about a change of pace. He never expects to have his whole life upturned when he stops to help a stranded car and discovers the woman inside is in labor. Now, he wants nothing more than to be a father. But first he has to convince Robin Lansing to let him into her life...and her guarded heart.Originally Published: 1997 As 'A Stranger's Son' = Anthology: 'A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Delivery Room'

Mary Kate McKenzie has pledged herself to a life of service, but a knock on the head shatters her rose-colored glasses. She awakens, a stranger in her own mysteriously pregnant body. The starry-eyed young woman, who planned to devote her life to the Eden's Gate religious community, is now a take-no-prisoners dynamo who avoids sentiment and religion. Despite this, or because of it, she manages to capture the attention of the wayward teens she works with in the center's community garden. But when former broadcast journalist Charles Casey arrives to do a newspaper article, his presence begins to unlock memories of someone else's life. Whose? And who is the father of the baby she carries? Mary Kate is determined to find the key to her past, but as the work of the center becomes vital to her, she is faced with a choice. Should she move toward an excitingly different future suddenly offered to her, or will she be happy in the quiet world of Eden's Gate, with the...

In a classic contemporary romance from bestselling author Emilie Richards, a small town English teacher, certain the boy she loved seventeen years ago has forgotten her, learns that she couldn't be more wrong. The man returns, and he remembers her well.Elise Ramsey has made peace with her quiet life. She's a beloved high school English teacher in Miracle Springs, Florida, where the only genuine miracle is that nothing ever changes. Caring for a self-centered mother, Elise hasn't had time or inclination to change, either. Her one chance to break free came when her teenage lover, Sloane Tyson, begged her to leave town after their high school graduation. When she refused, Sloane never looked back.Now Elise's mother has died and the tie that bound her to the small town is severed. Before she can consider a different future, the past returns. Sloane moves back to town for one year, bringing Clay, the son he's only just discovered. Sloane and Clay need their own miracle, a chance to...

For Alexis Whitham, Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia seems like the perfect place to escape with Jody, her daughter, and begin a new life free from the escalating abuse of her ex-husband. In their new hideaway she can write, and Jody, an adaptable gifted child, can find friends and grow up in safety.For Matthew Haley, the remote destination is a place to hide, as well. A ranger at Flinders Chase park at the farthest reaches of the island, he can live in solitude and avoid confronting the pain of his past.Then his new American neighbor brings him an injured koala, and Matthew finds that no matter how much he wants to, he can't escape Alexis or her enchanting nine-year-old daughter.But while Matthew may find a way to put his past to rest, Alexis's may yet come back to haunt her.