Travel

The Bionics (The Bionics Novels Book 1)by Alicia Michaels

A heart-pumping futuristic thrill-ride set in a frightening dystopian society. 2016 Once Upon A Book Award Winner.

It is the year 4006, and nuclear war has come to the United States. With tens of thousands killed and countless more injured or terminally ill from the blasts, there is no more “normal”…life will never be the same. For her part, Blythe Sol is reeling from the loss of her arm and an eye in one of the blasts – her dreams of following in her father’s footsteps and joining the military completely shattered. When she hears about the Restoration Project – a bionic government program that offers the sick and injured a second chance – she immediately enrolls.
Made whole again, Blythe is filled with hope and a renewed sense of purpose. But when it becomes apparent that those outfitted with the robotic parts now possess super-human abilities, fear spreads across the nation. The Bionics are forced to go into hiding, outcast from all society. In desperation, they band together to form an underground rebellion, and Blythe finds herself caught in a confusing tug-of-war between two of her fellow soldiers–Gage Bronson, the mysterious new addition to the Resistance, and Dax Janner, her best friend. But with war on the horizon and a death sentence hanging over her, Blythe hardly has time to worry about her feelings…

When Stars Burn Outby Carrie Aarons

Stars die in one of two ways.

So slowly that each layer burning out feels like agony … or suddenly, exploding into a million pieces before the universe even has a grasp of what is happening.

When Paxton Shaw left Demi Rosen without so much as a goodbye, he stole her shine in both manners.

Now, eight years later, he’s trying to pull her back into his orbit. The nation’s most beloved football player, a tight end with a seriously tight end, has finally realized Demi is the one who got away.

But she’s a different woman than the weak girl who used to come running whenever he called in the middle of the night. Strong, successful, her life’s mission being to grant the wishes of children whose flames have all but been extinguished.

And untouchable, as dark and cold as a midnight sky with no moon in sight.

When one special child forces their star-crossed paths to collide, it’s impossible to keep the feelings of their past buried. Paxton had been her Halley’s Comet; the once in a lifetime love that scorched Demi’s heart in the most spectacular of fashions.

She promised herself she would never make that mistake again. But, how can she forget the dreams of love she once had, when Paxton wants to make them come true?

The Gambler and The Orphansby R. O. Lane

The book tells the tale of a gambler, two orphans and a sweet mother who build a life for themselves filled with joy. A Mississippi riverboat gambler, Benjamin Tate, is thrust into a different life as he is forced to adopt two little boys, who have been horribly abused in an orphanage in St. Louis. He takes the boys out West, buys some land and builds a ranch where he raises horses. He meets the boys’ school teacher and falls in love with her. He learns that she’s a widow who has suffered terrible physical abuse from her late husband. One of the boys is kidnapped and Tate goes after the kidnappers and recovers his adopted son, who tells him, “I knew you were coming, Pa. I never had a single doubt. And I told that kidnapper you’d beat the ‘dickens’ out of him.” The gambler finds out that love makes a difference in both children and horses. The orphans adopt a young horse named Sunny, which is a pet for the boys, but he’s no race horse … until one of the orphans gives him a little talking to, hugs him and gets in the saddle. Suddenly Sunny is transformed by the love of the orphans into a winning race horse. The family finally learns that Benjamin Tate was the best poker player ever on the Mississippi riverboats. Does he regret giving up that life and being a father to the orphans. Not for a single minute. It’s another classic tale from R. O. Lane, author of classic westerns.

For Fukui’s Sake: Two years in rural Japanby Sam Baldwin

Far from the high-tech, high-rise of the super-cities, there lies another Japan.

A Japan where snakes slither down school corridors, where bears prowl dark forests and where Westerners are still regarded as curious creatures. Welcome to the world of the inaka – the Japanese countryside.

Unhappily employed in the UK, Sam Baldwin decides to make a big change. Saying sayonara to laboratory life, he takes a job as an English teacher in a small, rural Japanese town that no one – the Japanese included – has ever heard of.

Arriving in Fukui, where there’s ‘little reason to linger’ according to the guidebook, at first he wonders why he left England. But as he slowly settles in to his unfamiliar new home, Sam befriends a colourful cast of locals and begins to discover the secrets of this little known region.

Helped by headmasters, housewives and Himalayan mountain climbers, he immerses himself in a Japan still clutching its pastoral past and uncovers a landscape of lonely lakes, rice fields and lush mountain forests. Joining a master drummer’s taiko class, skiing over paddies and learning how to sharpen samurai swords, along the way Sam encounters farmers, fishermen and foreigners behaving badly.

Exploring Japan’s culture and cuisine, as well as its wild places and wildlife, For Fukui’s Sake is an adventurous, humorous and sometimes poignant insight into the frustrations and fascinations that face an outsider living in small town, backcountry Japan.

Single Dad’s Spring Breakby Rye Hart

Even after so many years, the attraction is f*cking undeniable.

USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR, RYE HART.

Money can't fill the void inside my chest.
Brooke is the only women who can make me whole.
But, I screwed things up years ago.
And she blames me for her insecurities around men.

Luckily, Spring Break brought us to the same Caribbean island.
She needs to know I've changed.
And I'll do everything in my power to prove it.

Being a single dad with twins might scare her away…
Or maybe the three of us can win her over together.

Spring in Sweetwater Countyby Ciara Knight

Forty years after the death of her true love, Judy Gaylord discovers he’s alive. With the guilt of her falling into the arms of his cousin to console her grief, she now must face the man she betrayed.

Dr. James Benjamin has dedicated his life to helping people deal with their post-traumatic stress disorder in hopes of forgetting about his own trauma. Not wanting to risk the safety of others, he’s spent decades alone, but when he sees the woman he never forgot from before the war, his heart awakens.

When circumstances force Judy and James to work together, they soon discover old feelings never faded. Judy must forgive herself and James will have to face his fear or they will miss their second chance.

I Am Happy. Healthy. Free. : How to Become the Person Who Lives Your Dreamsby Erica Ormsby

I want to say right up front this book is supporting those of us who just cannot and will not settle for less than the life we have dreamed about and see being happy, healthy and free as fundamental…not a luxury. This is for people that desire to be of great service to this world without losing yourself along the way. I AM: Happy, Healthy, Free is a realization. A declaration. A stake in the ground. A final decision. A state of being. A way of life. It is the discovery of our deepest truths. It is a knowing. It is an end to the war within. It is a bold self love and responsibility backed by the soundest of reason. It is a necessary paradigm shift to usher in your true nature and discover how powerful you actually are. It is a place where brokenness, less than and fear fall away. It is the radical acceptance of the real you so you live the life you dream of.

A beacon to my tribe: the seeker, the pioneer, the rogue authentic being and you are shedding the conformist march of staying small. You know there is more. You have questioned if it’s true that unhappiness is just the way it is. You have questioned if being sick or unhealthy is just how it goes. You have wondered what it might be like…to just be yourself. You are waking up. You have woken up. I discovered how to live with joy untethered to my past, powerfully in my present moment, and courageous in my ability to create a life that I love.

I am happy.
I am healthy.
I am free.

It is my desire to share with you what I have found that works for me so that you might find the same or expand on what you have already discovered. Here’s to the kind of success that moves mountains.

The Humility of Christ: The Cornerstone for Spiritual Transformationby Marty Wooten

Because “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6), this book affirms the importance and practical spiritual rewards of humility, particularly as exemplified in the life of Jesus Christ. Philippians 2:5-7 emphasizes that Christ began his earthly ministry by becoming “nothing” or by “emptying himself” as some translators phrase it, and thus Christ’s humility throughout the book is referred to as his “nothingness.” This is contrasted with the secular philosophy of the world which influences us to be “something” by attaining wealth, position, and influence. This is referred to as our “somethingness,” that is, our preoccupation and desire with being “something.” By embracing humility we are able to transform our perspective of the world and our role in it, avoiding the painful disappointments from unfulfilled and unreasonable expectations.