The Eyes of River by Cindy K. Sproles

 In the shadowed hollers of the early-twentieth-century Appalachian Mountains, Lizzy Haney is on the run.

She’s been falsely accused of murder and is desperate to reunite with her brother, River, whose unforgettable green eyes haunt her. The secret in her past is a stinging wound, but it motivates her toward her goal: freedom.

But nine-year-old River, sent through the US Post Office to his late mother's friend in Knoxville, never arrived. Lizzy’s dream of finding him and starting a new life away from their alcoholic and abusive father is ripped away.

Her hope rekindles as she finds an unexpected confidant to help her dodge the law and save the missing youngin'. As she finds herself trusting him, she discovers the truth of the old adage her momma repeated: And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

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The Eyes of River: An Appalachian Novel: Sproles, Cindy K.: 9780825453168: Amazon.com: Books

Cindy K. Sproles is a speaker and best-selling, award-winning author of several novels, including Mercy's Rain, Liar's Winter, and Coal Black Lies. She is the executive editor for Christian Devotions Ministries and the director of the Asheville Christian Writers Conference. She also mentors and coaches new writers with Write Right Author Mentoring Services. She is an Appalachian-born-and-raised mountain girl who now lives in East Tenessee. Find more at cindysproles.com

Dolly Parton Coat of Many Colors 10th Anniversary Edition

 Celebrate the tenth anniversary of Dolly Parton's iconic book Coat of Many Colors, inspired by her legendary song of the same name.

Although we had no money,
I was rich as I could be,
in my coat of many colors
my mama made for me.

Country music legend Dolly Parton's rural upbringing in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee provides the backdrop for this special picture book. Using lyrics from her classic song "Coat of Many Colors," the book tells the story of a young girl in need of a warm winter coat.

When her mother sews her a coat made of rags, the girl is mocked by classmates for being poor. But Parton's trademark positivity carries through to the end as the girl realizes that her coat was made with love "in every stitch."

Beautiful illustrations pair with Parton's poetic lyrics in this tenth anniversary edition of Dolly's story, featuring a special butter-yellow fabric cover, and a new foreword from Dolly. 

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Amazon.com: Coat of Many Colors: 10th Anniversary Edition: 9798217140640: Parton, Dolly, Boynton-Hughes, Brooke: Books

Dolly Parton is the most honored and revered female singer-songwriter of all time. She has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, has a record-breaking twenty-eight songs that have reached #1 on Billboard charts, and has won hundreds of awards across her career. To date, Parton has donated over two hundred million books to children around the world with her Imagination Library and has authored successful books for children and adults, including the first book in the Billy the Kid series, instant New York Times bestseller Dolly Parton’s Billy the Kid Makes It Big. From her “Coat of Many Colors” to working “9 to 5,” no dream is too big and no mountain too high for the country girl who turned the world into her stage.

Borrowed Child by Marguerite Welch

 

After the drug overdose of her teenage son, Helen, a privileged white woman, takes in Mia, a troubled and undocumented Mexican teenager.

Although they initially fill each other’s voids, Helen’s lofty expectations of Mia eventually test that bond and Mia, tortured by guilt and starved for affection, runs off with Diego, an MS13 gang leader. While Helen, bereft over losing another child, tries to reconstruct her life, Mia’s life with Diego spirals into a nightmare: Just after she has his baby, he goes to jail for multiple murders. As each woman moves forward through her own challenges, Helen confronts her deep-seated prejudices, while Mia battles her own demons in search of self-identity and meaning in her life.

A haunting and suspenseful cautionary tale, Borrowed Child is about what happens when a well-meaning inclination toward “salvation” goes awry.

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Amazon.com: Borrowed Child: A Story of Parenting Across Two Cultures: 9798896363422: Welch, Marguerite: Books

Marguerite Welch is a writer, artist, photographer and sailor whose essays and reviews on fine art photography have been published in the NEW ART EXAMINER, WASHINGTON REVIEW OF THE ARTS, AFTERIMAGE and other local and national art publications. Short personal essays and travel pieces have appeared in BAY WEEKLY, WANDERLUST and CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE. Her travel memoir, WATERBORNE: A SLOW TRIP AROUND A SMALL PLANET, published by Seaworthy Publications in September 2019, documents a 14-year world circumnavigation undertaken with her husband in their 38-foot sailboat Ithaca. In her spare time she tends her garden on the banks of the Severn River in Annapolis, Maryland where she and her husband have lived for 40 years.

The Brunswick by Callie Murray

 In 1939 Georgia, far removed from the war brewing overseas, Cora Cain's world feels small--and shrinking. There, she runs The Brunswick, her family's once-grand hotel, which is now struggling as the town's general store. When Thomas Watkins arrives seeking work and solace after his mother's death, a connection sparks between them. Through Thomas, Cora glimpses a life beyond obligation and her war hero father's unpredictable moods.

But everything changes when Cora is asked to turn The Brunswick into a sanctuary for Jewish children fleeing persecution in Germany. As Cora and Thomas prepare for the children's arrival, they struggle to confront their pasts--and the prejudice of their neighbors--as their fragile hope is put to the test.

Meanwhile, in Vienna, ten-year-old Charlotte is offered refuge in America. But even with the horrors she sees around her, she wonders how her parents could possibly send her away. As war's shadow begins to reach small-town Georgia, each person must face what love demands and decide what to hold on to and what to let go.

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The Brunswick: (Historical Southern World War II Novel set in Georgia and Inspired by True Events with Themes of Foster and Adoption): Callie Murray: 9780800747787: Amazon.com: Books

Callie Murray is an entrepreneur who has been featured on The Today Show and in The New York Times. Her debut Southern fiction book delves into the lesser-known historical details preceding World War II. Callie and her husband live in Norcross, Georgia with their seven children, four of whom came through the honor of adoption.

The Roommate Rule by Georgia Stone

 Dylan is the kind of person who is always fifteen minutes early and never leaves things to chance--so she can’t believe she’s about to spend six weeks on a last-minute trip to Wales that she didn’t plan, living in a cabin with a man she’s only met once.

Max always goes with the flow, and after his plus-one drops out of his all-expenses-paid travel influencer trip, he’s happy for his sister’s friend to take the spot. After all, from what he remembers of their brief meeting a year ago, Dylan is the kind of woman he’d be more than happy to spend some alone time with.

Not that anything is going to happen between them, because Dylan knows getting involved with this reckless, irrepressible flirt is the last thing she needs. So she makes a house rule: they are roommates only, and under no circumstances can anything . . . untoward . . . happen between them.

But as the days go by, Max starts to realize how much he enjoys chipping away at the walls Dylan hides herself behind, while Dylan begins to admit to herself that there may be more to Max than she first assumed. And before she knows it, she finds herself wondering if their “roommate rule” might be one rule she actually wants to break…

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 Amazon.com: The Roommate Rule: A Novel: 9780063434844: Stone, Georgia: Books

Georgia Stone is a London-based author of contemporary romance. She writes love stories that she hopes make people laugh out loud and clutch at their hearts in equal measure.

After dabbling in fan fiction as a teen growing up in rural Switzerland, she didn't write her own stories for years, until one fateful day, she had the idea that sparked her debut novel. She fell back in love with writing and now very much appreciates that being a fiction author is essentially just a socially acceptable way of having imaginary friends.

When she's not reading or writing, you can usually find her trying out DIY projects in her ridiculously colourful flat, spending far too much time feeding The Algorithm, or acting unhinged at gigs with her friends.

You've Got Hate Mail by Pippa Grant

  should’ve worn underwear that day.

I’d have far less hate mail in my inbox. I’d also still have a job.

But I didn’t wear underwear. And I had a wardrobe malfunction on a livestream.

So now I’m the proud owner of the internet’s most famous… you know.

The good news? I’ve been invited to hide from my sudden infamy at a closed winery with other women who’ve suffered their own five minutes of shame.

The bad news? The winery has a live-in handyman.

A competent, compassionate, patient, sexy, single dad handyman.

Whom I met when I punched him in the face.

Accidentally, of course. But I still get why he’s happy keeping his distance from me.

But when we find out the winery that’s saving my life is in danger of foreclosure, he and I become accidental partners.

No big deal, working with a guy that I’m falling harder for each day.

I’m already the internet’s favorite punching bag. Why not add an unrequited crush to my life?

But what if it’s not unrequited after all? 

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Amazon.com: You've Got Hate Mail: A Viral Sensation Romance (Accidentally Infamous): 9781955930574: Grant, Pippa: Books

Pippa Grant wanted to write books, so she did.

Before she became a USA Today and #1 Amazon bestselling romantic comedy author, she was a young military spouse who got into writing as self-therapy. That happened around the time she discovered reading romance novels, and the two eventually merged into a career. Today, she has more than 30 knee-slapping Pippa Grant titles and nine published under the name Jamie Farrell.

When she’s not writing romantic comedies, she’s fumbling through being a mom, wife, and mountain woman, and sometimes tries to find hobbies. Her crowning achievement? Having impeccable timing for telling stories that will make people snort beverages out of their noses. Consider yourself warned.

Pop Stars and Playbooks by Juliet Rhodes

 

She's a chart-topper. He's a football player. Together, they're a love story no one saw coming.

Griffin Hayes is football's golden boy--charming, talented, and completely out of his depth when a video of him belting out pop star Aria Wilder's breakup anthem goes viral. Overnight, he's crowned the internet's favorite meme, and Aria's #1 fan. Aria, the reigning queen of heartbreak ballads, sees an opportunity to turn the moment into good PR and invites Griffin to her next concert. When their onstage chemistry sets the internet ablaze, her team suggests the unthinkable: a fake friendship to keep the buzz alive.

Griffin reluctantly agrees, but as they spend more time together--posing for cameras, attending events, and sharing inside jokes--he realizes there's nothing fake about the way Aria makes him feel. For Aria, Griffin is a breath of fresh air in a world that's always demanding more from her. Beneath the viral fame and public scrutiny, their connection feels real.

But when Griffin suffers a career-threatening injury and Aria battles creative burnout, their carefully constructed "performance" starts to crumble. With their worlds pulling them in opposite directions, they'll have to decide: Is this just a PR stunt gone too far--or the kind of love worth risking everything for? 

Pick up your copy here...                                                                                                                                     Amazon.com: Pop Stars and Playbooks: An opposites-attract, kisses-only, fake friendship-turned-love story between a football star and a pop icon eBook : Rhodes, Juliet: Kindle Store

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 Juliet Rhodes is a hopeless romantic with a soft spot for slow-burn love stories and swoon-worthy heroes who fall first. When she’s not writing, you can find her binge-watching rom-coms, obsessing over celebrity gossip, or cheering on her favorite teams (while secretly imagining the players in love triangles). She lives in a cozy apartment with her two rescue cats, Hemingway and Zelda.