A boy bullied-father lost to tragic events. A son with drunken parents-grown before his time. A child, the youngest boy of four. Fighting to be heard-lost in the noise of masculinity. A teen with an overprotective father struggling with sexual identity-his first love gone wrong. A youth with an ailing mother and useless father, confused-dealing with his hate for him. Four boys joined by internal issues and struggling to fit in; projecting their issues by bullying. Until one day the strangest thing happens. A usual victim stands up and demands they return an item. A sketchbook. Now the foursome turned five becomes an odd friendship where views collide, motives are questioned and tension threatens to destroy their close-knit unit. None can survive unharmed and none shall remain the same.

One minute you can't live without them . . . the next minute you don't want them breathing your air! Siblings everywhere will relate to this humorous look at famous brothers and sisters whose important bonds have shaped their accomplishments . . . (mostly) for the better. They blame you when they get in trouble. They seem like your parents' favorite. They are the only enemy you can't live without. Almost everyone has a juicy story about their siblings--even famous people. Meet those who got along, those who didn't, and everyone in between! Demi Lovato and her sister Tennis superstars Serena and Venus Williams Walt and Roy Disney Princes William and Harry Stephen Colbert and his eleven older siblings Quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning The Jacksons (Michael, Janet, and family) Reality TV sensations, the Gosselins Queen Elizabeth I and the queen who history remembers as Bloody Mary Conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker John Wilkes Booth (the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln) and his brother Edwin Vincent and Theo van Gogh Airplane inventors, the Wright brothers The Romanovs The Kennedys Oh, brother! This could get ugly. . . .

Jealousy, greed, and violent revenge are all at the forefront in this page-turner by Brenda Hampton, the queen of girlfriends' drama. Kayla, Evelyn, and Trina have been on-and-off-again girlfriends for many years, but the lines of true friendship have been crossed, the knives that went into another friend's back cut deep, and trust no longer applies when one woman has an affair with another's man. Once the lines of true friendship have been crossed, will this trio ever be able to regain the bond of loyalty they once shared?

Someone is killing the Grande Dames of New Orleans! It’s Christmas time, but the last thing in the world Scotty Bradley wants under his tree is a murder case that strikes close to home. The premiere party for a new reality show sets the stage for a murder, and Scotty’s sort-of nephew is the prime suspect. As more and more cast members fall victim to a cold-blooded killer, Scotty and the boys must figure out what is real and what is scripted, and have to exhume some long-buried secrets in order to bring the killer to justice. A Scotty Bradley mystery.

When Emma and her two best friends find themselves at odds with one another, can Emma find a way keep the trio from becoming a duo? Find out in this second book in the brand-new middle grade series, Ask Emma, from the bestselling creators behind The Cupcake Club series! Emma Woods is used to speaking her mind. She does it every day on her blog, Ask Emma. When her classmates at Austen Middle have a problem, Emma has an opinion on how to fix it. So when she learns her crush, Jackson Knight, is going to Washington, DC, to attend the National Student Congress, Emma is upset that she wasn't picked as a representative. When Principal Bates tells Emma the NSC needs students who are calm, cool, and collected---and neutral---Emma vows to be just that for forty-eight hours to prove to Mrs. Bates that she can do it. But staying Swiss is proving more difficult than Emma thought it would be, especially when it comes to dishing out advice on her blog. Now her silence is causing more trouble than her opinions. Her best friends, Izzy and Harriet, misinterpret her restraint as negligence and stop speaking to her. Can Emma find a way to get her friends back and still stay cool as a cucumber?

From USA Today Bestselling author Melissa Schroeder, get the second book in her wildly popular Camos and Cupcakes series! When by the book Harry Bradley gets thrown together with his sister’s best friend EJ, opposites don’t just attract, they explode. She’s my sister’s best friend. A woman who calls to me on every level, but she can’t stand me. Our one date ended when she deemed it over and left–before we even ordered food. So I shouldn’t want her. But I do. Still, I’ve mastered controlling my emotions and my lusting…well, mostly. Of course, when she suggests we work together to promote both of our businesses, I jump at the chance. That chance leads to a kiss…and so much more. Now, if I can just restrain my control freak ways, all will be well. Warning: This book includes more cupcakes (of course), meddling friends, romance book references, a gun-toting Grandma, a trip out of state, wine, more cupcakes, and a dirty talking hero who not only surprised the heroine, but also this author. I’m not embarrassed…not really. Okay, maybe a little…a lot. Never mind. Just know that you have been warned and I will not be held responsible for any blushing in public. Also…CUPCAKES.

This book uses a strengths-based approach and resilience perspective to offer guidance on what works in creating effective stepfamily relationships, sharing findings and empirically supported best practices for stepfamily members and the family professionals that work with them. Drawing from over 2,500 studies, Ganong, Coleman, and Sanner present a comprehensive overview of research on what works to create positive and satisfying stepfamily relationships. Chapters address how to work with stepcouples, stepparents, biological parents, co-parents, stepsiblings and half-siblings, and biological and stepgrandparents, with illustrative case studies throughout. It emphasizes the diversity and complexity of stepfamilies, including work with LGBTQ+ stepfamilies, stepfamilies from various racial and ethnic groups, and stepfamily relationships across the life course, from childrearing stepfamilies to those formed later in life. This book is essential reading for students, researchers, and practitioners interested in strengthening stepfamily relationships, such as those studying or working in family science, marriage and family therapy, psychology, and social work.

Revenge may be sweet, but showing up at your ex’s wedding with a hot younger man is even sweeter. Carly has a secret. After a rant about women’s empowerment and too much chardonnay, she may have – accidentally? - slept with her frenemy’s son. Because the way he played her body was certainly…empowering. But she can’t think about that now, not when she must make over her struggling stylist business before she runs out of cash. The salt in her wound? Now her ex, the one with the iron-clad prenup that left her practically penniless, is marrying his girlfriend. And Carly’s invited. Enter Andrew, broken-hearted by the way Carly left him after their one-night stand. He has a problem of his own: though he’s the son of tech royalty, his boss won’t promote him until he looks like a settled banker. With a steady girlfriend. Andrew proposes a trade: Carly shows up on his arm for a couple of company events, and he’ll be her date for her ex’s destination wedding. All business, no sex. That won’t be a problem. There’s no way she’ll fall into bed with a sexy, younger man. Again. Oops. Swoon for this steamy standalone romantic comedy featuring a geeky, cinnamon-roll hero, fake (or is it?) dating, and fabulousness after forty.

This scholarly and personal exploration of what it is like to grow up feeling unloved describes personality types and syndromes that often manifest, regardless of whether the family unit was "dysfunctional" or not. Though recent decades have seen a great deal of discussion on the "dysfunctional" family, many people share a different problem, regardless of whether their family was "functional" or not: they are never given love, or taught how to receive it. This book will establish the concept of the loveless family by investigating scholarship on the subject as well as through the personal reflections and experiences of author Jon P. Bloch. The Loveless Family: Getting Past Estrangement and Learning How to Love explains what a loveless family is, some of the typical syndromes seen within it, how families may cope with serious physical or mental issues, and how adults who came from a loveless family can develop meaningful relationships. This book is written to be engaging and accessible to the average reader, yet authoritative and also of value to scholars.

Reissue originally published 1996 Her brother’s irritating best friend… Leila Hunt spent her childhood plotting her escape from small-town life on Sunrise Key—when she wasn’t being teased and tormented by her brother Simon and his friend with the annoyingly sexy British accent, Marshall Devlin. Now Marsh is the remote island’s only doctor—and his year’s been less-than good. His house burned down so he’s staying with Simon, and many of his local patients—some of which have four legs and a tail—don’t have the means to pay. Still, he loves his small-town life with one exception—he misses his lively arguments with Leila. His best friend's annoying little sister… Leila lives and works in New York City, but her life, too, is anything but complete. She’s actually considering a loveless marriage with a colleague—until a holiday visit home turns her world upside down. At Simon’s annual New Year’s Eve masquerade party, Leila’s dressed like Cinderella. But instead of fleeing at midnight, she’s kissed by a masked man in a ninja costume and he’s the one to run away—promising his swift return. When he doesn’t come back, Leila’s left wondering if the magic she felt from that stranger’s kiss could possibly be real. With Marsh’s “help,” she sets out to track down her ninja, little realizing this man with whom she’s sparked and sparred for years has the power to set her world aflame. Welcome to Sunrise Key! Set in 1996 in fictional Sunrise Key, Florida, Kiss & Tell is a full length novel of 51K words or 190 pages, and is the first book in the Sunrise Key trilogy, which includes The Kissing Game (#2) and Otherwise Engaged (#3). Kiss & Tell was originally published in 1996.