July 4th is a big deal in Locust Point — the parade, the fireworks, and the eagerly anticipated annual River Regatta. And this year local celebrity Holt Dupree will be in town, riding high on his recent draft pick for an NFL team. But not everyone loves football, and not everyone is a fan of Holt Dupree. Now the hometown hero is dead, and it seems the auto accident that killed him was no accident. Suddenly there are more suspects than anyone could imagine, and Kay Carrera is elbows-deep in the mystery.

Can a wounded hero Let go of the past? Wounded marine Trey Rothchild has returned to Polk Island. People call him a hero, but will he ever feel that way after losing his team? Reuniting with high school crush Gia Harris buoys his spirits. Though she’s focused on making her physical therapy clinic a success—and avoiding romance with patients—Gia can’t bear watching the former athlete sit on the sidelines of life. Could helping Trey recover include loving him fearlessly? From Harlequin Heartwarming: Wholesome stories of love, compassion and belonging. Polk Island Book 1: A Family for the Firefighter Book 2: Her Hometown Hero

Zach Dawson is dealing with the loss of his football career, his latest love, and the one thing he can’t talk about, when he returns to Kellersburg, Ohio, his hometown. He’s trying to get his life back on track by helping with a charitable endeavor. Maisey Norberg’s life is turned upside down when she learns that Zach is back in town. She’s been his biggest fan since she was six and he was fourteen. Are her feelings the remnants of a childhood crush on the boy down the street or something grown up? Zach and Maisey are thrown together for The Twelve Dogs of Christmas documentary as they help a philanthropist give deserving children a dog. Will this shared experience help them find true love?

He could still put her heart in a tailspin… When Luke McCade returns to Divine after a long absence, Nicki Johansson realizes that she may have lost the bad clothes and haircut, but it's hard to shake an old crush. Especially when she's never forgotten the first kiss he gave her. Nicki doesn't want to fall for the former high school football star, but how can she not when he's devoted to his ailing grandfather, is successful, thoughtful and still annoyingly sexy! Once they'd seemed to move in different leagues. But now…. Well, a newly confident Nicki vows to use her sweet kisses to show Luke there's no place like home!

When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Chips, a husky shepherd collie mix, enlists in Dogs for Defense and is shipped overseas into some of the fiercest fighting in World War II, in a fictional account based on true events.

When a wounded veteran returns home, a second chance at happiness may be closer than he thinks in this heartwarming romance. After returning home wounded from an IED attack, former soldier Kaleb Palmer is hailed as a hero. But survivor’s guilt makes him feel like a fraud. He hopes setting up a business in Ouray, Colorado, will give him a purpose and help him forget. But his charming and attractive new office manager has her own plans. Grace McAllen brings light and hope wherever she goes, and she’s getting Kaleb to open up. As she helps him make Mountain View Jeep Tours a success, Kaleb realizes a happy ending is in reach, if he can convince Grace to stay in town—and his life—forever.

When tight end Xavier Brennan is asked to participate in a charity baking competition with his teammates, the pro football player is torn. He doesn’t know the first thing about baking, and he doesn’t want to become a laughingstock on national TV. But he is a team player, and he can’t say no to helping a charity, especially one so close to his heart. Bakery owner Ashley Yates is desperate to win the competition. It’s her last hope at saving her bakery and her mother’s legacy. Being paired with an athlete known for partying makes her nervous, but he assures her that he’s committed to the cause. As they bond over shared heartache and shared recipes, their connection becomes harder to deny. Every touch, every taste, every moment spent together holds the promise of more. But attraction is a distraction. Will working together be a recipe for love, or will they both end up getting burned? ​

BESTSELLING AUTHOR COLLECTION Reader-favorite romances in collectible volumes from our bestselling authors. Still the One by #1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery, originally published in 2002 as Good Husband Material When Kari Asbury left Possum Landing, Texas, for New York City eight years ago, she was thinking only of the future—not of her ex-boyfriend, Gage, the one she left without saying goodbye. Gage Reynolds had planned to propose to Kari on the night of her prom but instead he finds himself jilted and abandoned without a word. Shocked and heartbroken, Gage does his best to move on, building a life in Possum Landing and working his way up to becoming the town sheriff. He’s all but forgotten Kari—until she comes back to sell her grandmother’s house and turns his carefully built world upside down. FREE STORY INCLUDED IN THIS VOLUME! Hometown Hero's Redemption by Jill Kemerer Firefighter Drew Gannon needs help when he becomes guardian to a troubled ten-year-old boy. To get former social worker Lauren Pierce to agree, he’ll have to prove he's changed from the sports jock she knew back in high school. Lauren wants no part of her old profession, or a reunion with Drew. But a desperate boy and his handsome guardian may be more than Lauren can resist… Previously published.

Shifting your literature instruction to meet the Common Core can be tricky. The standards are specific about how students should analyze characters, themes, point of view, and more. In this new book, Lisa Morris makes it easy by taking you through the standards and offering tons of practical strategies, tools, and mentor texts for grades 2-5. She shows you how to combine the standards into effective units of study so that you can teach with depth rather than worry about coverage. Topics covered include: Teaching questioning, inferring, and author’s purpose; Guiding readers to look at themes and write summaries; Showing students how to recognize structural elements of literature; Teaching the craft of writing and vocabulary development; and Helping students analyse characters and character development. Throughout this highly practical book, you’ll find a variety of charts and other graphic organizers that can be easily adapted for classroom use. A list of suggested mentor texts is also available as a free eResource from our website, www.routledge.com/books/details/9781138856172.

Chips. a husky-shepherd-collie mix is a curious and carefree dog until the news arrives that Japanses warplanes have boobed Pearl Harbor. Suddenly Chip's comfortable life, and the lives of everyone he knows in his peaceful village are changed forever. Follow Chips as he is enlisted in Dogs for Defense and joins the first war dog detachment to be shipped overseas into some for the fiercest fighting of the Second World War. A fictional account based on the true-life adventures of the most highly decorated canine hero from World War II. Chips: The War Dog is a timeless story about the importance of home, friendship, and loyalty during one of the most challenging times in America's history.