A struggling lawyer. A bitter custody battle. A deadly fire. This case could cost Kenzi her career—and her life. Kenzi Rivera is furious. Passed over for promotion at her own father’s firm, the talented divorce lawyer is tired of fighting chauvinism every single day. When a desperate scientist begs for help getting her daughter back, Kenzi can’t resist… even though this client is involved in Hexitel, a group she calls her religion but others call a cult. Kenzi uncovers evidence of disturbing practices at Hexitel involving large sums of money, servitude, and sex. She also learns her client’s lab has been plagued by death threats and cutthroat competition. After the workplace burns to the ground and her client is charged with murder, the ambitious attorney knows there is much more at stake than a simple custody dispute. Can Kenzi find a path to the truth before she’s trapped in a maze of death? Splitsville is the dramatic first book in the Splitsville Legal Thriller series. If you like gutsy heroines, diverse characters, and page-turning suspense, then you’ll love William Bernhardt’s twisty tale. Buy Splitsville and strike a blow for justice!

He has one chance to find the facts he’s searched for his entire life. All he has to do is prove his Number One enemy is not a killer… Daniel Pike has devoted his legal career to ensuring no innocent person dies in prison like his father did. But he’s still no closer to uncovering his painful family secrets. And after a terrible twist of fate, he’s hired to defend his arch-nemesis who’s been charged with a gruesome murder… With a string of grisly clues placing his client squarely in the frame, Pike’s investigations incur the fury of a powerful and callous cartel. After a key defense witness is brutally slain, not even this talented attorney stands a chance of convincing the jury that his client’s hands are not blood-stained. And the cartel’s next target is Pike…and everyone he loves. Will Pike’s most challenging assignment destroy everything he’s struggled to achieve? Final Verdict is the sixth book and the riveting conclusion to the Daniel Pike Legal Thriller Series. If you like spellbinding courtroom dramas, startling revelations, and jaw-dropping action, then you’ll love William Bernhardt’s edge-of-your-seat finale. Get Final Verdict to bring the gavel down today!

A billion-dollar inheritance. A relative’s suspicious reappearance. Can Dan dig up the secrets of the past before he’s buried six feet under? Attorney Daniel Pike’s flashy courtroom antics have earned him plenty of enemies--but also freed many innocent people. When he learns that the same crooked cop who got his father locked up for life is testifying in a contested-identity suit, Daniel takes the case. But it won’t be easy to prove his client is the long-lost heir to an immense estate since the young man can’t remember the last fourteen years… His civil litigation becomes a criminal trial when another heir is violently murdered and the mysterious amnesiac looks like the prime suspect. Battling vanishing evidence, political interference, and a brutal attack on his life, the savvy lawyer knows he’ll need to put on his best performance yet. Can Dan clear his client’s name and inheritance? Or will they both pay with their lives? Trial by Blood is the third book in the nail-biting Daniel Pike legal thriller series. If you like sinister conspiracies, brash attorneys, and dark-alley danger, then you’ll love William Bernhardt’s page-turning novel. Buy Trial by Blood and take a crack at injustice today!

A Good Morning America Buzz Pick A Library Reads Pick June Jones emerges from her shell to fight for her beloved local library, and through the efforts and support of an eclectic group of library patrons, she discovers life-changing friendships along the way. Lonely librarian June Jones has never left the sleepy English village where she grew up. Shy and reclusive, the thirty-year-old would rather spend her time buried in books than venture out into the world. But when her library is threatened with closure, June is forced to emerge from behind the shelves to save the heart of her community and the place that holds the dearest memories of her mother. Joining a band of eccentric yet dedicated locals in a campaign to keep the library, June opens herself up to other people for the first time since her mother died. It just so happens that her old school friend Alex Chen is back in town and willing to lend a helping hand. The kindhearted lawyer's feelings for her are obvious to everyone but June, who won't believe that anyone could ever care for her in that way. To save the place and the books that mean so much to her, June must finally make some changes to her life. For once, she's determined not to go down without a fight. And maybe, in fighting for her cherished library, June can save herself, too.

"Writing is structure," William Goldman said, but too often aspiring writers plunge into their work without grasping this fundamental principle. Story structure is one of the most important concepts for a writer to understand--and ironically, one of the least frequently taught. In this book, New York Times-bestselling author William Bernhardt explains the elements that make stories work, using examples spanning from Gilgamesh to The Hunger Games. In each chapter, he introduces essential concepts in a direct and easily comprehended manner. Most importantly, Bernhardt demonstrates how you can apply these ideas to improve your own writing. William Bernhardt is the author of more than thirty novels, including the blockbuster Ben Kincaid series. Bernhardt is also one of the most sought-after writing instructors in the nation. His programs have educated many authors now published by major houses. He is the only person to have received the Southern Writers Gold Medal Award, the Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author Award (U Penn) and the H. Louise Cobb Distinguished Author Award (OSU), which is given "in recognition of an outstanding body of work that has profoundly influenced the way in which we understand ourselves and American society at large." The Red Sneaker Writing Center is dedicated to helping writers achieve their literary goals. What is a red sneaker writer? A committed writer seeking useful instruction and guidance rather than obfuscation and attitude. Red sneakers get the job done, and so do red sneaker writers, by paying close attention to their art and craft, committing to hard work, and never quitting. Are you a red sneaker writer? If so, this book is for you.

From New York Times bestselling author Mariah Stewart comes the first novel in her all-new series, The Hudson Sisters, following a trio of reluctant sisters as they set out to fulfill their father’s dying wish. In the process, they find not only themselves, but the father they only thought they knew. When celebrated and respected agent Fritz Hudson passes away, he leaves a trail of Hollywood glory in his wake—and two separate families who never knew the other existed. Allie and Des Hudson are products of Fritz’s first marriage to Honora, a beautiful but troubled starlet whose life ended in a tragic overdose. Meanwhile, Fritz was falling in love on the Delaware Bay with New Age hippie Susa Pratt—they had a daughter together, Cara, and while Fritz loved Susa with everything he had, he never quite managed to tell her or Cara about his West Coast family. Now Fritz is gone, and the three sisters are brought together under strange circumstances: there’s a large inheritance to be had that could save Allie from her ever-deepening debt following a disastrous divorce, allow Des to open a rescue shelter for abused and wounded animals, and give Cara a fresh start after her husband left her for her best friend—but only if the sisters upend their lives and work together to restore an old, decrepit theater that was Fritz’s obsession growing up in his small hometown in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. Guided by Fritz’s closest friend and longtime attorney, Pete Wheeler, the sisters come together—whether they like it or not—to turn their father’s dream into a reality, and might just come away with far more than they bargained for.

Getting his client off death row could save his career… or make him the next victim. Daniel Pike would rather fight for justice than follow the rules. His unique ability to "connect the dots," to observe what others do not, has made him the most notorious criminal lawyer in St. Petersburg. But when his courtroom career goes up in smoke, he fears his lifelong purpose is a lost cause. A mysterious job offer from a secretive boss gives him a second chance but lands him an impossible case with multiple lives at stake… To protect a young orphan from a horrifying fate, Pike must save the girl's guardian from a charge of first-degree murder. Dan uses every trick he knows in a high-stakes trial filled with unexpected revelations and breathtaking surprises as he uncovers a trail of deceit from Florida to El Salvador. When blood-soaked threats arrive, Dan realizes that winning the case might be a death sentence for him—and everyone he hoped to protect. Can Pike protect the girl and get the charges dropped before his race for the truth proves fatal? The Last Chance Lawyer is a gripping legal thriller. If you like courtroom suspense, page-turning plot twists, and rebel attorneys, then you’ll love William Bernhardt’s riveting drama.

This time, Dan’s putting everything on the line. Will his dangerous scheme reveal a killer…or cause a fatal injustice? Defense lawyer Daniel Pike believes he’s closer than ever to proving his late father was no murderer. But with key witnesses snuffed out and his archnemesis pulling all the strings to ensure no one talks, his frustration is about to boil over. His only remaining option is a high-stakes gamble to force the arrogant powerbroker onto the witness stand. Risking the wrath of a ruthless cartel, Pike relentlessly pursues the evidence he desperately needs. But as he uncovers his own family’s shocking history and navigates a blossoming romance, the determined attorney finds himself back in the courtroom on the losing end of the biggest case of his life with many lives hanging in the balance—including his own. Will Pike’s pursuit of justice come back to bite him when he learns the tragic truth? Judge and Jury is the sensational fifth novel in the Daniel Pike Legal Thriller Series. If you like David-versus-Goliath stories, stunning twists and turns, and genius court moves, then you’ll love William Bernhardt’s gripping fight. Buy Judge and Jury and uncover the truth today!

The Last Lawyer is the true, inside story of how an idealistic legal genius and his diverse band of investigators and fellow attorneys fought to overturn a client's final sentence. Ken Rose has handled more capital appeals cases than almost any other attorney in the United States. The Last Lawyer chronicles Rose's decade-long defense of Bo Jones, a North Carolina farmhand convicted of a 1987 murder. Rose called this his most frustrating case in twenty-five years, and it was one that received scant attention from judges or journalists. The Jones case bares the thorniest issues surrounding capital punishment. Inadequate legal counsel, mental retardation, mental illness, and sketchy witness testimony stymied Jones's original defense. Yet for many years, Rose's advocacy gained no traction, and Bo Jones came within three days of his execution. The book follows Rose through a decade of setbacks and small triumphs as he gradually unearthed the evidence he hoped would save his client's life. At the same time, Rose also single-handedly built a nonprofit law firm that became a major force in the death penalty debate raging across the South. The Last Lawyer offers unprecedented access to the inner workings of a capital defense team. Based on four-and-a half years of behind-the-scenes reporting by a journalism professor and nonfiction author, The Last Lawyer tells the unforgettable story of a lawyer's fight for justice.

Every lawyer wants to be a good lawyer. They want to do right by their clients, contribute to the professional community, become good colleagues, interact effectively with people of all persuasions, and choose the right cases. All of these skills and behaviors are important, but they spring from hard-to-identify foundational qualities necessary for good lawyering. After focusing for three years on getting high grades and sharpening analytical skills, far too many lawyers leave law school without a real sense of what it takes to be a good lawyer. In The Good Lawyer, Douglas O. Linder and Nancy Levit combine evidence from the latest social science research with numerous engaging accounts of top-notch attorneys at work to explain just what makes a good lawyer. They outline and analyze several crucial qualities: courage, empathy, integrity, diligence, realism, a strong sense of justice, clarity of purpose, and an ability to transcend emotionalism. Many qualities require apportionment in the right measure, and achieving the right balance is difficult. Lawyers need to know when to empathize and also when to detach; courage without an appreciation of consequences becomes recklessness; working too hard leads to exhaustion and mistakes. And what do you do in tricky situations, where the urge to deceive is high? How can you maintain focus through a mind-taxing (or mind-numbing) project? Every lawyer faces these problems at some point, but if properly recognized and approached, they can be overcome. It's not easy being good, but this engaging guide will serve as a handbook for any lawyer trying not only to figure out how to become a better--and, almost always, more fulfilled--lawyer.