The unnamed narrator of The Plight House receives a letter: his childhood friend Fiona has committed suicide at the age of thirty-three. As children, he and Fiona had constructed a dark and violent fantasy world, an imaginary network of laboratories where they performed experiments upon their neighbours, families and friends. Now, aware that Fiona had used a document from their shared world as her suicide note, the narrator becomes obsessed with the possibility that he unknowingly held the key to preventing her death. Invoking the half-forgotten methods of his childhood, he begins to compose a test. Intimate and unrestrained, the test is designed to drive from Fiona all trace of the self-destructive impulse. But by devoting himself to a project that can never bring about its desired effect, the narrator has opened the door to a new frontier of grief. And as he pushes the test yet further into realms of decadence and fever, he precipitates a crisis in his own deeply troubled life. Part love letter, part elegy, The Plight House chronicles one man's obsessive attempt to resurrect the image of a lost friend.

Journey to Pennsylvania backcountry during the French and Indian War. Indentured servant Lily Harwood has always thought of herself as a good Christian lass. . .until she is struck with a deeper, more profound plight than the war that rages around her. When her mistress’s husband returns home on a short furlough, Lily finds herself falling in love with him. As Lily is caught between passion and sorrow in harrowing times, can she find hope in the promises of God?

Essays detailing one Edmonton woman’s experiences moving to a tough neighborhood in the inner city. “Ma’am, you sound like a very reasonable person. Can I advise you to just move?” Carissa Halton and her young family move into a neighbourhood with a tough reputation. As they make their home in one of the oldest parts of the city, she reflects on the revitalization that is slowly changing the view from her little yellow house. While others worry about the area’s bad reputation, she heads out to meet her neighbours, and through them discovers the innate beauty of her community. Halton introduces us to a cast of diverse characters in her Alberta Avenue neighbourhood—including cat rescuers, tragic teens, art evangelists, and crime fighters—and invites us to consider the social and economic forces that shape and reshape our cities. “Halton clearly delights in interacting with people from all walks of life; her interest and empathy sparkle throughout. Her tone is factual, nonjudgmental, and often wryly funny. Little Yellow House is a balanced presentation of a diverse community in transition, complete with faults and growing pains.” —Rachel Jagareski, Foreword Review “It’s books like this that remind us all . . . that community is more than about special events that happen once a year. It’s about connecting to people often and throughout the year. Doing so can and does result in some wonderful experiences.” —Scott Hayes, St. Albert Gazette “An excellent resource for communities wanting to create change. It can also be a starting point for discussion with students.” —Judith Kulig, Alberta Views Magazine “In these stark and endearing personal essays, the author celebrates her life and lives fearlessly and fully with three children and a husband, despite a dystopian backdrop. Halton writes with humour, empathy, and spiritual maturity, and she doesn’t judge the inner city world outside her yellow house.” —Linda Alberta, Prairie Books Now

In the tradition of Jodi Picoult and Lisa Genova, this gorgeously written, heartbreaking, yet hopeful debut set during a Maine summer traces the lives of a young family in the aftermath of tragedy. In the coastal town of Alden, Maine, Hope and Jack Kelly have settled down to a life of wedded bliss. They have a beautiful family, a growing lobster business, and the Salt House—the dilapidated oceanfront cottage they’re renovating into their dream home. But tragedy strikes when their young daughter doesn’t wake up from her afternoon nap, taking her last breath without making a sound. A year later, each member of the Kelly family navigates the world on their own private island of grief. Hope spends hours staring at her daughter’s ashes, unable to let go. Jack works to the point of exhaustion in an attempt to avoid his crumbling marriage. Their daughters, Jess and Kat, struggle to come to terms with the loss of their younger sister while watching their parents fall apart. When Jack’s old rival, Ryland Finn, threatens his fishing territory, he ignites emotions that propel the Kelly family toward circumstances that will either tear them apart—or be the path to their family’s future. Told in alternating voices, The Salt House is a layered, emotional portrait of marriage, family, friendship, and the complex intersections of love, grief, and hope.

From the international best-selling author of Drive and The Ravenhood Trilogy comes a heartwarming holiday romance with all of the feels. Now an AMAZON Top #10 Best Seller! A #1 Best Seller Holiday Romance A #1 Best Seller in Holiday Fiction A #1 Best Seller in Inspirational Romance A #1 Best Seller in Romantic Comedy Clark Griswold was onto something, at least with his annual holiday meltdown. And since the last three weeks of my life have been riddled with humbug--another breakup, a broken toe, an office promotion I deserved and didn't get--I'm not at all in the mood to celebrate nor have the happ, happ, happiest Christmas EVER. When Mom insisted that we all gather at my Grandparent's ancient cabin for an old school family Christmas, I fully intended to get into the holiday spirit with the help of the three wise men, Johnnie Walker, Jack Daniels, and Jim Beam. But those boys did absolutely nothing to offset the shock or temper the sting of seeing my EX on our doorstep the first day of our holiday soiree. Apparently, Santa missed the memo, and this elf is pissed. Stuck for a week with the man who obliterated my heart nearly two decades ago, I did the only thing I could do and put on my game face, thankful for the home advantage. I knew better than to drink that last cup of eggnog. I knew better than to get tongue tangled beneath the mistletoe with the only man to ever break my heart. I knew better than to sleep with Satan's wingman on the eve of the Lord's birthday. I could blame the nog. I could blame the deceitful light blue eyes, thick, angelic hair, and panty evaporating smirk...but mostly, I blame Eli because he always knew exactly which of my buttons to push. I foolishly thought a family Christmas filled with nostalgia was going to turn my inner Scrooge around, but this year's festivities went up in flames. Leave it to the ghost of my Christmas past to be the one to light the match. Fa la la la la, la FML. The Plight Before Christmas is a full length, second chance, Christmas themed romance and most definitely on SANTA'S NAUGHTY LIST!

A horror novel about a young man's descent into mental illness, told from the point-of-view of his hallucinatory demon.

A young girl named Eepersip lives with her parents in a cottage, but she feels trapped within its confines, so she leaves home to live a freer life in the wild. After leaving her parents’ home, she establishes a life for herself outdoors, rejecting both the society of adults and the comforts of civilization. Initially, she is happy to live in a meadow near her family’s home, but over time she is tempted to seek out new natural environments to live in. Meanwhile, her parents attempt to locate their daughter and to bring her back home. Follett started writing the novel in 1923 at the age of 8, but the first draft was lost in a house fire, which led her to rewrite the entire work. It was eventually published to critical success in 1927, when she was just 12 years old. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.

Past and Present Collide Beyond Death's Door Solitude at last! Museum curator Chloe Ellefson leaps at the opportunity to be a consultant for the historic lighthouse restoration project on Rock Island, a state park in Wisconsin's scenic Door County. Hoping to leave her personal and professional problems at home, Chloe's tranquility is suddenly spoiled when a dead woman washes ashore. Determined to find answers behind the mystery, Chloe dives into research about the island's history and discovers the amazing, resilient women who once lived there. But will the link between the past and present turn out to be a beacon of hope or a portent of doom? Praise: Winner of the Lovey Award for Best Traditional/Amateur Sleuth Mystery "Chloe's third combines a good mystery with some interesting historical information on a niche subject."—Kirkus Reviews "Framed by the history of lighthouses and their keepers and the story of fishery disputes through time, the multiple plots move easily across the intertwined past and present."—Booklist "A haunted island makes for fun escape reading. Ernst's third amateur sleuth cozy is just the ticket for lighthouse fans and genealogy buffs. Deftly flipping back and forth in time in alternating chapters, the author builds up two mystery cases and cleverly weaves them back together."—Library Journal "While the mystery elements of this books are very good, what really elevates it are the historical tidbits of the real-life Pottawatomie Lighthouse and the surrounding fishing village."—Mystery Scene "Kathleen Ernst wraps history with mystery in a fresh and compelling read."—Jane Kirkpatrick, New York Times bestselling author

A brain-bending exploration of real-life zombies and mind controllers, and what they reveal to us about nature—and ourselves Zombieism isn’t just the stuff of movies and TV shows like The Walking Dead. It’s real, and it’s happening in the world around us, from wasps and worms to dogs and moose—and even humans. In Plight of the Living Dead, science journalist Matt Simon documents his journey through the bizarre evolutionary history of mind control. Along the way, he visits a lab where scientists infect ants with zombifying fungi, joins the search for kamikaze crickets in the hills of New Mexico, and travels to Israel to meet the wasp that stings cockroaches in the brain before leading them to their doom. Nothing Hollywood dreams up can match the brilliant, horrific zombies that natural selection has produced time and time again. Plight of the Living Dead is a surreal dive into a world that would be totally unbelievable if very smart scientists didn’t happen to be proving it’s real, and most troublingly—or maybe intriguingly—of all: how even we humans are affected. “Fantastic . . . You'll be thinking about this book long after you're done reading it.” —Kelly Weinersmith, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Soonish

The house next door to the Kennedys appears to be haunted by an all-pervasive evil, and the couple watches as a succession of owners becomes engulfed by the sinister force, until the Kennedys set out to destroy the house themselves.