Upon his arrival, Butternut Creek Christian Church's newly-minted minister is met by a welcome committee led by Miss Birdie and her friend Mercedes, a.k.a. "the Widows." Their first order of business, to educate him on how things should be done, quickly gives way to a campaign to find him a wife. When their matchmaking efforts fizzle, the Widows turn to another new bachelor. Amputee and Afghan vet Sam simply wants to be left alone -- a desire that's as good as a red flag to the Widows! Soon they're scheming to pair him up with Willow, his beautiful physical therapist, a divorced mother of two who is afraid of commitment, Perrine's small-town tale is a big-time triumph of gentle humor, fast-paced plot, and wonderfully engaging characters.

The ladies of Butternut Creek Christian Church known as the Widows have always taken pride in their infallible matchmaking. They've succeeded again, and having found the perfect wife for Pastor Adam, they're ready to start planning the wedding. The one problem is that Adam has yet to propose. Clearly he still needs their help. Meanwhile, Adam's sister Hannah, a doctor, has returned from work in refugee camps, exhausted from the horrors she's seen. Though physically weak, Hannah becomes animated when verbally sparring with Gabe Borden, the high school basketball coach. The Widows, however, see sparks of a different kind between them and are soon up to their matchmaking ways once again.

Upon his arrival, Butternut Creek Christian Church's newly-minted minister is met by a welcome committee led by Miss Birdie and her friend Mercedes, a.k.a. "the Widows." Their first order of business, to educate him on how things should be done, quickly gives way to a campaign to find him a wife. When their matchmaking efforts fizzle, the Widows turn to another new bachelor. Amputee and Afghan vet Sam simply wants to be left alone -- a desire that's as good as a red flag to the Widows! Soon they're scheming to pair him up with Willow, his beautiful physical therapist, a divorced mother of two who is afraid of commitment, Perrine's small-town tale is a big-time triumph of gentle humor, fast-paced plot, and wonderfully engaging characters.

Cautious Grace Singleton, uncertain of her place in an intimidating world. Outspoken Hannah Parrish, harboring private fear that may change her life. Fragile Ameila Declose, shattered by devastating grief. Circumstance has brought these disparate women of "a certain age" to a Pennsylvania boardinghouse where three square meals and a sagging bed is the most any of them can look forward to. But friendship will take them on a starting journey to a rundown North Carolina farmhouse where the unexpected suddenly seems not only welcome, but delightfully promising. And with nothing more than a bit of adventure in mind, each woman will be surprised to find that they years they've reclaimed from the shadow of twilight will offer something far more rare: confidence, competence, and even another chance at love... The Tampa Tribune calls Joan A Mendicott's The Ladies of Covington Send Their Love "A must-read for women of all ages."

FIRST IN A NEW SERIES! Tucked away in the rolling Tennessee countryside is the charming community of Watervalley, whose inhabitants are quirky and captivating and more surprising than you might expect… As an ambitious young doctor with a penchant for research, Luke Bradford never wanted to set up practice in a remote rural town. But to pay back his student loans and to fulfill a promise from his past, he heads for Watervalley, Tennessee—and immediately stumbles into one disaster after another. Will he be labeled the town idiot before he’s even introduced as the new doctor? Very quickly he faces some big challenges—from resuscitating a three-hundred-pound farmer who goes into cardiac arrest to not getting shot by a local misanthrope for trespassing. He expects the people of Watervalley to be simple, but finds his relationships with them are complicated, whether he’s interacting with his bossy but devout housekeeper, the attractive schoolteacher he consistently alienates, or the mysterious kid next door who climbs trees while wearing a bike helmet. When a baffling flu epidemic hits Watervalley, Luke faces his ultimate test. Whether the community embraces him or not, it’s his responsibility to save them. And he’ll soon discover that while living in a small town may not be what he wants, it may be just what he needs… READERS GUIDE INCLUDED For stories, recipes, and anecdotes from your favorite Watervalley characters, visit watervalleybooks.com.

THE FIRST LADY DARBY MYSTERY “A riveting debut…an original premise, an enigmatic heroine, and a compelling Highland setting…a book you won’t want to put down.”—New York Times bestselling author Deanna Raybourn Scotland, 1830. Following the death of her husband, Lady Darby has taken refuge at her sister’s estate, finding solace in her passion for painting. But when her hosts throw a house party for the cream of London society, Kiera is unable to hide from the ire of those who believe her to be as unnatural as her husband, an anatomist who used her artistic talents to suit his own macabre purposes. Kiera wants to put her past aside, but when one of the house guests is murdered, her brother-in-law asks her to utilize her knowledge of human anatomy to aid the insufferable Sebastian Gage—a fellow guest with some experience as an inquiry agent. While Gage is clearly more competent than she first assumed, Kiera isn’t about to let her guard down as accusations and rumors swirl. When Kiera and Gage’s search leads them to even more gruesome discoveries, a series of disturbing notes urges Lady Darby to give up the inquiry. But Kiera is determined to both protect her family and prove her innocence, even as she risks becoming the next victim…

The ladies of Butternut Creek Christian Church known as the Widows have always taken pride in their infallible matchmaking. They've succeeded again, and having found the perfect wife for Pastor Adam, they're ready to start planning the wedding. The one problem is that Adam has yet to propose. Clearly he still needs their help. Meanwhile, Adam's sister Hannah, a doctor, has returned from work in refugee camps, exhausted from the horrors she's seen. Though physically weak, Hannah becomes animated when verbally sparring with Gabe Borden, the high school basketball coach. The Widows, however, see sparks of a different kind between them and are soon up to their matchmaking ways once again.

Once again, the Widows of Butternut Creek are determined to find a bride for Pastor Adam. This time, their candidate is as gun shy as the pastor! A traumatic experience as a college freshman has left Gussie Milton 'once bitten, twice shy.' Although she'd like a relationship, she's frightened, so she's thrown herself into caring for her aging parents, her photography business, and her church. In the eyes of Miss Birdie and her friend Mercedes, aka 'the Widows,' Gussie would make their young pastor the perfect wife. And though the attraction proves mutual, first Gussie's past and then the pastor's hopes for the future threaten to keep them apart. Can the Widows' meddling be the catalyst that changes the couple's lives forever?

Did you ever try to push a one hundred–pound rock up a hill with nothing but a toothpick? If you can imagine what that might be like, you have some idea how difficult it is for a child with a learning problem to read or spell ten simple words. It takes a huge amount of energy to push a heavy rock up a hill. It takes an equal amount of mental strength for a child with dyslexia to read and spell, and at the end of either of these strenuous activities, both the rock pusher and the child are exhausted. Five published Christian authors with learning disabilities wrote this book from their own experiences. It is their hope that others will be encouraged from reading how they overcame. “An inspiring account of five amazing women authors who demonstrated how creativity and perceptual talents go hand-in-hand with dyslexia and ADD.” —Ronald D. Davis, author of The Gift of Dyslexia: Why Some of the Smartest People Can't Read and How They Can Learn and The Gift of Learning: Proven New Methods for Correcting ADD, Math & Handwriting Problems. “The Overcomers is a must-read for anyone with a learning disability or knows someone who suffers from that problem. These five amazing authors have opened their hearts and shared their stories in a way that puts feet to their faith and calls their readers to do the same. Don’t miss this excellent read!” —Kathi Macias, author of more than thirty books, including Red Ink, the Golden Scrolls Novel of the Year and Carol Award finalist The Overcomers is a finalist in the 2011 Women Of Faith Contest. It is in the top 30 out of 660 entrants. Final contest results will be announced March 31st, 2012.

Published in 2005, Michael Hoey’s Lexical Priming – A new theory of words and language introduced a completely new theory of language based on how words are used in the real world. In the ten years that have passed, the theory has since gained traction in the field of corpus-linguistics. This volume brings together some of the most important contributions to the theory, in areas such as language teaching and learning, discourse analysis, stylistics as well as the design of language learning software. Crucially, this book introduces aspects of the language that have so far been given less focus in lexical priming, such as spoken language, figurative language, forced primings, priming as predictor of genre, and historical primings. The volume also focuses on applying the lexical priming theory to languages other than English including Mandarin Chinese and Finnish.