Growing up in a small town and barely surviving abuse and teenage drinking, Tessa takes off for the US Air Force to change her life, but poor choices continue to haunt her with betrayals as she searches for that ever-elusive desire to be loved. She starts a family; however, just when life seems to straighten out, drug abuse enters her home, and then physical illnesses start plaguing her. So begins a life of struggling to survive so she can raise her children. Given less than a year to live after a diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer, she turns to the Lord. She is not prepared for the feelings of love and belonging she has missed all her life. After another divorce, she takes her children and moves back close to her hometown so that she can live in peace and raise her children. Tessa struggles with her relationship with her parents, and then after her younger sister commits suicide, her mothers words change her life forever. Tessa starts dealing with the scars she has kept hidden all these years. Hidden Scars is that journey of learning to live with those scars like tattoos on the soul so that she can be set free.

The boy’s dark hair shone in the bright lights. His lips seemed about to speak. But his body was cold and his blue eyes would never open again. When a nineteen-year-old boy, Jamie Mills, is found hanging from a tree in a local park, his death is ruled a suicide. Detective Kim Stone’s instincts tell her something isn’t right. Why, when his mother is told, does she not break down in tears? And how could Jamie have climbed the tree with a recent injury? Kim should be easing back into work gently after a harrowing case left her body and mind broken, but quickly taking charge of her team, Kim is shocked to learn that Jamie’s parents had sent him to a clinic to ‘cure’ him of his sexuality. The clues to smashing open this disturbing case lie behind the old Victorian walls of the clinic, run by the Gardner family. They claim that patients come of their own accord and are free to leave at any time. But why are those who attended the clinic so afraid to speak of what happens there? And where did the faded restraint marks on Jamie’s wrists come from? Kim makes a further chilling discovery – the head of the clinic, Celia Gardner, was sent there for conversion therapy when she was sixteen. Then the body of a young woman is found dead by suffocation, her death also staged to look like a suicide. Scarred from a previous case that nearly took her life, can Kim unearth the dark secrets within the Gardner family and is she strong enough to stop a terrifying killer silencing the clinic’s previous patients one by one? A compulsive page-turner that will have your heart hammering in your chest and leave you absolutely reeling when you discover the explosive final twist. If you’re a fan of Karin Slaughter, Val McDermid, and Robert Dugoni, you’ll love Hidden Scars. Can be read as a standalone. Read what everyone is saying about Hidden Scars: ‘WHY DO I DO IT TO MYSELF EVERYTIME????? Why can't I just be a sensible reader and savour every sentence, why do I have to halt the universe, sit in a quiet room, mute the kids and hubby and devour it in one sitting???... I absolutely LOVED the originality of this plot…If you haven't read this series than just PICK UP THE FIRST DAMN BOOK, you will not regret it!’ Bookreviewercakemaker, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Without exaggeration this is the best book I’ve read.’ Nigel Adams Bookworm, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Oh my gosh every time Marsons puts out a new Kim Stone book, I think there’s no way it can be as good as her last and every time it’s BETTER! I’m freaking obsessed with the characters and the backstories and the cases are so dark and twisted! I’m so invested in these people!’ firepitandbooks, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I love this series, and I love Kim Stone!!...fantastic… I must admit I did make a little squeak of excitement when I read it!... gripping, thrilling …I was hooked from the very first page! The Queen of Crime has done it again! Fab, fab, fab!!!’ Stardust Book Reviews, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I adore Kim Stone… incredible as always… I started reading last night and kept going until I finished, I did try to put the book down several times but failed hence another night’s sleep lost to Kim Stone.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I absolutely devoured this book in less than two days… There are some great twists which you always expect from this author, and god does she deliver… I didn’t want the book to end.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘It was amazing, pulled me in from the very first page and made me want it to last forever.’ B for Bookreview, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Finished it in 24 hours. Who would have thought that the 17th book in a series could raise the bar even higher.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Drew me in from the first page… made me gasp out loud.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘An absolute corker of a storyline… My words will never be enough to do any review good enough to express how much this series hits every single spot as I read it. They just have everything I love about a book, all wrapped up in one… yet another spectacular book!’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Outstanding… It is like visiting old friends when you read a book in the Detective Kim Stone series.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I devoured this book in one day I couldn’t put it down… Absolutely brilliant.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A new Angela Marsons book is like opening a Christmas present in June… a fantastic series.’ Alice May Reviews, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘The Kim Stone series is THE BEST long running series in British crime fiction, if you haven't started reading these books yet you should, now!’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Every life has a different path full of sharp turns, smooth curves, and steep drop offs. Hollis Murphy has a plan-college, career, boyfriend, love, marriage, family. A predictable, normal life. She's on track until an outside force causes her to crash and burn. They call it an accident, because that's the only word they know to explain what happens to her. It helps everyone move on with their lives, except for Hollis. She holds on to the belief that she's been targeted for a reason. Risher Stevenson is intelligent, caring, sweet, and the hottest boy Hollis has ever laid eyes on. He fits perfectly into her original plan for a normal life. Everyone loves him. Benton Daniels is intelligent, caring, sweet, and the bravest boy Hollis has ever met. He doesn't fit into her life but gives it purpose and makes it extraordinary. Everyone hates him. One is bullied. One is tormented. All are judged. How will it STOP? *NOTE FROM AUTHOR: I appreciate each and every review. With all due respect, please keep reviews spoiler free or place a WARNING at the beginning. Don't take the moment of discovery away from another reader. Thank you.

Growing up in a small town and barely surviving abuse and teenage drinking, Tessa takes off for the US Air Force to change her life, but poor choices continue to haunt her with betrayals as she searches for that ever-elusive desire to be loved. She starts a family; however, just when life seems to straighten out, drug abuse enters her home, and then physical illnesses start plaguing her. So begins a life of struggling to survive so she can raise her children. Given less than a year to live after a diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer, she turns to the Lord. She is not prepared for the feelings of love and belonging she has missed all her life. After another divorce, she takes her children and moves back close to her hometown so that she can live in peace and raise her children. Tessa struggles with her relationship with her parents, and then after her younger sister commits suicide, her mother's words change her life forever. Tessa starts dealing with the scars she has kept hidden all these years. Hidden Scars is that journey of learning to live with those scars like tattoos on the soul so that she can be set free.

In the Hidden Scars Collection, the Poet uses Covid19 quarantine moments to recollect his mind on his life’s inspirational philosophy on Love and Loss, Suffering and Success, Politics and Power, Choices and Chances, Pain and Passion,and Life and Death. In March 2020, Governmant of Uganda announced a national Lockdown in response to the global Covid19 Pandemic. The Lockdown was accompanied by a global stay home, stay safe campaign which lead the poet to a life in solitude reading and writing at home. The sad moments of solitude inspired the Writer to draft, write and compile inspirational poems from reflections in his life and pened his first poem on Covid19 which he published on Facebook and eventually in the book Musings During a Time of Pandemic: A World Anthology of Poems on COVID-2019 titled Quarantine in Gulu edited and compiled by Dr. Christopher Okemwa. Finding his poetic voice, the poet penned more than 50 poems in 12 months as he clocked the magical age of 40 in May 2020 by spending most of his troubled unemployed life and love life, midlife crisis reflecting on Love and Loss, and Suffering and Success. Previously in 2016, the Poet had unsuccessfully campaigned for the elective political office of Mayor of Gulu Municipality (now City). The year 2020/2021 was also a national election year, and the poet had to decide either to run again or drop politics. Since he dropped politics and chose a private life to a public life; he also spent most of his private life in solitude reading, researching and writing on the themes like politics and power, Choices and Chances. After surviving contracting Covid19 numerous times after friends within his social connections contracted Covid19 infection; the poet in his writings reflects more on Faith and Fear, and Life and Death. The Poet as a motivational speaker and scholar has always treasured sharing his life’s miseries and opportunities in a way that inspires others who could find healing and meaning from his past experiences. He uses his poetic voice as a mirror of the conscience of those whose life paths are similar to his life’s experiences. Hence, he reflects and writes more on Suffering and Success. The purpose of this poetic compilation is to share his life’s inspirational philosophy by offering a voice to those whose voices are barely heard and to contribute to the already chanting voices on similar themes of life. While these are the poets philosophical life reflections that defined his life story; it is in no way a gospel truth on how to live life but one other tried and tasted alternative philosophy of life that could inspire your life to love, success and power.

This book relates to a young lady Adja Davis who had to take on too much at a young age. Adja dealt with all of her trials and tribulations in a negative way. After she under went extreme hardships such as infidelities concerning her father, high school boyfriend, rape and abuse it took her years to accept the person she had become.

2018 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award nominee "With its strong sense of place, depiction of racial tension that still lingers in the new South, and appealing sleuths, de Castrique's well-plotted mystery is a winner." —Library Journal When Asheville, NC, private eyes Sam Blackman and Nakayla Robertson are asked by an eighty-year-old client to investigate the suspicious death of her brother, they warn her there is little chance of success. Paul Weaver died nearly seventy years earlier. The only documentation she has is the sole surviving copy of a coroner's report stating his death was caused by an accidental fall while hiking. There's a red flag: local son Weaver knew every inch of the mountain trails. The returning World War II veteran had enrolled at Black Mountain College, a liberal local school with an international reputation for innovation, thanks to its stellar faculty and advisers like Buckminster Fuller and Albert Einstein. The college of the 1940s is currently being portrayed in a film being shot on the site of its former location. The plot is based on a book by a local author. The research behind both may provide a lead in the Weaver case. One is drawn from movie crew member Harlan Beale, an octogenarian mountaineer who knew Weaver. In a late-night voice message, Beale tells Sam he's found something to show him. Then Beale is discovered dead in the Black Mountain College Museum. His murder turns the cold case white hot. When a second killing follows, the question becomes how to separate dark doings in the present from dark days and hidden scars of the post-war past. In typical de Castrique fashion, the answers aren't what you expect. No-nonsense Nakayla and veteran Sam with his prosthetic leg love their investigations which always carry a thread from the past, and love each other. An interracial couple in the South, even the new South around Asheville, they've surrounded themselves with a terrific support team including an unorthodox lawyer and a veteran cop, and use humor both to bind them all together and to deflect insults. Plus, it helps deal with the tragedies their work uncovers.

In her compelling journal written about her own ride on the terrifying rollercoaster of abuse, D.R. McNeil plunges into her own experiences as a young victim. As a survivor and overcomer, she offers her story in hopes that no child will be forced to endure the pain and fear of being abused. From solitary days to fearful, sleepless nights, D.R. McNeil found herself threatened by some of the people she held most dear. Read about her plight for survival and, unfortunately, the remaining anxiety and mental distress from her childhood abuse. It is her plea that we will never forget the beautiful children who are suffering daily, trying with all their might to survive.

He is waiting in the driveway for the perfect time to break in. It wasn't enough that she suffered from MS all these years, but now, she is tortured by this weirdo night after night.

This anthology is a diminutive step towards men who face multifarious misdemeanors but their voices have been imprisoned in the hysteric norms of the society since ages. There are hundreds of books, magazines and influencers disguised as voices for the tribulations of women. But this time, the compiler wanted to play fair with the men section of the society. The orthodox contemplative labels men as strong masculine creatures who are forbidden to cry or act weak. "Hidden Scars of Men" of 15 writers is a miniscule means to escalate all those unprecedented squeals of men that they've been prisoning inside themselves. A step to showcase the world that MEN'S WOEBEGONE EMOTIONS MATTERS TOO