I preferred the old name for HMP Manchester. Most days it suited my mood. But today was different. Life as a probation officer was a thankless one, but sometimes it panned out. A healthy dose of spring sunshine made the scene playing out before me all the sweeter. Golden rays streamed through the tiny window […]
Will cursed cookies poison their magical Christmas? Molly Hendrickson is looking forward to a happy holiday with her fiancé, Lucian Lord, manager of Black Cat Antiquities. A sorcerer and reincarnated knight from the Middle Ages, Lucian protects Cat’s Paw Cove from evil magic and is teaching Molly how to use her newfound abilities— because even […]
“O C H A P T E R 1 h crap, he’ll catch us!” Lily gave a quick glance behind her and turned to focus again on steering the boat through the bay, certain the ice from the sea spray froze her hands to the wheel. “If we make it out of here, you’ll need […]
Belle Albany slowly pedalled her red bicycle out of Christmas Village Primary School and swung right onto the main high street. Her breath caught as she took in the imposing mountain ranges that flanked the edges of the valley where Christmas Village was located. Despite living in the small Scottish district since she was eight, […]
I preferred the old name for HMP Manchester. Most days it suited my mood. But today was different. Life as a probation officer was a thankless one, but sometimes it panned out. A healthy dose of spring sunshine made the scene playing out before me all the sweeter. Golden rays streamed through the tiny window […]
NESSA HUNT DIDN’T do Christmas. As an ER nurse, she’d seen the worst humanity had to offer during the holiday season. Electrocution injuries from plugging one too many Christmas lights into a single outlet. Shoppers with broken noses and blackened eyes from Black Friday fights that erupted over the newest must-have toy. Dads with busted […]
It doesn’t feel like Christmas is in the air. There is less than a week until the big day, and I don’t have those uncontrollable jitters I had as a young girl. It’s the same decorations placed up every year, the lights, the dusty garland, and breakable ornaments, but I’m out of it. It looks […]
FOR MAGAZINES AND TRAVEL GUIDES, globe-trotting Instagrammers and hotel reviewers, Peachtree BluϦ, Georgia, wasa beach destination best enjoyed during the heat of summer. But as I leaned on the counter at my waterfront design shop, looking out over the Intracoastal, I realized that fall in Peachtree might be our best-kept secret. Yes, summer was great—the […]
“O LOGAN h, yeah,” Mac said, putting his PlayStation controller on the coffee table in front of him. “Good ole Corporal Grant, I forgot I have something for you.” I frowned, instantly nervous as he stood and crossed his living room. “What’s that?” Mac ducked into the bedroom he shared with his wife in the […]
Thanksgiving, a day to spend with family, to give thanks for all your blessings, to…have a close encounter with your cranky neighbor’s shrubbery. Oh, yes, this was how Sienna Moreno wanted to start her day. Why, oh, why, had she ventured out in her car on an icy street to go to the grocery store […]
“With a cold front moving in Christmas Eve, it looks like Atlanta might just get a white Christmas. So keep an eye on the roads. I’m Lacie Sanderson, on location in downtown Atlanta, wishing you all a safe holiday.” I put on the smile that helped me win Apple Sauce Queen my junior year of […]
I dumped the invoices down on my desk, letting out a frustrated breath. Dealing with bills wasn’t what I signed up for. In fact, I hated any kind of admin work. The day-to-day running of Animal Haven I could handle. I loved the animals, and my staff were amazing. Tricia, my trusted office manager, was […]
H LUCY ow’re you doing back there?’ Caro’s voice sounded slightly muffled through the thick red curtain of the changing room. Lucy sighed. She wasn’t sure she was quite ready to face her friends yet. She raised her hand and gently stroked the white velvet that fell in soft folds across her chest in a […]
CONTROL FREAK. Noun. A person who feels an obsessive need to exercise control over themselves and others and to take command of any situation. (Oxford English Dictionary) Her whole life, people had been telling Lola Blakeman to loosen up, ditch her schedules and checklists, and be spontaneous. It only took twenty-six trips around the sun […]
M CE LYN y heart slams into my chest like I’m having a fucking heart attack. I pull up Quin’s number and press CALL. He’s been my best friend since we were in boarding school together, back when we were young kids with big names. Quinton was shortened to Quin, much to his parent’s horror. […]
My father built the house on Langely Lake for my mother, in the town she grew up in. It was a hundred miles from the glassy skyscrapers my father built in the city, and a world away from the Calloway family name and money and penthouse on the Upper East Side. The house on Langely […]
Dear Corporal Javier Gonzales, I hope this care package gets to you safely and in time for Christmas. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be there, in the desert, away from your family, fighting mostly for people you don’t know. The world really is a crazy place. My grandfather served in the […]
‘Ouch!’ Loretta gasped. Daisy snatched a tissue from the box on the counter in the Butterbury Sewing Box, the sewing shop that had been in the family for over seventy years. ‘You’d think in all the decades you’ve been sewing you could manage to hem some curtains without causing an injury.’ She covered her mother’s […]
There are signs to watch for to let you know you’ve become a Christmas hero. When another human walks into a perfectly scented room of vanilla, cinnamon, and a hint of clove, they breathe through the nose. The eyes roll back in the head—one of the key signs. More important than words. The final one—the […]
“Remind me why you’re doing this again?” Portia sat on Claire Downing’s kitchen counter swinging her legs and chomping on a stray piece of celery that didn’t make it into the stuffing. “Thanksgiving was just a few days ago. Slaving all day to make a holiday meal—not on an official holiday, mind you—for people Mayor […]
