"Two years have passed since the terrible car accident that took the life of John Baxter's daughter, Erin, along with her husband and three of their four daughters. Prompted by grief, and missing his daughter, John has invited a stranger for Christmas Eve dinner-Kendra Bryant, the transplant recipient who now has Erin's heart. But Ashley and her brother Luke are worried that this new dinner guest might be not be the best idea. They want to protect...

"Lauren Gabriel spent many years of her childhood in foster homes, wishing her mother would come back for her and be the family she needs. Now twenty-years-old, she still longs for a place that she can truly call home. Her work as a cashier is unfulfilling, and at Christmas it's unbearable with the songs and carols and chatter of Christmas that she hears throughout the day. When Lauren ends her shift one night, she finds herself driving aimlessly...

Four kindergartners who think they have nothing in common become friends after sharing traditions of their holidays, including Eid-ul-Fitr, Rosh Hashanah, Christmas, and Pi Day.

"Amanda Lambright loves Wyman Brubaker, and after four years as a single mother, she is grateful for his support and for this new chance at happiness as his wife. She's confident that their children will get along just fine. But once Amanda's clan moves into Wyman's home, the tight quarters and Wyman's reluctance to make changes to accommodate Amanda cause friction. The older kids are squabbling. The little ones are frequently in tears. Tiny Alice...

"Cole Blake, son of Landon and Ashley Baxter Blake, is months away from going off to college and taking the first steps towards his dream--a career in medicine. But as he starts his final semester of high school he meets Elise, a mysterious new girl who captures his attention--and heart--from day one. Elise has her heart set on mending her wild ways and rediscovering the good girl she used to be. But not long after the semester starts, she discovers...

On May 6, 2013, Amanda Berry made headlines around the world when she fled a Cleveland home and called 911, saying: "Help me, I'm Amanda Berry... I've been kidnapped, and I've been missing for ten years." A horrifying story rapidly unfolded. Ariel Castro, a local school bus driver, had separately lured Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight to his home, where he kept them chained. In the decade that followed, the three were raped, psychologically...

"In the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn stands a century-old row house presided over by renegade, silver-haired Sister Evelyn. Gruff and indomitable on the surface, warm and wry underneath, Evelyn and her fellow sisters makes Mercy House a safe haven for the abused and abandoned. Women like Lucia, who arrives in the dead of night; Mei-Li, the Chinese and Russian house veteran; Desiree, a loud and proud prostitute; Esther, a Haitian immigrant...

When her beauty provokes a lustful revelation from a young priest, sixteen-year-old Teagan is sent to one of Dublin's Magdalen Laundries for fallen women, where she befriends two other girls who help her endure the harsh captivity.

"Bubba Brayna makes the best latkes in the village, and on the first night of Hanukkah, the scent of her cooking wakes a hungry, adorable bear from his hibernation. He lumbers into town to investigate, and Bubba Brayna--who does not see or hear very well--mistakes him for her rabbi. She welcomes the bear inside to play the dreidel game, light the menorah, and enjoy a scrumptious meal. However, after her well-fed guest leaves, there's a knock at the...

Adrift in a raft after a deadly ship explosion, nine people struggle for survival at sea. Three days pass. Short on water, food and hope, they spot a man floating in the waves and pull him in. The man, strange and quiet, claims to be the Lord. Is the man who he claims to be? What actually caused the explosion? Are the survivors already in heaven, or are they in hell? Years later, when the empty life raft washes up on the island of Montserrat-- the...