"Nine-year-old Annie Pederson's life changed the night her sister was kidnapped. The two had been outside playing on a dock, and Annie never forgave herself for her role in her sister's disappearance. Twenty-four years later and now a law enforcement ranger, Annie is still searching for answers as she grieves a new loss: the death of her husband and parents in a boating accident. But Annie and her eight-year-old daughter, Kylie, aren't the only people...

"Each summer, Kate Livingston returns to her family's lakeside cottage, a place of simple living and happy times - a place where she now hopes her son, Aaron, can blossom. But her quiet life gets a bit more interesting with the arrival of an mysterious new neighbor, JD Harris. JD has good reason for being secretive. In a moment of sheer bravery the Washington, D.C., paramedic prevented a terrible tragedy - and became a national hero. He's hardly able...

A journalist describes the years she worked in low-paying domestic work under wealthy employers, contrasting the privileges of the upper-middle class to the realities of the overworked laborers supporting them.

Susanne Collins has her hands full raising her four orphaned nieces and nephews and managing the family farm. So when her cowboy neighbor proposes he plant her crops in exchange for keeping his wild horses in her corrals, Susanne hesitantly takes the deal. Soon her reluctance to accept help ebbs, and she wonders if Tanner Harding will he prove to be the strong, solid man she's been hoping for&

When single mom Megan Nolan moves to a new town, she feels guilty for uprooting her ten-year-old daughter Caitlin. Megan decides to adopt a shelter pet for Caitlin. She immediately regrets her decision when Caitlin gravitates to the biggest, sloppiest dog in the pound, Jake. As Megan considers returning Jake, handsome ballplayer Ben shows up claiming Jake is his dog. Ben wants to take his dog and leave, until he sees that Caitlin loves Jake as much...

Wilson Steele is a single professor and Vietnam veteran who likes living alone, insisting it's too late for him to have a family. His mother disagrees. When she impulsively adopts a rescued black lab mix, she insists Thurman is special, and has whispered of the coming of grandchildren. Wilson brushes the notion off as fantasy. When his mother learns of her retirement community's 'no pets' policy, she forces Wilson to take the lovable dog. Wilson notices...

Shares the author's experiences as an only child born to a single mother in Korea, who abruptly moved to the United States as a teenager and the difficulties she had fitting in in both countries.