Barbara Petty

Summertime in Bleak Harbor means tourists, overpriced restaurants, and the Dragonfly Festival. One day before the much-awaited and equally chaotic celebration, Danny Peters, the youngest member of the family that founded the town five generations ago, disappears. When Danny’s mother, Carey, and stepfather, Pete, receive a photo of their brilliant, autistic, and socially withdrawn son tied to a chair, they fear the worst. But there’s also more to the story. Someone is sending them ominous texts and emails filled with information no one else should have.

Theirs is a world of opposites. The privileged live in sky manors held aloft by a secretive magic known only as the Mysteries. Below, the earthbound poor are forced into factory work to maintain the engine of commerce. Only the wealthy can afford to learn the Mysteries, and they use their knowledge to further lock their hold on society. Cettie Pratt is a waif doomed to the world below, until an admiral attempts to adopt her. But in her new home in the clouds, not everyone treats her as one of the family.

When journalist Meredith Hale's dreams of happily ever after—or Nora Roberts Land as she calls it—go up in smoke, she leaves the big city to return to her family and their small-town newspaper. A new start? Yes please! Not to mention that it’s a chance to prove her ex wrong. She will find her own romantic hero, prove that true love exists, and publish a story about her quest—even if it kills her.

When Robin Matheson's husband is killed in Afghanistan, she feels completely alone in her grief. If there's even one small silver lining to Tav's death, it's the fact that she'll never again have to talk to his best friend - a 500-pound "forever alone" hacker. That's what she thinks, anyway, until her three-year-old decides Cyril is now his best buddy, and Robin can't bear to take anything else away from her son.

The death of his wife four years earlier left Travis Bennett a shell of the man he used to be. With his dog by his side, Travis raises his three children, manages his business, and works as a ranch hand. But every day, every minute, is an aching emptiness.