Do you brace for Christmas and the energy it requires to meet the social demands? At the same time do you long for that elusive Christmas spirit that brings refreshment and satisfaction? You will find amusement and nostalgia in your favorite Christmas movies. You will enjoy singing along with your favorite characters about a white Christmas and love. But the Christmas spirit your soul craves is found in the story of a babe born in a stable. The story of the Christ child being born in squalor and what his life means for people everywhere is the story that will bring you the Christmas spirit ...

From the author of Lovejoy and Blessed comes a series about church ladies of the South. After reading this first novel in the series, fans of Southern fiction write, "I want to live next door to Mildred Budge." A retired school teacher, Mildred Budge just wants to live a quiet life in her hometown of Cloverdale. But retirement does not mean she can say no to a friend--not a friend in trouble. Mildred Budge knows how. A disciplined woman, Mildred can breathe the word "no" to a second cup of ice cream. Can resist drinking too much champagne. But when it comes right down to a friend needing a ...

Always a bride's maid--never a bride. That's part of the story of the life of Mildred Budge in this third novel in the series. But there is more to know about this Sunday School teacher who has been recruited to be a maid of honor for her good friend's wedding. As someone who has routinely had to muzzle herself at weddings by not calling out when the preacher asks if anyone knows a reason these two should not be wed, "It's not going to work out," this new role of supporting the bride has its challenges for this church lady of the South, Mildred Budge. But being a bride's maid also has its ...

What do church ladies really think? Composed and often so quiet as to be thought invisible, church ladies have secret powers to change the world. What are those special powers? They love well. They give well. They can often cook! And they play an essential role in a great rescue operation for mankind. For although they appear to have Ninja warrior strengths (and can be invisible!), they are helpers to the only Superhero who ever really saved the world and mankind. They know His name and will tell you. And they can show you what it's like to brought to life and empowered to love instead of ...

When the car sailed over the embankment carrying the four members of the pulpit committee, Mildred Budge called out, “Jesus saves.” The others heard it, but they were also experiencing their own quick flashes of insight. Liz, a serial widow, felt unsatisfied with her life. She wanted more. Sailing toward her death, she still did. Sam, who had turned the steering wheel that had sent them over the embankment, was looking forward to the crash. He wanted to feel it—the hard slam of collision. His hands held the wheel tightly, bracing for it. Jake smiled. He resisted holding Mildred’s ...

When a church lady falls in love, she falls hard. Sometimes she lands on her knees. Miss Budge does as she moves quietly and powerfully through her daily life in Old Cloverdale, where F. Scott Fitzgerald once courted Zelda, and two miles away Nat King Cole was born. Fitzgerald wrote about love. Nat Cole sang about love, and Mildred Budge knows those words. She can sing along with Nat and has. But Miss Budge lives love too—is always in love. The world wants a certain kind of love. Miss Budge offers a different kind—one that is so rare, so foreign as to be misunderstood…. But make no ...

“Don’t you ever want to run away from Christmas?” Mildred Budge’s answer to Dixie was immediate and truthful. “Yes, yes, yes,” Mildred said with conviction. She couldn’t stop saying yes, though the very idea that a good church lady would want to run away from the occasion during the year that marked the birth of Jesus-- the reason for the season for a tried and true church lady of the South-- was almost beyond explanation. “Then, let’s go. Let’s go to Fountain City and find Mr. Fixit and eat sublime pies,” her friend Dixie urged. The two needed Mr. Fixit because of a ...

Each Christmas retired chemistry teacher Edwina Bopp makes her newest invention of miracle fudge as a fundraiser for missions in her small Southern town Fountain City. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the good lady cooks through the night and then gives the candy away to the fudge-hungry group of people who know this year's newest recipe is coming and line up in front of her store before she ever opens the door of her Main Street candy shop. People receive their portion of this year's fudge and place donations for missions in her jar on the counter, expecting miracles. Some miracles have...

For more than a decade, while the First War of Scottish Independence rages, fierce warrior Conall MacGregor has dreamed of the revenge he will have against the man who robbed him of his family and home. To this end, he abducts the daughter of his enemy, hoping to force a marriage and reclaim what is rightfully his. He has no idea that the stubborn lass will turn his world upside-down, and that he will be the one held captive.

As an Air Force medic, Bree Marks saw the worst the War on Terror had to dish out. Now a physical therapist, she uses her experience to help other veterans heal from their physical wounds while she battles her own emotional damage. Blaming himself for his best friend's suicide, former Army Ranger Jase Larken retreated from life. To honor his best friend's memory and assuage his guilt, he started an outdoor adventure company to help veterans with PTSD.

In a rain-drenched world far from home, survival means more than dodging alien predators—it means escaping your own family. Kayla and Roux thought they'd found sanctuary, a remote outpost where they provided medical needs to the locals. But when her family arrives unannounced, it threatens that balance and triggers a resurgence of the past. Kayla discovers that her biological mother—a dangerous Siren—will stop at nothing to reclaim what she believes is hers. With Roux immune to her genetic ability and Robert desperate to protect his daughter, they're about to learn that some ...

Welcome to The Blue Spruce Coffee Shop Where the Java is Hot and the Murder is Cold Blooded Looking for a cozy spot to enjoy a hot cup of java and a thrilling mystery? Look no further than The Blue Spruce Coffee Shop. Recently reopened by the dynamic grandmother/granddaughter duo of Carla and Charlie Purcell, their coffee shop is the perfect place to relax and indulge in a delicious treat. But be warned, there's more brewing at The Blue Spruce than just expertly crafted coffee. When a local quilter is murdered in her own home, Carla and Charlie, along with retired detective Saylor Reeves, ...

Has your spiritual life hit a ditch? Instead of peace and prayer in the morning, do you find yourself dashing out the door, apologizing to God for being in a rush, feeling regret as you charge off to the meet your day? Is there a glass ceiling over your prayers, worse, have you felt He isn't listening anymore, and you know it's probably your own fault? Do you feel as if you're drifting, like flotsam in the river, instead of riding the flood of God's strength; is your worship life down to what happens at church, fed to you by others, predigested and ground like baby food, better than nothing...

Gabriel: I am the crown prince of Villroy, heir to a kingdom, bound by duty to marry and produce an heir. I expected a quiet arrangement through royal channels, instead I got a palace full of women vying for my hand. This undignified circus is beneath a man of my stature! Proof being that a saucy, ill-mannered woman wearing body-hugging clothes is in the lead. Anna: The plan sounded simple: Pose as my friend, pick up her inheritance, and return with the cash to keep her out of jail. Suddenly I'm in a battle royale with a bunch of crazy competitive women for riches beyond our dreams.

2022 Readers' Favorite silver medal winner for best religious themed fiction This novel, written from a Christian worldview, was inspired by Imagine Heaven, The New York Times Best Seller, by Pastor John Burke. Every year, thousands of people cheat death and come back to life. Many people have near-death experiences that offer a glimpse of Heaven. But none of these can compare to the remarkable near-death experience of Justin Parks. The past three years haven't been easy for Justin, causing him to lose faith in a loving, personal God. His fiancée gets killed by a drunk driver a week before...