Kirjahaku

Advised by a quack doctor in 1915 that her unborn child is at risk for lunacy, a wealthy woman pays a midwife to secretly switch her baby with the newborn daughter of a penniless couple. Twenty-one years later, the truth's revealed in a Last Will and Testament and Harper Harrington is forced to swap places with Veezie, the rightful heir. Harper leaves the palatial home and moves to a rundown shanty in Goose Hollow, Alabama. But she soon discovers the unattached, young country doctor there has something far more valuable to her than the affluent lifestyle she left behind. However, to take it from him will break his heart. If he wasn't so stubborn, Harper could fall for a man like Flint.When Dr. Flint McCall learns Harper is secretly attempting to sabotage his plans, he's furious and begins a quest of his own. How could he have fallen in love with such a pig-headed woman?

Veezie Harrington, a backwoodsy young woman with a seedy past, experiences difficulty fitting in to her new way of life after she inherits a wealthy estate in Alabama during the 1930's. When she falls in love with handsome Shep Jackson, the local pastor, she sets a goal to overcome her redneck ways and become a real lady, worthy of the love of such a fine Christian man. Is the bar too high? Reverend Shepherd Jackson, a forty-year-old widower, causes an uproar in the church when he falls in love with the ill-bred Veezie, who is half his age. Will he risk his God-given call for the love of a fallen woman?

The last person in the world Gracie Jackson thought she'd ever marry was Garth Graham, the annoying, arrogant editor of the local newspaper. But that was before she got to know the real Garth - the sweet, compassionate man she fell head-over-heels in love with. A much anticipated wedding takes place while Garth is waiting to be deported to St. Lo, France, during WWII. Gracie opens the orphanage at Nine Gables, taking in five young foundlings, only a few days after the wedding. Garth has three weeks to become acquainted with the children before his deportment. Life is good. For a season. After only sixteen days on the battlefield, comes the dreaded telegram from the Secretary of War. Everything that Gracie has believed in, suddenly becomes scrambled like eggs in an omelet. Mercy

Bound to a homeless vagrant by invisible chains, Mandy Gafford longs to be set free from her wretched way of life, though steel shackles would be easier to break. She dreams of ways to escape her miserable existence - but she can't - because he's her daddy. He needs her. He said so. And as much as she wishes it wasn't so, she supposes she needs him, also. As she and her shiftless father ride across Mobile Causeway after a major hurricane, Mandy stares at the gruesome destruction along the Alabama Gulf Coast. Never has she seen so many blue tarps, but it isn't the tarps that trouble her most. D j vu? Maybe. She can't be sure of anything, anymore.

Raped at seventeen by the son of a prominent Senator, Jackie Adkison is forced to marry her abuser. The only thing Jacob Gorham's father can't afford is a scandal, so the young parents-to-be are whisked away to Virginia to escape gossip that could end Amos Gorham's political career. Now, twenty-three years later, Jacob is caught embezzling and commits suicide. But that's only the beginning of Jackie's woes. Her beautiful daughter has vanished. Broken and penniless, Jackie leaves Virginia to return to her Alabama hometown. Years ago, Bubba Knox was in love with Jackie Adkison when she mysteriously dropped out of high school and moved away, setting the rumor mill into motion. Until recently, no woman since Jackie has turned his head. Was it reaching the big 4-0 that caused him to consider the wasted years-or could it be no one came along who could make him forget-until beautiful Greta Pugh showed up in town?

Camille Benrey buried her beloved husband the day after Christmas. She stood beside his grave as dirt was tossed over his casket. She went home to an empty house. She received tons of sympathy cards. She collected the insurance money. Newspapers far and wide had explicitly detailed the popular entertainer's tragic death while riding his Harley, December twenty-third, along Deal's Gap. Ian Benrey was dead. People said the Tail of the Dragon stole his life. But did it? Even if Camille could explain, what purpose would it serve? Who would believe such an absurdity?

In 1949, in spite of the odds against him, Navy Fireman 3rd Class Jericho Rhoades headed to a little town called Enterprise shortly before Christmas to meet the girl he'd fallen in love with-though she was promised to another.Would he have been so eager to get to Alabama if he'd known the secret things about himself would be revealed and he'd end up in jail for a criminal offense? Was she worth it?

When the Chalkboard Preacher accompanies his friend to the Psychiatric Hospital to secure his wife's release, the husband is horrified to learn she's even more disturbed than when she was admitted. She fails to recognize him and clings to a doll she believes to be the baby they never had. Things go awry when an angry, domineering nurse sabotages the husband's intent to take his wife home. Determined to free her and convinced the end will outweigh the means, the husband devises a plan that will ultimately involve his faithful friend, the Chalkboard Preacher. Would the Reverend Castle Marlowe have been so eager to assist, if he'd been aware it would lead to a scheme with such dire consequences?

Trudy Allen is on her way back to the last place on earth she wants to go, to see the last person on earth she cares to see. Yet, there seems to be a will stronger than her own, wooing her back to the place of vicious lies, broken promises and shattered dreams. Twenty years ago, she and Luke McGallagher sat on a concrete bench at Lake Geneva, planning a future while Nat King Cole's Unforgettable blared on the juke box in the nearby dance pavilion. For the past eighteen years, she's struggled to forget. But forgiving? Not a chance in a lifetime.

Jim MacKenzie recalled the promise made to his wife Thelma, on her dying bed to help their boy find a good woman. Jim gave his word, although he had no idea how difficult the undertaking would prove to be. That is, until George, a friend of his at the Senior Citizens Center introduced him to a dating service called seekinglove.com. He figured George knew what he was talking about, because he took his advice and found the perfect girl for Doyle. She was the prettiest apple on the tree. He could hardly wait to tell his son the good news. There was only one thing on Liz Blackstone's mind as she pressed her back against the wall-her picture might be on next week's front page, under the caption 'Missing Woman.' Her meddling neighbor had pulled some idiotic stunts in the past, but this one topped them all.