Kirjahaku

A touching novel full of Southern comfort for fans of Joshilyn Jackson and Fannie Flagg. Dell Haley's mama always said there were two things a man couldn't get enough of: good cookin' and good lovin'. Well, Dell knows she's got the cookin' down pat, but her husband is getting more than his fair share of lovin'-in another woman's bed. And when he dies there, Dell's predictable life comes to a screeching halt. Short on money and education, Dell turns to the one thing that has never let her down: her cooking. For the first time in her life, Dell takes a huge risk and opens a restaurant in a derelict diner on the west end of town. The cafe gradually becomes a gathering place for a motley crew of people who become Dell's family. And yet, even as her life becomes more solid, Dell is plagued by the memory of her husband's betrayal-but the answers she seeks may have a higher price than she's willing to pay.

For fans of Fannie Flagg-the acclaimed author of Heartbreak Cafe delivers a heartwarming, hilarious new novel. Twenty-three years ago, beauty queen Peach Rondell left Mississippi and vowed never to return. Now she's back, divorced and heartbroken, trying to figure out how her life went so terribly wrong. To escape her mama's scrutinizing gaze, she spends her days in a little storefront diner called the Heartbreak Cafe, where, in the back booth, she scribbles away in her journal, waiting for enlightenment. Instead, Peach gets something even better: the unexpected friendship of an unlikely group of folks who show Peach that finding out where you're going usually means embracing where you're from.

Phoebe Lange has it all--a Master's Degree, an adoring fiancé, and a future with unlimited possibilities--but something is missing. Orphaned at age five and raised by her grandmother, Phoebe longs for a past and a sense of connectedness, but it is not until she stumbles upon a scrapbook dating back to the 1920's that she discovers a terrible secret about her family's history which triggers an identity crisis. Phoebe becomes obsessed with the mysterious ancestor, also named Phoebe Lange, whom she is convinced is the key to answering the questions that have plagued her. But the answers may not be what she has in mind.

Four friends gathered in a cold, dusty attic on Christmas day to make a solemn pact.“Our dreams for the future,” they whispered, placing tiny pieces of paper into a shimmering blue bottle.But that event happened in 1929, and it is decades later when local news reporter Brenna Delaney stumbles upon that bottle . . . and into the most meaningful story of her career.Life has taken those four girls’ dreams of love, fame, and faith on a path fraught with seduction, betrayal, and loss. Little has turned out as expected—and yet every choice, every tear has led each of them to a special place.Brenna’s search will uncover the secrets of that Blue Bottle Club . . . and her own life will never be the same.“A beautiful novel about friendship and the power of faith to renew our dreams.”—Angela Hunt, author of Magdalene

Before Diedre McAlister's mother dies, she gives her daughter an old photograph and says: "Find yourself. Find your truth. Just don't expect it to be what you thought it would be."The truth will shake up Diedre's world, threaten lives, challenge her faith-and quite possibly save her life.

When she discovers her son has designs to sell her home out from under her, Miss Amethyst-ninety-three years old and as sharp as ever-isn't about to let her legacy go. She pins her hopes on her granddaughter, Little Am, a good-natured child who has mutated in her teenage years into something else altogether. Whatever it takes, Little Am will know that the Noble family heritage is worth fighting for.

Vita Kirk is a travel writer who has never left her hometown. In fact, she rarely leaves her house. Due to deep wounds and bitter losses, Vita has chosen isolation over vulnerability. But when she stumbles across an antique chest in a hole-in-the-wall boutique, she discovers a puzzling link to her past and her physical surroundings mysteriously begin to change. Inscribed in the treasure chest are the words, "Love is the key that unlocks every portal."The power of these words prove to unlock a part of Vita she thought had died years ago."Stories like this go by many different names-fantasy, time-shift, magical realism. Some are overtly Christian or religious in nature, others are not. But from a spiritual perspective, the common thread in all these works is the redeeming, transforming power of God's grace not only to alter the future but to change our understanding of the past."--Penelope Stokes