J Willis Sanders

Seth Callahan has led an interesting life. One way it's interesting is by being born in 1946, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Another way is by spending time in two foreign countries. Yet another way is his many experiences with women, what he describes as his "category five hurricanes."Now, though, over fifty years after he married the woman of his dreams, she has made a request he can't deny. She's dying of cancer, and to ease the pain of losing her when she's gone, she wants him to write the intriguing story of his life, including the astounding way they eventually met and fell in love.Seth's not sure about her request. At seventy-eight, he sometimes wishes he could join her. Regardless, as he starts his story, he finds solace as the words pour from him. The main question, he knows, is how will he cope when he's finished writing, because life without her, despite experiencing all of those category five hurricanes, is entirely too hard to bear.Book five of J. Willis Sanders' Outer Banks of North Carolina series returns us to the simple life in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Back then, in the 1950s, kids walked along sandy trails through live oak woods to the Up the Road school, attended the Methodist church in the area called Down the Road, and visited the general store for the mail and the latest news. Well removed from mainland North Carolina, Outer Banks residents worked hard, played hard, and, like Seth Callahan, loved to the depths of their souls.

For twenty-five year old Jared Lapp, life has been a mix of struggles and blessings. One blessing is his twin bruder, Isaac, while one struggle is how tending to their sickly parents until they passed on has delayed their plans for courting and marriage.For twenty-five year old Joanna Weaver, life has also been a mix of struggles and blessings. One blessing is her younger brother, Michael, while one struggle is his diagnosis of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, which inspired her to become a nurse.Living near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Jared and Joanna's lives are filled with faith. Still, when their lives collide with romantic interest, they know how impossible their situation is. Will Jared marry the girl he's been courting? Will Joanna be forced to lose him? Or will their faith, despite their impossible situation, provide a Christmas wedding?A heartwarming and faith-filled Christmas novella, The Christmas Wedding: An Amish Christmas story, can be read in two or three sittings.Includes as a bonus the first chapter of the author's first Amish Christmas story, The Forgiveness Quilt: And Amish Christmas Carol.

This isn't a standard murder mystery. Like so many murders, these were ignited by a love story. Unlike so many murders, these took over eighty years to get closure. Needless to say, though it must be said anyway, it's a story I'll remember for the rest of my life.Sheriff Maurea SandiferCurrituck County, North Carolina2011And so begins the tragic history of three young people-all born on the same night during a snow storm in 1908-all born to completely different circumstances that will influence their lives with three irreversible endings.Chester Pinkham, born in Corolla, North Carolina, in humble surroundings, must live with a deformed hand and forehead. Maurea Applewhite, born in a mansion in Richmond, Virginia, must live with the worst excuse for a mother she could ever have. Known simply as Mirlande, also born in Corolla in humble surroundings, she must live with an aunt from Haiti, who practices the mysterious art of voodoo. When the lives of these three babies, then children, then adults, collide like a hurricane against the Outer Banks, two people will die in the boathouse of Corolla Island, now called the Whalehead Club, and one of the three will be blamed. But who is really to blame? The terrible mother? The evil Aunt? Or is passion and jealousy at fault? It takes four generations of Currituck County sheriffs-as well as one final death-before the truth is revealed. Even then, Sheriff Maurea Sandifer isn't sure what the truth is, but she knows its secret lies with The One Red Brick.

Clara's ChoiceBook Three of the Clara Engelman Series After a suitor from Clara's past discovers the truth about her bishop, she's back to square one-both for finding a husband for herself and a father for her two children.Although she wants her next marriage to include love, she's not sure it will. When her old suitor asks if they can court, she must abandon her dreams of love with her English neighbor, especially now that he is seeing another woman-who Clara has no friendly feelings for.Will Clara be the proper Beachy Amish Mennonite woman and marry to strengthen family and community, or will she choose love if at all possible-as impossible as it seems?

Clara's CourtshipBook Two of the Clara Engelman Series Having consented to a tentative courtship with her bishop, Vernon, Clara still thinks love will never be part of any other relationship she might have. Still, as a Beachy Amish Mennonite woman, she must consider her duty to her community and to her children, for they need a father to replace her beloved Abram. Still again, doubts in the form of rumors about Vernon's wife worry her. As she attempts to overcome them, she spends time with Vernon to see if they are suited for each other. However, someone who cares for Clara is concerned about Vernon's past too, and he is secretly trying to reveal any skeletons in his closet. Will Clara's courtship go as planned, or will secrets and rumors ruin it?

Clara's MourningBook One of the Clara Engelman Series Devastated by the death of her husband, Clara Engelman is left with two young children to raise, plus a farm to tend over twenty miles away from her Beachy Amish community. Although duty to her children and to her community says to marry again, the grief over her beloved Abram is too much to bear. As her sadness slowly recedes, she considers a possible suitor. If they marry, however, she doubts her ability to love him. Then there's an old flame from before Abram, someone she could possibly love. Unfortunately, the one man she may already love is her English, neighbor, who has come to her rescue a number of times ... literally.. Marry for duty or marry for love? Clara can't even consider a courtship until her mourning is over, and she has no idea when that will be-if ever.

Ruth Raber, an elderly Old Order Amish woman, has led a lonely life. She never married, never sang with a boy at one of her community's gatherings, and ruined the only relationship she could've had.And worst of all, she doesn't understand why any of that happened.Or does she?Every year around Christmas, a series of memories haunt her, and this Christmas is no different.When the nearby townspeople and the Amish and Mennonites in the area gather at Christmas Eve and invite Ruth, not only will she be challenged by her memories, she'll be challenged by a lesson from her mother, now passed on, about the kindness in the quilts she makes.Similar in theme to Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, The Forgiveness Quilt will warm the heart while reminding us of the importance of kindness at Christmas--and for the entire year.

For fans of William P. Young's The Shack and Mitch Albom's The Stranger in the Lifeboat, The Essence of Emmaline Strong not only brings a paranormal musical element to the Christian Thriller and Suspense genre, it also illustrates how, one way or another, we're all connected whether we accept it or not.When multiple tragedies bring Jordan McCray to her knees, one more destroys her faith-she's going blind. Having taught herself to play the 5-string banjo, guitar, and resonator guitar before age ten, she retreats from college and the world to teach those instruments for her meager living ... and to hope love might come along to ease her loneliness. Late one night at her home at the base of Sufferer's Mountain, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, a stranger shows up on her doorstep. Although she's attracted to him, she scoffs when he says he's on a musical quest-to prove the existence of the human soul. Intrigued by the premise, however, she joins him on his quest, where they meet a musical faith healer who claims she and her husband were born-as hard as it is to believe-before the Civil War. As Jordan faces more challenges, she's summoned to the faith healer's home. There, what she experiences will cause her to question everything she thought she knew about music ... as well as about herself.

For fans of William P. Young's The Shack and Mitch Albom's The Stranger in the Lifeboat, The Essence of Emmaline Strong not only brings a paranormal musical element to the Christian Thriller and Suspense genre, it also illustrates how, one way or another, we're all connected whether we accept it or not.When multiple tragedies bring Jordan McCray to her knees, one more destroys her faith-she's going blind. Having taught herself to play the 5-string banjo, guitar, and resonator guitar before age ten, she retreats from college and the world to teach those instruments for her meager living ... and to hope love might come along to ease her loneliness. Late one night at her home at the base of Sufferer's Mountain, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, a stranger shows up on her doorstep. Although she's attracted to him, she scoffs when he says he's on a musical quest-to prove the existence of the human soul. Intrigued by the premise, however, she joins him on his quest, where they meet a musical faith healer who claims she and her husband were born-as hard as it is to believe-before the Civil War. As Jordan faces more challenges, she's summoned to the faith healer's home. There, what she experiences will cause her to question everything she thought she knew about music ... as well as about herself.

Graduating college soon, Joe Matthan can't wait to spend the rest of his life with Elaine Johnson. After all, according to a few strange dreams he's been having, they are long lost loves, separated by his death in World War II. Joe wants to share his theory with Elaine-but not until he confirms it. The problem is, he doesn't know how to confirm it, and if he tells her without proof, she may think he's lost his mind. When fate steps in with a possible solution, it puts their relationship at risk. Now he must decide if he should discover his past or if he should ignore it, which may still threaten their future together. The Gift of Hope, the final book in the Hope Series, illuminates how love never abandons the human heart, as long as we believe in hope.

Graduating college soon, Joe Matthan can't wait to spend the rest of his life with Elaine Johnson. After all, according to a few strange dreams he's been having, they are long lost loves, separated by his death in World War II. Joe wants to share his theory with Elaine-but not until he confirms it. The problem is, he doesn't know how to confirm it, and if he tells her without proof, she may think he's lost his mind. When fate steps in with a possible solution, it puts their relationship at risk. Now he must decide if he should discover his past or if he should ignore it, which may still threaten their future together. The Gift of Hope, the final book in the Hope Series, illuminates how love never abandons the human heart, as long as we believe in hope.

For fans of The Time Traveler's Wife, Life After Life, and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, The Coincidence of Hope joins the paranormal stage in a World War II Americana novel like few others. It's 1944. Word War II is raging and Nebraska farm boy Joe Matthan is-without a single doubt in his young heart-in love. But he has other things on his mind, such as shipping off to Europe, leaving Elaine Johnson, and how it will affect her if he dies in battle.Which he does.When Joe loses his life in the war, he inexplicably lives on-as a ghost who inhabits the living. Although he clings to the hope of returning to Elaine to see what happened to her without him, he's all but given up on that possibility.But a number of coincidences have other plans.Over fifty years later, when Joe arrives in his hometown, a number of coincidences force him to ask why he didn't move on when he died, and-more importantly-if he must surrender his dream of being with Elaine again ... in the afterlife.An intriguing novel that weaves back and forth between the past and the present, which includes interesting combinations of character points of view and factual history, The Coincidence of Hope delves into the one challenge we all should meet: before judging others, we should place ourselves within their perspective, for they may be more like us than we care to admit.

The stunning conclusion to the Eliza Gray series, The Colors of Tess Gray is a story about the amazing connection between two sisters and the man they love.When tragedy destroys a marriage, and a sister falls in love with her brother-in-law despite knowing she shouldn't, how can she create a happy ending for all three of them?

The stunning conclusion to the Eliza Gray series, The Colors of Tess Gray is a story about the amazing connection between two sisters and the man they love.When tragedy destroys a marriage, and a sister falls in love with her brother-in-law despite knowing she shouldn't, how can she create a happy ending for all three of them?

For readers who've always wanted a story of how the Original Spanish horses could've arrived in Corolla, North Carolina, and for fans of Dances with Wolves and Castaway, The Diary of Carlo Cipriani illustrates how the tragedy of a lost love can affect someone, and how, above all else, a person should never, ever give up hope. "For you see, Luisa, to be loved is one thing, but to be understood is everything."Carlo Cipriani In 1521, to escape the tragedy of his wife's death, Carlo Cipriani leaves Spain. However, the ship upon which he and his stallion, Cantante, are aboard, sinks during a hurricane. He makes it to land with four shipmates and several horses, but not his beloved Cantante. The four spend their time trying to survive on what little food they can find with only rainwater to drink. Hoping to return home one day, Carlo writes in his journal to explain to his young daughter why he abandoned her without a single word of goodbye. Carlo is eventually left miserably alone. When suicide seems a viable option to such a dreary existence, he meets the one person with whom he might find happiness again. However, his past still haunts him, and it seems death has arrived to stalk him and his happiness like it stalked his wife and their happiness at home in Spain. The question is, has it truly, or has his guilt for leaving his daughter caused him to completely lose his mind?