O. L. Gregory

Step into a gripping psychological thriller story about the troubled mind of a serial killer and the daughter who turned him in. For Penelope Hayes, the day her mother died threw her life into chaos. Forced to watch her father struggle with a downward spiral that left him locked in a mental rehabilitation center, Penelope and her siblings were separated in the foster care system and left to adapt to a strange new way of life.Through a never-ending slew of patient care and custody battles, Penelope sees her father fight his demons as he desperately tries to reclaim his children. Then she hears nothing for five years. What nobody told her was that he was serving a sentence for attempted murder. Now on parole and in the best mental health of his life, a glimmer of hope appears. It seems that finally, they can rebuild their family again. It was only later that Penelope made a terrible discovery - one that would force her to make an impossible choice. Her father had done many terrible things in his fight against his mental demons... and she has to decide whether or not to turn him in. As a gritty crime thriller that explores the story of a daughter put in an impossible situation, We're All Broken is a powerful read that grapples with themes of love and loss, failure and triumph, and finding the good within the horrific.

A seeming glitch in the matrix, a little misguided magic, and a whole lotta love.One minute I'm home and safe, and in the next, I find myself transported to another time and place.Where? When? A little looking around and I realized that I have zapped right into the moment before my parents meet for the very first time, 40 years ago, when I first became a possibility.I've been mistakenly brought back in time by my haphazard grandfather, and his mysterious group of friends. Just at the point when he embarks on the process of letting go of his only daughter, to a man he just doesn't want to like.When he and his friends attempt to send me back to my present, they can't seem to make it happen. Eventually, we figure out there must be a purpose of my own, driving the whole debacle. But what reason could I have to stay, when all I want to do is leave?- A Novella

I don't know what to believe anymore.I had a mother. That's it, just a mother. But then there was a house fire, and well, no more mother.I do have friends that might as well be family, and I am grown, so life could be worse I suppose. At least, that's what everyone keeps telling me.It takes a bit of support from those around me, but I do get my life together and moving forward. Eventually, I buy my own home. A beautiful, old, Victorian-Style house that I'd admired my entire life.What I hadn't counted on were the skeletons in the old home's closets. Nothing could have prepared me for how that house's past would affect my future.* * * * * * * * * *Miss Mary, I love her. It's her house that I bought. She a kind, old lady. She's like the grandmother I never had.Every morning, and every afternoon, she used to wave at the kids walking back and forth to school. They waved back, and a few would sometimes stop by to chat. She's a pillar in our community, all because she took the time to wave.When I was a kid, actually from since before I can remember, right up until the stroke that forced her out of the house, Miss Mary waved.I could never get her to tell me why she'd started doing it. But, as time went on and I slowly befriended the rest of her family, I realized they harbored a secret. Something happened in the house years ago.Whatever that secret is, it's why she waves.

I'm so over the idea of dating. Guys don't understand me, my dreams, or my determination to blaze my own path. All men do is try to change me, even though the things that make me different are the very things that intrigued them to begin with. I have dreams and ambitions, and nothing is going to stand in my way, period. Late nights, nonstop work, business partners, online meetings, trips across the country, running conventions, planning retreats... My eyes are endlessly on the prize, and I'm not blinking. One of my dreams was to move to Chincoteague Island, Va. Years of working hard and saving has finally made that dream come true. Though, I'm finding that relocating is a lot more work than just packing up my boxes and making the drive. It's meeting the horny on-island carpenter, who introduces me to his group of wayward friends. It's exploring the area and realizing it's okay to live life at a slower pace and appreciating all that my dream location has to offer, like rocket launches and snowy beaches. It's getting to know my hunky neighbor and finding a kindred spirit, who's been burned before, and has declared himself off women. It's the older women at the town market who try to set me up with one of their sons. It's about finding a town that fits, and people who understand you, in more ways than one. All around me, my friends are getting married and popping out babies. I love that these things are happening for them. It's not that I don't want marriage and kids. I just wish I could freeze time, so I could get my goals accomplished, first. And I need to find a man who won't try to change me, and who accepts me for who I am, frustrating quirks and all. But when is enough, enough? At what point should a person come up for air, look around, and decide that you've accomplished so many of your goals that you're living the dream but haven't realized it? At what point do you re-open your heart, trust someone not to break it, and let yourself discover what life has in store for you next? It looks like I'm going to have to answer those questions, and many more, now that I've finally moved into my island cottage.

Every year, people die. More lives are claimed in some years than in others, but the old girl never walks away empty-handed. The Bering Sea offers up her bounty, helping people make millions of dollars to support an industry that few have the courage or capability to pursue. But she doesn't give her treasures up for free. She extracts a premium. In exchange for our livelihoods, she demands a few of our lives. Each boat, each crew, spends every season trying to keep the water's grasp at bay. But, eventually, every crew has to take its turn. Sometimes, she merely sends a wave over the bow and sweeps a crewmember away. Other times, her turbulent waters send heavy equipment skidding across the deck to crush her prey. Sometimes, it's the lifestyle that eats away at you. And still other times, she simply sinks the entire ship. I've spent years upon this sea, earning my living. Years spent with crewmen who'd managed to dodge the bullet of having to repay with more than their blood, sweat, tears, and flesh. But those years are over. It's our turn now, our turn to pay the price. This is the year the Bering Sea will demand her retribution and claim one of our own.

Mama used to say she could read the stars. We used to sit on the porch swing at night. I'd snuggle into her side, and she'd look up and read the future. A letter had been left behind for his twin brother, by their now deceased mother. In it, she spoke of how Dusty would be the next in the family to fall in love and get married. Mama said that he was to go to the movies and watch the teddy bear... Dusty had already met Teddy Steel, had kissed her too, before he'd seen the letter. And after watching the sparks fly as the family had fought his sister's fated love, and then as Rusty was literally hit over the head to get him to follow his fate, he's taking no chances. He's onboard with the whole 'Teddy Steel is my destiny' idea. Only, he's much more enthusiastic over the pairing than she is. Teddy is ready to have stalking and harassment charges brought up on the man. She doesn't know why he's singled her out, but she's not happy about it. Spending time with the ridiculous man was like riding a roller coaster. She'd come to town to re-open a long forgotten business, and the repair and construction work required was intimidating. Quite frankly, she just didn't have the time or patience to deal with him, and she had the to-do lists to prove it. But damned if he wasn't managing to wiggle his way into her heart. When he wasn't acting like a jealous idiot, she was inexplicably drawn to him, almost as if by fate...