Showing results for "Home, Sweet Home" in Family Life

Set in the author’s native Belfast, the ten stories in Sweet Home lay bare the heartbreak and quiet tragedies that run under the surface of everyday lives. A lonely woman is fascinated by her niqab-wearing neighbours; a middle-aged teacher becomes obsessed with a young Gaelic football player; and an employer covers for his two employees caught having sex in a public toilet.

There’s no place like home, especially if it’s Serenity, South Carolina. For Annie Sullivan, though, the homecoming is bittersweet. She’d always envisioned a life there with her childhood best friend, Tyler Townsend. But Ty’s betrayal has cost her the family and the future they’d once planned. For Ty, losing Annie was heartbreaking. Still, he can’t imagine life without the three-year-old son whose mother left him for Ty to raise. Ty wants it all - Annie, his child, and the future he’d dreamed about - and he’s back home in Serenity to fight for it.

For years I have been urged to write my family's memoir. My first wife and all the women in her family died young. My daughters face the same battles as those women before them. I have put that story into this book...but only partly. Yes, there are important facts that are 100 percent true. But there are also some "non-facts" to keep the story moving. My children are in this book. They will recognize themselves in the characters, though not as their real names. My mother, the strong woman that she is, will recognize herself too. I used her real name.

They say there's no place like home. It's where the heart is....Meet the little boy who believes in miracles. Meet the mother who loves to bring babies home from the newborn aisle of her supermarket. Meet the husband who carves a longed-for baby out of ice as a gift for his wife. Meet the widow who is reminded of romance whilst standing at the kitchen sink. In this prize-winning short story collection, Carys Bray weaves together moments of joy, heartache, sadness and unwavering love as told through 17 very different notions of home.

With perpetually absent parents, the Stone sisters pretty much raised themselves and left their family home as soon as they could. But when they receive a surprise inheritance and find themselves the joint owners of their home, they are about to have a reunion they'll never forget.

Trina is starting over after a painful separation from her husband of almost 20 years. Grief and loss force her to return to her hometown, where she has to deal with all of the things she left behind to rebuild her life, piece by piece. A hometown she hasn't visited since she left at the age of 18. When the handsome police officer who lives next door comes knocking with questions about a tragedy from her teenage years, Trina finds herself wondering if everything she thought she knew about the past is a lie.

Calvin Kusek, a WWII pilot and attorney, and his wife, Betsy, escape the 1950s conformity of New York City to relocate to a close-knit town in South Dakota. They settle on a ranch and Betsy becomes a visiting nurse, befriending a quirky assortment of rural characters. Their children, Jo and her brother Lance, grow up caring for animals and riding rodeo. Life isn't easy, but it is full and rewarding. When a seat in the State Assembly becomes available, Cal jumps at the chance to repay the community and serves three popular terms.

Chris Stephens is a single dad who lost his wife to breast cancer at an early age. He and his 3 children moved to the Outer Banks for him to take a radio job at Ocean 105 as the afternoon DJ. He is helped along the way by his mother Grandma Pat, and by friend Jennifer, and her daughter Storm. Join the Stephens family as it faces ups and downs throughout the years. And find out if in fact the Outer Banks is home sweet home.

Mae Benson was happy—a beloved wife, beloved mother, beloved neighbor. But even she wasn’t ready for the tragedy looming around the corner. The accident that claims her husband’s life rocks the whole family. And it’s not the only thing stirring up trouble. Mae’s oldest, Eliza, is facing an unexpected pregnancy with a fiancé she no longer wants to be with. Her daughter Holly is caught in a marriage on the rocks. Headstrong daughter Sara is reeling in the throes of a forbidden work-place romance. And her youngest son, Brent, is drowning in sorrow and guilt.

After being fired from her waitressing job and coming face-to-face with her ex, Rose Baldwin lets a little lie escape. She forgot there is no such thing as a “little” lie. Knowing she has to go and confess that she lied, she allows herself to be talked into playing The Piece Maker’s Dating Game and somehow ends up “fake dating” her partner. Derek Fields is a rancher intent on buying his grandparents' farm. His wife left him, and he’s ready to come home and settle down.

Armstrong Brant stepped between Glory Baldwin and a charging cow. He ended up with broken ribs and a farm and family he couldn’t care for through the pain. At the prompting of the Sweet Water Piece Makers Quilting Club, Glory volunteered to watch Armstrong’s four children while he recovers. She owed him, and it made sense. But she never expected to fall for a man with four boys.

Dawn Vasquez never takes life too seriously. But when she rescues a golden retriever named Gigi, Dawn begins to imagine what it'd be like to settle down and let someone rely on her for a change. Unfortunately, Adam Dearborn - a handsome, hopelessly buttoned-up cattle rancher in need of a guide dog - has also fallen in love with the little ball of fluff and stubbornly insists that no other animal will do.

Serious and quiet, Silas hardly seems like the kind of man who would be out drag racing in the wee hours of the night. Unwilling heir of her family’s multimillion-dollar ranching operation, Gladys Lefrak is a daredevil who vows to never settle down. And she loves drag racing–with Silas beside her. But her 25th birthday is fast approaching, and the conditions of her inheritance state that she must be married by that date.

Bellamy Levine is the highest paid actress in Hollywood, but she just inked her name on her fifth divorce settlement and her personal life is in shambles. Again. She vows it’s for the last time. That’s why she’s rented the entire vacation spot in rural North Dakota and intends to spend the holidays alone, figuring out what she’s going to do with her life.