Sweet Beginnings


Book Description

A little hope changes everything... Artist Hope Ryan dreams of seeing her artwork displayed in top galleries again, but a devastating betrayal left her unable to paint as she once did. Instead, she settles for creating unique items for tourists and wedding couples in her hometown. Although Hope longs for more, she refuses to venture outside her comfort zone, fearing the heartbreak and disappointment of failing again. Highly paid sportscaster Josh Cooper never overcame his bitterness after an injury on the football field sidelined him for good. Finding his solace in alcohol and women only made matters worse until he finally hit rock bottom. Now, he’s looking for redemption. When he’s asked to fly a wedding gown across the country for one of the victims of his wrongs, he doesn't hesitate. Arriving in Indigo Bay, Josh finds himself captivated by the artist creating the wedding favors. He knows exactly what he wants—Hope—even though she deserves someone better. Can Josh prove he’s more than a broken has-been? Or will he not only lose Hope but also lose himself?




Sweet Beginnings: A Candle Beach Novel


Book Description

A life-changing inheritance...but not in the way she expects. Dahlia thought settling her aunt’s estate in the seaside town where she’d spent her childhood summers would be easy – a one- or two-day job at the most. Discovering that she’s inherited a crumbling house and a failing bookstore puts a wrench in that plan. With a nasty trustee who is determined to keep her from selling her inheritance, and Garrett, a handsome neighbor who challenges her at every step, Dahlia doesn’t expect to have a future there. However, Candle Beach grows on her and she sees transformations in herself that she didn’t expect. With happy memories everywhere she turns, her friends begging her to stay, and a developing attraction to Garrett, could Aunt Ruth’s bequest be the key to Dahlia’s happily-ever-after? To begin your vacation to the enchanting seaside town of Candle Beach, grab your copy of Sweet Beginnings now! After you’ve read Sweet Beginnings, you’ll probably want to stay in Candle Beach for a while. Continue the series to find out how each of the women in a circle of friends navigates life, relationships and their own dreams for the future. Book 1: Sweet Beginnings – Dahlia's story Book 2: Sweet Success – Gretchen's story Book 3: Sweet Promises – Maggie's story Book 4: Sweet Memories – Angel’s story Book 5: Sweet History – Charlotte's story Book 6: Sweet Matchmaking – Sarah's story Book 7: Sweet Surprises – Maura's story - coming soon




To Sweet Beginnings in Sycamore Hill


Book Description

When a disgraced woman's return entangles the lives of five couples, twenty-four hours changes everything forever. A whistleblower speaks up, and she tips the first domino of a twenty-four-hour chain reaction on the eve of Sycamore Hill's most important holiday event. A baker gets a career-making opportunity, a reporter chases the truth, a woman faces her greatest fear, and a lost child returns as the dominos continue to fall. The residents of Sycamore Hill approach a new year, and five couples celebrate sweet beginnings filled with endless possibilities in this short story sequence introducing a new five-book series. If you like small-town, faith-filled, contemporary romances that can make you laugh and cry, grab your copy of To Sweet Beginnings in Sycamore Hill.




The Indigo Bay Sweet Romance Collection


Book Description

Visit the quaint coastal town of Indigo Bay where love is always in the air... From vacation romances to second chances, you’ll find sigh-worthy, small-town romance in this complete collection of Melissa McClone’s stories from the multi-author Indigo Bay Sweet Romance series. These four stories form their own miniseries, so find a cozy reading spot, and escape to Indigo Bay, South Carolina where happily ever afters are guaranteed. Also included is Jenny, the prequel to the rest of the books. This set includes: Jenny (prequel): Jenny Hanford never expects anything to happen the night she whimsically throws her requirements for true love into the ocean. Thirteen months later, however, she hears back from the man who found her bottle. Could he be her dream hero come to life? Sweet Holiday Wishes: Frequent deployments and training exercises kept Army Ranger Staff Sergeant Mitch Hamilton away from home, and he had no idea how taken for granted Lizzy felt until she asked him for a divorce. He'll do whatever It takes to save his marriage. But will it be enough? Sweet Beginnings: Josh Cooper's journey to sobriety inspires Hope Ryan to take charge of her own life. But as their relationship straddles the line between friendship and romance, can Hope and Josh find the strength to overcome their pasts and build a life together? Sweet Do-Over: When architect Marley Patterson turns down Von Ryan's marriage proposal, she realizes too late she made a huge mistake. She wants a second chance, but after breaking his heart once, will he give her a do-over? Sweet Yuletide: Two strangers end up how housesitting together over the holidays. A sprig of mistletoe makes Sheridan DeMarco and Mikey Patterson forget their plans to stay away from each other. But will their happily ever after get tossed out along with the discarded wrapping paper and tinsel? If you enjoy romance and beach reads, you’ll love these stories set in the quaint, coastal town of Indigo Bay!




Sweet Cakes, Long Journey


Book Description

Around the turn of the twentieth century, and for decades thereafter, Oregon had the second largest Chinese population in the United States. In terms of geographical coverage, Portland�s two Chinatowns (one an urban area of brick commercial structures, one a vegetable-gardening community of shanty dwellings) were the largest in all of North America. Marie Rose Wong chronicles the history of Portland�s Chinatowns from their early beginnings in the 1850s until the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act in the 1940s, drawing on exhaustive primary material from the National Archives, including more than six thousand individual immigration files, census manuscripts, letters, and newspaper accounts. She examines both the enforcement of Exclusion Laws in the United States and the means by which Chinese immigrants gained illegal entry into the country. The spatial and ethnic makeup of the combined "Old Chinatown" afforded much more contact and accommodation between Chinese and non-Chinese people than is usually assumed to have occurred in Portland, and than actually may have occurred elsewhere. Sweet Cakes, Long Journey explores the contributions that Oregon�s leaders and laws had on the development of Chinese American community life, and the role that the early Chinese immigrants played in determining their own community destiny and the development of their Chinatown in its urban form and vernacular architectural expression. Sweet Cakes, Long Journey is an original and notable addition to the history of Portland and to the field of Asian American studies.




Quilt As-You-Go Made Clever


Book Description

Jera Brandvig’s signature quilt-as-you-go method is back with brand new techniques and ideas! Create pretty projects using small, manageable pieces of fabric that can be made into different shapes and sizes from a creative and fresh perspective. The follow up to best-sellers Quilt-as-you-go Made Modern and Quilt-as-you-go Made Vintage, this book introduces how to quilt individual circles, hexagons, and easy 3D quilt blocks. Also, learn to add extra creative flair with embellishments such as lace and ribbon to your quilt. Once you’ve created your treasured masterpiece, enjoy learning Jera’s tips for how to tastefully display quilts as elegant home decor. Create beginner and precut-friendly quilts in multiple styles and sizes Learn various techniques such as making reversible quilts with folded circles or hexagons, making 3-dimensional flower blocks, and embellishing with ribbons and lace Includes special chapter showing Jera’s ideas for using quilts as home decor




The Book of Story Beginnings


Book Description

After moving with her parents to Iowa, twelve-year-old Lucy discovers a mysterious notebook that can bring stories to life and which has a link to the 1914 disappearance of her great uncle.




Cincinnati Candy: A Sweet History


Book Description

For more than a century, Cincinnati's candy industry satisfied our national sweet tooth. Dive into its specialties and past. Stick and drop candies appeared here long before their Civil War popularity. Opera creams, rich fondant-filled chocolate candy brought here by Robert Hiner Putman, provided decadence. Candy corn, which the Goelitz Company introduced to the United States before World War I, remains a ubiquitous treat. Marpro Products created and popularized the marshmallow cone candy. Doscher invented the French Chew and made caramel corn a baseball concession at Redland Field decades before Cracker Jack became synonymous with our national pastime. The city's many Greek and Macedonian immigrants influenced the unique Queen City tradition of finishing a Cincinnati-style threeway of spaghetti, chili and cheddar with a chocolate mint. Local food etymologist Dann Woellert tells these stories and more in this delectably sweet history.




It's My Company Too!


Book Description

Like college athletes, engaged employees are valuable, but entangled employees, like Olympians, are the ones who take an organization to new heights. What makes these top-performing employees have such an impact on the success of each of their organizations? What encourages their sense of organizational ownership? With deep insight into eight award-winning, market-leading companies, It’s My Company Too! explores how the highest-performing organizations entangle employees, systems, culture, and leadership into a unified drive for excellence. The entangled culture emerges from a unique synergy and magnetism within the organization that is the result of leaders: • Doing extraordinary things • Building an ethical organization • Focusing human capital • Using processes to guide performance • Building self-efficacy and esteem • Developing freedom and responsibility within a culture of discipline • Hardwiring discretionary thinking and actions • Guiding the transformational process Through interviews and extensive field research, the authors analyze how companies across industries tackle internal and external challenges, constructing the pieces of the entanglement puzzle. Along the way, they show you how to develop motivated, involved, and entangled employees who embody an organization’s core values, vision, and mission—and succeed beyond imagination.




Sweet History: A Candle Beach novel #5


Book Description

A whimsical gift shop, a BBQ food truck, and their feuding owners. Charlotte Gray grew up spoiled and privileged but gave it up to make her own way in the world. Years later, she’s fought to get where she is, the owner of a gift shop located in a vintage Airstream trailer in scenic Candle Beach. Everything is perfect until she finds a smelly BBQ food truck parked next to her gift shop one afternoon. The minute she sees it, she knows it’s got to go or her business will be down the tubes. Luke Tisdale was raised by hard-working grandparents in nearby Haven Shores. After attending college on a scholarship and joining the tech world, his company went public and he became a multi-millionaire overnight. Unfortunately, now he doesn’t know whether people like him or his money more. Buying a food truck and moving to Candle Beach seemed like the perfect plan to start over where no one knows about his wealth. What he didn’t expect was to find his best friend Parker’s spoiled little sister standing on the steps of his food truck demanding that he leave. How can Luke and Charlotte forget old history to broker a truce and find a friendship or more? Candle Beach Sweet Romances Book #1: Sweet Beginnings Book #2: Sweet Success Book #3: Sweet Promises Book #4: Sweet Memories Book #5: Sweet History Book #6: Sweet Matchmaking Book #7: Sweet Surprises Book #8: Sweet Sacrifices (coming soon)