The City Breaks Its Promise


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Welcome to Hunts Point, New York City. They called it the Point, a small neighborhood in the South Bronx. Known for its red lights district, violence and poverty, Hunt's Point is a tough place to survive. Spiro Tobick and his sister Sephrina were born during the crack epidemic to two homeless addicts. Eventually addiction took its toll on them and after their parents disappeared Spiro was forced to take responsibility before he was even thirteen. The streets were no match for Spiro's desire and ambitions to allow his sister to be as comfortable as possible. He sold candy on the subway, stole from stores and sold weed during the day and then cleaned up chop shops, ran errands for prostitutes and worked in trap houses at night. Spiro did all he could to protect his sister, but eventually they were caught and sent through Foster Care. After years of being tortured by their Foster Father and ravaged by the system their cries are heard and their Uncle adopts them. Ten years later, tension reaches its peak in the relationship between Spiro and Sephrina and she departs on a Heroin binge. Worried sick, Spiro accepts a deadly task from his Uncle who is the boss of Hunts Point's major crime syndicate. Spiro realizes this would advance his request to get a job in Manhattan away from Hunts Point. Spiro tries aimlessly to get away but the past wouldn't let him go. With a heart simmering with guilt and memories of a painful past, Spiro searches for answers and his sister, finding so much more in the process. With so much to lose, will Spiro balance his life without losing himself? Will he fall to deep in the process? Or will Sephrina become yet another victim of the promises of the city?




A Multicultural Christmas


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What is your attitude toward the holiday season? Do you have the "Christmas Spirit"? Do you refuse to observe such "pagan celebrations"? Or do you just say, "Bah, Humbug!"? Rosemary St. Nichols is a single mother (and a "Recovering Catholic") who has just moved to River City with her son Jonathan. Here, she meets Teniqua Johnson and her son Mychal, who celebrate Kwanzaa rather than Christmas. After a Nativity Scene placed outside City Hall causes controversy in the community, Rosemary wonders, "If even churches can't agree to cooperate, how in the world will all the people in River City ever learn to put aside our differences-if even for one day?" There are no angelic visitations or "Christmas miracles" here, but the residents of Riverside Apartments receive a lesson in cooperation, not to mention living together in harmony and mutual respect. Learn more about your own holiday traditions, and those of others-as well as about those who don't celebrate the season at all-in this moving journey of discovery and rediscovery of what the holiday season is all about. (Readers of the author's earlier novel Tattered Pilgrims will be pleased to see the reappearance of several of its characters in this book.)







August 1-23


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The Color of a Promise


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From USA Today bestselling author Julianne MacLean comes the next instalment in her popular Color of Heaven Series, where people are affected by real life magic and miracles that change everything they once believed about life and love. Having spent a lifetime in competition with his older brother Aaron—who always seemed to get the girl—Jack Peterson leaves the U.S. to become a foreign correspondent in the Middle East. When a roadside bomb forces him to return home to recover from his wounds, he quickly becomes the most celebrated journalist on television, and is awarded his own prime time news program. Now, wealthy and successful beyond his wildest dreams, Jack believes he has finally found where he is meant to be. But when a 747 explodes in the sky over his summer house in Cape Elizabeth, all hell breaks loose as the wreckage crashes to the ground. He has no idea that his life is about to take another astonishing turn… Meg Andrews grew up with a fear of flying, but when it meant she wouldn’t be able to visit her boyfriend on the opposite side of the country, she confronted her fear head-on and earned her pilot’s license. Now, a decade later, she is a respected airline crash investigator, passionate about her work, to the point of obsession. When she arrives in the picturesque seaside community of Cape Elizabeth to investigate a massive airline disaster, she meets the famous and charismatic Jack Peterson, who has his own personal fascination with plane crashes. As the investigation intensifies, Meg and Jack feel a powerful, inexplicable connection to each other. Soon, they realize that the truth behind the crash—and the mystery of their connection—can only be discovered through the strength of the human spirit, the timeless bonds of family, and the gift of second chances. Praise for the novels in the Color of Heaven Series: “I never know what to say about a Julianne MacLean book, except to say YOU HAVE TO READ IT." - AllRomanceReader.ca "The Color of Time is an emotionally charged, riveting exploration of how our lives may change within the scope of a single event. And sometimes what we want isn’t always what we need. Fabulous, thought-provoking read." — Tanya Anne Crosby, New York Times bestselling author "I was so pulled into this story I thought at times I WAS the character. Julianne MacLean certainly grabbed me with this book. I absolutely loved it! ...It all felt so real. It's like Alice falling through the rabbit hole, I got to live out someone else's life if only through my own imagination." - Micky at Goodreads "Wow! This is one of those "l couldn't put it down" books. The penny dropped right at the end of this amazing story as to why it is titled "The Color of Forever". Believe me when I say that this is a page turner like you have never read before." - Zena at Goodreads "It makes the reader think about what could have been, and loves past, and makes you wonder if you are leading the life you're meant to be leading. Thought-provoking, emotionally-intense and riveting, Ms. MacLean delivers another 5-star romance in The Color of Forever" - Nancy at Goodreads "There are just not enough words for me to explain how much I loved this book! " - Debi at Goodreads




The Independent


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Poetical Works


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