New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne brings readers another heartwarming story of community and romance in Blackberry Summer, the first book in the Hope’s Crossing series. Claire Bradford needed a wake-up call. What she didn’t need was a tragic car accident. As a single mom and the owner of a successful bead shop, Claire leads a predictable life in Hope’s Crossing, Colorado. So what if she has no time for romance? At least, that’s what she tells herself, especially when her best friend’s sexy younger brother comes back to town as the new chief of police. But when the accident forces Claire to slow down and lean on others—especially Riley McKnight—she realizes, for the first time, that things need to change. And not just in her own life. The accident—and the string of robberies committed by teenagers that led up to it—is a message to the people of Hope’s Crossing. The sense of community and togetherness had been lost during those tough years. But with a mysterious “Angel of Hope” working to inspire the town, Riley and Claire will find themselves opening up to love and other possibilities by the end of an extraordinary summer… Previously published. Check out the rest of the books in the Hope’s Crossing series: Book 1: Blackberry Summer Book 2: Woodrose Mountain Book 3: Sweet Laurel Falls Book 4: Currant Creek Valley Book 5: Willowleaf Lane Book 6: Christmas in Snowflake Canyon Book 7: Wild Iris Ridge

The summer of 1965 changes the lives of two children in such a way that they will never view life through the eyes of innocence again. Carol Lynn and her cousin Tom are spending the summer with their grandmother on her farm in rural Virginia. It's a quiet little place hiding the secrets, stories, and gossip the darker side of people entertain. It doesn't take the children long to become fascinated by the Horten family living near their grandmother. It's Carol Lynn's burning interest in the Horten family that leads them to trespass on their property. She wants to know the secret of the pond. It's on one of these forays that she meets Horten's stepdaughter, Clovie, a pitiful waif who longs to learn how to read. When Carol Lynn makes friends with the girl, it sets in motion events past and present that expose deception, incest, murder, suicide, and infanticide. When the truth is discovered, those involved are changed forever. The startling conclusion will take many by surprise.

Three stories of small-town happily-ever-afters and sweet second chances from New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne! The last thing Claire Bradford has time for in Blackberry Summer is romance—in fact, the single mother has her hands full, what with two kids, a thriving business, an unreliable ex-husband and an accident that has repercussions for the whole town. But when her friend's sexy brother, Riley McKnight, is suddenly looking at her in a new light, Claire realizes that her life needs to change—and that the handsome younger police officer may be just the ticket! In Woodrose Mountain, occupational therapist Evie Blanchard is recovering from an emotional year—and she's vowed not to work again. But self-made millionaire and single dad Brodie Thorne has vowed to do whatever it takes to help his daughter, Taryn, recover from the accident that left Hope's Crossing in crisis. And with laughter, courage and more than a little help from the kindhearted people of Hope's Crossing, Taryn may get the healing she deserves—and Evie and Brodie might just find a love they could never have imagined. Spring should bring renewal, but in Sweet Laurel Falls, Maura McKnight-Parker finds she cannot escape the past. Still reeling from one loss, she is stunned at the reappearance of her older daughter, Sage—and Jackson Lange, her first love. Jackson never knew she was pregnant when he fled Hope's Crossing all those years ago—but he never forgot Maura. This fragile family has secrets aplenty, but Maura and Jackson—and Sage—have to face up to them to find the bright future that awaits them. Look for RaeAnne Thayne's latest heartwarming title Evergreen Springs, part of her Haven Point series.

As Robert Parker's body is lowered into the grave, Herman Camm introduces himself to the mourning family. He is a beady-eyed, small-framed man with nice clothes and hat - and he is about to drastically change the lives of three women: Mae Lou Parker; her daughter Carrie; and Pearl Brown. On Christmas Eve, trouble arrives when Carrie reveals Herman is abusing her. Mae Lou is fed up with Herman spending time with other women but when she goes to confront him, she finds Herman pointing a gun at her friend Willie. All of the stories converge when Herman is found dead

A faux summer fling seemed like the perfect solution . . . until they start falling in love for real. Teacher Stella Marshall’s summer break has just began, but the gossip is already sizzling: Luke Keegan’s back in town! Stella’s high school crush is all grown up and smolderingly sexy. She might even consider a fling with the former Navy SEAL, if she hadn’t already sworn off all romantic entanglements. But there isn’t a single thing she can do to stop the rumor mill whispering about her and Luke being together—unless . . . A showmance! Luke never thought he’d propose a fake relationship, but it’s the only way to stop the runaway speculation about their love lives. Pretending to date a woman as stunning as Stella is easy. Not actually falling for her is the hard part. Luke isn’t sure he deserves a hometown happy ending, when members of his SEAL team never made it back at all. But there’s real attraction buzzing between him and Stella . . . and he knows she feels it too. Could their faux summer romance lead to true love?

This dictionary aims to help users to find the most appropriate word to use on a wide range of occasions. It is designed in particular for students, those writing reports, letters and speeches, and crossword solvers, but is also useful as a general word reference. Special features include: an alphabetical A-Z listing; numbered senses for words with more than one meaning; British and American variants; and specially marked colloquial uses.

Welcome to Berecombe-by-the-Sea for a year of very special celebrations...

A selection of must-read summer novels by bestselling authors, collected here in one volume! In Blackberry Summer by RaeAnne Thayne, single mom Claire suffers an accident that forces her to slow down and lean on others—especially the sexy new chief of police, Riley McKnight. In Suddenly Last Summer by Sarah Morgan, fiery French chef ƒlise Philippe is dealing with the collapse of her café when her old flame, Sean O’Neill, suddenly reappears in town. In No Limits by Lori Foster, a surprise inheritance reunites a mixed martial arts fighter with the woman he’s never forgotten. And in Barefoot Season by Susan Mallery, Carly and Michelle were once inseparable, until a shocking betrayal destroyed their friendship. Now Carly is implicated in the financial disaster lurking behind the Blackberry Island Inn’s cheerful veneer.

Each of the more than seven hundred entries in the dictionary contains a description of the historical background of each of the two types of language, literal and nonliteral, and provides an explanation for the relationship between them. Wherever possible, dates of first record in English are provided, along with the bibliographical sources of these dates; and all of the works that record those terms and expressions are given in coded form as listed in the Key to Works Cited. A Guide to Reading the Entries illustrates the typical form of an entry by analyzing an example from the dictionary that introduces five nonliteral expressions, cites thirteen bibliographical sources, and refers the reader to three other relevant entries by means of cross-references. Following the dictionary proper is a Classification of Terms According to Source, in which nearly three hundred nonliteral terms and expressions are listed under the more than four hundred literal categories from which they derive.

Knowledge of plant names can give insight into largely forgotten beliefs. For example, the common red poppy is known as "Blind Man" due to an old superstitious belief that if the poppy were put to the eyes it would cause blindness. Many plant names derived from superstition, folk lore, or primal beliefs. Other names are purely descriptive and can serve to explain the meaning of the botanical name. For example, Beauty-Berry is the name given to the American shrub that belongs to the genus Callicarpa. Callicarpa is Greek for beautiful fruit. Still other names come from literary sources providing rich detail of the transmission of words through the ages.Conceived as part of the author's wider interest in plant and tree lore and ethnobotanical studies, this fully revised edition of Elsevier's Dictionary of Plant Names and Their Origins contains over 30,000 vernacular and literary English names of plants. Wild and cultivated plants alike are identified by the botanical name. Further detail provides a brief account of the meaning of the name and detailed commentary on common usage.* Includes color images * Inclusive of all Latin terms with vernacular derivatives * The most comprehensive guide for plant scientists, linguists, botanists, and historians