COMING JUNE 18, 2024
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Mack Anders will do anything for his wife, Daisy. Even die. With the woman he loves fading away from Alzheimer’s, Mack fakes his own passing. The insurance makes certain that Daisy will be taken care of with dignity and comfort until the end. In a lonesome cabin in the Wyoming wilderness, he lives off the grid with nothing but thoughts of the past to keep him company and the belief that Daisy is better off without him.
Strong-willed eighteen-year-old Brandi has just been released from juvie. Willing to risk everything to save her young brother, Sy, from their unstable mother, Brandi takes him on the run. Her destination is their aunt’s house in Casper. Maybe there she can finally find a stable home for Sy. After a busted tire strands them in the remote wildlands of Wyoming, they cross paths with Mack. Brandi quickly realizes this quiet stranger might be their only hope of reaching safety.
On an unpredictable road ahead, escape brings these three kindred souls together. But the real world is closing in, and to help Brandi and Sy, Mack will have to come back to life in ways he never imagined.
Vega Jones escapes an abusive relationship with nothing but her two-month-old baby and the van she grew up in. Her destination is a small Ohio town her late vagabond mother left years ago. It’s one full of nobodies, her mother warned. That makes it the ideal refuge for Vega to lie low, feel safe, and maybe learn more about a past her mother never spoke of.
Vega warms to the town and to new acquaintances like Heff, the young deputy and artist who prefers his yard art to actual policing, and empathetic Eve, a local farmer whose near-death experience gave her more than just her life back. But even in this welcoming community, there’s an undercurrent of something unsettled, talk of a tragedy that unfolded in the woods years ago, and a mystery connected to Vega in ways she couldn’t have anticipated.
As a mother on the run and following a path of mounting risks and illuminating secrets, Vega discovers that even during the darkest of times, there’s light in unexpected places.
“The authentic characters and their realistic struggles make this introspective tale entirely believable. Vega’s resilience is sure to endear her to readers.”
—Publishers Weekly
Orphaned at a young age and witness to her brother’s decline into addiction, Nora Martinez has every excuse to question the fairness of life. Instead, the openhearted librarian in the small Colorado community of Silver Ridge sees only promise. She holds on to the hope that she’ll be reunited with her missing brother and does what she can at the town library. It’s her home away from home, but it’s also a sanctuary for others who, like her brother, could use a second chance.
There’s Marlene, an elderly loner who believes that, apart from her husband, there’s little good left in the world; Jasmine, a troubled teen; Lewis, a homeless man with lost hope and one last wish; and Vlado, the security guard who loves a good book and, from afar, Nora.
As a winter storm buries Silver Ridge, this collection of lonely hearts takes shelter in the library. They’ll discover more about each other, and themselves, than they ever knew—and Nora will be forced to question her brother’s disappearance in ways she never could have imagined. No matter how stranded in life they feel, this fateful night could be the new beginning they didn’t think was possible.
"Richly layered and compassionate to its core, this story of genuine friendships transcending age and class, and the power of rebuilding, will move fans of Catherine Ryan Hyde, Jan Karon, and Kristin Hannah."
—Booklist
"Payne (Memories in the Drift) has crafted an emotional, character-driven novel about addiction, perceptions of others, and learning to let go. The Night of Many Endings is ultimately one of hope as the darkness brings forth the dawn of many beginnings."
—Library Journal
My name is Claire. I’m thirty-six years old. It’s September. I know what I’m doing and why I am here…for now.
Ten years ago, Claire Hines lost her unborn child―and her short-term memory―following a heartrending tragedy. With notebooks, calendars, to-do lists, fractured pieces of the past, and her father’s support, Claire makes it through each day, hour by hour, with relative confidence. She also has a close-knit community of friends in the remote Alaskan town where she teaches guitar to the local children. It’s there, in the reminders.
As determined as Claire is to regain all that’s disappeared, she’d prefer to live without some memories of her before life―especially those of her mother, Alice, who abandoned her, and Tate, the ex-boyfriend who broke her heart.
But when Alice and Tate return from the past, there’ll be so much more for Claire to relive. And to discover for the very first time. Through healing, forgiveness, and second chances, Claire may realize that what’s most important might not be re-creating the person she was, but embracing the possibilities of being the person she is.
PRAISE FOR MEMORIES IN THE DRIFT
“Masterfully plotted with a narrative voice reminiscent of What Alice Forgot and How the Penguins Saved Veronica, Memories in the Drift shines.”
—Booklist (starred review)
“Memories in the Drift is an unforgettable story about forgiveness, compassion, and the incredible power of community, offering us a poignant reminder of what real courage looks like, and what it truly means to fight for the life you were meant to live.”
—Barbara Davis, bestselling author of The Last of the Moon Girls
“A stunning story of Claire’s attempt to unravel her sharpest, defining moments as her memory resets each day, erasing both new hurts and kindness. Set within a small, Alaskan town, as beautiful as it is unforgiving, Memories in the Drift is your next emotional must-read.”
—Kristin Fields, author of A Lily in the Light and A Frenzy of Sparks
Thirty-two-year-old Jess Abbot has lost everything: her job, her apartment, and—most heart-wrenching—her eight-year-old son, Chance, to a tragic accident. Haunted by memories and grief, Jess packs what’s left and heads for the small mountain town of Pine Lake, where she takes a position as caregiver to an eccentric old woman.
A rumored clairvoyant, Lucy is strange but welcoming and immediately intuits Jess as a “loose end” in need of closure. But Jess isn’t the only guest in Lucy’s large Victorian home. There’s also Star, a teenage runaway with a secret too painful to share. And the little boy with heart-shaped stones, who comes with a hope for reconciliation—and a warning.
Soon Jess learns that she’s not the only lost soul running from the ghosts of the past. She and Star have been brought together for a reason: to be saved by the very thing that destroyed them.
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PRAISE FOR THE SECRETS OF LOST STONES
"Stories of loss are often moving, but rarely are they as fulfilling and redemptive as this stirring debut...Payne spins a fast-paced tale full of tenderness and sparked with magic, illustrating how the future can transcend the past and proving that forgiveness is the greatest virtue."
— Sonja Yoerg, Washington Post bestselling author of True Places
"A compellling story of hidden secrets and the forgiveness that finds us when we least expect it."
— Kerry Anne King, bestselling author of Whisper Me This
"If Alice Hoffman had written The Shack, it would've turned out like The Secrets of Lost Stones ...an otherworldly, beautiful tale in which people who are grieving and lonely get the chance to find their way home. But will they take it?"
— Wendy Webb, #1 Amazon bestselling author of Daughters of the Lake