The Scent of Rain and Lightning
by Nancy Pickard
One beautiful summer afternoon, from her bedroom window on the second floor, Jody Linder is unnerved to see her three uncles parking their pickups in front of her parents’ house—or what she calls her parents’ house, even though Jay and Laurie Jo Linder have been gone almost all of Jody’s life. “What is this fearsome thing I see?” the young high school English teacher whispers, mimicking Shakespeare. Polished boots, pressed jeans, fresh white shirts, Stetsons—her uncles’ suspiciously clean visiting clothes are a disturbing sign.
The three bring shocking news: The man convicted of murdering Jody’s father is being released from prison and returning to the small town of Rose, Kansas. It has been twenty-six years since that stormy night when, as baby Jody lay asleep in her crib, her father was shot and killed and her mother disappeared, presumed dead. Neither the protective embrace of Jody’s uncles nor the safe haven of her grandparents’ ranch could erase the pain caused by Billy Crosby on that catastrophic night.
Now Billy Crosby has been granted a new trial, thanks in large part to the efforts of his son, Collin, a lawyer who has spent most of his life trying to prove his father’s innocence. As Jody lives only a few doors down from the Crosbys, she knows that sooner or later she’ll come face-to-face with the man who she believes destroyed her family.
What she doesn’t expect are the heated exchanges with Collin. Having grown up practically side by side in this very small town, Jody and Collin have had a long history of carefully avoiding each other’s eyes. Now Jody discovers that underneath their antagonism is a shared sense of loss that no one else could possibly understand. As she revisits old wounds, startling revelations compel her to uncover the dangerous truth about her family’s tragic past.
Engrossing, lyrical, and suspenseful, The Scent of Rain and Lightning captures the essence of small-town America—its heartfelt intimacy and its darkest secrets—where through struggle and hardship people still dare to hope for a better future. For Jody Linder, maybe even love.
The House on Olive Street
by Robyn Carr
The loss of their close friend draws four women together. And a summer spent sorting through personal effects offers the perfect challenge—and the perfect escape.
Sable—her bestselling novels have made her a star, but the woman who has everything, in fact, has nothing but a past she is desperate to hide
Elly—the intellectual who has hidden herself within the walls of academia, afraid to admit she is tired of being alone
Barbara Ann—the talent behind twenty-six romance novels wakes up one day to discover she's lost control of her career, her sanity and her family
Beth—her popular mysteries have become the only way she can fight against the secret tyranny of an abusive husband
In the house on Olive Street, away from their troubles, the four women discover something marvelous: themselves. And along the way they realize a dream. For, in telling the story of a remarkable woman, their own lives begin to change.
Sable—her bestselling novels have made her a star, but the woman who has everything, in fact, has nothing but a past she is desperate to hide
Elly—the intellectual who has hidden herself within the walls of academia, afraid to admit she is tired of being alone
Barbara Ann—the talent behind twenty-six romance novels wakes up one day to discover she's lost control of her career, her sanity and her family
Beth—her popular mysteries have become the only way she can fight against the secret tyranny of an abusive husband
In the house on Olive Street, away from their troubles, the four women discover something marvelous: themselves. And along the way they realize a dream. For, in telling the story of a remarkable woman, their own lives begin to change.
