Akron Public Library

"In the early 20th century, new schoolteacher Beth Thatcher is assigned a post in a remote mining community in Western Canada. There her courage--and her heart--will be tested in unexpected ways"--

After his graduation from college, Thomas Ollenburger is filled with big dreams and many questions. What will he do for a career? Should he marry? Where will he call home? Torn between his Mennonite roots on the Kansas prairie and his love for the big city of Boston, as well as his affection for a girl in each location, Thomas is unsure of his place in the world. He has always sought God's leading in his decision-making, but now it seems as if God...

Having served his sentence for the unintentional crime that derailed all his youthful plans, Levi Grant looks to start over in the town of Spencer, Texas. He needs a place where no one knows his past, but small towns seldom leave room for secrets. When the mountain-sized blacksmith walks into Eden Spencer's lending library, however, Levi is faced with a young woman who's determination to swear off all men is harder than the steel in his forge. ...

A mother's tragedy, a daughter's desire and the 7000 mile journey that changed their lives. In 1896 Norwegian American Helga Estby accepted a wager from the fashion industry to walk from Spokane, Washington to New York City within seven months in an effort to earn $10,000. Bringing along her nineteen year-old daughter Clara, the two made their way on the 3500-mile trek by following the railroad tracks and motivated by the money they needed to save...

"Dr. Jeremiah Vaughan came to rural Alaska in 1935, hoping for a better future. But the truth about his past could ruin his chance at love"--

Jericho "J.T." Tucker wants nothing to do with Coventry, Texas's new dressmaker. He's all too familiar with her kind--shallow women more devoted to fashion than true beauty. Yet this seamstress is not at all what he expected. Hannah Richards is confounded by the man who runs the livery. The unsmiling fellow riles her with his arrogant assumptions and gruff manner while at the same time stirring her heart with unexpected acts of kindness. Which side...

Without rain or topsoil, Anna Mae Phipps and her husband Harley struggle to provide for their two young children on their family farm. With another baby on the way, Harley sells his mules and travels a hundred miles to earn money building an elaborate WPA monument. But after only receiving Harley's first paycheck, Anna Mae grows increasingly desperate as months drag on without even a word from her husband.

"Adrift in a raft after a deadly ship explosion, nine people struggle for survival at sea. Three days pass. Short on water, food and hope, they spot a man floating in the waves. They pull him in. 'Thank the Lord we found you,' a passenger says. 'I am the Lord,' the man whispers....In The Stranger in the Lifeboat, Albom keeps us guessing until the end: Is this strange and quiet man really who he claims to be? What actually happened to cause the explosion?...

In this Jane Austen-era romance, a handsome new estate owner discovers a mysterious woman living on his property and he's determined to uncover her secrets.

Adelaide Proctor longs to find a real-life storybook hero to claim as her own. But when a husband-hunting debacle leaves her humiliated, she interviews for a governess position on a remote Texas sheep ranch and vows to leave her silly romantic yearnings behind. Gideon Wescott left his privileged life in England to make a name for himself in America's wool industry, never expecting to end up with a child. To his dismay, five-year-old Isabella hasn't...