Katherine Center

"From the author of Happiness for Beginners comes an unforgettable love story about finding joy even in the darkest of circumstances. Margaret Jacobsen is just about to step into the bright future she's worked for so hard and so long: a new dream job, a fiancé she adores, and the promise of a picture perfect life just around the corner. Then, suddenly, on what should have been one of the happiest days of her life, everything she worked for is taken away in a brief, tumultuous moment. In the hospital and forced to face the possibility that nothing will ever be the same again, Maggie must confront the unthinkable. First there is her fiancé, Chip, who wallows in self pity while simultaneously expecting to be forgiven. Then, there's her sister Kit, who shows up after pulling a three-year vanishing act. Finally, there's Ian, her physical therapist, the one the nurses said was too tough for her. Ian, who won't let her give in to her pity, and who sees her like no one has seen her before. Sometimes the last thing you want is the one thing you need. Sometimes we all need someone to catch us when we fall. And sometimes love can find us in the least likely place we would ever expect. How to Walk Away is Katherine Center at her very best?a masterpiece of a novel that is both hopeful and hilarious; truthful and wise; tender and brave"--

Crazy Aunt Jean has offered Libby an escape from her hypercritical mother--a job and a place to live on her farm in the Texas Hill Country. Life on Aunt Jean's goat farm is both more wonderful and more mysterious than Libby could have imagined.

If her abusive husband hadn't tried to kill her and her beloved dog Lucie, Helen Ward might never have left her million-dollar home and run far away. Now Helen's changed her identity and moved across the country, hopeful that she can be safe, happy, maybe even loved.

Deck the Hounds by David Rosenfelt Attorney Andy Carpenter can't resist helping a canine in need. So when a homeless man with a dog is attacked, Andy steps in to help—only to discover that the man, Don Carrigan, is wanted for murder. Believing someone is framing Carrigan, Andy takes the case. But who would set up a homeless veteran with no obvious connection to the victim? Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center Cassie Hanwell is a tough-as-nails firefighter who plays by the rules better than any man. But underneath her heroic exterior lies a deeper story. When circumstances require that she move back home, she must face painful memories she's been smothering for years. Can she learn that love is a fire she shouldn't put out?

Dr. Garrett Gibson, England's only female physician, and Ethan Ransom, a former Scotland Yard detective with mysterious loyalties, share a one-night stand before becoming embroiled in a dangerous mission that is complicated by their growing feelings for one another.

Piling everything she owns into her car, Lanie leaves family and friends behind - all so her husband can realise his dreams of becoming a professional musician. But, somewhere in the eye of her personal hurricane, it hits Lanie that she once had dreams too. If only she could remember what they were. Fifteen years, three babies, and more pounds than she's willing to count after she said 'I do', Lanie longs desperately to feel like her old self again. It's time to fish her va-va-voom out of the nappy bin and find the woman she was before motherhood capsiSed her existence - harder said than done, when by finding herself she seems to be losing everything else in the process.

Sarah Harper isn’t sure if the stupid decisions she sometimes makes are good choices in disguise—or if they’re really just stupid. But either way, after forwarding an inappropriate email to her entire company, she suddenly finds herself out of a job. So she goes home to Houston—and her sister, Mackie—for Thanksgiving. But before Sarah can share her troubles with her sister, she learns that Mackie has some woes of her own: After years of trying, Mackie’s given up on having a baby—and plans to sell on eBay the entire nursery she’s set up. Which gives Sarah a brilliant idea—an idea that could fix everyone’s problems. An idea that gives Sarah the chance to take care of her big sister for once—instead of the other way around. But nothing worthwhile is ever easy. After a decade away, Sarah is forced to confront one ghost from her past after another: the father she’s lost touch with, the memories of her mother, the sweet guy she dumped horribly in high school. Soon everything that matters is on the line—and Sarah can only hope that by changing her life she has changed her luck, too.

She’s rewriting his love story. But can she rewrite her own? Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies—good ones! That win contests! But she’s also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care. Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates—The Charlie Yates! Her personal writing god!—it’s a break too big to pass up. Emma’s younger sister steps in for caretaking duties, and Emma moves to L.A. for six weeks for the writing gig of a lifetime. But what is it they say? Don’t meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone—much less “a failed, nobody screenwriter.” Worse, the romantic comedy he’s written is so terrible it might actually bring on the apocalypse. Plus! He doesn’t even care about the script—it’s just a means to get a different one green-lit. Oh, and he thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme. But Emma’s not going down without a fight. She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself. She will convince him that love stories matter—even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it. But... what if that kiss is accidentally amazing? What if real life turns out to be so much... more real than fiction? What if the love story they’re writing breaks all Emma’s rules—and comes true?

"Offers credible descriptions of first-time motherhood, affecting characters and situations and low-key charm."--Kirkus Reviews"Stellar . . . Center paints an accurate and humorous view of motherhood."--Booklist Jenny Harris always expected that she'd fall in love, get married, and have a baby--in that order. Now, very pregnant and not quite married, she actually doesn't mind that she and her live-in fiance, Dean, accidentally started their family a little earlier than planned; she's happy to have so much to look forward to. But Dean--whom Jenny loves enough to overlook his bad facial hair, his smoking habit, and his total commitment to a cheesy cover band--is acting distant, and not in a pre-wedding-jitters kind of way. The night he runs out for cigarettes and just doesn't come back, he demotes himself from future husband to sperm donor.And the very next day, Jenny goes into labor.In the months that follow, Jenny plunges into a life she never anticipated: single motherhood. At least with the sleep deprivation, sore boobs, and fits of crying (both hers and the baby's), there's not much time to dwell on her broken heart. And things start looking up. She learns how to do everything one-handed, makes friends in a mommy group, and even manages to give dating tips to her sweet, clueless father--who's trying to court her sassy mother again, fifteen years after their divorce. She also gets to know a handsome, helpful neighbor--with a knack for soothing babies--who invites her out dancing. But Dean is never far from Jenny's thoughts or, it turns out, her doorstep, and in the end Jenny must choose between the old life she thought she wanted and the new life she's been lucky to find.A spirited debut novel with a terrifically appealing voice, a fantastic sense of humor, and a lot of heart, The Bright Side of Disaster reminds us that sometimes it takes the worst-case scenario to show us the best in everything.From the Hardcover edition.