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Ruby
In the heart of the bayou, Ruby Landry lives a simple, happy life. But innocence can't last forever....The only family Ruby Landry has ever known are her loving guardian, Grandmère Catherine, a Cajun spiritual healer, and her drunken, outcast Grandpère Jack. Although thinking about her dead mother and mysterious father sometimes makes her feel as mournful as the wind sighing through the Spanish moss, Ruby is grateful for all she has. Her life is filled with hope and promise... especially when her attraction for handsome Paul Tate blossoms into a mysterious, wonderful love. But Paul's wealthy parents forbid him to associate with a poor Landry, and Grandmère urges her to follow her dream of becoming a great painter, foreseeing a time when Ruby will be surrounded with riches in the dazzling city of New Orleans! Yet she cannot know how close that uncertain future looms....In a faded photograph, Ruby glimpses for the first time the image of her father -- and learns of a shameful deception and a shocking scheme of blackmail that now must come to light. Stunned by these revelations, she is devastated when Grandmère dies, leaving her to seek out her father in his vast New Orleans mansion. There, in a house of lies, madness, and cruel torment. Ruby clings to her memories of Paul to keep her heart alive. For only their love can save her now...
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Into The Garden
Misty, Star, Jade and Cat first came together in Dr Marlowe's group therapy session. One by one, each of the Wildflowers told her own story and bravely unveiled the inner wounds inflicted by years of lies, deceit and untold family secrets. Each revealed the shocking tales of how their parents hurt them, used them, or simply abandoned them. But then the sessions ended, and the girls didn't know if they would ever see each other again. Now they are coming together again in Jade's parents' sprawling, opulent mansion where the four will rekindle their bonds of friendship and trust. But this time it will be different. Today, in the mansion's attic Star, Jade, Cat and Misty will swear to tell the real truth, the shattering secrets that lie deep within them. And once the darkest secret of all has been spoken aloud, there will be no turning back. For there may be some things the Wildflowers should leave buried forever...
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If There Be Thorns
Chris and Cathy made such a loving home for fourteen-year-old Jory -- so handsome, so gentle. And for Bart,who had such a dazzling imagination for a nine year old.Then the lights came on in the house next door. Soon the Old Lady in Black was there, watching them, guarded by her strange old butler. Soon she had Bart over for cookies and ice cream and asked him to call her "Grandmother".And soon Bart's transformation began...Fed by the hint of terrible things about his mother and father...leading him into shocking acts of violence.Now while this little boy trembles on the edge of madness, his anguished parents await the climax to a horror that flowered in an attic long ago, a horror whose thorns are still wet with blood, still tipped with fire.
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Rose
.When she danced, she could dream --Beautiful and talented, Rose was the apple of her father's eye. But when he is tragically taken from her, his carefully hidden secrets destroy the only life Rose has ever known -- and lead her into a world of luxury unlike any she has imagined. Rose is whisked off to a prestigious private school, while her mother falls into a hateful whirlwind of wealth and greed. But a most unlikely person will show Rose the true meaning of family -- and give her the courage to follow her dream...
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Jade
"Tears are more private than smiles.... Why should I share anything with these girls?"Jade had listened to Misty and Star tell their stories. Now it is her time to speak. But she can't. For while the others in Dr. Marlowe's therapy group had exposed their hidden pains and secret pasts, they are nothing like Jade. They don't know what it is like to be a pawn in a courtroom battle too hateful to ever forgive.Or that escaping the madness had lured Jade into an ordeal too traumatic to forget....
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Pearl in the Mist
"Fate whisked Ruby from a simple life in the Louisiana Bayou. But her new riches bring more treachery than happiness...Even after a year as a Dumas, Ruby still wonders at the splendor of the family's New Orleans mansion, and rejoices in the love of the father she had never known. But true happiness in her new home is as elusive as d swamp mist. Ruby must carefully avoid a venomous enemy: her stepmother, Daphne, who cringes and sneers at her backwater upbringing. And Ruby's every effort to befriend her twin sister, Gisselle -- especially since Gisselle's crippling accident -- is answered with bitterness and vicious backstabbing.Even after a year as a Dumas, Ruby still wonders at the splendor of the family's New Orleans mansion, and rejoices in the love of the father she had never known. But true happiness in her new home is as elusive as d swamp mist. Ruby must carefully avoid a venomous enemy: her stepmother, Daphne, who cringes and sneers at her backwater upbringing. And Ruby's every effort to befriend her twin sister, Gisselle -- especially since Gisselle's crippling accident -- is answered with bitterness and vicious backstabbing. "
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Ice
Ice wishes she could just become invisible... Ice hides from the world behind a shield of silence. And that is what her mother hates about her. All she wants is a normal daughter who wears makeup and sexy clothes to attract boys. But Ice gets her chance to shine when she reveals her beautiful singing voice. And her extraordinary gift may become her saving grace when tragedy and deception almost destroy her dreams...