#ComingOfAge

"If you can believe in a person, their world comes with them: the events they lived through, the miracles they witnessed, the lessons they learnt." On a frozen Cambridge night at the turn of the millennium, sixteen-year-old Nick becomes the reluctant saviour of a homeless man named Peter. In the weeks that follow, Peter introduces Nick to his faith, which offers Nick certainty right when he needs it. But as Nick learns more about Peter, he begins to doubt the path he has chosen.

Tessa Garcia dreams of working for the famous Paris-based perfume maker, Francois Coty. But Tessa, and her two equally determined sisters, live in 1900s London, in a strict Spanish-Irish Catholic household, and girls do not have jobs let alone careers. Tessa wants to play her part in the family's sherry importation business and is resolute she will work. Her father is adamant she will not. Meeting Coty is a coming-of-age story about a young woman's battle for independence.

While Theo longs for some guidance through the perils of adolescence, the guidance he knew his family wouldn’t give him, he isn’t prepared for Sprout to present herself and offer it to him. In fact, he doesn’t appear to have a choice since Sprout, sassy and confident about her presence, won’t go away.

Las Vegas, 1982. Brady Wilks, a teenage transplant from the Midwest, navigates life in the dusty suburban outskirts of an aberrant 24-hour town built by the Mob. Outcast as a newcomer, Brady forges a brotherly bond with an older teenage neighbor, Mick, and his friend, Brett. But when Brett unexpectedly moves away, Mick invites a new kid into their pack, squeezing out the last remnants of their childhood in favor of a new world laced with cartel-supplied drugs and the deal of a lifetime.

The ancient city of Chamaris is governed by powerful families. Chief among them is the House of the Leopard, headed by Lord Karkis, the Master of the City. Karkis is ageing and going blind, and he must look to his succession. He has two sons by different wives, Ragul and his younger half-brother, Peglar. He thinks highly of Ragul but has a low opinion of Peglar.

Shackled to a controlling boyfriend by gold bracelets locked on her wrists, will she ever learn to live on her own terms? Chicago, 1984. Glory Bishop wishes to feel safe in love. Rescued by her unwanted fiancé from her abusive mother’s violence, the seventeen-year-old warily moves into his wealthy mom’s luxurious house to get away. Overwhelmed and confused by the kindness and grace her host shows, Glory struggles to know how to behave.

Quen was born cursed with a second, shadow soul. Sensing the oddity within, animals run from her—an untenable trait in a herding culture. On the cusp of her twentieth year, Quen is at risk of becoming pesha—no one. When a dragon murders a loved one and destroys her home, Quen’s world is turned upside down. As her anger grows, so does her untapped power. Fueled by a quest for vengeance, she joins a vigilante group of mages and rogues hunting the beast. But her journey soon reveals a terrible truth: her battle prowess has caught dangerous eyes. And now, she has become the hunted.

Do you know Nora Hadley? Not many people do, and more and more often these days Nora doesn’t know if she even knows herself. A prude raised by strict Catholic parents to her friends, a student mature beyond her years to her teachers, a responsible daughter to her parents – all of these things fall into freefall as Nora finds herself increasingly fixated on her new literature teacher, William Summers.

Newly qualified lawyer Ruby Edwards is pretty much where she wants to be in life: she has a new job in a prestigious law firm, good friends, and above all a promising future with Oliver, the love of her life. Why, then, does she feel drawn to the mysterious and magnetically handsome Cole Frost? Why does she feel like she’s seen him before? South Coast is a small place but why does he keep appearing in her life? She knows Oliver is the one for her. She has no doubts about that.

You would think that living in a ‘castle’-like house, being waited on hand and foot, and being the best player in minor league football with the potential of signing to major league, would be every college university student’s idea of heaven. Not in the case of Samuel Saber. Between the scandals and bad publicity involving his father, to the complication that is his love life, Sam Saber’s life is far from the blissful content you would be led to believe. Sam is a simple guy with only a couple of ambitions, so why is it turning out to be so hard to achieve them?

I grew up in the city of Detroit and was taught that my heritage and strong family values were important. Every year, our birthdays were a cherished event within the family – especially when it was dad’s special day – we always celebrated his with great fanfare, a special family dinner and dessert. However, on February 27, 1970, my dad’s birthday, that annual tradition was broken when I was forced into a situation beyond my control. I had to leave home and the family gave me an emotional send off, but the thought and possibility of my never returning devastated them.

After killing his father, a marauding band of alien demons teleports a fifteen-year-old boy, his mother, and his twin sister to Hell, a harsh planet orbiting a nearby star in the Demonic Empire. With survival extraordinarily difficult and far from certain, the captives quickly learn they have only two choices: to live as powerless slaves or to die and become food. As the boy grows into a man, he is forced to decide just how much he is willing to collaborate with his demon masters if he is to survive.