When Katerina runs out of food at the end of winter, her beloved hen Nina saves them both by laying marvelous multicolored eggs.

Living back at home with her father, the pastor of the church in the small town of Julian, CA, it's hard to be bad, but she checks body piercing, (bad idea) getting drunk, (worse idea) and dating Jake (great idea) off her list. Jake's tired of that bad boy label even though he does still ride his Harley. He's helping the town and himself by establishing a new business, a Harley agency. He wants more than a fling with Nice Nina so he works hard on the town food drive, collects toys for tots and helps Nina reconnect with her long lost sister. He even helps her find her niche as Nice and Sexy Nina. & ;

A collector of objects, Amy Ashton, who believes it is easier to love things than people, finds her solitary existence interrupted when a new family moves in next door with two young boys--one of whom has a collection of his own.

"A Treasure Worth Keeping: Teacher Evie McBride plans to spend a quiet summer on Cooper's Landing. Yet when handsome Sam Cutter asks her to tutor his troubled teenage niece, she can't turn them away. Soon enough, it's Evie and Sam who are learning more about love and faith than they ever expected. Hidden Treasures: All Cade Halloway wants is to sell the family vacation home that reminds him of bad memories. But now his sister insists on marrying there. Wedding photographer Meghan McBride and her camera just may help him discover the treasures of family and love."--Page 4 of cover.

"Mark Jones examines the making of a new child’s world in Japan between 1890 and 1930 and focuses on the institutions, groups, and individuals that reshaped both the idea of childhood and the daily life of children. Family reformers, scientific child experts, magazine editors, well-educated mothers, and other prewar urban elites constructed a model of childhood—having one’s own room, devoting time to homework, reading children’s literature, playing with toys—that ultimately became the norm for young Japanese in subsequent decades. This book also places the story of modern childhood within a broader social context—the emergence of a middle class in early twentieth century Japan. The ideal of making the child into a “superior student” (yutosei) appealed to the family seeking upward mobility and to the nation-state that needed disciplined, educated workers able to further Japan’s capitalist and imperialist growth. This view of the middle class as a child-centered, educationally obsessed, socially aspiring stratum survived World War II and prospered into the years beyond."

Carol James dyes her brown hair bright red and dares anyone to pity her for making a bad choice in a man the first time around. She's determined to make a success of her family's general store without losing her free spirit status. Seeing old friends, spying from her tree house and sticking her nose into town projects keep her busy, but not too busy to spend time with Dan Barker. & ;& ;Dan Barker, the deputy sheriff for Julian, California has had the hots for Carol since high school, but he couldn't compete with the captain of the football team then. Now Dan's determined to make Carol his by Valentine's Day, but his past trips him up.