Eleven-year-old Cyrus knows he is not cut out to be a football hero or fireman like his adopted father, but it takes a skittish stray dog to teach him that he, too, can be brave.

Sheriff James McPherson was eager to hire a schoolteacher, but Dr. Molly Whitcomb isn't what he expected. His instincts about people--which rarely miss the mark--tell him she's hiding something. And when Molly's secret is revealed, her reinvented life begins to unravel. What's more, she risks losing her newfound relationship with the sheriff and her renewed faith in God.

When twelve-year-old Elise, orphaned since age three, becomes disheartened by middle school, with its bullies, changing relationships, and higher expectations, keys to long-locked rooms and messages from her late father help her cope.

Always following her parents' wishes and ignoring her psychic inner voice takes eighteen-year-old Rebecca Muir from her beloved cottage and boyfriend on Puget Sound to New York City, where revelations about herself and her family help her find a path to becoming the architect she wants to be.

Twenty-one-year-old Mary Rasmussen discovers that her life has unraveled when she wakes after being in a coma for six weeks. Although the car crash that left her disabled and claimed her husband's life was not her fault, Mary suffers from survivor's guilt and cannot envision a future for herself. The once independent-minded young woman makes the choice to relinquish control over her life by marrying a zealous preacher, who takes her as his "help meet."...