Ocean State Libraries

After losing her parents, fifteen-year-old Ivy Hart is left to care for her grandmother, older sister and nephew as tenants on a small tobacco farm. As she struggles with her sister's mental illness and her own epilepsy, Ivy realizes they might need more than she can give. Jane Forrester, Grace County's newest social worker, doesn't realize just how much her help is needed. Drawn in by the Hart women, she begins to discover the dark secrets of the...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A superb novel about two sisters, the true meaning of success, and the qualities in life that matter most from beloved, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Anna Quindlen
“The dialogue sparkles, the insights are right on . . . and the characters are appealing. . . . [Rise and Shine] has humor, heartbreak and drama.”—The Charlotte Observer
It’s...

A social worker living alone in a run-down house in the woods offers shelter to a young boy and a woman fleeing an abusive relationship before their lives are threatened by dangerous secrets. ALICE gets off a bus in the middle of a snowstorm in Delphi, NY. She is fleeing an abusive relationship and desperate to protect... OREN, ten years old, a major Star Wars fan and wise beyond his years. Though Alice is wary, Oren bonds nearly instantly with......

Nathan Andrews, who at eight bought shoes for his dying mother (The Christmas Shoes) and as a medical student fell in love with a young heart patient (The Christmas Blessing), takes a backseat in Van Liere's latest Christmas confection. The focus this time is on Patti and Mark Addison. Patti is a devoted social worker, but she can't seem to feel anything for her handsome pilot husband (they sleep in separate bedrooms), and she can't understand why...

Maddy is a social worker trying to balance her career and three children. Years ago, she fell in love with Ben, a public defender, drawn to his fiery passion, but now he's lashing out at her during his periodic verbal furies. She vacillates between tiptoeing around him and asserting herself for the sake of their kids, until the rainy day when they're together in the car and Ben's volatile temper gets the best of him, leaving Maddy in the hospital...

"After trying to help Benjamin Pearl, an undernourished, nearly feral eleven-year-old boy living in the Montana wilderness, social worker Pete Snow comes face-to-face with the boy's profoundly disturbed father, Jeremiah. With courage and caution, Pete slowly earns a measure of trust from this paranoid survivalist itching for a final conflict that will signal the coming End Times. But as Pete's own family spins out of control, Pearl's activities spark...

Dan Mercer stands accused of being a sexual predator thanks to the ambush journalism of Wendy Tynes, a tabloid TV reporter, who must cope with her husband's death caused by a drunken driver as well as reckon with the possibility of Mercer's innocence. When Tynes finds a link between a father of one of Mercer's alleged victims and others felled by scandal, she could become a killer's next victim.

"Marti Trailor--social worker on hold, mother of three, wife of a successful obstetrician, daughter of a Congressman--is ready to go back to work. She's thrilled when the perfect opportunity falls in her lap. The catch? The job is at her husband's hospital and he seems not to share her enthusiasm. Undeterred, she takes the position counseling vulnerable young women as they prepare to give birth. Marti quickly begins to feel like she is making a difference...

Julian Grayson is taking a break ... from his cheating fiancée ... from his band ... from his life in the spotlight. Charlotte Clark is devoted to her work ... to save the world ... to help the homeless ... to get a broken man back on his feet. When Charlotte Clark offers to pay for Julian Grayson's coffee, the world-famous drummer assumes she wants something from him. But Charlotte has no idea who he is, and Julian can't resist keeping up the charade--being...

"A social worker who was abandoned by her mother sets out to find the truth about her newest charge with the reluctant assistance of a handsome attorney." --