Morrie Morgan, itinerant teacher, walking encyclopedia, and inveterate charmer, was last seen leaving a one-room schoolhouse in Marias Coulee, the stage he stole in Ivan Doig's The Whistling Season. A decade on, Morrie is back in Montana. Caught up in the mounting clash between the copper-mining company, radical "outside agitators," and the beleaguered miners, he finds a unique way to give a voice to those who truly need one.

A struggling young artist goes to work as a handyman, only to see himself called to fix relationships- -lonely grandmothers, love-starved wives, aids victims-- all unhappy, all in need of an ear or physical contact. To cheer them up. Robert Hampton, 28, of California paints pictures for them and in the process achieves the fame he sought. By the author of Making History.

"If there's one gift Erika Sheraton does not want for Christmas, it's a vacation. Ordered to take time off, the workaholic surgeon reluctantly trades in her scrubs for a ski suit and heads to Wild River, Alaska. Her friend Cassie owns a tour company that offers adventures to fit every visitor. But nothing compares to the adrenaline rush Erika feels on being reunited with Cassie's brother, Reed Reynolds. Gone is the buttoned-up girl Reed remembers....

Samuel Payton is a passionate youth pastor in Virginia, but below the surface, he's still recovering from the blow of a failed business and insecurities he can't shake. His coworker, start-up expert Kimberly Foster, is brilliant, fearless, and capable, but years of personal rejection have left her defensive and longing for a family. Two people have never been more at odds-or more attracted to one another. And every day at work, the sparks sure do...