Bøger af Arlene James

Songwriter and performer Charlie Biggs has bucked his old-fashioned Ozark father to find success with his calling. He has it all now, except the one person for whom he's waited all of his adult life--a wife, the woman God intends just for him. Charlie is a Christian man, doing his best to live a life pleasing to God, so why would God bring him a woman whose entire life has been one long con? He's had fond memories of her since she was a girl of 15, but even then she wasn't who she said she was. Still, no other woman has ever felt so right. Only if she gives up her sketchy lifestyle and makes peace with her own father and her past can they ever contemplate a future together. Paige Hamilton has had so many false identities that she doesn't even know who she is anymore. After her mom's death, her father used her in one get-rich-quick after another. She's tried to get out of the life, but she's always sucked back in. Now her father's very life depends on this one awful con. But how can she lie to Charlie and steal his money? What will his godly family think of her when they realize who and what she really is? Even as she falls deeper and deeper in love with Charlie, she knows that she can never be good enough for him. Unless... Is it possible that her sins can truly be forgiven? If so, will God provide her a way out of the quagmire that is her life? The solution comes with a high personal price for Paige, but once she knows Charlie's love and the love of his Lord, she can't hold back. She'll have to give up Charlie to save her father and herself. Once she manages that, she will find that God's love knows no bounds and He will make a way where there is no way.

An unhappy marriage can be hell on earth, and infidelity only makes matters worse. Add the inability to conceive, and even a Christian woman can find herself at the point of divorce.Escape from her misery in Arkansas to a secluded orphanage in Honduras seemed to be God's answer to Joanna's problems. An accomplished artist can surely find fresh inspiration and healing in a tropical environment, even if the children there are not her own.Professional musician Matt Polo had forgotten how to be happy, but he certainly didn't find joy in performing and empty sex. He didn't expect to find it in Honduras, either, surrounded by children whose language he didn't even speak.But God moves in mysterious ways, love comes in many guises, and forgiveness is possible when faith and fidelity come together. Or are they?Joanna has given up on her marriage, and Matt can't imagine any way to win her back. Besides, nothing has changed. Joanna is no closer to having the baby she so desperately desires, and he's not even sure he wants to be a dad. Divorce seems inevitable, and he doesn't want to spend any more time in the rustic, uncomfortable, inconvenient orphanage than necessary. The one thing he doesn't count on is falling in love...with an orphaned six-year-old. But will Joanna scuttle the adoption or maintain the marriage long enough for Matt to go home as a dad, if not a husband?Surely God doesn't intend for him to take on more than one child, though, not on his own. When his son's siblings also arrive at the orphanage, both Matt and Joanna realize that taking on two more children will have to be a team project. But what about that medically needy infant that steals Joanna's heart? They can't manage that. Can they?With a shaky, long-distance marriage, unresolved resentments, and heavy baggage, can they possibly make this work? Through many challenges, they finally learn that their only chance is being as faithful as God Himself. But just how realistic is that? Only time and trial will tell.

Drawn together by their love of music, torn apart by their insecurities. Reunited 25 years later, but is it by chance or the hand of God? Both want to believe God is at work in their lives, but some huge secrets are lurking. The divorce she never got seems a blessing at first. The child she never told him about and gave up for adoption is one secret too many, and how can she expect him to forgive her when she still can't forgive herself? Even as the truth shatters their reunification and the love of their youth becomes the burden of middle-age, they can't escape their mutual attraction or the music that binds them. The eclectic praise band that they build together, HOBBY RUN, becomes a surrogate family, a support system, and the answer to many prayers. At last they realize that love and attraction are not enough upon which to build a marriage that lasts. It requires a shared faith and continual forgiveness. With that comes untold blessings--healing and the son for whom she has long searched and he never expected to have. Meanwhile, readers are introduced to dynamic and beautiful northwest Arkansas, its music and culture, as well as the members of the HOBBY RUN Variety Praise Band, who vary in age from the late fifties to the early twenties.

Single mom Amalie Harter served her country as an Army nurse only to lose her marriage. Living a "clean" life and setting a good example for her sons has always been her chief goal, but it hasn't been easy. Forgiving the ex husband who betrayed her for another woman in order to co-parent their sons has been a tall order. She's found an outlet for her frustration and pain by performing with the HOBBY RUN Variety Praise Band. Between working full-time with wounded warriors, her sons, church, and the band, she doesn't have a moment to spare. Having a handsome, charming doctor set out to seduce her doesn't help one bit! Yet, even as he allows himself to be dragged to church in order to win points with her, she can't help feeling the attraction. Tate Golden doesn't concern himself with much of anything except playing the game and having a little fun. Life hasn't left him a lot of options, at least none he can see...until he meets Amalie. As attempted seduction morphs into genuine love, he realizes that the only way to put his painful past behind him involves a love of a very different kind. But he still has one last, awful secret, and even with all that Amalie teaches him about true love, he has to concede that some problems cannot be controlled by the will of man or even heart filled with genuine repentance. Some things simply have to be accepted-and left to God.

Rey lost a foot serving his country in Afghanistan then returned home to raise four younger siblings. Working as a mechanic on a painful, ill-fitting artificial limb makes life tough. Playing saxophone and singing with the HOBBY RUN Variety Praise Band not only provides very welcome recreation and relaxation for Rey, it also brings in much needed extra income. Rey is an upstanding Christian man trying hard to provide for his younger siblings what their somewhat obsessive late parents could not or would not. The very last thing Rey needs is a beautiful young woman with a baby insinuating herself into his household, especially as she does not even seem to know who fathered her child and he has impressionable sisters. It doesn't help that he's terribly attracted to her. Della has to find a way to provide for her innocent son. She's working as hard as she can, with no help from her family, who never supported her decision to give birth. They considered her determination to carry and keep her child proof that she was not raped as she claimed. So be it. Image is not important to her. Only being the best mother possible to her sweet boy matters, but providing for him alone is a big challenge. They are homeless when Rey's sister, Mary Sofia, who works with Della as a waitress in a small diner near the University of Arkansas, invites them to stay with the family until she can get on her feet financially. Still, she fully understands why Rey can't allow her and her baby boy to stay in his house. She's overjoyed when he arranges for friends of his in the HOBBY RUN band to rent her an affordable apartment. The band members are loving and supporting in ways that Della has never experienced before, and she begins to believe that Christians aren't just about image, like her parents. Then disaster strikes when one of her rapists, who is attending the university, finds her at the diner. She knows the when he sees her son, he'll realize that he or one of his friends could be the boy's father. Suddenly she knows that she has more to fear than his harassment. What if he demands testing? What if the actual father comes after her or even sues for custody of HER son? Thankfully, Rey stumbles into the situation, quickly sizes it up, and passes himself off as the boy's father. When he learns the truth behind the boy's parentage, his feelings for Della swell into something remarkable, and he knows the only way to protect her and her son is to marry her. Despite misgivings, Della agrees to marry Rey, but she fears that she'll never be able to enjoy a healthy, full relationship with him. As time passes, however, she falls deeply in love with her husband, her personal hero. When she starts seeking ways to alleviate the pain with which he lives daily, she finds a personal calling. As her efforts at last yield success, she becomes Rey's personal hero. In the end, their love and the level of trust between them is surpassed only by their mutual faith in God and all that He has brought them through. They find that they are not only capable of meeting all of life's challenges together but enjoying all that marriage allows.

The true gift of ChristmasDeck the Halls by Arlene James Retrieving the mail from his old apartment brought more than just letters for Vince Cutler. When he opened the door on the lovely Jolie Wheeler and rooms he hardly recognized, he knew he'd found the person to fix up his bare new bachelor quarters. Vince's family reminded Jolie achingly of her own loss. Could the spirit of Christmas work within Jolie's heart to reconnect her with her family…and with Vince?His Christmas Bride by Dana Corbit Dylan Warren's childhood best friend, Jenna Scott, broke his heart. Now their matchmaking mothers insist the Warren and Scott clans celebrate the holiday together. Suddenly he and Jenna are paired on a mission to bring Christmas to a family who lost everything but each other. Jenna's kindness reminds Dylan why he loved her. Could joyful jingle bells soon be joined by the chime of wedding bells?