Central Kansas Library System

Essie Spreckelmeyer, a single woman in 1890s Texas, casts her sights on her town's remaining bachelors and widowers to find a match made in heaven while leaving God out of it.

Belva Plain's many New York Times best-selling novels, including Promises, are beloved by her fans for their ability to convey bittersweet tales of the heart. Looking Back follows the intertwined lives of three bright young women. Cecile is a beautiful child of privilege; Amanda is ambitious but poor; Norma is the academic star, yet the least self-assured. They are inseparable at college. And when the three classmates graduate and move into careers...

When her old boyfriend Ben reappears and reminds her of their pact to get married if they were both still single at thirty, Lottie jumps at the chance. But not everyone is thrilled with Lottie and Ben's rushed marriage, and family and friends are determined to intervene. Will Lottie and Ben have a wedding night to remember ... or one to forget?

Denounced by her 1950 Tennessee community as an old maid, 30-something Ivorie Walker hides her loneliness and grief over her mother's death behind good-humored independence before advocating on behalf of a feral boy who has been stealing vegetables from her garden.

"In the wake of a shocking tragedy, Natalie Harper inherits a charming, but financially strapped bookstore in San Francisco. She also becomes the caretaker for her grandfather, Andrew, who owns a historic building that houses the store. Grandpa Andrew has begun to struggle with memory loss, and Natalie plans to close the bookstore and sell the building to pay for his care. There's only one problem - her grandfather refuses to sell. Natalie takes...

After being let go from her competitive, high-pressure Seattle law firm, Libby Morgan reaches out to old friends and spends her afternoons at A Good Yarn, the local knitting store, where she forms close bonds with three women and finds time for romance with a charming and handsome doctor who seems to be her perfect match. But just as everything is coming together, Libby must make a choice that could forever change the life she holds so dear.

Charlotte Valentine Bishop struggles to trust God to heal the wounds of her past when she returns to Fort Robinson, Nebraska, with her child, in search of a safe haven, and is confronted with a number of surprises, including the appearance of two former suitors.

"In Victorian England appointed as trustee of a baron's legendary collection, Eleanor must choose whether to donate the priceless treasures to a museum or allow them to pass to the baron's son--the man who once broke her heart, but claims to still love her"--

"Maggie is fine. She's doing really good, actually. Sure, she's broke, her graduate thesis on something obscure is going nowhere, and her marriage only lasted 608 days, but at the ripe old age of twenty-nine, Maggie is determined to embrace her new life as a Surprisingly Young Divorcée. Now she has time to take up nine hobbies, eat hamburgers at four a.m., and 'get back out there' sex-wise. With the support of her tough-loving academic advisor, Merris;...

"Daphne Bell believes the universe has a plan in store for her. Ever since she was young, whenever she met a new guy, Daphne would find a slip of paper with exactly how long they'd spend together--4 months, two weeks, one night. That's how she met her ex-boyfriend and current best friend, Hugo, the only person in Daphne's life who knows of her secret. Followed by a string of men and countless dates, Daphne resigned herself to the fact that she was...