I am convinced that at birth the cake is already baked. Nurture is the nuts or frosting, but if you’re a spice cake, you’re a spice cake, and nothing is going to change you into an angel food.
Tall, slender Violet Mathers is growing up in the Great Depression, which could just as well define her state of mind. Abandoned by her mother as a child, mistreated by her father, and teased by her schoolmates (“Hey, Olive Oyl, where’s...

Bestselling novelist Nora Roberts captivates millions of fans with her provocative blend of scorching passion and chilling suspense. With Carnal Innocence, she creates a gripping tale of murder, infatuation, and true love in a small southern town. After beautiful concert violinist Caroline Waverly breaks up with her conductor and lover Luis, she escapes to her late grandmother's home in Innocence, Mississippi. Instead of peace and tranquility, however,...

Stuck in Group A with the kids who can't read, upbeat first grader Lupe Lopez is made fun of by a rival but refuses to let that stop her from becoming a reading rock star.

"From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Wish comes a poignant love story about risking everything for a dream-and whether it's possible to leave the past behind. Colby Mills once felt destined for a musical career, until tragedy grounded his aspirations. Now the head of a small family farm in North Carolina, he spontaneously takes a gig playing at a bar in St. Pete's Beach, Florida, seeking a rare break from his duties at home. But when...

Brothers Nestor and Cesar Camillo arrive from Cuba in 1949 with dreams of becoming famous mambo musicians. This memorable novel traces the arc of the two brothers' lives-one charismatic and macho, the other soulful and sensitive-from Havana to New York, from East Coast clubs and dance halls to the heights of musical fame.

When music prodigy James Morgan and his best friend, Deirdre, join a private conservatory for musicians, his talent attracts Nuala, a faerie muse who fosters and feeds on creative energies, but soon he finds himself battling the Queen of the Fey for the very lives of Deirdre and Nuala.

Fathers never forget seeing their kids for the first time. But Evan is greeting his son, Dean, fourteen years late. Dean's mother ran off to another city long ago-and now that she's passed away, Dean has arrived in Seattle. Evan becomes a single parent in an instant. Back in the day, he was lead guitarist for a hot band with a hit single. At thirty-one, he gets by as a guitar instructor to middle-aged guys, and does menial work in a music shop. He...

"No matter where you go, no matter whether you succeed or fail, stand or fall, no gone is too far gone. You can always come home."At the age of eighteen, musician and songwriter Cooper O'Connor took everything his father held dear and drove 1,200 miles from home to Nashville, his life riding on a six-string guitar and the bold wager that he had talent. But his wager soon proved foolish. Five years after losing everything, he falls in love with Daley...