Showing results by author "Deanna Lynn Sletten" in All Categories

1934 Young Kathleen Carver dreams of becoming a movie star despite her fathers warnings that she wouldn't want that life. As she grows, she becomes more determined and her strong personality and independent soul won't let her give up. After college, she stays out east and works in the theater. Then her big break comes—Hollywood is calling—and she goes home to California to become the star she always knew she'd be. But there are bumps along the highway to stardom, heartbreak, losses, and scandals. And secrets—so many secrets to keep.

June and Patrick Elden spend their very first Christmas together in their tiny downtown apartment in the rural town of Redmond. As newlyweds, they have their entire lives ahead of them, and their dreams of a home and family loom large. Despite not having much money, Patrick surprises June with a beautiful Christmas star necklace as a symbol of all the years to come. And as their life grows and changes, the story of that little necklace becomes a family tradition that their children and grandchildren cherish throughout the years.

There’s a serial killer on the loose around Florida State University, or at least that’s what everyone believes. Young women go missing for several days and then are found dead a few miles from where they were abducted. The local police and an FBI task force are working to find the culprit but with no success. Meanwhile, all the women around Tallahassee are afraid they may be next.

On a vacation to Big Bear Lake in California, Arnie Burke falls in love with the rustic small town. He finds an old log saloon for sale just outside of town and tries to talk his wife, Edna, into buying it and moving there. With two young children and a comfortable life on the California coast, Edna isn’t thrilled with the idea. But Arnie is persistent, promising they will build the lodge up to one day be one of the grandest resorts in town. Edna finally agrees, and the Mountain View Lodge is born.

Morgan Connors is helping her mother go through her recently deceased grandmother’s possessions when she comes upon an old manuscript. The title states it is Sarah Winchester’s autobiography. Morgan works as an acquisition editor at a publisher in San Francisco and knows that no such book has ever been published. When her mother explains that Morgan’s great-great-grandmother, Olivia Collins, once worked for Mrs. Winchester, she’s intrigued. Who was Olivia Collins, and why did she have a manuscript of Sarah Winchester’s life story?