Deanna Lynn Sletten Books

Sometimes you just have to walk away?Maggie Harrison is a devoted wife and mother, always putting the needs of her family ahead of her own. One day, without planning to, she drives away leaving behind her indifferent husband and two sulking teenagers. Maggie goes off on a quest of self-exploration, enjoying adventures, meeting new people, and rediscovering her passions. For the first time in years, she dreams about what she wants out of life, and realizes that her deteriorating marriage can no longer continue as it is. Can she and Andrew repair their broken relationship, or is their marriage over?Andrew Harrison likes his life to be in perfect order. He enjoys his work and status in the community, leaving Maggie to take care of their home and children. He knows his marriage isn't perfect, but after twenty-three years and two kids, whose marriage is? When Maggie leaves without a word, he is forced to pay more attention to his home life and his almost-grown children, and he begins to do a little self-exploration of his own. Slowly, he begins to understand what drove Maggie away, and how important she is in his life. Is it too late to resolve their differences and save their marriage? Or will Andrew lose Maggie forever?

Small-town charm and a family on the brink of disaster as Christmas brings its much-needed magic to those who need it most. 1959 – 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.2022 – Jessica Paxton hasn’t returned home for Christmas since the passing of her beloved Grandma June. Despite being an accomplished divorce lawyer in Minneapolis, she still cowers at the thought of spending time in her childhood home with her mother without her grandmother as a buffer. Her mother hasn’t forgiven her for a long-ago tragedy, and frankly, Jess hasn’t forgiven herself either. But her younger sister has begged her to come home, so she does. What awaits her is a family full of problems and tension between her and her mother at its worst. Should Jess turn tail and run for home, or will the Christmas traditions of the past prove strong enough to hold this family together?

A love so strong that decades couldn't tear it apart. Poring over a dusty hatbox of photographs in her grandmother's closet, Emily Prentice is shocked to discover her father was married and divorced before meeting her mother. In the summer of 1968, Jack and Libbie fall in love under the spell of their small town, untouched by the chaos of the late sixties. Though Libbie's well-to-do parents disapprove of Jack's humble background, she marries Jack a year after they graduate high school. But soon their happiness crumbles as Libbie's mental state unravels and she is drawn to alcohol and drugs. Despite his efforts, Jack loses the woman he loves and is forced to move on with his life. Now that Emily's mother has passed and Jack is alone again, Emily grows obsessed with the beautiful woman who'd given her father such joy. Determined to find Libbie, Emily pieces together the couple's fragmented past. But is it too late for happy endings?

"1917 - Sofiya and her friend Alina are forced to flee Russia as Tsar Nicholas II abdicates, and the Bolsheviks take control of St. Petersburg. Their parents send them to America, where Alina's distant cousin lives, but soon the girls learn they have traded one danger for another. They are forced to earn a living in the most awful way, and once again, both girls flee for their lives in separate directions. Years later, trapped in a bitter marriage, Sofiya once again finds herself running away to protect her son and the secret she's been hiding since leaving Russia. She wonders if she will ever feel safe again. 2022 - Addison Cameron loves antiques and old homes and has made a career, alongside her boyfriend Zach, of flipping old houses and making them new again. Having lived a life of terror as a young teen, bringing new life to old homes has been her therapy. When Zach finds a cigar box of old letters in an antique shop and buys them for Addie, she is intrigued. Who was the young girl Sofiya, and what was her life like? Soon Addie becomes immersed in Sofiya's past and is drawn to the very house in Portland that Sofiya had fled all those years ago. As she brings the house back to life, Addie relives her own nightmare past and that of Sofiya's. Can she heal her old wounds by restoring the house where Sofiya had once lived?" --author's website