""You like it darker? Fine, so do I," writes Stephen King in the afterword to this magnificent new collection of twelve stories that delve into the darker part of life--both metaphorical and literal. King has, for half a century, been a master of the form, and these stories, about fate, mortality, luck, and the folds in reality where anything can happen, are as rich and riveting as his novels, both weighty in theme and a huge pleasure to read. King...

A powerful tale of grief, love's enduring bonds, and secrets of the past from #1 New York Times bestselling author and master storyteller Stephen King.
Four years after the sudden death of his wife, bestselling novelist Mike Noonan is still grieving. Unable to write and plagued by vivid nightmares set at the western Maine summerhouse he calls "Sara Laughs," Mike reluctantly returns to the lakeside getaway. There, he finds his beloved...

LaPaglia and Janney star in a poignant look at how a woman's love and support can help a widower, who is struggling to overcome the loss of his wife, deal with his older son's decision to leave home and his younger son's destructive behavior.

In 2005, celebrated novelist Francisco Goldman married Aura Estrada at a Mexican hacienda. More than twenty years his junior, Aura was a gifted young writer on the cusp of her own brilliant career, and the two were deeply in love. Then, a month before their second anniversary, Aura broke her neck bodysurfing while they were on vacation. Goldman was blamed by Aura's family-and crippled by his own grief and self-recrimination. In the aftermath of the...

A hairdresser completes her cancer treatment, walks into her home to celebrate with her family, and is met with a even bigger surprise.

"In Denmark, Professor Anders Larsen has lost his wife and his hopes for the future. On an isolated English farm, Tina Hopgood is trapped in a life she doesn't remember choosing. Brought together by a shared fascination with the Tollund Man, subject of Seamus Heaney's famous poem, they begin writing letters to one another. From their vastly different worlds, they find they have more in common than they could have imagined, and an unexpected friendship...

A look into the darkly funny world of Claire Bennett who initiates a dubious relationship with a widower while confronting fantastical hallucinations of his dead wife. With her feisty housekeeper-cum-caretaker ever at her side, Claire searches for human connection and self-forgiveness in this tale of personal redemption.

Being thrown over by the man she expected to marry was humiliating enough. Now that Donella Haddon, grandniece of the Earl of Riddick, has also proven a failure as a nun, she has no choice but to return to her family's estate. The brawny Highlander sent to escort her is brash, handsome, and the only thing standing between Donella and a gang of would-be kidnappers. But the scandal in her past can't be so easily outrun. Wealthy widower Logan Kendrick...

For the first time since the death of his wife, the Duke of Stanbrook is considering remarrying and finally embracing happiness for himself. With that thought comes the treasured image of a woman he met briefly a year ago and never saw again. Dora Debbins relinquished all hope to marry when a family scandal left her in charge of her younger sister. Earning a modest living as a music teacher, she's left with only an unfulfilled dream. Then, one afternoon,...

"Single mom Lexie Bell hopes to make this first Christmas in their new home special for her six-year-old son, Brock. Festive lights and homemade fudge, check. Friendly neighbors? Uh, no. The reclusive widower next door is more grinchy than nice. But maybe he just needs a reminder of what matters most. At least sharing some holiday cheer with him will distract her from her own lack of romance... Stanley Mann lost his Christmas spirit when he lost his...