Frank Carlson Library

"The American Queen is based on actual events that occurred between 1865-1889 and shares the unsung history of a Black woman who built a kingdom as a refuge for the courageous people who dared to dream of a different way of life."-- "Over the twenty-four years she was enslaved on the Montgomery Plantation, Louella learned to feel one thing: hate. Hate for the man who sold her mother. Hate for the overseer who left her daddy to hang from a noose....

"Sexy Southern romance with a charming plus-size heroine and a gruff, grumpy hero. Rose Barnes feels best when she's invisible--so when she wins the lottery and is suddenly thrust into the spotlight where everyone wants something, hiding out in a small town in North Carolina makes perfect sense. Rose has got curves for days--and to Angus, the big, burly, bearded contractor working on her new house, she's just plum perfect. Rose is surprised to learn...

The New York Times–bestselling novel "deftly capturing the hidden thoughts" of a child in an abusive home is "haunting" and "not soon forgotten." (Booklist) In many ways, Carrie Parker is like any other eight-year-old girl-playing make-believe, going to school, dreaming of faraway places. But even in her imagination, she can't pretend away the hardships of her impoverished North Carolina home or protect her younger sister, Emma. As the big...

"He's here to train her horses and then skip town. She's keeping her true identity a secret. But their spark complicates both of their plans"-- When Charlotte Honeycutt, owner of Stillwater Ranch, discovered her deceased mother’s safety deposit box, she was not expecting life-changing news inside—the long-hidden identity of her biological father and the location of her two half brothers, Gavin and Cooper Robinson. While her father’s location...

Years after Caroline Buchanan suddenly ended her engagement to Max Abbott, she is unwillingly reunited with him when he returns to their North Carolina hometown, but after taking in an abandoned puppy who opens her heart, Caroline wonders if she could also learn to love Max again.

The last time Jersey Barnes tried to quit her career as a security specialist and leave home without a weapon, she ended up in the middle of a high-stakes cover-up and a scheme to steal millions from hardworking Americans. This time her early retirement is for real. Friends threw her a party to prove it. There was a cake and everything. But, out of the blue, her former handler shows up with other ideas. When Jersey tells him she doesn't want an assignment,...

"Jane and her fiancé, Edwin, are headed to the North Carolina coast for a much-needed vacation. Their harborside loft has floor-to-ceiling bookcases and breathtaking views, but Jane's hopes of exploring the town with her man are stymied when Edwin steps on a stingray. Things take an even less romantic turn when Jane stumbles across a dead body . . . Instead of taking leisurely beach strolls, Jane is suddenly on a literary chase through time, unearthing...

Ginny, who marries Tom at the turn of the century after her family has given up on her ever marrying, narrates THE TRUEST PLEASURE--the story of their life together on her father's farm in the western North Carolina mountains. They have a lot in common--love of the land and fathers who fought in the Civil War. Tom's father died in the war, but Ginny's father came back to western North Carolina to hold on to the farm and turn a profit. Ginny's was...

"Fire Chief Colleen McCabe is enjoying a quiet summer and her budding romance with Sheriff Bill Dorman. However, her peaceful start to the tourist season is shattered when a tropical storm blows through Corolla and unearths a body buried under a vacation home boardwalk. When callous land developer Denny Custis dies in a suspicious fire, Colleen has a hunch the two deaths are linked. As she and Bill investigate, they discover that virtually everyone,...

"Tyler is hard enough to resist. Put a baby goat in his arms? Oh, I'm a goner. Romance is the last thing on my mind when I meet Tyler at a wedding. Yes, he's gorgeous. Yes, we have instant chemistry. But I can't go there with him. I'm too busy convincing my skeptical parents I'm ready to run our family farm to give Tyler's smoldering smile a passing glance. Fine. I glance. And possibly . . . kiss. But then I go home all the way to a different state....