CrossReads Short Takes
Something We Never Imagined
by Douglas J. Wemple
Something We Never Imagined is a story about an intriguing country boy named Colton Dust who moves to Los Angeles to study journalism at USC after graduating from high school in his small hometown. A few years after graduating with a degree in journalism, he finds himself quickly rising up the ranks as a news columnist in LA when his first column at a smaller newspaper catches the eye of the Editor in Chief at the largest newspaper in LA. However, just as he is finally achieving success in his career, he happens to meet a beautiful young woman named Emma Lee Coal who begins to stir something inside of him he had not felt in a long time, but in order to open his heart, he has to encounter a painful experience still haunting him from his past. Even though Emma Lee is initially enchanted by his charming looks, she quickly finds him a bit brash and self-centered. Yet, she also finds herself intrigued to learn more about why he believes what he does, she just isn’t sure if she’ll ever see him again after their first encounter. Then after a twist of fate brings the two of them together again, she begins to help him experience the healing power of forgiveness, but as his life hits a crossroad point, he must decide if he truly has faith and trust in God in order to experience something he never could have imagined.
Got Your Goat
(Idioms & Clichés Book 4)
by Janice Cole Hopkins
When Emily Rose Howard took in four goats, she didn’t know she was getting more than she bargained for. However, life gets even more complicated when her neighbor’s son brings his army friend home for a visit after the Civil War ends, and her former art professor shows up too. But life in the Appalachian Mountains has never been easy, and Emily Rose is determined to face her problems with faith and determination the way she always has.
It’s a long trip from Georgia to Kansas, and Robert Johnson agrees to go home with Lomax Greer and rest up before he goes on to see his sister and her family. The mountains of North Carolina are closer, and Robert is exhausted from the long years of fighting for the Union. However, he hadn’t expected the Appalachians or Lomax’s neighbor to be so lovely. He likes the small, mountain farm, even with all its complications, but he knows there’ll come a time when he must return to Kansas. What will happen then, if part of his heart will always remain in these mountains?