The Happiness Thief

Forty-one-year-old Natalie Greene lost her mom and her childhood memories in a car crash two decades ago. What remains is a haunting feeling that she was responsible for her mother's death. After her husband leaves for another woman, Natalie accompanies her famous stepsister, Isabel Walker (aka "The Happiness Guru") on a retreat to the Cayman Islands. There, a late-night collision triggers Natalie's long-buried trauma and a heightened sense of guilt. Upon returning home to Boston, Natalie tries to settle back into her life as a food photographer and single mother to a teenage daughter--but then, one day, an anonymous email arrives about the Cayman accident that suggests foul play. In her search for the truth, Natalie must deal with a mix of fear, confusion, and suspects. With the help of Isabel and an attractive journalist, she uncovers a trail of deceit that begins on that deserted Caribbean road, circles back home, and ends in the most unexpected of places.

The Happiness Thief is told by the main character Kasuba, as she tells her life story we meet the characters who have shaped her life through her eyes. A story of love, of pain, of family, of friendship and betrayal when the 13 year old Kasuba strikes an unlikely friendship with the beautiful Dianne. A friendship that is likely to last them a lifetime. Yet a terrible incident happens which separates the two of them, only to be reunited twelve years later in an unusual way. Soon they find out happily ever after only exists in fairy tales as the consequences of the incident comes back to test their friendship. Kasuba learns the bitter lesson of how a containable situation can cause heartbreak when pride, anger and pain are used to deal with it.

Stop Seeking Happiness; Just Get Out of Its Way! Happiness is our natural state, for each of us and for humanity as a whole, argues John Izzo. But that happiness is being stolen by insidious mental patterns that he depicts as thieves: the thief of control, the thief of conceit, the thief of coveting, the thief of consumption, and the thief of comfort. He discovered these thieves as he sought the true source of happiness during a year-long sabbatical, walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain and living in the Andes of Peru. This thoughtful and inspiring book describes the disguises these thieves wear, the tools they use to break into our hearts, and how to lock them out once and for all. Izzo shows how these same thieves of personal happiness are destroying society as well. This book will help us all discover, develop, and defend the happiness that is our true nature while creating a world we all want to live in.

"Evocatively written and ferociously paced...a puzzle-box wrapped in a paranoia tale that rivets while exploring the complexities of grief, the anxieties of modem life, and the lasting harm of childhood trauma...an anxious read that domestic suspense fans will be tempted to devour in a single sitting." ―Mystery Scene Magazine Forty-one-year-old Natalie Greene lost her mom and her childhood memories in a car crash two decades ago. What remains is a haunting feeling that she was responsible for her mother’s death. After her husband leaves for another woman, Natalie accompanies her famous stepsister, Isabel Walker (aka “The Happiness Guru”) on a retreat to the Cayman Islands. There, a late-night collision triggers Natalie’s long-buried trauma and a heightened sense of guilt. Upon returning home to Boston, Natalie tries to settle back into her life as a food photographer and single mother to a teenage daughter—but then, one day, an anonymous email arrives about the Cayman accident that suggests foul play. In her search for the truth, Natalie must deal with a mix of fear, confusion, and suspects. With the help of Isabel and an attractive journalist, she uncovers a trail of deceit that begins on that deserted Caribbean road, circles back home, and ends in the most unexpected of places.

The Thief of Happiness is the story of a sevenyear therapy between the author and the mysterious Dr. Sing-a therapy that was part cult of two, part enchantment, and part love story. In an age when the great and subtle gifts of therapy are downplayed in favor of psychopharmacology, Friedman has written the most detailed and vivid portrayal yet of what actually goes on between therapist and patient.

For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.

The Happiness Thief is told by the main character Kasuba, as she tells her life story we meet the characters who have shaped her life through her eyes. A story of love, of pain, of family, of friendship and betrayal when the 13 year old Kasuba strikes an unlikely friendship with the beautiful Dianne. A friendship that is likely to last them a lifetime. Yet a terrible incident happens which separates the two of them, only to be reunited twelve years later in an unusual way. Soon they find out 'happily ever after' only exists in fairy tales as the consequences of the incident comes back to test their friendship. Kasuba learns the bitter lesson of how a containable situation can cause heartbreak when pride, anger and pain are used to deal with it.

When an American heiress and a French chocolatier butt heads, the business of chocolate is about to become a labor of love in this romantic comedy. Paris Breathtakingly beautiful, the City of Light seduces the senses, its cobbled streets thrumming with possibility. For American Cade Corey, it’s a dream come true, if only she can get one infuriating French chocolatier to sign on the dotted line . . . Chocolate Melting, yielding yet firm, exotic, its secrets are intimately known to Sylvain Marquis. But turn them over to a brash American waving a fistful of dollars? Jamais. Not unless there’s something much more delectable on the table . . . Stolen Pleasure Whether confections taken from a locked shop or kisses in the dark, is there anything sweeter? Praise for The Chocolate Thief “A delectable summer bonbon . . . The Chocolate Thief is for days when you lust not for wisdom, but for a bar of chocolate—at any price—and a hero who understands what is truly important: ‘Every dream I have has you in my apartment, has you in my laboratoire, has you with my babies . . . Every chocolate I’ve made since I met you, I’ve made for you.’” —Eloisa James, NPR.org “It’s like when you find that amazing piece of chocolate—you take a bite, and it sits on your tongue and melts into a pool of liquid heaven: Florand has managed to capture that emotional experience and put it into the pages of her novel.” —RT Book Reviews “[A] comfortable beach read . . . A good, fun read.” —Publishers Weekly

Scarlet’s story continues in this romance-filled, action-packed twist on Robin Hood, now with a new series look!

Zot lives in a world without colour – no green grass, no blue sky, no yellow sun and no red flowers. From his lonely mountaintop, he gazes at Earth, sparkling with brilliant colour, and thinks it must be a very happy place. He sets off to steal some of that happiness for himself . . . Visually stunning and thought-provoking, The Colour Thief is a heartwarming story set to become a firm favourite with fans of Oliver Jeffers and Jon Klassen.