The Barefoot Investor: The Only Money Guide You'll Ever Need

After Karina Hernandez ' four years of marriage ended, she decided to leave her home country and travel to Japan–her mother's home country. Starting a new life in a foreign country was never easy to begin with, yet Karina managed to with the help of her brother's ex-fiance. Karina thought that everything would be perfect and peaceful as it should be. However, it all faded when his path crossed with hers for the second time. Will Karina be able to mend what has been torn in her past or will she again run away and hide from his grasps?

Harris Black's sister died, which has sent his world in a spiral gloom. Having to juggle the loss of his closest family member, and high school, Harris struggles to find the light in his life. He just wants to run away with his girlfriend, Sarah, to Stonefall where they can live off their musical dreams. While Harris struggles with the darkness of grief, Sarah White deals with her own issues. Her dad is a drunk, and hardly pays attention to her, and she faces bullies at school because of what she wears. As they navigate their lives together, willing to work through their own pain to create something wonderful, secrets come out, and a loss larger than Harris's sister shakes the lives of these two teens.

On the fourth day after my son's death, I decided to secretly dissolve my military marriage with my husband. Before that, I had three days to settle everything for my son. On the first day, I tricked my husband into signing the cremation papers. On the second day, I went to the school and collected the textbooks my son would never get to use. On the third day, I cooked a table full of dishes and begged my husband to celebrate our son's last birthday. He agreed, but soon after claimed he had a mission. Instead, he spent the entire night setting off fireworks with his childhood sweetheart. That night, I cooked. Then, I sat alone before my son's photo and ate all my son's favorite foods. The next day, my husband returned, guilt flickering in his eyes as he handed me a brand-new backpack. He said it was a gift for our child's first day of school. But he didn't know—our child would never have a first day of school.

Who meets Prince Charming in an elevator while carrying their broken shoe? Lena Masterson was having a rough day. Her coffee pot exploded, her favorite heel broke on the way to work, her computer died, and her coworker sabotaged her performance review that she should have aced. To top it all off, she had to stay late. So when she ran into a handsome stranger at work, she was certain that it was the worst day of her life. Instead, it was the start of something wonderful. From the moment she nearly bowled the man over, she thought about him. She didn’t know anything about him, and could only assume that he was someone’s assistant. Still, the encounter left her with new self-confidence. She made a move assertive enough to get the attention of her boss’ boss, and be granted a new position as the personal paralegal of the head partner. This promotion soon led to an important trip to the Caribbean, where she saw a familiar face on the beach… Everything seemed perfect when she was in Aiden’s arms, but he was holding something back. Worse, Lena was keeping a secret from him as well. She knew that she couldn’t keep up her little white lie forever, but it turned out that Aiden’s secret was much bigger. Much much much bigger. A billion times bigger, in fact. Even though he treated her like Cinderella at the ball, it was possible that the billionaire playboy just thought of her as one of his “flavors of the week”. After saying goodbye with one last barefoot kiss and returning to the real world, there was a burning question on Lena’s mind: Did this Prince Charming love her as much as she loved him?

While my corpse was rotting in the morgue, my fiancé, Ron Corleone, was comforting my murderer. Lisa Corleone sobbed as she said, “After we were kidnapped and brought here, Wendy disappeared. We don’t know if she managed to escape. It was all my fault. If I hadn’t insisted on going out with Wendy…” Ron’s face was ice cold. “The future mistress of the Corleone family actually abandoned my sister and fled on her own. If she dares to come back, I’ll break her arms and legs and turn her into a maggot that only deserves to live in the dark!” In fact, I did die in some random corner with my limbs broken. The truth about my death made Ron, who had vowed to make me regret my existence, crazy.

The things we want are so very rarely the things we need. Clifton Heights, a modest Adirondack town, offers many unique attractions. Arcane Delights sells both paperbacks and hard-to-find limited editions. The Skylark Diner serves the best home-cooked meals around, with friendly service and a smile. Every August, Mr. Jingo’s County Fair visits, to the delight of children and adults. In essence, Clifton Heights is the quintessential small American town. Everyone knows everyone else, and everyone is treated like family. It is quiet, simple, and peaceful. But shadows linger here. Flitting in dark corners, from the corner of the eye. If you walk down Main Street after dark, the slight scrape of shoes on asphalt whispers you're not alone, but when you look over your shoulder, no one is there. The moon shines high and bright in the night sky, but instead of throwing light, it only seems to make the shadows lengthen. Children disappear. Teens run away. Hunters get lost in the woods with frightening regularity. Husbands go mad, and wives vanish in the dead of night. And still, when the sun rises in the morning, you are greeted by townspeople with warm waves and friendly smiles, and the shivers pass as everything seems fresh and new... Until night falls once more. Handy's Pawn and Thrift sits several blocks down from Arcane Delights. Like any thrift store, its wares range from the mundane to the bizarre. By daylight, it seems just another slice of small town Americana. But in its window hangs a sign which reads: We Have Things You Need. And when a lonely traveling salesman comes looking for something he desperately wants, after normal visiting hours, after night has fallen, he will face a harsh truth among the shelves of Handy’s Pawn and Thrift: the things we want are rarely the things we need. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing