What’s New: An inspiring nonfiction journey

Before and After

The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children’s Home Society

THE REAL LIFE SEQUEL TO THE NO. 1 NYT BESTSELLER BEFORE WE WERE YOURS

The poignant true stories of victims of a notorious adoption scandal—some of whom learned the truth from Lisa Wingate’s bestselling novel Before We Were Yours and were reunited with birth family members as a result of its wide reach.

From the 1920s to 1950, Georgia Tann ran a black-market baby business at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis. She offered up more than 5,000 orphans tailored to the wish lists of eager parents—hiding the fact that many weren’t orphans at all, but stolen sons and daughters of poor families, desperate single mothers, and women told in maternity wards that their babies had died.

The publication of Wingate’s novel Before We Were Yours brought new awareness of Tann’s lucrative career in child trafficking. Adoptees who knew little about their pasts gained insight into the startling facts behind their family histories. Encouraged by their contact with Wingate and award-winning journalist Judy Christie, who documented the stories of fifteen adoptees in this book, many determined Tann survivors set out to trace their roots and find their birth families.

Before and After includes moving and sometimes shocking accounts of the ways in which adoptees were separated from their first families. Often raised as only children, many have joyfully reunited with siblings in the final decades of their lives. In Before and After, Wingate and Christie tell of first meetings that are all the sweeter and more intense for time missed and of families from very different social backgrounds reaching out to embrace better-late-than-never brothers, sisters, and cousins. In a poignant culmination of art meeting life, long-silent victims of the tragically corrupt system return to Memphis with Wingate and Christie to reclaim their stories at a Tennessee Children’s Home Society reunion . . . with extraordinary results.

The Wreath Willis Series

Wreath, A Girl [BOOK 1]

A TWO-TIME PULPWOOD QUEEN BOOK CLUB TEEN BOOK OF THE YEAR
Optioned by Los Angeles Producer for Film/TV project.

Sixteen-year-old Wreath Willis’s mother has died, leaving her alone and determined to pursue the good life — while running from the horrid Big Fun.

To get started, Wreath makes one of her tried-and-true lists in her beloved notebook: “Find a place to live. Buy cheap food. Finish high school. Get a job. Go to college.”

Then she adds: “Avoid notice” — because Wreath is pretty sure most people won’t understand a teenager living alone. In a junkyard.

But it’s hard to go unnoticed when life puts people like the cute boy, Law, on her path. And then there’s Faye, her new boss who relies on Wreath’s creativity to turn a dying business around. Maybe she’ll quit running and make Landry, Louisiana, her home. Big Fun will never find her. Will he?

“Compelling gripping and relevant to what today’s teens are facing. Wreath grabbed hold of my heart and would not let go.” – Janice Thompson, bestselling author

Wreath, In Summer [BOOK 2]

Could there be trouble ahead for Wreath after life in the junkyard?

Wreath Willis expects a summer of fun following high school graduation. She has an almost-boyfriend, a roof over her head, and a new grandfather — and the horrid Big Fun is in jail. But the arrival of an intriguing stranger catapults Wreath into a string of adventures and brings her to the brink of danger. But Wreath can figure out what to do. Can’t she?

Wreath, In College [BOOK 3]

The Big Easy, a roommate nightmare and campus crime. Wreath needs new survival skills to get through her first semester at college.

When Wreath Willis receives a last-minute scholarship to a university in New Orleans — a city she’s never even visited – she finds the adventure more challenging than her solitary life in the junkyard. Everyone she loves is back in Landry — and it seems like they’re getting along just fine without her. Now Wreath isn’t sure where she fits in. Between her opinionated roommate and a handsome upperclassman who’s way out of her league, she’s forced to examine her past — and her future.

For free school lesson plans and book club questions for the Wreath Series, email BrosetteandBarnhillPublishing@gmail.com.

“Compelling gripping and relevant to what today’s teens are facing. Wreath grabbed hold of my heart and would not let go.”

– Janice Thompson, bestselling author

The Corner of Trumpet & Vine: Where Lives Intersect

Magnolia Market

The self-help books lied: Fresh starts aren’t nearly as glamorous as they appear. And love may not be easier the second time around.

Avery Broussard is all set to buy the fancy boutique she manages for her former mother-in-law when things begin to fall apart. Every deal in Samford, Louisiana, can change at the whim of a Broussard, and Avery’s in-laws want to win. At any cost. Secrets are revealed; deals are cut; fortunes are changed.

So much for Avery’s new beginning!

But with the kindness of carpenter T.J. Aillet, himself no stranger to family conflict and Samford society, and the help of a rundown corner market, Avery finds that maybe, just maybe, life can turn out better than expected.

Sweet Olive

Camille Gardner, a talented oil-and-gas executive, agrees to take on one more job to pay back a family debt, convincing a group of rural Louisiana folk artists to give up their mineral rights and precious water.

Instead, she finds herself drawn to their art and attracted to Marsh Cameron, the attorney representing the landowners.

Camille must decide whether family obligation — and her own plans for the future — are more important than the lives and traditions of this small community.

The Green Series

Gone To Green

Will a big-city journalist find love and happiness in small-town Louisiana? An ambitious newspaper editor trades her corporate life at a large paper for the ownership of “The Green News-Item” in rural Louisiana — and finds friendship with an unlikely group of people. Ready to fight for right, she is unexpectedly drawn into new causes — and attracted to an appealing high-school coach who raises catfish part time.

Goodness Gracious Green

The local newspaper’s old owners try to bully Lois into selling the paper, and the mayor’s dog bites her in the face. Lois has a battle on her hands!

The Glory Of Green

Lois is on her way to marry her catfish farmer fiancé, but Mother Nature has other plans. Suddenly, Green is the scene of a media frenzy!

Rally ’Round Green

Green has survived a tornado, but now the community must fight government officials determined to shut down its schools.

Downtown Green

When a bypass around Green siphons off business, the mayor and local businesses must come up with a plan to save the city.

“Christie has developed a sweet community, with dogs that can be depended on for comic relief and assorted quirky townspeople with varying histories, squarely in the vein of Jan Karon’s Mitford or Charlene Baumbich’s Partonville.”

– Publishers Weekly Starred Review

“This charming series will appeal to fans of Jan Karon and Philip Gulley for its homespun feel.”

– Library Journal

“Judy Christie creates characters you’ll want to know and places you’ll want to be. Don’t miss your chance to rally ’round with the gang from Green!”

– Lisa Wingate, national bestselling author of Larkspur Cove and Dandelion Summer

“What are you waiting for? Come on down to Green and find out what all the fuss is about!”

– Lenora Worth, New York Times bestselling author of Hometown Sweetheart

Hurry Less, Worry Less Series

Hurry Less Worry Less at Christmas

Ready for a more meaningful and enjoyable holiday season? “Hurry Less Worry Less at Christmas” offers dozens of useful tips and the gift of inspiration to guide you from Thanksgiving into the New Year. No matter how busy, you can slow down and enjoy the season more. Includes recipes and an Advent devotional guide for individual or group use and a study for Epiphany.

Hurry Less Worry Less: 10 Strategies for Leading the Life You Long For

Slow Down and Enjoy Each Day More: Are you tried of being over-scheduled? Overloaded? Overwhelmed? Practical tips and inspirational ideas with study guide for small groups and classes. With a spiritual framework, Judy Christie coaches you into your own less hurried and less worried life.

Hurry Less, Worry Less for Moms

Dear Busy Moms, This Book is for You. You know the feeling. You’re constantly trying to fit everything – work, laundry, shuttle service, you name it – into 24-hours. You want to enjoy every day with your family but you’re just not sure where to begin. Author Judy Christie offers hope, inspiration, practical ideas and reminders of how important you are in Hurry Less, Worry Less for Moms. So take a deep breath and refresh your life.

Hurry Less, Worry Less for Families

Hurry Less, Worry Less” is intended for all those busy women and men who want to slow their lives down but don’t quite know where to start. It offers quick tips, strategies for change, and an invitation to a Christian life. The author writes: “This book shares the path that I took and is written with the certainty that there is a better way to live, even in these hectic times…especially in these hectic times….An unexpected part of the journey was how God began to speak to me and help me grow….I discovered that part of the yearning inside me was for this underdeveloped part of my life.

Hurry Less, Worry Less at Work

The author writes: “This book shares the path that I took and is written with the certainty that there is a better way to live, even in these hectic times…especially in these hectic times….An unexpected part of the journey was how God began to speak to me and help me grow….I discovered that part of the yearning inside me was for this underdeveloped part of my life.”