At 21, Olivia Martin has mastered the art of cynicism. Maybe that's inevitable because of her dysfunctional family - a desperately needy, alcoholic ex-model mother; a rich, ill-tempered father with an imperious new wife; and a spoiled half-sister. Olivia's modus operandi has been to ignore them all and just drift through life, tough and alone. However, just as she is in danger of falling in love - or at least in lust - for the first time, Olivia's familial responsibilities come crashing down about her. Her father and his second wife are killed in a car crash, and she is left to inherit both their considerable fortune and guardianship of her four-year old half-sister. Despite, Olivia's view that 'If I'd wanted to be saddled with a kid at this point in my life, I'd have grown up in Oklahoma,', she has no choice but to do the right thing and try and raise a child she's only met on a handful of times.
Best friends Kamryn Matika and Adele Brannon thought nothing could come between them - until Adele did the unthinkable and slept with Kamryn's fiance, Nate. Worse still, she got pregnant and had his child. When Kamryn discovered the truth about their betrayal she vowed never to see any of them again. Two years later, Kamryn receives a letter from Adele asking her to visit her in hospital. Adele is dying and begs Kamryn to adopt her daughter, Tegan. With a great job and a hectic social life, the last thing Kamryn needs is a five-year-old to disrupt things. Especially not one who reminds her of Nate. But with no one else to take care of Tegan and Adele fading fast, does she have any other choice? So begins a difficult journey that leads Kamryn towards forgiveness, love, responsibility and, ultimately, a better understanding of herself.
Some people wait their whole lives to find their soul mates. But not Holly and Gerry.Childhood sweethearts, they could finish each other's sentences and even when they fought, they laughed. No one could imagine Holly and Gerry without each other.Until the unthinkable happens. Gerry's death devastates Holly.
But as her 30th birthday looms, Gerry comes back to her. He's left her a bundle of notes, gently guiding Holly into her new life without him, each note signed "P.S. I Love You."
As the notes are gradually opened, and as the year unfolds, Holly is both cheered up and challenged. The man who knows her better than anyone sets out to teach her that life goes on. With some help from her friends, and her noisy and loving family, Holly finds herself laughing, crying, singing, dancing - and being braver than ever before.
Life is for living, she realises - but it always helps if there's an angel watching over you.
Cyberspace filled with excitement over historic flight
PETALING JAYA: As Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor headed for outer space yesterday, Malaysian cyberspace was abuzz with excitement over the historic event.
Many local blogs and websites posted news of the event as well as messages of congratulations and good wishes for the first Malaysian to go into space.
“I hope it will inspire our children and youth, especially the younger generation of Kedayans to achieve similar things,” A. S. Kasah, a Kedayan from Sabah living in Subang Jaya, wrote in itsurday.blogspot.com
Bloggers among the colleagues of Dr Sheikh Muszaphar from Hospital UKM also took the opportunity to write about the space-bound orthopaedic surgeon.
“We are praying hard for (his) safety ... and I am so proud and glad that he is from the medical profession,” said Dr Ezura, who works at the hospital.
The mother of a two-year-old said in her blog, A Mother’s Discovery (ezzuramd.blogspot.com), that her daughter has just learned the word “angkasawan” and expressed her hope that she would become the first Malaysian woman astronaut.
Faridah Ariffin, who blogs at anuarfamily.blogspot.com, wrote of her nine-year-old eldest son who was “very interested in science, especially space exploration.”
“He’s always wanted to be an astronaut, but I asked him ‘what for?’, macam tak logik pula (it doesn’t make sense). But I would never have expected that Malaysia would send an explorer into space today,” she said.
The gushing pride and enthusiasm in the space mission is a relatively recent phenomenon in Malaysian cyberspace, which in the weeks and months leading to the launch was dominated by questions on the rationale of spending money on a space programme, as well as on Dr Sheikh Muszaphar’s designation as a real astronaut.
But explanations on the important scientific experiments that Dr Sheikh Muszaphar will conduct has helped to win over many sceptics and generate excitement in the programme.
Many readers of The Star also took the opportunity to congratulate Dr Sheikh Muszaphar online via a special website thestar.com.my/angkasawan set up by the newspaper.
