Try free for 2 months
-
By Design: The Beginning
- Books One-Three of the By Design Series
- Narrated by: Jill Smith
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $27.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Buy it with
-
The Senator's Wife
- By: Jen Lyon
- Narrated by: Abby Craden
- Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When professional soccer player Alex Grey goes on a vacation to the local South Carolina islands, she isn't anticipating any life-changing events. Just a relaxing weekend to prepare for the upcoming season. But that quickly changes when she finds herself the lone witness to a sailing accident and makes the decision to risk her own life to save a drowning woman—unwittingly coming to the rescue of a US senator's wife, Catharine Cleveland.
-
-
Great book.
- By Pru Gallagher on 26-02-2024
-
The Fixer
- The Villains Series, Book 1
- By: Lee Winter
- Narrated by: Angela Dawe
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A naïve activist is hired by a corporate villain but doesn't realize it. Cue one awkward farce, a twisty puzzle, and the slowest of slow burns in this opposites-attract, ice queen romance. Nine years ago, aloof, icy Michelle Hastings chose career over love. She's now living with that choice as she rules a secret corporation catering to the rich and powerful. Enter Eden Lawless. The guileless activist finds it a bit weird being employed by a mystery organization to bring down a corrupt mayor. But, hey, she's up for a challenge. Much harder is getting her beautiful new boss out of her head.
-
-
Loved this book.
- By Em Lewis on 27-01-2024
-
The Apple Diary
- By: Gerri Hill
- Narrated by: Abby Craden
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the death of her grandmother, reluctant heiress Madilyn Marak agrees to stay with her grandfather at the estate for the summer. There, she finds an old diary hidden in an antique desk in the attic—The Apple Diary—written by her great-grandmother Isabel. In there, she finds the love story of Isabel and Lorah, along with a photograph of the two young women from 1933. The diary, like the love affair, was short and brief, but rich and vivid enough for her to feel a true bond with the women despite the heartbreaking ending.
-
-
4 stars
- By queer_aussie_reviews on 09-02-2024
-
Bachelorette Number Twelve
- By: Jae
- Narrated by: Lori Prince
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ellie Fisher loves most things about being a nurse in the emergency department . . . just not working with Regina Novak, an icy attending physician who acts as if she's God's gift to medicine. The dislike is completely mutual. Regina thinks Ellie is a starry-eyed romantic with a sentimental attitude that has no place at work. When Regina gets talked into volunteering at a singles auction, Ellie accidentally bids on her—and ends up winning. Oops! Since the money raised is for a good cause, they reluctantly decide to go through with the dates.
-
-
Jaes' best work
- By Anonymous User on 04-02-2024
-
Fallout
- By: JA Armstrong
- Narrated by: Cassandra York
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Reid and Toles families are settling into their roles at the White House. President Candace Reid is grateful to have the counsel and support of close friends Alex and Cassidy Toles. Alex assumes a position as Deputy National Security Adviser. She searches to determine the cause of the Russian president’s death. Her brother, Jonathan Krause, continues to decrypt a data disc from a lab in Kaliningrad. And her partner, Claire Brackett, infiltrates the inner circle of a power broker in Poland. Candace juggles a complex agenda while supporting her children through life changes.
-
Integrity
- Halcyon Division, Book 1
- By: E. J. Noyes
- Narrated by: Abby Craden
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s an ordinary workday when intelligence analyst Lexie Martin learns about a horrific chemical weapon attack abroad. Just an ordinary day...until a stranger breaks into her house and warns her to forget what she saw and heard, setting off a chain of events Lexie thought only happened in movies. Falsely accused of stealing intelligence and unsure of who to trust, Lexie quickly realizes the significance of the intel and that she must do everything she can to keep it safe. And as she runs—maybe for her life—Lexie knows she needs something, or someone, to help her.
-
-
Hmmm
- By Lady Stark on 08-06-2023
-
The Senator's Wife
- By: Jen Lyon
- Narrated by: Abby Craden
- Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When professional soccer player Alex Grey goes on a vacation to the local South Carolina islands, she isn't anticipating any life-changing events. Just a relaxing weekend to prepare for the upcoming season. But that quickly changes when she finds herself the lone witness to a sailing accident and makes the decision to risk her own life to save a drowning woman—unwittingly coming to the rescue of a US senator's wife, Catharine Cleveland.
-
-
Great book.
- By Pru Gallagher on 26-02-2024
-
The Fixer
- The Villains Series, Book 1
- By: Lee Winter
- Narrated by: Angela Dawe
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A naïve activist is hired by a corporate villain but doesn't realize it. Cue one awkward farce, a twisty puzzle, and the slowest of slow burns in this opposites-attract, ice queen romance. Nine years ago, aloof, icy Michelle Hastings chose career over love. She's now living with that choice as she rules a secret corporation catering to the rich and powerful. Enter Eden Lawless. The guileless activist finds it a bit weird being employed by a mystery organization to bring down a corrupt mayor. But, hey, she's up for a challenge. Much harder is getting her beautiful new boss out of her head.
-
-
Loved this book.
- By Em Lewis on 27-01-2024
-
The Apple Diary
- By: Gerri Hill
- Narrated by: Abby Craden
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the death of her grandmother, reluctant heiress Madilyn Marak agrees to stay with her grandfather at the estate for the summer. There, she finds an old diary hidden in an antique desk in the attic—The Apple Diary—written by her great-grandmother Isabel. In there, she finds the love story of Isabel and Lorah, along with a photograph of the two young women from 1933. The diary, like the love affair, was short and brief, but rich and vivid enough for her to feel a true bond with the women despite the heartbreaking ending.
-
-
4 stars
- By queer_aussie_reviews on 09-02-2024
-
Bachelorette Number Twelve
- By: Jae
- Narrated by: Lori Prince
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ellie Fisher loves most things about being a nurse in the emergency department . . . just not working with Regina Novak, an icy attending physician who acts as if she's God's gift to medicine. The dislike is completely mutual. Regina thinks Ellie is a starry-eyed romantic with a sentimental attitude that has no place at work. When Regina gets talked into volunteering at a singles auction, Ellie accidentally bids on her—and ends up winning. Oops! Since the money raised is for a good cause, they reluctantly decide to go through with the dates.
-
-
Jaes' best work
- By Anonymous User on 04-02-2024
-
Fallout
- By: JA Armstrong
- Narrated by: Cassandra York
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Reid and Toles families are settling into their roles at the White House. President Candace Reid is grateful to have the counsel and support of close friends Alex and Cassidy Toles. Alex assumes a position as Deputy National Security Adviser. She searches to determine the cause of the Russian president’s death. Her brother, Jonathan Krause, continues to decrypt a data disc from a lab in Kaliningrad. And her partner, Claire Brackett, infiltrates the inner circle of a power broker in Poland. Candace juggles a complex agenda while supporting her children through life changes.
-
Integrity
- Halcyon Division, Book 1
- By: E. J. Noyes
- Narrated by: Abby Craden
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s an ordinary workday when intelligence analyst Lexie Martin learns about a horrific chemical weapon attack abroad. Just an ordinary day...until a stranger breaks into her house and warns her to forget what she saw and heard, setting off a chain of events Lexie thought only happened in movies. Falsely accused of stealing intelligence and unsure of who to trust, Lexie quickly realizes the significance of the intel and that she must do everything she can to keep it safe. And as she runs—maybe for her life—Lexie knows she needs something, or someone, to help her.
-
-
Hmmm
- By Lady Stark on 08-06-2023
-
When the Past Finds You
- A When the Past Finds You Standalone
- By: Adrian J. Smith
- Narrated by: Lori Prince, Quinn Riley
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wil thought she had the world ahead of her—eight years of experience in her job, her temper under control and working for her, and a manager who understood her. All Wil's fears tumble out when her best friend's stepmom becomes her new manager. No longer able to hide who she is, Wil fights to control her temper and crush on the one person she's never been able to hold back on.
-
Purposefully Accidental
- By: G. Benson
- Narrated by: Quinn Riley
- Length: 18 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since A-List actress and Hollywood's sweetheart Wren Acker came out, not only is she at the top of the acting world; she's also crush number one for her queer fanbase. Loving life, loving her job, loving her cat-everything is fantastic. Except that lack of any kind of private life. When a car accident brings her to the ER, the bottom falls out of her world when she realizes that reserved Doctor Taylor, her physician, is Madison Taylor from camp way back when she was a kid. And boy, does Madison still hold a well-earned grudge for how that all ended.
-
Rivals for Love
- By: Ali Vali
- Narrated by: Lula Larkin
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brooks Boseman, born into privilege in an old New Orleans plantation home, could have opted for an easy life just like her siblings, but after a broken heart, she escapes to New York where no one knows her name. A call from the family matriarch changes everything. Her brother Curtis is getting married, and Brooks needs to be at the engagement party. Only she can’t possibly go, not with Curtis set to marry the secret love of her youth, Fallon Goodwin.
-
-
Fantastic!
- By MISS J E CHURCHLEY on 09-11-2023
-
The No Kiss Contract
- By: Nan Campbell
- Narrated by: Lula Larkin
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Despite being the youngest partner at her firm, Corporate Attorney Davy Dugan is gunning for a recently vacant name partnership—it would mean finally having the power to make a real change in her conservative workplace. But 80-hour workweeks don’t allow any time with her much younger half sister, Tally, who doesn’t seem to need Davy in her life anyway.
-
Hunter’s Way
- By: Gerri Hill
- Narrated by: Abby Craden
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Homicide detective Tori Hunter was used to doing things her way. But even after six different partners in seven years, she was not prepared for the hot-tempered Samantha Kennedy. Samantha, on the other hand, was trying to juggle a new job and a demanding boyfriend and now finds herself with an even greater challenge - being partnered with the most difficult detective in the entire squad.
-
-
Almost Fantastic Lesbian Cop Drama
- By Sarah Carapace on 10-10-2018
-
Intersection
- By: Nancy Ann Healy
- Narrated by: Cassandra York
- Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
FBI agent Alexis Toles is dispatched to New Rochelle, New York, to investigate threatening letters sent to Congressman Christopher O’Brien and to protect his ex-wife, Cassidy, and six-year-old son, Dylan. But when she gets to New Rochelle, Alex discovers that there is more to the situation than simple stalking or political agendas; she finds that she has growing romantic feelings for Cassidy - and that the feelings are mutual.
-
-
over the top
- By Carmela Mascilongo on 16-05-2020
-
The Business of Love
- By: Charley Clarke
- Narrated by: Abby Craden
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Driven, reserved businesswoman Mackenzie Watson has one goal—take over her family company and secure her little sister's future. The only wrinkle is her late grandmother's decree that her company's CEO must be married. Adding marriage into Mack's well-ordered life is a recipe for disaster. Her oh-so-logical solution? She'll just hire a woman to be her wife for a year. Besides, maybe a little chaos is exactly what she needs . . .
-
Presidential
- By: Lola Keeley
- Narrated by: Abby Craden
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
High-flying pediatric surgeon Emily Lawrence is new to Washington, DC. Her first week in her new job puts her on a collision course with the most powerful woman in America, President Calvin. Constance "Connie" Calvin's first term is proving turbulent thanks to trying to juggle work and life as a widowed single mother to a twelve-year-old boy. Running for re-election is imminent, and the critics are gunning for her. Worse, her famed icy cool is in danger of melting in the face of Emily's passion, commitment, and charm.
-
-
loved it
- By Tara Sayers on 29-02-2024
-
Love Among the Ruins
- By: Catherine Maiorisi
- Narrated by: Abby Craden
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Romance writer Calliope DeAndre's heart was buried with her wife, Abby. Plagued by anxiety attacks, Callie hasn't left her house since Abby's funeral. Callie's publisher is pressuring her for the travel romantic suspense she contracted to write before Abby got sick. But her writing process requires experiencing the thirty-day Romantic Italy tour leaving in two weeks. Encouraged by her friends but hoping the tour is fully booked, Callie calls and is told "we just received a cancellation."
-
-
Amazing
- By Anonymous User on 01-10-2023
-
Don't Quit Your Daydream
- By: Adrian J. Smith
- Narrated by: Lori Prince
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Laura Finch’s business partner hires Skylar to bring their company to the next generation, Laura sees red. An obnoxious millennial isn’t someone she wants to work with—they’re known for failing their side hustles. Since Laura gave up everything for Solace Inc to succeed, including her dreams of marriage and family, she’s not willing to risk it on just anyone.
-
Flight Plan
- By: T.B. Markinson, Miranda MacLeod
- Narrated by: Lori Prince
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Reggie Hawkins is used to living a lie. As the closeted lesbian daughter of a billionaire media mogul, the only luxury she can’t afford is being herself. She yearns to escape the toxic grasp of her family's global news empire, but her father’s latest demands once again threaten to plunge her deep into the corporate politics she despises.
-
-
Loved loved
- By Anonymous User on 18-10-2023
-
The Roads Left Behind Us
- By: Kat Jackson
- Narrated by: Lila Winters
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even if Callie were to entertain the idea of dating, she's certain it would be with someone vibrant, open, and close to her own age. Definitely not someone like Dr. Kate Jory, a new member of Pennbrook College's English department. Kate is both intimidating and a closed book. And the age difference between them is not small. But Kate is also brilliant and fascinating, and Callie is drawn to her in ways she'd never imagined possible.
Publisher's Summary
Building bridges has a very different meaning for Jameson Reid than it does for Candace Fletcher. J.D. Reid spends her days designing some of the most elegant and majestic buildings and homes in North America. US Senator Candace Fletcher has spent her life working to build bridges between people.
J.D. Reid is not who Candace Fletcher was expecting to arrive on her doorstep. Candace will challenge all of Jameson's preconceptions about the women of Washington, DC. The enigmatic architect will test the resolve of the junior senator from New York.
Two women will discover that falling in love may be out of their control, but creating a relationship in the world of politics and business is completely by design.
Follow Candace, Jameson, and the lovable lunatics of the Fletcher-Reid clan through romance, friendship, and the ups and downs of creating a blended family. The inner workings of Washington politics pale by comparison to a house full of opinionated and animated parents, children, and grandchildren. Discover that whatever can’t be cured with fortune cookies, Bible study, or wine can always be remedied with a steady dose of love and laughter.
This special edition includes the first three books in the best-selling By Design series with bonus content not featured in the short stories. It also includes lesson plans, a reader-requested spin-off to By Design that features Candace's daughter Michelle Fletcher.
More from the same
What listeners say about By Design: The Beginning
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tracy Kelly
- 14-02-2024
Captivating and engaging!
These stories will make you laugh and make you cry. The characters are relatable and well crafted. The stories effortlessly told.
I was spell bound from start to finish!
Oh, and the narration is perfection!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!