Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in Literature & Fiction

When Signe, her husband, Rune, and their three boys arrive in Minnesota from Norway to help a relative clear his land of lumber, they dream of owning their own farm and building a life in the New World. But Uncle Einar and Aunt Gird are hard, demanding people, and Signe and her family soon find themselves worked nearly to the bone in order to repay the cost of their voyage. At this rate they will never have land or a life of their own.

Delphinium Nielsen and her sisters have accomplished much in the past year, traveling west and settling in Nebraska. They are on their way to building a garden in dedication to their mother and working against the forces of nature to make their farm thrive. However, none of that can mask their concern that they are quickly running out of money. Del's work teaching in their booming town offers hope, not only to support her sisters financially, but also to better her students' lives.

It is AD 312. Rome teeters on the brink of war. Constantine's army is on the move. On the Rhine frontier, Brandulf Rex, a pagan Germanic barbarian, joins the Roman army as a spy and special-forces operative. Down in Rome, Junia Flavia, the lovely and pious daughter of a nominally Christian senator, finds herself embroiled in anti-Christian politics as she works on behalf of the church.

Alice McNeil resolved at a young age to travel through life unencumbered by love or marriage, free to make her own decisions. A seasoned telegrapher, she's recently acquired a coveted position at an important trading firm, but when the company's ambitious junior director returns to London, things begin to change in ways Alice could never have imagined. For Douglas Shaw, years of hard work and ingenuity enabled him to escape a life of grinding poverty. He's also determined to marry into high society - a step that will ensure he never returns to the conditions of his past.

Matilda Westcott has spent her life tending to the needs of her mother, the Dowager Countess of Riverdale, never questioning the life of solitude she has spun for herself. To Matilda, who considers herself the aging spinster daughter, marriage is laughable - love is a game for the young, after all. But her modest, quiet life of order unravels when a dashing gentleman from her past reappears, threatening to charm his way into her heart yet again.

Dr. Leigh Culver loves practicing medicine in Timberlake, Colorado. It is a much-needed change of pace from her stressful life in Chicago. The only drawback is she misses her Aunt Helen, the woman who raised her. When Helen visits Leigh, she is surprised to find her niece still needs her, especially when it comes to sorting out her love life. But the biggest surprise comes when Leigh takes Helen out to Sullivan’s Crossing and Helen finds herself falling for the place and one special person.

Once Leota's garden was a place of beauty - where flowers bloomed and hope thrived. It was her refuge from the deep wounds inflicted by a devastating war, her sanctuary where she knelt before a loving God and prayed for the children who couldn't understand her silent sacrifices. At 83, Leota is alone; her beloved garden is in ruins. All her efforts to reconcile with her adult children have been fruitless. She voices her despair to a loving Father, her only friend. And God brings a wind of change through unlikely means....

In the bizarre world of Franz Kafka, salesmen turn into giant bugs, apes give lectures at college academies, and nightmares probe the mysteries of modern humanity’s unhappiness. More than any other modern writer in world literature, Kafka captures the loneliness and misery that fill the lives of 20th-century humanity.

In the age of belief, magic is a myth. But when an apocalyptic crusade comes to the remote border of Gul Kana, that belief is shattered, as is the tenuous peace that held the Five Isles together. Now the prophecies that were used to justify this war are unraveling, revealing a hidden agenda while the world lies in the wake of the degradations of this war. But a slim skein of hope resides within the hidden truths, long kept secret and scattered throughout the isles—truths less reliant upon prophecy than heroism and great sacrifice.

New York Times bestselling author Alan Furst is internationally renowned as master of the European espionage thriller. Unfolding in September of 1939 as Hitler’s Wehrmacht ravages Warsaw, The Polish Officer discloses the clandestine existence of Polish Military Intelligence.

Lilac Nielsen's dream has come true: handsome young Reverend Ethan Pritchard has finally noticed her. Yet she must balance this new courtship with the pursuit of another dream—the publication of her artwork in a New York paper. She has secretly been submitting a series of drawings under a pen name, and if anyone traces the drawings back to her, the entire Nielsen family could be put in danger.

Emily Leland sheds no tears when her abusive husband is killed in a bar fight, but what awaits her back home in Sweetwater Crossing is far from the welcome and comfort she expected. First she discovers her father has died under mysterious circumstances. Then the house where the handsome new schoolteacher, Craig Ferguson, and his son are supposed to board burns, leaving them homeless. When Emily proposes turning the family home into a boardinghouse, her sister is so incensed that she leaves town.

This exciting collection presents two previously unpublished stories by SF legend Octavia E. Butler. A Necessary Being precedes the events of Survivor, Butler's third (famously disowned) installment in her Patternist series, and includes characters from it, focusing exclusively on the Kohn, aliens who build their social hierarchies on the blueness of their fur. In Childfinder, a black woman with the gift of identifying children with latent psychic ability refuses to share her skill with an organization of white telepaths.

Sarah Moran's attempt to save the future earl Kenver Pendrennon as he slips off the Cornwall cliffs plunges them both into scandal. Now, marriage may be the only option to save their reputations. But what started as a terrible mistake may be exactly what they need most …

Outnumbered by the superior forces and firepower of the Syndicate Worlds, the Alliance fleet continues its dangerous retreat across the enemy star system. Led by the legendary Captain John “Black Jack” Geary, who returned to the fleet after a hundred-year suspended animation, the Alliance is desperately trying to return home with its captured prize: the key to the Syndic hypernet, and the key to victory…

Gifted with the ability to time-cross between Victorian-era London and World War II Washington, DC, Kathryn faces two lives fraught with danger. In 1938 amid the looming shadow of war, Kathryn is invited to the London Museum as a guest curator to create a groundbreaking exhibit on Jack the Ripper and his reign of terror. As she delves into her grim research, she uncovers a chilling truth: Her own sister is destined to become the Ripper's final victim decades earlier.

Gavriel, a soldier in the elite company of Yonatan—son of King Saul—dreams of forging his destiny through crafting weapons with his own hands. Despite earning his place among Israel's finest, he is haunted by a dark past that no distraction can dispel. When his reckless behavior crosses a line, Yonatan gives him one last mission to prove his worth: help persuade a distant Kenite tribe to sever their ties with the Amalekites.

Rupert didn't especially want to be a prince. And he certainly never asked to be the second son of a royal line that really didn't need a spare. So he was sent out to slay a dragon and prove himself - a quest straight out of legend. But he also discovered the kinds of things legends tend to leave out, as well as the usual demons, goblins, the dreaded Night Witch - and even worse terrors hidden in the shadows of Darkwood. Rupert did find a fiery dragon - and a beautiful princess to rescue.

Noreen O'Sullivan is an enthusiastic member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and believes herself called to defend the cause of prohibition. When she's invited to join the Secret Society of Spinsters, Noreen jumps at the chance to rally others to her movement and shut down the local saloon for good. However, her passionate campaigning often puts her at odds with the men around her—including the local deputy.

The best-selling Song of Acadia series follows the affairs of two sisters from the French expulsion from Nova Scotia to the turmoil of the American Revolution. Anne in England and Nicole in America are separated by an ocean, but their hearts are still close. When they each receive a letter, they are suddenly called on a perilous journey back to their beloved homeland.