Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in Small Town & Rural

When Edie Gardner's life in New York falls apart, her grandmother Adele "Punk" Cheramie coaxes her back to tiny Bayou du Chêne, Mississippi. Edie spent many happy summers there, a stone's throw from untamed Horn Island, where she once found love. Can she now demystify the island's strange new light?

Things are heating up in the Black Hamptons, an affluent vacation community of African Americans nestled in Long Island, New York. The families are facing trials and tribulations both individually and collectively, and everyone has a lot at stake. The Brittons are shocked by the return of Moses, the patriarch of the family. While he's eager to reunite with his wife and sons, it may be difficult, especially since his wife, Carolyn, has found comfort in the arms of another man. 

Small-town Minnesota teenager Basil “The Brute” Thorson—a shy, reluctant wrestling star and “special” tracked into special education classes—vows to make his family whole again in the wake of multiple tragedies, during a year in which his community is roiled by strange religious and mythological events. Another perceptive and empathetic novel from the author of Indie Next and All Iowa Reads selection Little Wolves, blending myth, history, and religion with a nuanced look at contemporary rural life, perfect for fans of Marilynne Robinson, Richard Russo, and Paul Harding.

Ellen Cunningham is happy to play housemother for three younger college boys—it’s helping her keep the rent affordable while she’s back at school herself. But then the house’s owner shows up, and Reed Morgan is not impressed with the situation. Reed finds Ellen’s presence particularly problematic … maybe because he likes her so much.

As far as hidden talents go, Delphinium Hayes is blessed with one of the more unique ones. With the slightest passing whiff, she knows someone's most admirable or weediest characteristic. This peculiar perception never fails to give her an advantage in life--until she meets two men who turn her world upside down.

Audrey Needham, Bay Area interior designer to the rich and pretentious, is already on thin ice with her impossible-to-please boss when her great-aunt Daisy asks for support as her husband descends into Alzheimer’s. Now Audrey is risking the career she worked hard to build as she returns to Charity Falls, Oregon. Her feelings toward the idyllic small town are … complicated. While she has many good memories of her childhood summers there, Charity Falls is also the place her father was killed in a tragic fire at the Sugar Pine Inn thirteen years ago.

Billie Hopkins is discontent living life for her mother. The painter and baker spends her days working at her family’s business. Even though she wishes she could change her life, she doesn’t have the motivation to do so … until her boyfriend of three years breaks up with her and gets engaged just six months later. Worse, his fiancée wants to hire Billie to bake their wedding cake. That seems to be the final straw that breaks the camel’s back and forces Billie to do something different with her life—even if it’s just for three days.

Life isn’t always kind. It throws curve balls and sometimes a few of those become strikes. Tyeis Warner knows what it's like to be dealt lemons and try to make lemonade out of them. She chooses to make the best out of life because her daughter depends on her to. After her daughter’s father walks out on her, she knows that she has to make it … no ifs, ands, or buts about it. However, his actions leave a bad taste in her mouth regarding men, but an even worse taste regarding herself. She goes through life believing she doesn’t really deserve love, and her mental health suffers more.