Showing results by author "ann" in All Categories

Everything about Lilah Stohler is dark: her clothes, her mood, and her outlook on life and death. That last part is important because Lilah’s father has just retired and left her in charge of Stohler’s Funeral Home. But Abel Stohler knows his daughter’s comfort level rests “downstairs”, so he hires one Sparkle Lee Sink to help Lilah manage the living part of the business of death. Sparkle is everything that Lilah isn’t—an empathetic marketing whiz who is a true people person.

The day I lost my best friend was the day I realized that I'd been living in the past. I've tried to find a way to heal, to mend that break. Somehow, I came through it partially whole. But I know I couldn't have done that without Aiden Connolly. The problem is, he once loved my best friend. And now she's gone, and I refuse to be in that shadow, or worse, a replacement for someone we both loved.

Gibson Barton knows his Pack is on the verge of something they will never be able to prepare for: a chance at freedom. Yet when he's finally able to open his eyes to what might be his fate, it could be too late.As a submissive wolf of her Pack, Mandy Calhoun has always only watched Gibson from afar. Because of her fears, she hasn't let her intentions toward him - or the other in her sights - be known. Oliver Dare is the Foreseer of the Ursine Pack, and knows with each vision, his death is that much closer.

Vaneetha Risner contracted polio as an infant, was misdiagnosed, and lived with widespread paralysis. She lived in and out of the hospital for 10 years and, after each stay, would return to a life filled with bullying. When she became a Christian, though, she thought things would get easier, and they did: carefree college days, a dream job in Boston, and an MBA from Stanford where she met and married a classmate. But life unraveled. Again.

Isolated farmer Ernie Bowles was found lying on his kitchen floor, gruesomely strangled. News of the murder came to Inspector Stephen Ramsay early on Monday morning and he fears this case will not be simple. In his experience, most murders are straightforward: an explosion of family pressure, the loss of control in a fight. But Bowles seems to have kept himself to himself and had lived alone since his mother’s death. A seemingly unconnected women is then found strangled too, surely two such killings in the same locality are more than just chilling coincidence?

Oxford, Autumn 1353. St. Frideswide's Fair is a great annual event in Oxford, bringing together merchants and buyers from all over England and Wales, and from as far away as Flanders and France. Yet the earnings from the fair, granted to the Priory of St. Frideswide centuries before, are resented by the town, and resentment can turn to violence. Under the unscrupulous Prior de Hungerford, even more trouble is brewing.

For Dorothea Cassidy Thursdays were special. But one Thursday in June was to be more special than any other. It was the day that Dorothea Cassidy was strangled... As the small town of Otterbridge prepares for its summer carnival, Inspector Stephen Ramsay begins a painstaking reconstruction of Dorothea’s last hours. He soon discovers that she had taken on a number of deserving cases – a sick and lonely old woman, a disturbed adolescent, a compulsive gambler, a single mother with a violent boyfriend and a child in care – and even her close family have their secrets to hide.

Mary Anne and Stacey are in Sea City working as mother's helpers for the Pike family. When each of the girls meets up with her boyfriend from last summer, things start to get complicated.

Jenna Chen has spent her life in the shadow of her flawless cousin. Jessica Chen is so smart she gets the top score on every test. Jessica Chen is so beautiful people stop in the hallway to stare at her. Jessica Chen is so perfect she got into Harvard. And Jenna Chen will only ever be a disappointment. So when Jenna makes a desperate wish to become her cousin, the last thing she expects is for it to come true—literally. All of a sudden she gets to live the life she’s always dreamed of...but being the model student at cutthroat Havenwood Private Academy isn’t quite what she’d imagined.

Sadie Wen is perfect on paper: school captain, valedictorian, and a "pleasure to have in class." It's not easy, but she has a trick to keep her model-student smile plastered on her face at all times: she channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. She'd never send them of course - she'd rather die than hurt anyone's feelings - but it's a relief to let loose on her power-hungry English teacher or a freeloading classmate taking credit for Sadie's work. All her most vehemently worded emails are directed at her infuriating cocaptain, Julius Gong.

North Devon is enjoying a rare hot summer with tourists flocking to its coastline. Detective Matthew Venn is called out to a rural crime scene at the home of a group of artists. What he finds is an elaborately staged murder–Dr Nigel Yeo has been fatally stabbed. His daughter, Eve, is a glassblower, and the murder weapon is a shard of one of her broken vases. Dr Yeo seems an unlikely murder victim.

When a violent storm descends upon Orkney, the body of Archie Stout is left behind in its wake. An unusual murder weapon, a Neolithic stone bearing ancient inscriptions, is found discarded nearby. Archie was a popular, larger-than-life character, making his death a shocking blow to the community.

Mary Anne should never have thrown away that chain letter she got in the mail. Ever since she did, bad things have been happening - to everyone in the Baby-Sitters Club. With Halloween coming up, Mary Anne's even more worried - what kind of spooky thing will happen next? Then Mary Anne finds a new note in her mailbox: Wear this bad-luck charm, it says. Or else. Mary Anne has to do what the note says. But who sent the charm? And why send it to Mary Anne? If the BSC doesn't solve this mystery soon, their bad luck might never stop!

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.

Look outward beyond the stars with six stories from bestselling visionary authors. An AI awakens to its purpose. A researcher seeds a thousand new worlds for one more chance at love. A murder rocks the crew of an interstellar ship. With a sweeping sense of wonder, these stories explore the galaxy . . . and the horizons of humanity’s potential.

Zoe Luce is a successful interior designer in the Arizona town of Whispering Springs who's developed an unusual career specialty—helping recently divorced clients redesign their homes, to help them forget the past and start anew. But Zoe knows that some things can't be covered up with a coat of paint. And when she senses that one of her clients may be hiding a dark secret, she enlists PI Ethan Truax to find the truth.

Claudia's sister, Janine, is too busy being smart to be nice to anyone - even their grandmother, Mimi. But Claudia doesn't have to see Janine too much this summer, since the Baby-Sitters Club is starting a new play group. It's going to be so much fun! But then Mimi has a stroke, and the whole summer changes. Now Claudia is "Mimi-sitting," and Janine is no help at all. How can the Kishi sisters get along when Janine is always so mean?

For many of us, change is scary, and as a result, we may try to avoid it, or even actively resist it. But while burying our heads in the sand can provide some short-term relief, our fear can grow and manifest itself in life-altering ways like stress, anxiety, or depression. The good news is that you can learn to transform how you respond to unwanted change. If you're ready to stop running from change, and start living a life guided by your values, this powerful guide will be with you, every step of the way.