Showing results by narrator "Amanda Ronconi" in All Categories

I’m usually the first person on my block to decorate for Christmas. This year? Humbug. My six-year-old son, Aidan, just had a meltdown after learning some hard truths from a drunk Santa impersonator, and I can no longer deny we both need help. Change is hard for Aidan, and right now he’s dealing with several big ones, including A) his father abandoning us, B) our move to Asheville, and C) the Santa snafu.

It's a big fat hairy deal when I lose yet another bet to my best friend, Rena. Not only do I end up attending Bigfoot meetings with her kooky Aunt Phyllis, I find myself traveling with a band of reality TV, Sasquatch-hunting nut-jobs! Not to mention a suspiciously shady film crew. As if those little nuggets weren't enough to send me on the express train to Crazytown...I stupidly swore off men! Clearly, all this would mess up any gal's social life, but the worst part of the story? The minute I send my libido on vacation, I meet Mitch.

Moving is a major life change - time-consuming, expensive, often overwhelming, and sometimes scary. But it doesn’t have to be! Instead of looking it as a burdensome chore, consider it a new adventure. Ali Wenzke and her husband moved 10 times in 11 years, living in seven states across the US. She created her popular blog, The Art of Happy Moving, to help others build a happier life before, during, and after a move. The Art of Happy Moving builds on her blog, offering step-by-step guidance, much-needed comfort, practical information, and welcome advice.

Ella Dove is an acclaimed baker whose desserts spark vivid, cherished memories in those who taste them. A restless soul, Ella goes wherever the wind takes her—but driven by a haunting dream, she’s coming home to Dove Pond. Years ago, her mentor, Angela Stewart Harrington, falsely accused Ella of stealing her beloved family recipe book, known as the Book of Cakes. Now, Ella believes it’s time for them to reconcile. Angela has her own share of amends to make. Her daughter Jules has never forgiven her for divorcing her father, and they’ve been estranged ever since.

Thirteen years ago, Jori Trahan’s boyfriend vanished without a trace. Now, after moving back home to Alabama to care for her ailing grandmother and autistic brother, she comes face-to-face with the deadly mystery behind his disappearance. Jori has a rare form of synesthesia, meaning she can “hear” colors; to her, tones of voice are as unique as fingerprints. With the help of this ability and a sympathetic cop, Jori comes dangerously close to uncovering the truth. But those responsible will go to any length - including murder - to keep their dark secrets buried.

Every big romance deserves a second chance. But Evan and Jessica Cho Graham are looking at the last chance: more specifically, The Last Chance Motel in Dove Pond, NC, where Jessica has escaped to start a happily independent life, separate from her smart, sexy, but driven husband. Evan has been wildly successful in every endeavor, except keeping the heart of the one woman he loves more than anything. If he’s going to repair this mess, he’s going to need all the help he can get - even if it's from the crankiest handyman in B&B history.

In “The Pleasure of Her Company,” a lonely, single woman befriends the married couple next door, hoping to learn the secret of their happiness. In "Long Distance," a man finds himself relieved of the obligation to continue an affair that is no longer compelling to him, only to be waylaid by the guilt he feels at his easy escape. And in the incandescently wise and moving title novella, a dentist, aware that his wife has fallen in love with someone else, must comfort her when she is spurned....

Moms can feel as if they are sprinting through life, crashing onto the pillow at day's end only to start again the next morning. In Breathe, Mama, Breathe, psychotherapist Shonda Moralis outlines the benefits of daily meditation and shows moms how to do it - in just five minutes.

Facile's chief pastry chef, Lydia Conner, has watched the jerk at table seventeen run her fellow kitchen staffers ragged all night with his special requests and substitutions. But she knows she can sweeten his sour mood with one of her legendary desserts. No man alive can resist her special flourless chocolate cake...except for the jerk at table seventeen.

When former army medic Tony Dozier is accused of killing a member of the hate group that disrupted his wife's funeral, the prosecution charges premeditated murder and the defense claims temporary insanity. Former marine Death Bogart and auctioneer Wren Morgan think there's more to the story. They're both led to the long-abandoned Hadleigh House. As Wren uncovers the century-old tale of a World War I soldier and his angel, Death finds a set of truths that will change...or end...their lives.

When firefighter Randy Bogart perishes in the arson fire at an abandoned brewery known as the Brewmaster's Widow, Death Bogart and his girlfriend Wren Morgan travel to St. Louis, Missouri, to find closure. They discover that Randy left his badge behind at the firehouse before going to the brewery. But the coroner finds another badge on Randy's body, leaving Death and Wren with more questions than answers.

In the US, there is a wide-ranging network of at least 370 food banks, and more than 60,000 hunger-relief organizations such as food pantries and meal programs. And yet hunger still affects one in nine Americans. What are we doing wrong? In Reinventing Food Banks and Pantries, Katie Martin argues that if handing out more and more food was the answer, we would have solved the problem of hunger decades ago. Martin instead presents a new model for charitable food, one where success is measured not by pounds of food distributed but by lives changed.

When baker extraordinaire Leilani Trusdale left the bustle of New York City for Georgia's sleepy Sugarberry Island, she didn't expect her past to follow. Yet suddenly, her former boss, Baxter Dunne, aka Chef Hot Cakes, the man who taught her everything pastry, wants to film his hit cooking show in her tiny cupcakery. The same Chef Hot Cakes whose molten chocolate-brown eyes and sexy British accent made Lani's mouth water and her cheeks blush the color of raspberry filling - stirring all kinds of kitchen gossip....

It’s summertime on the North Carolina coast and the livin’ is easy. Unless, that is, you’ve just lost your mother to cancer, your sister to her extremist husband, and your husband to his executive assistant. Meet Gray Howard. Right when Gray could use a serious infusion of good karma in her life, she inadvertently gets a stranger, Diana Harrington, fired from her job at the local pharmacy. Diana Harrington’s summer isn’t off to the greatest start either: Hours before losing her job, she broke up with her boyfriend and moved out of their shared house.

Jerica and Jesse settle into Summerleigh and count themselves lucky to start their family in the beautiful old home. With the renovations nearly complete, Jerica uncovers Loxley Belle's name carved into a wooden desk in a forgotten shack near the old home. Along with the discovery comes the feeling that the last Belle girl needs her help. Jerica and Jesse do their best to piece together the past and find that the youngest Belle had secrets of her own. 

For the first time in her life, Hope Walton has friends...and a (maybe) boyfriend. She's a Viator, a member of a long line of time-traveling ancestors. When the Viators learn of a plan to steal a dangerous device from the inventor Nikola Tesla, only a race into the past can save the natural timeline from utter destruction. Navigating the glitterati of the Gilded Age in 1895 New York City, Hope and her crew will discover that high society can be as deadly as it is beautiful.

Novelists Jonathan Moss and Sage Merriweather should be a perfect match. They share not only the same publisher but also a deep friendship full of mutual respect and encouragement. But when an ill-fated attempt at taking their relationship to the next level fails in spectacular fashion, it appears as though that once-treasured bond is doomed for good. One year later, however, the duo gets a chance to salvage their relationship when Jonathan invites Sage on a do-over road trip from Phoenix to Tacoma.

Eleanor Ross has it all: fame, fortune - and Brian MacCafferty, the perfect combo of bodyguard and assistant who makes every day a breeze. MacCafferty anticipates her needs, puts out her fires, and - once upon a time - nearly put a ring on her finger. And when a scandal erupts that could ruin El, it’s Brian who rushes to the rescue and joins her in hiding. Will El discover there’s no hiding from true love? And is she finally ready to take a second chance for her own, real life happily ever after?

Olivia Vincent dreams of stand-up comedy stardom. Bustling around a busy Manhattan office by day and hustling from club to club by night, she can’t catch a break. Work is falling through the cracks, and after ditching a major client to make a performance, Olivia gets the boot. Determined to pursue her dreams, she snags an audition in Los Angeles for a coveted spot on late-night TV. But the only way to get there is to join seasoned stand-up Nick Leto on a cross-country road tour. She agrees on one condition—no funny business.

It’s July 1946, and after a decade of Depression and war, life in America is returning to normal. But for Charlotte and Mary Oswald, one tumultuous summer will unearth all their secrets and upend their world, once again. Charlotte Oswald’s life is dictated by rules. Where she can go. Whom she can speak to. How she can spend her long, dull summer days. It’s a small, closeted existence, but necessary to protect Charlotte, who has suffered from debilitating fits since childhood.