Showing results by narrator "Amy Melissa Bentley" in All Categories

Christmas has come to Chicago and Vivian Witchell is looking forward to nothing more than spending the holidays with family and friends - and maybe spotting her picture in a few radio magazines. But the discovery of a mysterious envelope stuffed with cash in her late father's study sets Vivian into a tailspin, as she discovers that her beloved father may not have been exactly who she thought he was, and who may in fact have been working with the most notorious mob boss of the time.

In the vein of The Liar's Club and The Glass Castle, Jenny Forrester's memoir perfectly captures both place and a community situated on the Colorado Plateau between slot canyons and rattlesnakes, where she grew up with her mother and brother in a single-wide trailer proudly displaying an American flag. Forrester's powerfully eloquent story reveals a rural small town comprising God-fearing Republicans, ranchers, Mormons, and Native Americans.

Sharee Samuels was 17 and 256 pounds when she hit her rock bottom. But with incredible determination and an unflaggingly positive attitude, she went on to lose more than 100 pounds over the course of five years. When she began documenting her journey on Tumblr, she never expected to become such a powerful voice for health, fitness, and self-love. But her blog, called Funeral for My Fat, soon morphed into an inspirational guide for hundreds of thousands of individuals looking for support and advice on their own fitness journeys.

Wild and Free is in equal parts an anthem and an invitation to find freedom from the cultural captivity that holds us back, and freedom to step into the wild and holy call of God in our lives. With fresh biblical insight tracing all the way back to Eve and a treasury of practical application, Jess and Hayley reveal how women today can walk in the true liberty we already have in Jesus.

Since losing his family in a tragic accident, building contractor Max Lambright can't seem to find purpose in anything but hard work...until he meets feisty newcomer, Willa Richards. As she struggles to make a new life for herself and her baby girl, she challenges him in just about every possible way. Dare he hope that, alongside this spirited woman, he might rekindle his lost faith, and find the path to love and the family he craves?

Jake Matthews understands loss. In just one year, he lost his mother, his first love, his career, and now his cousin and best friend. But loss is the very thing that allows him to see the amazing woman he's always overlooked. And for the very first time, Jake wants to be worthy of such a pure love. Naomi Bennett spent the last year finding herself. Running away to Portugal was more than just a trip to find culture, but also an escape from the first man she ever gave her heart to. Now home, the last thing Naomi wants is to catch the eye of notorious playboy Jake Matthews.

One would hardly see a three-story mansion, unlimited bank account, and high-end clothes as a prison. But to Kaitlyn "Issy" Summers, her family's opulence only represents pain, betrayal, and fear. To deal with her heartbreaking past, Issy finds multiple ways to self-destruct and harden her heart from ever being hurt again. Grant Forester won't give up on the woman he has loved for years. He sees past the anger and bitterness to the wounded girl in need of healing. He has the secret to freedom if she would only trust him.

Carole knows there can be no tie between her autistic daughter and the strange events in Port Massasauga. It's not logical. It's not possible. The Ceiling Man has picked up other watchers in his travels, but they all dismissed him as a nightmare. The girl is different. She knows he's real. Teenage Abby is an innocent. The stranger only she sees and hears introduces her to evil. When Carole falls under the stranger's sway, Abby must solve the puzzle of the Ceiling Man and save them both.

Katie has always imagined her life being just like Mamm's. It's why she chose baptism and why she'll soon marry Abram Zook. But ever since her twin sister, Hannah, left, the only thing that truly makes Katie smile is the sketchpad in which she indulges her talent for drawing faces - a sin that, if discovered, could get her shunned by her family, her friends, and even Abram. Yet Katie sees her secret pastime as the only way to quiet a growing restlessness she'd just as soon ignore. That is, until their Mamm's untimely death brings Hannah back home to Pennsylvania.

The holiday season on Daybreak Island is a mixed bag for Maddie James. On the one hand, her Christmas spirit is in the doghouse after a break-up. On the other, she's busy enough that she doesn't have to pretend to be merry. Business at her cat café is booming, and Maddie's care-taking of a feral cat colony in one of the area's wealthiest communities only helps her bottom line. But tensions between the homeowners and animal activists are escalating to catastrophic levels...and before long a body is found dead in a snowbank.

Joe left Assateague Island with his tiny trailer and an invitation for Ruby to follow. She longs for adventure and companionship, but is she ready? George, her dog, who just might be her dead husband reincarnated, is making decisions difficult. One minute he seems to like Joe. The next minute, the dog is baring his teeth at the man. Ruby decides to follow Joe at her own pace, pulling her little teardrop trailer behind with George in the front seat riding shotgun. She wants to catch up with the man, but on her terms, in her own time. Things don't always work out as planned.

Liv Ridgely prides herself on being the responsible wrangler of all things family: stay at home mom, caretaker of elderly parents, supporter of husband Oscar's career, savior of her wayward sister. Now, with her son off to college, and her ambitious daughter, Hazel, a year away from following him, it's Liv's turn. She's even established her dream career of bringing beautiful old homes back to life in the most picturesque part of Maine. Until she learns that 16-year-old Hazel is three months pregnant.

Once upon a time, a beautiful queen was cursed by a dark faery. That curse, inherited by twin princesses, Aura and Luna, binds their lives in the strangest of ways. At an early age, the girls were more than sisters. They were the strongest of allies until a combination of jealousy, anger, and dark magic tore their relationship to shreds. Aura took everything from Luna: her home, her family, and her love by murdering the prince who'd chosen her instead of Aura. Luna wants revenge, but she's running out of time.

It's a difficult thing to be in love with someone who only sees you as a friend. That feeling was something Kristen Hall had long since grown accustomed to. Her epic crush on Jake Reynolds had lasted so long that her friends didn't even tease her about it anymore. Or maybe it was that she had just gotten better at hiding it after all these years. Kristen couldn't help but hope that maybe one day, somehow, miraculously, Jake would decide he loved her back. Perhaps something would just click, and he would realize he couldn't go on living without her.

Sidney arrived at Ash and Abigail's wedding with the simple expectation she'd see her friends get married and wish them all the best. Getting caught serenading the fish in the aquarium was one thing she did not expect to happen. She certainly didn't expect the person who caught her to be a handsome businessman who instantly wanted to hire her for her vocal talent. Truth be told, she didn't even think she had any vocal talent. Most of all, she by no means expected to fall in love with the aforementioned businessman.

The #MeToo movement has focused public attention on the issue of sexual consent. People of all genders, from all walks of life, have stepped forward to tell their stories of sexual harassment and violation. In a predictable backlash, others have taken to mass media to inquire plaintively if "flirting" is now forbidden. This book presents key strands of feminist thought on the subject of sexual consent from across academic and activist communities and covers the history of research on consent in such fields as psychology and feminist legal studies.

Six years earlier, Trina Grissom disappeared, on the run for her life. Now living under an assumed identity - as Samantha Marsh - she still struggles with the dark secret she harbors and the fear she might one day be found. When she moves to the coastal town of Rarity Cove, South Carolina, to open a cafe, a handsome widower begins to chip away at the walls she's built to protect herself. Mark St. Clair lost his wife two years ago in a tragic accident. He distracts himself from his lingering grief by running the family business and caring for his troubled young daughter.

For Henri and Detra Ann, the dream of running an antique shop has become a vivid reality. But Devecheaux Antiques is no ordinary store. It's a magnet for objects with a supernatural twist and tales yet to be told. The couple, seasoned in skirting ghostly encounters, find themselves unable to escape the spirits within their own shop. It's time to listen to the whispers of the past. Enter Aggie (Mary Agnes Kelly), their new assistant, whose secretive past is as intriguing as her unusual talents.

I was there the day the wall fell from the sky. The day they gunned down my mother and permanently separated the rich from the poor. I was there the day my father decided he could force utopia on a certain half of the population and leave the rest to rot. Pragmapax was once a great city, the only remaining outpost of civilization in our part of the world. But now, divided by an impossible wall, we've become two cities. Two peoples that despise each other. Two different ways of life—one idyllic and peaceful, the other savage and lawless. Civil war seethes in the air, breathing down our necks.

I met Adam Nova under the twinkling lights of a nighttime sky. He was hiding, but that gorgeous boy didn't belong in the dark. Nevertheless it was where he lived: a different world than mine. I was Livingston Montgomery, Southern debutante. With the world at my fingertips, I was well on my way to being another spoiled socialite. But I didn't want money. I didn't want social status. I wanted him: tattoos, sarcastic smirk, bad boy reputation and all. It didn't matter that he was from the wrong side of the tracks. It didn't matter that my family forbade me from seeing him.