Showing results by author "Jo" in All Categories

They call me Zen-man, the cool-headed one, the protector. I keep an eye out for everyone, take them in, find them homes. They think I’m the calm and collected one, the self-assured one, the one who knows the way. They think they see me. They think they know me. But they’re all wrong, because inside I’m broken. I have a jagged hole in my soul I can’t fix, a festering blackness. I’ve been to the pits of hell, and nobody comes back unscathed. Life in foster care fucked me up, and now a thread is all that’s holding me together.

Four years have passed since I left home, my parents, and my brother Asher behind - since I shut out my past. And Erin. Four years since I last saw her, since I heard her voice and held her in my arms. I've spent my time forging a path from woman to woman, from bed to bed, trying to find an answer. But I think I've lost my way. There's no light at the end of the dark. No big surprise. I carry the dark inside me. I'm a bastard - branded as such from the start. I never give my phone number and address. I take my pleasure, and don't come back for seconds. No commitments, no promises.

Jemima Jones is driving home to her family's magical hill-top farm for Christmas… And on arrival, she soon learns that her dad has been keeping a secret – all is not as it seems, and Hollybush Farm is struggling to make ends meet! Worried about losing the childhood home she loves, Jemima decides it’s time to pull on her winter wellies.

Eating is an innate skill that has been overcomplicated by marketing schemes and a dieting culture. It’s time to leave the dieting culture behind for the whole family. It starts with the baby’s first bite! When babies show signs of readiness for solid foods, they can eat almost everything the family eats and become healthy, happy eaters in the process. By honoring self-regulation (also an innate skill) and focusing on a whole-food foundation, we can foster healthier children, parents, and families.

When Rachel sets off, alone, for her mother's isolated country house, she promises herself that the business of packing up and selling will only take a couple of weeks, and then she'll be home again, back to normal. But, from the moment she steps through the front door, Rachel feels that the house contains more than she had expected: along with the memories of her mother, there is something else, a presence - not quite tangible - trying to make itself felt.

Nothing exciting ever happens on twelve-year-old Danny’s estate. That is until he falls through a locker in his grandad’s workshop and finds himself in an Interdimensional Lost Property Office! And – even weirder – his new boss is a giant purple squid on a segway! Now Danny, best mate Modge and annoying cousin Inaaya find themselves in charge of returning alien items to all corners of the universe. But someone – or something – is determined to stop them. And there’s NOTHING these evil aliens won’t stop at to achieve complete multi-dimensional domination.

I have a secret. One that waltzed back into my life, threatening to ruin everything I've built. She should have been dead. She should have stayed away. But she did neither of those things. Instead, she came back hoping for answers she shouldn't seek. Now, I'm stuck playing the role of her protector when I'm the nightmare everyone is afraid of. I saved her once, but I was just a kid then. Now, I have an empire to run. One that is crumbling because of her. Will I find it in me to save her again? Or will I give in to my wicked desires?

At fourteen, Audrey has the perfect life: great parents, great buddies, and her best friend, Asher. Only lately Asher has begun to change. He seems distant and standoffish, ignoring Audrey. Not all of the changes are bad. He’s growing from a pretty boy into a handsome man, and Audrey is all too aware of that. But if they cross the line from friends to something more, will things stay the same, or will she lose her best friend forever?

Barlowe Theater stole the life of Greta Mercy’s eldest brother during its construction. Now in 1915, the completed theater appears every bit as deadly. When Greta’s younger brother goes missing after breaking into the building, Greta engages the assistance of a local police officer to help her unveil the already ghostly secrets of the theater. But when help comes from an unlikely source, Greta decides that to save her family she must uncover the evil that haunts the theater and put its threat to rest.

Twelve-year-old Fern feels invisible. Her dad is forever planning how to boost business at the family restaurant. Her mom is constantly going off to meditate. Her sister, Sarah, who’s taking a year off after high school, is too busy finding ways not to work, and her brother Holden is totally focused on his new "friend". And then there’s Charlie: three years old, a "surprise" baby, and the center of everything. If it wasn’t for her friend Ran, there would be nowhere to turn. Ran is always calm, always positive.

Every business needs a highly skilled bookkeeper to look after the accounts. Luckily, you are a highly skilled bookkeeper. But one of the traps bookkeepers fall into is failing to see themselves as business owners.

We never forget the one who got away. Eighteen years ago Nell fell in love in the mountains of Crete, and life changed forever. Nell's daughter, Demi, has never met her dad. Nell never saw him again. When she gets the chance to return to the hilltop town of Vounoplagia - where everything began - Nell can't resist the urge to go back and find him. Working on a honey farm perched high up in the hills, there's plenty to keep her busy. And she will quickly realise the town harbours just as many secrets as she does.

The god Apollo, living (by his own choice) a human life as Pythias in the city, his true identity known to only a few, is now married and the father of several children. But a tragic loss causes him to become consumed with the desire for revenge. Being Apollo, he goes about handling it in a seemingly rational and systematic way, but it's evident - particularly to his precocious daughter, Arete - that he is unhinged with grief.

It's 2015, and Patricia Cowan is very old. "Confused today," read the notes clipped to the end of her bed. She forgets things she should know - what year it is, major events in the lives of her children. But she remembers things that don't seem possible. She remembers marrying Mark and having four children. And she remembers not marrying Mark and raising three children with Bee instead.

In 1941 the European war ended in the Farthing Peace, a rapprochement between Britain and Nazi Germany. The balls and banquets of Britain's upper class never faltered, while British ships ferried undesirables across the Channel to board the cattle cars headed east. Peter Carmichael is commander of the Watch, Britain's distinctly British secret police. Its his job to warn the Prime Minister of treason, to arrest plotters, and to discover Jews.

As far as inventor Samantha O'Connel is concerned, work is better than food, a social life - even sex. Of course, all it takes is a single phone call from Matt Wilkinson - the ridiculously hot object of her girlhood fantasies - for Sam to discover even she has some naughty needs that won't be ignored. Sam's biggest challenge is that while Matt is just as much a workaholic as she is, he's also a wealthy, sexy bachelor who can have any woman he wants.

Experience the heart-pounding drama of real-life emergencies. Veteran EMT and physical therapist Andrea Jo Rodgers shares this all-new collection of accounts from her 30-plus years as a volunteer with her town's local first aid and emergency squad.

This podcast is where style, colour, beauty and self care come together to help you feel more stylish, more colourful, more polished… and just a little bit happier! I’m Jo Halls from ‘The Confidence Club’ and here your inner glow meets your outer glow-up.

Working for a winemaker in France is the opportunity of a lifetime for Emmy. Even if she doesn't know a thing about wine beyond what's on offer at the local supermarket. There's plenty to get to grips with in the rustic town of Petit Frère. Emmy's new work friends need more than a little winning over. Then there's her infuriatingly brash tutor, Isaac, and the enigmatic Madame Beaumont tucked away in her vineyard of secrets. But Emmy will soon realise that in life - just as in winemaking - the best things happen when you let go and trust your instincts.

In Fully Yielded Vessels, Richey Owen provides a biblical roadmap that brings unshakable peace without struggle, confusion, or fear. Whether you're frustrated at work, sensing an upcoming transition, or simply seeking clarity about God's will, this book provides practical steps to help you become a fully yielded vessel in the hands of the Master.