Showing results by narrator "Abby Craden" in All Categories

Cal Hart walks a blurred line of honor. The rock-hard former Marine has his lethal skills at the service of the highest bidder. Until a contract comes in to kill Lana Vanderpoel, the sultry heiress and billionaire's daughter. She's too damn sexy to end up at the wrong end of a silencer. Cal is tempted to learn who and why someone wants her eliminated. Cal takes the job and removes Lana from danger, questioning his own sanity.

Tall. Toned. Attractive. Women were drawn to her easy confidence and mystique. They wanted to be near her and would do anything for her. Sage Bristo enjoyed the attention and her reputation. But what she really needed was a woman of conviction and passion. The last thing Deanne Demore wants in her life is a modern day Don Juana. And she is not about to get caught up in a ruinous relationship. So why is she watching Sage Bristo? More importantly, why is her heart racing?

Single mom and Revival Ranch's on-site therapist Monica Finley has dedicated her life to helping brave servicemen and women, but former Navy SEAL Gabe Cortez is the one man whose shell she just can't crack. Yet with the holidays fast approaching, she may finally have a plan. In a bid to get Gabe to open up, she'll ask for as much help as possible - cutting down the Christmas tree, stringing lights, the whole nine yards. Who could possibly be a Grinch with so much holiday cheer in the air?

Lou McCallister owns Howl, the only surviving queer bar in Boston. When an investment opportunity to save the floundering bar is inadvertently sabotaged by Clementine Darby, Howl's newest employee, Lou is ready to give up. Now Clem will do anything she can to make it right and keep Howl alive, but will she be able to save the bar in time? This sapphic Coyote Ugly reimagining brings the funny and the feels.

New York editor Jen Gibbs knew when she bought Evan Hall's next blockbuster book, it would change her career. She didn't know it would change her life. But after being sent along on the European book tour, at Evan's request, she has made a promise she's not sure she can keep - she's crossed professional lines and accepted Evan's surprising engagement proposal. Now she's scared to death. In Jen's family, marriage represents the death of every dream a woman holds for herself.

Evelyn Fisher thinks she has the perfect role model for a long-term relationship, until her best friends, Kendall and Melanie, split up and all three women must reevaluate their lives and their relationships. Determined to be a good friend to both, Evelyn supports Kendall and Melanie while they move forward, separately. But when she finds herself falling for one of them the delicate balance shifts. Will loyalty keep Evelyn from pursuing an unexpected chance at love?

Five brothers in all but blood, five girls who love them, emerging from a past fraught with darkness and danger. There are wedding bells, and baby cries and laughter all around. They have found their happy ending. Only one cloud is marring these blue skies, and it has to do with Zane, the rock of the brotherhood. Nobody knows exactly what is wrong, but here’s the thing, folks: There are five of us, and we stand all for one and one for all. If you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us. We protect our own.

The Shattered Path is a poignant story of love, loss, and the enduring hope that even the most fractured memories can find a way back to the heart where they belong.

Welcome to Junebug Farms, a successful, well-known animal shelter in upstate New York, where every day brings something new - love, stress, heartbreak, warmth - and not just from the animals. Lisa Drakemore is in charge of intake and adoption at Junebug. She excels at her job, in large part because of her ability to keep her emotions in check. Her past has given her many years of practice and she's become a pro. But once she meets dog-walking volunteer Ashley Stiles all bets are off for Lisa.

"A really brilliant book" — Malcolm Gladwell "So important" — Glennon Doyle Longlisted for the Porchlight Business Book Awards 2022 A close look at how big money and high stakes have transformed youth sports, turning once healthy, fun activities for kids into all-consuming...

My name is Dima, and I'm a Dragon. I'm also going to die soon. It's a battle I've waged most of my life, but now the odds are looking crappy. Before I go up flames, I have to find a way to save my horde and make sure my secret treasure is safe. There is one way I could stick around a bit longer, but the men I've met aren't exactly lining up to save me.

"Wild" Bill Reichert knows a thing or two about explosives. The ex-Navy SEAL can practically rig a bomb blindfolded. But there's no way to diffuse the inevitable fireworks the day Eve Edens walks back into his life, asking for help.... Eve doesn't know what to do when the Chicago police won't believe someone is out to hurt her. The only place to turn is Black Knights Inc - after all, no one is better at protection than the covert special - ops team. Yet there's also no one better at getting her all turned on than Billy Reichert.

Ex-Navy SEAL Rock Babineaux is as Cajun as they come - spicy, sexy, and more than a bit wicked. But would he actually betray his country? Even his best friends on the special-ops Black Knights team aren't sure they can trust him. Now the target of a massive manhunt, Rock knows the only way to protect the team - especially his partner, Vanessa - is to run. Rock might think he can outmaneuver them all, but he hasn't counted on how stubborn Vanessa Cordero can be. And she refuses to cut him loose.

The United States is obsessed with virginity from the media to schools to government agencies. In The Purity Myth Jessica Valenti argues that the country’s intense focus on chastity is damaging to young women. Through in-depth cultural and social analysis, Valenti reveals that powerful messaging on both extremes ranging from abstinence curriculum to Girls Gone Wild infomercials place a young woman’s worth entirely on her sexuality. Morals are therefore linked purely to sexual behavior, rather than values like honesty, kindness, and altruism.

Agent Geena Fox is counting down the days to her retirement. On one bittersweet day six years ago, her team of superheroes defeated Jewel, the world's most evil villain - but Geena's secret lover died in the process. Now her boss has assigned her a rookie partner, Leigh Walker, and that's the last thing Geena needs. She sends the woman off on a wild-goose chase searching for a long-lost missing person to get her out of her sight. However, what Leigh finds will turn Agent Fox's world upside down.

Professor Belinda Coltswood has made a name for herself. As the recent winner of a prestigious art prize, and the object of lingering rumors that nearly ended her career, Coltswood walks a fine line between celebrity and outcast. Though seemingly immune to both censure and accolades, Coltswood's capacity for cool indifference dissolves in a rip tide of memory when she finds herself face-to-face with a woman from her past. A woman she knew only as Wolf.

In a steam-filled diner in a college town, Flannery Jansen catches sight of something more beautiful than she's ever seen: a graduate student, reading. The 17-year-old, new to everything around her - college, the East Coast, bodies of literature, and the sexual flurries of student life - is shocked by her desire to follow this wherever it will take her.

Chase MacKenzie is not the man for Maura Jenkins. A self-proclaimed life-long bachelor, and unapologetic about his distaste for monogamy, a woman would have to be a masochist to want to fall into Chase's bed. And Maura is no masochist. Chase has one strict rule: no strings attached. Which is fine with Maura because she doesn't even really like Chase. He's arrogant, cocky, and let's not forget bossy. But when he aims that crooked grin at her, she goes weak in the knees. Not that she has any intentions of falling for his charms.

Catherine Gardner knows what it means to work hard. Growing up with little, it's pretty much all she's done for most of her life. As the bookkeeper for Junebug Farms, she handles the money. When Catherine finds herself undeniably attracted to Emily Breckenridge, daughter of the shelter's largest donor, it doesn't sit well with her. At all.

Since emigrating from Bangladesh, 14-year-old Nadira and her family have been living in New York City on expired visas, hoping to realize their dream of becoming legal U.S. citizens. But after 9/11, everything changes. Suddenly being Muslim means you are dangerous - a suspected terrorist. When Nadira's father is arrested and detained at the U.S.-Canadian border, Nadira and her older sister, Aisha, are told to carry on as if everything is the same. The teachers at Flushing High don't ask any questions, but Aisha falls apart....