Showing results by narrator "Barbara Caruso" in All Categories

Orb is four years old when she first hears the wonderful music of the morning. Gifted with a magic that makes her songs irresistible anytime she sings, she spends her life seeking the source of the mystical music. Orb finally feels she's getting somewhere when she hooks up with the Livin' Sludge, a rock band that could use all the magic they can find. Unfortunately, there's still the pesky little matter of a prophecy to deal with - the prediction that Orb will someday marry Evil, the devil himself.

First contact with a mysterious race of aliens reveals an unusual request; a family's pet dog comes to grips with the newly bestowed gift of human-like intelligence; a poet, in danger and alone on a distant world, makes unlikely allies; hundreds of years in the future, a famous hermit lives in the sea above the now-underwater Harvard University; former friends navigate unsteady peace between human refugees and the technologically superior race that saved them; in a future where human life can be infinitely extended through cybertronic rebirth, one woman declines immortality.

Widely hailed as a milestone in American literature, Sinclair Lewis' Main Street vividly describes a country on the verge of massive change, with traditional values being threatened by progress. The novel's heroine, Carol Milford, is a highly educated, ambitious woman who plans to join a newly enlightened society. But after marrying a small-town doctor, she finds herself trapped in the role of a dutiful wife. Carol's desires for social change conflict with the security of her comfortable married life, as she struggles to understand the cost of conformity...and rebellion. As relevant today as it was upon its 1920 publication, Main Street is both a masterful piece of writing and a fascinating microcosm of America's social evolution.

Inspirational Readers Choice Award winner Cathy Marie Hake, CBA best-selling author of Bittersweet,/i>, blends wholesome humor and timeless truth into historical novels that ring with authenticity. When 17-year-old Lady Sydney Hathwell arrives in 1890 New York City, she never imagines she'll soon be galloping about the Wild West, unchaperoned - and dressed as a man.

In Tracie Peterson's tale of love and suspense, 24-year old Cassandra works for a wealthy Philadelphia widow who treats her with grandmotherly kindness. But Cassie's 1857 life takes an unexpected turn when a Boston investigator asks her to pretend they're courting so he can get closer to a murder suspect - her employer's own son.

L.M. Montgomery's Rainbow Valley is the continuation of the beloved classics Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea. Anne and Gilbert Blythe are married and have six mischievous children. Always seeking out new adventures and trying to help others, they're a rambunctious lot.

Years ago, Wynn and Elizabeth Delancy adopted Christine and Henry. Now Christine has moved to a nearby city. Working as a secretary in a prosperous company, she is drawn to her employer's handsome son. Henry has joined the Canadian Mounties, where one of his first duties is to help a young widow and her infant. In their new lives, as new relationships grow, can Christine and Henry still draw on the faith they have learned from their parents?

Recently orphaned, young Rose Campbell is sent to the "Aunt Hill", where Uncle Alex, her six aunts, and seven boy cousins live in noisy confusion. It is nothing like the quiet girls’ boarding school that has been Rose’s home for the past year. Surrounded by a bewildering array of pets, relatives, and unfamiliar foods, the fragile girl wonders if she will ever get used to this new life. Fortunately, Uncle Alex is her guardian. He keeps the aunts from coddling her too much, and makes sure that she has plenty of time to play outside with her cousins.

Parry's promising life as a musician and apprentice in the arts of White Magic got thrown off track by the violent death of his beloved. Led down a path of depravity by a harlot demoness, Parry has lived a long, corrupt life that may finally be coming to an end - unless he can defeat Lucifer himself at the gates of Hell and become the new Incarnation of Evil.

The dawn of the New Testament era was ushered in by the Sermon on the Mount over two millennia ago. Ellen White's retelling of Christ's familiar words brings out precious treasures new and old. The listener is transported back in time to experience, the inaugural address of Christ's Kingdom, as if for the first time. Christ's benediction to the world, and this telling of it is for everyone.

Edith Wharton stands among the finest writers of early 20th-century America. In The Custom of the Country, Wharton’s scathing social commentary is on full display through the beautiful and manipulative Undine Spragg. When Undine convinces her nouveau riche parents to move to New York, she quickly injects herself into high society. But even a well-to-do husband isn’t enough for Undine, whose overwhelming lust for wealth proves to be her undoing.

From acclaimed author Ursula K. Le Guin, and with an introduction by Karen Joy Fowler, a collection of thoughts - always adroit, often acerbic - on aging, belief, the state of literature, and the state of the nation. Ursula K. Le Guin has taken listeners to imaginary worlds for decades. Now she's in the last great frontier of life, old age, and exploring new literary territory: the blog, a forum where her voice - sharp, witty, as compassionate as it is critical - shines. No Time to Spare collects the best of Ursula's blog, presenting perfectly crystallized dispatches on what matters.

Suddenly all alone in 1894 Kansas, Summer Steadman can't find the employment she needs to settle near the fresh graves of her husband and four children. Bitter against the Lord and refusing to eat, she collapses in despair. Remembering his own painful loss, godly widower Peter Ollenbuger offers her food and shelter for tutoring his 10-year-old son.

Acclaimed author L.M. Montgomery continues the story of Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea in Anne's House of Dreams. Anne and Gilbert move to Four Winds Harbor to start their new life together. The young married couple buys their dream house, encounters new adventures, and makes new friends. Barbara Caruso's entertaining narration brings listeners to Four Winds and makes them feel a part of this shoreline community.

The prairie fires that sweep the grazing lands, the coming of white men with their guns and diseases, and the quick slaughter of the vast buffalo herds leave Running Fawn's Blackfoot tribe with little choice but to take up residence on the assigned Reserve. All her life, Running Fawn has known only contentment, but now what will become of her hopes and dreams?

Gwyn Hillerman acts as a nurse at her father's medical practice in 1935 rural Alaska. Her family life has been rough ever since her mother, hating Alaska, took Gwyn's younger sister back to Chicago to live. Dr. Jeremiah Vaughan finds his life suddenly turned upside down when his medical license is stripped away after he loses an affluent patient. In a snowball effect, he then loses his engagement to Gwyn's sister, Sophia. When the government decides to send a group of families to Alaska in hopes of making a better life, Dr. Hillerman sends a letter urging Jeremiah to join his practice.

Thea Kronberg has a voice that can call down angels and the soul of a Colorado pioneer girl. But as she develops her talents and devotes herself to the life of an artist, she must consider the cost of the creative path she follows. Willa Cather's classic novel is full of the breathtaking beauty of the American frontier and the spirit of the people who live there.

Born into affluence, Mia Stanley is a winsome socialite with a knack for matchmaking. She's also a writer for Godey's Lady's Book magazine, much to the dismay of her family - and their society friends. A proper young lady of her social standing isn't meant to labor in such a way, but Mia has always had a way with words.

In the triumphant finale to the Incarnations of Immortality series, the Incarnation of Good dominates. Orlene has died and we follow her into the afterlife. Joining forces with two women--Jolie, Satan's consort and Vita, a troubled mortal--they will test the limits of morality.

Seeking a brighter future, Millie books passage to New York aboard the Opportunity. When a widower scours the ship for a suitable nanny, he selects Millie from the crowds in steerage. He is standoffish at first, but soon Millie's tireless devotion to his motherless toddler begins to win him over.