Showing results by narrator "Angela Dawe" in All Categories

When Holly Winters heads home for Christmas, she’s full of hope that this holiday will be different from the prior year when she was painfully recovering from being dumped by her ex-boyfriend. Her best friend runs a temp agency in town and begs her to help with an unexpected demand for an administrative assistant at a law office where the young boss has scared away the previous assistant. After teaching tough high school kids in New York City, Holly feels ready to take him on with the hope that it will be for only a few days.

When Juanita Sanchez and the Desert Flowers—Willow Sanchez Kincaid, Rose Bowers, and Lily Walden—open Juanita’s Kitchen, the food kitchen Alec Thurston and they formed as a charitable organization, a young woman named Ivy Barrett and her seven-year-old son, Benjy, come into their lives. Ivy is appointed head of the kitchen staff, and they all work together to open the kitchen before the holidays.

Catherine “Cate” Tibbs, Brooke Ridley, and Amber Anderson, friends since they were awkward 13-year-olds who named themselves “The Beach Babes,” are about to face their 40th birthdays. Because they haven’t been able to get together for some time, Cate arranges for them to rent a house along the Gulf Coast of Florida for a long weekend. She hopes it will give them the opportunity to celebrate and re-ignite their friendship.

The night before they plan to move in together, Quille finds the man she loves dead in his apartment. Police point to his failed medical career as evidence of suicide or accidental overdose. His ex-wife agrees. But Marco’s son insists his father was stable, sober, and excited about his future with Quille. Suspicious of the police based on bitter experience, Quille vows to find the truth and help Marco’s son. Using her skills as an attorney and former stage actress, she investigates a world filled with fraud and corrupt Chicago politics.

Beth “Fire Ant” Dalisay is the Navy’s top ace. But the alien Crystals really don’t care. They intend on wiping out humanity no matter who stands in their way. Pulled from her Wasp fighter, the Navy assigns Beth as a scout pilot with a mission to find the Crystal’s home world. But in an underpowered Mosquito scout and no weapons with which to defend herself, if she finds their home system, can she possibly survive long enough to report back to Navy HQ?

After agreeing to enter the New Life Assisted-Living Community outside of Boston, Agatha “Aggie” Robard talks her devoted, serious granddaughter, Blythe, into driving her to Florida, stopping to see old college friends along the way. She particularly needs to speak to Donovan Bailey, the man she’d thought she would marry right after graduating from college. By asking Blythe to go with her, Aggie is hoping to prove to her that life should be about having fun, too.

In 1924, 18-year-old college students Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb made a decision: they would commit the perfect crime by kidnapping and murdering a child they both knew. But they made one crucial error: As they were disposing of the body of young Bobby Franks, whom they had bludgeoned to death, Nathan's eyeglasses fell from his jacket pocket. Multi-award-winning author Candace Fleming depicts every twist and turn of this harrowing case.

Raised by her abuelo after Stella Frasier’s parents abandoned her in search of fame, she struggles to keep her auto repair shop open in honor of the one man who kept her safe. Her only option to save her failing business is to embrace the life she despises when fame-monger Knox Brevard strolls into her town with the promise of endless customers. All she has to do is sell her soul to the internet producer, a price she vows never to pay until an eviction notice is posted on her garage door.

Haley Ramos left the world of hacking to protect her son. But when she goes back to her old tricks to shut down a human trafficking ring, she’s drawn into the very situation she most feared: her son’s life in exchange for a ransom only she can produce. Even for her, stealing the digital crown jewels to some of the most powerful and high profile organizations in the world is likely to put her behind bars, or worse, in the grave. Racing against time and through cyberspace, Haley is backed into the darkest corners of the internet to meet the kidnapper’s demands.

Emerson “Em” Jordan always wanted a Valentine’s Day wedding. But after being dumped by her boyfriend, she spends the holiday at Seashell Cottage on the Gulf Coast of Florida with Devin Gerard, a family friend who has no interest in her or any other woman and is instead concentrating on his pediatric medical practice and continuing medical missions in Costa Rica. Em, who’s always wanted a large family, doesn’t mind his disinterest. At 32, she’s decided she doesn’t need a husband to have a child or to adopt one.

Two years ago, Noelle North’s then-fiancé left her waiting at the church on Christmas - her wedding day and birthday. Now, she knows she cannot endure another holiday season at home in Boston. At the urging of four women at the assisted-living community where she serves as health director, Noelle decides to rent Seashell Cottage on the Gulf Coast of Florida for the holidays. She meets Silas Bellingham, the cutest seven-year-old boy she’s ever seen, and his great-grandmother, Althea.

Mitzi Montague-Bauer has created a deeply personal, raw, and vulnerable account of her attempt to find meaning in her son’s life experience, cut short by “mental illness” and subsequent apparent suicide. Bound together by eternal love, Mitzi and Journey travel a winding path. The gripping, exquisitely crafted narrative engages so thoroughly; Mitzi’s worry, guilt, fear, hope, and love are palpable. Those emotions are beautifully complimented by Journey’s brilliant writings. Journey leads you beyond coping and acceptance to the surprising possibility of embracing tragedy.

With her unexpected pregnancy, Carol Ann breaks free from her dismal life with her parents. Left on her own with no support from the father of her child, she decides to start an interior decorating business on the side. She begins by secretly helping Ed Pritchard, her boss at MacTel, decorate his condo for Christmas. One secret Sunday leads to others. Carol Ann and Ed are planning a future together when Ed is diagnosed with a serious illness. He decides it's only fair to break off his engagement to Carol Ann. Devastated, Carol Ann wonders how she can continue.

It starts with a simple wish, and Emma Davies hardly notices when it comes true. She’s too preoccupied with a life she isn’t happy in - the spark in her marriage has fizzled, her career is headed nowhere and her boss is a misogynist. Her teenage daughter has grown distant, and her heart breaks daily for her teenage son with cerebral palsy. But soon Emma discovers her wishes are coming true, and she realizes that she has been given the power to change her life. Either that, or she’s going insane.

The year is 1568 and Mary, Queen of Scots, is imprisoned in Lochleven Castle. But Mary’s supporters, including noblewoman Heather Gordon, are planning a daring rescue. In order to gain entry to the castle, they need to help of one man - a resident of a small cottage in the frigid Highlands who just happens to resemble someone with access to Lochleven.

Betting on the city of Detroit's eventual comeback, cousins Addie and Samantha decide to risk it all on an affordable new house and a culinary career that starts with renovating a vintage diner in a depressed area of town. There's just one little snag in their vision.

Once upon a time, the stories that came to be known as "fairy tales" were cultivated to entertain adults more than children; it was only later that they were tamed and pruned into less thorny versions intended for youngsters. But in truth, they have continued to prick the imaginations of audiences at all ages.

Reminiscent of Elizabeth Strout and Jane Smiley, Rebellion is a powerful debut novel by Molly Patterson, weaving together the stories of four women unafraid to challenge the boundaries of their lives, spanning generations and taking listeners across the globe.

Organizing a conference for Professor Philip Putzel isn't high on Nina Spark's to-do list. All she wants is to enjoy the sun and sand at her new home on Pineapple Cay, hopefully with handsome fishing guide Ted Matthews by her side. But saying no to Philip isn't easy, especially after a mysterious assailant tried to kill him following his delivery of a scathing keynote address.

This is the story of how one expat woman left her beloved behind when she moved to France - her beloved kale, that is. Unable to find le chou kale anywhere upon moving to the City of Light with her new husband, and despite not really speaking French, Kristen Beddard launched a crusade to single-handedly bring kale to the country of croissants and cheese.