Showing results by narrator "Amanda" in All Categories

As the caretaker of Selene, my ancient feline familiar, I’ve grown accustomed to dealing with her mood swings. But as Christmas approaches, Selene’s temperament gives Ebenezer Scrooge a run for his money, and it’s going to take my full effort to keep her off the naughty list. However, it appears Selene isn’t the only grump in town this year, and disaster strikes following the annual tree lighting ceremony. The Christmas market, a hub for local artisans, falls victim to vandalism and theft, casting a shadow over the town’s holiday cheer.

Paige Lancaster, single mom and prodigal daughter, has returned to the East Coast from her prestigious, well-paid job in Los Angeles, writing for the smartest detective series on television. Something terrible happened to her back in Hollywood. Okay, two terrible things, one featuring a misplaced tire iron—and now she’s broke, homeless, and living with her widowed mother and eight-year-old daughter, Izzy, in her Connecticut hometown.

Set in a lethal American professional football league seven centuries in the future, The MVP puts huge humans on the field with four alien races, creating a game that is faster, stronger, and deadlier than anything we know today. Star quarterback Quentin Barnes has spent three seasons putting together a hard-hitting, hard-fighting team that combines rookies, rejects, discarded free agents, and seasoned veterans from all five species. He has fought against racism and bound his team together through shared sacrifice, blood, tragedy, and victory.

What starts off as dinner results in a night of tequila, great sex, and wedding rings. This is a marriage of inconvenience for both of them, but getting it annulled isn’t quite as simple as Anna thinks. Panicked, she returns to LA, leaving Molly with no way of contacting her, and her only option is to return home and try to forget all about the best mistake of her life. So, when Anna turns up at Molly’s coffee shop four months later, Molly is convinced she’s there for a divorce. How wrong could she be? 

Culture, church, and life have sold us narratives about who we’re supposed to be as women. If we play the part well, we gain love, acceptance, validation, and significance. When we don’t know which role to play from one day to the next, we sink in insecurity. We feel driven to people-please, downplay, settle, and perform. In all this, we accept less than the abundant life Jesus died to give us. Amanda Pittman explains how we can rewrite our damaging self-beliefs with the truth about our God-given identity by establishing clarity, connection, competency, and conviction.

Meet Odder, the queen of play. Nobody has her moves. She doesn’t just swim to the bottom, she dive-bombs. She doesn’t just somersault, she triple-doughnuts. She doesn’t just ride the waves, she makes them. Odder spends her days off the coast of central California, practicing her underwater acrobatics and spinning the quirky stories for which she’s known. She’s a fearless daredevil, curious to a fault. But when Odder comes face-to-face with a hungry great white shark, her life takes a dramatic turn, one that will challenge everything she believes about herself.

My name is Rory Forseti, and I attend the Colorado branch of Mythos Academy, a school of warrior kids, powerful artifacts, and mythological monsters. I'm a student, a fierce Spartan warrior, and a member of Team Midgard, a group of kids and adults tasked with stopping the evil Reapers of Chaos. There is one Reaper I'm determined to hunt down above all others: Covington, the man who murdered my parents. So when the Midgard gets a tip that Covington is going to try to steal a dangerous artifact, I'm ready to fight. But the situation is far more complicated than it seems.

Smoke Jensen’s daughter Denny can outride, outrope, and outshoot any man who gets in her way. But being a pretty woman, Denny sometimes attracts the attention of unsavory suitors. Like the lecherous Count Malatesta. Denny met the seductive Sicilian on her trip to Europe - and almost fell head over heels for the swindler. What’s he doing in America? 

There's nothing worse than peaking in high school. Nobody knows that better than Josie Pie. She was kind of a big deal - she dropped out of high school to be a star! But the bigger you are, the harder you fall. And Josie fell. Hard. Ouch. Broadway dream: dead. Meanwhile, her life keeps imploding. Best friend: distant. Boyfriend: busy. Mom: not playing with a full deck? Desperate to escape, Josie gets into reading. Literally. She reads a book and suddenly she's inside it. And with each book, she’s a different character.

In the 10th year of the Change, the survivors in Western Oregon live in a world without technology. Michael Havel’s Bearkillers hold the lands west of Salem in peace and order. To the east, the Clan Mackenzie flourishes under the leadership of Juniper Mackenzie, bard and high priestess. Together, they have held Norman Arminger - the warlord of Portland - at bay. 

All's fair in love and potatoes. Melody Brightly. Broadway Star. Pink hair. A smile that hits me harder than a slap shot. Terrible taste in hockey teams. Full of secrets.

Half-Moon Hollow's supernatural social event of the season - Zeb's Titanic-themed werewolf wedding - is coming up, and Dick Cheney (not that Dick Cheney!) needs a date. But Andrea's had enough of clever, handsome, and rakish to last a lifetime, and Dick Cheney is certainly not the sort of man you bring home to mom (not that Andrea's deadist parents are speaking to her ever since she dropped out of college and became a blood surrogate).

In the dark shadow of the Prophecy Mountains lies the ramshackle town of Rattlesnake Wells, where dreamers come to make their fortunes, and desperados come to die. The streets of this little settlement are slick with mud and stained with blood, and it will fall to Bob Hatfield to sweep them clean. The town marshal, Hatfield has a young man’s face, but his eyes are those of a killer. He is a good man, but he has a secret that weighs on his soul.

When Christopher was six, the poems of Milne were always on hand to reassure him that other children were just as puzzled and naughty and silly as he was, and that grown-ups could be even sillier. When he turned 60, he decided it was high time there was an equally reassuring volume for those of his generation who were not only more confused than ever but were losing their teeth, their hair and, all too often, their car keys.

The 11th installment in the New York Times best-selling A Twisted Tale series asks: What if Meg had to become a Greek god? After Hercules proves he's a true hero and regains his godship, all seems right in the world. That is, until Zeus tells Meg that she can't be with Hercules because she's, well, mortal. Luckily, Hera has a solution, offering Meg a chance to prove herself worthy of a spot on Mt. Olympus - as a god. All Meg has to do is complete a mysterious quest.

Greed and Fear, two emotions that rule both individuals...and Countries. Now, China has decided that they will do whatever it takes to acquire TQB technology. There was a glaring flaw in their plan. When they kill an unborn little baby in a raid, the Queen Bitch is Released. Now, China has two options...Kill Bethany Anne, or Sue For Peace.

Anne of the Island was published in 1915 covering her from the ages of 18 to 22. This is the third story of Anne Shirley where she earns her BA at Redmond College. In this book, she enjoys new and old friends at Redmond, living together at Patty's Place chaperoned by Aunt Jamesina. Gilbert proposes to Anne and she rejects him - but you must listen to the story to know the rest!

Achieve your goals - no matter how big or small - with these 50 simple challenges that actually fit into your life, using this accessible and self-paced approach to self-improvement.

As parents, we all go through a mini mutiny in the ranks once it’s time to get ready for bed. If you’re lucky, you could get your kids in bed by eight o’clock...but not without a fight! And definitely not without creating a stressful environment that negatively affects your child’s sleep quality. This is why bedtime meditation practices come in handy because they help create a warm, loving environment that lowers stress hormone levels. 

Flatmates Judith, Giles and David once had it all: youth, optimism, ambition and degrees from one of the country's best universities. In their 20s, they were full of potential, but 10 years later, they're simply might-have-beens. Stuck in Streatham and strapped for cash, they're forced to mooch off their more successful mates just to get by.