Showing results by narrator "Julia Gibson" in All Categories

In search of respite, China takes off to St. Theresa's Monastery with her friend Maggie, a former nun. The goal is a brief, tranquil retreat—but there's a conflict at the convent. The Mother Superior has recently died, and a battle over the future of St. Theresa's suggests that her sudden demise might not have been accidental. Now, China's quest for a replenished spirit takes second place to a more earthbound pursuit: catching a killer.

When a prominent animal researcher is found hanged in the midst of angry protests against his experiments, suspicion falls on biology professor Dottie Riddle. Known as the Cat Lady of Pecan Springs, Dottie's sympathy for strays—and the victim's distaste for them—gives the police reason to think she may be capable of murder. But China Bayles doesn't think so. She hires a lawyer for Dottie and starts looking around for clues. But she soon discovers that digging up old evil is a dirty and dangerous business...

Ex-lawyer and herb-shop proprietor China Bayles is investigating the mystery of a retired Texas Ranger shot dead with his wife’s gun...while also trying to sort out some mysteries about her own relationship after she overhears a suspicious phone conversation.

Marcie Latimer longs to run away from Someday Valley - especially since her ex-boyfriend spun a web of lies that almost led to tragedy in neighboring Honey Creek. Little wonder so many locals have turned their backs on her. But not Brand Rodgers. The quiet cowboy comes to listen every time she sings at Bandit's Bar, offering a glimpse of safety and calm that Marcie's rarely known.

Two years have passed since Josie Wentworth was bought from the Sioux for a gold watch and whisked back to England by Marcus Wharton, the Duke of Blackthorne. When Marcus breaks his promise to return Josie to America, she ends up as a maid in the home of his charming but neglected nephews. Once Josie's long-lost family finds her, however, the suddenly wealthy heiress sets out to save the two boys from their indifferent uncle - and teach the duke a lesson in honor.

Chef extraordinaire Gina Foxton doesn't expect anything to be handed to her on a platter. After years of hard work, the former runner-up Miss Teen Vidalia Onion is now the host of her own local Georgia public television show called Fresh Start, and she's dating the show's producer. But when her show gets canceled - and she catches her boyfriend in flagrante delicto with the boss' wife - Gina realizes that she's meant for bigger and better things. Namely, a gig on national television.

Christy Award finalist Deeanne Gist's compelling best seller portrays Rachel Van Buren's efforts to escape the gold-rush quagmire of 1849 San Francisco - with her high moral principles intact. Rachel is shocked by this mud-infested boomtown, where the only females are of ill repute. When saloon owner Johnnie Parker, a widower and former missionary, allows her to stay in his unoccupied shanty, she agrees to cook and clean for him. But Rachel soon struggles with their growing attraction.

Eleven-year-old Ellie Sanders is forced to grow up quickly when her pregnant mother develops health problems and her father's attentions become diverted by a teenage produce peddler. To escape, Ellie creates a secret world of her own, where life still seems normal.

Jessica Ann Mackenzie—“Jam” to everyone in Honey Creek—has fulfilled her dream of owning the best restaurant for miles around. Serving candlelit dinners to every couple in town on Valentine’s Day is a reminder of another dream, one she’s just about given up on. Until that very night, when Sergeant Tucson Smith clambers out of the muddy river and onto her land, bringing the promise of something they’ve both been searching for.

Benjamin Monroe is pretty sure how his life will play out. He'll continue teaching chemistry in his small college and spend his free time biking through the valley. Eventually, he'll retire to putter around in his garden and greenhouse. His colleague, Virginia Clark, is not one for routines. She's chatty, spontaneous, and bubbly, and before Benjamin realizes what happened, she's talked him into collaborating on a research project - studying the mating habits of college students.

After their devastating journey from the Anchor to Sophia, Clive and Clover Hamill, Gemma Poplin, and Paz Dedios have all been separated - not only in space, but in their convictions. In the Anchor, Clive would like nothing better than to never speak with Paz again, but when he is tapped to help with her interrogation, the two of them begin to reconcile their differences, which don’t run nearly as deep as they expected. In Sophia, as Clover learns more and more about the city and its enigmatic director, Zeno, his faith in his mission begins to waver.

They said that the first generation of man was brought low by its appetites: for knowledge, for power, for wealth. They said mankind's voracity was so great, the Lord sent his own Daughter to bring fire and devastation to the world. The survivors were few, but over the course of centuries they banded together to form a new civilization - the Descendancy - founded on the belief that the mistakes of the past must never be repeated. Brothers Clive and Clover Hamill, the sons of a well-respected Descendant minister, have spent their lives spreading that gospel.

It’s been six years since Pen Calloway watched her best friends walk out of her life. And through the birth of her daughter, the death of her father, and the vicissitudes of single motherhood, she has never stopped missing them. Pen, Cat, and Will met on their first day of college and formed what seemed like a magical and lifelong bond, only to see their friendship break apart amid the realities of adulthood. When, after years of silence, Cat - the bewitching, charismatic center of their group - e-mails Pen and Will with an urgent request to meet at their college reunion, they can’t refuse.

Scorned, pregnant, and facing a life without promise, Pippa Grayhawk is stunned when her father announces that they're leaving their home in Australia to take over his estranged father's sprawling Wyoming ranch. Drawn into bitter family rivalries and feeling like an interloper in her new home, Pippa rides out into the wilderness and meets an intriguing stranger and his pet wolf. The wolf doesn't scare her, but she's very much afraid to trust another man with her heart.

After a tragic accident leaves Delta sergeant Connor Flynn a widower, he faces the toughest fight of his life: battling his in-laws for custody of his two young children. To win he'll need a make-believe bride to take care of the kids while he runs his Wyoming ranch. Who better than a woman he already knows and likes - his late wife's best friend?

When Karl Norwood' s mail-order bride meets an untimely demise on the way to the Montana Territory, Hetty Wentworth steps in to take her place. Hetty has no idea how she' s going to pretend to be all the things she isn' t - including the mother of two kids. She only knows her deception is necessary if she' s going to save two orphans from the awful fate she suffered as a child. Karl smells a rat when a much younger woman than he was expecting arrives with two children who look nothing like her. But his mail-order bride is so beautiful, he doesn' t object - until he realizes that his charming new wife has been lying...about everything.

On Sunday night, April lies in bed, trying to sleep. She is excited. On Friday she and her mother will take a train to her grandmother’s house. Almost a week is such a long time for a little girl to wait. But as April takes a bus ride, goes to the market, visits her father at work, and eats lunch at a diner, the days slip by. Everywhere she goes, there are people who are different sizes and shapes, and have different needs. At last it’s Friday; April and her mom are on their way. At her grandmother’s, April will see lots of flowers, each one as different as the people she has seen during the week.

Acclaimed author Mary Stanton is highly regarded for both her fantasy and her mystery novels. In Avenging Angels, Bree takes the late banker O’Rourke—who was rumored to have committed suicide—as a client. But as Bree and her team of angels investigate, evidence mounts that O’Rourke was actually murdered. And soon, Bree realizes someone wants her to join her client on the other side.

Lee Smith delivers the heartwarming tale of three generations of women who record their lives in Christmas letters to the family.

Caldecott Honor winner David Ezra Stein's lively tale is a fantastic listen, and feisty Mama Squirrel will have fierce mamas everywhere applauding! Ol' Mama Squirrel has raised lots of babies, and she knows just how to protect them. Whenever trouble comes nosing around, she springs into action with a determined ''Chook, chook, chook!'' and scares trouble away. Her bravery is put to the test, however, when a really big threat wanders into town and onto her tree. But no matter what, Mama's not about to back down!