Showing results by narrator "Lu Banks" in All Categories

Two things I'm gonna do at college: land an internship, and lose my virginity. I just didn't expect it to be with my brother's best friend. But the way he swings his hockey stick around as the captain of the team has me seeing stars. He may be a bad-tempered hockey player with everyone else, but he's always had a soft spot for me. He and my brother have been inseparable since they were kids, so we've basically grown up together. He's been to all my birthday parties, and I've never missed a single one of his games.

For our son. That's the explanation my hockey-playing ex gave as to why we needed to spend time as a family at his lake house in the small town where it all began. What I didn't expect was to show up and discover our son is spending another week at camp, and we are all alone. Oh, and fake a relationship to fulfill an old lady's wish, too. I realize Ford is on the mission I always feared: win me back.

After living in Hell for a year, I might have to amend the saying "Hell is other people" to "Hell is other people's family." Specifically, my dear demon husband's family, AKA my infernal in-laws. Even more specifically, Lucifer, my grandfather-in-law.

As captain of the SoCal Vipers, the last couple of seasons haven't been going well. My stats are slipping, and I'm at risk of being traded. So I'm not in the mood for a case of mistaken identity with the woman playing bouncer at the arena door. But when I find out she's come to town to escape her controlling family and make a fresh start, I know I can't just let her walk away.

I made a promise long ago to protect her. As we grew up, I fell in love with her. I was ready to give her everything, to be anything she wanted. Then, instead of riding off into the sunset together, she left me broken and confused. Six years later, I thought I was over her. But when I found out she was in danger, I did the only thing I could to keep her safe. I dragged her back to Hallow Ranch.

Dora Reynolds is just another Gilbert Girl at the Crest Stone Hotel, and she needs it to remain that way. If anyone found out who she truly is, she'd lose her friends and her position. But when money begins to disappear from the hotel's safe and a handsome new desk clerk arrives, she finds her security-and her heart-under threat.

Penny May would do anything to forget her past, even traveling all the way to the Colorado Territory to become a Gilbert Girl. Learning to be a good waitress wasn't easy, but Penny is happy with her new life and friends at the Crest Stone Hotel. At least until the handsome and infuriating county sheriff arrives in search of his kidnapped sister.

The Crest Stone Hotel is the perfect place for a man like Thomas Drexel to hide. Wanted for crimes he didn't commit, Thomas hopes he can blend in as a handyman at the newly opened hotel. But his past threatens his future when one of the hotel restaurant's waitresses discovers his identity. Caroline Beauchamp ran from Boston to escape an arranged marriage to a despicable man. She's safe in the hotel, hidden from those who want her to return home. Yet she finds herself drawn to Thomas and compelled to help him prove his innocence, even if she risks her position as a Gilbert Girl to do so.

With the sudden deaths of both of her parents, Mallory McDuff began to research sustainable practices around death and dying. For McDuff, an educator and environmentalist, what started as a highly personal endeavor expanded into a yearlong exploration and assessment of green burials, aquamation, green cemeteries, home funerals, and human composting. In Our Last Best Act, McDuff bridges the gap between environmental action and religious faith by demonstrating that when the two are combined, they become a powerful force for the greater good

When Emma Daniels's well-to-do family finds itself destitute, she answers an ad for the Gilbert Company seeking young women to be waitresses at hotel restaurants along remote railroad lines out west. The rules for a Gilbert Girl are strict: work hard, act respectably at all times, and no courting allowed. None of them present a problem for Emma, at least until she meets the hotel's builder, Monroe Hartley.

Much to their surprise, the Peaches had a great summer running their food truck business selling their pies across the Mid-West, but they're happy to be back home in Duluth, Minnesota, where they can settle back into a routine just in time for the new school year. That is until Great Aunt Lucinda wants to gift them her historic mansion. But there are conditions: they're to turn it into a cozy bed-and-breakfast, something the Peach kids' mom always dreamed of before she passed away. And they only have until Thanksgiving to do the renovations and prove they can make the business work.

I’ve always been the wingman. The great buddy. The teddy-bear guy women lean on. In elementary school, I was the kid passing notes between infatuated classmates. In high school, I was the guy telling a pretty girl that somebody liked her. In college, I was the icebreaker, initiating casual conversation with women in the bar, so that my buddies could ultimately take them home.

Nia has one rule—don’t date neighbors. Simple, except the guy next door is single, handsome, and not inclined to close his blinds while naked. When her car dies, Conn takes “being neighborly” to a new level by offering a ride to her long-distance destination. Nia has resisted his looks and charm for months. Surely she can handle a few hours in his truck...For months, Conn has blatantly put himself on display, hoping his pretty blonde neighbor would tire of secretly watching and come knock on his door for a cup of sugar—or more.

Too smart to be “just” a racehorse, too talented to hang out with other lesson horses, and too proud to believe in fairy tales, Milo chose a lonely path in life. He didn’t want cuddles, treats, friends, or even love until the day he met Claire. Her love opened his heart, but it would take nudging from a very special horse to finally open his mind.

What can I do? How can I work towards a solution? How can I be a change agent? How can I be an ally? How can I effectively change my mindset to get to a place of total healing and racial reconciliation? These questions are often asked in response to tough discussions or events relating to race, racism, racial injustice, or systemic racism, both historical and current.

As a mother and a professor of environmental education, Mallory McDuff wanted to give her two daughters and her students a roadmap to engage in climate justice in their communities, rather than be left feeling paralyzed by the enormity of the problem. She set out to find women of diverse ages, backgrounds, and vocations—one from each of the fifty US states—as inspiration for a new kind of leadership focused on the heart of the climate crisis.

Helen has opened a door that cannot be closed. The excitement of camp has changed her...and now she hungers for the novel, for the deviant, for the total surrender of bondage and multiple partners. She has grown more attached to the super-sexy Hayden, but how can she be exclusive with one man and continue to participate in the sexual adventurous Camp? And now there's a twist....

Fifteen years ago, Summer Cole ran away from home, but home never really left her. Even all these years later, she has nightmares about her time there. Her past is even stopping her from being honest with the man that she loves. As an accomplished attorney, she commands the courtroom, but a phone call from her past brings her back to the girl that she was. Faced with the death of her beloved mother, she goes back to Lexington, Texas, and faces the family that almost destroyed her.

When Layla walked into Giovanni’s shop two years ago, all he could think about was having her tied to a St. Andrews cross. After a couple of conversations, he learned that she was all he ever wanted, but his life wasn’t ready for her yet. One year ago, he was ready to claim her as his own, but then she walked in with the ugliest ring in history, declaring her off the market. Tonight, she walked in with no ring and no reason for him to stop. He can finally show her that he is more than a master in chocolate - he is a master in the bedroom, as well.

Elizabeth Hartley Campbell arrives at the Crest Stone Hotel, widowed and searching for the brother she hasn't seen in seven years. Distraught to learn he's left, she takes a job as a Gilbert Girl at the hotel's restaurant. She quickly befriends the other girls and finds comfort in helping the hotel prepare for Christmas—until a wayward cowboy wanders in from the snow and sits at her lunch counter.