Showing results by narrator "Samantha Desz" in All Categories

Journalist Joan Lurie has written a seething article exposing a notorious newspaper tycoon as a sexual predator. But the night it goes live, she is brutally attacked. Traumatized and suffering the effects of a concussion, she moves into a highly secure apartment in Manhattan called the Refuge, which was at one time a Magdalen Laundry. Joan should be safe here, so how can she explain the cryptic incidents that are happening?

The city of Wichita, Kansas, is wracked with panic over the abduction of toddler pageant princess Lindy Bobo. However, the dealers at The Heart of America Antique Mall are too preoccupied by their own neurotic compulsions to take much notice. Postcards, perfume bottles, Barbies, vinyl records, kitschy neon beer signs - they collect and sell it all.

Book burning. Jewel stealing. Vampire hunting. Not exactly what I expected from a day's work as a detective, but at least things are no longer dull at the agency. Although I'm not sure how much longer the doors to that agency will be open, since the due date for getting my detective license just went whizzing by faster than a fairy on pixie dust. But, after making good use of my groveling skills, HQ has given me an extension to solve a case and complete my application. Which would be great if the only clients I have weren't dead clients, missing clients, and persnickety clients.

Morelli here. Cassie seems to find herself too busy eating pastries, breaking out of jail, and saving the Magic world (again) to bother with writing her own book description, so she's fobbed the chore off on me. Some people, am I right? Anyway, Black refuses to let me see a single page of the manuscript, but since I was there for most of the story, I can tell you this book is going to be full of . . . Eager-for-battle ghosts, misbehaving tower ravens, on-call dragons, spell-crafting elves, rat-stomping trolls, a tiny bit of necromancy, and a very heroic (if I do say so myself) half-troll.

The job comes with a lot of perks–a mysterious new boss is one of them–and his deep pockets don’t hurt. In her first week, Gillian finds a note on her desk with two boxes and a question: Will you have dinner with me? Check yes or no. It was easily the best night of her whole young life. The second note arrived looking very much the same, only different. Do you have what it takes to be in my world? Gillian has been asked to handle a lot of tasks in her work. But covering up a murder might be the strangest one yet.

Ever have one of those weeks? You've taken an overdose of magic, you've just melted a twelve-year old girl, and Magic HQ has sent a letter "requesting" you come by to discuss your magic control issues. No? Just me then? I don't want to go. I've got a boss in a wheelchair (my fault), a zombie cat who demands his treats on schedule, and no interest in sorting out the quirks of another magical community. But when someone slips me information tying my parents' disappearance to HQ, I can't pack my bags quickly enough.

Emma Townsend. Five years old. Gray eyes. Brown hair. Missing since June. Emma is lonely. Living with her cruel mother and clueless father, Emma retreats into her own world of quiet and solitude. Sarah Walker. Successful entrepreneur. Broken-hearted. Kidnapper. Sarah has never seen a girl so precious as the gray-eyed child in a crowded airport terminal. When a second-chance encounter with Emma presents itself, Sarah takes her - far away from home. But if it’s to rescue a little girl from her damaging mother, is kidnapping wrong?

Ever since her father was killed when she was just a child, Miranda Crabtree has kept her head down and her eyes up, ferrying contraband for a mad preacher and his declining band of followers to make ends meet and to protect an old witch and a secret child from harm. But dark forces are at work in the bayou, both human and supernatural, conspiring to disrupt the rhythms of Miranda’s peculiar and precarious life.

Anna Koray escaped her father’s darkness long ago. When she was a girl, her childhood memories were sealed away from her conscious mind by a controversial hypnosis treatment. She’s now a decorated sheriff’s lieutenant serving a rural county, conducting an ordinary life far from her father’s shadow. When Anna kills a man in the line of duty, her suppressed memories return. She dreams of her beloved father, his hands red with blood, surrounded by flower-decked corpses he had sacrificed to the god of the forest.

Teenage Stella Blunt does not know how to win friends. Her size, her snark, and her trust issues are all big problems. Only one person seems to like her...and he's weird as hell. Shy, awkward Howie Mullins is smitten. Stella has curves and brains - what's not to love? Howie can't stop drooling over her in chemistry class. Now, he's offering Stella his heart. Literally. Can Howie convince Stella to take a chance on love? Or will she take him out with a chainsaw?

Everyone knows how babies are made, but scientists are only just beginning to understand the making of a mother. Mom Genes reveals the hard science behind our tenderest maternal impulses, tackling questions such as why mothers are destined to mimic their own moms (or not), how maternal aggression makes females the world’s most formidable creatures, and how a crisis like the Covid-19 pandemic can make or break a mom.

Becca Trevor never intended to come back to pretty little St. Caroline, Maryland, and her family's quilt shop. Growing up, she was the wild child...and the black sheep of the family...and the girl who couldn't get anything right. And she definitely never intended to see Jack Wolfe again. Those 15 minutes she'd spent with him at a graduation party seven years ago? Unforgettable - for a whole lot of reasons.

Madeleine L’Engle once said, “When we lose our myths we lose our place in the universe.” The Mythic Dream gathers together 18 stories that reclaim the myths that shaped our collective past, and use them to explore our present and future. From Hades and Persephone to Kali, from Loki to Inanna, this anthology explores retellings of myths across cultures and civilizations.

A New England inn seems like the picture-perfect place to spend the holidays. But when a snowstorm shuts the roads and keeps them all inside, the guests find themselves worrying that this Christmas may not be exactly what they dreamed. As the characters’ stories intertwine, they start to find hope where they thought it had been lost. With faith, and a little bit of Christmas magic, the inn - and its inhabitants - might just make it through the holidays after all.

Cassidy Trevor is the backbone of her family's quilt shop, the one everyone relies on, the person who makes the trains run on time. She has a good life with loving parents and sisters, a job for life that she enjoys, and respect as a capable businesswoman within the community. Still, she can't help wondering...is there something more out there?

Teenagers are tired, strapped for time, and often asked to wake up far earlier than they should due to school start times. In The Sleep-Deprived Teen, Lisa L. Lewis, who helped spark the first law in the nation requiring healthy school start times for adolescents, has written a book for parents who want to help their fatigued teens sleep well. Poor sleep affects mental health, athletic performance, and academic success. It contributes to adolescent depression, anxiety, and even drowsy driving. When teens are well-rested, they're happier, healthier, and more resilient.

Demography, literally the study of people, addresses the size, distribution, composition, and density of populations, and considers the impact the drivers which mediate these will have on both individual lives and the changing structure of human populations. This Very Short Introduction considers the way in which the global population has evolved over time and space. Sarah Harper discusses the theorists, theories, and methods involved in studying population trends and movements.

Dennis Lehane meets Megan Miranda in this tense, atmospheric thriller about the first female sheriff in rural Bad Axe County, Wisconsin, as she searches for a missing girl, battles local drug dealers, and seeks the truth about the death of her parents 20 years ago - all as a winter storm rages in her embattled community.

The gift of the Toltec is the ability to transcend ordinary human awareness and achieve personal freedom - the ability to choose how to act rather than react to the events in your life. The three Toltec Masteries of Awareness, Transformation, and Intent are the key to transcending your limitations and experiencing yourself as the creator of your life.

Eve is a frustrated young artist and the owner of what she believes is a haunted house. Sandra is an overworked producer at Searching for . . . the Invisible World, a paranormal investigations show perpetually on the brink of cancelation. When the show descends upon Eve's home, they’re intent on creating just another staged spectacle. But, unexpectedly, the crew encounters some very real activity—shelves collapse, electronics go haywire, a cameraman disappears in the dead of night.