Showing results by narrator "Lu Banks" in All Categories

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.

My cocky next-door neighbor is the most infuriating person in the world—so why did I just hook up with him? Although we pretty much grew up together, we've never managed to get along. I guess he's good-looking, with his baby-blue eyes, amazing hockey-player physique, and boyish smile . . . if you're into that. Which I'm totally not.

In 1988, Sloan Hadfield's brother Ridge went fishing with their father and never came home. Their father was arrested and charged with murder. Ridge's body was never recovered, and Sloan's mother slowly descended into madness, insisting her son was still alive. Now, twenty years later, Sloan's life is unraveling. In the middle of a bitter divorce, she's forced to return to her rural Texas hometown when her mother is discharged from a mental health facility. Overwhelmed by memories and unanswered questions, Sloan returns to the last place her brother was seen all those years ago.

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.

Edie Dutton left Kansas with nothing but a few pieces of clothing, a handful of stolen bills, and a forged letter of reference. Since then, she's found a home as a Gilbert Girl at the Crest Stone Hotel. Even despite her transgression at the hotel last fall, she has a second chance to live the life she wants. But Edie Dutton is not her real name, and arriving along with all the newcomers to town comes word that her past may be on its way to put her future in jeopardy.

My brother's best friend was officially off duty . . . and off-limits. The wounded soldier had scars that couldn't be seen, and it was my job to help him heal, not fall for him. Ransom Parker was as grumpy as he was gorgeous, but that didn't stop the sparks from flying between us like the Fourth of July. He could push me away all he wanted, but in his arms was the only place I wanted to be.

After dropping out of NYU, moving across the country, and spending the last two years as co-owner of a successful activewear brand, Mackenzie Jean has decided it's time to go back to school. Does she want to finish her degree? Absolutely. But enrolling at Michigan State University is about so much more. Somewhere along the way, she lost herself in the fog of her anxiety, and it's time she rediscovers who she is.

"The Millionaire" is in jail on a murder charge. Violent inmates beat him savagely, trying to extort money. To save his life, Maureen Gould must find the truth and free her client.

I know what I want and what I want is Tallulah Jennings anyway I can have her. Tully wants to keep our relationship a secret. She thinks my name attached to hers will make the people in our small-town talk. And not in a good way. I'm biding my time. One day soon she'll have my last name, be the mother of my children, and they'll be no more hiding the way we feel for one another.

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.

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.

All it took was one wrong step and my life came crumbling down. I'll forever remember what my husband said to me before I lost consciousness from the fall...It's over. When I wake up in the hospital, Noah is a changed man-caring, kind, and loving. So I do what I have to do...and pretend I have amnesia.

I've been Queen Bee at our theme park for ten glorious, uncomplicated years. I'm far better at creating fictional magic than real life miracles. So when Landon Arden, my best friend's twin brother and my old high school bully, starts to work at Honeywood, I'm wishing for some gift from above to fix this mess.

No females of my kind remain. Humans have the closest physiology to my species, but our reproductive urges are very different. For their safety, direct contact with human women has always been strictly forbidden. When my time ends, so will countless generations of Gallo lineage. The chains in my dungeon will never have to contain another mating-frenzied beast. I will have done my part to bring a peaceful end to my species while protecting the nearby human population.