Showing results by narrator "Maria McCann" in All Categories

As a baby, Tara Wolfe was kidnapped by Hong Kong triads. After a bungled ransom demand, she was taken secretly to the mainland. Now known as Wei Mei, she has known no other life but the rural village where "Mummy Rita" raised her. When men with guns arrive in the village looking for her, she runs away to the Chinese megacity of Shenzhen, and a life on the streets. Witnessed by a talent scout defending herself from an assault by three rich kids, Mei is recruited for a Communist Party school for assassins.

College journalist Adele Plank has been granted a rare interview with one-time best-selling author, Decklan Stone. He is a man largely withdrawn from the world following the tragic death of his young wife 27 years earlier. Adele ventures to the writer's remote, private-island home in the beautiful San Juan Islands, and there begins a journey of dangerous discovery that will have her scrambling to unravel a mystery far more shocking and deadly than she could have ever imagined.

In 1985, three Harvard archaeology graduate students travel to Peru for a backpacking trip to seek adventure, culture, and historic sites. While exploring undiscovered Incan ruins on the remote eastern frontier of the old empire, the friends witness an unspeakable crime. Their enchanting trip becomes a primal fight for survival. The three friends must come to terms with their experiences, and each student's recovery and healing process becomes intensely personal and continues for decades. This is a story of exploration, endurance, and the cruelty of lost love.

Serena Stapleton’s father insists she marry in order to satisfy his debt. Upset and angry, Serena boards a train to faraway California. Halfway through the journey, the train is held up by outlaws. Serena is struck on the head and thrown from the train. Tim Dawson, the widowed doctor in Fort Riggins, Montana, rushes to where Serena is injured. He takes care of her in his clinic. His mother insists the young woman recover in their home. Serena, waking to strangers and terrified, claims no memory of what happened to her—praying this might be her way out of the marriage contract.

In his introduction to the book, best-selling author Loren D. Estleman says "It's hard work being Deborah Morgan". A multiple award-winning author in both the mystery and Western arenas, Morgan has collected here in Junction a selection of stories guaranteed to show you why.

Regina Baldwin was once one of the most famous runners in the world. Back in her prime, she ran a marathon in under three hours. After retiring from sports, she continues to host and MC races all over America. Her podcasts and documentaries have made her a fitness guru to millions. So, it’s all the more baffling when she drops dead whilst overseeing a marathon in Wrangler’s Hill. The evidence points to murder—but who would want to kill such a beloved figure? Amateur investigator Geneva Pomolo and her partner, Iris Reeves, are determined to find out.

Learning the Language of Depression is an ideal book for people with depression who would like some help communicating, as well as friends and family of someone with depression who would like to better understand their loved one.

In Anger, Xane’s journey reaches a boiling point as she experiences anger for the first time—an emotion that threatens to override her core programming. After mastering fear, shame, sadness, and love, anger poses a new danger. Xane’s malfunction could destroy everything she’s worked for, and as her red eyes signal impending failure, she must find a way to control this overwhelming emotion before it leads to her self-destruction.

What happens when a Synth learns to love? LOVE thrusts Xane into the most powerful emotion yet: love. As she continues to understand human emotions, love proves to be a complex and intense challenge. Guided by River, Xane explores relationships, desire, and self-discovery, all while learning that love isn’t as straightforward as she thought. With multiple love interests, including the mysterious Levi and fellow musician Adrian, Xane is pulled in many directions, forcing her to question her identity and emotions.

In SADNESS, Xane faces the raw emotion of sadness, following her experiences with fear and shame. A tragic accident and unrequited love push Xane to her limits as she learns how sadness can be both devastating and transformative. Set during her junior year of high school, Xane’s journey reveals the importance of resilience and emotional healing, bringing her closer to understanding the full spectrum of human emotion.

In 1944, Petra Reynolds, a tender 12-year-old farm girl, resided in a tranquil Midwest town. Removed from the atrocities of World War II, Petra’s innocence is kept intact. However, she knows polio has already killed or maimed thousands of Americans. Petra’s friend, Benjy, a polio survivor, uses a wheelchair. Quarantine signs posted throughout town fill her with dread. There’s nowhere to hide. Petra’s life took an unexpected twist when, due to a playground incident, she found herself in the school‘s infirmary alongside the notorious eighth-grade rebel, Chester Harrison.

In SHAME, Xane's exploration of human emotions intensifies. Following her lessons on fear, Xane now faces the complexities of shame. Supporting Tara, a driven high school golfer aiming for the PGA High School National Invitational, Xane discovers how shame can impact self-esteem, relationships, and personal success. As Xane learns to manage shame, she must also build on what she learned in FEAR, realizing how interconnected emotions truly are.

Welcome to the fascinating world of behavioral paradoxes: apparent contradictions which make sense once we understand the human needs and motivations behind them. This inspiring book invites you to ponder contradictory behaviors which reflect our shared humanity and, surprisingly, offer pathways to improved mental health, meaningful living, and well-being for ourselves and others.

A desperate murder committed by Angela Miller’s mother tore Angela’s life apart and brought her to Martha’s Vineyard to live with her wealthy grandparents. It’s where her cousin, Kiki King, was born and raised, and Kiki now wants nothing more than to see the world beyond its sandy perimeter. Kiki’s mother escaped it. She took a late-night swim off Tashmoo Beach and was never seen again.

“I am opposed to heart disease and cancer the way one is opposed to sin.” With that as her battle cry, health activist and philanthropist Mary Woodard Lasker had a singular goal: saving lives by increasing medical research. Together with her husband, advertising genius Albert, they created the Lasker Foundation, bestowing the Lasker Awards. But the real increase in medical research funding occurred when Mary discovered a revolutionary source: the federal government. “I’m just a catalytic agent,” she would insist, while she tirelessly lobbied Congress and presidents alike.

Welcome to Grapevine High, where fear, love, and self-discovery collide. FEAR introduces River, a curious freshman, and Xane, a charismatic girl with a secret—she’s a Synth, a synthetic human learning to understand emotions. As Xane grapples with the concept of fear, they both face bullying, high school drama, and the courage to step out of their comfort zones. This novella sets the stage for Xane's ongoing emotional journey, where each book delves deeper into her quest to master human emotions.

It is 1960 and15-year-old Frankie Moretti is living with her aunt and uncle in Baltimore. Her American mother has died, and her Italian father is at sea ten months of the year. Learning that Frankie has run away from two boarding schools, her father reluctantly takes her with him to live on Il Destino, the cargo ship he captains. When the two of them arrive at the ship, they find that one of the crew, the wiper, has been murdered.

This is a story of how I finally broke the cycle of transgenerational trauma and found healing—not only for me, but for my children. And now, I share that healing with you. I invite you to travel along with me, practice the exercises at the end of each chapter, and begin your own healing journey from surviving to thriving.

In Cooking As Therapy, licensed clinical social worker and sous therapist Debra Borden provides you with all the tools and techniques to have therapy sessions in the comfort of your own kitchen. Cooking therapy is an experiential therapy that allows you to conduct a therapy session while you cook a meal. Using cooking processes like chopping, kneading, stirring, and more, you’ll develop the skills to recognize limiting patterns and behaviors, improve self-esteem, and form healthy daily habits.

Step into a world of ambition, folly, and unexpected twists in Pride, Power, and Peculiar Predicaments, a carefully curated anthology of classic American short stories. This collection brings together tales of overconfidence and consequence, where pride clashes with fate, power shifts in unforeseen ways, and characters find themselves in the grip of the strange and the ironic.