Showing results by narrator "Allyson Ryan" in All Categories

In a fantastical tale set in the world of the critically acclaimed Unquenchable Fire, Ellen Pierson experiences a fateful, world-changing encounter with a Malignant One.

In 1950s Los Angeles, Anne Ford was the epitome of the California golden girl, a former beauty queen and model-turned-fashion designer whose success and charm were legendary. So how is it possible that such a woman could die in squalor, an alcoholic street person brutally murdered in a burned-out West Hollywood building? In searching for answers to the heartbreaking trajectory of her mother’s life, writer Laurel Saville plumbed the depths of Anne’s troubled past and her own eccentric childhood to untangle the truth of an exceptional, yet tragic, existence.

Meg Fee plots a decade of her life in New York City - from falling in love at the Lincoln Center to escaping the roommate (and bedbugs) from hell on Thompson Street, from chasing false promises on 66th Street and the wrong men everywhere to finding true friendships over glasses of wine in Harlem and Greenwich Village. Weaving together her joys and sorrows, expectations and uncertainties, aspirations and realities, the result is an exhilarating collection of essays about love and friendship, failure and suffering, and above all hope.

Go behind the scenes and be mentored by the best to find out what it’s really like, and what it really takes, to become a baker. Esteemed journalist Glynnis MacNicol takes listeners to the front counters of bakeries and cafes to offer a candid portrait of modern baking. MacNicol shadows Mary Louise Clemens, the owner and head baker of Ladybird Bakery in Brooklyn, to reveal how bakers work and how they stand out in a neighborhood, community, and city.

Ever since Lucy was two, she’s been on the run alongside her mother. She’s never understood the reason for a lifetime of paranoia, aliases, and lies. All she understands are the rules: never lock eyes with strangers, never let down your guard, and always be ready to move on. Finally, after thirteen years and eleven states, their next hideaway seems perfect. An isolated, fortresslike place in the New Hampshire woods is the new home they share with its owner, a gentlemanly pianist, and his lonely daughter, Gretchen. But Gretchen and her father have secrets of their own.

In Brave Enough, Jessie Diggins reveals the true story of her journey from the American Midwest into sports history. With candid charm and characteristic grit, she connects the dots from her free-spirited upbringing in the woods of Minnesota to racing in the bright spotlights of the Olympics. Going far beyond stories of races and ribbons, she describes the challenges and frustrations of becoming a serious athlete.

Ex-army ranger Mitch Guidry never should have let his brothers talk him into joining them in the Big Easy. Particularly when they have him going head-to-head with the very last thing he needs: a feisty redhead who has more opinions than even his hard-headed brothers. Loyal and overprotective to a fault, Catherine Hurley will do everything she can to stop Mitch from finding her fugitive brother...and yet, he can't get enough of her.

Margo Fletcher, eight months pregnant, is traveling by train from Chicago to Spokane, her childhood home. While passing through an isolated portion of the Rockies in blizzard conditions, the train unexpectedly brakes. Up ahead, deadly snow from a massive avalanche plummets down the mountain. Despite the conductor’s order for the passengers to stay seated, former Army Ranger Nick Eliot insists that survival depends on moving to the back of the train. Only Margo believes him. They take refuge in the last train car, which Nick heroically uncouples in time to avoid the avalanche.

For Stefany Anne Golberg, the morning itself became a possibility she could no longer tolerate, so at age 14, she erased it all together. In a ranch house in a Vegas suburb, Golberg’s peculiar brand of insomnia lives alongside an ailing father, a professor on permanent leave from the local university. Her mother has moved out, her older brother has gone to college, and she is alone with the night, resisting the fundamental unit by which we measure our lives: the next day itself.

A timely and heartfelt collection of essays inspired by the #MeToo movement, edited by acclaimed young adult and middle-grade author Janet Gurtler. Featuring Beth Revis, Mackenzi Lee, Ellen Hopkins, Saundra Mitchell, Jennifer Brown, Cheryl Rainfield, and many more.

While Flaunt! dives deep into how and why listeners got where they are, it quite literally dances through these realizations and uses laughter, play, and storytelling to break free. Listeners learn to cultivate the kind or rock-solid self-worth that cannot be undone by criticism or failure. Cheadle calls herself a life choreographer because she has helped herself, and now helps others dance through their lives, sometimes with well-plotted steps and other times with improvisation but always, always with self-love, sass, and joy.

With its sprawling yards and excellent schools, Cottonwood Estates is the perfect place to raise children. The Cottonwood Book Club serves as the subdivision’s eyes and ears, meeting once a month for discussion, gossip, and cocktails. If their selections trend toward twisty thrillers and salacious murder mysteries, it’s only because the members feel secure that such evil has no place in their own cul-de-sacs. Or does it? What happened to Lena’s family 15 years ago was a tragic accident, and she will never admit otherwise.

Picture it - it's 8:30 p.m. You close the door to your child's room just as you hear your partner closing the dishwasher, and now it's time for an hour or two of glorious freedom. What do you do? Read the book you've been waiting to crack open all day? Chat on the phone with a friend, glass of wine in hand, or go out with pals and share a whole bottle? Or, like many modern parents, do you get caught up in chores, busywork, and social media black holes?

June 26, 1947. Headlines across America report that an aviator from Idaho witnessed nine pulsating lights flying over the Cascade Mountains at speeds surpassing any aircraft built by humankind. Days later, a desperate Chicago pool hustler, inspired by the news, hitchhikes west in a fever-dream search for a possible extraterrestrial sign. From those he inspires along the way to the Cascades comes a new community - “The Seekers” - devoted to creating a society where divisions of race, ethnicity, and sexuality are a thing of the past.

After the untimely death of her husband, Rain Wilmot has returned to her family's waterfront log cabin in Lofty Pines, Wisconsin. The cabin is peaceful compared to Rain's corporate job and comes with an informal library that Rain's mother, Willow, used to run. But as Rain prepares for the reopening of the library, all hopes for a peaceful life are shattered: she discovers the body of Thornton Hughes, a real-estate buyer, on the premises.

Bluff Point brewery owner Zachary Caine enjoys his wild bachelor lifestyle - that is, until he rescues a kitten from his roof and meets his new neighbors. Single mother Jessie Connelly isn't his type at all, but when a blizzard traps Zachary, Jessie, and her daughters together, he learns that behind her reserved demeanor is a charming, beautiful woman.

All couples fight - but a little guidance goes a long way to tackling the issues that trigger fights in the first place. No More Fighting offers couples fast and effective strategies to overcome common relationship problems and build lasting love together. In just 20 minutes per week, couples will learn how to effectively speak and listen to each other as they confront critical relationship issues. From reconciling different values to navigating intimacy issues, No More Fighting gives you the skills you need to fight less and love each other more.

If you could pose one question to a dolphin, what would it be? And what might a dolphin ask you? For forty years, researcher and author Denise L. Herzing has investigated these and related questions of marine mammal communication. But the dolphins are not the only ones talking, and in this wide-ranging and accessible book, Herzing explores the astonishing realities of interspecies communication, a skill that humans currently lack.

From “edge-of-your-seat suspense” (Booklist) author Kit Frick comes an insidious thriller about four estranged friends trapped in a powerful family’s deadly games at a luxe estate in the Italian countryside. It’s been five years since heiress Clare Monroe tragically died on New Year’s...

A vital guide to the most pressing health concerns women face—including fertility, menstrual health, chronic pain, menopause, and beyond. AN OPEN FIELD PUBLICATION FROM MARIA SHRIVER The medical field has long ignored women’s unique health needs, treating us as if our bodies were the same as...