Showing results by narrator "Jennifer Jill Araya" in All Categories

After a year in Battle Lake, Minnesota, aspiring PI Mira James would kill not to stumble over another dead body. Given her latest discovery, though, it isn’t looking good. An ominous note hidden in an old book not only mentions Battle Lake’s former librarian, who vanished into thin air, but also Mira’s own father, who died thirteen years ago. The word “HELP” scrawled at the top is even more unnerving. But who’s in danger? And why? As if the note isn’t mystery enough, a girl’s sudden disappearance adds another case to Mira’s plate.

Chancery is counting on her older sister Melina to help her find the right path. The fate of the world rests on the outcome of that guidance. But not everyone wants the entire world to survive. As usual, the key to the future lies in the mistakes of the past. In a world where perfection is mandatory.... Melina’s parents do not get along, not even a little bit. All Melina wants is to make her parents proud, to make them smile. But what brings joy to one causes the other to scowl. There’s only one thing they both agree upon - Melina must win in single combat at the Centennial Games.

Charlie Rhodes has been looking for answers her whole life. That’s why she joined The Legacy Foundation, a group of paranormal monsters hunters…who are looking for people just like her. She didn’t expect to fall in love, or find her birth parents. She didn’t expect to be hunted by an evil force. Her life isn’t what she thought it would be. It’s better. She’s hiding in the one place they’re looking for her.

A women’s boxing class is the perfect place for betrayed wife Katherine to work out her aggressions. Ideal too for Geneva, a teacher disgraced and ruined by a vengeful ex, and Luz, a software engineer battling an unjust system. Maggie, their instructor and mentor, guarantees she can right the wrongs they’ve endured. And if Katherine, Geneva, and Luz really want to unleash their rage, they must do what Maggie says.

The entire country rejoiced when, out of a golden egg, Roxana Goldenscales hatched. It’s not every day (or even every decade) that a dragona princess graces the earth with her presence. But like most rare, valuable, and defenseless things, every moment of Roxana’s existence is supervised, planned, and observed. Or at least, they were. Until she ran away.

Children and families burdened with attachment disruption, emotional distress, or psychological disorders need effective and immediate assistance. They do not have the time to wait for long-term interventions or developmental changes to improve the parent-child relationship. Here, psychologists Elizabeth A. Sylvester and Kat Scherer provide the most effective approach in such situations: interventions that impact the entire family at relational, emotional, and cognitive-behavioral levels.

Hannah is a Hebrew farmer's daughter who finds herself mixed up with a dangerous group of rebels plotting to free her people from Egyptian slavery. In the midst of conflict, Hannah grapples with the choice to either trust in God's perfect timing or to join the rebels in taking things into their own hands. Meanwhile, Anipe's wealthy, Egyptian family has just moved the ancient city of Pi-Ramesses, unaware of the growing upheaval. Things go from bad to worse when a mysterious man named Moses arrives from the desert and calls down a series of deadly plagues with Godly proportions.

Hadley and Luke's post-honeymoon bliss takes an unexpected detour as they return to Stoneybrook. The serenity of Fenton Farms has been shattered in their absence. The days of the Fentons owning the only produce stand at the Saturday market have come to an end. Even worse? The new seller seems determined to play dirty, spreading rumors and even stooping to sabotage.

Inara, sick of playing the pawn, has decided to up her game. But not all of her new decisions have been positive, and one misstep can have far reaching consequences. Will Inara play nicely, or bring down the entire family in her fury? When you've already lost everything that matters...Inara devoted more than 200 years of her life to serving Alamecha. She gave up on her epic love. She lost her best friend. She protected her sisters, even as they stole her birthright. Her siblings made error after error, and Inara patiently cleaned up their mistakes.

Ellery knows it wasn't a real kiss. He was only practicing so it wouldn't be so awkward when he kissed the girl he was actually in love with. She's nothing but a stand-in...the second-choice substitute. She knows it in her head. Too bad her heart isn't listening.

Perfect vacations or last resorts? In this collection of short psychological thrillers, bestselling authors bring trouble to paradise. Today’s itinerary: surfing, sailing, hiking, facing your worst fears . . . Most dream vacations never live up to expectations—but few cause this many nightmares.

The Minnesota State Fair wows again with 4-H exhibits, rides, a Neil Diamond concert, and deep-fried everything on a stick. Covering it is a breezy assignment as fluffy as cotton candy for reporter Mira James, until the main attraction becomes murder.

When Fourth of July weekend coincides with Wenonga Days—the annual celebration of a locally famous Ojibwe leader—the town of Battle Lake double-dips on the tourist trade. This year the hullabaloo hasn’t even started and there’s already a story for reporter Mira James. The Chief Wenonga statue has disappeared, leaving behind drops of human blood and a big question for Mira: How and why would anyone steal a twenty-three-foot monument? Things go from curious to worse when a local man is kidnapped.

After fleeing Egypt with the Hebrews for a chance at a better life, Egyptian street girl Seshat believes she's leaving her past crimes behind. But, as she quickly finds, some crimes can't be shaken.

It’s cold enough to freeze a shadow when Battle Lake local Tom Kicker braves the killer temps to bag a deer—only to get shot to death by his best buddy, Clive, in a hunting accident. Tragic, yes. Accident? Mira James, just a few weeks into working toward her PI license, isn’t so convinced.

Summer in Battle Lake kicks off with fireworks and festivities, but it’s a local treasure hunt that’s amping up the tourist trade. It certainly piques the interest of part-time reporter Mira James—both as fodder for a column and because she could use the five grand in prize money. The treasure? A faux diamond hidden at the bottom of Whiskey Lake.

Cue the accordions: Battle Lake, Minnesota, is kicking off October Fest with polka, sausage, and cold suds. The big inaugural event? A debate between two congressional hopefuls. One, stultifyingly sincere. The other, a foot-in-mouth tippler. Reporter Mira James is roped into covering their fighting words…and then a murder, when a relentless pit bull of a blogger is found dead at a motor lodge filled to capacity with fellow pundits, campaign entourages, and tourists—all of whom have just become suspects.

A charitable senior finds her calling making creepily authentic life-size dolls. Call it recreation. But when Mira finds a dead body encased under that painted porcelain, it’s more like murder. It gets even stranger when Mira’s investigation lands her just where the Battle Lake police chief wants her: in jail. Luckily, Team Mira is on the case. They’re a fierce, if unlikely, force to be reckoned with: one flashy lady mayor and Mira’s scrappy nonagenarian best friend.

It may be six below zero, but an ice-skating jaunt gets even more chilling for private investigator in training Mira James. She’s just locked eyes with a frozen corpse floating under a sheet of ice. The man, a curious transient who’s been researching local history, also rescued Mira and her best friend from a mugging the night before. His death is no accident, but it is a mystery. To solve it, Mira follows a trail leading to the alleged haunting of a historic museum and a centuries-old tragedy that has yet to claim its final victim.

Lisa Peterson is a teenage girl who is coming to terms with the tragic loss of her mother in a riding accident. Lisa swore she would never ride again, but everything changes when she moves to the island of Jorvik and meets Starshine, a mysterious steed with a blue mane. In the stable, Lisa befriends Alex, Linda, and Anne, and together they start to realize that they all have magical connections with their horses—and each other.