Showing results by narrator "Erin Shaughnessy" in All Categories

What if the most dangerous part of a serial killer's story happened long before the first victim? Blueprint of a Killer does not sensationalize bloodshed or linger on gore. Instead, it asks the uncomfortable question most true crime books avoid: how did this start? What was happening before the headlines, body counts, and documentaries?

The Ryukyu Islands, a center of diverse cultures, have absorbed martial arts techniques from various nations, giving birth to the distinctive and deadly Okinawan martial arts. This fusion, a product of centuries of trade and cultural exchange, has created a unique style forbidden for use except in self-defense. However, the question arises as to whether this tradition still holds relevance in Japan's current occupation of the island, especially in light of the Meiji Restoration.

Ellie Davis once loved the snow. It was an element of grace and power to her, and she longed to understand it. She found beauty in the chaos of a storm and wished to share in that power. But when an accident in a blizzard took the lives of her father and brother, Ellie vowed to never forgive the element that betrayed her. It isn't until years later when she falls through a door to another world that she is confronted with the memories of the past. This world, known as Levrianne, is the home of Mother Nature.

Something about this guy's guise at fake innocence really riles me up. Though truthfully, part of my rage stems from seeing my evil ex. But it doesn't matter. This guy isn't safe, and he doesn't belong around my Caroline. "You know who. The man who forced himself on your sister, not only making lewd comments but kissing her, forcing her to punch him, causing her to go to emergency surgery. And it's all your fault. You are not welcome anywhere near her, or us."

The Footprints of Her Soul is a story of a little girl who was lost among the people she loves most, her beloved family. She experienced extreme distress and sorrow through the long road of childhood poverty, war, and into adulthood. She had made hard decisions throughout her life journey, causing heartaches and pain. But she survived it all with conviction.

When a ruthless warlock and his formidable army break free from prison, the warlock unleashes his warriors with orders to destroy the world of Skoldrun as revenge for his imprisonment. Zoë Wind and her fellow chieftains are reeling from heavy losses during a recent civil war between the clans. With cold-blooded invaders knocking at their door, the clans must band together if they wish to put up a fighting chance.

Zoë Wind is riding high following her takedown of Master Drocker Rex Timber in a dramatic duel in front of her clan. Timber’s death ended his quest to steal Skoldrun’s four runestaves. With her clan’s runestave securely in her possession, Zoë turns her attention to a budding romance with the chieftain of Tiflburg. That is, until Jaxon Pike, an emerging rival out of Razorton, pursues Zoë’s runestave with the hope of bringing his clan’s legendary cougars back and proclaiming himself as the ultimate leader of Skoldrun.

When the young chieftain Zoë Wind discovers the notorious Rex Timber is out of hiding, she goes into overdrive to track him down to the ends of Skoldrun to avenge her father’s murder at the hands of Timber five years earlier. Little does she know, Timber is on a quest to collect the runestaves worn around the necks of Skoldrun’s four chieftains with a plan that could spell the end of the clans.

She’s the gun slinging, ATV riding, lasso wielding sheriff of Arrowhead Nation’s rough and tumble state of Sierra West. For Gabby Oaks, being a hard charging law enforcement officer comes with constant threats to her life. None bigger than the threat posed by the notorious desperados that make up The Rustlers gang.

There are only two rules to becoming part of the Hemlock crew: You have to be single. You have to be invited. Karissa is definitely single, and now that she caught the eye of Jasper, she just might get the invite. Nothing about him is her type, except for the fact that he's drop-dead gorgeous and every sophomore girl’s dream boyfriend. Add in his killer personality and piercing blue eyes along with his blonde hair and a skateboard hanging from his bag and she just might reconsider—but dating him is a slippery slope that she's not sure she wants to walk.

Shin-ah, a loyal shadow beast, is one day transformed into a human being. By a turn of fate, she is discovered by her once master, Ryu. As she discovers more about her own form and the emotions developing toward the one she never would have looked at before, evil lurks. The people of their clan are being stolen, and Ryu has run out to stop them. Is there a greater danger than the risk of her heart and body, or is there a more sinister plan at work? One that could throw all that she has known and grown to love into peril?

Anna Wilson, a highly educated woman, finds herself a widow in the wilds of Southwest Montana. Praying for an escape back east, the thought of marriage to a man with three children was the last thing on her mind. But marriage to a stranger or working in one of the local saloons seems to be her last two options. Can she trust another man not to hurt her again?

Being recently promoted to full-time member at the Home Office was a highlight for Lord Edgar Cortland, but it was quickly overshadowed by a series of missions that first sent Lord Blakely off to America after a kidnapping, then Lord Davenport to identify the imposter that was now the spy, B. Edgar himself has been tasked with investigating the Twisted Rose Shipping Company as well as locating the Duke of Greaves’s errant daughter. After situating a recently returned school friend into a position at the Home Office, both young lords head out.

In 1987, a hysterical chance encounter on a Grecian topless beach sparks a love bond that flourishes into a profound and a visceral connection that transcends eighteen years and ten thousand miles. Zach Stillman, a Jewish born New Yorker and Felicity Williams, a Christian beauty from Sheffield, England, come from radically different backgrounds, etymologies and belief systems. Their relationship is tested and taxed from both sides of the Atlantic as they face sexual theatrics, tragic illness and meddling fathers.

A brand-new king and a volunteer schoolteacher's lives collide, and neither will ever be the same. Will they rise to the challenges before them and come out stronger, or will they both crumble under the weight of their mutual responsibility? And who can they really trust? One thing is for sure, they are both in for quite the ride. She listened intently. Her expression didn't change. She didn't seem repulsed by me, so I decided to test out my fear. I reached out, putting my hand to her face. She didn't flinch or shrink back; she didn't act like I was disgusting or a sniveling weakling.

Being crowned homecoming queen fast-tracked me to an identity crisis that catalyzed my disclosure of ten years of sexual abuse at the hands of my stepfather. I dropped out of high school for the first half of my senior year while the disclosure was incinerated in my notorious stepfather's career-climbing kiln. I am recovering my authentic self from the rubble of losses amassed over years of enduring entirely narcissistic parents.

Abby Gates spent the first part of her life protected from the world because of her condition. Only adventures she knew were taught by being homeschooled and through reading books from her personal library. In Abby's world, everyone lived happily ever after, until her mother died, and she was forced to be part of a community she was a stranger in. While Mr. Frank and Billy Daniels did their best to protect her, Adam Davis came to town with a secret no one knew except his assistant, Tashia. Abby quickly found that although dreams can come true, real life wasn't so happy all the time.

The enemy cannot stop destiny. As a young girl in Meggett, South Carolina (twenty miles south of Charleston), Sandra Magwood grew up very poor in a quaint, little four-room home with nine other children; she did not know they were poor. Although she was taught about Jesus, she was ashamed to say his name. She had no idea how significant her reliance was upon him as sovereign would save her life and guide her into her destiny, which far exceeded anything she ever imagined.

It's been a quiet few months except on Pine Street, where Helen Baxter, the town scrooge, has been raking in constant noise complaints. What no one knows is she has a dark secret she's been keeping for ten long years. Hidden Away takes place in the small, tight-knit community of Havensworth, where Nurse Helen works and lives. Her world begins to spin out of control as the accusations against her become more heinous. She slowly unravels and holds close to her the flickering light in her basement.

We are all challenged at one time or another to make a choice that will alter the rest of our lives. In Sara's Legacy, a young woman is faced with the decision of following the demands of her parents or yielding herself to the will of God. The protagonist, Sara Harlin, is only sixteen years old at the beginning of the story, but she will learn more in just three short years than many people could learn in a lifetime. She will learn the true meaning of godly love and sacrifice. She will have to face the dangers of an unsettled and demanding part of the American West.