Showing results by narrator "Melissa Connell" in All Categories

Branson, Missouri, the Ozark Mountain mecca of wholesome entertainment, has been home to countless stage shows espousing patriotism and Christianity, welcoming over ten million visitors a year. Some consider it “God’s Country” and others “as close to Hell as anything on Earth.” For Joanna Dee Das, Branson is a political, religious, and cultural harbinger of a certain enduring dream of what America is. She takes Branson more seriously than the light-hearted fun it advertises—and maybe we should too.

Imagine me relaxing in a lounge chair when I first learn a regal scepter has fallen into the dangerously wrong hands. But as my frozen drink begins to melt, there's no time for me to waste springing back into action because this scepter is anything but ordinary. Would you settle for just a cursed bracelet when you could have a divine stick that hands out blessings and curses like candy on Halloween? Of course you wouldn't. And neither would the tainted witch who's wielding it.

Ash is a walking red flag. He is domineering and always in a bad mood. Tragically widowed, yet still in love with his long-dead wife, a single dad to three mini versions of himself, and much too old for me. But I’ve wanted him since I was 16. Seeing him again more than a decade later, all those old feelings just rush back in. Every time when I look up into his deep green eyes, dark scruffy beard, and kissable dimples, all I want is to fall into his arms and never leave. Too much wine and one bed-rocking night later, everything changed.

In the groundbreaking Crossover Experience, our trio of researchers focuses on the fine details found within NDEs that are often overshadowed by the more well-known main events. And it is here they found a treasure trove of clues that reveal more depth, contour, and messaging within a Near-Death Experience. What they also found, to their surprise—it is often in what we don’t see in an NDE that we gain the greatest insight.

The stakes are the highest they've ever been when fate decides now is the time for me to start a wild phoenix chase... I'm still not sure I'm meant to be Relic Keeper but the work is never-ending. What's on the agenda now? A call for help from Phoebe that sends me and my trusty sidekicks into action. The Emberflare phoenix clan is missing a very important relic. And while the circumstances are mysterious at best and nefarious at worst, the most important thing is that we retrieve it. And this is no ordinary knick-knack. It's the Phoenix Flame itself!

Joanna "Jonsie" Hunter is a little rough around the edges. Outspoken and strong willed with a streak of defiance, she can give most guys a run for their money. She also happens to be Queen City Royalty. With the territories surrounding the city divided between two rival gangs, she lives a life of wealth and privilege afforded not only by her social standing, but also her brother, Nicky - the leader of the Queen City Dukes.

I've barely settled into my new supernatural midlife with another call drops in about a missing relic. And putting the finishing touches on my Sanctum will have to wait, as this is no everyday, run-of-the-mill artifact. Oh, no. This is a Siren Song, straight from the treasure trove of a Balinese clan. And as my never-ending bad luck would have it, the Song has fallen into the hands of a clueless mundie. There are worse places to jet off to, of course. Bali is beautiful, but I can't stay long. My whirlwind chase is quickly redirected to the bustling streets of New York City.

Just when I thought I could sneak in some R&R with my two lovely daughters in beautiful Greece, my relentless Relic Keeper alarm bells start ringing. So much for the sweet sounds of a family vacation. Duty simply won't stop calling. Maisy and Amelie, my little chips-off-the-old-block, feel the urgency too. What's a magical mom to do? Against my better judgment, I let 'em tag along on a little relic rescue mission. They won't be children forever, and they should understand what fate keeps asking me to do.

The cost of my transformation is greater than I could have imagined. A cataclysmic upheaval shakes the foundation of my entire family, threatening to tear us apart. The toll nearly claims my beloved husband's life, pushing the boundaries of our endurance to their very limits. Unfortunately, I cannot escape this ethereal web of fate. Thrust into a role I never asked for, I have no choice but to evolve until I become a guardian of relics. I will carry the weight of ancient powers and hidden truths like a sentinel in a world teetering on the precipice of chaos, or I will perish while trying.

Rowan Headley tops the list of people I never wanted to see again. She shattered my best friend's heart, turning him into a shell of his former self. I hate her for what she did. But guess who my company's new hire is? Yep, the last person I expected - Rowan Headley. It's awkward, it's tense, but we have to put up with each other. Except the longer I'm around her, the less I feel like avoiding her.

My best friend roped me into baking for her stepson’s wedding. I had just moved into town and I couldn’t exactly turn that kind of money down. But getting drunk enough to sleep with that tall, dark blond wedding guest? That was all on me. I should have known he’d leave without a word or even a proper introduction. But that wasn’t the last I saw of him. Kiefer just turned out to be my brand-new neighbor.

I planned a daddy-daughter getaway in our family cabin. The last thing I expected was to run into Juniper—my brother's best friend. The smart thing would have been to go our separate ways, but Mother Nature had other plans. Thanks to some crazy weather we are stuck together for the foreseeable future. I’ve known Juniper for years, and I’ve never seen her more than my brother's best friend…until now.

Rena Lipiner Katz grew up in the shadow of the Holocaust, believing that the price of her parents’ survival and her own birth was a life of sorrow and guilt. Lipiner Katz explores how her parents’ childhood trauma affected her emotionally and physiologically.

Hear the stories of Paul's continued travels to the first-century churches narrated from the unique perspective of Priscilla, a vibrant first-century Christian woman! Paul faces the darkest days of his entire life, while he frantically searches for the missing Titus. Are Paul's fears warranted? Has Titus been assassinated in Corinth? Listen to Paul's most personally revealing letter to the church at Corinth. And marvel at the truths Paul conveys to the church in Rome, a letter of all that Paul considered central to the Christian life.

From one sticky situation to another prickly one, Jon and Lina are back at it—stronger than ever. This time, Jon and Lina are tackling a mission that hits a little too close to home—the search for Alanna Foster, the last missing teen, aka “Cactus Blossom.” With undercover missions intensifying and the clock ticking, mistakes simply aren’t an option. But while they’re chasing serial wedding crashers, tracking down a friend’s cheating spouse, and racing against time, the real battle is unfolding behind the scenes.

Many of us experience heartbreak, abuse, and a variety of "unmentionable" challenges in trying to make our relationships successful. For many couples, these challenges are daunting, especially when your partner becomes someone you despise as much as you adore. If that happens, what do you do, and how do you take good care of yourself? That's what Do You Hate the One You Love? is all about, and though it's written primarily for women, men should listen to it, first to understand their partner better and then to learn a few lessons for themselves.

Cleo Ambrosia’s uncanny ability to read people has made her indispensable to New York’s power players. Behind the reputation of “human lie detector,” she’s built a career on perception, control, and never being caught off guard. A former figure skating prodigy turned executive coach, Cleo is sharp, strategic, and deeply practiced at staying composed. But when a cutting-edge tech firm hires her to refine their emotional intelligence strategy, she meets Dillon Whelan, the one client whose responses resist her instincts entirely.

With a zany cast of matchmaking brothers, a lovable chicken or two, and mercifully no more than a dozen egg puns, this feel-good romance is sure to lasso your heart.

No matter what you have done, no matter what has been done to you, no matter how life may have locked up your joy, no matter what, you can be set free. To the extreme I was thrown down, I am lifted up; to the extreme I was rejected, I am embraced; to the extreme I was lost, I am found. My heart was set free by a God, who gives us everything the world cannot give. I thank him every day. This is my story.

Althea Thompson quit her CPA job to buy property in a small Colorado town with dreams of running a bed and breakfast. Unfortunately, the cabin turns out to be a money pit, and her handsome neighbor cowboy a burr under her proverbial saddle.