Showing results by narrator "Robin Siegerman" in All Categories

PLAYGROUND follows four lives – a marine biologist, an artist, a schoolteacher, and an AI pioneer – that intersect on an island in French Polynesia when it is chosen as a base for seasteading, humanity’s next great adventure.

In 1917, Bolshevik revolutionaries came to power in the war-torn Russian Empire in a way that defied all predictions. Scarcely a lifespan later, in 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed as accidentally as it arose. The decades between witnessed drama on an epic scale-the chaos and hope of revolution, famines and purges, hard-won victory in history's most destructive war, and worldwide geopolitical conflict, all entwined around the dream of building a better society.

Soline Roussel is well schooled in the business of happy endings. For generations her family has kept an exclusive bridal salon in Paris, where magic is worked with needle and thread. It’s said that the bride who wears a Roussel gown is guaranteed a lifetime of joy. But devastating losses during World War II leave Soline’s world and heart in ruins and her faith in love shaken. She boxes up her memories, stowing them away, along with her broken dreams, determined to forget.

When I moved to my sister’s small town, I was looking for a fresh start—no more shallow relationships, no snotty fake friends, and definitely no charming, dirty-talking musicians. We had a fun, red-hot night together, and we agreed that hooking up was a mistake, a one-time thing. But when my dream bakery location happens to be right next door to his bar, every day I’m forced to see that chiseled jawline and remember the feel of his incredible body on mine. No. I’m starting over. I have rules. No more bad habits, definitely no falling in love.

Elida Friedman was never supposed to have been born. In the Kovno Ghetto in Lithuania, Nazi law forbade Jewish women from giving birth. Yet despite the danger they faced, Dr. Jonah Friedman and his wife, Tzila, choose to bring a daughter into the world – a little girl they name Elida, meaning non-birth in Hebrew. To ensure her survival, the couple must smuggle their precious baby out of the ghetto into the arms of strangers. So begins a life of constant upheaval, with Elida changing families, countries, continents and even names, countless times.

Rattled by fears, that she is losing not just keys, but her job, looks - even a sweetheart - Gail rashly announces that she will go alone to Paris, a dream postponed for 40 years. So begins the journey through France of an optimistic, infinitely curious, 62 year woman, who seeks to ransom her self-confidence and learn how to age. Deftly weaving scenic description with sketches of feisty Frenchwomen and flashbacks of older women she has admired, Gail draws wisdom from people and places that have gracefully endured the passing years.

At some point in nearly every person's life, they experience a loss of desire. Sometimes there's a catalyzing event—stress at work, a fight with your partner, or sexual harassment—often, the problem is internal as a person loses touch with themself and what they want. Dr. Kate Balestrieri, licensed sex therapist, founder of Modern Intimacy, and host of Get Naked with Dr. Kate, is here to help. In this book, Dr. Kate identifies the twenty most common reasons people show up in her therapy room, asking What Happened to My Sex Life?

Independent, impulsive Lady Philippa Darlington guarantees her freedom by playing the role of wallflower for two miserable seasons in the ton. With the guidance of the most feared feminist enterprise in London—the Duchess Society—Pippa vows never to marry. But a madcap misadventure throws her plan off course and puts her face-to-face with the only man she's ever wanted. A man who doesn't want her.

Jordan Adams proposed a marriage of convenience to single mom Kelly Flint because he thought it was time they both settled down with a perfectly compatible, always-dependable partner. After all, they'd both learned the hard way that love only leads to heartache. But to his surprise, Kelly made Jordan feel that their marriage would be anything but platonic, and her little daughter kindled fond feelings of fatherhood in his heart. Now he had to convince Kelly that he was not only a natural-born daddy...but also the perfect husband she'd been waiting for all her life.

When a schoolteacher decides to teach her Grade 8 class about filmmaking and creates a documentary that ends up being broadcast internationally, she sets in motion a career of storytelling for an age group largely ignored by TV executives . . . and creates one of the most-loved television franchises of all time

First published in 1847, Jane Eyre was the last and most popular of the novels composed by the Brontë sisters. The narrative bristles with energy and passionate conviction, and is one of the first novels written from the perspective of a child.

Now, hearing-health advocates, consultants, and speakers Shari Eberts and Gael Hannan offer a new skills-based approach to hearing loss that is centered not on hearing better, but on communicating better.

A year and a half ago, a tragic mistake cost single mother Melissa Horton her one true love - and a father for her baby girl. Now Texas rancher Cody Adams is back, shocked to discover he’s a parent, and determined to make Melissa his wife. But Melissa surprised herself - and him - with her newfound independence. She didn't want just a marriage of convenience. She wanted it all - true love and forever....

Angela Adams refused to have anything to do with her unborn baby's reluctant father, much less marry him. True, her pregnancy was unexpected, but Clint Brady didn't have to act so dazed when she announced her impending motherhood. And while Clint admitted his reaction could have been more enthusiastic, the thought of baby bottles and diaper pins was enough to rattle even a rugged rancher like himself. But now that the shock had passed, nothing was going to come between Clint and fatherhood - not even stubborn Angela!

Daughter of an earl, Lady Hildegard Templeton hasn't conformed to what society expects from a woman of her station. Industrious and unique, she's created an emboldened organization for women on the cusp of marriage, The Duchess Society. Called a bluestocking to her face and worse behind closed salon doors, she vows to marry for love. And nothing but. Although the emotion has yet to show itself to her. Until she meets him.

Fighting France: From Dunkerque to Belfort, is a compilation of articles Wharton wrote for Scribner’s Magazine and the Saturday Evening Post, reporting from the Western Front during WWI. Living in Paris, she was trapped in France when travel became impossible after Germany declared war and French mobilization began. She was one of a number of expatriate American writers living there, primarily women, who became involved in war charities during the opening months of the conflict, years before the United States abandoned its official policy of neutrality.

Helena Astley, Lady Hell to the ton, has plans. To control her father's shipping business, to live her way, by her rules. Her plan is going remarkably well until one ill-advised kiss invites the duke she doesn't want but cannot resist into her life. Hardnosed Roan Darlington, Duke of Leighton, cares little for society or finding a duchess. The only person ever to challenge him is the incorrigible, infuriating Helena Astley. The one woman he's never been able to forget. When they're caught in a ruinous situation, Roan offers her an alternative. A sham engagement.

In A Motor Flight through France, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edith Wharton invites listeners on an extraordinary journey through the French countryside at the dawn of the motor age. Based on her 1906 road trip—an ambitious endeavor at a time when automobiles were still a novelty—Wharton’s account captures the thrill of early travel by car and the unparalleled freedom it offered to the adventurous traveler.

Widowed Jessie Adams was about to give birth, and she needed help - fast! Unfortunately, the closest ranch in her small Texas town belonged to her late husband's brother, Luke, who didn't know a thing about delivering babies. And though this charismatic rancher was her only hope, he was the last person she wanted to be stranded with in her time of need.

Three Israeli women, their lives altered by immigration to the United States, seek to overcome crises.