Showing results by narrator "Mary Ann Jacobs" in All Categories

It's the summer of '86, and 11-year-old Ellie Dasher is not a Sleepwalker. She doesn't know who they are or what they do. She couldn't find Inzien on a map or tell you what a Jaghound looks like. She's just a kid, trying on a new town, with an imaginary friend who might not be imaginary. It takes one fateful night for Ellie to learn that dreams have sharp teeth, and, yes, they do bite.

Ever wonder why being the independent woman we are told we should be oftentimes simply leads to us battling our problems alone, or worse, competing with other women? Why, at every single baby shower, so many women share their harsher tales of labor and delivery in unnecessary one-upmanship? Why most women are left with feelings of unworthiness? Join women from different backgrounds as they come together to share their own experiences of pain, perseverance, and encouragement, firsthand and in heartwarming detail. We hope that through their stories, you find you are not alone.

The Weight of Salt is a gripping story of love and courage. It is 1906, and 15-year-old Angelina Pirrello is devastated by an unexpected and startling event that will forever alter the course of her life. Known as the Cigar Capital of the World, an influx of immigrants arrives in Ybor City, Florida, seeking work.

When a formal gathering of NATO leaders is interrupted by a bomb blast, a US general becomes the subject of an international manhunt. Tasked to find him is an ornery sergeant on his way out the army, along with three individuals with unique skills of their own. When several attempts to nab the team members are thwarted, they become suspicious that the general is receiving inside information.

An aged photograph of a dead man hanging from a tree...Deaths in a nursing home that may not be as natural as they appear...Clues showing a 70-year-old suicide could be murder...Sinister small town secrets, decades old, finally revealed...Feisty Livy Crowe, single-and-loving-it owner of the nostalgia shop, Better Days, has to deal with all of these and more, including her mother's slow deterioration in a senior residence that might be a crime scene, a very awkward romantic triangle, and murders old and new that threaten even Livy herself...

Many said Matt Yoder was the most handsome Amish bachelor in the county, maybe even the country. When he contacted Jane and asked her to return to the community where she grew up, she was convinced all her prayers had been answered. She'd always dreamed of marrying Matt and having a large family. Her dream turned into a nightmare when she discovered he asked her to come home to help him select a bride. He was tired of being single and declared he would be married by Christmas. He had narrowed his search to five women and was having trouble deciding between them.

When a wealthy theater owner is killed by a falling art glass chandelier, glass beadmaker Jax O’Connell’s boyfriend, Detective Zachary Grant, quickly determines it was no accident. Jax and her friend Tessa try to carry on with a charity fashion gala at the theater, but with only a few days before the big event, they have to scramble to keep things from falling apart. The emcee quits, and to make matters worse, Tessa’s daughters are suspects in the murder.

Molly McClain tells the remarkable story of Ellen Browning Scripps (1836-1932), an American newspaperwoman, feminist, suffragist, abolitionist, and social reformer who used her fortune to support women’s education, the labor movement, and public access to science, the arts, and education.

Crime-solving sleuth Em Johnson and her uncle, Louie, owner of the famous Tiki Goddess Bar on Kauai, head for the Cocktail Shake Off Competition in Honolulu. What is supposed to be a fun trip to a mixology contest turns weird when Louie's legendary "Booze Bible" is stolen and Em's ex-husband winds up dead - with Em the number-one suspect.

Woodland Lodge Hotel is not only haunted by ghosts; it also has a mirror that transports people into the spirit realm. Lizzie and Daniel find that playing ghosts is fun, until they find themselves in real danger. They learn about the Ghost Council and The Dark Kingdom and come face to face with the Creeper , a bounty hunter for fugitive ghosts; his master, The Soul Collector; and the Creeper's pets, soul-sucking Veinlings. Lizzie also learns of her destiny and soon realizes that all hope rests on her.

It's 1910 and Anna Lewis is praying that God will help her become a premier watercolor artist of the lush beaches of Carmel, California. When a man strides down the beach and stops to face the ocean, Anna sketches him into her painting. Was it a mistake? Anna thinks so when he tells her he doesn't have spare change to purchase her work. Spare change indeed! But while she seeks God's leading for her art career, she'd better keep her day job as nursemaid to two rambunctious boys.

Tattoos. Unwed pregnancy. Giving up on shaving…showering…and employment. These used to be signatures of a trashy individual. Now they’re the new norm. What happened to etiquette, hygiene, and self-restraint? Charlotte Hays, Southern gentlewoman extraordinaire, takes a humorous look at the spread of white trash culture to all levels of American society.

Nineteen years have passed since Karen, Suzy, and Connie reclaimed their lives. In the years since Running from Beige, the women's friendship has only grown stronger and their lives more colorful. Karen's twins are all grown up and now the family and friends face a threat they never saw coming. In Running from Beige, Book 1 in The Ties that Bind series, the three strong women would do anything to save themselves. In Secrets by the River, Book 2, what will they do to save someone they love?

Riley McKendrick is a famous efficiency expert who once whipped the White House into shape. (He's also an ex-cowboy who believes in traveling light). Opposites definitely attract but everyone knows they should never try living together. On a bet, Riley moves into Cat's Connecticut farmhouse and vows to have her chaotic lifestyle under control before the weekend is over. But five kids, six dogs, four cats, and one strong minded woman may be more than even he can handle.

When the pain first hit, she ignored it and continued racing across the parking lot toward the food court. But within moments she realized something was terribly wrong as her wobbly legs gave out and she dropped to the ground. The last thing she remembered as she started to fade away was the guy in the Grateful Dead T-shirt who held her in his arms and promised he'd never let her go.

The monsters lurk in everyone: monsters of greed, of guilt, of the pleasure found in pain, of the pain found when pleasure dies. Carefully disguised, the monsters can sit down beside you or take up residence within you at the slightest twist of fate. Will you try to stop them? Will you want to?

Sixty-ish Angela Dunn, the indomitable heroine of Egret Cove, proved that life - and love - can begin again at any age. Moving to Florida was supposed to have been a temporary solution while snowbird Angela figured out what to do with the next phase of her life. She's already in her sixties. She didn't intend to get involved with anyone romantically. And getting married? That was the last thing on her mind. She hadn't wanted to take a chance on handsome, charming Gilberto, but, somehow, it happened.

At sixty-something years old Angela Dunn has given up on finding much excitement in her life. She's got her half-blind dog, Gizmo, a crummy retail job, a tiny house, and no close friends or family to call on in her Kokomo, Indiana hometown. But when her brother, Tony, calls from Florida with a house-sitting offer, Angela has to gear up all her courage to accept. What about the bugs? The alligators? Her fear of hurricanes?

Something is strange at Full Moon Farm—and it isn’t just Val’s Eggplant Surprise for dinner. Jax, Tessa, and the rest of the arts and crafts retreat attendees are shocked when they find charred bones in a glass kiln. Are the remains human or animal? The camp owners insist the bones in the coffin-sized kiln are from a deer, but Jax finds a clue that leads her to believe the owners are lying. After Tessa’s least favorite person turns up dead, there is no doubt that a killer lurks somewhere in the deep forest of the Olympic Peninsula.

Would you flee from the life you live in if you could? Connie, Suzy, and Karen did. Through their desperate attempts to reclaim themselves, the paths of these three women become intertwined. They develop a friendship and sisterhood stronger than any of them imagined.