Showing results by narrator "Hope Newhouse" in All Categories

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.

France, 1942 Once, Paulette Leblanc spent her days flirting, shopping and drawing elegant dresses in her sketch pad. Then German tanks rolled into France, and a reckless romance turned into deep betrayal. Blaming herself for her mother’s arrest by the Gestapo, Paulette is sent away to begin a new life in Paris, working as apprentice to fashion designer Sabine Ballard. But Maison de Ballard is no ordinary fashion house. While seamstresses create the perfect couture gowns, clandestine deals and secrets take place out of sight.

Sara Blum lives an idyllic life. But her world comes crashing down when the Nazi occupation arrives in her small French town, separating her from her parents and forcing the young Jewish girl into hiding. Sara's classmate Julien and his family will risk everything to ensure her survival, and together, Sara and Julien manage to find beauty in a secret world of their creation.

France, 1942. Once, Paulette Leblanc spent her days flirting, shopping, and drawing elegant dresses in her sketchpad. Then German tanks rolled into France, and a reckless romance turned into deep betrayal. Blaming herself for her mother’s arrest by the Gestapo, Paulette is sent away to begin a new life in Paris, working as apprentice to fashion designer Sabine Ballard. But Maison de Ballard is no ordinary fashion house.

Everyone in Mythria knows the story of how best friends Beatrice and Elowen, handsome ex-bandit Clare, and valiant leader Galwell the Great defended the realm from darkness. It’s a tale beloved by all—except the heroes. They haven’t spoken in a decade, devastated by what their quest cost them. But when they all receive an invitation to the queen of Mythria’s wedding, it’s a summons they can’t refuse . . . and a reunion for the ages.

Horror movies hold a complicated space in the queer community: historically misogynist, and often homo- and transphobic, the genre has also been inadvertently feminist and open to subversive readings. It Came from the Closet features twenty-five original essays by writers speaking to this relationship, through connections both empowering and oppressive. From Carmen Maria Machado on Jennifer’s Body, Jude Ellison S. Doyle on In My Skin, Addie Tsai on Dead Ringers, and many more, these conversations convey the rich reciprocity between queerness and horror.

It all starts when Shani runs into May. Like, literally. With her mom’s Subaru. Attempted vehicular manslaughter was not part of Shani’s plan. She was supposed to be focusing on her monthlong paleoichthyology internship. She was going to spend all her time thinking about dead fish and not at all about how she was unceremoniously dumped days before winter break. It could be going better.

Alex Taylor is an ER nurse who prides herself on the care she gives to those in need. Through a chance encounter, Alex meets police sergeant Francesca Greco and finds the handsome officer too hard to resist. When Alex is diagnosed with a devastating disease, her role is changed from caregiver to patient and she prepares for the fight of her life.

Twelve-year-old Juillet is preparing for the worst summer ever. She and her mom are staying in the seaside neighborhood of Ocean Park, California, for a month, where her mom will be working at the local hospital and Juillet will be on her own, like always. Her dad is off in Europe with his new girlfriend, and her best friend, Fern.... Well, Juiller isn’t allowed to talk to Fern anymore. Fern took the blame for Juillet’s goth-girl clothes and “not-real” fears, like sharks and rip currents and the number three.

Eleni is the kind of person who’s always had a BFF—an automatic, guaranteed by-her-side person—at home, at school, and at camp. And since before she was even born, her very best friend has been Sylvie Bank. But when Sylvie’s end-of-summer birthday party becomes the end of their friendship, Eleni can’t picture starting middle school without her BFF by her side. She can’t picture anything without her BFF—especially the looming school overnight. Who will she even room with?

Much as they dream of family winetastings in a magical place, reviving a 13th century cellar proves a formidable task. Laura never imagined she’d be hunting through ancient sinks, hauling stones by moonlight, or appointing godparents for a medieval cave, all while managing an even more important project: a new baby. Find out if Laura and Franck manage to keep all the balls in the air in My Grape Cellar, book seven in the best-selling Grape series.

At the age of 17, in a last-minute twist of fate, Laura Bradbury is sent to Burgundy, France, for a year’s exchange. She arrives knowing only a smattering of French and with no idea what to expect in her first foray out of North America. With a head full of dreams and a powerful desire to please, Laura quickly adapts to Burgundian life, learning crucial skills such as the fine art of wine tasting and how to savor snails.

For Vega and her family, salmon is life. And Vega is learning to be a salmon finder, preparing for the day when she will be her family’s matriarch. But then she and her brother Deneb are separated from their pod when a devastating earthquake and tsunami render the seascape unrecognizable. Vega must use every skill she has to lead her brother back to their family. The young orcas face a shark attack, hunger, the deep ocean, and polluted waters on their journey. Will Vega become the leader she’s destined to be?

My Grape Paris takes fans of Laura Bradbury’s Grape Series to the captivating world of Paris, where Laura has managed to organize an exchange year at the Sorbonne. Franck accompanies her, delighted to return to his native France. Over afternoons napping in an ancient Roman amphitheater and nights gallivanting around the Louvre, Laura dreams of becoming a sophisticated Parisian woman.

Arson investigation is not exactly what firefighter Kate Chambers signed up for. But she doesn't have a choice when an injury forces her off the engine and into the office. Her first case, a fire at a downtown bar, is a clear-cut instance of insurance fraud, or so she thinks. But the property co-owner and prime suspect, Alexi Clark, won't go quietly to jail for a crime she didn't commit. Soon Alexi is fighting both the false charges against her and an unexpected attraction to the investigator determined to prove them.

Ren Molson should be chasing a bright new future. Instead, she's spent the last two years floundering in a small-town community college. She hates being the only lesbian she knows, and a virgin. She's tired of watching her friends move forward while her momentum stalls. Most of all, she's sick of feeling lost and confused about who she is or what she's supposed to do with her life. Desperate for a change, Ren hopes to use her Spanish class tour through Spain to remake herself.

Lauren Gray escaped her small town so she could do big things. Changing the world has always been her dream, and she’s been busy making that dream come true. But when tragedy strikes, she’s forced to return home, where memories and grief threaten to pull her to pieces.

“Where are the hysterics, those magnificent women of former times?” wrote Jacques Lacan. Long history’s ghosts, marginalized and dispossessed due to their gender and class, they are reimagined by Maud Casey as complex, flesh-and-blood people with stories to tell.

Ashton Clarke, a local Casanova with a long history of falling into bed with a different woman every night, is perfectly content with her free and easy existence, until she gives in to her best friend's request to spend an evening helping out at the local gay and lesbian youth center. There, Ash meets Carrie Fletcher, a women's studies professor who not only intrigues Ash but causes her to question the direction her life has taken. As if this disquieting attraction isn't aggravating enough, Ash is forced to deal with Carrie's teenage neighbor, Tess.

Once upon a time, Corrie Marsten fell hard and got dumped. Now, her only loves are sailing, and power. By day, she works as the head instructor for the University of Rhode Island's Sailing Center. Once night falls, she indulges in frequent casual sex with her friends, all of who know that like the wind, she can't be tethered. When Corrie meets vet student Quinn Davies, an enrollee in the summer sailing course, she senses Quinn's attraction and comes on strong.