Showing results by narrator "Amanda Ronconi" in All Categories

Sarah Martin had every intention of skipping her high school reunion. Once a popular girl and valedictorian, she's now pushing forty, divorced, and running a small bookstore in Nashville - not exactly an impressive life. But Sarah's best friend, Kristen, won't take no for an answer, and she won't let them return to Briley High without Roxanne, the missing third in their senior-high trio.

Brian Kateman coined the term "Reducetarian" - a person who is deliberately reducing his or her consumption of meat - and a global movement was born. In this book, Kateman, the founder of the Reducetarian Foundation, presents more than 70 original essays from influential thinkers on how the simple act of cutting 10 percent or more of the meat from one's diet can transform the life of the listener, animals, and the planet.

Delia Montgomery is on the worst date in the history of dates. The charming, funny version of Chip that she met online was an Internet mirage, dissolving to leave her with an overcoiffed raging douche canoe. Chip seems to be following some sort of handbook entitled How to Make Your Date Want to Stab You in the Face in Three Easy Steps. Between the backhanded compliments and "helpful" suggestions, Delia is seriously considering tunneling her way through the floor of Facile with a shrimp fork.

All Jason Parker wanted was to do was throw a nice anniversary dinner for his parents at Facile, just one nice dinner that his parents didn't end up planning, cooking, or funding. It's too bad that his family seems hell-bent on ruining it. Between his older brother stealing credit for the planning, his uncle stealing the silverware, and his sister' stealing everyone's joy, it's enough to send Jason running for the comfort of Facile's bourbon supply.

Kate Ravineux expected her romantic dinner at Facile to end in a proposal from her boyfriend, Scott. She did not expect to open that sacred little blue box to find a keychain. A keychain. Stinging from the realization that her boyfriend considers her a "fixer upper" worthy only of cohabitation he has to hide from his mama, Kate ditches Scott at the table and makes a run for the elevator.

Publicist EJ Lasher is not thrilled to hear that her ex-boyfriend, celebrity chef Morgan Jeffries, is visiting Facile, the latest restaurant she's promoting. She and Morgan did not leave things on a good note - well, technically, she left the note is his knife case, and he didn't notice it for weeks. And she doesn't look forward to facing Morgan's famous profanity-driven temper when he realizes she works for Facile.

The Facile Omnibus, Volume 2, offers an enchanting assortment of spicy, sassy heroines. In Steamed, hostess Abby gives a recently dumped customer the night of his life. Pastry artist Lydia takes no lip from the world's pickiest diner in Whipped, no matter how mouthwatering he may be. In Sizzled, food critic Lakshmi just wants to sate her hunger...for food and her delicious yet frazzled ex.

The final story in the Facile Restaurant series! Served, by Jacey Conrad and Gia Corona, gives you a look at each of the couples as they wrap up their steamy night's work.

Lee Broussard is just a nice guy doing a favor for a friend - delivering a gift to an anniversary dinner at Facile - and ends up seeing his girlfriend sucking chocolate mousse off some strange guy's finger. Shocked speechless and on the verge of dismantling the classy dining room with his bare hands, Lee is distracted by lovely seating hostess Abby DuLane, who yanks him into the nearest closet.

Facile's manager, Xavier Blackwell, has reputation for being ruthless, smart, and savvy with the ladies. While the first two descriptors are correct, the third portion of his reputation is not exactly accurate. While the posh London accent and prowling persona have garnered him many a lady's attention, for Xavier, there's been only one woman - one woman who seeped into his soul and left her mark on his heart. And she chose tonight, one of the most hectic, disastrous nights in Facile's history, to visit his restaurant.

Facile's chief pastry chef, Lydia Conner, has watched the jerk at table seventeen run her fellow kitchen staffers ragged all night with his special requests and substitutions. But she knows she can sweeten his sour mood with one of her legendary desserts. No man alive can resist her special flourless chocolate cake...except for the jerk at table seventeen.

Tessa thought her day had hit rock bottom when she came home to find her best friend riding her boyfriend like a bronco in the skank rodeo. And then she arrived for her shift at Facile to find that she would be waiting tables in the same section as gorgeous, conceited Colt. Colt, who considered himself God's gift to the sighted. Colt, who honestly seemed to think that diners came to Facile for him and not the delicious food.

Can you stand the heat? It's just another night in the French Quarter's newest restaurant. And, of course, at Facile that means complete chaos - a distracted head chef, a private party full of family dysfunction, and a visit from a celebrity chef trying to poach the best in the kitchen. Served: Facile Restaurant Omnibus, Volume 1 offers a range of hot heroes.

When auctioneer Wren Morgan begins cataloging the contents of the Campbell mansion, she's unprepared to find something that can't be appraised - a dead man. After the body turns out to be a criminal with ties to a recent jewel heist, Wren comes face-to-face with Death Bogart. A private eye and part-time bounty hunter, Death is searching for the stolen jewels needed to convict a murderer.

Riley Brown never imagined she would find her bliss on Georgia's quiet Sugarberry Island after years of Chicago's city life. With a new career and fantastic new friends, she's got it all - except for eligible men. But a gig staging a renovated beach house delivers a delicious treat - six feet of blue-eyed, gorgeous writer as delectable and Southern as pecan pie.

When Honey D'Amouvell inherits property on tiny Sugarberry Island, she's prepared to start a whole new life. Her plan is simple - make a home, open a shop, and maybe, finally, find a place to belong. But the building she now owns is leased to none other than the owner of Babycakes, which means her spot is already occupied.

Kit Bellamy was raised on pie. Mamie Sue's Peanut Pies, to be exact, the family company her scheming brother-in-law sold out from under her. Now Kit needs a new recipe for her life - and sleepy Sugarberry Island is the first ingredient. Running mail-order cupcake business Babycakes is a chance to get her baking on again - until she meets tall, dark, and adorable lawyer Morgan Westlake. New to the island to raise his goddaughter, he's as mouthwatering as any of Kit's creations.

Witty, snarky, and (deep down) sincere, Elizabeth Paulson offers advice and encouragement for 20- and 30-somethings on their quest to find love - or at least requited lust.

On a lake in northernmost Minnesota, you might find Naledi Lodge - only two cabins still standing, its pathways now trodden mostly by memories. And there you might meet Meg, or the ghost of the girl she was, growing up under her grandfather’s care in a world apart and a lifetime ago. Now an artist, Meg paints images "reflected across the mirrors of memory and water", much as the linked stories of Vacationland cast shimmering spells across distance and time.

It’s summertime on the North Carolina coast and the livin’ is easy. Unless, that is, you’ve just lost your mother to cancer, your sister to her extremist husband, and your husband to his executive assistant. Meet Gray Howard. Right when Gray could use a serious infusion of good karma in her life, she inadvertently gets a stranger, Diana Harrington, fired from her job at the local pharmacy. Diana Harrington’s summer isn’t off to the greatest start either: Hours before losing her job, she broke up with her boyfriend and moved out of their shared house.