Showing results by narrator "Cris Dukehart" in All Categories

Aaron thinks genre fiction is an affront to the fiction-writing craft. He often quotes the essayist Arthur Krystal, who says literary fiction "melts the frozen sea inside of us". Ironically Aaron doesn't seem to realize that he's emotionally frozen. The vivacious Laurie, lover of flamingo-patterned attire and all things hot pink, is the one person who might be capable of melting him.

It's the most picturesque time of the year in Santa Fe, and Chef Rita Lafitte of Tres Amigas Café hopes the twinkling lights and tasty holiday treats will charm her visiting mom. Rita is also planning fun activities, such as watching her teenage daughter, Celia, perform in an outdoor Christmas play. What she doesn't plan for is murder. Rita discovers a dead actor during the premier performance but vows to keep clear of the case. Sleuthing would upset her mom.

Daphne Mayfield sought a moment of quiet in a park - a break from city life, a tense relationship, and chronic overwork - but then an elderly woman makes a desperate plea. Daphne is reluctant to get involved when she's not sure what's happening, but she wants to help the stranger. Is the rambling old lady the victim of a crime or a victim of dementia?

Tres Amigas Café chef Rita Lafitte is busy baking her green chili soufflés and chocolate flans for Cinco de Mayo. If only her friend, Linda, the daughter of Rita's octogenarian boss, Flori, could get into the festive spirit. Linda's cart, Tía Tamales, is losing business to Crepe Empire, the hottest food cart in Santa Fe. Napoleon, Crepe Empire's owner, is a pompous celebrity chef who wants to squeeze out the competition.

Trained to be a courtesan for the vampire elite, Lucy Drake is finally free...and dying from the effects of being a blood slave. The vampire responsible continues to collect humans, discarding them at will. Vowing revenge, Lucy is determined to see him meet his end before she meets hers.

The Great Charleston Earthquake catapults Penrose Heatherton from the 1880s into the present day. Though she's still residing in Arundell Manor, it's a very different world - with a different man inhabiting the ancestral estate. And Keat Arundell is every bit as brooding and intriguing as his ancestor - her former lover - had been.

Life couldn't be sweeter for Tres Amigas Café chef Rita Lafitte, decorating sugar skulls and taste testing rich, buttery pan de muerto in anticipation of Santa Fe's Day of the Dead bread baking contest. That is until her friendly landlord, Victor, is found dead next door. Although the police deem Victor's death a suicide, Rita knows something is amiss. To uncover the truth, she teams up with her octogenarian boss, Flori, the town's most celebrated snoop.

When Jesse Crane returned to his roots to serve on the Miccosukee police force, he'd hoped to leave behind the violence of the city and the memories of his murdered wife. But bodies start to pile up in Jesse's corner of the sultry Florida swampland. As he probes these crimes, Jesse is drawn to the beautiful Lorena Fortier, a new hire at the local gator farm and research facility. Lorena is a little too interested in Jesse's investigation, but before he can uncover her true motives, they're both pulled into a dangerous web of greed, ambition, and animal cunning.

Abram and Juliette know each other. They've lived down the street from each other their whole lives. But they don't really know each other - at least not until Juliette's mom and Abram's dad have a torrid affair that culminates in a deadly car crash. Later, when they see each other, it's uncomfortable, to say the least. They don't speak.

Raised by her older sister in the small town of Blueberry Springs, all Beth Wilkinson wants is to create a family so big she’ll never be alone. Things are going great until her fiancé, Oz, rethinks everything from his own career to their nuptial plans—forcing Beth to do the same. As Beth works to rediscover herself in hopes of reattracting Oz, she catches the eye of the charming new city doctor, Nash. Not only does he see her as she’d like to be seen, but he knows exactly what he wants from life—and that includes Beth.

While most 17-year-old American girls would refuse to let their parents marry them off to a stranger, Robyn Mason dreams of the mysterious McKale in Ireland, wondering how he'll look and imagining his Irish accent. Prearranged bindings are common for magical families like her own. However, when she travels to the whimsical Emerald Isle, she discovers that there's more to her betrothal and McKale's clan than she'd been led to believe. What starts as an obligatory pairing between Robyn and McKale morphs over time into something they both need.

In a city built on dreams, Trisha Holiday makes her living moving like one. But out of her dancer's costume, she's as down-to-earth as they come. That's why she ignores the admiring note - and the accompanying $1,000 bill - that arrives backstage after one of her ethereal performances. Yet the sender, a wealthy foreign prince, isn't easily dissuaded. Seven years living and studying in the United States have made Malik long for the freedom to choose his own bride - and the woman he wants is Trisha.

In a city built on dreams, Trisha Holiday makes her living moving like one. But out of her dancer's costume, she's as down-to-earth as they come. That's why she ignores the admiring note - and the accompanying $1,000 bill - that arrives backstage after one of her ethereal performances. Yet the sender, a wealthy foreign prince, isn't easily dissuaded. Seven years living and studying in the United States have made Malik long for the freedom to choose his own bride - and the woman he wants is Trisha.

Eve's Diary," is the comic tale of Eve, the first woman in the Judeo-Christian creation story. Written in diary form, Eve offers a first-person account of her relationship with Adam, life in Eden, and their experiences after the Fall. "Eve's Diary" is one of many in a series of stories that Twain wrote, all revolving around Adam and Eve. Proceeds from sale of this title go to Reach Out and Read, an innovative literacy advocacy organization.

Cheryl Burke has been dancing since the age of four and competing since she was 13 years old. Over several exciting seasons, she has captivated Dancing with the Stars audiences with her incredible dance performances, Emmy-nominated choreography, high energy, and bright smile. In Dancing Lessons, she takes you from her childhood years into the world of competitive ballroom dancing and on to the hit TV show.

Jackie has a map of the city on the wall of her bedroom, with a green pin for each of her trees. She has a first-kiss tree and a broken-arm tree. She has a car-accident tree. There is a tree at the hospital where Jackie’s mother passed away into the long good night. When one of them gets cut down, Jackie doesn't know what to do but she doesn't let that stop her. She picks up the biggest rock she can carry and puts it through the window of a car. Smash. She intends to leave before the police arrive, but they're early.

Seduced by Slim's stories of the privations of a cross-country trek that ended in the violence of an historic riot and tales of Depression-era work camps, Edie MacDonald has followed him from mine to mine, where he finds work and she cares for their son, Belly, in the thin shelter of canvas tents. Until now. Edie has left Slim behind, passed out in an unheated apartment on the coldest day of the year. Boarding a train with Belly, she travels westward. When the train struggles through a snowstorm and possible calamity, the lens shifts between Belly's perspective and Edie's.

A new world is emerging years after war destroyed society. In a Minnesota lake, the last surviving loons await the one who can help heal the earth. Each year a human sacrifice is brought to them to be endowed with special gifts, but they come at a terrible price. Even as the rest of the world rebuilds, Grace Kriske's life is shattered. Unable to walk, Grace's only solace is her lover, David Tvedt, a trader who wants to take her away with him - if she'd let him.

Whether breathlessly enthusiastic serenely calm, or really concentrating on their personal zombie issues, Crane's happy cast explore the complexities behind personal satisfaction. You Must Be This Happy to Enter exists in a world very much like our own but infused with more joy and magic. It's a place where the happy are jailed, the sincere cause confusion, and pop culture so seamlessly melds with real life that characters can walk right out of the television and come live with you.

As a child, dog-loving Brenna Fallon naively invokes an ancient Celtic deity to save her beloved hound - and inadvertently anchors the new-found power at a spring on her family's farm. She doesn't know she's also left an opening for a far more malevolent force. Years later, thanks to the actions of several angry young men, Brenna discovers the terrible potential of that gateway.