Showing results by narrator "Abby Craden" in All Categories

In all her life, Eustacia "Taisy" Cleary has given her heart to only three men: her first love, Ben Ransom; her twin brother, Marcus; and Wilson Cleary - professor, inventor, philanderer, self-made millionaire, brilliant man, breathtaking jerk, her father. Seventeen years ago Wilson ditched his first family for Caroline, a beautiful young sculptor. In all that time, Taisy's family has seen Wilson, Caroline, and their daughter, Willow, only once.

A famous journalism dean is found dead at the bottom of a stairwell. Accident or murder? The police suspect members of the faculty who had engaged in fierce quarrels with the dean - distinguished scholars who were known to attack the dean like brutal schoolyard bullies. When Meredith "Red" Solaris is appointed interim dean, the faculty suspects are furious.

Power . . . Love . . . Scandal. There's never enough to go around . . .True love conquers everything - or so Gloria Carmody crazily believed. She and her runaway lover, Jerome Johnson, can barely scrape together cash for their rent, let alone have a moment to whisper sweet nothings in the dark. And if they thought escaping Chicago meant they'd get away with murder . . . they were dead wrong.

After losing her on-air job two years ago, television host Robin Trainer has fought her way back and now she's hotter than ever. With her new show climbing in the ratings and her first book a best seller, she's being dubbed a media double threat. But suddenly, things begin to go wrong. Small incidents at first: A nasty note left in her purse; her photo shredded. But the obnoxious quickly becomes threatening when the foundation the makeup artist uses burns Robin's face. It wasn't an accident - someone had deliberately doctored the product.

Austin Conrad has never taken his personal life seriously. As a Navy SEAL, he spends all of his time in dangerous, life-threatening situations. The only way to leave behind the horrors he's seen throughout his career is to turn it all off when he gets home. He's too much of a playboy to settle down; even if he did find a woman he could stand to be around for more than one night, he would never taint her life with the demons of his past.

Ashley Bowman thought she had a lot at stake when she chained herself to a palm tree in front of her late grandmother's vacation resort. But that was before she met real-estate developer Roman Díaz. With one hot kiss from his perfect lips, everything changes between them. Suddenly, saving her happy memories seems less appealing then making some new memories…the kind you don't want to share with your grandmother.

Ashley Bowman is having a bad week. Reeling from the death of her beloved grandmother, she returns to the Florida Keys only to learn that a heartless Miami developer has gotten hold of the crappy vacation rentals she calls home. Ashley has one day to clear out before Roman Díaz destroys the only place in the world that matters to her. Chaining herself to a palm tree in the bulldozers’ path seems like a good way to stop him...until she realizes she should’ve brought food and water. And pants. Also, it would help if the evil developer weren’t so ridiculously hot....

Brady Marshall has made a career of playing it safe. When he decides to do something rash and becomes a Navy SEAL, he thinks he's finally escaped the rigid structure of the high society life his parents forced down his throat. All he does is trade in one set of rules for another. He follows military protocol to a T, but it still results in the death of an entire team of Navy SEALS and puts his best friends directly in harm's way.

Adults have forgotten the feel of a teenager's love. For you a teenager will walk through glass doors, stay awake three days in a row, be an angel standing under your window in the rain. So what that we don't know how to order from the butcher or apply foundation or insert a diaphragm? Show us. So advises Paige Bergman, a high school student who falls in love with housewife Fiona Gallagher in Jane Summer's lyrical debut novel, The Silk Road.

Acclaimed author Lauren Slater ruminates on what it means to be family. Lauren Slater's rocky childhood left her cold to the idea of ever creating a family of her own, but a husband, two dogs, two children, and three houses later, she came around to the challenges, trials, and unexpected rewards of playing house. In these autobiographical pieces, Slater presents snapshots of domestic life, populating them with the gritty details and jarring realities of sharing home, life, and body in the curious institution called "family."

Dylan Carroll, an ambitious college student filmmaker still reeling from the death of her brother, may have just stumbled upon the opportunity of a lifetime. Musician Kai White is in the middle of a public relations nightmare, and he may be keeping a secret that could turn things around. His manager/publicist wants to create a Web series aimed at cleaning up his image. There's also a promising offer at stake if Dylan can abide by the rule of staying strictly professional, and if she can figure out what Kai is hiding. But Kai and Dylan already have an undeniable connection, and when they are together, they discover that rules are pretty easy to break.

One day a young girl, Trot, encounters a strange young boy with a big umbrella. She learns his name is Button Bright and he uses this umbrella to go on long journeys. Trot's friend, Cap'n Bill, joins the two children and they venture to a fantastical island, which they call Sky Island, as it is halfway in the sky.

Set in a small town in Massachusetts, Next to Love follows three childhood friends, Babe, Millie, and Grace, whose lives are unmoored when their men are called to duty. And yet the changes that are thrust upon them move them in directions they never dreamed possible—while their husbands and boyfriends are enduring their own transformations.

Cohen Rodriguez, Deo's hilarious, über responsible best friend in Lengths, got dumped by his longtime girl because he's "not impulsive enough," and he's burned up. But maybe, just maybe, she's more right than he wants to admit. So he starts to date. A lot. But no one really feels like the one. And the more girls he dates, the more Cohen's convinced she isn't really out there. Luckily he has Maren - the girl with the sexy voice who always cracks the best jokes. They've been talking daily for a year…on the phone. What started as all work soon blooms into friendship.

In Every Little Thing in the World, Nina de Gramont turns a familiar predicament teen pregnancy into an unforgettable journey.

Max Dutton, a starting NFL linebacker for the Los Angeles Condors, is certain he's going to die young, since his father and grandfather both passed away at an early age. Believing his life will be cut short, Max lives every moment to its fullest. For this reason, Max also shies away from forming close relationships. What would be the point of falling in love and starting a family, only to leave them as his father left him and his sisters? Nutrition expert Kari Murphy used to think Max Dutton was to die for. She's older and wiser now.

Melanie Hoffert longs for her rural North Dakota home with its grain trucks and empty main streets. But like many, she followed the out-migration pattern to a more urban life. When she returns home during harvest to confront the silences that have kept her at arm’s length from her childhood community, she finds it’s not easy. When asked if she's found a “fella,” rather than explain that she dates women, she stops breathing and changes the subject.

Drawing from the intriguing (and sometimes unbelievable) true stories of the lives of everyday Americans, historian Julie M. Fenster traces the history of the weakening of our national ethics through the practice of cheating. From marital infidelity to financial fraud; rigged sports competitions to corruption in politics and the American education system; nuclear weaponry to beauty pageants; hospitals, TV game shows, and charities; nothing and no one is exempt.

For cowboy and firefighter Jake Ramsay, Christmas at Thunder Mountain Ranch is all about family, food, and celebration. Okay, and maybe a chance to run into his high-school sweetheart, singer Amethyst Ferguson. Six months ago, they had a scorching-hot, wild reunion - and this cowboy can't wait for another chance to play with fire.

In Real Women, Real Leadership, 24 women leaders describe their personal journeys to the top, providing deep insight and a fascinating perspective on "making it" as a woman in the male-dominated business environment. They discuss their experiences and offer guidance on topics such as balancing family and career, building alliances, mentoring and being mentored, and overcoming obstacles in the business world, which is still dominated by men in the senior levels of management.