Showing results by narrator "Becky Doughty" in All Categories

Each poem has its own reason for being. Like people, each has a unique form and voice. A potpourri is a mixture, a medley, a miscellaneous hodgepodge of things not usually placed together, as in a book such as this. Gathered from a large collection of poems written over many years, some reflect emotions or events from personal experience. Some share observations of others, or reflections on life's meaning. These selections, arranged in no particular order or style, are designed to present frequent surprises. Enjoy....

Steve Garrison is the newly elected mayor of the tiny town of Camelot, Tennessee. When his childhood friend, Amy Hart, comes up with a plan to revive the town's economy, he jumps onboard. The townspeople will perform the musical Camelot in the city's park, drawing in nightly crowds at the new outdoor theater. While excitement is high, talent is lacking. Amy casts several of the parts but is stumped when it comes to the role of King Arthur.

Michelle and her family rejoice when her father begins to regain consciousness after an unsuccessful suicide attempt. But a long journey awaits, as they seek to clear his name of the embezzlement charges that drove him to this desperate act. The days of their vigil at the hospital drag into weeks, and Michelle finds herself repeatedly drawn to the newborn nursery. Observing couples leave with tiny babes in their arms, her heart is stirred, and she begins to yearn for a child of her own.

Susan Quinn, a social worker turned surrogate mom to foster teens, fights to save the group home she's worked hard to build. But now, she faces a dwindling staff, foreclosure, and old heartaches that won't stay buried. Her only hope lies with the last person she'd ever turn to - a brawny handyman with a guitar, a questionable past, and a God he keeps calling Father.

It's nearly Halloween in Elk Park, Colorado, and one of the Elk Valley Historical Society's founding members, a retired history professor who wanted to hire genealogist Anna Denning to complete his secret research into the family trees of two other members, has been found dead - the victim of a brutal murder. When a friend of the victim pleads with Anna to complete the professor's work, Anna agrees. Her decision leads her into a disturbing world of lies, concealed identities, and the occult.

The Andersons' marriage is no longer the fairytale it once was. Jake and Nora scramble to keep the pieces together, but hairline cracks of disillusionment and despair have been spreading, weakening the foundation beneath them. Jake steps up, but in all the wrong ways. His concerted efforts to win Nora's approval only make him seem needy, and she becomes distant and withdrawn. Caught in a vulnerable place of hopelessness, she's swept off her feet by a disarming artist who wants to capture more than her image on canvas.

Juliette, the eldest sister of the Gustafson Girls, is heartbroken after breaking up with her noncommittal boyfriend of almost ten years. Determined she isn’t “getting over Mike” quickly enough, her three sisters devise The Monday ManDates; an intervention plan requiring Juliette to endure what turns out to be a series of remarkably disastrous blind dates: TheraPaul, Frisky Frank, TAZ the rock star, and the stoic Tim Larsen, among others. Then there’s Victor Jarrett, the police officer with an affinity for pulling Juliette over when she’s at her very worst. But no one is more surprised than Juliette when she meets the only one who can right the wrongs in her past and change her future. But will she let herself fall in love with him?

Fifteen-year-old Ashley has a complicated life. There's no doubt her overachieving parents love her, but they are wrapped up in their own worlds for so much of the time it leaves her feeling like she's alone. Like a lot of teenagers, Ashley dreams of other worlds, but unlike a lot of teenagers, her world is about to collapse as rifts to an ancient fae kingdom begin to open all around her. Ashley's London is about to become a magical and mysterious warzone where the prize is Ashley herself.

Scottish widower Ian MacLean is plagued by a mischievous grannie, bitter regrets, and an ache for something he'll never have again. His only hope for freedom is to bring his grannie's sister home from America. But first, he'll have to convince her young companion, Emily Chapman, to let the woman go. Emily devotes herself to foster youth and her beloved Aunt Grace. Caring for others quiets a secret fear she holds close to her heart. But when Ian appears, wanting to whisk Grace off to Scotland, everything Emily holds dear is at risk.

Suzanne Corbin and her daughter, Beth Harris, live a seemingly easy life. Suzanne has distanced herself from her past, replacing pain with fulfillment as a wife and mother, while Beth savors her husband's love and anticipates the birth of their child. But all that is about to change.

What happens when a Christian woman facing a childless future and a woman seeking an abortion are waiting to see the same doctor? What if after that "chance" encounter they are unable to forget each other? What if they find themselves drawn together in spite of their drastic differences by their surprising similarities? What if they somehow find the courage to become friends?

What happens when Cinderella is so painfully shy that she cannot bear the idea of attending the royal ball? Or when the slipper fits . . . but on the wrong girl? What happens when Cinderella is determined to oust an imposter prince from her rightful throne? Or when she is a cendrillon miner working from a space station orbiting a cthonian planet? What happens when Cinderella, a humble housemaid, is sent with a message for a prisoner trapped in a frightening fairy circus?

After watching her sister die at the hands of a vicious killer, Jane Piper received an invitation. She answered it. At 28 she became an assassin, a hunter for Gatehouse, the secret organization that stands between life as we know it and the most ruthless killers the world has ever seen. They're called Sacks. And they're changing...

A successful walrus hunt means Anna and her beloved Kinauquak will soon be joined in marriage. But before they can seal their promise to one another, a tsunami wipes their village from the rugged shore ... everyone except Anna and her little sister, Iya, who are left alone to face the Alaskan wilderness. A stranger, a Civil War veteran with golden hair and blue eyes, wanders the untamed Aleutian Islands. He offers help, but can Anna trust him or his God? And if she doesn't, how will she and Iya survive?

Hoping for some excitement and a little extra money, A.J. Knight signed up to be a Houston EMT. However, when he did, he never thought about the life-and-death situations he'd be put into or the lives that he might be called on to save. Worse, he never so much as considered the lives that might be lost while he was working to save them.

Blaine Donovan has a secret, but so far his plan to keep the rest of the world in the dark about who he really is and what's really going on in his life has worked. If he can just finish school before the demons catch up with him, he knows he can make life make sense once again. However, when he runs into Melody Todd, a semi-friend he had thought was long-gone, life takes a turn Blaine wasn't at all expecting.

When the owner of a mansion in the Colorado mountains hires Anna Denning to research his family tree, it's Anna's dream come true. A library brimming with old documents, an undiscovered family history - what more could a genealogist want? Excited by the possibilities and fueled by a new love in her life, Anna, tenacious as ever, is undeterred by rumors that a ghost haunts the mansion. Until she uncovers records that suggest those rumors are more than idle talk.

Four days before Christmas in Elk Park, Colorado, genealogist Anna Denning discovers a client's body. When she starts asking questions no one wants answered, she becomes the killer's next target.

Ben Warren has life all figured out. At 35, he's successful in his work and free as a bird everywhere else. He has no desire to be tied down like some of his friends, and he sees no reason to change that. Then the unthinkable happens and causes him to rethink everything about everything. Kathryn Walker can't figure out what she's doing wrong in the dating department. The rest of her life makes sense. She's compassionate, strong, honest, hardworking, and still alone.

Caralynne Hayman is angry and bitter over the abuse and death of her eleven-year-old daughter at the hands of a radical religious cult - The Children of Righteous Cain. So when her husband, a founding member of the cult, suffers a massive heart attack, Caralynne allows her husband to die. Caralynne's secret seems safe until Dayne MacFarland returns, determined to learn the truth about the cult. His investigation and his rekindled love for Caralynne lead the pair toward a confrontation with the group's elders.