Showing results by narrator "Hallie Ricardo" in All Categories

In the virtual reality game Heir Apparent, there are way too many ways to get killed—and Giannine seems to be finding them all. Which is a shame, because unless she can get the magic ring, locate the stolen treasure, answer the dwarf's dumb riddles, impress the head-chopping statue, charm the army of ghosts, fend off the barbarians, and defeat the man-eating dragon, she'll never win.

Lily and Romeo are just one desert away from reaching the High Seat of the Black Heron Society, where they’ll finally learn the fate of Lily’s mom, Greta. But Lily is going to need some guidance before she shows up at the Black Heron’s door.

Has anyone seen Greta Antony? Time to get a witch, a werewolf, and a Winnie across the water to follow the next dangerous clue. Lily and Romeo are offered a deal to get them across the sea to Libya and retrieve a needed sacred relic. Heed this warning - magic often comes with a price and an artifact from the God of Dreams is going to be no exception.

The road trip in the Winnie continues to Otiylo, Greece, but Lily and Romeo are being followed, and a trail of death and trouble lies behind them. Is that strange coin she holds a magical GPS? Nothing can keep Lily from searching for her mother, but she’s going to need help from a local coven.

Chestnut is a dog without a family. After being abandoned in the wild, Chestnut is wandering the North Carolina countryside trying to survive. When 12-year-old Meg stumbles upon him on the outskirts of her family’s Christmas tree farm, she just knows that they’re meant to be together forever. The only problem? The farm is on the brink of closing down, and her family can’t afford a pet. Meg knows she has what it takes to save the business and take care of Chestnut—she’ll just need to keep him a secret until then. Will Meg and Chestnut get their Christmas miracle?

The completed By Design Trilogy is here! Anne is a young, Southern professional with just the right connections and a privileged point of view. Confident in her innate value, she has complete faith in her power to control her own future. After all, even with the challenges that come with working at a high-profile interior-design firm located in the heart of Atlanta, she knows exactly where she’s headed. What she doesn’t expect is Dr. Brad Young, Jr.

The third and last novel of the By Design Trilogy continues the journey of Anne and Brad as they make their way through the many complications, heartaches, and joys of life. Inevitably, they begin to think of their own mortality as the years move forward. Anne thinks of her mother a lot these days. Even though her mother's life had ended way too soon, Gretchen had managed to prepare her daughter well--she left a legacy to be envied. Now, after so many years, that legacy has the daunting task of seeing Anne through. Will life be gentle with Anne?

Anne is a young, Southern professional with just the right connections and a privileged point of view. Confident in her innate value, she has complete faith in her power to control her own future. After all, even with the challenges that come with working at a high-profile interior design firm located in the heart of Atlanta, she knows exactly where she’s headed. What she doesn’t expect is Dr. Brad Young, Jr.

Sixteen-year-old science-geek Eve gets pregnant on a service trip over her winter break, and pro-life Mom and pro-choice Dad want her to study both sides of the abortion debate to figure out what to do. The unaware father Adam is still serving as a volunteer at the Dominican Republic orphanage where they met. Since there's no WiFi at the orphanage, he looks forward to being able to text and Face Time with Eve once he gets back to Germany in mid-August. By then, she'll be eight months pregnant - or not.

From 1942-1960: Emily lives the first 18 years of her life on her grandfather’s farm with a burden of misfortune and hardship. When the school board forces Grandfather’s hand, Emily is allowed to attend school. She experiences her first real friendship, the thrill and pain of an innocent young love, and a secret she bears alone. Just days after her 18th birthday, her bag is packed, and she’s ready to start a new life. When someone tries to stop her - and ends up dead - Emily escapes the horror and hops a train out west.

Leaving town when she was 18 had been Laura's only option. She feared a stifling existence in a town ruled by its past, its mythological devotion to Mark Twain, and the economic and racial divide that runs as deep as the Mississippi River. She can't forget that fateful Fourth of July when the levees broke or the decisions that still haunt her. Now, as the Mississippi rises again, a deep wound threatens to reopen, and Laura must decide if running away once more might be the best way to save herself.

In the wake of her mother's death, Emma finds solace - and parallels to her own life - in the whales that she watches with her father.

Two months after a family tragedy, Christina finds herself contemplating the lives of birds as she prepares for the funeral. As restrained as it is devastating, The Loneliness of Flying is a heart-wrenching reflection on the aftershocks of loss.

Althea's mother's absence has been palpable her entire life - always felt but rarely mentioned by Althea or her father. Althea was only told that her mother fell ill shortly after Althea was born. But when a mysterious woman turns up wounded on Althea's doorstep, the truth about her mother reveals itself in a way that promises to uproot Althea's entire life.

Samantha and her mother spend day and night caring for Samantha's ailing grandma. But tonight may be the last night Samantha will be able to sleep on the sofa next to her Grandma's hospice-provided bed. Moving and insightful, Grandma's Leather Sofa shows what it truly means to care for a loved one who is terminally ill.

How far would you go to save the only family you have left? Victoria "Vic" Asher is finally finding some balance in her life. Though she's still reeling from her parents' death in a plane crash, she's content with waiting tables at the Clock; window shopping with her best friend, Tiffany; and hanging out with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Chad. But when she receives a mysterious package in the mail from her brother, Gil - a law student doing research in Italy - she knows immediately that he's in danger.

With two biological sons and a promising career, Coleman Carter seems set to fulfill his promise as a resourceful trial lawyer, devoted husband, and dutiful father until his wife, Elizabeth, champions their adoption of a Korean orphan. This seemingly altruistic mission estranges Coleman's conservative parents and demands that he now embrace the unknown as fully as he has always entrenched himself in the familiar.

After years of looking for a place to belong, Paula Andrews finally finds her niche in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Her soap and candle shop flourishes, and her friendship with the Papadopoulos family gives her the love and support she never got from her own family. The only thing missing is a romance - or, in the grand hopes of the Papadopoulos family, a proper marriage.

Adele - the beautiful fairy queen with wings of clockwork - despairs when her husband, the master tinker, dies before he finishes the great machine that will reignite the human-fairy war and drive the humans away. When she meets Dale, a human boy with natural talent - who can finish the machine - she enslaves him and binds his will with her fairy magic. However, Dale's twin sister, Nora, who has only recently discovered that she is a maker and has power of her own, escapes before she can be taken as well.

Five years have passed. The worlds above and below have recovered and changed. The fairies from the Clockwork Kingdom return every year, asking for Dale's help in vain. This year Cornelius, the head of the fairies, brings dread news: Kostya has returned. The maker has taught herself what she could about magic, but no teacher has ever arrived. Finally a herald manages to break through the spells surrounding the town to warn Nora that something, perhaps a monster, has been keeping them at bay. And it is stalking her for her power and her life.