Showing results by narrator "Lauren Fortgang" in All Categories

The trial of the century has come to Tupelo Landing, North Carolina. Mo and Dale, aka the Desperado Detectives, head to court as star witnesses against Dale's daddy - confessed kidnapper Macon Johnson. Dale's nerves are jangled, but Mo, who doesn't mind getting even with Mr. Macon for hurting her loved ones, looks forward to a slam dunk conviction - if everything goes as expected. Of course nothing goes as expected.

An unlikely pair of voices - the world's most recognizable beauty icon and "America's rabbi"- come together to diagnose how meaningful, passionate sex is on the decline in Western culture, and what is necessary to save it. Sex is dying in America. Inundated with sex and starved for it, obsessed with it yet clueless about it, we are slowly forgetting how to make love. The crisis of modern sexuality is seen in high divorce rates, in the degradation of sexuality through pornography, and tasteless displays of empty, counterfeit erotica.

Whether laughing to tears reading Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great or clamoring for more unmistakable "me too!" moments in Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, girls all over the world have been touched by Judy Blume's poignant coming-of-age stories. Now, in this anthology of essays, 24 notable female authors write straight from the heart about the unforgettable novels that left an indelible mark on their childhoods and still influence them today. After growing up from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing into Smart Women, these writers pay tribute to one of the most beloved authors of all time.

Can you fall in love while operators are standing by? Kevin’s a widower doctor with a precocious 12-year-old. He’s just met Mary, his daughter’s substitute teacher, who is experiencing her first Christmas without her beloved mother. As the holiday season ramps up, the twosome is unaware they’re also both in hot pursuit of a limited edition poinsettia angel being sold on their favorite television shopping channel.

Veronica Mars meets the World of Warcraft in The Astonishing Mistakes of Dahlia Moss, a mystery romp with a most unexpected heroine. You'd think that after I took a bullet in my arm following my last case, that I'd be timid about going in guns blazing a second time. But you'd be wrong. I faced down death, and the only bad thing that happened was that I got a cool scar. Which is a like a tattoo, but with street cred. I may have been a little overconfident this time. Like, Leeroy Jenkins overconfident.

You can have everything you want if you sacrifice everything you believe. Kihrin D'Mon is a wanted man. Since he destroyed the Stone of Shackles and set demons free across Quur, he has been on the run from the wrath of an entire empire. His attempt to escape brings him into the path of Janel Theranon, a mysterious Joratese woman who claims to know Kihrin. Janel's plea for help pits Kihrin against all manner of dangers: a secret rebellion, a dragon capable of destroying an entire city, and Kihrin's old enemy, the wizard Relos Var.

In 2013, the New York Times published an obituary for Yvonne Brill. It began: “She made a mean beef stroganoff, followed her husband from job to job, and took eight years off from work to raise three children.” It wasn’t until the second paragraph that readers discovered why the Times had devoted several hundred words to her life: Brill was a brilliant rocket scientist who invented a propulsion system to keep communications satellites in orbit, and had recently been awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

Chance Matthews is drawn into a battle between angels and monsters because of something in her possession - a fossil of a creature that couldn't possibly have ever existed. But it did. And still does.

Librarian Maggie Kincaid yearns for excitement but being accused of espionage is not what she had in mind. Wanted by the police, the FBI and the criminal element, Maggie goes on the run–and runs straight into sexy Luke Fletcher. Unfortunately, when Luke pulls out the handcuffs, it's not because he has something kinky in mind...

When visitors arrive, Clara Valmont must make an entirely new agreement with the vampire she is indebted to in order to stay alive. But even her brief reprieve might not be enough when something far more dangerous than a vampire comes to call. Things between Clara and Alaric are not what they appear to be, and if anyone learns the truth, then it could spell death, for both of them.

My name is Larkspur, and I am an Elemental. My people use the power of the earth to sustain life and defy our enemies. I am the half-breed bastard child of a king. I was not meant to survive the trials cast my way. Yet, here I stand. The world has deteriorated in the years I was banished. The Elemental families are rife with deception, violence, and madness more than ever before. A voice I know all too well calls me to do her bidding. A voice I no longer wish to hear. The mother goddess begs me to save the four families, and stop my nemesis.

Pirate fever sweeps through the town after an opportunistic treasure hunter shows up looking to lay claim to Blackbeard's lost gold buried somewhere in Tupelo Landing. When the (probably) world-famous Desperado Detectives - Mo and Dale and Harm - are hired by Mayor Little's mother to find the pirate loot for her, and the high-stakes race for riches is on! But that's not the only treasure hunt in town. Mo LoBeau unearths shocking new clues that may lead to her long-lost Upstream Mother - in the riskiest, scariest, and possibly richest case of her life.

What's worse than butt dialing the man who could make or break your career? Accidentally sleeping with him. Public speaking coach Lacey Ames has landed the client of a lifetime with Lawrence Newsom III, heir apparent to his family's private jet empire. If she can help him land the role as the company's president, she'll never need to wait another table again. The job, however, proves more challenging than Lacey ever dreamed when Lawrence turns out to be Alex, the sexy pilot she spent one steamy night with while stranded in Chicago.

Twins Carys and Andreus were never destined to rule Eden. With their older brother next in line to inherit the throne, the future of the kingdom was secure. But appearances - and rivals - can be deceiving. When Eden's king and crown prince are killed by assassins, Eden desperately needs a monarch, but the line of succession is no longer clear. With a ruling council scheming to gain power, Carys and Andreus are faced with only one option - to take part in a Trial of Succession.

In 1908, 16-year-old Bridey runs away from her small town in Ireland with her same-age sweetheart, Thom. But when Thom dies suddenly of ship fever on their ocean crossing, Bridey finds herself alone and pregnant in a strange new world. Forced by circumstance to give up the baby for adoption, Bridey finds work as a maid for the Hollingworth family at a lavish, sprawling estate. She cares for the Hollingworth children as if they were her own, until a mysterious death changes Bridey and the household forever.

Ari Helix may have won her battle against the tyrannical Mercer corporation, but the larger war has just begun. Ari and her cursed wizard Merlin must travel back in time to the unenlightened Middle Ages and steal the King Arthur's Grail – the very definition of impossible. It's imperative that the time travellers not skew the timeline and alter the course of history. Coming face-to-face with the original Arthurian legend could produce a ripple effect that changes everything. Somehow Merlin forgot that the past can be even more dangerous than the future....

Sean Kowalski no sooner leaves the army than he's recruited by Emma Shaw to be her fake fiance;. Emma needs to produce a husband-to-be for her grandmother's upcoming visit, and, though Sean doesn't like the deception, he could use the landscaping job Emma's offering while he decides what to do with his civilian life. And, despite his attraction to Emma, there's no chance he'll fall for a woman with deep roots in a town he's not planning to call home.

Gamer vs Player. Some girls have a dream guy, but Suzie's ideal boyfriend is totally real. He’s just...virtual. Suzie doesn't need to see her online gaming buddy to know that he’s her perfect match. The problem lies in reality, AKA high school. Ever since a humiliating photo of her surfaced on the first day of senior year, she hasn't been able to escape the attention of Luke Warner. Suzie thinks he doesn’t know her at all, and she seems convinced that she doesn’t like him. But what if she knew that he was her online BFF? That would change everything.

Someone knows what really happened.... On a cold December day, teenager Joy Enright is found drowned at the edge of a frozen pond. When an autopsy reveals she was strangled first, suspicion is thrown onto Martin, the young graduate who was last to see her alive. Someone who is prepared to keep their secret at any cost. In a small community, secrets are hard to keep, and as the web of lies around Joy's life and death unravels, the truth will either bring one family closer together or tear them further apart.

Several years after the events of Threshold, Chance and Deacon have married. They're looking ahead to the future, trying to put the horrors of the past behind them. But new nightmares await them as a woman with a thirst for violence enters their lives. And something even worse has followed her.