Showing results by narrator "Amy Rubinate" in All Categories

After growing up in privilege and marrying into money, Lila Alders has gotten used to the good life. But when her happily ever after implodes, Lila must return to Black Dog Bay, the tiny seaside town where she grew up. She's desperate for a safe haven, but everything has changed over the past 10 years. Her family's fortune is gone - and her mother is in total denial. It's up to Lila to take care of everything...but she can barely take care of herself.

Writing in the tradition of Jan Karon and Maeve Binchy, New York Times best-selling author Darcie Chan returns listeners to Mill River, the charming town whose residents experience surprises and sorrows, witness acts of goodwill and kindness, embrace family love and friendship—and uncover age-old secrets and heartaches.

Brighton Smith doesn't do outrageous. As an insurance actuary, it's her job to assess risk and avoid bad investments. But when her fiancé calls to confess he's married someone else on a whim ("I looked at her and I just knew!"), she snaps.... That night, at a local bar, Jake Sorenson - hot, rich, and way out of her league - buys Brighton a cocktail. At midnight, she kisses him. And by dawn, they're exchanging vows at a drive-through chapel.

When Jocelyn Hilliard is named legal guardian for the late Mr. Allardyce's pack of pedigreed Labrador retrievers, her world is flipped upside down. She's spent her entire life toiling in the tourism industry in Black Dog Bay and never expected to be living the pampered life of a seasonal resident in an oceanside mansion, complete with a generous stipend. But her new role isn't without its challenges: the dogs (though lovable) are more high maintenance than any Hollywood diva, the man she wants to marry breaks her heart, and she's confronted by her late benefactor's estranged son....

Ben wakes up in a hospital with a hole in his head he can't explain. What he can remember he'd rather forget. Like how he and his wife, Maggie, drifted apart. Maggie is alone. Again. With bills to pay and Ben in a psych ward, she must return to work. But who would hire her in the state she's in? And just as Maggie turns to her brother, Francis, the Internet explodes with video of his latest escapade.

A grievously mutilated young woman arrives at the hospital in Espoo, Finland - only to vanish without a trace. Though the victim refused to identify herself, Violent Crimes Unit Commander Maria Kallio suspects she's connected to the city's sex-worker underworld. The next day her suspicions grow when celebrity call girl Lulu Nightingale is murdered during a live television broadcast. The victim's clients included some of the top names in Finnish society, but the list of suspects is longer: her infatuated bodyguard, a suicidal TV producer, and a talk-show host with political aspirations.

After surviving a terrifying assault during her last investigation, Maria Kallio traded in her badge for a comfortable desk job. But when the head of social affairs for the Finnish Athletics Federation is murdered - the victim of an apparent poisoning - Maria is drawn back into a race against more than murder. A series of crimes has unfolded, and to Maria’s trained eyes, they look like the makings of a conspiracy. As Maria follows the track to a doping scandal, a money-laundering scheme, domestic abuse, and explosive death threats leveled against a sports reporter, she collects the pieces of a baffling puzzle.

The last thing Jenna Landry wants is to fall in love. The former rock musician is getting ready to start a new job and a new life in L.A., and she's only back in her hometown for the summer. Nothing could tempt her to stay any longer than that...not even the sexy doctor next door. Michael Stone has a reputation for being as cold as ice. So what is it about his free-spirited neighbor that sets him on fire?

The secret of having an adventure is getting lost. Who ever visited an enchanted kingdom or fell into a fairy tale without wandering into the woods first? Well, Mary is lost. Mary is lost in the story of Little Red Riding Hood, and that is a cruel and murderous story. She's put on the red hood and met the wolf. When she gives in to her wolf's temptations, she will die.

Wisecracking reporter Dixie Flynn thinks fast and talks even faster - it's the only way to survive the San Francisco crime beat. When she's assigned to look into the death of her former lover, artist Diego Chino, Dixie's instincts tell her there's more behind the apparent suicide than the police are letting on. Dixie's canvassing of the Bay Area art district reveals it to be a perfect picture of corruption, with a handsome art dealer and a reclusive patron in the foreground.

Former police sergeant Maria Kallio gladly left her tiny Finnish hometown of Arpikylä without looking back. But even though Maria despises the small town and the acrid smell from its now-closed copper mine, when Arpikylä's sheriff asks her to serve as deputy sheriff for the summer, she agrees. What should have been a quiet summer soon turns dramatic - and deadly. Meritta, an outspoken local artist, plunges to her death from the copper mine's tower, and Maria immediately suspects someone helped her fall.

Rich man's son Max McKee had once loved young Skye Donahue - not wisely but well. Insatiably. Endlessly. But shameful family secrets - and dark deception - had wrenched them apart, abruptly shattering their precious dream of forever. Now, across a chasm filled with seven years of bitterness and sorrow, Max once more saw his beloved Skye. Explosive desire erupted anew. But sinister rumors and ugly doubts mocked their long-ago love.

When New York Yankee Marc MacNeal comes to Merritt, Alabama, for a charity golf tournament, he's shocked to be reunited with his ex-fiancee Bailey Watkins. Their college romance came to a bitter end when he was called up to the majors and the tabloids began printing rubbish about him, dubbing Marc the new bad boy of baseball.

Cammie Breyer needs a big glass of Cabernet - her restaurant failed, and her chef boyfriend left for a hotter kitchen. Just when she thinks she's hit rock bottom, her aunt Ginger calls with a surprise. She's bought a vineyard - in Delaware. At Ginger's command, Cammie returns to Black Dog Bay, the seaside town where she spent her childhood summers with her aunt and her cousin, Kat.

Laura Kensington knows it's now or never. If she doesn't leave her abusive husband, not only is her life in danger but the life of her unborn child is, as well. But even after the monster she married dies suddenly, Laura realizes she can never escape his family, the ruthless and dangerous Kensington clan, who consider the baby she's carrying to be their own. Desperate and determined, she flees to Evers, Texas, with a new identity, taking refuge on the ranch of Cade Bishop, a man who firmly believes in second chances.

For Willa Jacobs, seeing her best friend, Jane Weston, is like looking in a mirror on a really good day. Strangers assume they are sisters, a comparison Willa secretly enjoys. They share an apartment, clothing, and groceries, eking out rent with part-time jobs. Willa writes advertising copy, dreaming up inspirational messages for tea bags, while Jane cleans houses and writes poetry about it. But when Ben, Willa's oldest friend, reappears and falls in love with Jane, Willa wonders: Can she let her two best friends find happiness with each other if it means leaving her behind?

It's been years since Katelyn Bowden last set foot in Evers, Texas. Sent away at age four by her father, the town sheriff, after her mother was murdered, Katelyn thrived under the loving care of her aunt in Austin. Now that Alan Bowden is suffering from dementia and dying, it's time for his daughter to finally come home. But that means having to face the new sheriff, John Davies, the handsome ex-New York cop whom her father has always loved as a son, a fact that Katelyn has long resented.

When Petri Ilveskivi is murdered in the street on his way to a city-planning meeting, Maria Kallio, commander of Espoo's Violent Crime Unit, and her team are first on the scene. Almost immediately, her focus is on the band of skinheads who brutally attacked the Finnish commissioner and his husband three years earlier. Did they finally finish the hate crime they started? But the trail soon reveals a web of lies - secrets Petri was keeping from even those closest to him - and a long list of suspects.

Imagine having your own personal mentor - someone encouraging yet honest, supportive yet empowering, who could help you set and achieve your goals, turn your moments of doubt and fear into sources of strength, and discover what you’re truly capable of when you’re at your best. Kendra Levin is that mentor. And with The Hero Is You, she’s here to help you do the best writing of your life - and live your best life while doing it.

After months of maternity leave, tough-talking Espoo police detective Maria Kallio is ready to return to work. But before assuming her new post as head of the Violent Crime Unit, she vacations with her husband and daughter on the island of Rödskär. There Kallio learns that, one year earlier, her ex-boyfriend Harri had mysteriously fallen to his death from the isle's steep and treacherous cliffs.