Showing results by narrator "Samantha Desz" in All Categories

It’s 1875, and Alva Webster has perfected her stiff upper lip after three years of being pilloried in the presses of two continents over fleeing her abusive husband. Now his sudden death allows her to return to New York to make a fresh start, restoring Liefdehuis, a dilapidated Hyde Park mansion, and hopefully her reputation at the same time. However, fresh starts aren’t as easy as they seem, as Alva discovers when stories of a haunting at Liefdehuis begin to reach her.

In a world ruled by fierce warrior queens, a grand empire was built upon the backs of Phoenix Riders - legendary heroes who soared through the sky on wings of fire - until a war between two sisters ripped it all apart. Sixteen years later, Veronyka is a war orphan who dreams of becoming a Phoenix Rider from the stories of old. After a shocking betrayal from her controlling sister, Veronyka strikes out alone to find the Riders - even if that means disguising herself as a boy to join their ranks.

The town of St. Caroline had never felt like home to Sterling Matthew. Even though the Matthew family could date their residence back nearly 100 years, Sterling had grown up in boarding schools - and promptly decamped for the ski slopes of Europe after college. When his father falls ill, his mother calls him home to run the family business, the renowned Chesapeake Inn. What Sterling finds, though, is a business on shaky financial footing and a staff resistant to the radical changes he has to make. No matter. He'll do what needs to be done...and then leave St. Caroline for good.

We think of Alexander Graham Bell as the inventor of the telephone, but that’s not how he saw his own career. As the son of a deaf woman and, later, husband to another, his goal in life from adolescence was to teach deaf students to speak. Even his tinkering sprang from his teaching work; the telephone had its origins as a speech reading machine. The Invention of Miracles takes a new look at an American icon, revealing the astonishing true genesis of the telephone and its connection to another, far more disturbing legacy of Bell’s.

Conjure, hoodoo, rootwork - these are all names for Southern American folk magic. Conjure first emerged in the days of slavery and plantations and is widely considered among the most potent forms of magic. Its popularity continues to increase, both in the United States and worldwide. This audiobook is a guide to using conjure to achieve love, success, safety, prosperity, and spiritual fulfillment. Author Starr Casas, a hereditary master of the art, introduces listeners to the history and philosophy of conjure and provides practical information for using it.

Nadiya loves her privacy: living alone and writing a popular series of crime novels under a pen name, she’s worked hard to build the quiet life she cherishes. But all that changes when her long-lost half-brother Chase comes to town, needing a place to stay until he can get back on his feet. Chase’s dream job is Nadiya’s worst nightmare: he’s an aspiring TikTok star, oversharing on the internet at every opportunity. When a burglary occurs in the apartment upstairs, Chase decides to film and post all the action

Ever since her father was killed when she was just a child, Miranda Crabtree has kept her head down and her eyes up, ferrying contraband for a mad preacher and his declining band of followers to make ends meet and to protect an old witch and a secret child from harm. But dark forces are at work in the bayou, both human and supernatural, conspiring to disrupt the rhythms of Miranda’s peculiar and precarious life.

Madeleine L’Engle once said, “When we lose our myths we lose our place in the universe.” The Mythic Dream gathers together 18 stories that reclaim the myths that shaped our collective past, and use them to explore our present and future. From Hades and Persephone to Kali, from Loki to Inanna, this anthology explores retellings of myths across cultures and civilizations.

Single mom Annie has spent years rebuilding her life and trying not to have regrets. After giving up her dream of music stardom, she returned to her Adirondack hometown—and convinced herself she’s content with a simpler life. A divorced dad, Seth Taggart used to be a successful LA songwriter. But now his reputation is in tatters, he’s burnt out, and estranged from his adult son. Inheriting a small-town radio station just might be the do-over he needs. When working with Annie turns into sharing music and more, Seth realizes second chances—and home—are where he least expects.

Shannon Reed did not want to be a teacher, but now, after twenty years of working with children from preschool to college, there’s nothing she’d rather be. “With an irresistible combination of compassion, humor, and engaged storytelling” (Shelf Awareness), her essays illuminate the highs and lows of a job located at the intersection of youth and wisdom.

The Atkins 100 Eating Solution’s fan-favorite program provides a clear-cut way to control your carb intake and achieve weight wellness for life. This personalized approach is a way of eating you can follow every day, using delicious and satisfying food choices that help you manage your weight and blood sugar. Simply reducing your carb and sugar helps avoid the development of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes.

Winter is descending on Bad Axe County, and this year it is bringing something darker with it. On an abandoned lot, a strange new religious sect has built a compound, armed with guns and stoking fears in town. Rumors of sadistic rituals and a planned takeover abound, and when one of the sect’s members is murdered, panic sets in. Sheriff Heidi Kick may not be a fan of the group, but she is also dismayed when the locals form a posse to get rid of them.

The job comes with a lot of perks–a mysterious new boss is one of them–and his deep pockets don’t hurt. In her first week, Gillian finds a note on her desk with two boxes and a question: Will you have dinner with me? Check yes or no. It was easily the best night of her whole young life. The second note arrived looking very much the same, only different. Do you have what it takes to be in my world? Gillian has been asked to handle a lot of tasks in her work. But covering up a murder might be the strangest one yet.

Becca Trevor never intended to come back to pretty little St. Caroline, Maryland, and her family's quilt shop. Growing up, she was the wild child...and the black sheep of the family...and the girl who couldn't get anything right. And she definitely never intended to see Jack Wolfe again. Those 15 minutes she'd spent with him at a graduation party seven years ago? Unforgettable - for a whole lot of reasons.

A captivating blend of personal history detailing Eleanor’s struggle with issues of marriage, motherhood, financial independence, and femininity, and a vibrant portrait of one of the most famous neighborhoods in the world, this unique work examines the ways that the sensibility, mood, and various inhabitants of the neighborhood influenced the First Lady’s perception of herself and shaped her political views over four decades, up to her death in 1962.

Red’s inexplicable power over the wind comes from her mother. Whenever Ruby "Red" Byrd is scared or angry, the wind picks up. And being placed in foster care, moving from family to family, tends to keep her skies stormy. Red knows she has to learn to control it, but can’t figure out how. This time, the wind blows Red into the home of the Grooves, a quirky couple who run a petting zoo, complete with a dancing donkey and a giant tortoise. But just when Red starts to settle into her new life, a fresh storm rolls in, one she knows all too well: her mother.

An urgent and definitive collection of essays from leaders and experts championing the Green New Deal - and a detailed playbook for how we can win it - including contributions by leading activists and progressive writers like Varshini Prakash, Rhiana Gunn-Wright, Bill McKibben, Rev William Barber II, and more.

The Mississippi. The Missouri. The Ohio. America’s rivers are the very lifeblood of our country. We need them for nourishing crops, for cheap bulk transportation, for hydroelectric power, for fresh drinking water. Rivers are also part of our mythology, our collective soul; they are Mark Twain, Led Zeppelin, and the Delta Blues. But as infrastructure across the nation fails and climate change pushes rivers and seas to new heights, we’ve arrived at a critical moment in our battle to tame these often-destructive forces of nature.

A young woman is swept into a life of intrigue, revenge, passion, and betrayal when she falls for the world's most notorious prince, Vlad Dracula. The year is 1464. King Matthias controls Hungary, his family, and the fate of the world's most notorious political prisoner, Prince Vlad Dracula. Ilona Szilágy, the king's cousin, is young and ambitious. Dracula is determined to marry into the family. It is love at first sight, but the king has other plans. The Impaler Prince, however, never takes no for an answer.

It’s a time for celebration in Bad Axe County as the town gathers for the annual Syttende Mai - Norwegian Independence Day - festival. During this rollicking family-oriented event filled with dancing and food, Sheriff Heidi Kick discovers a dark and shocking event - a migrant worker has been savagely beaten but refuses to explain what happened. Then, a sudden murder of a band member shatters the festival. Something is deeply wrong in Bad Axe County.