Showing results by narrator "Johanna Parker" in All Categories

Sookie has a murder investigation on her hands. A young girl has died at a vampire party - and it looks as though her lover, Eric, might be responsible. Eric swears he didn't do it, the police don't believe him, and even Sookie isn't so sure. Nor is she inclined to take his word for it, having caught him enjoying the victim's blood minutes before she was killed.But something strange is going on. Why had Sookie been asked to come to the fateful party a few minutes early - just to catch Eric in the act?

As a combat photographer in Afghanistan, Tara Dalton saw things she won't ever forget, as much as she would like to. And two years after returning stateside, she can't fight her way past the PTSD that's haunted her ever since. Desperate to make a change, she lets her old friend Shay talk her into joining the crew at the Bar C Ranch, where a group of ex-military vets is putting their lives back together one step at a time - including one strong, gentle bear of a man who makes her feel safer than she has in years.

Some secrets are meant to be revealed...or so you'll discover in three sexy, unforgettable Valentine's Day stories from New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Jennifer Ryan and contemporary romance stars Candis Terry and Jennifer Seasons.

Christy Award nominee Nicole Baart delivers “this beautifully written, heartwarming” ( Library Journal) tale. Living in a cozy Iowa farmhouse with her kindly grandmother, 24-year-old Julia Desmit struggles to support her five-year-old son and 10-year-old half-brother. Though her boyfriend is away at medical school, Julia harbors hope for a better life. And then the man who abandoned her six years ago rocks her happy world with one question: “Do I have a son?”

Ex-military Aliyana Montero is helping the CIA track down down ruthless sex traffickers when her sister is snatched off the streets, kidnapped by the very men Ali is hunting! Now, desperate to find her, she is forced to team up with Ram Torres, the most infuriating man Ali ever met. The two butted heads on a mission in Afghanistan, where Ram accused her of being hotheaded and impulsive, while Ali found him arrogant and cold. Nothing seemed to break through Ram's shield, but unspoken between them was the sizzling heat that flared up whenever they were together.

Praised by Bookpage as “America’s best-kept literary secret,” Amanda Eyre Ward delivers a debut short story collection imbued with humor, clear-eyed insight, and emotional richness. Here a small-town librarian considers the possibility of a new future. A recent New York widow braves the dating scene. And—in six linked stories spanning a decade of her life—Lola Wilkerson navigates lingering questions about who she wants to be when she grows up, elopement, and motherhood.

Mattie Wallace has really screwed up this time. Broke and knocked up, she's got all her worldly possessions crammed into six giant trash bags and nowhere to go. Try as she might, Mattie can no longer deny that she really is turning into her mother, a broken alcoholic who never met a bad choice she didn't make. When Mattie gets news of a possible inheritance left by a grandmother she's never met, she jumps at this one last chance to turn things around.

Shy country girl Teren Lambert is used to being in the background, and she likes it that way. Trapped by painful memories, she feels whole only when she's helping the women and children at the Delos Charity's Safe House in Sudan. But her new bodyguard, Ex-Delta Force operator Nolan Steele, is having an unexpected impact on her - and she's not sure where these new feelings will take them both. He's become her sanctuary.

For more than half a century, the red leather diary languished inside a steamer trunk. Rescued from a Dumpster on Manhattan's Upper West Side, it found its way to Lily Koppel, a young writer, who opened its tarnished brass lock and journeyed into an enthralling past. The diary painted a breathtaking portrait of a bygone New York' "of glamorous nights at El Morocco and elegant teas at Schrafft's during the 1920s and '30s'' - and of the headstrong, endearing teenager who filled its pages with her hopes, heartaches, and vivid recollections.

With one band of gold, Prince Andres of Petras can erase his past - albeit pleasurable - sins. But his prospective bride is untamable Princess Zara, so the playboy prince must seduce her into compliance and crown her by Christmas!

Playing to packed houses while her hit song rushes up the charts, country singer and fiddler Jo Lover is poised to become a one-name Nashville star like her idols, Loretta, Reba, and Dolly. To ensure her success, Jo has carefully crafted her image: a pretty, sassy, down-to-earth girl from small-town Virginia who pours her heart into her songs. But the stage persona she's built is threatened when her independent label merges with big-time Capitol Records, bringing Nashville heartthrob JD Gunn - her first love - back into her life.

A small, friendly Colorado town, nestled in the breathtaking Rockies, cloaks a malevolence, an evil that stalks women. Jesslyn Black, a writer, is content living her now-single, childless life. If she keeps to herself, she can't get hurt. Haunted by the past, Jesslyn never again wants to experience the soul-shredding pain of losing loved ones. Aiden Kinncaid is running from his own secret loss. As the CEO of Kinncaid Enterprises, he travels to this remote Colorado resort town to oversee the opening of the new Highland Hotel.

Beaumaris of York has many secrets. No human can know that he's an immortal Darkyn assigned to Knight's Realm, the Kyn stronghold disguised as a medieval theme park. And none of his brethren can discover that he's a half-breed, rescued from slavery as a child. Lately Beau has been yearning for action - and he's about to find it with his new mission. Brilliant archaeologist Dr. Alys Stuart is infamous for her extraordinary theories - especially those concerning the mysterious Knights Templar - and she is unaware that her research is funded by the Kyn coffers.

Aspiring actress and single mother Rita Farmer has gone from struggling to find work to downright desperate. If she doesn't land a paying job soon - horror movie, soap commercial, anything - she's afraid her ex-husband will use her dire financial straits to take away Petey, her cherished four-year-old son.

The High Lord of the Immortal Darkyn has sent his most trusted warrior, Korvel, to retrieve a coveted scroll that's rumored to contain maps to Templar treasures and the secrets to eternal life. Uniting with Korvel to recover the dangerous artifact is Simone Derien, the daughter of the scroll's guardian, and a woman with many deadly secrets.

In the sequel to Nicole Baart's literary gem After the Leaves Fall, pregnant Julia DeSmit returns to her grandmother's home to begin a new life in small-town Iowa. But she's thrown off track when her long-lost mom shows up one frosty night - after 10 years. And yet as Julia herself faces what her mother experienced decades earlier, her comprehension of God's grace begins to trigger an unexpected change.

As the clock strikes 12 on New Year's Eve, the fairy tale is over for all of Petras when Queen Tabitha - refusing to live in a loveless marriage - asks her husband for a divorce. But anger erupts into passion, and when Tabitha flees the palace, she's carrying King Kairos' heir! Discovering her secret, Kairos kidnaps his wife. Against the backdrop of his secluded island paradise, he proves there's no escaping his royal reach. He will use the desire that's gone unsated between them for too long to ensure his wife returns to his side.

Swept up in the great gold rush of 1897, 12-year old Hetty McKinley heads north with her papa and her dashing uncle Donall. Even though she is not nearly as excited as her father about leaving behind their life in San Francisco, Hetty plans to use the experience to get started on her dream of becoming a writer.

Breaking up is hard to do. At least the first few times. Even though Molly Grant has only a handful of relationships behind her, she's already been through more divorces than she can count. At the premier Manhattan law firm where she's a matrimonial attorney, the hours are long, the bosses tyrannical, and the bonuses stratospheric. Her clients are rich, famous, and used to getting their way. Molly's job - and primary concern in life - is to work as hard as possible to make sure they do. Until she meets the client who changes everything.

For Noah Mabry, it's easier sometimes to relate to the dogs and horses he trains than to other people. Ever since his marriage became a casualty of the war in Afghanistan - torn apart by the PTSD he brought back with him - he prefers to be on his own. At the Bar C Ranch, where he works with a crew of fellow military vets, his gentle patience helps tame even the rowdiest mustang - but he's about to meet a woman who needs a healing touch he's not sure he can give.