Showing results by narrator "Becky Doughty" in All Categories

Each poem has its own reason for being. Like people, each has a unique form and voice. A potpourri is a mixture, a medley, a miscellaneous hodgepodge of things not usually placed together, as in a book such as this. Gathered from a large collection of poems written over many years, some reflect emotions or events from personal experience. Some share observations of others, or reflections on life's meaning. These selections, arranged in no particular order or style, are designed to present frequent surprises. Enjoy....

There's a song the surf sings...but even though Dakota Trask lives on the shore of the Pacific, she's just discovering how to hear it. One poor choice, made the summer before her senior year in high school, set in motion events that have haunted her ever since. But she's only now learning how far the consequences spread, and how many people have been impacted.

Steve Garrison is the newly elected mayor of the tiny town of Camelot, Tennessee. When his childhood friend, Amy Hart, comes up with a plan to revive the town's economy, he jumps onboard. The townspeople will perform the musical Camelot in the city's park, drawing in nightly crowds at the new outdoor theater. While excitement is high, talent is lacking. Amy casts several of the parts but is stumped when it comes to the role of King Arthur.

Child of the Appalachian mountains, Tess Spencer has experienced more than her share of heartache. The Glock-wielding, knife-carrying housewife knows how to survive whatever life throws at her. But when an anonymous warning note shows up in her best friend Miranda's mailbox - a note written in a dead woman's handwriting - Tess quickly discovers that ghosts are alive and well in Buckneck, West Virginia.

It's nearly Halloween in Elk Park, Colorado, and one of the Elk Valley Historical Society's founding members, a retired history professor who wanted to hire genealogist Anna Denning to complete his secret research into the family trees of two other members, has been found dead - the victim of a brutal murder. When a friend of the victim pleads with Anna to complete the professor's work, Anna agrees. Her decision leads her into a disturbing world of lies, concealed identities, and the occult.

When Marie Sinclair's three-year-old daughter crashes - quite literally - into Reece Cahill in the aisle of the Thrift and Save, sending pickles and glass crashing to the floor, Marie wishes she could vanish. He's the only man she ever really cared about, and it's her own fault he broke things off. Sure, she's changed. But her former easy-girl reputation still precedes her everywhere she goes. And the last thing Reece needs is to be burdened with that.

The Andersons' marriage is no longer the fairytale it once was. Jake and Nora scramble to keep the pieces together, but hairline cracks of disillusionment and despair have been spreading, weakening the foundation beneath them. Jake steps up, but in all the wrong ways. His concerted efforts to win Nora's approval only make him seem needy, and she becomes distant and withdrawn. Caught in a vulnerable place of hopelessness, she's swept off her feet by a disarming artist who wants to capture more than her image on canvas.

Juliette, the eldest sister of the Gustafson Girls, is heartbroken after breaking up with her noncommittal boyfriend of almost ten years. Determined she isn’t “getting over Mike” quickly enough, her three sisters devise The Monday ManDates; an intervention plan requiring Juliette to endure what turns out to be a series of remarkably disastrous blind dates: TheraPaul, Frisky Frank, TAZ the rock star, and the stoic Tim Larsen, among others. Then there’s Victor Jarrett, the police officer with an affinity for pulling Juliette over when she’s at her very worst. But no one is more surprised than Juliette when she meets the only one who can right the wrongs in her past and change her future. But will she let herself fall in love with him?

Scottish widower Ian MacLean is plagued by a mischievous grannie, bitter regrets, and an ache for something he'll never have again. His only hope for freedom is to bring his grannie's sister home from America. But first, he'll have to convince her young companion, Emily Chapman, to let the woman go. Emily devotes herself to foster youth and her beloved Aunt Grace. Caring for others quiets a secret fear she holds close to her heart. But when Ian appears, wanting to whisk Grace off to Scotland, everything Emily holds dear is at risk.

Suzanne Corbin and her daughter, Beth Harris, live a seemingly easy life. Suzanne has distanced herself from her past, replacing pain with fulfillment as a wife and mother, while Beth savors her husband's love and anticipates the birth of their child. But all that is about to change.

What happens when a Christian woman facing a childless future and a woman seeking an abortion are waiting to see the same doctor? What if after that "chance" encounter they are unable to forget each other? What if they find themselves drawn together in spite of their drastic differences by their surprising similarities? What if they somehow find the courage to become friends?

What happens when Cinderella is so painfully shy that she cannot bear the idea of attending the royal ball? Or when the slipper fits . . . but on the wrong girl? What happens when Cinderella is determined to oust an imposter prince from her rightful throne? Or when she is a cendrillon miner working from a space station orbiting a cthonian planet? What happens when Cinderella, a humble housemaid, is sent with a message for a prisoner trapped in a frightening fairy circus?

After watching her sister die at the hands of a vicious killer, Jane Piper received an invitation. She answered it. At 28 she became an assassin, a hunter for Gatehouse, the secret organization that stands between life as we know it and the most ruthless killers the world has ever seen. They're called Sacks. And they're changing...

Hoping for some excitement and a little extra money, A.J. Knight signed up to be a Houston EMT. However, when he did, he never thought about the life-and-death situations he'd be put into or the lives that he might be called on to save. Worse, he never so much as considered the lives that might be lost while he was working to save them.

Blaine Donovan has a secret, but so far his plan to keep the rest of the world in the dark about who he really is and what's really going on in his life has worked. If he can just finish school before the demons catch up with him, he knows he can make life make sense once again. However, when he runs into Melody Todd, a semi-friend he had thought was long-gone, life takes a turn Blaine wasn't at all expecting.

Lissa is snatched from her home and finds herself a slave on a trading ship traveling on a waterless ocean of nothing but gray dust. A feisty, curious and intelligent girl, her desire to explore the ship earns her the hatred of the cruel first officer, Farq. She becomes embroiled in the oceans mysteries, sensing things that the crew cannot, while cryptic whispers in her head are leading her toward a destiny linked to the dust itself. Only one man aboard can help her make sense of her new talent, but can she trust him? All is not as it seems, and she must unravel the clues before it's too late.

There's a new girl in town, and she's breathing life into The Coach House Trailer Park, starting with the tiny cottage she christens, Elderberry Croft. Kathy Kekoa isn't so sure about this wild child living across the way, with her generous nature, and exuberance for life. What's a vibrant, young thing like Willow Goodhope doing in a place like The Coach House? From what-or whom-is she hiding?

Four days before Christmas in Elk Park, Colorado, genealogist Anna Denning discovers a client's body. When she starts asking questions no one wants answered, she becomes the killer's next target.

One Viking woman. One God. One legendary journey to North America. In the 10th century, when pagan holy women rule the Viking lands, Gudrid turns her back on her training as a seeress to embrace Christianity. Clinging to her faith, she joins her husband, Finn, on a journey to North America. But even as Gudrid faces down murderous crewmen, raging sickness, and hostile natives, she realizes her greatest enemy is herself - and the secrets she hides might just tear her marriage apart.

Katrina left her old life to embrace a new role as the pastor's wife at a small country church. She expected a warm welcome and warm friendships. The last thing she imagined was a congregation that was so petty and judgmental. As Katrina grapples with the challenges of small-town life and her changing relationship with her new husband, she's grieving what she had to leave behind. Everything that identified her as Katrina is gone: her music, the symphony, and the city life that made her feel alive.