Showing results by narrator "Christa Lewis" in All Categories

Ms. Bresko relates hair-raising tales of growing up in her native Germany during the war, as she and her family struggled to stay neutral during the conflict, and her father was sent off to fight the war on the Russian front. Often going without many necessities and suffering through the usual childhood illnesses, she nevertheless retained her optimistic outlook for the future and dreamed of the day she would again be able to taste freedom.

Akila uses her wits and her shape-changing abilities to save her brother, Briam, when their home is besieged. But that leaves them both on the run, with Akila trying to keep them safe while Briam finds more trouble to get into. When he is chosen as year-king in the city of Diadem, Akila struggles to save his life, finding help in the most unexpected places.

Sofia is in a rut. Her dissertation work is stalled, and her life seems to be one gray day after another. When an elderly scholar, Monsieur Charles Vinson, invites her to his house in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon to spend the summer writing and cataloging his dead father's papers, she jumps at the offer. There, in the south of France, Sofia spends her days flipping through an archive of anti-Semitic papers and relics from the past century, burrowing deeper into the troubled history of the Vinson family.

If you or anyone you've known has ever enjoyed a Harlequin romance novel or a Hallmark card, you will fall in love with this collection of tales. Fall into "The Bag's...a Lady" and watch a sweet but persistent bag lady find a young New Yorker the perfect mate, whether she likes it or not. Sample "No Greater Love" and laugh over the exploding turkey as Silicy Tucker finds herself caring for her ex-husband with cancer and serving as guardian of his new wife.

Sometimes saving the person you love can cost you everything. There is one person that ties Oliver Richter to this world: his wife Kai. For Kai, Oliver is the keeper of her secrets. When her telepathy spirals out of control and inundates her mind with the thoughts and emotions of everyone within a half-mile radius, the life they built together in Manhattan is threatened. To save her, Oliver brings her to the hometown he abandoned - Butternut, Wisconsin - where the secrets of his past remain buried.

In today’s environment, there are many questions about "religion". Of those who are asking these questions, some turn to books on theology. There are many excellent theology books available today, written by some of the brightest scholars today. It is not my intention to displace any of them but to make theology accessible to the average listener.

Single mother Samantha Dean doesn't have time for Christmas. Or romance, for that matter. She is weeks away from opening her own catering business, the most important part of her plan to provide her certified genius daughter Patty with all the wonderful things she deserves. Except Patty doesn't want to go to a fancy boarding school. She wants a father and when she meets bartender Murphy O'Rourke at her fourth grade Career Day presentation, she knows she's met the man of her mother's dreams!

Kellian York has big plans for the brothel he's inherited in Loving, Texas. Too bad that just days after his arrival the Legion for Decency has burned it to the ground, citing their mission to rid the town of drinking, gambling, and "loose women." Set on vengeance, Kellian targets the spinster leader, Annie Muldoon, never expecting that the beautiful young woman would let Kellian and his girls move into her boarding house.

Populated by a bumbling, murderous citizenry of corrupt cops, innocents, ravenous addicts, lovesick geniuses, and cynical adventurers, Ivyland operates in the shadow of a giant pharmaceutical corporation that thrives on people's weaknesses... and may have an even more sinister agenda. It's our world, only a bit more extreme, and lovingly, precisely depicted with the adept skills native to a master of dark humor.

Everyone in town knew Caroline and Charlie just weren't meant for each other. But nobody had figured on Caroline and Charlie getting locked in a storage vault with an automatic timer set for the next morning ...and Caroline and Charlie definitely hadn't figured on the little surprise they got a few months later when they discovered there was a baby on the way!

"Mom, get a life!" Her teenage daughter's words were daunting. True, struggling single mom Julia Jones hadn't had a date in over a decade, but she could still catch a man - if she needed to! So Julia, who claimed not to want a husband, found herself entangled in a fake romance. Ryan Shane was tall, dark, and devastatingly handsome. And he just so happened to need a no-strings date himself. Their plan was perfectly thought out. Until a conveniently staged good-night kiss turned into very inconvenient passion....

Mallory’s fine - really - handling the wedding arrangements for her ex, Keith. But his fiancée, Becca, has at the last minute decided to switch from a Japanese-cherry-blossom theme to a Gone with the Wind theme. She wants to honor her ailing grandmother, who owns an impressive collection of Gone with the Wind memorabilia - and who is fiercely at odds with the groom’s mother over the nuptial plans.

Actress Dakota Craig is set to tie the knot with her famous musician boyfriend at Mallory’s Pennsylvania B&B on the most romantic day of the year: Valentine's Day. Best of all, the whole thing will air on the reality TV show I Do. But the maid of honor has dropped out of the wedding party - by dropping dead. A lot of people insist the show must go on, so Mallory’s investigation keeps getting sidetracked by everything from a meddling mother to a foot of snow to a side project involving making arrangements for a high-school Winter Ball.

Growing up under Fascist censorship in Nazi Germany, Ruth Rappaport absorbed a forbidden community of ideas in banned books. After fleeing her home in Leipzig at fifteen and losing both parents to the Holocaust, Ruth drifted between vocations, relationships, and countries, searching for belonging and purpose. When she found her calling in librarianship, Ruth became not only a witness to history but an agent for change as well. This epic true story reveals a driven woman who survived persecution, political unrest, and personal trauma through a love of books....

It's 1971 when Louise leaves Oregon for Düsseldorf, a city grappling with its nation's horrific recent history, to study art. Soon she's embroiled in a scene dramatically different from the one at home, thanks in large part to Dieter, a mercurial musician. Their romance ignites quickly, but life gets in the way: an unplanned pregnancy, hasty marriage, the tense balance of their creative ambitions, and - finally, fatally - a family secret that shatters Dieter, and drives Louise home. But in 2008 she's headed to Dieter's mother's funeral.

When Mallory Shepard discovers some old lace at a Port Quincy antique shop, she knows it’ll make a perfect headpiece. But she’s barely gotten it out of the store before Helene Pierce tears it from her hands. Helene claims it’s a family heirloom that went missing when her late husband died in a hit-and-run 25 years ago. The conflict gets more complicated when the veil is attributed to none other than famed seamstress Betsy Ross. Mallory may have a genuine museum piece on her hands.

When the Nancy Drew Clue Colloquium converges on Castleton Manor in Lighthouse Bay, Massachusetts, scholars and fans, dressed as their favorite detective, arrive in their 1930s roadsters. But it turns into a bumpy ride when Nancy A. and Nancy Z. - the good-natured bad girls of Nancy Drew fandom - start pulling pranks. Their group, the River Heights Roundtable, clashes with the Nancy Drew Clue Society, and librarian Faith Newberry strives to keep the peace between the two rival groups.

It's Gatsby Week at Castleton Manor, the elegant retreat for booklovers in Lighthouse Bay, Massachusetts, and the roaring '20s are in full swing. Charlotte Jaxon, owner of the manor, arrives to put on the ritz and oversee the festivities celebrating the work of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Faith Newberry is sitting pretty when she receives a brief respite from her duties in the library to assist Charlotte in organizing the events that have everyone jazzed up, including a fashion show, an antique car race, and a Gatsby Ball.

It's late March in Lighthouse Bay, and Castleton Manor is undergoing spring-cleaning. Librarian and archivist, Faith Newberry, envisions a little downtime while the manor is closed to guests. But her reverie is cut short when she is pressed into service for the organizers of the Gothic Studies Conference, who are meeting in a nearby seaside home. Though reluctant to leave her cozy cottage on the Castleton estate, Faith agrees, especially since her faithful cat, Watson, is invited along.

Christmas is no humbug affair in Lighthouse Bay, Massachusetts. The merry festivities are well underway in the quaint seaside village, and the halls of the posh Castleton Manor literary retreat are decked out in full Victorian décor. This year, the manor is hosting the Charles Dickens Society's annual gala, compete with parlor games and dramatic readings of A Christmas Carol, and culminating in a costume ball. Faith Newberry, Castleton's private librarian and archivist, loves being part of the holiday hustle and bustle while catering to the eccentric guests' bookish whims.