Showing results by narrator "Amy Melissa Bentley" in All Categories

Life hasn't sparkled too brightly for Bonnie Balfour over the past few years, but a heart-breaking divorce has brought her back to her small rural hometown of Bliss, Georgia, and things are starting to shape up. The proud new owner of Bless Her Heart - a second chance dress shop and boutique on the town square - Bonnie thinks 38 might not be too late for a fresh start in life after all.

Thirty-one-year-old Carolyn Lapp has never been married - but she's been a mother for 15 years. In a community with strict standards and a long memory, Carolyn knows she might never find a man who will have her and her son, Benjamin. Carolyn's family tries to marry her off to a widower with a daughter who needs a mother. A marriage of convenience doesn't sound so bad, yet despite her loneliness, Carolyn knows what she really wants: a traditional Amish family and a marriage for love.

Maddie is hoping to have some downtime during Daybreak Island's off-season to tackle her to-do list. Her grandfather's house-turned-cat-cafe is under construction, and she's also scoping out places to open a juice bar on the island. On top of that, her relationship with adorable dog groomer Lucas has taken a pawsitive turn. But easy is getting harder every day for Maddie, especially when a big-name writer who's on the island working on a new project winds up floating in the canal.

She'd been told her fiancé died in a military training accident, but Gina Santino's gut told her otherwise. Still, she never imagined his killers would come after her. Now she is dodging bullets and running for her own life, not sure who to trust. Her fiancé had left specific instructions for her to contact fellow US Army Ranger Ian Masterson should anything happen to him. But how could she trust a man who abandoned his team years ago? With no other choice, Gina must place her life in his hands in order to stay alive long enough to find the truth.

Tragedy strikes Palmetto Deaf School - twice. With one student murdered and another missing, it's up to homicide detective Catelyn Clark to find the killer - and probable kidnapper - fast. She'll even work with her ex-boyfriend, FBI agent Joseph Santino, to solve the case...while keeping her distance. Relationships between cops never work; her parents taught her that. They also taught her that the only one she can rely on is herself.

For 14-year-old Wallis Ann Stamper and her family, life in the Appalachian Mountains is simple and satisfying, though not for the tenderhearted. While her older sister, Laci - a mute, musically gifted savant - is constantly watched over and protected, Wallis Ann is as practical and sturdy as her name. When the Tuckasegee River bursts its banks, forcing them to flee in the middle of the night, those qualities save her life. But though her family is eventually reunited, the tragedy opens Wallis Ann's eyes to a world beyond the creek that's borne their name for generations.

Maddie James has finally given in to her friend Katrina's pleas to open up her cat cafe to more than 10 felines: They're now up to 15 purring friends. In fact, JJ's House of Purrs is making such a splash that she's getting national attention. The East Coast Animal Rescue League is quite interested in the cafe, and so Maddie accepts a request to meet with Laverne Gardner, the executive director. But Laverne ends up strangled with a fancy cat leash - a piece of swag they were intending to use for the fundraiser - leaving Maddie with a lot of questions to answer.

It’s summertime in beautiful Bliss, Georgia, and while second-chance dress shop owner Bonnie Balfour would prefer to spend her time redesigning gowns for the upcoming Founder’s Day parade, her grandma Gigi is too hot under the collar to concentrate. It seems Gigi’s former friend is using her recipe to sell cobbler at the local festivities, and she’s claiming Gigi’s treat as her own!

Now: Sixteen-year-old Jesse is used to living with the echoes of the past. Her older brother died in the September 11th attacks, and her dad since has filled their home with anger and grief. When Jesse gets caught up with the wrong crowd, one momentary hate-fueled decision turns her life upside down. The only way to make amends is to face the past, starting Jesse on a journey that will reveal the truth about how her brother died. Then: In 2001, 16-year-old Alia is proud to be Muslim....it's being a teenager that she finds difficult.

Author Hattie Cooper, the blogger behind The Anxious Girl's Guide to Dating, knows anxiety. She has lived with generalized anxiety disorder for years. Hattie shares immediate, easy-to-use strategies for tackling your social anxiety disorder and creating healthy habits. Featuring expert advice from foreword writer and registered psychotherapist Kyle MacDonald, the tools in this book will help you beat your anxiety and reveal your most confident self.

Marie Carrington is running from a host of bad memories. Broke and desperate, she's hoping to find safety and sanctuary on Prince Edward Island, where she reluctantly agrees to help decorate a renovated bed-and-breakfast before it opens for prime tourist season. Seth Sloane didn't move 3,000 miles to work on his uncle's B and B so he could babysit a woman with a taste for expensive antiques and a bewildering habit of jumping every time he brushes past her.

Maddie James has big plans for the summer season at JJ’s House of Purrs. But when her friend, master meditator and Tai Chi teacher Cass Hendricks, brings a potential animal hoarding situation to her attention, Maddie has to refocus her attention on the furry felines who may need a helping paw.

Ten-year-old Mamie's class is given an assignment to write letters to the astronauts. All the girls write to Neil Armstrong ("So cute!") and all the boys write to Buzz Aldrin ("So cool!"). Only Mamie writes to Michael Collins, the astronaut who will come so close but never achieve everyone else's dream of walking on the moon, because he is the one who must stay with the ship.

Now that life has finally given her everything she's ever wanted, Mattie Lowe has one thing on her mind: prom. Determined to throw the most epic prom ever, Mattie sets out to plan a memorable and magical event - one that would make the late John Hughes proud. But when her gorgeous and perfect boyfriend, Jake Kingston, hasn't popped the most creative promposal of all time, Mattie starts to worry. Actually, Jake hasn't asked her at all - he's been distant and quiet. And Mattie isn't about to go to her senior prom solo.

Cassie Sands, devoted sister, aunt, and owner of Just Desserts, falls in love with a man she believes is struggling just like her, only to find out after they're married that he's actually the millionaire son of a powerful Texas mogul...and that he wants to hide their relationship. She vows never to see him again. A month later she finds herself needing help only he can provide. Stephen Sands has always had the responsibility of being the oldest son of a Fort Worth Magnate.

After their scary adventure, Bex and Charlie have sworn never to play Monsters Unleashed again. Then Veratrum Games Corp releases a new augmented reality game featuring aliens instead of monsters, and the best friends just can't resist. After all, everyone loves it, even their science teacher, because it includes real star charts. But when they go to an observatory on a class trip, and open the game near a radio telescope, they get more than they bargained for: real aliens.

New York City, 1899. When it comes to show business, Gilded Age opera singer Ella Shane wears the pants. The unconventional diva breaks the mold by assuming "trouser roles"-male characters played by women - and captivating audiences far and wide with her travelling theater company. But Ella's flair for the dramatic takes a terrifying turn when an overacting Juliet to her Romeo drinks real poison during the final act of Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi.

Cassie's had some pretty close calls in her life, but now that she's gotten her official bad-ass badge as an integral part of the Old Guard, she feels sort of invincible. That doesn't seem to keep anyone from trying to prove otherwise, though, because everyone wants a piece of her. The King of Hearts needs her help, even while the resistance tries to sway her, and the Old Guard has its own plans for her. And then, there's Ryder.

Lies and betrayal have cost her Ryder's love, and it's eating her alive, but Cassie's got a job to do. Looking back when she's got to plan for the battle ahead could prove deadly, and not just for herself. The Undercity of Milan is as corrupt as New York, and if she's to stop an all-out vampire war, she'll have to move mountains to mend fences.

When his wife suddenly drops dead during a family picnic, Adam Collins doesn't think things could possibly get any worse. That is until they do. Family pressure begins to mount for Adam to find a new wife, far sooner than he would like, but he does need help with his young children. Alice Wesley just lost her sister. Her brother Nathan has lost his mind with grief. She will stop at nothing to protect her sister's children, even from her own brother. Now the unthinkable has happened, and it's up to Alice to find a way of escape, both for herself and the innocent children in her care.