Showing results by narrator "Rawlins Loretta" in All Categories

His name was Kevin but his keepers called him Zoo Boy. He didn't talk. He hid under tables and surrounded himself with a cage of chairs. He hadn't been out of the building in the four years since he'd come in. He was afraid of water and wouldn't take a shower. He was afraid to be naked, to change his clothes. He was nearly 16. Desperate to see change in the boy, the staff of Kevin's adolescent treatment center hired Hayden. As Hayden read to him and encouraged him to read, crawling down into his cage of chairs with him, Kevin talked.

Trey Sheenan has cultivated his reputation as Marietta's resident bad boy, until one day he lets things go too far and he loses everything - his freedom, his fiancee McKenna Douglas, and his infant son. McKenna has loved Trey since they were kids, but she's had enough. When Trey is sent away for five years, McKenna is determined to do what's right for her and baby TJ, which means putting her mistakes - namely Trey - behind her, and move on.

Between an epic downpour and a King Tide, the historic streets of Charleston are flooded - and dangerous. A late night tragic accident along the Lower Battery leads Liz Talbot straight to her next case. Who's the client? Well, now, therein lies the first puzzle. When the police arrive at the scene of the accident, Poppy Oliver claims she's only trying to help. But the dent on the front of her Subaru and the victim's injuries provoke a certain Charleston police detective's suspicious nature.

Private investigators Liz Talbot and Nate Andrews are all set to enjoy some quality time on the beach. That's until they get the news about Darius DeAndre Baker. The star of the hit TV show, Main Street USA, has had enough of the Hollywood high life. After 10 years of visiting everyone else's hometown, he returns to his own - Stella Maris, SC. But the moving trucks have barely unloaded when Trina Lynn Causby, Darius's high school girlfriend, turns up dead, and the entire town reels as Darius is arrested. Despite the mounting evidence, Liz and Nate believe Darius is innocent.

Here's the deal. I'm 16, and I'm getting married. Super weird, I know. It was just me and my dad. We lived on a cattle ranch in Montana. He died suddenly, leaving me an orphan (which is still a thing). I'm 16 months away from being a legal adult, so I have two choices. A foster home or marry Jake Talley. My dad's foreman and really, my best friend. It's legal. It solves all my problems. Except now, I'm living with Riverbend's hottest cowboy - my husband in name only - and I'm still in high school. Where no one wants to date weird, married Ellie.

Trying to get over a broken heart, twenty-four-year-old teacher Jet Diekerhof takes a gap year to travel and have an adventure. Her practical farming family is horrified until Jet's older sister Harley gets her a long-term sub position at a one-room schoolhouse in Montana’s Paradise Valley. Jet's grateful it’s 775 miles from her overly involved family—and the guy who broke her heart. She’s also sworn off men, until meeting darkly handsome Shane Swan changes everything....

As a long-time Christian, Heather Kopp never expected to become an out-of-control alcoholic. Engaging, funny and bracingly honest, Kopp shares her remarkable journey into darkness... and back to the light again. Her story reveals the unique challenges and spiritual conundrums Christians face when they become ensnared in an addiction. If you love Jesus but shop too much, drink too much, eat too much, crush on men who aren't your husband, or otherwise fixate on doing things you hate but can't stop doing, Sober Mercies is for you.

A faceless name. That's all she was when I agreed to play a part in deceiving her. And then the unexpected happened. We met. I yearn for her skin against mine. I crave her scent on my body. I want to make her laugh and then moan. And I do...in secret. I promised my business partner I wouldn't touch his sister. But I broke that promise. Our little dirty weekends together are no longer enough. I want my bohemian girl in my bed every night. She wants a ring, marriage vows, and babies...all things that I can't give her. Our romance is explosive. Our ending, miserable...unless I bend.

My obsession was born of innocence and good intentions, and it began the day I spotted a handwritten journal lying in the bushes outside a townhouse on Lexington Avenue. It was raining sideways that morning, and my plan was to return it the next day, safe and dry. Only I kept it. I kept it, and I read it. A week later, overwhelmed with curiosity and feeling guilty for harboring secrets that didn't belong to me, I tried to return it. Only I wasn't expecting to meet him. Unapologetically heartless and enigmatically sexy, he claims he knows nothing about the journal.

What do you do when you wake up in a hotel room beside a tattooed man with a face that makes Tom Hardy look like the bottom of a shoe? You fight through your tequila-induced haze, trip over his designer suit crumpled on the floor, and run. After all, you're 1,500 miles from home. It's not like you'll ever see him again. Unless you're me. Six months later, I somehow find myself in the middle of a bet with Mr. Tall, Dark, and Tattooed that includes me owing him four dates. A handful of dates with an arrogantly charming man whom I know little about; what could possibly go wrong?

Traveling west aboard a wagon train with her late husband's family, young widow Marybeth MacKender wishes only to leave behind the memories of her loveless marriage, and to protect her infant son. But the dangers of the train are endless, as are the advances of her brutish brother-in-law who is resolute in claiming Marybeth as his own. It isn't until Marybeth meets Joshua Rivers, a frontiersman both tough and tender, that her hope for the future ignites as brightly as the desire in her heart.

Rachel Murphy longs for home and family. Since childhood, she's dreamed of owning her own pastry shop, but after being burned by a celebrity chef and losing her lease in Arizona, Rachel's spending the holidays with her brother in Montana. To keep her dream alive, she's creating custom gingerbread houses and selling them around town. All she needs is a bigger kitchen - and to stay away from her brother's handsome boss.

Twenty-four-year-old Pax Tate is an asshole. Seriously. He's a tattooed, rock-hard bad boy with a tough attitude to match. His mother died when Pax was seven, leaving a hole in his heart filled with an intense guilt that he doesn't understand. What he does know is that he and his dad were left alone, and they have never been close. Now, he uses drugs and women to cope with the black void in his soul. He pretends that the emptiness isn't there and this has always worked…until he meets Mila.

Marnie Somerset's new job at the Mystic Springs Library seems almost too good to be true. Yes, the small Alabama town is populated with more than its share of odd people, and she did have a flat tire on her way into town and hallucinate Bigfoot crossing the road, which made for less than a stellar start. But the library is fantastic, her new house is charming, and the hot local writer keeps crossing her path.

Private investigators Liz Talbot and Nate Andrews thought they'd put Darius Baker's troubles to rest - then his recently discovered son ropes him into a hemp farm investment with his college buddies. When a beloved Charleston professor - and potential investor - is murdered, Liz and Nate discover Darius keeps the PIs on speed dial. A shocking number of people had reasons to want the genteel, bow tie wearing, tea-drinking professor dead. Was it one of his many girlfriends or a disgruntled student?

A fresh start. That's exactly what Ally Shaw needs and what she's found in Glacier Ridge, Montana. Creating a simpler life with her young son and reconnecting with her only remaining family - it's all part of Ally's plan to chase away the pain of her past. But when a dangerously irresistible cowboy rescues her little boy, Ally can't deny she's excited about what else the future might bring.

Raised in the hills of Tennessee, Emma Simms dreams of the day she’ll escape her life of poverty to start over in the excitement of Knoxville. But when her mother dies and she’s left with no one but her stepfather, Luke Simms, her dream abruptly becomes a nightmare. Luke plans to send Emma to Knoxville all right - straight to a notorious brothel. River Joe, the mysterious Cherokee-raised frontiersman, knew from the first time he set eyes on the beautiful Emma that he had to have her as his own.

Destroy is beautiful, strong, charismatic, and charming. He is also selfish, shallow, petty, and jealous - or is he? One misunderstanding centuries ago resulted in his being labeled as not good enough, untrustworthy, self-serving. To hell with them, he knew who he really was! A strong, dependable, good male of strong character who was very pleasant to be around and even more pleasant to look at. If only he had a female or even friends to notice those things. He'd been alone for so long the bitterness had begun to seep in.

Taming of the Sheenans, book one: Since the loss of her family in a plane crash, Harley Diekerhoff has led a quiet life and keeps to herself. Taking the temporary job at the Copper Mountain Ranch as widower Brock Sheenan's housekeeper seems perfect for her. But her calm cocoon is invaded with the arrival of Brock's preteen twins, Mack and Molly, who've never experienced a proper Christmas, and before she knows it Harley's determined to make their holiday perfect.

My employee's daughter. That's all she was when I let her do odd jobs around the warehouse for a few extra bucks. And then she went away for college. This now beautiful, sexy, desirable woman is no longer the tomboy I once called Kiddo. I want to see how she responds to my kiss. I want to feel her body tremble as she anticipates my touch. I want to learn all the places that bring her pleasure. And I do...in secret. She's my intern and under me for the summer. Literally. This was supposed to be a fling. A little fun between the sheets without commitment - that’s what we called it.