Showing results by narrator "Coleen Marlo" in All Categories

O. Henry was a prolific American short-story writer - a masterof surprise endings - who wrote about the life of ordinary people in New YorkCity. In "The Gift of the Magi," one of his best-known works, a young coupleat Christmas time who, despite having little money, buy secret gifts for eachother. A moral lesson on the importance of love and sacrifice, "The Gift of theMagi" has been adapted to film more than a dozen times throughout the world.

As the only child of celebrated photo-journalists who were always off on assignment, lifestyle expert Chloe Pembrook now enjoys staying in one place and making life beautiful. Ace Ellsworth III, the only child from a dynasty of ill-gotten old money, is an award-winning reporter. Much to the chagrin of his family, he loves taking skeletons out of the closet and splashing them on the front page of the newspaper. When Chloe witnesses a murder, she and Ace are thrown together on a suspenseful chase that takes them from Chicago to the Hamptons.

There are so many ways to find out. From a cell phone. From a bank statement. From some weird supermarket encounter. One morning in early January 2005, Wendy Plump's friend came to tell her that her husband was having an affair. It was not a shock. Actually, it explained a lot. But what Wendy was not prepared for was the revelation that her husband also had another child, living within a mile of their family home. Monogamy is one of the most important of the many vows we make in our marriages.

To her surprise, Victoria Stone found herself with her fiancé's best friend, Zack DeLuca, accompanying her on holiday to a ghost town. Zack had the smoldering dark eyes of a desperado and he seemed to read her darkest desires, fuel them even. It was one thing to fantasize about a sexy gunslinger. It was quite another to have one come to life, especially when no one else could see him. Soon Victoria's fantasy and reality were intertwined in Restless Nights.

The New York Times has hailed Joyce Carol Oates as "a dangerous writer in the best sense of the word, one who takes risks almost obsessively with energy and relish." Black Dahlia & White Rose, a collection of 11 previously uncollected stories, showcases the keen rewards of Oates's relentless brio and invention. In one beautifully honed story after another, Oates explores the menace that lurks at the edges of and intrudes upon even the seemingly safest of lives - and maps with rare emotional acuity the transformational cost of such intrusions.

Julia Berkwith's daughter has moved to Alaska, her beloved mother-in-law is in a nursing home, and her ex-husband is in Hawaii - with a younger woman. In her late 40s, Julia is now used to being invisible. But even if she has to do it alone, she's determined to celebrate her victory over breast cancer by hiking Italy's Cinque Terre. Invigorated by the beauty of the Italian countryside, Julia seems unstoppable, until she's injured by a rock - one that happens to belong to 30-something stone mason Vitale DeLuca.

Nicholas Knight has a dark, dangerous appeal that attracts Ali Charbonneau like a moth to a flame. There is an undeniable attraction between them, even though he is doing his level best to ignore it. In a town full of rumors theirs is the hottest. Ali resembles Nicholas' dead fiancée. She stirs up the past and unanswered questions. Most everyone in town believes he murdered the woman he claims to have loved. And Nicholas isn't sure he didn't.

Twelve-year-old Joan is sure that she is going to hate her new home - but almost right away she finds a kindred spirit. “You’re lucky I didn’t just start throwing rocks at you. I can hide in the trees and nail a kid with a rock from 30 feet away”. That’s Sarah, who prefers to be called “Fox”, who lives with her writer father in a rundown house in the middle of the woods - near Joan’s suburb, but it feels like a totally different world. Joan and Sarah - Newt and Fox - spend all their spare time outside, and soon start writing stories together.

“We set our sights on each other almost from the beginning.”

So begins The Master’s Muse, an exquisite, deeply affecting novel about the true love affair between two artistic legends: George Balanchine, the Russian émigré to America who is widely considered the Shakespeare of dance, and his wife and muse, Tanaquil Le Clercq.

Marni Lange was just 17 when she fell passionately in love with the irresistibly sexy Brian Webster. Then a tragic accident tore them apart. Fourteen years later, Marni is now a successful businesswoman, about to appear on the cover of a national magazine - and come face-to-face with the world-famous photographer profiling her...Brian Webster. As Marni struggles with her attraction to the man who haunts her past, is she now brave enough to follow her heart and fight for what matters most?

Twenty-two minutes - that's all it takes for reporter Geri LaRue to realize her friend, award-winning journalist Leta Blackburn, is missing. Leta would have been covering the sensational story - and investigating the forensics report that showed the priest was engaged in sexual activities at the time of his murder. With a ruthless colleague suggesting Geri knows more than she'll admit, she turns to a prominent shrink for help, taking with her a folder full of notes that points to the rarest and most deadly of killers: a woman.

In her personal life, FBI agent Andra Bailey works hard to control her sociopathic tendencies. But on the job, her cold logic comes in handy. Now two world-renowned scientists have disappeared, and the bureau assigns Bailey to find them and hunt down the kidnapper. The agent soon suspects that a rare-metal shortage may be the link between the disappearances and that the motive is far more dangerous than she imagined.

She was born in the moonstar’s shadow when the storms of Satlik raged their worst. Because of this, Jobe was different. The family never spoke of it, but everyone knew Jobe was special. So Jobe came to know of it, too. She had a destiny beyond that of Choice, beyond that moment when she would finally have to decide for Reethe, Mother of the World, or for Dakka, Father, Son, and Lover. For the others it was easy, but not for her, not for Jobe. So she was sent to Option, the island of learning, to make her choice and become who she must be.

With his lean, hard body and sexy slouch, Kyle Fox is as handsome as the movie stars he reviews on his television show, Theatre Talk. First mistaking the uptight Miss Amanda Butterworth for the network censor, Kyle is less than happy to learn she is being foisted on him as a new co-host. But their surprising chemistry raises more than the ratings and Amanda counters his dirty tricks with anonymous steamy letters of invitation.

It’s not the end of the world. That’s what 39-year-old Tess Eliot has to remind herself after losing her newspaper column ("Tess Knows Best") and being dumped by her boyfriend for a younger woman (a feng shui expert? Really?). Then Tess is hired to write an etiquette guide preparing readers for the Ancient Mayan doomsday of December 21, 2012, and she has to ask herself: Could the world really be coming to an end? At first, Tess fakes her way through chapters like "Boundaries in the Bunker" and "Cannibalism: Yes or No?" But after uncovering a secret plot for world destruction, she is forced to embark on a life-changing odyssey.

America's middle class, the driver of so much of our economic success and political stability, is rapidly disappearing, forcing us to confront the fear that we are slipping as a nation - that our children and grandchildren will enjoy fewer opportunities and face a lower standard of living than we did. It's the dark flipside of the American Dream - an American Nightmare of our own making.

When the son of a Chicago billionaire is murdered, the only lead in this high-profile crime is an exclusive dating service that discreetly caters to the rich and famous. Who better to go undercover in that world of promising matches and questionable motives than an ace cop who is as attractive as she is tough? Detective Kristen Conner may not be able to figure out her own love life, but she is about to get a crash course on finding Mr. Right, even as she finds herself in the crosshairs of a determined killer’s gun.

The Narrow Path is a story about a couple who must face their differences and learn to work together as they look toward a lifetime of love. Miranda Klassen's Mennonite church is big and modern and she loves the mixture of faith, action, and activity. But in order to follow her dream she moves across the country to a small town to organize the 75th anniversary celebration of an Old Order Mennonite church.

As a diagnostic radiologist who has watched patients, friends, and family suffer with and die from cancer - and who was deeply affected by the enraged husband of one particular patient - Dr. Margaret I. Cuomo has been inspired to seek out new strategies for waging a smarter war on cancer. About 1.6 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed a year, and more than 1,500 people die each day. We’ve been asked to accept the disappointing strategy to “manage cancer as a chronic disease.”

It isn't hanging precariously outside the fourth-floor window of an office building that has Crew Harper's heart pounding; a sliver of open drapery reveals the source of his excitement - Alexia Grant undressing in her office! Entranced by her caramel-haired sensuality, he almost falls off the scaffolding. Just getting his grip after Alexia leaves in her workout gear, Crew sees a man stealthily enter her office and rifle through her desk. Crew knows he has to warn Alexia about the intruder he saw, but how to do that without letting her know everything that he saw...and wanted?