Showing results by narrator "Laura Jennings" in All Categories

When a six-year-old girl disappears and calling the police isn’t an option, her desperate mother, Pernilla, turns to an unlikely source for help. She finds a cryptic ad online for a private investigator: “Need help, but can’t contact the police?” That’s where Kouplan comes in. He’s an Iranian refugee living in hiding. He was forced to leave Iran after news of his and his brother's involvement with a radical newspaper hated by the regime was discovered. He makes a living as a P.I. working under the radar, waiting for the day he can legally apply for asylum.

Florist Josephine Joey Reeves knows all about mistakes. After getting pregnant at 15, she's spent the past nine years building a life for herself and her son. But now she's working overtime to stay away from Lou Cortez, the ace mechanic with a reputation for irresistible charm. The sexy mechanic is one misstep she's not going to make. But the more time she spends with Lou, the hotter things get. Soon she's left with a choice: Keep things casual, or reveal all to Lou and hope he accepts her - and her son - for who they are.

Meet nine courageous young adults who have lived in the United States with a secret for much of their lives: they are not U.S. citizens. They came from Colombia, Mexico, Ghana, Independent Samoa, and Korea. They came seeking education, fleeing violence, and escaping poverty. All have heartbreaking and hopeful stories about leaving their homelands and starting a new life in America. And all are weary of living in the shadows.

Home is the place to heal, right? That's what Dillon Michaels is hoping, at least, as she leaves her disappointing career and nonstarter love life behind to help her grieving and aging grandfather on his small Oregon farm. The only problem? Her eccentric mother beat her there and has taken over Dillon's old room. After a few nights sleeping on a sagging sofa, Dillon is ready to give up, until she receives an unlikely gift - her grandfather's run-down vintage camp trailer, which she quickly resolves to restore with the help of Jordan Atwood, the handsome owner of the hardware store.

After two years in Credence trying to fade into the background, Della Munroe is sick of being invisible. She's ready to take back control - to live a little. Hell, she's ready to see what all this dating fuss is about. And if that means she has to download Tinder and date every guy in Colorado, then she's up for it. After her first disastrous attempt, she decides navigating online dating would be better with a wingman, and there’s no better person for it than Tucker Daniels.

Natalie is propelled through life by pica, a disorder that has her eating a wide variety of inedibles. A lowly staff worker for the local news, she follows the inane demands of the station’s senile weatherman and comes home to an empty apartment. With her mother recently killed in a tragic house fire, and her runaway brother, Eliot, missing for years, Natalie and her father Boris only have each other. When a cryptic voicemail implicates her mother’s Gypsy roots in her untimely death, Natalie begins to consider the demons that consumed her mother, and drove her brother away.

Nathan Starr has lived an honorable life. He married a good woman, raised a family, turned their struggling farm into a thriving business, and founded a town in the process. But now, watching his children and grandchildren, he fears the next generations of Sweetheart, Montana never learned about love. Free-spirited Pansy Oppenheimer aches for her dear friend Nate. Although he stayed behind while she traveled the world, together they know this town and its secrets better than anyone. No one wishes a bright future for the Starrs of Sweetheart more than they do.

The Silk Road begins on a mat in yoga class, deep within a labyrinth on a settlement somewhere in the icy north, under the canny guidance of Jee Moon. When someone fails to arise from corpse pose, the Astronomer, the Archivist, the Botanist, the Keeper, the Topologist, the Geographer, the Iceman, and the Cook remember the paths that brought them there - paths on which they still seem to be traveling.The Silk Road is Davis' most explicitly allegorical novel and also her most profound vehicle. Its revelations are ravishing and desolating.

Praised for its gorgeous illustrations, accurate portrayal of bird habitats, and its gameplay, the bird-focused board game Wingspan has become an international sensation. Celebrating Birds is the ultimate companion to the game for fans, as well as a beautiful and in-depth field guide for avian and nature enthusiasts. In addition to large-size representations of each bird and the most up-to-date bird descriptions provided by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Celebrating Birds includes a step-by-step guide that can be used to take the game into the real world.

Robyn Cavanagh enjoys a thriving second career as a portrait photographer in her beloved suburban hometown of Garland, New York. Having built a large portfolio, Robyn is thrilled when math teacher Brooke Gibson hires her to take photos of a different subject: 16 Clover Lane, the house Brooke has recently inherited from her late great-aunt. Brooke will soon put the home on the market and wants Robyn to take the photos for the real estate listing. Robyn thinks the cozy house will attract prospective buyers—until she finds bride-to-be Brooke’s battered body in the garden shed.

Three months touring Europe. Romantic. Dazzling. Unforgettable. The trip of a lifetime. But some lifetimes are shorter. We couldn't have known it would work out this way. No one could. No one could've guessed that something so beautiful could be so tragic. But it is tragic. Yet so, so beautiful. That's what sacrifice is - beauty and tragedy. It's pain and suffering for something or someone you love. And this is the ultimate sacrifice. One stunning act of true love. This is our story. Our true love story.

Professor Joshua Kingston thought he'd found the perfect nanny for his son. But once Cassie Simmons stepped into his life, she turned it upside down! His son no longer played by the rules - and Cassie kept making up new ones. He would fire her - if he didn't find her so utterly enticing. Cassie had a huge secret to hide, and she couldn't afford to lose her new job. But her handsome employer wasn't making things easy. All those silly rules. How was an eight-year-old boy supposed to have any fun? The professor definitely needed a lesson in laughter - and love!

Rena Jackson is ready. She's worked her tail off to open up her own hair salon, and she's almost ready to quit her job at the dive bar. Rena's also a diehard romantic, and she's had her eye on bar regular Axel Heller for a while. He's got that tall-brooding-and-handsome thing going big time. Problem is, he's got that buttoned-up Germanic-ice-man thing going as well. With Valentine's Day just around the corner, Rena's about ready to give up on Axel and find her own Mr. Right.

It's New Year's Eve in Southern California, and Shae Wilmont, the adored celebrity host of IShop is eager to reclaim her life. Her stalker's been caught. But en route to a party, a bizarre encounter lands her in the wrong place at the wrong time. Only one person knows where she ends up. It's where no one can find her.

Emily Bell believes in destiny. To her, being forced to sing a solo in the church choir - despite her average voice - is fate: because it's while she's singing that she first sees Sam. At first sight they are connected. Sam Border wishes he could escape, but there's nowhere for him to run. He and his little brother, Riddle, have spent their entire lives constantly uprooted by their unstable father. As Sam and Riddle are welcomed into the Bells' lives, they witness the warmth and protection of a family for the first time.

Four years ago, Samantha Evans was easy prey for con man Louis Cantrell, who left her broke and pregnant. Now, surrounded by a loving family, her life seems to be headed in the right direction as she cares for her young daughter, pursues her dream of becoming a child welfare worker, and dreams of marrying the law student who loves her daughter like his own.

Four years ago, Pam’s divorce devastated her. The cruelty of her ex-husband crushed her spirit. After battling personal demons, she’s finally made a life for herself. Now remarried, raising her kids, working at a job she loves, the scars of her ex-husband’s emotional abuse are beginning to fade. But her newfound happiness turns to bitterness when Alan returns to Garfield.

Will Patton is desperate to leave the small town of Lost Coast Harbor and rebuild his struggling legal career. To do that, he's going to expose the dirty police chief—but he never expected to be so drawn to the man's irresistible daughter. Erin Grady will do anything to bring a mental health clinic to Lost Coast Harbor, even if it means accepting money from the local police chief—the father who abandoned her. She's willing to overlook where the money came from, until a determined and very sexy prosecutor literally crashes into her life…

Karla Black had everything she ever wanted until one night stole her husband and her identity. Twelve months later, she is a shadow of the woman she used to be, struggling through her grief, living with bankrupt emotions, and resisting any suggestion that God might give her a second chance at love. A chance meeting kindles a friendship between Karla and Ian that rockets into a romance neither one anticipated. Can they overcome their grief and the objection of family members to grab onto the surprising future that God has for them?

When you're going through a season of grief, it's hard to fathom that there will be a day when you won't be hurting. Throughout Scripture we are taught to humble ourselves and love one another because empathy is born from loving our neighbor. If you've ever experienced loss, you're able to help others turn their grief into grace and create hope and purpose from what feels devastating and heartbreaking.