Showing results by narrator "Abby Craden" in All Categories

Over the past few years, Brianna Wiest has gained renown for her deeply moving, philosophical writing. This new compilation of her published work features pieces on why you should pursue purpose over passion, embrace negative thinking, see the wisdom in daily routine, and become aware of the cognitive biases that are creating the way you see your life. Some of these pieces have never been seen; others have been read by millions of people around the world. Regardless, each will leave you thinking: This idea changed my life.

Julia Maguire can't wait to spend two weeks in Hawaii with her best friends. She's been dreaming about this trip for years and all she wants is to lay on a sandy beach with an icy cocktail in her hand. But those vacation goals change the moment she meets Reed Baxter. Reed is a busy doctor with family demands. She's in Hawaii to let go, not find love, and she's not interested in any commitment. Adding a little heat to the vacation seems like a good idea as long as there aren't expectations for anything more.

Since inheriting Junebug Farms from her grandmother, Jessica Barstow's life revolves around it, and she has no time or energy for much else. Not hobbies. Not fun. Not love - certainly not love. And the new, young, and hip TV reporter who's been sent to host the upcoming fundraising telethon isn't going to change that - even though it seems like she wants to change everything else.

Welcome to Junebug Farms, a successful, well-known animal shelter in upstate New York, where every day brings something new - love, stress, heartbreak, warmth - and not just from the animals. Lisa Drakemore is in charge of intake and adoption at Junebug. She excels at her job, in large part because of her ability to keep her emotions in check. Her past has given her many years of practice and she's become a pro. But once she meets dog-walking volunteer Ashley Stiles all bets are off for Lisa.

Susanne Wolff isn't thrilled when her mother sends her all the way across the country to Freiburg to save her uncle's stationery store from bankruptcy. Freiburg is too provincial for her taste, and besides, pen and paper are outdated anyway. Anja Lamm, Paper Love's only full-time employee, takes an instant dislike to the arrogant, digital-loving snob who's supposed to be her temporary boss. But thanks to a meddling cat, a business trip to a stationery fair, and an armada of origami boats, Anja soon starts to see beneath Susanne's aloof exterior.

Catherine Gardner knows what it means to work hard. Growing up with little, it's pretty much all she's done for most of her life. As the bookkeeper for Junebug Farms, she handles the money. When Catherine finds herself undeniably attracted to Emily Breckenridge, daughter of the shelter's largest donor, it doesn't sit well with her. At all.

Andrea Blake's life has order. Everything is meticulously laid out and planned, from her house in its quiet neighborhood to her career path at Hagan's, the largest supermarket chain in the Northeast. Andrea knows what she wants. Enter Kendall Foster, the distractingly attractive woman in charge of sales for her family's local microbrewery and somebody who wants very much to get her beer onto Hagan's shelves.

Kate Owens has kept her attraction to her best friend Mo Calloway a carefully guarded secret for years. But some secrets you can't hide forever and she's worried that Mo is beginning to suspect her feelings. It's harder than ever to pretend there's nothing going on when a reservation mistake on a trip to Mexico leads to Kate sharing Mo's bed for five long nights. One fateful vacation could change everything. But are Kate and Mo ready to risk their friendship for a chance at love?

Anidyr Bycall is frozen in her past, regretting words never spoken to the woman she loves and the one impulsive act that cost her all her dreams. Running from the courts of public and academic opinion in Fairbanks, she has landed in Key West. The nights are hot but she is colder than the glaciers she once explored. When a few innocent questions raise Ani's doubts about what really happened three years ago, she realizes she may have a chance to clear her name and reclaim her career. But there's no data to suggest that Eve has thawed and that the fire they once shared can be rekindled.

Eighteen-year-old Charlee Parker met the love of her life in a parking lot-a leggy brunette with a valedictorian medal hanging from her rear-view mirror and an attitude as biting as a Boston winter. Alexandra Woodson was guarded, a 19-year-old orphan set on a bright future in hospitality administration. She never imagined an art student with a penchant for cheesy pick-up lines and stealing parking spaces would crack her rigid exterior and claim her heart. For four years, theirs was an enviable love - evergreen and growing. Unbreakable... until it broke.

Dr. Carly Cambridge, wildlife biologist, returns to the Texas Gulf Coast to manage the latest Habitats for Nature project, restoring the woods and wetlands to their natural state. She's devoted to the environmental cause with a passion usually reserved for a lover - something she hasn't had since a disastrous love affair 10 years earlier. Having sworn off women and relationships, She's content to live her life alone, focusing on her latest project. Wildlife photographer Pat Ryan, duped into volunteering her talents to Habitats for Nature, wants no part of the overzealous Dr. Cambridge.

Jacqueline Keys was ostracized from her small hometown of Pine Springs, Texas, when she was 17, sent away because she was gay. Fifteen years later - long after she'd hitch-hiked to Los Angeles, put herself through college, and had written her first best seller - Jacqueline is persuaded to go back to the tiny town of Pine Springs after her father's death. The quick trip she'd envisioned for the funeral turns into weeks as she learns her father's business is suddenly hers to manage. And she is also again face-to-face with the woman who, as a teen, had been Jackie's first crush.

As interior designer Jay Burns watches her long-term relationship slowly unravel, she runs into - literally - landscape designer Drew Montgomery. As their paths cross, both professionally and personally, a friendship develops, one they each try to maintain despite the obvious attraction between them. But still, Jay is not willing to throw away an eight-year relationship, even when it becomes painfully obvious the end is near. 

Successful New York editor Jen Gibbs is at the top of her game with her new position at Vida House Publishing - until a mysterious manuscript from an old slush pile appears on her desk. Turning the pages, Jen finds herself drawn into the life of Sarra, a mixed-race Melungeon girl trapped y dangerous men in turn-of-the-century Appalachia.

Susan Sterling wanted nothing more than to escape her life...and her marriage. The family's secluded cabin in Kings Canyon National Park seemed the only place for her to find peace. But it took Shawn Weber coming into her life for her to find the courage to make changes. The budding friendship between the two women strengthens into an intense emotional bond, a bond that soon eclipses friendship.   

Kate Winters, author of a popular mystery series, finds herself in a bit of a predicament - she doesn't seem to be able to write any longer. So when her old friend and wealthy widow Brenda invites Kate to spend the summer in Coyote, New Mexico, Kate decides that a summer in Coyote might be just what she needs to clear her writer's block. Leaving behind the Dallas heat - and her girlfriend, Robin - Kate retreats to the high mountain desert and soon finds herself surrounded by Brenda's eccentric friends and artists. But it's the local sheriff, Lee Foxx, who soon grabs her attention.

Anita Topaz, Queen of the Bodice Rippers, is deliberately a woman of mystery. But pressure is mounting for Anita to reveal herself to her clamoring public. It's scrutiny that writer Paris Ellison can't allow, especially since the glamorous "Anita" is a work of pure fiction. Lady Diana Beckinsale excels at disappearing into a good role. Especially if that role gets her close to certain objects she desires. When Diana proposes the perfect solution to Paris' predicament, Paris is less than enthusiastic. She can't let someone as unsettling and observant as Diana get too close.

Cassie Parker has grown used to denying her sexuality. Her father, the fire-and-brimstone Reverend Parker, has made that a necessity. Raised in a web of secrets, sadness, and under the heavy hand of her father's righteous wrath and intolerance, Cassie turns to her art to fill the hole in her heart and erase the memory of a mother who abandoned her in childhood. Then Luke Winston enters her life. Strong, mysterious, and beautiful, Luke sparks Cassie's desire, and takes her heart to places she's never known.

Cursing the familial obligation that sent her into the path of a blizzard, Jackie Frakes is deeply grateful for rescue on a snow-choked mountain road, even if her rescuer's reception is as cold as the landscape. Leah Beck spends her days in a twilight of grief, actively avoiding all reminders of her former life as an artist whose work was exhibited nationwide. A houseguest for Thanksgiving is disruptive and painful, and the last thing she wanted. The snowbound weekend leaves them with an unforgettable, undeniable attraction that challenges their personal and professional commitments.

Ashleigh Pence had been the all-American high school girl: cheerleader, prom queen...and in love with another girl. Gina Granbury hasn't thought about Calloway High in 20 years, but the arrival of the invitation to the class reunion brings back memories of Ashleigh and the betrayal that drove them apart. With no real choice, Ashleigh has to go the event, hoping that it's not the one reunion that Gina decides to attend after all these years. Gina's curiosity is suddenly strong. Her long-broken heart has never mended, but that's no reason to go back in time...is it?