Showing results by narrator "Sandra Murphy" in All Categories

With only a smattering of tourists visiting the village for the Samhain feast, Jayne is excited. No. She's looking forward to... no. Jayne is guardedly optimistic about spending a few days with her demanding sister. Then, a boy goes missing during trick-or-treating, and everything changes. The parents aren’t worried. Their son does this, they say. With a storm bearing down on the village, however, Jayne isn’t content to dismiss this as a case of a curious kid off exploring the woods.

The Neon Octopus Overlord has been challenged. Their galaxy will never be the same. Kirian, the mythological warrior agent known as the Destroyer of Planets, wants out of her contract. That's a problem since she's currently in the Neon Octopus Overlord's elite, secret Celestial Force against her will. In a desperate attempt to regain her freedom, Kirian defies her tentacled boss and secretly saves Ari, the human she is sent to kill.

As Whispering Pines’ busiest tourist season ever draws to a close, Reeva Long, Ruby McLaughlin, and the other villagers are ready for things to quiet down. Instead, a break-in and a small fire set near Hearth & Cauldron puts everyone on edge. The only clue, a melted candle stub, gives the amateur sleuths little to work with. Soon other fires flare up, threatening the entire village, so Deputy Jayne O’Shea takes charge of the investigation. Can Jayne, with Reeva’s and Ruby’s help, catch the firestarter before someone gets hurt or worse?

Things are heating up in Whispering Pines, and it’s not just the weather. Sheriff Jayne O’Shea is on edge. Hopeful applicants have taken over the commons area, all of them begging to become residents. Villagers who left long ago have returned, causing an uproar among the locals. The slow burn feud between the sister witches has reached the boiling point. And her parents are acting just plain weird. Fortunately, it’s time for the annual Beltane celebration, the last opportunity for everyone to gather before tourists invade the village for the summer.

Got performance? Seeking assets to manage? Frustrated by the youthful research professionals across the table who “just don’t get it” while seeming to control billions? Managers are often challenged by the process of asset gathering. Why doesn’t the market recognize the firm’s value? Where is the AUM? Here is a big idea - let’s ask these institutions why most managers do not have their assets and never will. 

 Historic Yellowstone National Park captures the most interesting moments in the park’s history, the slices of life in Montana and Wyoming that provide an idea of what life was like for those who chose to explore this gloriously beautiful corner of the United States. There’s the presence of Native Americans in the early years of the area’s history, the early explorers and expeditions, its debut as the very first national park, the explosive growth of tourism, and the people who made history in this astonishing and mysterious Rocky Mountain landscape. 

Sometimes, what’s needed most is hiding in plain sight. It’s been almost a year since Sheriff Jayne O’Shea arrived in Whispering Pines. Deciding to stay was the best decision she ever made, but the closer the anniversary gets, the gloomier she feels. It doesn’t help that she and Tripp have been arguing. Neither does the dense fog blanketing the village. Or the group of cranky wedding planners staying at the B&B. 

As the vernal equinox brings welcome warmth and the promise of the coming tourist season to Wisconsin's Northwoods, it also brings an invading Wiccan coven. Sheriff Jayne O’Shea isn’t worried about the witches. It’s the fact that her mother is coming for her first visit in nearly 20 years that has her on edge. Their reunion goes well, better than expected, and then a coven member disappears.

A monster of a blizzard is on the way, but the hardy folks of Whispering Pines aren’t bothered by the weather. Not when there are supplies to gather and neighbors to catch up with. As everyone finally settles in to ride out the storm, Sheriff Jayne O’Shea gets a phone call. A stranger has stumbled into the village. She’s covered in bruises and mumbling about a car crash. Determined to figure out what happened to her, and to rescue any other potential victims still out there, Jayne braves the howling winds and arctic temperatures. Then another call comes in....

Celebrate the season in Whispering Pines with snow, mistletoe, and murder. Preparations for the Yuletide festival are in full swing, and so is the gossip about a blackmailing villager. Sheriff Jayne O’Shea doesn’t have time or patience for small-town rumors. After two long years overseas, her father is coming for a visit and everything has to be perfect. Then, just as things start falling into place, the blackmailer is found dead. As if that wasn't enough, strange packages start showing up on doorsteps around the village, each containing a clue as to how the receiver will die.

In Whispering Pines, even downtime can be deadly. The quiet time of year as settled over Whispering Pines. For months, Sheriff Jayne O’Shea had been looking forward to a little R&R but now she’s not so sure. What’s she supposed to do with herself? Take up knitting? When a brawl breaks out at the local pub during the Thanksgiving gathering, a patron is critically wounded. Not the kind of distraction Jayne was looking for.

When Courtney's friend Wanda gets into a ponytail-pulling wrestling match in public with a nasty local art critic, Courtney stops the fight with the help of a garden hose. But Lana Lamar has a talent for escalating things and creating tension, which she succeeds in doing by threatening a lawsuit, getting into yet another scuffle - in the midst of an elegant fundraiser, no less - and lobbing insults around like pickleballs.

Imagine spending eternity with your backside hanging out! That’s what Emma Whitecastle and Granny Apples can’t help but think when they meet the ghost of Tessa North frolicking in the surf off Cataline Island. Tessa, a young starlet who died on the island in the 1960s wearing nothing but a polka-dot bikini, won’t cross over until “Curtis” comes for her. To help the winsome, bikini-clad spirit, Emma and Granny must find out who Curtis is and how Tessa died.

Granny was famous for her award-winning apple pies - and notorious for murdering her husband Jacob at their homestead in Julian, California. The only trouble is, Granny was framed, then murdered. For more than 100 years, Granny's spirit has been searching for someone to help her see that justice is served - and she hits pay dirt when she pops in to a séance attended by her great-great-great-granddaughter, modern-day divorced mom Emma Whitecastle.

Would you like to simplify your life, downsize, and become debt free? Then this book is definitely for you! Most of the things we own, we don't even pay attention to in our day to day lives. You must keep finding things around your home you see only once a year, and yet you keep finding them every spring cleaning. You clean them up, meditate a bit on the memories they bring back, and put them back in their secret place. Then you forget about them for at least a few months. And it's not just about the things we don't use daily. It's about the attitude, the desire to own so many things. It's a vicious circle we draw ourselves, and we keep following the line like our lives depend on it.

The new tourist season is about to start. The witches, carnies, fortune tellers, and other lovable outcasts of Whispering Pines are abuzz with excitement. Sheriff Jayne O’Shea, however, is nervous. After their tragic last season, the lakeside hamlet became known as the Murder Capital of Wisconsin, and she would love to redeem their reputation. Everyone has assured her they’re ready and that it’s going to be a great opening weekend, but Jayne can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong. 

Spiritual medium Emma Whitecastle knows a good ghost when she feels one - like her own sweet Granny Apples, long gone but still as famous for her apple pies as she is for helping her great-great-great-granddaughter get to the core of the most baffling mysteries...When Emma gets word of a sticky spirit problem in Las Vegas, she and the ghost of Granny Apples hit the road for Sin City. The spooked one is Dolly, a former showgirl. Dolly is haunted by Lenny, a dead Vegas hood worried about an aging mobster named Nemo coming after the leggy old bombshell.

Emma Whitecastle would rather spend time with her boyfriend than help Joanna Reid get rid of her husband's ghost. But when she finds out Joanna's daughter has broken her engagement and attempted suicide, Emma and Granny Apples are compelled to investigate. The multifaceted mystery unfolds in Hollywood, where a vengeful spirit strikes too close for comfort as Emma and Granny unearth a clue hidden in a haunted diamond.

When Los Angeles news photographer Lucy Vega's uncle, a formidable Hispanic businessman, is killed in a car accident in Malibu during a violent storm, Lucy and reporter-colleague Beatrice Middleton are out to prove murder. Lucy discovers secret underworld involvement by Mexican cartel members, and bent on finding answers, she travels to Mexico, where she meets a handsome, but burned out, CNN war correspondent. Trailing the cartel deep into their own territory, they soon find that corruption and brutality are rampant, and Lucy must risk all to find the truth behind her uncle's murder.

Mothering with Courage provides guidance for mothers to self-reflect and dig deep to discover what is important to them from their own perspective. Only from that space can a mother discover how to be the best, most authentic mother for her child.