Showing results by narrator "Ann Richardson" in All Categories

Wendy Moore hides her collection of pilfered bric-a-brac from everyone, including her husband. He thinks she licked her kleptomania in therapy more than a decade ago. Therapy did help, as did focusing her attention on motherhood. But now Wendy’s gardening and furniture-refinishing hobbies fill up only so much of the day, leaving the recent empty nester lonely and anxious—a combination likely to trigger her little problem. She needs a project, fast. Luckily, Harper Ross—a single, childless younger woman in desperate need of highlights—just moved in next door.

Calista York needs one more successful case as a Pinkerton operative to secure her job. When she's assigned to find the kidnapped daughter of a mob boss, she's sent to the rowdy mining town of Joplin, Missouri, despite having extended family in the area. When Matthew Cook decided to be a missionary, he never expected to be sent only a short train ride away. While fighting against corruption of all sorts, Matthew hears of a baby raffle being held to raise funds for a children's home.

Are You Two Sisters? is Susan Krieger's candid, revealing, and engrossing memoir about the intimacies of a lesbian couple. Krieger explores how she and her partner confront both the inner challenges of their relationship and the invisibility of lesbian identity in the larger world. Using a lively novelistic and autoethnographic approach that toggles back and forth in time, Krieger reflects on the evolution of her 40-year relationship. She describes building a life together, from sharing pets and travels to getting married.

Jane Withersteen, a sincere and faithful young Mormon woman, is persecuted by members of her own church. The as yet unmarried Withersteen has inherited a large and rich piece of property from her father. Elder Tull, an older church leader with several wives already, wants to marry her, but she does not want to marry him. She refuses him and is subsequently beset by troubles as Tull and his men wage a secret vindictive campaign against her.

The Sand Hills of Nebraska, where Mignon G. Eberhart lived as a newlywed, inspired the setting of this 1930 chiller. Smack in the middle of the rolling desolation is Hunting’s End, a weekend lodge owned by the rich Kingery family. Mignon Eberhart manages to give her audience a real sense of the near-panic and claustrophobia among the guests at Hunting’s End, all of whom know each other–but do not like each other, revealed in the keen observations of our narrator, Nurse Keate. Her characters are quite well-defined–and many of them are quite unpleasant.

No sooner has Alexis Stone been sworn in as the interim sheriff for Russell County, Tennessee, when a serial killer dubbed the Queen's Gambit Killer strikes again—this time in her hometown. Pearl Springs is just supposed to be a temporary stop along the way to Alex's real dream: becoming the first female police chief of Chattanooga. But the killer's calling card—a white pawn and a note with a chess move printed on it—cannot be ignored.

Mandy Rockwell has a bun in the oven and sugary dreams dancing in her head. Sure, she's hit pause on the whole "men" thing, but opening her dream bakery? That's a recipe she's still perfecting, even if it involves moving back to grandma's cozy nook. Enter Luke Ward. Once a pediatric pro, a heart-wrenching event has him shifting gears. While the idea of treating kids is off the table, his passion for healing hasn't dimmed a bit. And now tending to a lively community of retirees feels like it just might be the perfect fit.

As a child, artist and potter Dani Bennett witnessed the brutal murder of her parents. With no memory of the incident or her true identity, she was forced to take on a new name and a new life, hidden away in Montana for the past twenty-five years.

Properly valuing brain gender diversity in the workplace is one of the biggest and largely untapped sources of competitive advantage for modern businesses. Recent advances in neuroscience provide the key to unlocking it. Leading applied neuroscientists and international corporate coaches Kate Lanz and Paul Brown tell you why and how to access all the brains in your business.

Katherine Yoder has loved Johnny Mullet since the two were children, but he’s never returned her affections. Now Johnny is trying to forge a new life for himself by purchasing a farm and building a business of his own. But times are tough, and he soon learns that he can’t take anything for granted - especially Katherine. Before Johnny has the opportunity to tell Katherine his true feelings, she’s struck by a serious illness. While Katherine struggles to recall recent memories of Johnny, a surprise visitor comes back into her life.

A simple touch, and suddenly Paige is in the past - living someone else's life, seeing the world through another person's eyes, and feeling their deepest emotions. Paige used to think memories only existed in the mind. But now, she knows better. She can't explain how or why, but she experiences 'glimmers', special moments that have remained behind - clinging to a letter, a ring, even a worn-out pair of boots. Each time Paige returns from a glimmer, a small part of her has changed.

In Make a List, teacher, writer, and wordsmith Marilyn McEntyre shows listeners how the simple act of writing a list can open doors to personal discovery and spiritual growth. Deepening her reflections with abundant writing prompts and real-life examples, McEntyre turns the humble list into a work of art - one that has the power to clear minds, open hearts, and change lives.

Scripture says "be anxious for nothing," yet most of us find ourselves increasingly worried and anxious. We're even worried about our level of anxiety! Integrating both the psychological and spiritual aspects of anxiety, therapist Jean Holthaus offers a research-driven, faith-informed approach to understanding why we experience anxiety and shows us how to effectively manage it by developing three essential skills: living in the present moment, suspending judgment, and believing ourselves to be competent and equipped by God.

Creativity was long thought to be a gift from the muses, a special quality of a select minority of people. Fortunately, more recent studies have debunked this belief and have shown promise for techniques to help us all boost our creative potential. Nature gives some people a genetic edge, but nurture has a large role in developing creative genius. In this audiobook, we look at this difficult-to-define quality from all angles: where creativity comes from, lessons we can learn from creative geniuses, and how to cultivate creativity.

A fascinating journey through history and culture, examining how makeup affects self-empowerment, how people have used it to define (and defy) their roles in society, and why we all need to care.

We all want to have young and healthy skin, yet the beauty industry is so mixed in its messages that most consumers have no way to tell which skincare products are helpful and which claims are pure hype. In this book, skincare expert Dr. Fayne Frey explores the “essential” product categories that are entirely unnecessary, exposes how many well-known skincare ingredients have no scientific basis, and recommends truly effective skincare products and regimens that are easy and affordable.

When Gustaf and Anna Klar and their three children leave Sweden for New York in 1897, they take with them a terrible secret and a longing for a new life. But their dream of starting over is nearly crushed at the outset: a fire devastates Ellis Island just as they arrive, and then the relentlessly harsh conditions and lack of work in the city make it impossible for Gustaf to support his family. An unexpected gift allows the Klars to make one more desperate move, this time to the Midwest and a place called Swede Hollow.

Whether you're working through grief or holding on to grudges, seeking love or increasing gratitude, Crystals for Healing offers the basics for beginners to explore the deep connection between mind, body, and spirit.

Elin Willows’ popular debut Inlands explores the emotional journey of a young woman who leaves behind her life in Stockholm and finds herself in a new place at the edge of the Arctic Circle. Overwhelmed by nature’s magnitude and the simplicity and strangeness of her new life, she searches for a new identity and for ways to overcome her feelings of alienation. Rather than returning to the known (Stockholm, her friends and family), she chooses to stay and struggles to adapt to its new customs.

Across twenty-five stories, Øyehaug renovates the form again and again, confirming Lydia Davis’s observation that her every story is “a formal surprise, smart and droll.” The stories converse with, contradict, and expand on one another; birds, hagfish, and wild beasts reappear, gnawing at the fringes. A section of a woman’s brain slips into the toilet bowl, removing her ability to remember or recognize types of birds (particularly problematic because she is an ornithologist). Medicinal leeches ingest information from fiberoptic cables, and a new museum sinks into the ground.