Showing results by narrator "Amy Bentley" in All Categories

For Regina Miller, the new Morning Star Marketplace is a chance to share her secret work with the world - without revealing herself. Old Order Amish forbid the creation of art without purpose, but without a husband, Regina has been free to explore the joy of painting in her attic. Yet when Gabe Flaud's curiosity leads him to speculate that Regina herself is the painter, the full weight of their community's judgement falls on her shoulders. When Gabe stands up to defend Regina, questioning the Order's restrictions, he reveals his own guilty secret and is shunned along with her.

It's 16-year-old Edie who finds their mother, Marianne, dangling in the living room from an old jump rope, puddle of urine on the floor, barely alive. Upstairs, 14-year-old Mae had fallen into one of her trances, often a result of feeling too closely attuned to her mother's dark moods. After Marianne is unwillingly admitted to a mental hospital, Edie and Mae are forced to move from their childhood home in Louisiana to New York to live with their estranged father, Dennis, a former civil rights activist and literary figure on the other side of success.

I ate six seeds. Now I owe six months of debt to a dangerously sexy Fae hitman. I'd had everything a dryad could want - a job, an apartment, and a scandalous human boyfriend - until I stole the wrong fruit from the wrong Fae. Dragged into the Seelie underworld of deception and lies, I do anything he commands: steal, spy, even fight as we hunt down a notorious Fae fugitive. Not exactly the fun I was looking for, despite the intense attraction between us.

Mona the mouse has finally found a place to call home, the cozy Heartwood Hotel, where she works as a maid and sleeps snuggled up in a room with her best friend. Following the festive St. Slumber celebration, most of the guests have settled in to hibernate, and the staff is looking forward to a relaxing winter. But disruptions abound, from a difficult duchess to a mysterious midnight snacker. As the snow stacks higher, Mona will have to gather friends both old and new to keep the peace, finding help in some of the most unexpected places.

Maddie James has big plans for the summer season at JJ’s House of Purrs. But when her friend, master meditator and Tai Chi teacher Cass Hendricks, brings a potential animal hoarding situation to her attention, Maddie has to refocus her attention on the furry felines who may need a helping paw.

When Marianna Santino's roommate is killed, Detective Ethan O'Hara can't fathom the motive. Then he realizes the deaf teacher was the intended target. Marianna must have something the murderer desperately wants. But what? Digging for the truth, the guarded cop tries to learn everything he can about Marianna. Her world. Her family. Her beauty, faith, and fierce independence. In spite of himself, Ethan finds that he can't keep his feelings at bay. Soon, he's willing to risk everything to lay the silent terror stalking Marianna to rest.

Bonnie’s embracing the big 4-0 and all it has to offer, including a celebratory night out with friends. The evening is a perfect blend of fun and fabulous, until the local love guru, Gretchen, is confronted by a client’s spouse who’s displeased by a prediction of new romance in his wife’s future. Gretchen excuses herself to sort the situation, but in the morning, the man is dead. Stabbed with a cake knife from her true love collection.

Maggie Crozat, proprietor of a historic Cajun Country B&B, prefers to let the good times roll. But hard times rock her hostelry when a new cell phone app makes it easy for locals to rent their spare rooms to tourists. With October-and Halloween-approaching, she conjures up a witch-crafty marketing scheme to draw visitors to Pelican, Louisiana.

Darci Hannah presents Book 6 in the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery series.

Benjamin Church came to the Grange Hall expecting to meet someone else, but then the girl in the red dress looked across the dance floor and smiled.... Passing Through Perfect is a heart-wrenching Southern family saga that starts on the night Benjamin falls madly in love with Delia. Once he tastes the sweetness of her kiss, he envisions them spending the rest of their life together. He doesn't stop to consider that her daddy is a learned Pastor, and her mama a woman with a college degree; he knows only that she sets his heart to racing.

Ever since last year's homecoming dance, best friends-turned-best enemies Zorie and Lennon have made an art of avoiding each other. It doesn't hurt that their families are the modern day, Californian version of the Montagues and Capulets. But when a group camping trip goes south, Zorie and Lennon find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Alone. Together. What could go wrong? With no one but each other for company, Zorie and Lennon have no choice but to hash out their issues via witty jabs and insults as they try to make their way to safety.

It starts out as a bet....A way to forget about my latest in a string of bad relationships and move on. I know it's a mistake. Especially when I have a terrible knack for picking the wrong men. Then I see him. The gorgeous man in the dark suit, drowning his sorrows in a glass of scotch is only supposed to be one night of fun. No strings. Zero expectations. No one gets hurt. And when I wake up alone the next morning, it appears I've gotten everything I was after. That is until I find the shiny gold cuff links he left behind. Oh, and discover that he's my new boss.

It's been 19 days since Isis Blake forgot about him. The boy she can't quite remember. She's stuck in the hospital with a turban-size bandage on her head, more Jell-O than a human being should ever face, and a tiny bit of localized amnesia. Her only goal? To get out of this place before she becomes a complete nut job herself. But as Isis' memories start to return, she realizes there's something important there at the edges of her mind. Something that may mean the difference between life and death.

Isis Blake hasn't fallen in love in three years, 43 weeks, and two days. Or so she thinks. The boy she maybe-sort-of-definitely loved and sort-of-maybe-definitely hated has dropped off the face of the planet in the face of tragedy, leaving a Jack Hunter-shaped hole. Determined to be happy, Isis fills it in with lies and puts on a brave smile for her new life at Ohio State University. But the smile lasts only until he shows up.

I've heard a lot of things about Weston Cole. Popular. Conceited. Supercilious. He's spent the last three years steadily dismantling my family's legacy. I should hate him. And I did. Until I encountered him freshman year and discovered he's also troubled. Captivating. Audacious. And when I come across him again senior year, it turns out that knowledge is even more dangerous than his suggestive smirk....

For 14-year-old Wallis Ann Stamper and her family, life in the Appalachian Mountains is simple and satisfying, though not for the tenderhearted. While her older sister, Laci - a mute, musically gifted savant - is constantly watched over and protected, Wallis Ann is as practical and sturdy as her name. When the Tuckasegee River bursts its banks, forcing them to flee in the middle of the night, those qualities save her life. But though her family is eventually reunited, the tragedy opens Wallis Ann's eyes to a world beyond the creek that's borne their name for generations.

Aaron Ebersol left the Amish community 17 years ago when he could no longer bear the restrictions or the constant tension with his father. Despite years of unanswered letters to his parents and the roots he's put down in Missouri, Aaron rushes back to the Amish community of Paradise, Pennsylvania, after receiving word of his mother's stroke. Hesitant to get too close to the family he was once a part of, he decides to stay at the Heart of Paradise Bed & Breakfast. Talking with Linda allows him to explore his feelings about his family and his position in the Amish community.

Seventh-grader Zoey has her hands full as she takes care of her much younger siblings after school every day while her mom works her shift at the pizza parlor. Not that her mom seems to appreciate it. At least there's Lenny, her mom's boyfriend - they all get to live in his nice, clean trailer. At school, Zoey tries to stay under the radar. Her only friend, Fuchsia, has her own issues, and since they're in an entirely different world than the rich kids, it's best if no one notices them. Zoey thinks how much easier everything would be if she were an octopus.

Every girl imagines meeting her prince charming. It's doubtful, however, that any of these fantasies include it happening when they're soaked with sweat and knee-deep in pond scum. Fate can be funny that way.

When Works Progress Administration editor Millie Lang finds herself on the wrong end of a potential political scandal, she’s shipped off to Montana to work on the state’s American Guide Series—travel books intended to put the nation’s destitute writers to work. Millie arrives to an eclectic staff claiming their missed deadlines are due to sabotage, possibly from the state’s powerful Copper Kings who don’t want their long and bloody history with union organizers aired. But Millie begins to suspect that the answer might instead lie with the town’s mysterious librarian, Alice Monroe.