Showing results by narrator "Natasha Soudek" in All Categories

His special ability to heal at a touch seems to be slowly draining the life out of Mason Reed. It might be a blessing for the people he heals, but it feels like a curse to him. Hiding out in a small town, he just wants to work his menial job while he gets his strength back - no helping and no entanglements. But when he meets waitress Ava Wheaton, avoiding involvement becomes impossible.

Anais Cooper is burnt out on big city living. When she unexpectedly inherits a house on Anastasia Island, a suburb of St. Augustine, Florida, she quits her job and moves south. Anais's goal is to turn the ramshackle house into an upscale spa. Retired athlete Palmer Freeman, Anais's next door neighbor, has plans for the property. All his offers are turned down flat. It's just a matter of time. He doubts that Anais has the business acumen or means to turn the home into an income producing property. Palmer, a single parent, raising two girls, has his own challenges.

Adventurous Amanda McCormick travels west to marry a man she's met through correspondence and create a home of her own at last. Gambler Spencer Teague intercepts the bride-to-be waiting for her fiancé at the Kansas City train station. On a whim, he pretends to be the man, seduces her, and they spend a torrid night together. Travis Baxter arrives to claim his bride, welcoming her into his home and heart. Though racked by guilt, Amanda hides the misguided affair and focuses on forging a relationship with her new husband.

When her fiancé destroyed her with a "Dear Katie" letter a week before their wedding, Kate Stillman still took a vow - it would be a cold day in hell before she gave a man anything more than one night. Free from emotional entanglements, her photography career is skyrocketing, there's the occasional hot one-night-stand, and her heart is off-limits. It's the perfect plan until a Miami getaway brings her face-to-face with Peter Barrett.

When the Russian Revolution came to Saint Petersburg, Princess Irina went into hiding. A stunningly beautiful ballerina, she knew she had to escape the Bolsheviks - or else die. With her jewels sewn into her cloak, Irina made a mad dash for the border. But the Cheka caught up with her, stole her jewelry, and left her naked, bloody, and dead along the riverbank. Her murder was never avenged. Such is Tatiana "Tatty" Chase's heritage.

In the great city-state of Meviel, manners, status, and the family luck can steer your fate - or change it utterly. In these three stories luck and love play a part - as do pirates, swordplay, and midnight assignations. Step into the courts and drawing rooms of Meviel, where an edged sword and a ready wit are your best weapons in life and in love.

Award-winning journalist Caitlin Bergman's mother is dead - at least that's what she’s told everyone for the past 40 years. It’s easier to lie than to explain how Maya abandoned her only daughter before dropping off the map forever. But when a rural sheriff invites Caitlin to the woods of coastal Oregon to identify her mother's remains, Caitlin drops everything to face the woman she's spent a lifetime hating. Unfortunately, the body - abandoned on the land of a reclusive cult, the Daughters of God - was left faceless.

In the 1990s, Megan Margulies' Upper West Side neighborhood was marked by addicts shooting up in subway stations, frequent burglaries, and the "Wild Man of 96th Street", who set fires under cars and heaved rocks through stained glass church windows. The world inside her parents' tiny one-bedroom apartment was hardly a respite, with a family of five - including some loud personalities - eventually occupying the 550-square-foot space.

After destroying the Crescent Stone, Madeline returns home, bringing Shula and Yenil with her. As her health continues to deteriorate, Madeline feels the Sunlit Lands calling her back. Meanwhile, Jason, Darius, and the rest of the inhabitants of the Sunlit Lands fight for survival and freedom. The magic that fuels the land is failing, threatening to destroy them all. Will Madeline’s return save the land and its people?

Madeline Oliver has never wanted for anything, but now she would give anything just to breathe. Jason Wu skates through life on jokes, but when a tragedy leaves him guilt-stricken, he promises to tell only the truth, no matter the price. When a mysterious stranger named Hanali appears to Madeline and offers to heal her in exchange for one year of service to his people, Madeline and Jason are swept into a strange land where they don’t know the rules and where their decisions carry consequences that reach further than they could ever guess.

1904, Chudniv, Ukraine. Playing hide-and-seek in bucolic fields of sunflowers, young Jakob never imagines the horrific secrets he will carry as he and his brother escape through genocide-ridden Eastern Europe. 1994, South Haven, Michigan. At age 94, time is running out for any hope that Jakob can be free from his burden of guilt. When Jakob’s wife dies, he and his daughter, Nel, are forced to face the realities of his worsening dementia. The God they have both been running from shows that he redeems not only broken years, but also the future.

This friendly, fun biography series focuses on the traits that made our heroes great - the traits that kids can aspire to in order to live heroically themselves. Each book tells the story of an icon in a lively, conversational way that works well for the youngest nonfiction listeners and that always includes the hero's childhood influences. This volume features Founding Father and scientist Benjamin Franklin.

All is right in Mariah Randolph's world in the logging town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin. She has the attention of Hollis Stanford, heir of a railroad tycoon, and her paintings are also starting to gain recognition. Then on a Sunday evening in October 1871, the drought-stricken land becomes engulfed in flames, sending a tornado of fire down Main Street, and all that Mariah holds dear could be gone in a flash. With the aid of railroad bookkeeper Jay Franklin, she seeks a reason to rebuild. But Jay longs for justice that could further destroy Mariah's hopes for tomorrow.

Transformative daily rituals. With practical examples and gratitude exercises, cultivate a mindset of appreciation and discover the benefits of practicing gratitude. Give 'thank you' a try and unlock a future where your present moments are cherished—your future self will thank you.

A short story magazine that assembles a thrilling new mix of stories from genres including horror, science-fiction, comedy, and suspense. Buried at the heart of every story in the magazine is a unique artifact, an object that has inspired our storytellers to create a big idea, an irresistible question, a new immersive world, or a sense of wonder. Unearth your next great story with Assemble Artifacts.

The Regional Office and its band of superpowered female assassins protect the world from annihilation. But a prophecy suggests that someone from inside might bring about its downfall. And now the Regional Office is under attack.... Rose is a young assassin leading the assault, eager to stretch into her powers and prove herself on her first mission. Defending the Regional Office is Sarah - who may or may not have a mechanical arm - fiercely devoted to the organisation that took her in as a troubled young woman.

First published in 1926, this book is Willa Cather's sparest and most dramatic novel, a dark and prescient portrait of a marriage that subverts our oldest notions about the nature of domestic happiness.

Lillian Hartwick is in Wellington, Washington, caring for her cousin and assisting the postmaster when February snows bring all train traffic to a halt. Slow-witted but kind Griffin Jones, who works odd jobs while enduring taunts from rail workers, tries to gain Lillian's interest, but she is awaiting her fiancé's arrival from California. Predawn thunderstorms on Tuesday, March 1, 1910, trigger a devastating avalanche, sweeping two trains down Stevens Pass. Lillian and Griffin work together to help survivors, including Griffin's tormentors, and their feelings for each other grow.

Helena Kostyszak is an oddity—an educated female ethnic minority lecturing at a university in Krakow at the outbreak of WWII. When the Germans close the university and force Jews into the ghetto, she spirits out a friend's infant daughter and flees to her small village in the southern hills. Helena does everything in her power to protect her family, but it may not be enough. It will take all of her strength and God's intervention for both of them to survive the war and the ethnic cleansing to come.

Mary Wishram is desperate to hang on to her few loved ones, a brother fighting in the South Pacific and Japanese friends in a relocation camp. Determined to end the war by any means necessary, she is willing to use her language skills as Yakama tribe member to become a spy and face any danger to bring them all home safe. John Painted Horse struggles with the loss of his father who died in WWI for a country that didn’t consider him a United States citizen, much less give him the right to vote. He is desperate to bring long overdue recognition and honor to his people, no matter the cost.