Showing results by narrator "Amy Bentley" in All Categories

It's been two years since the night that changed Ashley's life. Two years since she was raped by her brother's teammate. And a year since she sat in a court and watched as he was given a slap on the wrist sentence. But the years have done nothing to stop the pain. It's been two years of hell for Derek. His family is totally messed up, and he and his sister are barely speaking. He knows he handled it all wrong. Now at college, he has to come to terms with what happened, and the rape culture that he was inadvertently a part of that destroyed his sister's life.

Growing up Amish and leaving the fold, Emma Gingerich left her Amish community in Eagleville, Missouri, at the age of 18. Her memoir Runaway Amish Girl: The Great Escape captivates even the timid listener. Disagreeing with the beliefs of Amish traditions and upbringing, the pressure became too much for her to bear. Forced to make a personal decision, Emma found the courage to leave the only life she had ever known. She had no idea the emotional turmoil she'd inflict on her family and friends.

Molly Roberts is a romantic at heart. But after becoming the guardian of her three younger siblings, she had to put her romantic inclinations on hold, vowing instead to do whatever it took to keep her family together. Beau Barnes was born and raised on Eagle Mountain Ranch, a quintessential cowboy through and through. He's just never met a woman who sparked something inside him—that one woman he knows will be his one and only . . . Until he meets Molly.

Ruby always longed for adventure - hiking for months on end or living like a gypsy in an RV - but instead, she settled for a comfortable relationship with a man who worshipped her. That is until he died, leaving her a teardrop trailer and the permission to find her adventure and a true love who would curl her toes. What did she wind up with? A stray dog who just might be her dead husband reincarnated and a good-looking photographer sniffing after her who thinks Ruby is fantastic.

It’s summertime in beautiful Bliss, Georgia, and while second-chance dress shop owner Bonnie Balfour would prefer to spend her time redesigning gowns for the upcoming Founder’s Day parade, her grandma Gigi is too hot under the collar to concentrate. It seems Gigi’s former friend is using her recipe to sell cobbler at the local festivities, and she’s claiming Gigi’s treat as her own!

Life hasn't sparkled too brightly for Bonnie Balfour over the past few years, but a heart-breaking divorce has brought her back to her small rural hometown of Bliss, Georgia, and things are starting to shape up. The proud new owner of Bless Her Heart - a second chance dress shop and boutique on the town square - Bonnie thinks 38 might not be too late for a fresh start in life after all.

At age 14, Zelda Rossi witnessed the unthinkable, and has spent the last 10 years hardening her heart against the guilt and grief. She channels her pain into her art: a dystopian graphic novel where vigilantes travel back in time to stop heinous crimes before they happen. Zelda pitches her graphic novel to several comic book publishers in New York City, only to have her hopes crash and burn. Circumstances leave her stranded in an unfamiliar city, and in an embarrassing moment of weakness, she meets a guarded young man with a past he'd do anything to change....

With her first witch exam looming in front of her, Amalie's got a lot on her plate. Between practice exams, a mystery man who seems to hold some family secrets, pre-teen Taylin skipping school, and the hot-but-distracting detective finally asking her on a date, she's not sure what to do first. When one of her Aunts shows up to a family dinner with blood on her hands, her to-do list suddenly gets a whole lot longer. When the murder of a local stitch-witch turns out to be tied to the murder of her Great-Aunt 15 years ago, the past and future collide.

I wasn't supposed to kiss my best friend's sister when I was a college senior and she was barely eighteen... and I'm definitely not supposed to kiss her again now that she's my assistant.

It's summer at the Heartwood Hotel, and everyone is in a flurry getting ready for Ms. Prickles's wedding to Mr. Quillson! Meanwhile, a new mouse guest named Strawberry comes to stay. She's sweet and soft-spoken like Mona, and gifted in the kitchen just as Mona's mother was—could Strawberry be a long-lost relative? But when lightning strikes part of Fernwood Forest and starts a fire, all thoughts go to the guests and staff hurrying to leave to make sure their homes and families are safe. Mona works to protect the Heartwood from harm, but as the fire rages on, it's becoming dangerous to stay.

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.

We're all that stands between Avilion and ruin. The Seelie Palace was destroyed, and the royal family is in danger. But the Unstained Souls aren't done with us. Fortunately, the guys are willing to put their differences aside to search for the princess—and the Queen herself is ready to go on the warpath and destroy all mortals living in the Fae lands. But if we don't find her in time...this might be the end of everything we know.

It was the early 1900s when Obadiah (Oba) and Merriweather's (May's) parents died tragically, leaving them orphans at ten and eleven years old. When none of their nearby relations volunteer to take them in, they are set on a train to Arkansas to go live on their Amish aunt and uncle's cotton farm. Once there, it didn't take long to discover they would be treated cruelly, no matter what they did. May, always anxious to be a godly young lady, took on more and more responsibility, trying desperately to keep the peace and convince her older brother not to run away.

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.

Claire Hansen was a Keeper, gifted - or cursed - with the job of being one of Earth's Guardians, "summoned" to areas where anomalies existed, where rifts had opened - or had been opened. Such places were the world's danger spots where, if they weren't sealed in time, all the minions of hell might break through. After she'd closed the portal into hell at the Elysian Fields Guest House, Claire and her talking cat, Austin, found they'd acquired a new companion - Dean.

Now an official Witch Apprentice, Amalie is back to work and busier than ever. With the new school year on the horizon, she's got PTA meetings and parent-teacher conferences, on top of all her magical responsibilities. Oh, and Taylin is being possessed by ghosts, boyfriend Reese is a temporary houseguest, and Amalie has been recruited as a chaperone on Taylin's next field trip. When the head of the PTA, Becky, is found dead after Amalie serving her lunch, both Amalie and Taylin are tossed into a murder investigation of the human variety this time.

One year after the tragic loss of her husband, Mercer Leighton returns home to Rarity Cove to be near family and resume her former job at the St. Clair resort. What she doesn't count on is being witness to a double murder in nearby Charleston's French Quarter. Charleston Homicide Detective Noah Ford is no stranger to the dark, violent side of humanity. Nor is he happy about the lone eyewitness in his investigation being part of one of the South Carolina Lowcountry's most prominent families. However, when an attempt is made on the beautiful widow's life, Noah vows to protect her.

Enslaved for years by a powerful crime lord, Bryn has been forced to harness her elemental magic to create vile potions that have harmed countless supernaturals. When the compound she's called home is attacked, Bryn escapes and tastes freedom for the first time in more than a decade. But when the sins of her past race to catch up with her, she realizes a taste might be all the freedom she's destined for. Bryn's unusually strong earth magic puts a target on her back, and when she's hit with a deadly curse, her only hope comes in the form of four dangerously sexy supernaturals.

She swore off the man who broke her heart. He’s determined to win her back. When Emerson hears a rumor that her ex-husband, NFL quarterback Vincent Lake, is bringing a plus-one to a wedding they’re both set to attend, she signs up for online dating and hopes to find a guy impressive enough to make her famous ex jealous for the night. Vincent should be on top of the world when he leads his team to the playoffs, but when his best friend accidentally matches with Emerson, it’s like a dagger to his heart.

The 21st century has seen very positive movement for LGBT+ rights. In the last few years, the overturning of DOMA, the SCOTUS ruling in favor of the Marriage Equality Act, American transgender politicians elected to office, and landmark moments such as Apple becoming the most valuable company in the world under the leadership of an openly gay CEO have advanced LGBT awareness and understanding. In a world full of LGBT questions, The ABC's of LGBT+ has the answers.