Showing results by narrator "Patricia Rodriguez" in All Categories

Then: Three-year-old Ally was found alone in a parking lot. She was barefoot and dressed only in a yellow sundress. In the middle of winter. What kind of person would abandon their daughter? Now: Fifteen years later and Ally has a new family. But her real father has sent her a letter. And now, Ally is missing.

Winifred Allen needs a vacation. Stifled by a soul-crushing job, devastated by the death of her beloved brother, and lonely after the end of a 15-year marriage, Wini is feeling vulnerable. So when her three best friends insist on a high-octane getaway for their annual girls trip, she signs on, despite her misgivings. What starts out as an invigorating hiking and rafting excursion in the remote Allagash Wilderness soon becomes an all-too-real nightmare: a freak accident leaves the women stranded, separating them from their raft and everything they need to survive.

Three young girls are missing, all of them cold cases and all of them forgotten. When Detective Jess Bishop identifies a disturbing link between them, she’s determined to find out what happened to the girls as she fights to reopen their cases. Then a fourth child is taken. Eight-year-old Ava is snatched from her hospital bed, and Jess suspects right away that it’s linked to the other cases. As Ava’s illness worsens, Jess is in a race against time to save the girl before it’s too late. But is she missing something right in front of her, something that could put other lives in danger?

A Barefoot Summer is a beautiful, touching story about coming home, the importance of family, and the special place that first loves hold in our hearts. Sometimes you find perfect where you least expect it. Libby Potter has just lost the perfect job, the perfect apartment and the perfect boyfriend. Moving back to the home town that she couldn’t wait to escape when she was younger was definitely not on her to-do list. Especially as it means running into the man whose heart she broke when she left.

Panic surges through her lungs as she feels the weight of the ocean above her. She frantically kicks her legs to try and reach the boat. But someone’s grip is tightening around her ankles, and they won’t let go until she’s taken her final breath… As the sun rises over North Carolina’s Outer Banks, eight sorority sisters gather on the docks, excited to start their reunion weekend with a diving excursion. But when only seven of them return to the boat alive, Detective Casey White is the first person to investigate.

Decades after Nathalie Hart's fateful mission to Bethesda, Earth teeters on the brink of collapse. As the planet's resources dwindle, the orbital elites of the ruling Yun Ju play a dangerous game with Earth's population from space. Jason Nevsky, driven by his aunt Nathalie's legacy, fights to save a starving planet. But when he uncovers a sinister political plot, he realizes the Yun Ju will stop at nothing to maintain their power. His mission becomes a desperate gambit that could either save Earth or doom it forever.

Scientific research is on the cusp of being able to grow babies outside human bodies, from machines, for the very first time. Claire Horn takes us on a truly radical and urgent deep dive into the most challenging and pertinent questions of our age. Could artificial wombs allow women to redistribute the work of gestating? How do we protect reproductive and abortion rights? And who exactly gets access to this technology, in our vastly unequal world?

For Sydney Flynn, her treasured family home, Starlight Cottage, is her sanctuary. The house on the beach, surrounded by glittering turquoise waters, is the perfect place for her fresh start, piecing her life back together after it fell apart. That’s until her knees almost buckle at the sight of Nate Henderson. Nate is back to make it up to Sydney, but can she forgive him for all the heartbreak he caused? And it’s not only about her - Sydney is a single mother to Robby, her whole world, and she won’t let just anyone into their lives. Can she trust that Nate has really changed?

Because Audrey died in a car crash when I was a toddler. At least, that’s what my mother told me. Afterwards, my father couldn’t cope with the grief, and he left us. She brought me up on her own and was always fiercely protective. She never let me out of her sight. Now, as Audrey and I sip wine on my deck by the lakeside and begin to piece together the puzzle of our family history, it turns out the past didn’t happen the way I was told.

Cory is the child of two worlds: when his birth-people come, they will break his mother's heart...but they may also be this world's only salvation. Molly and Gene Myers rescued Cory and kept him safe from those who wanted to use his remarkable knowledge and power for their own ends...and in doing so, they rediscovered themselves and fell in love with a remarkable child. In this gripping sequel to Our Child of the Stars, Cory and his new family are having to deal with the consequences of fame - but Molly is more concerned about the future, for Cory's people are on their way.

How well do you really know your husband? Grace Dalton is trying to put her life back together after her husban,d John, died suddenly in a hit and run. Her perfect world is collapsing around her, the home she hoped to fill with children is huge and empty, and she’s paralysed with grief. But as Grace sorts through her husband’s belongings, she realises the man she loved was lying to her. There’s a mysterious list of names hidden among his things, a secret bank account, and a shocking revelation about his family that he kept from her since the day they met.

Christmas may come but once a year but human emotions, the driving force of our characters, are with us every day. Yet, somehow these same emotions when they happen at Christmas seem amplified; we seem more tender to their touch, their words. Whether it’s a long-lost returning soldier wondering how best to return to the arms of his family without too great a risk of shock... Or a prodigal son whose taken path has driven pain into his own and others hearts… These stories reveal much about the human condition.

When Kaye Bennett, matriarch of the Bennett family, summons her adult children to the shore house, she anticipates a vacation full of nostalgia. It’s a chance to relive the carefree joy of summers past: basking in the hot sun, cooling off in the surf, and enjoying long, relaxing evenings watching fireflies on the deck. But when Kaye’s son and daughter arrive, late and uncooperative, it becomes clear the family desperately needs to reconnect.

Ex-cop Sally Fairburn has put the world of crime behind her, but when her old boss contacts her about working her first case as a detective, she can’t resist. The high-profile Austin case will be her first opportunity to prove herself. Retired accountant Joseph Austin has been found dead and his wife, Fiona, in a coma, in their exclusive Peakhurst mansion. It’s a suspected burglary gone wrong, but something about the murder scene doesn’t add up. Why is nothing valuable missing?

A vivid, brutal, razor-sharp debut about a woman who carves out her share of the American dream by living as a man. 1946: at the apogee of the American Century, the confidence inspired by victory in World War II has spawned a culture of suffocating conformity in thrall to the cult of masculine privilege. In the hardscrabble industrial city of Trenton, New Jersey, a woman made strong by wartime factory work kills her army veteran husband in a domestic brawl, disposes of his body and assumes his identity.

I’ve worked so hard to be the lawyer I am today. Helping as many women as I can—including my sister—escape toxic marriages makes it all worth it. But as I stand in the courtroom, listening to this poor woman break down sobbing, my stomach twists. I can’t look. Her husband says she can’t be trusted. Her child is about to be taken away from her. And it’s all my fault.

Did you know that images of the mind shape how we think, feel and behave? The way we frame scenarios has the power to impact our attitude and actions. But what if we could consciously choose to cast things in a positive light? Equipping you with the tools you need to harness the power of mental imagery, "Imagine" will help you achieve your goals and reach your full potential. With Dr Lydia Ievleva’s extensive experience incorporating mental imagery with a wide range of athletes, business and health professionals, her tried and tested advice will allow you to take back control.

Anne gets exactly the welcome to the neighborhood she expects: a basket of homemade cupcakes delivered by the woman next door and her best friend. One wears a curious smile while the other studies her every move. When Talia and Tabitha leave, Anne throws the treats in the trash. She knows what to expect from the new neighbors. Talia with her perfect husband and pale-peach sweater sets, and Tabitha who reigns as queen in the close-knit community. That’s why she chose this house.

Baby is 12 years old. Her mother died not long after she was born, and she lives in a string of seedy flats in Montreal’s red light district with her father Jules, who takes better care of his heroin addiction than he does of his daughter. Jules is an intermittent presence and a constant source of chaos in Baby’s life - the turmoil he brings with him and the wreckage he leaves in his wake. But Baby has a gift - the ability to find the good in people, a genius for spinning stories and for cherishing the small crumbs of happiness that fall into her lap.

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born in 1830 in Amherst Massachusetts. Rightly regarded as a major American poet, her life was sheltered, introverted, and reclusive. Despite writing over 1800 poems, only a dozen or so were published during her lifetime. Her structures and wordings are at times difficult to get to grips with, though recurring themes of religion and death certainly shadow many of her works.