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In 2013, Sara is a philosophy professor at Kuwait University, having returned to Kuwait from Berkeley in the wake of her mother’s sudden death eleven years earlier. Her main companions are her grandmother’s talking parrot, Bebe Mitu; the family cook, Aasif; and Maria, her childhood ayah and the one person who has always been there for her. Sara’s relationship with Kuwait is complicated; it is a country she always thought she would leave, and a country she recognizes less and less, and yet a certain inertia keeps her there.

While trapped by a snowstorm at a conference, a visiting ornithologist is murdered. Now, nobody may make it home in time for Christmas...unless Meg comes to the rescue.

Until Camryn Neff can return to her “real” life in Chicago, she’s in Wishing Tree to care for her twin sisters. She’s not looking for forever love, not here. But handsome hotelier Jake Crane is a temptation she can’t resist, so she suggests they pair up for the season. No golden rings, no broken hearts. At his side, she sees her hometown through Christmas-colored eyes. The cheer is cheerier, the joy more joyful. She thought she had put her future on hold…but maybe her real life was here all along, waiting for her to come home.

Spring has sprung in Eastport, Maine, and in Jacobia Jake Tiptree's 1823 Federal style fixer-upper, that means a housecleaning so thorough even the skeletons in the closet get polished! But nothing can prepare Jake for what she'll uncover: a trio of mysteries certain to make her usual home repair projects seem as simple as scraping paint. What do an old book hidden in Jake's cellar, the appearance of her ex-husband's ghost, and the murder of her housekeeper's son have in common? Only Jake can jigsaw the clues into place - and she'd better do it fast, before a killer snares her in a trap she can't escape.

In 1985 southern Sudan is ravaged by war. Rebels and government forces battle for control, with ordinary people…people like the boy, Salva Dut…caught in the middle. When Salva's village is attacked, he must embark on a harrowing journey that will propel him through horror and heartbreak, across a harsh desert, and into a strange new life. Years later, in contemporary South Sudan, a girl named Nya must walk eight hours a day to fetch water. The walk is grueling, but there is unexpected hope.

Though Jules has spent her adult life bouncing from one farm to another, it never mattered: home was always where her horses were. But now, newly engaged and pregnant, she is yearning for a place she can truly call home. Alachua Eventing Co-Op once felt like that, but the co-op board is making Jules’ life difficult again, and her good friend (and professional rival) Kit seems destined to take Jules’ spot as head instructor. When Jules’ doctor forbids her from getting into the saddle until the baby comes, Jules has a full-blown existential crisis. Who is she if she’s not on horseback?

Torren King is rock-and-roll’s broodiest bachelor. Mysterious, moody, and coveted by nearly everyone. But to me, he’s just the sad boy who set fire to my heart, then reduced me to ashes in the desert. For four sweltering nights, I burned for him, and he conquered my heart one whispered lyric at a time. But on the fifth night, he shattered me in the way only a flawless rock god can: irreparably, and with devastating finesse.

Emma Lewis has a lot on her plate. A single mother of precocious twin boys, the last thing Emma needs is a man in her life, especially a doctor. So when the town's doctor goes on vacation and his handsome nephew takes over, Emma is shocked to find him accusing her of being a neglectful parent. Clint also needed a sense of peace and calm to try to find his passion for medicine burned out by long shifts in an urban hospital's ER. Angered to find two boys in his clinic with broken wrists, sans parent, he's determined to confront their mother, who dispels his belief that she's neglectful.

If you have not read anything about the Baudelaire orphans, then before you read even one more sentence, you should know this: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are kindhearted and quick-witted, but their lives, I am sorry to say, are filled with bad luck and misery. All of the stories about these three children are unhappy and wretched, and this one may be the worst of them all.

When Mona the Mouse stumbles across the wondrous world of the Heartwood Hotel in the middle of a storm, she desperately hopes they'll let her stay. As it turns out, Mona is precisely the maid they need at the grandest hotel in Fernwood Forest, where animals come from far and wide for safety, luxury, and comfort. But the Heartwood Hotel is not all acorn souffles and soft moss-lined beds. Danger lurks, and as it approaches, Mona finds that this hotel is more than a warm place to spend the night. It might also be a home.

A Long Way Home is the story of two outcasts searching for a place to call their own. After seven years in prison, Duncan Malone returns to Washita, Texas desperately wanting to reclaim his family’s farm. But it is now owned by Franki Taylor, a young unmarried woman who is six months pregnant. In the eyes of the townspeople, they are both suspicious and untrustworthy. So when Duncan starts working for Franki, a storm of gossip threatens to destroy the two of them.

Three stories in one collection! This volume includes The Amusement Park Mystery, The Mystery of the Mixed-Up Zoo, and The Camp-Out Mystery. In The Mystery of the Mixed-Up Zoo, the zoo is wonderful - it has seals and giraffes and elephants and tigers, and Benny’s favorite, a little monkey named Amos. It also has a mystery. Someone is mixing up signs, switching off electricity, and endangering the animals’ lives. If the Boxcar Children want to save the animals, they’ll have to solve the mystery - and fast!

Jackson's class as an Ironwood Monk puts him right in the front line. He gets stronger the more he gets hit and can pass that on to the rest of the team. That is if he can get his mom to actually let him fight. No one, least of all Jackson, fully understands the importance he holds for his family's future or that of all Talos. He will have to navigate challenges both in dungeons and the halls of power if he is to find a new home.

I came to Cherry Peak to find answers. Ones that could change the entire trajectory of my life forever. The idea of searching for the sister I never knew existed was simple enough, but I should have known better than to expect something with such high stakes to go according to plan. It only took one night of dancing between tables in a small town bar for all of said plans to turn to ash. I wasn’t here to fall into the arms of a man who wears his heart on his sleeve and a grin on his all-too handsome face, yet there’s something about Johnny that keeps tugging me closer.

This volume includes: The Animal Shelter Mystery, The Old Motel Mystery, and The Mystery of the Hidden Painting. In The Mystery of the Hidden Painting, the Aldens find a mysterious painting hidden in the attic. The children learn that it is a portrait of their grandmother, whom they never knew, wearing the necklace Grandfather gave her when they were married. The necklace disappeared on their first anniversary - and was never found. Can the Boxcar Children track down a necklace missing for so many years?

Ryan “Sully” Sullivan is a winner. So when the former hockey great accepts a job coaching the bottom rung Boston Beacons, he’s ready to win it all—even if his new assistant coach isn’t exactly his #1 fan. Eric Aronson’s wins have always come with a well-earned reputation for trouble—and were never quite enough to bring home championships. When the new guy skates in and takes the job he’s worked so hard for, he’s not about to fall short again.

Arlo Dilly is young, handsome, and eager to meet the right girl. He also happens to be DeafBlind, a Jehovah’s Witness, and under the strict guardianship of his controlling uncle. His chances of finding someone to love seem slim to none. And yet, it happened once before: Many years ago, at a boarding school for the Deaf, Arlo met the love of his life—a mysterious girl with onyx eyes and beautifully expressive hands which told him the most amazing stories. But tragedy struck, and their love was lost forever.

A hungry, stray dog is the last thing Cara Butter needs. Stranded in Georgia with only her backpack and a few dwindling dollars, she already has too much baggage. Like her twin sister, Hana, who has broken Cara's heart one too many times. After a lifetime of family troubles, and bouncing from one foster home to another, Cara decides to leave it all behind and strike out alone - on foot.

I hope, for your sake, that you have not chosen to listen to this recording because you are in the mood for a pleasant experience. If this is the case, I advise you to put down this audio instantaneously, because of all the audios describing the unhappy lives of the Baudelaire orphans, The Miserable Mill might be the unhappiest yet.

When Dahlia decided to become a foster mother, she had a few caveats: no howling newborns, no delinquents, and above all, no girls. A harrowing incident years before left her a virtual prisoner in her own home, forever wary of the heartbreak and limitation of a girl’s life. Eleven years after they began fostering, Dahlia and Louie consider their family complete, but when the social worker begs them to take a young girl who has been horrifically abused and neglected, they can’t say no.