Showing results by narrator "Jennifer Jill Araya" in All Categories

Set entirely at Wybrany College - a school where the wealthy keep their kids safe from the chaos erupting in the cities - Four by Four is a novel of insinuation and gossip, in which the truth about Wybrany's "program" is always palpable but never explicit. The mysteries populating the novel open with the disappearance of one of the "special", scholarship students. As the first part unfolds, it becomes clear that all is not well in Wybrany and that something more sordid lurks beneath the surface.

East Berlin, a few years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Eva, a retired nurse living in poverty in a slum-like apartment block, makes it through her day on a combination of stimulants and sleeping pills, wine and brandy. She waits for visits from her married lover and makes occasional attempts at contact with her distant daughter. Her friendly teenaged neighbor is her closest companion. Then her American niece, Maggie, arrives in Berlin. Eva is thrilled. But happiness begins to slide from Eva's grasp as Maggie's own fierce drug addiction reveals itself.

To 12-year-old Molly Nathans, perfect is: the number four; the tip of a newly sharpened No. 2 pencil; a crisp white pad of paper; her neatly aligned glass animal figurines. What's not perfect is Molly's mother leaving the family to take a faraway job with the promise to return in one year. Molly knows that promises are sometimes broken, so she hatches a plan to bring her mother home: Win the Lakeville Middle School Poetry Slam Contest. The winner is honored at a fancy banquet with white tablecloths. Molly is sure her mother would never miss that. Right?

Hope Taylor is ready to start her new life as the first female pastor of Faith Chapel Episcopal Church in Apple Springs. The Northern California town's quaint cottages, bungalows, and shops promise a fresh start. But where is Father Christopher? The kindly old rector who hired Pastor Hope was supposed to meet her upon her arrival, but he's nowhere to be seen. Hope's faith springs eternal, so she explores the little white church hoping to find Father Christopher. But when she enters the columbarium, she instead finds church elder Stanley King - his skull crushed by a fallen burial urn.

Ren Kolins is a silver wielder - a dangerous thing to be in the kingdom of Erdis, where magic has been outlawed for a century. Ren is just trying to survive, sticking to a life of petty thievery, card games, and pit fighting to get by. But when a wealthy rebel leader discovers her secret, he offers her a fortune to join his revolution. The caveat: she won't see a single coin until they overthrow the King.

A young American woman arrives in Florence from Boston, knowing no one and speaking little Italian. But Hannah is isolated in a more profound way, estranged from her own identity after a bout with starvation that has left her life and body in ruins. She is determined to recover in Florence, a city saturated with beauty, vitality, and food - as well as a dangerous history of sainthood for women who starved themselves for God.

Taylor Lipin has made it her life's mission to leave her hometown and its ridiculous, century-old feud with the Porters behind. But when her sister needs help running the family inn, Taylor agrees to return to Helen, Alaska on a temporary, definitely not longer than two weeks, basis. Or so she thinks, until she's quite literally swept off her feet and into enemy territory by three happy huskies and their drool-worthy owner, Dr. Josh Krane. Though Josh didn't grow up in Helen with the rest of his Porter cousins, he's heard the stories: Porters rescue huskies. The Lipins are cat people.

It’s not every day you discover you might be related to Anastasia…or that the tragic princess actually survived her assassination attempt and has been living as the woman you know as Aunt Anna. For Jess Morgan, who is growing tired of living her life to please everyone else, discovering her late aunt’s diaries shows her she’s not the only one struggling to hide who she really is. But was her aunt truly a Romanov princess? Or is this some elaborate hoax? With the help of a supremely dorky but undeniably cute local college student named Evan, Jess digs into the century-old mystery.

The annual River Run is a fall favorite in Stoneybrook. Participants end the race win a commemorative mug from local potter, Josie Cobb. But when one of the mugs is shattered over Josie's ex-husband's head and he's found dead along the riverside trail, the sheriff is sure the potter finally snapped.

They'll squeeze out every last clue.... A new juice bar in Stoneybrook has the town on a delicious health kick. When a woman is found strangled outside the shop, the townspeople swear they've never seen her before. But someone among the locals is lying. They not only recognize the woman but had motive to silence her. Hadley and her twin have three mysteries to solve. Who is the mysterious woman? Why did someone want her dead? And will finding these answers put their lives at risk too?

In this contemporary romance, young Caroline struggles with loneliness after her father's death, her brother’s military deployment, and her mother's deteriorating health. All the while, she juggles graduate school and a full-time job while remaining focused on her future. That is, until Hashim, an exotic stranger, moves into her garage apartment.

American journalist Milly Bennett has covered murders in San Francisco, fires in Hawaii, and a civil war in China, but 1930s Moscow presents her greatest challenge yet. When her young Russian husband is suddenly arrested by the secret police, Milly tries to get him released. But his arrest reveals both painful secrets about her marriage and hard truths about the Soviet state she has been working to serve. Disillusioned and pulled toward the front lines of a captivating new conflict, Milly must find a way to do the right thing for her husband, her conscience, and her heart.

Hannah Morgan is a content producer for internet sensation and millionaire playboy, Mathew Albrecht. When she discovers his possible ties to a global terrorist organisation, her investigation becomes more troubling the deeper she goes. Could her client’s involvement also be linked to the death of her husband years earlier or is it something more sinister? Enlisting two ex-military guns for hire, a young hacker and her dead husband's AI, Hannah must confront the demons of her past to save the future.

While the Pretty Jam Good kitchen is under renovation, Hadley is thrilled to be a judge in the annual Grande Bake Off. That all changes when the front-runner is murdered, and Hadley's friend Mickie becomes the main suspect. Positive she can help clear her friend's name, Hadley begins sifting through the clues. Snow is on the ground, and fear is in the air.

Georgia Winston is now dating Detective Cal Perkins, planning a Christmas program, and navigating her relationship with her twin stepbrothers. Just another day. But then her church’s youth pastor dies of poisoning, and she’s the only one who hears his final word, “Anchor.” After the youth pastor’s girlfriend disappears, Georgia starts asking questions. Too many. When she’s almost run off the road, she goes on the offensive - with her stepbrothers’ help - and starts putting the pieces of the murder together.

We’re meant to live in such ongoing satisfaction in Jesus and transformation by Jesus that others are drawn to him through us - and all without joining a convent, hauling our sleeping bags to church, or barricading ourselves in the bathroom with our Bibles and prayer journals. The truth is that we can invest in all those religious activities and still be God-starved refugees going through the motions unless we learn how to trust Jesus to do in us what God asks of us.

The moment Chloe Romano meets Liam Esposito, sparks flare like lightning between them. But the handsome stranger disappears without so much as asking for her number. Shaking off her disappointment, Chloe continues on to the Quantico Training Academy with her best friend Jenna so they can pursue their life-long dream of becoming FBI agents. Once she begins training, Chloe is shocked to find herself face to face with Liam again. Just when Chloe begins to hope they can have something more than a professional relationship, a covert mission goes wrong....

The war had taken everything from Lina Sucherin - her parents, sisters, a fledgling romance...even her faith in herself and her psychic abilities. All of it ripped away with the fall of the Third Reich and the brutal Soviet sack of Berlin. Three years later, amid the suspicion, paranoia, and fledgling brutality of communist East Germany, danger threatens the only people Lina cares about, forcing her to overcome her lingering self-doubt.

What happens when you're middle-aged? Is it over? Will you change or remain the same? What will you do with the second half of your life? All of the short stories and essays in this collection illuminate this incredibly interesting and vital stage. All characters demonstrate how they have chosen to navigate this new world. Some are more successful than others, but all are interesting.

There’s more to becoming a top chef for 17-year-old Isabella Fields than just not getting chopped...especially when the chances of things heating up with an intriguing boy and becoming a food star in the kitchen are both on the chopping block. Aspiring chef Isa’s family life has fallen apart after the death of her Cuban abuela and the divorce of her parents. She moves in with her dad and her new stepmom, Margo, in Lyon, France, where Isa feels like an outsider in her father’s new life.