Showing results by narrator "Sands Xe" in All Categories

An amphibious aircraft crashes in Maine, a young girl skinny-dips with her elders, a distraught cruise ship dancer boards a water taxi in Grenada, and travelers to Dubai and Abu Dhabi long for familiar oceans; back in New England, small-town artists try to smudge out their tedium with seaside transgressions. Amphibians celebrates home in a cross-cultural way, and the sensation of feeling not quite right in one's own skin, on land and near water, at home and abroad.

With divorce looming, Paige MacInnes isn’t sure what to do with herself. She’s spent so much time being everything to everyone else that she’s pretty sure she’s forgotten how to just be Paige, the woman. Maybe, she’ll be able to find herself again in Magnolia Bloom.... With the help of loved ones and lifelong friends (and maybe even a sexy Scotsman), Paige will need to figure out how to preserve the legacy of the MacInnes estate - all while learning the importance of trusting her heart, the power of second chances, and ensuring her own happily ever after.

Kaylee Heart would rather run through a roaring fire than endure even a minute of public speaking. Put in an 80-hour work week? No problem. Shut down her grandfather’s gold-digging girlfriend? Easy peasy. Stand in front of an auction crowd and call for bids? Show her the exit. So she has no idea how Gerald, the golden-voiced auctioneer she’s been crushing on at the local auction house, can find the courage to stand on stage every week, with all those eyes on him. But as cruel fate would have it, she is about to find out.

In the near year and a half following her tragic ordeal in She Dreams of Fire, Agatha “Aggy” Grae and her allies have been hunting the remnants of the Umbra coven. By fighting back against the corrupt witches who imprisoned and killed the Fae for their blood, Aggy and her friends have become beacons of hope. But inner turmoil plagues the team, as the price for freedom is a weight upon their souls.

Terrorism and radicalization came to the forefront of news and politics in the US after the unforgettable attacks of September 11th, 2001. When George W. Bush famously asked "Why do they hate us?," the President echoed the confusion, anger and fear felt by millions of Americans, while also creating a politicized discourse that has come to characterize and obscure discussions of both phenomena in the media.

The year 1967. Violet MacInnes resents her genealogy assignment. Everybody knows her great-grandfather was a sea captain. Everybody knows her great-grandmother was the most sought-after debutante in Galveston. Everybody knows they defied society, married, and built an authentic Sottish castle nestled in a magnolia grove.

Nicole Hennessy's life revolves around her Zen practice at the Boston Zendo, seeking spiritual solace in the tenets of Buddhism. After a decade of grueling spiritual practice under her master's tutelage, living on a shoestring as a shop clerk, Nicole has become sexually and emotionally entangled with her mentor. To break free, she must retrace her entire life's journey - from her strict Irish Catholic upbringing to her drug-fueled year as a teenage runaway. Even as she reinvents herself in New York City, her master's intoxicating voice pursues her, whispering dangerously in her ear.

Chicago obstetrician Mackenzie “Mac” Huntress set her standards for men very high early on. It’s been over twenty years since she fell for a fictional movie heartthrob, and Mac’s content to wait for the real version to come along; it’s her nagging mother who’s not happy with the timeline. So Mac falls back on her lifelong Mom-surviving skill - lying. The latest fabrication: a handsome neurologist named Michael. But when Mac’s little sister announces her engagement, Mac is expected to introduce her elusive “plus-one” at the wedding.

Finding Mrs. Warnecke tells the inspiring story of Cindi Rigsbee, a three-time Teacher of the Year, and Barbara Warnecke, the first-grade teacher who had a profound and lasting impact on Cindi's life. Cindi, an insecure child who craved positive attention, started her first-grade year with a teacher who was emotionally abusive and played favorites in the classroom. Two months into the school year, her principal came into the classroom and announced that half the students were being moved to another classroom.

Consie is home for a funeral when she stumbles upon a family letter sent from Germany in 1945, which contains staggering news: Consie's great-uncle Hermann, who was transported to Auschwitz with his wife and three daughters, might have escaped. This seems improbable to Consie. Did people escape from Auschwitz? Could her great-uncle have been among them? What happened to Hermann? Did anyone know? These questions are at the root of Consie's excavation of her family's history as she seeks, 70 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, to discover what happened to Hermann.

The Voucher Promise examines the Housing Choice Voucher Program, colloquially known as "Section 8", and how it shapes the lives of families living in a Baltimore neighborhood called Park Heights. Eva Rosen tells stories about the daily lives of homeowners, voucher holders, renters who receive no housing assistance, and the landlords who provide housing.

Jules Monroe is a woman whose hard work and dedication has built a rewarding life for herself and her family. Now in her late 50s, she gives selflessly to her husband, kids, community, and their charter business. But everything comes to an abrupt halt when her body says enough, and her mind yearns for respite and a place to hide from past hurts. Oldest son, Jonah Monroe, is a veteran haunted by a childhood tragedy. His past includes things he isn't proud of and can't quite shake. When his chance to be a hero finally arrives, it comes with strings attached.

Jenn Berney was one of those people who knew she was destined for motherhood - it wasn't a question of if, but when. So when she and her wife, Kelly, decided to start building their family, they took the next logical step: They went to a fertility clinic. But they soon found themselves entrenched in a medical establishment that didn't know what to do with people like them. With no man factoring into their relationship, doctors were at best embarrassed and at worst disparaging of the couple. Soon Jenn found herself stepping outside of the system determined to disregard her.

From the author of the National Book Award longlisted epic The Great Offshore Grounds, here is the debut novel that launched her career - a story of activism, police violence, and white guilt in a not so distant dystopian America.

When Mimi finds out her favorite words - simple words, like apricot, blackberry, buttercup - are disappearing from the English language, she elects her granddaughter Brook as their Keeper. And did you know? The only way to save words is to know them.

What exactly is the difference between a love letter and a suicide note? Is there really any difference at all? These might be the questions posed by Dear Sweet Filthy World, Caitlin R. Kiernan’s 14th collection of short fiction, comprising 28 uncollected and impossible-to-find stories. Here are 28 tales of apocalypse and rebirth, of miraculous transformation and utter annihilation. Here is the place where professing your undying devotion might be precisely the same thing as signing your own death warrant or worse.

Meredith, a middle-aged and unhappily married mother, played her own trick on fate, embarking on a lengthy affair with a dark, handsome stranger. But guilt, that most tenacious of hunters, finally catches up with her...as does something far more threatening. Illicit relationships harbor no innocents. And when Meredith attempts to break free, she learns fate’s more vicious tricks await her.

A Is for Alien is award-winning author Caitlín R. Kiernan’s first collection devoted entirely to her science-fiction work. It includes the critically acclaimed novelette Riding the White Bull, along with seven other tales of a less-than-utopian future. Ranging from the wastelands and mountains of Mars to the streets of a late 21st-century Manhattan, from the moons of Europa and Saturn to an iceless Antarctica, these tales bring Kiernan’s trademark brand of the eco-gothic to bear on what it means to be human and the paths and decisions that may face mankind....

Crash and burn pretty much describes Lindsey Gerber’s last six months at her law firm, where she hoped to make partner. Now, every goal she’s made is suddenly out the window. She moves to Pine Valley, looking for a new start. On day one, she meets pro-hockey player Tyler Nelson, who’s recovering from an injury and in a physical therapy program that includes things like hiking the ski resort, which he hates, and makes no secret of. He also makes no secret of his interest in Lindsey.

When Maurie Ledbetter moves back to her hometown to open her dream shop, she calls a local construction crew for help. Former teenage crush Grant Shelton shows up on her front porch, answering the call for the construction job. Seeing Grant again brings back Maurie’s memories of her troubled childhood, and she doesn’t know if spending time around Grant is the best way to move on. But when she discovers Grant has gone through difficulties of his own, Maurie realizes that he might be the key to her own healing.