Showing results by narrator "Lauren Fortgang" in All Categories

The traditional “check list” of becoming an adult has existed for decades. Sociologists have long identified these markers of adulthood as: completing school, leaving home, establishing a career/becoming financially independent, getting married, and having children. But the signifiers of being in our thirties today are not the same - repeated economic upheaval, rising debt, decreasing marriage rates, fertility treatments, and a more open-minded society have all led to a shifting definition of adulthood.

Two children dressed in rags are discovered in the grocery store. They bare their teeth. They growl. They are almost feral. Where did these children come from? Where are their parents? There are mysteries to be solved.

Josh Kowalski is tired of holding down the fort - better known as the Northern Star Lodge - while his siblings are off living their dreams. Now that his oldest brother has returned to Whitford, Maine for good, Josh is free to chase some dreams of his own. As the daughter of the lodge's longtime housekeeper, Katie Davis grew up alongside the Kowalski kids. Though she's always been "one of the guys", her feelings for Josh are anything but sisterly. And after a hot late-night encounter in the kitchen, it's clear Josh finally sees her as the woman she is.

Running from an abusive past, nurse Chloe Moreno arms herself with a new identity and seeks an uncomplicated life in Eden Falls. But her security in the once-peaceful community is crumbling fast. Not only is there a kidnapper on the loose, but it seems her worst nightmare has tracked her down. She needs someone to trust…and no one fits the bill better than Dr. Derek Colton. Resident healer and protector: that's all Derek is expected to be. A new relationship - especially with his beautiful, vulnerable new nurse - is a risk he shouldn't take. Yet her life's in his hands....

Conquest built the Celes Basin. But when enemies once more threaten its borders, the Lord Reacher declares himself supreme ruler to enforce unity. Old angers erupt, threatening to tear the basin apart from within. As chaos sweeps across the land, Tesha, Naili, and Ashadi must fight to survive political enemies, long-buried secrets, and monsters both within and without.

In an alternate 19th-century Italy, Elsa has an incredible gift: She can craft new worlds with precise lines of script written in books. But political extremists have stolen the most dangerous book ever scribed - one that can rewrite the Earth itself. Now Elsa must track down the friend who betrayed her and recover the book before its destructive power is unleashed. Can she handle the secrets she’ll uncover along the way - including the ones hiding in her own heart?

Olivia Tithe was excited for the summer and spending it with her best friend, Stern. But that was ruined when he was murdered...by Olivia's mother. Flashing forward, Olivia's life has been transformed since that awful night. After her mother's incarceration, Olivia must move on, but she hates her father's new fiancée, Heather, and with her dad's new real estate development (she calls it Ghost Town) in the works, she barely sees him. But a new boy, Austin, has kindled feelings inside her that she hasn't felt since Stern's death. Arriving at the same time as this new guy is a mysterious note that brings Stern's murder back to the forefront.

There are many ways the world could end. A fire. A catastrophic flood. A super eruption that spews lakes of lava. Ellis Kimball has made note of all possible scenarios, and she is prepared for each one. What she doesn’t expect is meeting Hannah Marks in her therapist’s waiting room. Hannah calls their meeting fate. After all, Ellis is scared about the end of the world; Hannah knows when it’s going to happen.

Corpse Pose: Listeners will bend over backward for the debut of the first yoga mystery series. Ever since her husband ditched her - for another man - A.J. hasn't exactly been on the road to inner peace. Then her yoga-guru aunt is found dead, and A.J.'s named the sole heir to her lucrative yoga studio - making her a multimillionaire, a prime suspect, and the killer's next target.

It's 1965 in a tight-knit working-class neighborhood in Queens, New York, and Ruth Malone - a single mother who works long hours as a cocktail waitress - wakes to discover her two small children, Frankie Jr. and Cindy, have gone missing. Later that day, Cindy's body is found in a derelict lot a half mile from her home, strangled. Ten days later, Frankie Jr.'s decomposing body is found. Immediately, all fingers point to Ruth. Pete Wonicke is a rookie tabloid reporter who finagles an assignment to cover the murders. He begins digging into the case.

An unlikely pair of voices - the world's most recognizable beauty icon and "America's rabbi"- come together to diagnose how meaningful, passionate sex is on the decline in Western culture, and what is necessary to save it. Sex is dying in America. Inundated with sex and starved for it, obsessed with it yet clueless about it, we are slowly forgetting how to make love. The crisis of modern sexuality is seen in high divorce rates, in the degradation of sexuality through pornography, and tasteless displays of empty, counterfeit erotica.

Here, in her first collection in eight years, McCorkle collects 11 brand-new stories bristling with her characteristic combination of wit and weight. In honeymoon shoes, mud-covered hunting boots, or glass slippers, all of the women in these stories march to a place of new awareness, in one way or another, transforming their lives. They make mistakes, but they don’t waste time hiding behind them. They move on. They are strong. And they’re funny, even when they are sad.

Claire, the Devil's assistant, knows very little about the world she was dropped into five years ago, when she inherited her mother's unpaid debt to the Demon King. She certainly didn't expect to be a contender for the Fallen Queen's throne, a target for the Druid King's mafia, or a suspect in the murder of Junior, the Devil's oldest hell spawn. In a last-ditch effort to save her life and get out of her deal with the Devil she sets out to solve Junior's murder only to be taken prisoner by the four most dangerous immortal hell spawn alive.

Kay Malloy always knew hers would be a life of service. Following the tragic death of her humanitarian parents, Kay and her brother Christopher were raised in a world of wealth and culture by their godparents. With ambition and selflessness, Kay joins the FBI to honor her parents' legacy, even while Christopher's life grows increasingly aimless. Paramilitary and male-dominated, the FBI could be an intimidating employer to anyone less confident, devoted, and insightful than Kay.

The powerful head of the covert mercenary organization The Committee, Isobel Lambert is a sleek, sophisticated professional who comes into contact with some of the most dangerous people in the world. But beneath Isobel's cool exterior a ghost exists, haunting her with memories of another life...a life that ended long ago.

Minerva Keen is the absolute best kid detective Chicago has ever seen, and she’s hungry for a new mystery to solve with her friends. But a know-it-all new girl, Zoe, tries to take control of MK’s detective club. Worse still, Ms. Claire Voyant, who has always had a soft spot for Minerva, takes Zoe's side. It’s clear to Minerva that someone…or something has taken over her favorite teacher.

Alexandra McCord's perfect life was crumbling. After stumbling upon the body of a dead woman, she found that her working paradise on Moon Bay Island had turned into a nightmare. Each piece of evidence she discovered seemed to point toward someone on the island - and to herself as the next victim. But who would do this? And why had David Denham, the ex-husband she hadn't seen for more than a year, chosen this moment to reappear in her life?

After a catastrophic spill turns the country into a vast chemical wasteland, those who could afford it retreated to fortresses - self-contained communities run by powerful corporations. But for Mari Thistle, life on the outside - in the Red Zone - is a constant struggle. To protect her family, Mari teams up with the mysterious Thorne Goodman. Together, they'll face an evil plot in both the underworld of the Red Zone and the society inside the fortresses that could destroy those on the outside...for good.

Meet Dahlia Moss, the reigning queen of unfortunate decision making in the St. Louis area. Unemployed, broke, and on her last bowl of ramen, she's not living her best life. But that's all about to change. Before Dahlia can make her life any messier on her own, she's offered a job. A job that she's woefully underqualified for. A job that will lead her to a murder, an MMORPG, and possibly a fella (or two?).

A psychological thriller of obsession and betrayal, where three characters are set on a collision course: Natalie, a grieving daughter with a history she dare not reveal; her brother, who has some dark secrets of his own; and a beautiful woman named Catherine with a talent for making people in trouble disappear.