Showing results by narrator "Erin Spencer" in All Categories

He continued singing it, "Who will wipe away my tears? Who will chase away my fears? Who will sing me to sleep at night? Who will tuck me in real tight? Now that Momma's dead and gone, now that Momma's dead and gone."

In Heather B. Moore's enthralling 1840's historical romance, Heart of the Ocean, Eliza Robinson has turned down the very pretentious Mr. Thomas Beesley's marriage proposal. As a business partner of Eliza's father, Thomas quickly discredits the family and brings disgrace to the Robinson name.

Lady Elanna is fiercely devoted to the king who raised her like a daughter. But when he dies under mysterious circumstances, Elanna is accused of his murder - and must flee for her life. Returning to the homeland of magical legends she has forsaken, Elanna is forced to reckon with her despised, estranged father, branded a traitor long ago. Feeling a strange, deep connection to the natural world, she also must face the truth about the forces she has always denied or disdained as superstition - powers that suddenly stir within her.

The explosion violently blew the windows out of the building. Screaming students darted across the lawn, barely escaping the shards of glass raining down on them. All of the students except Stevo, who still stood below the gaping hole in the wall, oblivious to the blood running down his face and arms. "Coach, Coach," he screamed. "I'm here, Coach. Coach, I'm here." Mary O'Reilly investigates the death of a beloved high school coach while she tries to overcome the repercussion of solving Jeannine's murder.

When N. West Moss finds herself bleeding uncontrollably in the middle of a writing class, she manages to drive herself to the nearest hospital. Doctors are baffled, but eventually a diagnosis—uterine hemangioma—is rendered and a hysterectomy is scheduled. In prose both lyrical and unsparing, Moss takes us along through illness, relapse, and recovery. And as her thoughts turn to her previous struggles with infertility, she reflects on kin and kinship and on what it means to leave a legacy.

Nothing ever happens in Little, California. Which is just the way 17-year-old Carter Moon likes it. But when Hollywood arrives to film a movie starring former child star-turned public relations mess Adam Jakes, everything changes. Utterly annoyed, Carter feels like the only girl not buying what Hollywood's selling. Then Carter gets an offer she can't refuse: Play the part of Adam's girlfriend while he's in Little, to improve his public image, and take home a hefty paycheck, which her family desperately needs.

Senior Paul Wagoner walks into his school with a stolen gun, threatens his girlfriend, Emily Beam, and then takes his own life. Soon after, angry and guilt-ridden Emily is sent to a boarding school in Amherst, Massachusetts, where two quirky fellow students and the spirit of Emily Dickinson offer helping hands. But it is up to Emily Beam to heal her own damaged self, to find the good behind the bad, hope inside the despair, and springtime under the snow.

Life for Riley ends when her young children die in her arms…victims of a global viral outbreak that claims the lives of everyone she’s ever known. Left to fend for herself with only a dog as her companion, she sets out on a journey to find others, leaving notes everywhere she goes…hoping that one day someone will come looking for her.

The average person makes 35,000 decisions every single day. That's about 34,999 too many for Paige Collins, who lives in debilitating fear of making the wrong choice. The simple act of picking an art elective is enough to send her into a spiral of what-ifs. That's why when Paige is presented with two last-minute options for Christmas vacation, she's paralyzed by indecision. Should she go with her best friend (and longtime crush) Fitz to his family's romantic mountain cabin? Or should she accompany her mom to New York, a city Paige has spent her whole life dreaming about?

Kali Ling has faced down death hundreds of times for the entertainment of millions. She knows fear - and she knows what's truly terrifying.... There's a new game in town. A brutal, winner-takes-all international video game tournament showcasing the world's most elite players, promising fame, prestige, and unbelievable fortune. But there's a catch. The game uses new VR pods guaranteed to push digital warriors to their physical and psychological brink - adapting every time a gamer makes a move.

In the world outside of the Haven Institute, Lyra and Caelum are finding it hard to be human - and Lyra, infected at Haven with a terrible disease, finds her symptoms are growing worse. When Caelum leaves without warning, Lyra follows him, seeking a pioneering organization in Philadelphia that might have a cure. But what they uncover there is a shocking connection to their past, even as their future seems in danger of collapsing.

Murder. One of the Allerdon sisters has been charged with a pre-meditated killing and taken to jail. It doesn't seem possible - but it's happening. What was supposed to be a typical summer is anything but for this seemingly ordinary family. Shortly after they arrive at their cozy family cottage on the river, Lander meets and is smitten with a handsome young man, and they begin to date. Miranda has a bad feeling about her sister's new boyfriend. And when the family must deal with an unimaginable nightmare, Miranda can't help feeling that the boyfriend has something to do with it.

Gloria Foley turned off the light in the hallway and made her way slowly upstairs to bed. She paused at the doorway of her daughter's bedroom and shook her head. It had been such an emotional day for all of them. She prayed she would have the strength to get them both through these treacherous teenage years.

"Chase your dreams and follow your heart, no matter the cost" is the call of the world today. The opposite extreme, often advised by well-meaning Christians, is to lay down all of our dreams and passions, avoiding all self-interest. One narrative says to follow a passion, and the other says to lay it down. Both claim to offer happiness and purpose on the other side. But what does the Bible say about dreams, goals, and passions?

With passion and authenticity, teen author Sara Barratt calls on her generation to reject apathy and embrace a daring, costly faith. Not content with safe religion that demands nothing of us, Sara shows teens how they can stop giving in to the status quo and devote themselves fully to Christ, following him no matter what their friends do or the culture around them does. She challenges them to give everything over - their comfort zones, their time, their loyalties, their pride - and discover that in losing control they are gaining the life that was meant for them all along.

Golden “Go” Jennings wasn’t supposed to be on Bus 21 the day it blew up in New York City. Neither was her boyfriend, Chandler. But they were. And so was Rudy, a cute stranger Go shared a connection with the night before. And Caroline, a girl whose silence ended up costing 19 people their lives. Though it’s been a year since the bombing, Go isn’t any closer to getting over what happened. With Chan completely closed off to even talking about it, Go makes an impulsive decision: round up the rest of the survivors and head to New York City.

Stanley peered up into the shadows above the stage. There was a colorful blaze of fabric amidst the burgundy curtains and canvas backdrops. He moved closer, trying to get a better view from a different angle. Faye McMullen was murdered in cold blood at Winneshiek Theater, and Mary O'Reilly and Police Chief Bradley Alden have to discover who done it before the murderer gets the chance to get rid of the prime witness...Mary O'Reilly.

Elena Martinez has hidden her eidetic memory all her life - or so she thinks. When powerful tech giant, Aether Corporation, selects her for a top-secret project, she can't say no. All she has to do is participate in a trip to the future to bring back data, and she'll be set for life. Elena joins a team of four other teens with special skills, including Adam, a science prodigy with his own reason for being there.

Six months ago Aether Corporation sent Elena, Adam, and three other recruits on a trip to the future, from where they brought back secret information - but not everyone made it back to the present alive. Now Elena's dealing with her survivor's guilt and trying to make her relationship with Adam work. All she knows for sure is that she's done with time travel and Aether Corporation.

Six young people play a dangerous game of tag in public, chasing each other through the crowds, streets, and buildings of Chicago. This secret, one-of-a-kind, wildly expensive game offers a macabre twist to the childhood version: If you get tagged, you die. Three "Its" have their reasons for buying a place in the game. Handpicked innocents play as "Runners", under threat to their loved ones should they refuse to participate. The game will not end until someone is tagged, so the Runners must choose how to play.