Showing results by narrator "Whitney Dykhouse" in All Categories

Still reeling from a devastating loss, Paisley and her husband hope a fresh start in a new state will help them heal. Moving from the crowded city of San Francisco to the woods of Washington is supposed to give them room to breathe and a place to rebuild their lives. Instead, it leaves Paisley struggling with loneliness and isolation. The longer they stay, the more troubling this new chapter becomes. Their neighbors are anything but welcoming—harassing Paisley on a near constant basis. She’s at her wit’s end when there’s news of women being brutally murdered in the area.

What's it like to be a trail angel and can romance truly blossom from first meeting to marriage on the Pacific Crest Trail? How do trail names get bestowed and what does it mean when you find yourself roaring back at a mountain lion? How have climate change, technology, and the sheer number of hikers affected life on the PCT? Find the answers to all these questions, and so many more, in the diverse writings gathered in Crossing Paths, an anthology of stories and poems written by PCT hikers.

As far back as he could remember, Bruce Griffin had a crush on his best friend Alex’s little sister. But when a best friend knows all the good and bad about you, sometimes the bad parts mean he forbids you from having anything to do with his sister. Sarah Burke was brought up on the basketball courts, just like her brother was. She could handle herself in any situation, so she wondered why her brother found it necessary to forbid her from having anything to do with Bruce Griffin, someone she’d had eyes for since she was a little girl.

Vic is struggling to adjust to life after her mother’s murder the previous year, unaware that forces beyond her comprehension are at play in her hometown of Great Oak. Soon those forces will directly impact her life, as enemies she doesn’t even know exist seek to destroy her and those who know of her unique talents scramble to protect her from harm. As Vic becomes aware of her unusual abilities, Olympians, powerful and long-lived residents of Atlantis, rally to ensure her survival, enlisting the aid of other supernatural beings and a few trusted humans.

Enter Light is the second installation in the Shadow Copy Series. Seventeen-year-old Becca Tanner has been given a second chance at life in a new body. A controversial new medical procedure has given her this gift, yet public fear, mistrust, envy, and moral outrage have all aligned against it. After her procedure, Becca must hide her past or face possible backlash from those who would deny her a second chance at life. Greed leads to corruption and evil. A black market for young healthy bodies emerges. Becca finds herself in the center of the conflict between life and death.

Sam Walsh had been missing for three years. His older sister, Beth, thought he was dead. His childhood friend Josh thought it was all his fault. They were the last two people to see him alive. Until now. Because Sam has been found, and he's coming home. Beth desperately wants to understand what happened to her brother, but her family refuses to talk about it - even though Sam is clearly still affected by the abuse he faced at the hands of his captor.

In the wake of a devastating plague, two communities emerge as bastions of survival. One is called the City, and its people scrabble for scraps in the wasteland. The other, New Charity, enjoys the bounty of its hydroelectric dam and refuses City denizens so much as a drop of precious water. When City-dweller Cressyda inherits her father's ranch within New Charity, she becomes intent on opening the dam to all - no matter the cost.

Susan Hayes moved to Georgia to start the life she wanted to live and build her catering career. On the brink of having everything she ever wanted, Eric Walker and his family happened into her life. Eric Walker’s life had been quiet, structured, and boring until his uncle gambled away the family’s property and jeopardized Eric’s livelihood. Now midst family secrets learned, someone ruining his business and trying to drive him off his land, he fell in love. Things will never be the same for them - especially if someone succeeds in destroying the Walker family and killing Eric.

When 17-year-old Skylar escapes the time-bending Enforcers, who secretly control Earth, her troubles have just begun. She and her friend, Win, take refuge on Win's home space station with his fellow rebels, but the fate of Sklyar's planet still spins out of her control.

Seventeen-year-old Skylar has been haunted for as long as she can remember by fleeting yet powerful sensations that something is horribly wrong. But despite the visions of disaster that torment her, nothing ever happens, and Sky’s beginning to think she’s crazy. Then she meets a mysterious, otherworldly boy named Win and discovers the shocking truth her premonitions have tapped into: that our world no longer belongs to us.

Bill Wright has spent years building a successful career that allows him ample time to work on his favorite hobby, all while blending in with the rest of society. After a tragedy hits home, Bill’s marriage to a woman nearly half his age teeters on the edge, threatening his way of life. Bill invites Ashley to join him in his interests, hoping to reignite some passion in their relationship. Holding on to a secret she isn’t aware of, Ashley struggles against the void that comes with each agonizing headache as she discovers who her husband really is…and who truly lies within her.

Kennedy Devereaux, owner of Kennedy Devereaux Designs, is a sight to behold in her signature pink colors, accented with custom designed jewelry. Intriguing enough that Joel Kingsley, the man building the new business next door, can’t help but keep coming around, just to get to know the woman in the designer clothes. He finds she’s not such a mystery, and his charm easily wins her over - until she finds that he’s forgotten to let her in on the secrets of his past.

Attacked at home by an unknown assailant, meek Lucille Stevenson should be dead, but she isn’t. She should have called the police, she should have told her family, she should have done a lot of things, but she didn’t. Because what Lucille did to her attacker went far beyond self-defense. It was cold, brutal, and vicious; and if anyone found out, her life would be over. Unfortunately, her biggest problem isn't getting rid of the body; it's that she really enjoyed killing the man and can't wait to do it again...

Drew Beckett’s life is a well-curated plan. Small-town to successful Assistant U.S. Attorney, assigned to an above-the-fold case that could eliminate a notorious crime family and put her firmly in line for her ultimate promotion. The last thing she needs is a distraction; like a threat on her life or the seriously lickable dimples on the U.S. Marshal assigned to protect her.

Daisy, age twelve, has died in a car accident. She finds herself in the afterworld, which resembles nothing more than a job center. Her soul is being returned to Earth, but not as a human being - she's returning as a dog. A dog who retains Daisy's thoughts and pluck and is determined to get back to her parents and to get back home. What she doesn't expect is that life as a dog named Ray would come with such worries - and moments of jubilation - as she grows to care for others in a whole new way.

Chase Devereaux, owner of Devereaux Limousines, is happy with relationships that don’t last more than a night. "No strings attached" is how he prefers to operate, until he spends a night with his sister’s best friend, Hillary. Since they were teenagers, she’s had a hold on his heart - how is he supposed to go on like normal when she’s all he can think about? He has to move on altogether.

Mona’s demanding mother ruled their home until a car crash took her life and changed their family forever. Left to tend to a distant father and a needy younger brother, Mona finds her new role almost too much to bear. And when a new stepmother, troubled and depressed, adds yet another crack to the family portrait, Mona’s forced to shoulder an even greater share of the emotional burden.

Aja knowingly sacrificed herself to save 20 girls from the Spider’s Web child trafficking network. She also gave herself up thinking it would free Marsha and two other SHIELD team colleagues. Unfortunately, she never should have trusted that the Black Widow would hold up her end of the bargain.

My lips are white. Sixteen-year-old Sep stares into the bathroom mirror. It’s not some weird lipstick (she never wears lipstick). Her lips are just - white. In a panic, she digs up an old lipstick and smears it on her colorless lips. But soon, more and more white spots begin to bloom, spreading their chalky tendrils across her olive brown skin. Does she have a disease? Is she turning into some kind of freak?

Everyone has a tiger inside them. . . It's the part of you that only comes out when you're about to be pushed off a cliff, poisoned in your family’s kitchen, framed for a crime, and anything else that awaits artist Cate Finley upon her homecoming. Back in the summer of 2000, having suffered enough under the iron fist of her older sister, Margaret, sixteen-year-old Cate raids the safe at her family's rural Arizona ranch and hops a bus for New York City, hoping to pursue an art career.