Showing results by narrator "Allyson Ryan" in All Categories

It’s Detective Dani DeMarco's first week back on the job, and she is not amused. The coffee at the precinct is a disaster, a most annoying colleague is driving her insane, and her on-again, off-again boyfriend is now officially her boss. As if that’s not bad enough, Dani’s faced with a double homicide before the caffeine even hits her system. When a high-profile young elf is kidnapped and destined for death, Dani’s forced to go toe-to-toe with a kidnapper who has unlocked a secret so potent it could destroy an entire race of paranormals.

When a body turns up in the dumpster behind Caroline's Cupcakes, Holly White is horrified to learn her best friend, Caroline, is the main suspect. Everyone in town, including Mistletoe, Maine's sheriff, saw Caroline fighting with the victim on the night of his death. Worse, Caroline's fingerprints are all over the murder weapon, a custom-designed marble rolling pin. Now, just 10 days before Christmas, Holly's up to her jingle bells in holiday shenanigans and in desperate need of a miracle.

Ken and Abby Gardner lost their mother when they were small and they have been haunted by her absence ever since. Their father, Adam, a brilliant oceanographer, raised them mostly on his own in his remote home on Cape Cod, where the attachment between Ken and Abby deepened into something complicated—and as adults their relationship is strained. Now, years later, the siblings’ lives are still deeply entwined.

Soldier-for-hire Ethan Hayes is the youngest member of an elite mercenary team. While he may be affectionately nicknamed "the rookie", the skills Ethan honed as a Marine make him seriously dangerous. But when a sudden distress call puts him in close quarters with a rival, he finds that more than his field skills are put to the test. Juliet Mason stands out as the master thief in a covert group of assassins and spies. Her latest mission is personal - and it's gone horribly wrong.

Amid the complexities of modern relationships, loneliness epidemics, and online dating burnout, there's a refreshing alternative: going Solo. "Solos," as coined by behavioral economist Peter McGraw, are people who choose to lead their lives authentically, purposefully, and passionately outside the confines of traditional relationship labels. In a world built for two, Solos break the rules and hold space for every type of individual—single and not.

Seriously? Carrie would rather stay in bed than deal with the immoral, sex-obsessed hypocrites who seem to overrun her hometown, New York City. She's sick of trying to be like everybody else. She isn't! But when her own therapist gives her a five-point plan to change her social-outcast status, Carrie takes a hard look at herself - and agrees to try. Suddenly the world doesn't seem so bad. But is prodigy Carrie really going to dumb things down just to fit in?

Answering Shakespeare trivia comes with the job description for library director Lindsey Norris. But when the Briar Creek Community Theater mounts their newest production of the Bard, she has no intention of leaving the stacks for the stage. Unfortunately a villain is waiting in the wings....

Stupidity is all around us, from the coworker who won't stop hitting "reply all" to the former high-school classmate posting conspiracy theories on Facebook. But in order to vanquish it, we must first understand it. In The Psychology of Stupidity, some of the world's leading psychologists and thinkers - including a Nobel Prize winner and best-selling authors - will show you: why smart people sometimes believe in utter nonsense; how our lazy brains cause us to make the wrong decisions; why trying to debate fools is a trap; and more!

Julia Summers seems to have it all: a sprawling Upper East Side apartment, a successful husband, and two adorable children attending the best private school in the city. She relishes wielding influence over her well-heeled girlfriends...but her star appears to be fading. That’s why, when stranded in Manhattan for the summer as her entire crowd flees to the Hamptons, Julia is on the hunt for the next big thing that will make her the envy of her friends and put her back on top.

Activists from Henry David Thoreau and Mohandas Gandhi to the Movement for Black Lives have long recognized that there are times when, rather than having a duty to obey the law, we have a duty to disobey it. Taking seriously the history of this activism, A Duty to Resist wrestles with the problem of political obligation in real world societies that harbor injustice. Candice Delmas argues that the duty of justice, the principle of fairness, the Samaritan duty, and political association impose responsibility to resist under conditions of injustice.

All couples fight - but a little guidance goes a long way to tackling the issues that trigger fights in the first place. No More Fighting offers couples fast and effective strategies to overcome common relationship problems and build lasting love together. In just 20 minutes per week, couples will learn how to effectively speak and listen to each other as they confront critical relationship issues. From reconciling different values to navigating intimacy issues, No More Fighting gives you the skills you need to fight less and love each other more.

After an unexpected and unpleasant visit from her ex-husband, Oregon State Police Sergeant Maggie Blackthorne is called to a grisly crime scene. Her ex has been found dead — the victim of a vicious attack.

One day, third-grade teacher Kyle Schwartz asked her students to fill in the blank in this sentence: "I wish my teacher knew _____." The results astounded her. Some answers were humorous; others were heartbreaking; all were profoundly moving and enlightening. The results opened her eyes to the need for educators to understand the unique realities their students face in order to create an open, safe, and supportive place in the classroom. When Schwartz shared her experience online, #IWishMyTeacherKnew became an immediate worldwide viral phenomenon.

Years of consolidation, price-fixing, and power grabs by elite industry insiders have harmed consumers and caused environmental destruction. And while that’s hurting us, it’s also making others rich. Now, financial journalist Chloe Sorvino presents a “deeply informed and eye-opening” (Publishers Weekly) look at the meat industry and its future as its fundamental weaknesses are laid bare for all to see.

Sharply observant and outrageously funny, Rejection is a provocative plunge into the thorniest problems of modern life: sex, relationships, identity and the internet. We see a young man’s passionate allyship turn to a furious and debilitating nihilism as he realizes, over thirty lonely years, that his feminism isn’t getting him laid; a young woman’s unrequited crush spirals into borderline obsession and the systematic destruction of both her sense of self and her group chat; and witness a shy late bloomer’s flailing efforts at a first relationship lead to a life-upending mistake.

From Wendy Corsi Staub, the New York Times best-selling author of Nightwatcher and Shadowkiller, comes a gripping work of suspense.... For years, Rory Connelly has been haunted by the memory of her sister, Carleen, who vanished from her bed one night and was never seen again. When Rory returns home to care for her ailing mother and teenage sister, she discovers a family that has never recovered from the tragic events of so long ago.

Ella Webber has spent years uncomfortable around the opposite sex...But as soon as she meets handsome Declan Stone, she is smitten. Quickly they become friends, finding frequent reasons to see each other around the office, and Ella longs for even more. So - with a little help from her friends - Ella resorts to performing a little seduction. One that Declan will never be able to resist. Burdened by emotional baggage from his time in the Marine Corps, Declan refuses to believe he’s the right man for sweet Ella. Even if she makes him long for normal things, like marriage and family...

Onlookers is collection of extraordinary stories about people living in the same Southern town whose lives intersect in surprising ways. Peaceful Charlottesville, Virginia, drew national attention when white nationalists held a rally there in 2017, a horrific event whose repercussions are still felt today. Confederate monuments such as General Robert E. Lee atop his horse were then still standing.

In this fast-paced survival story set in Hawaii, electronics fail worldwide, the islands become completely isolated, and a strange starscape fills the sky. Leilani and her father embark on a nightmare odyssey from Oahu to their home on the Big Island. Leilani's epilepsy holds a clue to the disaster, if only they can survive as the islands revert to earlier ways.

Pregnancy may have left you feeling that there’s no way to fix common postpartum symptoms, such as pelvic floor issues, exhaustion, and burnout, and lactation woes. But that's simply not true. With this revolutionary resource in hand, you’ll learn what happens to the body during pregnancy and childbirth, common changes in function and feeling, and solutions for healing. Your Postpartum Body was written with expertise by a pelvic floor physical therapist who'll empower you so that you can feel like yourself again—physically and mentally.