Showing results by narrator "Carmen Jones" in All Categories

All famous mystery author Stanton Black wanted was to leave the flashbulbs of Hollywood behind. Hiding out in the wilds of northeast Oregon seemed like the perfect way to get over an attempt on his life while researching his work. His latest novel would draw on the history of his ancestors and the lore of gold country. Now, all he needed was a suitable tour guide. Special education teacher Maya Valentine was no tour guide. After the death of her parents, Maya has come home to Salisbury Junction for the summer only to have an ailing friend talk her into escorting Stanton around the area.

In 1999, Macey Lee Baker is a real estate saleswoman in Capwater, Florida; happy in her Christian faith and in her marriage to her husband, Kyle. She's many miles and a lifetime away from her impoverished, rural upbringing in the farming community of Mountain Rose, Ohio. But when Macey Lee's sister Betsy suggests they go back to Ohio to visit siblings, a terrible memory surfaces…the death of their 10-year-old brother Jeremy back in 1954. And with that memory comes another long-buried thought…that their brother's death was no accident.

What is going on in this small Florida fishing village of Capwater located on a seaport? A petite, young classy lady, Darla Starr has just opened her real estate brokerage, Starr Port Realty, as a hurricane has just veered away from the little fishing village. A month later she is planning her grand opening with much excitement when she receives a mysterious letter and a phone call before going home for the night. Now frightened, she leaves her office to go to the safety of her seaside home but her vehicle will not start.

This is the story of Willow 'Twig' Olsen, a woman of Scandinavian descent, who was trapped into an existence of traditional servitude for the first 38 years of her life, and what transpires after her last parent dies, and she is finally free to seek male companionship, as she has long desired. What happens thereafter is a whirlwind of unexpected events that lead to greed, deception, and eventually murder.

A Cinderella makeover turns best friends into lovers in this Texas Cattleman’s Club: Bachelor Auction story by Reese Ryan. To the highest bidder goes…a friendship with benefits? Or is this something much, much more… When Tessa Noble takes the stage at a charity auction after a sexy...

“Filled with deep emotion and intense spark, Marcella Bell brings grit, spark and brilliance to western romance! Marcella Bell is one to watch!”—Maisey Yates, New York Times bestselling author The world watches on as reality TV meets rodeo in this competition like no other. In front of the...

"I absolutely adore this book...love story begins slow—like a delicious lowcountry boil—but heats up to the perfect ending." --Kathleen Y’Barbo, bestselling author of The Black Midnight A heartwarming Avon debut of love, forgiveness, and new beginnings set in the beautiful South Carolina...

Birdie Boucher is a woman who lives her life in the shadows of her infamous mother. A powerful voodoo priestess of the south who uses magic to wreak havoc on the lives of anyone who gets in her way. And any woman she believes is the lover of her philandering husband.

In underserved communities across the United States, violence, food insecurity, unstable housing, lead poisoning, and other factors such as racist redlining policies negatively impact young people's everyday experiences―and their futures. What opportunities are available to young Black people living in these neighborhoods? What are their survival expectations? Who can they look to for support? Lorece V. Edwards offers a thought-provoking and timely account of the day-to-day experience of living in America's neglected neighborhoods.

Fashion designer Faith McClendon is back in Chicago to start over. She put her promising career on hold for too long, and she's ready to get back in the game. She's not willing to put her heart on the line again—it's still far too bruised from her failed marriage for that, so when a renewed childhood friendship starts to make her think about second chances at love, she's more than a little hesitant.

Nayla has always been a genius at building and fixing things, but even she can’t explain the strange golden compass she comes across—an artifact said to be capable of opening portals to other universes. Alongside her fearless older brother Kibwe and some unexpected new friends, she finds herself in a breathtaking realm where rainbows form bridges between floating islands, and unicorns walk upon them with ease. But looks can be deceiving.

Remy's hope to rid her territory of a vampire invasion backfires when she gets captured outside of the vampire's new home. Though she hoped to escape, Xavier, the head of the den, had other thoughts. Tempted by the sweet delicacy that was fairy blood, he kept her.

When darkness comes, those who are sworn to protect the light must stand. The dragon Queen has awakened from her slumber and she has her eyes set on one thing. During the century of her absence, her people failed to find the egg that was stolen from her. The Queen will do whatever it takes to...

One dark dream will uncover a centuries-old secret some would rather keep buried. Born to a powerful bloodline of Seers, Shanoai was predestined to be the strongest of them all, but the Goddess never granted her that gift. Outcast for her lack of power, Shanoai set her sights on new avenues of triumph. She trained hard and worked her way up to the top of her class as a guardian, only to fall short of earning the respect of her people.

Not all born to lead want the responsibility. K is a werewolf born into the most powerful bloodline in the Den. The daughter of the Alpha, she is someone others in her territory expect to be an example of greatness. But K doesn't want to lead. she only wants to be free. To avoid the growing...

“As far as I know, you can only die once…” But when Aetna Simmons disappears from her lonely Bermuda cottage, she leaves behind not one but ten suicide notes. Ten different suicide notes. And no other trace to speak of, not even a corpse, as if she’d never existed. Drafts of a Suicide Note is the darkly enigmatic love letter of Kenji Okada-Caines, a petty criminal who once exposited on English literary classics and now, marooned on his native isle, nurtures an obsession with Aetna’s writing.

The linked stories in Mama Said are set in Louisville, Kentucky, a city with a rich history steeped in tobacco, bourbon, and gambling, indulgences that can quickly become gripping and destructive vices. Set amid the tail end of the crack epidemic and the rise of the opioid crisis, Mama Said evokes Black family life in all its complexity, following JayLynn, along with her cousins Zaria and Angel, as they come of age struggling against their mothers' drug addictions.

Langston Keith has been my brother's best friend for years, and he's always seen me as the competition. We're both race horse owners, and there's no way I'm letting Langston get that trophy. When my parents threaten to set me up in an arranged marriage with a guy in India, I beg Langston to fake date me to get them off my back. He agrees, and all goes well until the romance starts to feel real.

I see ghosts. They’re everywhere. They are the victims of violent crimes whose cases haven’t been solved. Once they realize I can see them, they beg me to find justice for them so they can rest. Except one. My sister, Debra. She was ten and I was six when we were kidnapped. The monster held us for a week and did horrible things to her before we tried to make our escape. He caught us and killed my sister brutally. I barely survived. That was when the ghosts came. Our case was never solved so Deb became my constant companion. My secret solace and best friend.

This illuminating book offers an extensive, expert analysis of a school system that bears the legacy, hallmarks, and consequences that lie at the intersection of race and education. Urban education scholar Camika Royal deftly analyzes decades of efforts aimed at improving school performance within the School District of Philadelphia (SDP), in a brisk survey spanning every SDP superintendency from the 1960s through 2017.