Showing results by narrator "Alexandra Bailey" in All Categories

Miriam tried for most of her life to hide her mental illness. She hoped that if she pretended it didn't exist, nobody else would notice it either. That didn't happen. Unexplainable rage attacks, persistent intrusive thoughts and a recurring overwhelming despair are difficult to hide. Working as an x-ray technologist through Covid-19 contributed to her declining mental health. In a desperate attempt to numb the pain and cheer herself up she reached for what society endorses as the ultimate relaxant: wine.

Anastasia Pollack’s left with two teenage sons, a mountain of debt, and her hateful, cane-wielding communist mother-in-law. Not to mention stunned disbelief over her late husband’s secret gambling addiction and the loan shark who’s demanding 50,000 dollars. Anastasia’s job as crafts editor at American Woman magazine proves no respite when she discovers a dead body glued to her desk chair. But when evidence surfaces of an illicit affair between the victim and Anastasia’s husband, Anastasia becomes the prime suspect.

In 1980 Cathy N. Davidson traveled to Japan to teach English at a leading all-women’s university. It was the first of many journeys and the beginning of a deep and abiding fascination. In this extraordinary book, Davidson depicts a series of intimate moments and small epiphanies that together make up a panoramic view of Japan.

Overdue bills and constant mother vs. mother-in-law battles at home are bad enough. But crafts editor Anastasia Pollack's stress level is maxed out when she and her fellow American Woman editors get roped into unpaid gigs for a revamped morning TV show. Before the glue is dry on Anastasia's mop dolls, morning TV turns crime drama when the studio is trashed and the producer is murdered.

It is 1943, and WW2 is raging. After parting with her husband, Michael, in London, Monika Ritter is sent to the Swiss city of Bern to begin her career with the OSS. Bern is an international hub for the secret war being fought between the spies of America, Britain, and their counterparts in the German secret service. There, her new boss, the spymaster Allen Dulles, introduces her to a mysterious German double agent who might prove to be an invaluable asset.

What are Amy and Adam going to do about their love life? Neither Amy's traditionalist Japanese parents nor Adam's snobby, upper-class mother will accept their relationship. To make things worse, Amy and Adam are involved in the "color game" at school, an experiment that's designed to make students aware of class and racial prejudices.

Life is looking up for magazine crafts editor Anastasia Pollack. Newly engaged, she and photojournalist fiancé Zack Barnes are on a winter cruise with her family, compliments of a Christmas gift from her half-brother-in-law. Son Alex’s girlfriend and her father have also joined them. Shortly after boarding the ship, Anastasia is approached by a man with an unusual interest in her engagement ring.

What happens when you deconstruct your faith? Aside from all the theological messiness it brings, deconstruction brings with it a lot of personal trauma. Friends and family often distance themselves. Your church sometimes removes you from the pews. And often, you are left with nothing. Enter Michelle Collins' debut book, Into the Gray: The Mental and Emotional Aftermath of Spiritual Deconstruction. Far from a "how-to" guide, this book is much more "pastoral" in that it allows the listener to check in with a fellow spiritual sojourner.

When Sadie Alexander’s employer dies, she knows she’ll need to leave the household. Desperate, she sees an ad in a newspaper for a bride, so she mails a hastily written letter and travels to California on a wagon train. When she arrives, Mr. Laird is away with his construction business, and his older friend has been left to meet her.

When a celebrated actress dies under shocking circumstances, she leaves behind an older sister, Sakumi, who suffers from memory loss in the wake of an accident. Struggling to remember whom she loves and what she lost, Sakumi embarks on a unique emotional journey, accompanied by her dead sister's lover and her clairvoyant kid brother.

Edward made the mistake of taking the only thing I had left to lose, and now he's going to pay with his life. I’ve spent my whole life training to be in the Elite Squad, and I left it all behind without a second thought. I don’t fail. My father made sure that it wasn’t in my DNA. to fail. So, I will take him down. I will make him pay for his lies and deceit. But first, I will get my son back, or die trying.

Sixteen-year-old Wen assists her father in his medical clinic, housed in a slaughterhouse staffed by the Noor, men hired as cheap factory labor. Wen often hears the whisper of a ghost in the slaughterhouse, a ghost who grants wishes to those who need them most. And after one of the Noor humiliates Wen, the ghost grants an impulsive wish of hers - brutally.

When Red Lake wakes up in the middle of nowhere with no memory of the past two years, she’s brought home to her adopted family. It doesn’t take long before Red discovers that something new is growing inside of her. Unusual powers now flow within Red’s veins, and she has no idea where they came from or how to get them under control.

In the year since the collapse of the slaughterhouse where Wen worked as her father’s medical assistant, she’s held all her secrets close. She works in the clinic at the weapons factory and sneaks away to nurse Bo, once the Ghost, now a boy determined to transform himself into a living machine. Their strange, fragile friendship soothes some of the ache of missing Melik, the strong-willed Noor who walked away from Wen all those months ago - but it can’t quell her fears for him.

It began in the graveyard.... Ever since her boyfriend Nathan had died in a tragic accident, Emma had been coming to the graveyard at night. During the day she went through the motions at her prep school, in class, with her friends, but that’s all it was. For Emma, life had stopped with Nathan’s death. But tonight was different. Tonight Emma and her dog were not alone in the cemetery. There were two others there - Eric, who had just started at her school, and an ancient woman who looked as though she were made of rags.

Emma and her friends have survived the Necromancers sent to the city to kill them. They've gone to ground in a cottage north of the city, but time is not on their side. There are no barriers that can keep the dead out, and the dead obey their Queen. It's only a matter of time before they're found. Nathan has been blessed by the Queen of the Dead. She has granted him a physical body. He can eat, he can breathe, he can speak and be heard. The Queen calls this resurrection. Nathan calls it Hell. The living think he's alive. He's not.

Josephine Lane arrived in Rattlesnake Ridge under false pretenses. As far as the townspeople know, she’s simply the new cook for the local boarding house. Nobody has to know the secret her late uncle shared with her before his death or how that same secret could make her the wealthiest person in the state of Nevada. Jim Griffin works hard as a foreman at the local lumber mill. He also works hard to keep his real identity as an undercover lawman hidden as he closes in on his brother’s murderer.

I think I've seen it all, but life continues to spring surprises. The latest shocker? I've just been crowned queen of the underworld. Yeah, me. I may possess a rare gift for reanimating the dead, but I don't know the first thing about governing disparate factions of supernatural creatures. I mean, I can barely maintain order in my own chaotic personal life, which is heading into a romantic tailspin.

The next morning, Anastasia once again heads to Ira's house before work to drop them off. When she arrives, she discovers Ira’s attacker dead in Santa’s sleigh. Ira becomes the prime suspect in the man’s murder and begs Anastasia to help clear his name.

Inside, you'll find a radically different approach to parenting, where we stop asking so many questions about how to get children to behave and examine our behaviors, expectations, and values as parents.