Showing results by narrator "mandy kaplan" in All Categories

Doreen eagerly anticipates her escape to the coast, leaving behind the wintery blues of Kelowna. However, the trip means returning to her old home—back when she was married to Mathew—stirring up a whirlwind of memories. She hopes for a peaceful journey, but, as soon as she steps into the conservatory, she realizes her hobby has unexpectedly followed her here. Mack takes a few days off work to assist Doreen in sorting through Mathew’s belongings, aware of the emotional challenges she faces when revisiting her former life.

Dying for a Drink is a true story of the chaos and hurt caused by an alcoholic. The author, telling her own story, writes of time spent in multiple rehabs, both in the United Kingdom and Sydney, Australia. She writes in the hope that her story will encourage other alcoholics and addicts (which can be anybody addicted to anything) - that they will see in their own stories the similarities rather than the differences.

A provocative and deeply important study of women’s lives, women’s choices—and an ‘unspoken taboo’—that questions the societal pressures forcing women into motherhood Women who opt not to be mothers are frequently warned that they will regret their decision later in life, yet we...

Mia Alcott was in a whole crap load of trouble. The only witness to a horrific crime, she’s on the run, trying to figure out who she can trust and who is out to get her. In come the Malones. They’re loud. They’re violent. They’re rude. And right now, they’re her only shot at survival. Of course, she has to survive living with them. She also has to resist her attraction to Alec Malone. It should be easy, considering he’s an arrogant, bossy ass.

When a young couple is attacked while prepping for a catering job, it seems like the family is dealing with a long-running curse—one that ends in murder. Doreen can’t stop meddling, so, when she finds out that that the young woman’s mother is an unsolved murder case, Doreen has her cold case to work her way into Mack’s current investigation.

It was never my plan to wake up in a Vegas hotel room as Dominic Mancini’s wife. The man has brought me nothing but heartache since I was 16. At least we agree on one thing - a quickie annulment and we can both get on with our lives. I can go back to teaching little girls to dance, and he can go back to making millions in Wall Street. But sometimes, what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas.

Something in Doreen’s last case sends Chester and Darren out with shovels to a location she’d never seen before. When she finds out why, she’s all in—particularly when they find a body. She hates to be delighted with a new case, as that always sounds macabre, … but it’s a new case, and that’s always exciting to her. Yet nothing is ever simple when Doreen gets into the mix. As she slowly unravels this new mystery, the case bends and twists in several different directions, with more deaths adding to the mess. She even gets blamed once or twice for causing extra work.

When the Captain suggests that Doreen might want to break her boredom spell by looking into an old case, she jumps at the chance. Anything new is always great, and anything that the Captain gives her means she has his permission—which gives her a lot of leeway in getting the information she needs.

Spending time with Mack is always fun, but, when Doreen overhears a conversation that sounds like a murder confession, he disagrees, … until a body shows up. Then he’s suddenly a whole lot more interested. The deceased young man had planned to attend the local college and had hoped to rekindle a relationship with an ex-girlfriend.

Doreen loves gardens, all kinds of them. In the Okanagan, situated at the tip of the desert, water-frugal gardening makes sense. When Doreen sees a lovely xeriscaped garden from a drone video, she’s fascinated. When Mack mentions a mystery surrounding the property, she is mesmerized. Getting the details, however, is no easy feat. That’s because there aren’t many. But digging in and asking questions is something Doreen and her clan are good at, and it doesn’t take long to delve into the mystery in a big way—much to Corporal Mack Moreau’s disgust.

It covers their years of fostering, all the ups and downs, and how fostering affected their daily lives and the amount of enjoyment and happy memories they have. It is also written to acknowledge the amount of support they received from their family, friends, and neighbors.

Doreen is slowly recovering from the mad yet joyous ending to last year, as she faces the new year and what it might bring. Since she’s now engaged to Mack—and everyone around her is pressuring her to pick a wedding date and hopefully soon—she yearns for another case to keep her busy. So, when an older gentleman calls and needs help fulfilling his wife’s last wish, Doreen is right there to help.

Chaos surrounds both. Doreen has had enough of her estranged husbands antics, but, when he shows up dead in the garden outside her favorite Chinese food restaurant, she's horrified and anxious. And, of course, in the eyes of the rest of the world, guilty. There's no Doreen for her to call to help out this time, but she knows Mack has her back, although he's being questioned too. The police force rallies around her, as their history rips apart her former life and finds out that all her suspicions about Mathew were correct, and he'd been in deep trouble.

With Mathew’s murder done and dusted, and her future now wide open, Doreen turns to sorting out her financial world, particularly as her antiques are sold. And helping others is moving up her list of things she wants to do. Especially after finding a young woman who wants to get out of the streetwalker world and to move back home.

Can Christmas get any crazier? A new case for Mack and, lucky for Doreen, she finds a cold case connected to it, making her year end on a high note. All the while she struggles to navigate gift giving and a special party that Nan wants to put on for her at Rosemoor—except Doreen has to solve all kinds of issues, including the missing mistletoe, which Nan insists on having for the party.

Venezuela is a land of striking beauty. Angel Falls, the highest waterfall in the world, plunges more than 3,000 feet in the Guiana Highlands. Lake Maracaibo, the largest lake in South America, sits in northwestern Venezuela. Eager listeners will get their feet wet in this title that explores Venezuela's landscape, people, and heritage.

Riches to rags...Chaos has calmed...At least while out on the lake...Until poison is found, blowing up the peace again...Enjoying a beautiful day on the lake, while Doreen tries her hand at paddleboarding, ends up on an odd note after finding poison in a bed of pansies. She garners a tidbit of information out of her BFF, Corporal Mack Moreau, about a man who’d recently walked into the emergency room, complaining he’d been poisoned.

Who knew a simple trip to the consignment store would find Wendy being strong-armed by two strangers? So not allowed—especially as it could affect Doreen getting her month-end check! Trying to get to the bottom of this is one convoluted story to sort out. Corporal Mack Moreau is not at all happy with Doreen’s new male friend, Bernard, who has the money to keep her in the style she was accustomed to. However, Mack is happy Doreen is staying out of his cases. If only she could stay out of trouble! Then again, Doreen can find trouble like this without any effort on her part.

Needing a break from all the murder and mayhem, Doreen and Mack plan an outing to see the local orchid show. Some of the displays are in the community center, but the more prized specimens of this genus require a visit to some of the gardeners’ homes, a rare opportunity not afforded to everyone. This trip, not quite a date, affords Doreen a chance not only to enjoy the company of Mack, but to get to know a few more of the colorful locals. But when one of these locals ends up dead just after their visit, the dark underbelly of orchid growing is exposed, and with it, an old murder…

Being a suspect in the murder of her ex-lawyer is not the fun Doreen thought it would be. And, of course, she’s been ordered to stay away from the case, but she can’t help being interested. So, she enlists Mack’s brother, Nick - her new lawyer - to help. Mack’s first priority is to clear Doreen as a suspect. No one in their right mind would seriously believe she’d done the deed, of course.