Showing results by narrator "Karissa Vacker" in All Categories

Eleven-year-old Anthoni Gillis is not the kind of kid who believes in fairies, unicorns, or even the word maybe. She's more of a comic-book girl. So when her mom brings her to Thunder Lake for a summer at the Showboat Resort, she doesn't believe the local rumors about the Boulay Mermaid. Anthoni has bigger fish to fry. She's always wanted a true-blue friend. But it's been hard to find one, since for the past five years she's been bouncing from town to town, helping her mother sell Beauty & the Bee cosmetic products to keep them both afloat. This summer will be different, though.

Madison Porter loves Honey Springs, but her days are one big rinse-wash-repeat routine of working for the mayor’s office and caring for the town’s matchmaking cat, Belle. She once bid on the town’s ice-cream shop with hopes of running it herself, but the sweet deal seemingly wasn’t meant to be. Patrick Manning moves to the tiny town of Honey Springs to start over. After outbidding his competition for a building space, he now owns The Bean & Brew.

Ad exec Cassie Wilkerson is on the fast track to a Manhattan corner office when she’s suddenly called to quaint Honey Springs, California. She hasn’t visited the town since she was 16, but her aunt has passed away and inexplicably left Cassie her honeybee farm, her matchmaking cat, Belle, and the job of acting mayor. But Cassie’s quick trip to sort this out turns into a three-week stay. This fish-out-of-water needs the help of the farm’s foreman and her former crush, Nick Porter, to win over the locals.

Six hundred and fifty-seven days ago, Meg Kenyon's father left their home in France to fight for the Allies in World War II, and that was the last time Meg saw him. Recently, she heard he was being held prisoner by the Nazis, a terrible sentence from which Meg fears he'll never return. Suddenly, an impossible chance to save her father falls into Meg's lap. After following a trail of blood in the snow, Meggie finds an injured British spy hiding in her grandmother's barn.

The small town of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin is an unlikely location for a Playboy Resort, and nineteen-year old Sherri Taylor is an unlikely bunny. Growing up in neighboring East Troy, Sherri plays the organ at the local church and has never felt comfortable in her own skin. But when her parents die in quick succession, she leaves the only home she’s ever known for the chance to be part of a glamorous slice of history.

As CEO of the Herd, an elite women-only coworking space, Eleanor Walsh seems to have it all: close friends, a sweet husband, and the most glamorous and successful female-empowerment-based company in New York City. Then she vanishes on the night of a glitzy press conference—and the police suspect foul play.

Brooklyn Hewett hasn't set foot in Cape Harbor for fifteen years - not since an accident claimed the love of her life, Austin Woods. Desperate to move forward, Brooklyn has focused on raising her daughter for the past fourteen years. But when the opportunity comes along to renovate the old Driftwood Inn, Brooklyn knows it's time to go home. But it won't be easy. For one, Austin's best friend, Bowie Holmes, still lives in Cape Harbor. Brooklyn hasn't quite been able to forget him: not since the night they spent together

Surviving the plane crash is only the beginning for Allison. The life that she’s built for herself - her perfect fiancé, their world of luxury - has disappeared in the blink of an eye. Now she must run, not only to escape the dark secrets in her past, but to outwit the man who is stalking her every move. On the other side of the country, Allison’s mother is desperate for news of her daughter, who is missing, presumed dead. Maggie refuses to accept that she could have lost her only child and sets out to discover the truth.

Rosie's led a charmed life with her loving dad, who runs the town donut shop. It's true her mother abandoned them when Rosie was just a baby, but her dad's all she's ever needed. But now that her father's had a stroke, Rosie lives with her tough-as-nails grandfather. And her beloved dog, Gloaty Gus, has just gone missing. Rosie's determined to find him. With the help of a new friend and her own determination, she'll follow the trail anywhere...no matter where it leads. If she doesn't drive the whole world crazy in the meantime.

With her adopted son missing and the rest of her family increasingly estranged, Sandra Kaye Darden is drawn to the little pink house where her Uncle Poppy once provided security. What begins for Sandra as a simple painting project, meant to prepare the house for sale, becomes a secret venture that eventually changes everything. Cass Blue is having trouble keeping food on the table since she ditched foster care. When Sandra Kaye shows up with lunch one day, Cass has no way of knowing that the meeting will lead to the creation of a place of refuge that could reunite a divided community.

Jilted at the altar, small-town librarian Claire is forced to go on her romantic honeymoon in New York City alone. After enduring one too many meals for two as one, Claire invites a seemingly harmless little old lady to join her for afternoon tea at the Plaza. Unbeknownst to Claire, said little old lady is actually a grand wizard, who bestows Claire with a magical amulet that makes her the sitting queen of the magical community. Claire is swept into the gilded world of New York City wizards - and a bitter power struggle for the throne.

With her delicate touch, Sofia Bauer restores books to their original splendor. In this art she finds refuge from her crumbling marriage and the feeling that her once-vibrant life is slipping away. Then an antique German edition takes her breath away. Slipped covertly into the endpapers is an intriguing missive, the first part of a secret…from one bookbinder to another.

Going home for Christmas this winter just might turn Drew Cannon into a real Grinch. When his college sweetheart Lauren Kincaid broke off their engagement a year ago, Drew retreated to Tokyo to run the Asia-Pacific division of the family's toy company and lick his wounds. If that weren't enough, his attempt at a high-profile holiday doll for the company was a bust. Now he's headed back to New York City to spend the holidays with his love-struck dad, his pissed-off twin brother, and the ex who broke his heart.

CEO Luke Cannon has just traded seats with his identical twin. Little did he know that an innocent kiss while pretending he was his brother would soon create havoc. What happens in the air doesn't stay up there. Once on the tropical land, Kate believes that the handsome stranger who gave her the best kiss of her life is now her new client, Drew Cannon, fiancé to the beautiful and wealthy Lauren Kincaid. While Kate struggles with the intense feelings she thinks she has for Drew, Luke discovers Kate's been hired to plan his brother's destination wedding.

Book your visit to the Beach Plum Cove Inn today...meet widow Lisa Hodges and her four adult children, friends, and visitors to the newly opened waterfront bed and breakfast. In the first book, The Nantucket Inn, Lisa learned that her deceased husband had a hidden gambling addiction and had blown through their retirement savings. Since she'd been raising four children and hadn't worked in years, she had no employable skills. Her only option if she wanted to stay on the island near her loved ones, was to rent out her second floor rooms.

Sixteen-year-old Talia was born to a life of certainty and luxury, destined to become empress of half the world. But when an ambitious rival seizes power, she and her mother are banished to a nowhere province on the far edge of the Northern Sea. It is here, in the drafty halls of the Ruen-Dahr, that Talia discovers family secrets, a melancholy boy with a troubling vision of her future, and a relic that holds the power of an ancient star. On these shores, the eerie melody of the sea is stronger than ever, revealing long-forgotten tales of the goddess Rahn.

Lisa Hodges needs to make a decision fast. Thanks to her dead husband’s gambling addiction, their savings is almost gone...Her only options are to sell the house and move off-island, or, she could use her cooking and entertaining skills and turn her home into a bed and breakfast. Come visit Nantucket and see how Lisa's new bed and breakfast has an impact on almost everyone in her family.

Lila Bennett's bad choices have finally caught up with her. And one of those decisions has split her life in two. Literally. In one life, she's taken hostage by someone who appears to be a stranger but knows too much. As she's trapped in a concrete cell, her kidnapper forces her to face what she's done or be killed. In an alternate life, she eludes her captor but is hunted by someone who is dismantling her happiness, exposing one secret at a time.

Summer has started in idyllic Sag Harbor, and for Emma Mapson that means greeting guests at the front desk of The American Hotel. But when one of the town's most famous residents, artist Henry Wyatt, dies suddenly, Emma learns he has mysteriously left his waterfront home - a self-designed masterpiece filled with his work - to her teenage daughter, Penny. In Manhattan, legendary art patron Bea Winstead's grief at her lifelong friend and former business partner Henry's passing turns to outrage, and she descends on Sag Harbor determined to reclaim the house and preserve Henry's legacy.

A disarmingly involving portrait of a family struggling to stay together through the Great Depression, The Cape Ann is an unforgettable story of life from a child's-eye view. Lark Erhardt, the six-year-old narrator of The Cape Ann, and her fiercely independent mother dream of owning their own house; they have their hearts set on the Cape Ann, chosen from a house catalog. But when Lark's father's gambling threatens the down payment her mother has worked so hard to save, Lark's mother takes matters into her own indomitable hands.