Showing results by author "Alyssa" in All Categories

UPDATED 2022 EDITION When my husband and I started full-time RVing, we knew nothing about RV living. We made it up as we traveled to all fifty states, constantly googling things like "how to RV" and "what is boondocking?" Meanwhile, we flooded the bathroom, took ice-cold showers, and got stuck in the mud. Now, we've been full-timing for nearly six years and we've learned the ins and outs of RVing America. In this guide, I answer all of the most common questions we receive about RV living, from how to choose the right RV to how we get mail on the road, to how to find free camping. This guide...

Miss Posterity's Academy for Practical Magic is the best kindling school in New York City - and wealthy 12-year-old Emma Harris is accustomed to the best. But when her father dies, leaving her penniless, Emma is reduced to working off her debts to Miss Posterity alongside Izzy, a daring servant girl who refuses to let her magic be snuffed out, even if society dictates she must. Emma and Izzy reluctantly form a pact: If Izzy teaches Emma how to survive as a servant, Emma will reveal to Izzy what she knows about magic.

Touching on topics like fear, worry, dissatisfaction, anxiety, and body image, Alyssa Bethke walks you through issues that rob you of your joy and helps you recognize them for what they are: distractions. With all of its expectations and contradictions, this world can take a major toll on us. Be skinny, but not too skinny. Work and hustle, but stay home and be a good mom. Be wild and free while tidy and pure. Love your husband, but be independent. Alyssa Bethke shares a compelling collection of relatable essays that will help you embrace and cultivate beauty in your life.

Between grad school and multiple jobs, Naledi Smith doesn't have time for fairy tales . . . or the patience for constant emails claiming she's betrothed to an African prince. Sure. Right. Delete! As a former foster kid, she's learned that the only things she can depend on are herself and the scientific method, and a silly email won't convince her otherwise. Prince Thabiso is the sole heir to the throne of Thesolo, shouldering the hopes of his parents and his people. At the top of their list? His marriage. Ever dutiful, he tracks down his missing betrothed.

Nya Jerami fled Thesolo for the glitz and glamour of NYC but discovered that her Prince Charming only exists in her virtual dating games. When Nya returns home for a royal wedding, she accidentally finds herself up close and personal - in bed - with the real-life celebrity prince who she loves to hate. For Johan von Braustein, the redheaded step-prince of Liechtienbourg, acting as paparazzi bait is a ruse that protects his brother - the heir to the throne - and his own heart.

Following the death of her uncle Cornelius Vanderbilt in September 1899, a somber Emma is in no mood for one of Newport's extravagant parties. But to keep Vanderbilt's reckless son, Neily, out of trouble, she agrees to accompany him to an Elizabethan fete on the lavish grounds of Wakehurst. Held in Wakehurst's English-style gardens, the festivities will include a swordplay demonstration, an archery competition, scenes from Shakespeare's plays, and even a joust. As Emma wanders the grounds distracted by grief, she overhears an argument between a man and a woman behind a tall hedge.

Young people today enter adulthood with expectations of blissful dating followed by romantic, fulfilling marriages only to discover they've been duped. They learned about love and sexuality from social media, their friends, Disney fairy tales, pornography, or even their own rocky pasts, and they have no idea what healthy, lifelong love is supposed to be like. The results are often disastrous, with this generation becoming one of the most relationally sick, sexually addicted, and divorce-ridden in history.

New York City socialite and perpetual hot mess Portia Hobbs is tired of disappointing her family, friends, and - most importantly - herself. An apprenticeship with a struggling swordmaker in Scotland is a chance to use her expertise and discover what she's capable of. And it turns out that she excels at aggravating her gruff silver-fox boss, when she's not having inappropriate fantasies about his sexy Scottish burr.

December 1918: As a difficult year draws to a close, there is much to celebrate for 19-year-old Phoebe Renshaw and her three siblings at their beloved family estate of Foxwood Hall. The dreadful war is finally over; eldest daughter Julia's engagement to their houseguest, the marquis of Allerton, appears imminent; and all have gathered to enjoy peace on Earth, goodwill toward men. But the peace of Foxwood Hall is shattered on the morning of Boxing Day, when the marquis goes missing.

A summer in New Orleans is exactly what Allie needs before starting college. Accepting her dad's invitation to work at his hotel offers an escape from her ex-boyfriend and the chance to spend the summer with her best friend. Meeting a guy is the last thing on her mind - until she sees Levi.

Without question Spencer Hartley burns hot for his girlfriend, Rory, but his other desires are hidden down deep. He might blow things up for a living and climb mountains for kicks, but the scariest thing in his life is the truth about his sexuality. Jack Rothman works hard and plays dirty and meaningless sex helps him forget that he's suffocating. When a catastrophic accident traps Spencer with Jack, they need each other to survive. But something strong stirs there in the darkness, and it's more than their desperation to live. There's a spark between them that's impossible to ignore.

Tiana Carter has just started college and is determined to make the most of it. She’s thrilled to be posting videos about dorm-room cooking and campus fashion for a small but loyal band of followers. When she dips into the online dating pool, her first swipe right raises a huge red flag. Tiana’s polite rejection is met with scorn, and now a group of self-proclaimed “high-value men” are hell-bent on ruining her life.

In this hilarious and intimate essay collection, Alyssa navigates life as a wild-hearted woman and her thrilling career as a sex, relationship, and celebrity writer in New York City. From double-booking an interview with Sarah Jessica Parker and an abortion appointment and unsuccessfully quitting sex and men entirely to have a baby via an anonymous sperm donor, Alyssa's essays paint a deeply genuine, romantic, and uproarious portrait of a woman who craves both love and lust, and refuses to settle or sacrifice her fierce inner-spirit, sometimes to her own regret and detriment.

While her boss was busy wooing his betrothed, Likotsi had her own love affair after swiping right on a dating app. But her romance had ended in heartbreak, and now, back in NYC again, she’s determined to rediscover her joy - so, of course, she runs into the woman who broke her heart. When Likotsi and Fabiola meet again on a stalled subway train months later, Fab asks for just one cup of tea. Likotsi, hoping to know why she was unceremoniously dumped, agrees. Tea and food soon leads to them exploring the city, and their past, with Fab slowly revealing why she let Likotsi go.

In When Doing It All is Undoing You, Alyssa Bethke helps listeners understand the difference between what is in and what is out of our control, and she examines how our striving for approval, balance, happiness, and lofty ideals often masks underlying fear and disappointment. She acknowledges that even when we do all the right things, the outcome we hope for is not guaranteed, and addresses the disillusionment so many of us feel when the life we have looks nothing like the life we envisioned.

Between grad school and multiple jobs, Naledi Smith doesn’t have time for fairy tales…or patience for the constant e-mails claiming she’s betrothed to an African prince. Sure. Right. Delete! As a former foster kid, she’s learned that the only things she can depend on are herself and the scientific method, and a silly e-mail won’t convince her otherwise. Prince Thabiso is the sole heir to the throne of Thesolo, shouldering the hopes of his parents and his people. At the top of their list? His marriage.

SIX stories of doctors giving humiliating exams to their innocent female patients. Dominated By Both Doctors: Bethany is a brat that has been sent to the doctor and winds up with two doctors doing her examination. Her bad attitude means that the doctors have to take certain disciplinary measures. Bethany gives in and the two doctors not only give her a very thorough examination, they have a little fun with her before they let her go, filling up everything they stretched wide. Maid For The Doctor: Hailey gets a new job as a maid for the billionaire Dr. Pascal Burch. She wants to do a good ...

When Maisie gets into a terrible accident, her face is partially destroyed. She's lucky enough to get a face transplant - but how do you live your life when you can't even recognize yourself anymore? She was a runner, a girlfriend, a good student...a normal girl. Now all that has changed. As Maisie discovers how much her looks did - and didn't - shape her relationship to the world, she has to redefine her own identity and figure out what "lucky" really means.

Through their popular blog Marc & Angel Hack Life, Marc and Angel Chernoff have become go-to voices in the area of personal development, reaching tens of thousands of fans each day with their fresh and relatable insights. Now they're writing the book they wish they'd had when they needed it most. Getting Back to Happy reveals their strategies for changing thought patterns and daily habits to bounce back from tough times.

How do we find contentment in God when we feel so hidden? Sara Hagerty unfolds the truths found in the biblical story of Mary of Bethany to discover the scandalous love of God and explore the spiritual richness of being hidden in him. Every heart longs to be seen and understood. Yet most of our lives is unwitnessed. We spend our days working, driving, parenting. We sometimes spend whole seasons feeling unnoticed and unappreciated. In Unseen, Sara Hagerty suggests that this is exactly what God intended. He is the only one who truly knows us.