Showing results by narrator "Gayle Hendrix" in All Categories

February 29th is a date that comes into existence just once every four years. It is also the birthday of Thais - author Anne-Dauphine Julliand's darling daughter - who died of a genetic disease. Thais lived just shy of her fourth birthday. She had a short life but good one. As this special day is about to reappear on her calendar for the first time since her daughter passed away, Anne-Dauphine struggles with how to mark this momentous occasion. She wants to live fully on this special day: Thais would have been eight years old.

Even as you read these words, there are women just like you stepping up and making a difference in their communities, making our world a better place to live. Three such exceptional women have been selected as recipients of Harlequin's More Than Words award. To celebrate their accomplishments, three bestselling authors have written short stories inspired by these real-life heroines.

Unlocked begins with a vivid depiction of the author's life with her autistic son, Ben. Feelings of isolation and self-hate and even moments of hatred toward her own child in response to his behaviors, as well as the impact on her marriage and younger daughter, impel her to seek solutions for his condition. Through years of trial and error, Susan eventually discovers methods that bring about radical improvement in Ben.

The half-fiend Kaanyr Vhok finally arrives at the destination he has sacrificed so much to achieve - he is in the heart of Celestia with his lover and consort, the succubus Aliisza. Only to find that the House of the Triad is falling apart, and he is bound by a vengeful Aliisza and a renegade angel into trying to save it - not exactly the goal he had in mind. The second full-length novel in The Empyrean Odyssey, The Fractured Sky continues to follow War of the Spider Queen....

As Christmas approaches, Laura plans to curl up in her Boston apartment with her English professor husband, Richard, to await the birth of their first child. But when her cousin asks Richard to direct A Christmas Carol, Laura heads back home to unpleasant surprises. First, running a play transforms mild-mannered Richard into a backstage tyrant. Next, Seth, the play's Scrooge, is a washout as an actor. And the worst surprise of all - grimmer than the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come - Seth is brutally murdered.

What better place to hide from a deranged stalker than a ramshackle cottage on a desolate coastal island? But two men have followed Dr. Antonia Winters to her refuge. One simply wants her. The other wants her dead.

Few relationships are as simple - and rewarding - as those between man and animal. From the loyal dog who risks his own life to rescue a drowning boy to the lost kitten who comforts a grieving woman to an abandoned horse and foster child who come to save each other, these inspiring true stories highlight the hope, healing, happiness and - most of all - unconditional love animals bring to our lives. Whether you love sloppy dog kisses, or melt at every kitty meow, this heartwarming collection is one to treasure.

Now, in a delightful new tale of buried Southern secrets, Laura Fleming returns once again to her hometown of Byerly, North Carolina. To the folks of Byerly, carpetbaggers rank right up there in popularity with death and taxes. So when Northerners Marshall and Grace Saunders try to buy out the town's largest mill, it's no shock the proposed sale nearly causes a second Civil War. But Laura is surprised when the mill's president, Butt Walters, confidentially asks her to muckrake through the Saunders' backgrounds, even though Big Bill Walters, Burt's dad, the controlling owner of the mill, wants to sell.

For those who enjoyed Amazing Gracie or Merle’s Door, here is a completely new tale of a rescued dog who becomes the unlikely purveyor of a powerful gift. What if most people have it wrong, and miracles are not the exception but the norm? Flash’s Song is the true account of how one person discovered the secret of miracles. It is a story of the power of laughter, the power of family, and, ultimately, the power of love to get us through life.

With her husband off in England, snowbound Laura Fleming is looking forward to spending a quiet weekend alone, until a wicked winter squall sweeps the Boston police to her front door. The body of her old college boyfriend, Philip Dennis, has been found frozen in the alley behind her Back Bay apartment. To make matters worse, he'd arrived at Laura's only hours before looking for a place to stay.

The Tight as a Tick Flea Market is one of Byerly's most popular attractions. But insiders know it as a hornet's nest of greed, envy, and ruthless competition. When dealer Carny Alexander is found carved up with one of his own collectible knives, Laura Fleming discovers that the flea market is swarming with suspects.

When artist James Wesley realizes Evie Reed is dying, he is so moved by the beautiful reporter's determination to live that he makes her immortal—a vampire, like him. She's the woman he's been waiting over 150 years for. Though initially shocked by the change, Evie quickly embraces her second chance at life, and love. But just as James and Evie begin to define eternity together, a zealot breaks an ancient treaty, threatening a peace between humans and vampires that has stood for a thousand years.

Laura Fleming, savvy sleuth of Dead Ringer and Down Home Murder, returns to her North Carolina home town to attend her aunt's second wedding to her third husband - but murder and mayhem soon disrupt the plans.

He's had a wild ride, and now sex club owner Josh Scott is looking for a change of scene. But first, he's determined to bring two friends together, and he's willing to be a third wheel to move things along.... Beth Norris is eager to be set up with hot bartender Oliver Stephenson, but she's equally attracted to matchmaker Josh. Soon she's fantasizing about both men at once - and about being the one to call the shots in the encounter.... Ready to move on with his life post-divorce, Oliver is conflicted....

Six years ago, Ross Mitchell and Lucy Fleming shared a hot holiday weekend in Manhattan, back when he was just a hard-bodied guy in a tool belt and she was an impulsive photography student. Fast-forward a few Decembers: Ross and Lucy meet again, by chance, at his office Christmas party. And when they find themselves alone and snowed in after hours, it's not long before they're making their own body heat – again. Only this time, the sex is better than ever!

With the ship still recovering from sabotage even as new mechanical problems arise, J.D. Sauvage and the first contact crew prepare to meet the reclusive alien squidmoth. Though civilized worlds have shunned them both, human and alien hope to find friendship in each other. Now, as the first contact team explores the fibrous tunnels of the small planetoid that houses the alien, an awesome secret waits inside.

Interior designer Deva Dunne just may have hit the jackpot. Sure, her new client Francesco Grandese talks tough and has shady friends, but he has the eye of a connoisseur, and a huge, empty mansion he wants her to decorate. Deva's boyfriend, police lieutenant Victor Rossi, has misgivings about her promising job - especially when he accompanies her to one of Francesco's dinner parties. After Francesco returns a dish to the kitchen untasted, the chauffeur promptly scarfs it down and drops dead from cyanide poisoning. Has the killer made a terrible mistake and murdered the wrong person? Or was the dead man the intended victim?

Back home in North Carolina for a family reunion, Laura Fleming and her husband, Richard, instead encounter a mysterious corpse, and the ensuing investigation uncovers some family skeletons.

Oh, dear. Bella Manchelli is so not having a good day. First, she's deliciously exhausted from last night's sizzling one-night stand. Second, there's a (gulp) dead body at her back door. Third...um, that scrumptious one-nighter is at her front door... and he's wearing a badge!

What's worse? Being held hostage by a Mexican drug cartel or being held hostage by that cartel with the one man you passionately hate? Camille Fisher, a brainy, tough-as-they-come cop, can't believe she's daring to escape with her too-hot nemesis, Aaron Montgomery. But once she outsmarts their brutal captors, the danger's just beginning.