Showing results by narrator "Kristin Kalbli" in All Categories

After a flood damages the looms at Zenus Dane’s Philadelphia textile mill and the bank demands loan payment, Zenus turns to his aunt for help repurposing his textiles. Trouble is...his aunt has already been hired by the lovely yet secretive Englishwoman Mary Varrs. Eager to acquire his aunt’s quilt patterns, Zenus attends the summer Quilting Bee, a social event his aunt has uniquely designed with the secret purpose of finding Zenus a wife.

Multiple award-winners Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling have gathered together 22 tales of unearthly temptations wickedly concocted by some of today's most potent literary conjurers - including Neil Gaiman, Jan Yolen, Michael Swanwick, and Joyce Carol Oates. Here are stories of incubi and succubi, of forbidden fruits harvested in erotic gardens, of pleasures that persist beyond death. So heed the sirens' song. Lie back, relax, and submit to the darkest delights you have ever experienced.

Cult favorite Tony Vigorito invokes a kind of chaos theory in Nine Kinds of Naked that gleefully turns any expectation of time, space, or plot on its head.

Carol Kyle hasn't spoken to her ex-husband in nearly a year, so luring him into her bed for one tempestuous night would be no mean feat. But even if it requires strategy skills befitting a navy admiral, she'll manage. Because Carol wants a child, and only Lieutenant Commander Steve Kyle will do as the father-to-be. Steve will never allow his child to be raised without a father, so Carol plans to seduce Steve into her bed one last time. Her plan seems to be working…until her carefully wrought baby-trap suddenly slams shut—on her own unsuspecting heart!

Lieutenant Commander Shaila Jain has been given the assignment of her dreams: The first manned mission to Saturn. But there’s competition and complications when she arrives aboard the survey ship Armstrong. The Chinese are vying for control of the critical moon Titan, and the moon Enceladus may harbor secrets deep under its icy crust. And back on Earth, Project DAEDALUS now seeks to defend against other dimensional incursions. But there are other players interested in opening the door between worlds…and they’re getting impatient.

Already provoking debate and garnering significant attention in France and within the wine world, Vino Business is a surprising and eye-opening book about the dark side of French wine by acclaimed investigative journalist Isabelle Saporta.

Dear Listener: You won't believe what's happened. My son, Tulane, has come back home! You remember Tulane? He'd set out to find fame and fortune in the big, wide world outside of Last Chance, and I'm mighty proud. But that's not the half of it - Tulane isn't only back; he's brought a young lady with him.

"Perfect deadpan marks the opening of Ali Simpson’s The Monster'" writes Susan Merrell of The Southampton Review in her introduction to this issue of Recommended Reading.

On Sarah A. Chrisman's 29th birthday, her husband, Gabriel, presented her with a corset. The material and the design were breathtakingly beautiful, but her mind immediately filled with unwelcome views. Although she had been in love with the Victorian era all her life, she had specifically asked her husband not to buy her a corset - ever. She'd heard how corsets affected the female body and what they represented, and she wanted none of it.

Earth, the fantasy - the place where mankind originated, the storied vista of green, rolling hills and unblemished mountains and fields of amber grain waving in a light breeze. Earth, the reality - a junk world, a dirty, dangerous, rundown planet filled with detention camps, flop houses, taverns, human body parts factories, mobsters' palaces, and a lawless immigrant community of aliens and humans on the run.

Women's progress is global progress. Where there is an increase in women's university enrollment rates, women's earnings, and maternal health, and a reduction in violence against women, we see more prosperous communities, better educated, healthier families, and the preservation of equal human rights. Yet globally, women remain the most consistently under-utilized resource. Vital Voices calls for and makes possible transformative leadership around the world.

In the year 2135, dangerous alien life forms freed in the destruction of Saturn's moon, Enceladus, are making their way toward Earth. A task force spearheaded by Lt. Cmdr. Shaila Jain is scrambling to beat them there while simultaneously trying to save crewmember Stephane Durand, who was infected during the mission to Saturn and is now controlled by a form of life intent on reopening a transdimensional rift and destroying the human race.

Siobhan comes to New York with a purpose: She wants to become a successful artist. To pay her bills in the meantime, she's the hostess at The Stone Room, a bar for the beautiful and the billionaires. She's fine with being on her own - until tech billionaire Derick takes her breath away.

It's been a month since her traumatic breakup with Derick, and Siobhan now lives in Detroit, where she can support herself and her painting career. But suddenly Derick's back after flying halfway across the country for her. And though Siobhan's body comes alive at his touch, she doesn't know if she can trust him again.

Turn back the clocks! Your sweet child has morphed into a teen. And it's no longer just a messy bedroom or an attitude with a capital "A" causing concern. There's a whole new range of issues on the horizon. What if your daughter texts a naked picture to a "boyfriend" ...which he then forwards to the entire class? What if your son becomes increasingly withdrawn...Or your child is being bullied online? Would you know what to do? You could read a whole book on teen psychology - but who has the time!

With contributions from celebrity and "ordinary" parents alike, each story speaks to the range of emotions and experiences of all types of parents - single parents, foster parents, parents of adopted children, or part of a two-parent family with biological children. By sharing the personal experiences of others, this book will offer inspiration and advice to parents going through a difficult time, provide reassurance to those who worry that they’re not living up to the Supermom or Superdad ideal....

When Alyssa Denham, a single career woman, wins a fun getaway for two on Mackinac Island where her grandmother lives, she gives her carefree best friend a call. Together, they tour the old shops and hidden treasures of the quaint island while helping Alyssa’s grandmother piece together an heirloom quilt. Their quest gains them entrance into the homes of many longtime residents of the island, parts of the city that are otherwise off limits to tourists.

Set in San Francisco and North Carolina, the linked stories in Damn Love introduce us to characters struggling with love in all its complicated forms, including a young doctor getting over a breakup with the help of a patient, a newly married gay man who reconnects with his estranged mother, a trio of physicists caught in a surprising love triangle, and a soldier who takes secrets with her to the Iraqi desert.

Based on the major themes found on the most active Facebook page in history, Jesus Daily is a 365-day interactive devotional that goes beyond even the fan page to create a deeper experience and cultural movement that celebrates your redemption in Christ. Jesus Daily presents a devotional thought, but also challenges you to respond to each daily reflection using a variety of social media tools.

Dear Listener: Yes, our town is way off the beaten path, but strange, wonderful miracles happen a lot around here. I've owned the Cut 'n' Curl beauty shop for years, and I've seen folks come for a visit, then stay for a lifetime. Take Jane - that pretty firecracker of a girl who just arrived in town. I would swear she's running from something.