Showing results by narrator "Des Linden" in All Categories

Known to locals as the “Christmas Guy,” Nick Whittaker has delighted his neighbors with an elaborate holiday light show and his uncanny resemblance to Santa Claus. A bit of a loner, Nick has found his place and his calling as a mall Santa in the quaint Northern Michigan town of Helene. He’s the last person anyone would have suspected in the brutal beating of a local politician. But when the bloodied murder weapon turns up in his trash and surveillance video puts him at the crime scene, Nick finds himself on trial for his freedom.

A wealthy couple is brutally murdered in their kitchen. The only witness, their six-year-old daughter, goes missing. The child’s birth mother is charged with the crime. Small town lawyer Cass Leary takes the case that could rip her family apart. Her sister Vangie stands accused in the double homicide of an affluent Ann Arbor couple. All the physical evidence points to Vangie’s guilt, and Cass knows she’s been keeping secrets. But, is she truly capable of murder?

When former forensic photographer Miranda Rhoads moves to the seaside town of Lost Beach, she decides to make her living as a wildlife photographer, putting crime scenes behind her. But her plans are quickly upended when she comes across a couple sleeping in a canoe, entwined in an embrace. Looking closer, she realizes the man and woman aren't asleep - they’ve been murdered.

Ren Sawyer and Lizzy Harper live completely different lives. He's a rock star with a secret he can no longer live with. She's a regular person whose husband stood her up for a long-planned anniversary trip. On a flight across the Atlantic headed for Italy, a drunken pity party and untimely turbulence literally drop Lizzy into Ren's lap. It is the last thing she can imagine ever happening to someone like her. But despite their surface differences, they discover an undeniable pull between them. A pull that leads them both to remember who they had once been before letting themselves be changed.

Detective Nicole Lawson is fed up with her job and nonexistent love life. Her first date in months gets cut short by an urgent call from the chief of police. A body has been discovered at Lighthouse Point, and the medical examiner finds an array of strange clues. When the death is ruled a homicide, the news quickly reverberates through Nicole's beachside hometown.

In tumultuous 1860, South Carolina farmer Polly struggles to hold onto both her land and the slaves who plant and tend her valuable cotton, while still reeling from the murder of her young brothers years before. This horrific crime has gone unsolved and unpunished—until now. When details of the brutal murder come to light, she must make decisions that will change not only her own life, but the lives of every person on her farm.

She's just his barista...until she buys into Legacy Brew as a co-owner. Then she's Coy's business partner and the source of his five-year-long crush. But after they share a kiss one night, Macie's seriously considering mixing business and pleasure.

We've been thinking about sex all wrong. Mainstream media, movies, and porn have taught us that sex = penis + vagina, and everything else is just secondary. Standard penetration is how men most reliably achieve orgasm. The problem is, women don't orgasm this way. We've separated our most reliable route to orgasm - clitoral stimulation - from how we feel we should orgasm - penetration. As a result we've created a pleasure gap between women and men.

Entrepreneur Vance Banning took a residence in rural Maryland to escape business pressures—and relationships with women pursuing his bank account. To the community, he’s a moody, out-of-work carpenter with a chip on his shoulder. To next door neighbor Shane Abbott, he’s just a man who needs a little kindness in his life. Vance’s suspicions of the stunning beauty’s intense interest in him start to fade when he realizes Shane’s compassion is honest and joyful—giving his heart permission to experience true love.

Simone Foster has been stepping out of her comfort zone, joining the Three Rivers Theater Group and pushing for the lead roles. She's thrilled when she lands a final audition for the lead part in a new play, her determination stronger than ever. Micah Walker, new to acting but no stranger to heart-pounding moments with Simone, joins the Theater Group just to be close to her. They've tried dating three times before, but something always got in the way. During their audition for a marriage scene, a clerical error leads to a shocking discovery: they are legally married.

Down-on-her-luck Lori learns she's about to inherit a sizable estate - if she can discover the secret hidden in a treasure trove of letters in Dimity's English country cottage. What begins as a fairy tale becomes a mystery - and a ghost story - in an improbably cozy setting, as Aunt Dimity's indominable spirit leads Lori on an otherworldly quest to discover how, in this life, true love can conquer all.

Jeremiah Walker moved to Three Rivers with one rule: No women. Ever. After being left at the altar, he’s sworn off love, focusing on his ranch and cooking for his brothers. But as he watches his brothers find happiness, he realizes he might be missing something.

For three years, Penny Ercanbeck has been opening other people's mail. Dead ends are a reality for clerks at the Dead Letter Office. Still, she dreams of something more - a bit of intrigue, a taste of romance, or at least a touch less loneliness. When a letter from a brokenhearted man to his one true love falls into her hands, Penny seizes this chance to do something heroic. It becomes her mission to place this lost letter into the hands of its intended recipient.

From fake news to conspiracy theories, from inflammatory memes to misleading headlines, misinformation has swiftly become the defining problem of our era. The crisis threatens the integrity of our democracies, our ability to cultivate trusting relationships, even our physical and psychological well-being—yet most attempts to combat it have proven insufficient. With remarkable clarity, Sander van der Linden explains why our brains are so vulnerable to misinformation.

When Des woke up on April 16, 2018, the morning of the Boston Marathon, it was 39 degrees and raining, with high, gusty winds. The weather didn’t bother her. In fact, she thought it might be a blessing. She was far from peak form—recovering from illness and questioning her running future—and didn’t expect much of herself that day. But as she ticked off mile after mile in the brutal conditions, passing familiar landmarks on the course she knew and loved, something shifted. Opportunity unexpectedly presented itself. Des tapped into her inner strength and found a reason to race.

It starts as a prank - a way to blow off steam after a long summer at Camp Horseshoe. Among the teen counselors, tensions and hormones are running high. No wonder the others agree when Jo-Beth Chancellor suggests they scare Monica O'Neal a little.... or a lot. Monica has it coming, and no one will really get hurt. What could go wrong? Everything.

Ashley Fox has known three things since age 12: she was an excellent seamstress, what her wedding would look like, and that she'd never leave the island of Getaway Bay. Now, at age 35, she's been right about two of them, at least. With an ill parent to take care of and her trusty sewing machine, Ash loves living in Getaway Bay and owning her own custom wedding dress shop. But the husband and wedding she's always dreamed of? Those seem like they're never going to happen for her.

Nina Granville believes her business trip to Alaska will give her a short respite from the merry-go-round that came with her engagement to Congressman Terrence Donnelly. But instead of allowing her the peace she craves, Nina's getaway from the public eye means that no one witnesses her abduction into a very cold hell.

At first the townspeople of Cherryvale welcome the rising medium Kate Bender and her family. Kate's messages from the Beyond give their tedious dreams hope and her mother's potions cure their little ills—for a price. No one knows about their other business, the shortcut to a better life. And why shouldn’t their family prosper? They’re careful. It’s only from those who are marked, those who travel alone and can easily disappear, that the Benders demand their pound of flesh.

Amish woman Rosanna Zook lost her self-confidence within the confines of a loveless and abusive marriage. In the years spent quietly dealing with her burdens and dutifully caring for others, she forgot her sense of self and ability to feel. But after her first husband's untimely death, she gets a second chance with Reuben Troyer, a godly man who welcomes Rosanna and her two children into his life.