Showing results by narrator "Vanessa Johansson" in All Categories

Clothilde has lived her whole life in the shadows with her (sometimes) thieving and (always) ailing father. But when he fails to meet her one morning, sending her instead a mysterious ticket of half-paffage, Clo finds herself journeying across the sea to reunite with him. The ticket, however, leaves her on a sunless island inhabited only by creaking fishermen, a rumpled old woman, a piggish cat, and a moon-cheeked boy named Cary.

Who would’ve thought that beneath the lush landscapes and beautiful backdrops of Hawaii, there could lie such danger? Taylor, a single mom, faces the daily struggle of balancing responsibilities and providing for her son, Jax, all on her own. Little did she know, her world would shatter in an instant when she witnesses her own son being kidnapped.

On the eve of her thirtieth birthday, Meara O'Rourke can't help but feel alone. With her last remaining relative newly buried and her potentially disastrous engagement freshly broken, she makes a resolution to begin her life anew - only to have an unexpected phone call turn her whole world upside down. Her biological mother, Sheila, whom she met only once six years before, lies in critical condition in a nearby hospital. And though the woman once refused to see her daughter ever again - her last wish is just the opposite.

In her debut novel, Let's Hope for the Best, Carolina Setterwall recounts the intensity of falling in love with her partner Aksel, and the shock of finding him dead in bed one morning. Carolina and Aksel meet at a party, and their passionate first encounter leads to months of courtship during which Carolina struggles to find her place. While Aksel prefers to take things slow, Carolina is eager to advance their relationship - moving in together, getting a cat, and finally having a child.

In an era of “hot takes” and easy generalizations, this collection reclaims the absurdities and paradoxes of life as it is actually lived from the American fantasy of “niceness”. In Macy’s world, human desires and fatal blind spots slam headlong into convenient social-media-driven narratives that would sort us into neat boxes of insider or outsider; good or bad; with us or against us.

Christmas, a kidnapping, Jake Porter, and a stray reindeer - oh my! Sofie’s mother tells her it is the season for miracles, but Sofie’s convinced it’s more of a season for whackos and flashing Santas. After nearly losing a battle with the local strange vampire a month ago, she regrets ever having bitched about boring cheating spouse cases and process serving. She’s ready for a quiet spell doing nothing but finding people’s lost pets. But Sofie’s life will probably never be boring again. After all, kidnapping is never boring. Especially when it’s Sophie who’s being kidnapped.

When Captain Kellen Adams receives a job offer that sounds too good to be true, she finds herself balanced between fascination and fear. All she has to do is break a code and find a long-lost fortune...or die trying. New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd kicks off her Cape Charade suspense series with Hard to Kill, a short story of treasure, treachery...and murder.

Porter is still on the run after barely escaping the grasp of Dark Sky. After narrowly avoiding danger by a local gang, Porter winds up at a motel in Mozambique. It’s there that she receives a mysterious call from someone who seems to know all about her. The caller turns out to be Jason Chesney, also an agent in the Dark Sky project. Is he a friend from her past that wants to help her get out of the CIA’s crosshairs?

Globe-trotter Addie Macrae always follows her wanderlust. As a travel consultant, she jet sets around the world—anywhere but Scotland. But when she’s sent on assignment to help a struggling family-run tour company in the Highlands—and save her own job—Addie packs away her emotional baggage and turns on the professional charm.

Hope Anderson is at a crossroads. After six years with her boyfriend, she is no longer sure what she wants, and when her father becomes ill she heads to her family's cottage at Sunset Beach in North Carolina to make some difficult decisions. Tru Walls has been summoned across an ocean from where he was born and raised in Zimbabwe by a letter from a man claiming to be his father. In journeying to Sunset Beach, Tru hopes to unravel the mystery surrounding his mother's life, but the letter will lead him in an unexpected direction.

Twenty-five-year-old Julie Hayes is feeling overshadowed by her globe-trotting journalist husband and looking for some excitement and direction in life. On what amounts to a dare, she sets herself up as "Friend Julie", a storefront fortune-teller in Manhattan's seedy Theater District.

Lisa Lisson's life seemed perfect: she had married her high school sweetheart, applied her marketing degree to a position at FedEx Express Canada, and would ultimately become president of the company. One night, after putting their four children to bed, her husband, Patrick, marvelled at their lives. Just a few hours later, Patrick had a massive heart attack and was in a coma. Part leadership guide, part memoir of loss, and part personal empowerment primer on how to achieve your goals, Resilience is an inspirational story.

The life Olivia Harper always dreamed of isn’t so dreamy these days. The long work days are unfulfilling and so are things with her on-again, off-again boyfriend. So, when her mother has an accident and needs help recuperating, and looking after Olivia’s orphaned niece, Olivia heads home to Sea Glass Cottage. Cape Sanctuary on the Northern Californian coast is a beautiful town, but one that holds painful memories for Olivia, Juliet and Caitlin Harper.

After exploring the Eastern Caribbean for several years on their 34-foot Creekmore, Connie McBride, her husband, and their 16-year-old son sailed away from their adopted home of St. Croix, west across the Caribbean to Bocas del Toro, Panama. What they found there will delight the reader as the archipelago comes alive in Eurisko Sails West: A Year in Panama. Howler monkeys, red frogs, and sloths in the jungle are accompanied by a symphony of parrots, oro pendula, toucans, and macaws.

Cari Porter's in France. She's hoping that her former apartment holds some answers in helping her to remember who she used to be. And maybe she's found something. There's a name, a passport, and a bank account. But is it actually hers? Or is it something that Dark Sky has planted in her apartment, hoping to draw her into a trap?

Claire and her brother Jake have always been close. But after a devastating accident, Jake went through a downward spiral, losing all touch with reality and his family. Claire's found family and small-town bakery have become her sanctuary, but unfortunately, Jake's circumstances have taken a turn for the worse, and he finds himself at rock bottom, with a looming 15-year prison sentence. And now, she finds herself in a desperate battle to save the brother she loves.

When Nathan Isaacs walks suddenly back into Jaci Williams's life, she wonders if she ever knew her ex at all. Because it turns out he was a government-trained killer...and the only thing standing between her and death. Nathan gave everything to his country - his life, his family, even the one chance he had for happiness with the woman he loved. Then the agency he worked for betrays him, and they're targeting Jaci, too. Now their only chance of survival lies in finding out why someone wants them dead.

With a POP! and a puff of smoke, the Willows' lawn mower calls it quits. A new mower will cost their parents a lot of money, money Derek had hoped to borrow for a train ticket to visit a friend. Luckily Derek and his brother and sisters find a rusty push mower tucked away in the shed. It doesn't look like much, but it turns out that it's been soaking up magic for years. And it's hungry for grass!

Hope Anderson is at a crossroads. After six years with her boyfriend, she is no longer sure what she wants, and when her father becomes ill she heads to her family's cottage at Sunset Beach in North Carolina to make some difficult decisions. Tru Walls has been summoned across an ocean from where he was born and raised in Zimbabwe by a letter from a man claiming to be his father. In journeying to Sunset Beach, Tru hopes to unravel the mystery surrounding his mother's life, but the letter will lead him in an unexpected direction.

Una Kelly has grown up to be a rough-and-tumble grifter, able to filch a pocketbook in five seconds flat. But when another con-woman pins her for a murder she didn’t commit, Una is forced to flee. Running from the police, Una lies her way into an unlikely refuge: the nursing school at Bellevue Hospital. Based on Florence Nightingale’s nursing principles, Bellevue is the first school of its kind in the country. Where once nurses were assumed to be ignorant and unskilled, Bellevue prizes discipline, intellect, and moral character, and only young women of good breeding need apply.