Showing results by narrator "Courtney Patterson" in All Categories

Wedding preparations are underway, but the aisle to the altar gets rockier by the minute. Though the community's support is humbling, their enthusiasm soon hijacks the wedding. Squeeze in a suspicious death during a Texas Independence Day celebration, the needy new widow Madison befriends, and the unscrupulous politician trying to unseat Brash as chief of police, and the path seems littered with obstacles.

Foster Boyd wants control of the family business before his brother's escapades ruin their reputation. Since he can't force his brother out, he needs to distract him - or reform him. Where can he find a woman willing to do anything to save his business? Natalie Stolen was at the top of her game as image consultant to the stars. But when one of her client's reveals a juicy secret, the media went on a feeding frenzy, taking down Natalie's career faster than she could say "scandal." Now in dire straits, she's been given an offer she can't refuse....

“All the tales are a variety of detective story,” wrote Bowles of this, his first short story collection, “in which the reader is the detective; the mystery is in the motivation for the charcters’ behavior.” In such stories as “A Distant Episode” and How Many Midnights,” Bowles pushes human character beyond socially defined limits and maps a transformed (often horribly transformed) reality.

As owner of a well-respected national newspaper, Calvin Cabot has the means to indulge his capricious taste for excess—and the power to bring the upper crust of society to its knees. So when a desperate heiress from his past begs for his help, Calvin agrees . . . as long as she promises to stay out of his way. Except, like the newsman, this willful beauty always gets what she wants . . .

The Man Next Door has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.

Back in tiny Braxton, Tennessee, photographer Gevin Parker finds himself surprisingly smitten by the wedding singer who stepped in at the last minute to sing at his sister's wedding. A recent Belmont graduate, Emily Randolph is an aspiring singer-songwriter with bittersweet ties to Braxton's namesake family. But when the town's most valuable artifact goes missing - a sword dating back to the American Revolution - she and Gevin embark on a journey to help solve the mysterious disappearance.

Madison Reynolds is looking forward to a few days of rest and relaxation. Her best friend, Genny, is judging a celebrity bake-off near DC, so it's the perfect opportunity for a girl's getaway. With fun-loving Granny Bert in tow, the trio heads to the very heart of the intel community. A mix-up at the airport leaves Madison with the wrong luggage, and a last-minute change in accommodations lands them at The Columbia Inn at Peralynna. How can they know its ties to the spy world will soon spin them into its web?

Sarah Calhoun paid a hard price for her entry onto the stage of the Empire's politics, but she survived. Now she rides north into the Ohio and her father's kingdom, Cahokia. To win the Serpent Throne, she'll have to defeat seven other candidates, win over the kingdom's regent, and learn the will of a hidden goddess - while mastering her people's inscrutable ways and watching her own back. In New Orleans, a new and unorthodox priest arises to plague the chevalier and embody the curse of the murdered Bishop Ukwu.

After nearly 30 years of being a socialite wife and mother, Ellen is left alone to rattle around a mansion of a house with only the dog for company. It’s time to make a change, but to what? While she ponders what to do, she starts hearing her dog talk. Has she finally lost it? No, according to her mother. It’s an inherited gift that usually manifests at menopause, but, well, Ellen isn’t there, yet. And it’s not just the dog, but most animals. Then there’s the ability to actually see paranormal species, like gnomes, fairies, and yes, vampires. Lucky her.

After experiencing a terrible loss, New York City psychiatrist Meredith McCall feels painfully adrift. When she crosses paths with a man with whom she has a tragic connection, she follows him, sparking an unhealthy obsession with Gabriel Wright. How is he doing so well while her life is in shambles? But when Gabriel walks into her office as a patient, seemingly unaware of who she is, she knows it crosses all ethical and moral bounds to treat him. Yet, Meredith can't bring herself to turn him away and becomes further entangled.

What happens when we reach out into the vastness of space? What hope for us amongst the stars? Multi-award winning editor Jonathan Strahan brings us 14 new tales of the future, from some of the finest science fiction writers in the field. The 14 startling stories in this anthology feature the work of Greg Egan, Aliette de Bodard, Ian McDonald, Karl Schroeder, Pat Cadigan, Karen Lord, Ellen Klages, Adam Roberts, Linda Nagata, Hannu Rajaniemi, Kathleen Ann Goonan, Ken MacLeod, Alastair Reynolds, and Peter Watts.

At 26 years old, Kat is still living in the shadows of her family in Bayou Bend, Louisiana. Still working shifts at her Aunt Maggie's bakery. Still wondering what to do with her passion for baking and her business degree. And still single. But when Lucas Brannen, Kat's best friend, signs her up for a reality TV bake-off on Cupcake Combat, everything Kat ever wanted is suddenly dangled in front of her: creative license as a baker, recognition as a visionary...and a job at a famous bakery in New York. As the competition heats up, Lucas realizes he might have made a huge mistake.

WHEN ANNE HANSON'S DAD FIRST ASKED her to investigate the secret past of his parents, little did she know what she was getting into. For two decades, despite all her digging, she failed to unearth even the tiniest speck of evidence that the families of her grandparents, Frank and Ida Hanson, had ever existed. If her quest were a detective novel, its title would have been, "The Case of the Missing Ancestors."

Darcy Evans is getting married. In a week. To a man who is her childhood dream come true. But a late-night confession from her best friend changes everything and before she even has time to unpack it, she must endure a road trip to the ceremony with her estranged mother, Marja. It was always the two of them against the world…until Marja ghosted Darcy three years ago. No car in the world has enough room for all of their baggage.

Hope Robinson can’t seem to please anyone lately, especially not her mother, the flamboyant soap star Olivia Grant. Olivia loves Elvis more than Jesus and, convinced she’s dying, insists on a final visit to Graceland. Unfortunately, that’s the one place Hope can’t take her. Hope fled Memphis years ago with a shameful secret and a vow never to return.

For popular true crime author Margo Box, the past six months have been a waking nightmare. Ever since her five-year-old daughter, Poppy, vanished—abducted by her own father—Margo has tortured herself the way only a mother could: with unrelenting blame. How could she have let this happen? Had she been working too hard to see the signs? Despite the guilt and unanswered questions, Margo holds on to the hope that Poppy is somehow still alive. Yet after years of solving other people’s cold cases, her own case proves impenetrable.

Madison's newest client at In a Pinch Temp Service is a suspicious wife, up against a formidable foe - the lovely Caress Ellingsworth, former soap opera queen. When the star is murdered and Madison is eyewitness to the deed, she wonders if the shadowed person she saw commit the crime might really be her client. Now Madison is torn between uncovering the truth and keeping her client's name off the suspect list. Caress is not the only star in town these days. With a little help from Granny Bert and Madison's best friend Genesis, the popular television show Home Again arrives.

Women’s sports receive a fraction of the airtime allotted for men’s sports, as well as a fraction of the marketing dollars, media coverage, and training resources. For every dollar that the NBA’s highest-paid player brings home, the WNBA’s highest-paid player earns just half a cent. But while misogyny in sports is particularly visible, it’s not unique. Women athletes face the same sexist barriers found in all career fields: the motherhood penalty, transphobia and misogynoir, underpromotion, and more. But women in sports are fighting back.

Losing a parent is a traumatic blow, and the grief can seem unbearable. But you are not alone, and you can get through this. In this first book dedicated to the experience of adults who have lost a parent, expert on grief Katherine Fair Donnelly shares intimate, telling interviews with surviving sons and daughters and presents practical ways in which surviving family members can take steps toward recovering from their devastating loss.

Sarah Calhoun has taken her father's throne and ascended into her goddess' presence in Unfallen Eden as her father never did. And Sarah Calhoun is dying. Her uncle Thomas Penn isn't done with her. Armed with new powers conferred upon him by the Necromancer and with new allies won via his impending marriage, Penn aims to remove Sarah from her throne - and from the world of the living.