America beckons with opportunity during the 1850s. Louisa Mueller, a baker’s daughter, arrives in Elm Ridge, Illinois with determination to learn English and work as a baker. Since the death of her sweetheart a year ago, she pushes aside thoughts of marriage. However, she’s intrigued by a fellow passenger who tells the most interesting stories. Desperate for a fresh start, a young thief takes the name Hans Hoffmann when a look-alike passenger dies during the trans-Atlantic passage. Vowing ...

During a San Francisco visit, photographer Serena Carter sights arresting potential in the hotel bartender and invites him to model. Later, in San Diego, they meet at a beach, and she discovers his personality as fascinating as the images her camera captures. Self-made millionaire Zack Sans usually avoids cameras. He prefers the world of scientific laboratories and engineering students. But something intrigues him about the petite photographer. When realistic Serena accepts an opportunity ...

Two years ago I quit sugar and my life has never been better.There are loads of 'sugar free diet' books available right now, but precious few that give you a blow-by-blow account of what happens when you cut sugar from your diet. And believe me, LOTS happens!This is a personal story (cut through with some good information on going sugar free) about what happened to me, my body, my mood, my family when I started my sugar free diet.If you're consideri...

HVAC tech, Janet Zwingel has too much on her plate to clutter her life up with a man. Her daughter is engaged, and with a mortgage due each month, she has to maintain her job status quo. Police detective Rich Taylor lost his wife two years ago. His friends are urging him to date, but he's not interested. Well, not until he meets the intriguing woman who fixed his A/C. Just when he thinks anything is possible, life throws him and Janet a curve-ball. And a dead body could keep them from havi...

Tucking a weapon into a holster is part of getting dressed for Detective Maylee Morgan of the St. Louis Police. Her new assignment is the case of an unidentified body, and she soon discovers her new neighbor is more than a potential jogging partner. Surgeon Dave Holmes is optimistic about his future. He has a new job, a new apartment, and an immediate attraction to a woman running in the park. He intends to discover more than her beautiful legs and unusual name. Then his boss is murdered a...

In criminal defense attorney Mandy Price’s experience, men are untrustworthy. Life is better when she concentrates on career. Rumors of an impending retirement at the law firm spur her to pursue becoming the firm’s first female partner. Police detective to the public and fine artist off duty, Cal Collins follows established rules to keep his two occupations separate. Until now, not dating local women has preserved his dual vocations and kept his past private. However, this is St. Louis, a ...

Prepare for consequences when you love your neighbor. In 1851, Polly Black arrives in Elm Ridge, Illinois with little more than her sewing skills, her young son, and the persona of a widow. To preserve her reputation, she needs to tread lightly when a recent widower, a powerful man who knows she never married, courts her. A new shop opens across the way, and the owner’s friendly face is a welcome sight for both Polly and her son. Born and raised in a Pennsylvania Deutsch community, Kurt Ta...

First published in 1903, The Land of Little Rain is Mary Austin's classic homage to the American Southwest. Her collection of short stories and essays takes readers on an enchanted journey through Death Valley, the High Sierras, and the Mojave Desert. This first-ever audiobook edition is read by Emmy Award-winning actress, Ellen Parker, and received an Audiofile Earphones Award.Mary Hunter Austin (1868-1934) traveled extensively in the American Southwest. “Between...

Unlike anything Joyce Carol Oates has written before, A Widow’s Story is the universally acclaimed author’s poignant, intimate memoir about the unexpected death of Raymond Smith, her husband of forty-six years, and its wrenching, surprising aftermath. A recent recipient of National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, Oates, whose novels (Blonde, The Gravedigger’s Daughter, Little Bird of Heaven, etc.) rank among the very finest i...

Why is political skill so important in business?In today's organizations, career success depends more on political skill-the ability to influence, motivate, and win support from others-than on almost any other characteristic. Political Skill at Work delivers the "how" to influence at work, not just the "what."The authors of this innovative study explore how people high in political skill are more successful at getting hired, building a reputation, ...

Part of the NOW Classrooms series.Developed specifically for grades 9-12, this resource presents classroom-ready lessons that support the ISTE Standards for Students (formerly NET standards). Use the lessons, which focus on four essential skills (communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity), to take instruction and learning to the next level using technology. Each chapter includes strategies for developing authentic learning experiences and ends with di...

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere.In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?The theme ...