Showing results by narrator "Amy Melissa Bentley" in All Categories

Inspired by true events, a thrilling Depression-era novel from the author of The Librarian of Burned Books about a woman’s quest to uncover a mystery surrounding a local librarian and the Boxcar Library—a converted mining train that brought books to isolated rural towns in Montana. When...

When 16-year-old, Ashlyn Brooks, runs into a sweet British guy in the dark Chemistry lab, she has no idea she's actually sitting in the pitch black room with her longtime rival, Luke Davenport. She also doesn't know that she's stepped into another one of the football captain's pranks. It isn't long before she's sharing things she's never told anyone, and starting to fall for the mysterious guy with a sexy accent who seems to understand her in a way no one ever has before.  

It's the holiday season on Daybreak Island, and Maddie James is looking forward to stepping out of the limelight, watching the island's Christmas decoration competition from afar, spending time with her boyfriend and family, running tours for visitors as part of the festivities, and spreading holiday cheer through cute cats in jingle bell collars. But trouble hits close to home when word gets out that Donna Carey, the publisher of the island's only daily newspaper where Maddie's best friend Becky is editor, may be selling the business.

It's October in Daybreak Harbor, which means everything Halloween. The town is going all out for the holiday, hoping to one-up the festivities in neighboring Salem, Massachusetts, and Maddie James is delighted to be part of the planning for the annual happenings. But trouble brews when Maddie's youngest sister, Sam, books a famous medium, Balfour Dempsey, to come to town for the celebrations and stay in the local haunted inn—along with his equally famous black cat. The town busybody books a secret reading with Balfour and doesn't want anyone to know why.

Caroline Adams returns to Indian Territory after tiring of confining society life. She wants adventure, and when she and her friend Amber come across swaggering outlaw Frisco Smith, they find his dreams for the new territory are very persuasive. With the much-anticipated land run pending, they may just join the rush. Growing up parentless, all Frisco Smith wanted was a place to call his own. It's no wonder that he fought to open the Unassigned Lands. After years of sneaking across the border, he's even managed to put in a dugout house on a hidden piece of property he's poised to claim.

Six years earlier, Trina Grissom disappeared, on the run for her life. Now living under an assumed identity - as Samantha Marsh - she still struggles with the dark secret she harbors and the fear she might one day be found. When she moves to the coastal town of Rarity Cove, South Carolina, to open a cafe, a handsome widower begins to chip away at the walls she's built to protect herself. Mark St. Clair lost his wife two years ago in a tragic accident. He distracts himself from his lingering grief by running the family business and caring for his troubled young daughter.

A fantastic new cozy mystery series with a vintage flair from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award–winning author Ellen Byron. Twenty-eight-year-old widow Ricki James leaves Los Angeles to start a new life in New Orleans after her showboating actor husband perishes doing a stupid internet...

Benjamin Church came to the Grange Hall expecting to meet someone else, but then the girl in the red dress looked across the dance floor and smiled.... Passing Through Perfect is a heart-wrenching Southern family saga that starts on the night Benjamin falls madly in love with Delia. Once he tastes the sweetness of her kiss, he envisions them spending the rest of their life together. He doesn't stop to consider that her daddy is a learned Pastor, and her mama a woman with a college degree; he knows only that she sets his heart to racing.

Bonnie Balfour adores the changing seasons, fabulous fall activities, and holiday hoopla, but will a corpse on the porch squash her holiday plans? Thanksgiving is right around the corner in historic Bliss, Georgia, and Bonnie is trimming display tables at Bless Her Heart, especially for the occasion. A "Gift of Gratitude" display, beside the front door of her second-chance dress shop, encourages shoppers to leave messages of good tidings for neighbors and friends. Unfortunately, someone has left a cornucopia of complaints instead. And they’re all about Bonnie.

Tequila Key is just like any other small town, and I'm just like any other small town psychic. Scratch that. Tequila Key is a world onto itself and some people might think that I am one crayon short of the box. And, if we're being totally honest, Tequila Key is just like any other small town - if that town boasts a voodoo priestess and a few white witches for flavor. Turquoise blue water and the best margaritas this side of Mexico make it hard to leave.

Seventeen-year-old Eliana Costa has never kissed a guy. Her best guy friend, Jess, is more than willing to help her out. He has plenty of experience, since he finds a new girlfriend every other week. But when a practice kiss brings on feelings Eliana hadn't bargained for, her already messy life is thrown into a new level of chaos. Life is already more than she can handle after her dad's disappearance. Eliana worries that if she admits her feelings to Jess, she just might lose her best friend. And right now, a best friend is all she needs.

In the early 70s, some of us were shot like stars from our parents' homes. This was an act of nature, bigger than ourselves. In the austere beauty and natural reality of Hell's Canyon of Eastern Oregon, 100 miles from pavement, Pam, unable to identify with her parent's world and looking for deeper pathways has a chance encounter with returning Vietnam warrior Skip Royes. Skip, looking for a bridge from survival back to connection, introduces Pam to the vanishing culture of the wandering shepherd and together they embark on a four-year sojourn into the wilderness.

In Pelican, Louisiana, Valentine's Day has a way of warming the heart. But the air at Crozat Plantation B&B turns frigid when celebrity chef Phillippe Chanson checks in. And when the arrogant Phillippe perishes in a fiery boat crash, Maggie Crozat's dear friend JJ lands in very cold water. Did JJ, proprietor of Junie's Oyster Bar and Dance Hall, murder Phillippe because he feared the competition? Might Maggie's mother, Ninette, have bumped off the chef for stealing one of her cherished recipes?

Communications from beloved pets are seen by thousands every day. Some messages are given in ways that require an acute awareness and more interpretation as well. From the heavens above, signs are given by deceased pets to connect with their families they left behind. Oftentimes, the gifts they share are unseen or are difficult to identify. Learning to speak the language of spirit requires practice, but once identified, the joy of hearing from your pet in spirit can bring great comfort.

The holiday season on Daybreak Island is a mixed bag for Maddie James. On the one hand, her Christmas spirit is in the doghouse after a break-up. On the other, she's busy enough that she doesn't have to pretend to be merry. Business at her cat café is booming, and Maddie's care-taking of a feral cat colony in one of the area's wealthiest communities only helps her bottom line. But tensions between the homeowners and animal activists are escalating to catastrophic levels...and before long a body is found dead in a snowbank.

When I found out I was cast opposite my crush in the school musical, I thought it was a dream come true. Nash Hastings is the type of guy a "good girl" like me should want. He's sweet, attentive, loyal, and best of all, he finally asked me on a date. It's the perfect setup for an onstage romance to move offstage. There's just one problem: Asher Park—the bad-boy rumored to have been involved in the mysterious disappearance of his ex last spring—is also in the play.

Every girl imagines meeting her prince charming. It's doubtful, however, that any of these fantasies include it happening when they're soaked with sweat and knee-deep in pond scum. Fate can be funny that way.

Isabella Shay is usually a very honest person. But when she's running late for her first day at a dream job and the barista yells for "Amy" three times with no answer, she does the unthinkable. Izzy takes that PSL. But when she turns around and runs directly into the most attractive man she's ever seen, spilling the drink all over his GQ shirt and tie, she ends up having the ultimate meet-cute. Sparks fly and things feel beyond promising until he says the words, "See you tomorrow, Amy." Uh, oh-she'll definitely have to straighten him out the following day.

It's Mardi Gras season on the bayou, which means parades, pageantry, and gumbo galore. But when a flood upends life in the tiny town of Pelican, Louisiana - and deposits a body of a stranger behind the Crozat Plantation B&B - the celebration takes a decidedly dark turn. The citizens of Pelican are ready to laissez les bon temps rouler - but there's beaucoup bad blood on hand this Mardi Gras. Maggie Crozat is determined to give the stranger a name and find out why he was murdered.

Growing up Amish and leaving the fold, Emma Gingerich left her Amish community in Eagleville, Missouri, at the age of 18. Her memoir Runaway Amish Girl: The Great Escape captivates even the timid listener. Disagreeing with the beliefs of Amish traditions and upbringing, the pressure became too much for her to bear. Forced to make a personal decision, Emma found the courage to leave the only life she had ever known. She had no idea the emotional turmoil she'd inflict on her family and friends.