Showing results by narrator "Cynthia Darlow" in All Categories

On his 11th birthday, Jackson is nervous about moving up to middle school where he knows he'll be bullied by older kids, so he makes his wish, "I don't want to grow up!" When his 12th birthday rolls around, he discovers his wish came true: he's still 11, and he's starting fifth grade (again). At first, this is the perfect life. Jackson is the smartest kid in his class, the best on his baseball team, and the star of the school band. But after a few years of being eleven, he realizes his life is passing him by.

Darlene Caldwell has spent a lifetime tending Sycamores, an estate located five miles south of a small town called Peculiar. She raised a family in the spacious home that was her grandfather's legacy, and she enjoys being a pillar of the community. Sycamores is the kingdom where she reigns as queen...until her limelight-stealing twin sister unexpectedly returns. Carlene Caldwell, veteran of the Broadway stage, is devastated when she realizes that an unsuccessful throat surgery has spelled the end of her musical career. Searching for a new purpose in life, she retreats to Sycamores, her childhood home.

“A mesmerizing novel about a family in crisis.”— Miami Herald A disquieting and ultimately uplifting novel about a marriage, a family, and human resilience in the face of tragedy, from Wally Lamb, the New York Times bestselling author of The Hour I First Believed and I Know This Much Is...

America's favorite senior citizen takes on thieves who've stolen her jewelry. Although it's not the first time they've targeted her small North Carolina town, Miss Julia vows to make it the last. Soon she and her posse rush to Palm Beach for some sun, sand, and a bizarre stakeout. But how can two elderly ladies, a boy, and a tipsy private eye outfox crafty criminals?

> New York Times best-selling author Sandra Dallas spins a moving, memorable yarn that transports listeners from rural Montana to 1940s Hollywood. Buster Midnight’s Cafe is a compelling story of longtime friends, a shared past, and an act of violence that shatters innocence forever.

Miss Julia has decided to turn over a new leaf. It's time to stop meddling in other peoples' lives, she thinks - but her hands are full before long! Her neighbor Mildred is sent into a tizzy when a grandchild she's never met shows up on her doorstep. And Mildred's husband keeps forgetting who she is, so she's all on her own. Meanwhile, Etta Mae is worried about losing her job now that the Handy Home Helpers is up for sale. Luckily, Miss Julia has experience dealing with children dropped on doorsteps, and sweeps in to lend a hand.

In this episode, the graceful Southern lady’s impeccable manners are pushed to the brink. When she learned her philandering (and late) husband left behind a lover and illegitimate son, Miss Julia could have gotten nasty. Instead, she kept her cool, adding Hazel Marie and Little Lloyd to her makeshift family. But now rumors are surfacing that call Little Lloyd’s patrilineage into question. Has Miss Julia been duped?

When Tom is invited to the reading of a will of a great-uncle he’s never heard of, there’s no way to know what to expect. But on the long list of possible things to inherit, a travelling carnival ghost train is the very last on the list. To get his full $10 million inheritance, all Tom has to do is run the antique ride until his 18th birthday. Easy. Except for a strange caped-creep he’s never met, who’s trying to con him out of the money...and the actual ghosts and ghouls who call the ride home.

In this 11th entry, America’s favorite senior citizen wants to stay hidden under the bed covers. It’s bad enough her husband Sam wants them to attend marriage enrichment classes. But when she hears Dr. Fred Fowler will lead the sessions, she’s mortified. Yet she can’t hide forever, especially when someone knocks Francie Pitts in the noggin and sends her to the hospital.

Publishers Weekly proclaims "cozy fans and animal lovers will be charmed" by New York Times best-selling author Rita Mae Brown's foxhound series. The shrewd master of the Jefferson Hunt Club, "Sister" Jane Arnold must don her detective cap again as murder most foul creeps across the lush Virginia countryside.

Miss Julia has promised her husband, Sam, to mind her own business. What a relief! She doesn't have to spring into action when a dead body is found in a toolshed six blocks from her house. Instead, she can concentrate on what's really important-like figuring out who's been passing bad checks in her name and, most important, preparing for Hazel Marie's impending due date. Then again, who else can figure out why that awful Thurlow Jones is trying to cast suspicion on someone Miss Julia feels certain is innocent? And, after all, what Sam doesn't know won't hurt him, right?

Jessica's in Washington, D.C., to support a senator's new literacy initiative. The week-long literacy event includes a visit to the White House to meet the president and a lavish party or two. But during one affair at the senator's home in Virginia, Jessica discovers the dark side of politics. At the foot of a rickety staircase, she finds the body of the senator's chief of staff - and he has taken a permanent recess.

Dorothy Jean Wetstra, 87, is the town matriarch in Partonville, Illinois. Fully aware of both her strengths and flaws, she often asks "the Big Guy" in heaven for help: "Dear Lord, DO SOMETHING!"

When Miss Julia burst on the scene in her debut, Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind, this proper lady of a certain age found her orderly world turned upside down when Hazel Marie Puckett appeared with her nine-year-old son, Little Lloyd, who looked disturbingly similar to Miss Julia's late husband. Now, in Miss Julia Takes Over, with her sharp tongue and iron backbone intact, Miss Julia must tackle another disruption when Hazel Marie doesn't return from a dinner date. Miss Julia hires J. D. Pickens to investigate, despite her reservations about his taste for beer and women.

Quinn never expected that her best friend’s courageous decision to be a single mother by choice would end up transforming her own life in this poignant novel from USA Today bestselling author Robin Wells. When Quinn Langston’s best friend unexpectedly passes away, Quinn embraces...

From Haywood Smith, the New York Times bestselling author of THE RED HAT CLUB novels comes a pitch perfect story of four sisters who are forced to come together after years of silence Sisters Dahlia, Iris, Violet, and Rose—all with grown children of their own—have a complicated relationship...

Joy Bergman is not slipping into old age with the quiet grace her children, Molly and Daniel, would prefer. She won't take their advice, and she won't take an antidepressant. Her marriage to their father, Aaron, has lasted through health and dementia, as well as some phenomenally lousy business...

A contemporary novel of romance and renewal from perennial bestseller Jude Deveraux, First Impressions is an emotionally charged story of one woman's bid to start over. Eden Palmer knows how to make it on her own. The forty-something single mother has worked hard to raise her beloved...

Jessica and her friend, Dr. Seth Hazlitt, get the shock of their lives when they travel to a Florida retirement community for the funeral of their old friend, Portia Shelby, only to discover she has been murdered. Needless to say, America's most beloved sleuth soon finds herself with a Palm Beach potboiler on her hands. Who would want to kill her dear friend? One thing is certain: the beach umbrellas aren't the only shady things in the seemingly innocent community.

As manager of an elementary school cafeteria, middle-aged Margaret Tuttle is objective and self-contained. She has no interest in emotions or attachments to those around her. But when Birdie Freeman begins to work for Margaret, things begin to change. With her childlike, unselfish, Christian love, Birdie touches everyone she meets. Soon, Margaret's heart opens in spite of her resolve to remain aloof.