boy and girl short story Audiobooks

No matter how many critics call him an artisan or how much money people are willing to pay for his handcrafted furniture, Will Garrett will always be the son of a drunk from Mill Town. Though he has admired Dr. Arabelle Avery ever since his teenage busboy days at the Merritt County Club, he has no aspirations where she is concerned. A boy from across the tracks doesn't go calling on a state senator's daughter. But he is stoic about all that. He has his work and the home he built with his own hands in the woods where he draws his strength and serenity. At one time, life was easy for Arabelle Avery. She was smart and pretty, with her sister-in-law and cousin as best friends. When her sister-in-law wrapped her car around a tree, Arabelle was devastated. The day her brother remarried was a hard day, and going to Will Garrett's arms for the comfort was unexpected but easy. When she finds herself pregnant and hears, incorrectly, that Will is engaged, she flees to Switzerland to lick her wounds and have her baby. Desperate to do the best thing for her child, she allows her cousin to adopt him - a decision she immediately regrets. When a twist of fate reunites Arabelle with her child, she moves home to Merritt, where she is determined to keep her secret and raise her child in peace. But once Will gets a look at his son and guesses the truth, Arabelle's life spins out of control. Can they find the path to what's best for their son - and each other? Sensuality Level: Sensual

In this poignant new series, Patricia Johns introduces an Amish family striving to reclaim the promise of love, marriage, and community after a shocking change in circumstance. Her sensitive storytelling and realistically flawed, yet endearing characters bring depth and heart to this tender story about faith and second chances, as a young man and woman. The Amish residents of Bountiful, Pennsylvania, are stunned when preacher Abe Yoder is imprisoned for fraud. For Abe's son, Isaiah, the news cuts doubly deep. His daet's misdeeds have cost Isaiah his family's land and their good name. To support his sisters, he takes a job in the Glick family's book-binding shop, though it means working alongside a woman who has every reason to resent him. Yet, his attraction to Bethany Glick's beauty and warmth is undimmed... Isaiah's daet's actions helped drive Bethany's fiancé to the Englischer world, and cost her own father his savings. Their shop is in need of Isaiah's brawn and skill, but if she's to start over after heartbreak, she needs a man she can trust. Not a Yoder. But Isaiah isn't giving up so easily. And when Bethany faces a dilemma, there may be a way for each to find not just redemption, but a joyful new love...

What girl doesn’t want to wear a tiara? Me. The one who lives in yoga pants and knows she’s not special enough to be a princess. One minute I’m starting my dream life in NYC, and the next, a man too hot for his own good is banging on my door, telling me that I’m a long lost princess of a country on the other side of the Atlantic. Not exactly your typical Friday night in the Big Apple. Suddenly, all of my plans for the future are yanked away. I’m trapped in a life filled with social obligations—and stilettos!—and an uptight royal family I didn’t know existed. They, and the whole rest of the freaking country, have lofty expectations I’m not sure I can meet. At least the aforementioned sexalicious man, Elias, is my constant shadow, protecting me with his life. The whole situation is overwhelming. So I’ve secretly put him in charge of my happiness, too...and he’s taking my orders very, very seriously. So seriously, I’m falling for him even harder than the new country I’m coming to... maybe ...love. And that’s a major problem, because he’s crazy about me, too. I may not know all the zillion rules about being royal, but I know one for sure: No way can a princess date her bodyguard… Each book in the Unexpectedly Royal series is STANDALONE: * The Princess Problem * Ruling the Princess

When New York Yankee Marc MacNeal comes to Merritt, Alabama, for a charity golf tournament, he’s shocked to be reunited with his ex-fiancee Bailey Watkins. Their college romance came to a bitter end when he was called up to the majors and the tabloids began printing rubbish about him, dubbing Marc the new bad boy of baseball. Bailey never expected to see Marc back in Merritt ever again, and their reunion proves he’s just as infuriating as she thought he’d be. Then social chair Missy Bragg asks her to attend the charity’s gala as a last-minute fill-in for his date. It’s the last thing she wants to do, but Missy won’t take no for an answer. At the ball, old secrets get revealed and old feelings surprisingly stir to life. Could this unexpected reunion be the perfect chance for them to get some long-awaited closure—or the start of a whole new ball game?

On Friday night in the clay fields of Bethel Creek, seventeen-year-old Daniel Reyes is found brutally attacked and left for dead. On Saturday morning, Cora Maxwell finds her teenage son’s clothes covered in blood.A small town torn apart by a horrific hate crime. An investigative reporter hell bent on finding the truth. A mother’s worst nightmare.What really happened to the Reyes boy?In the heart-stopping and timely suspense novel, Secrets Mothers Keep, widow and mother Cora Maxwell faces the hardest decision of her life. In a world where there are few second chances, do you grant one to your child? And if so… what is the cost?

There is no way to really start this story. My story really has no beginning and no ending. It's like I was plucked from non-existence and dropped smack dab into the worst possible nightmare. I am not sure if I ever felt a moment of comfort or love from my parents, my sister I have, but from the ones that created me I don’t think I did. When you go your entire life not feeling the shelter of a parents love, I think even if for only a second if it was present it would be unforgettable, even to an infant. I cannot move forward without going back. I do not want to go back. I am scared of very few things in this world, but my past is something to bring on the cold sweats and break me into a ball of rage and pain. The trapdoors I call them, the ones containing all of the fury and pain, they need to be broken open. I have fought against it for too long and now I face my own death or my own redemption. I face the fact she will never be back and I accept the moment I broke. That’s one of the many doors I fear opening. Doors that are closed and locked and barricaded in for a reason. What I share with you, will make your skin crawl, and sadly I haven’t even scratched the surface. My name is Noah Beckett, and this is my story. There will be moments I disgust you, I will undoubtedly break your heart. I am a master of making ugly even worse but I can bring out beauty in the worst of all things. I do not judge, I would have answered to a bullet a long time ago if I did. You may not like my choices or the things I say and the way I live, but you will respect it because I have earned it.

A love match hotter than the Fourth of July… Wild West Boys, Book 2 Construction worker Willow Gregory entered the annual Miss Firecracker beauty contest on a dare and shocked everyone by winning. After a year of tiara-wearing good behavior, she’s ready to cut loose—but waking up naked in a sexy stranger’s bed with no memory of the havoc she wreaked the night before wasn’t part of the plan. Bartender Blake West thinks he could possibly be the only man alive who could say no to a drunken, horny, beauty queen—a sexpot who ends up trashing his buddy’s bar during a fight. Despite how hot she fires his blood, he demands she work off the damages in the bar…or face jail time. Working in close quarters is an explosive combination they can’t resist. But their agreement for a no-heartstrings-attached affair hits a snag when they realize the spark between them might be strong enough to burn for a lifetime…

Is a situation ever black and white? Liv knows what kind of boy her grandson is. She knows Seb would never do anything to hurt his girlfriend, Izzy. But could the shadow cast by his father be influencing the boy she loves? Caitlyn, Izzy’s mother, is desperate to reach her daughter, but she only seems to push her further away. Can she help her daughter or are Caitlyn's own demons standing in the way? When an inappropriate photo of Izzy is shared online, no one is prepared for the ripples that threaten to tear their lives apart. Will the truth come out before it's too late? Or is the damage already done? What readers are saying about In The Dark: 'Kept me awake well into the dark, desperate to find out more...' - Louise Mumford, author of Sleepless 'A great, slow-burn family drama with some dark themes, that is packed with emotion and heart.' - Sarah A. Denzil, author of Silent Child 'A powerful and poignant read, with hugely relevant topics at the heart.' 'Must-read for 2021 and very worthy of five stars.' 'I loved this so much, I flew through it in a day!' 'Powerful psychological thriller highlighting current issues and concerns in the digital age.' In the Dark is the new gripping psychological suspense novel from Vikki Patis, bestselling author of The Wake and Girl, Lost. In the Dark will appeal to fans of domestic noir, as well as to readers of authors like C.L. Taylor, Claire McGowan and B A Paris.

"A book to rival TWILIGHT and VAMPIRE DIARIES, and one that will have you wanting to keep reading until the very last page! If you are into adventure, love and vampires this book is the one for you!" --Vampirebooksite.com (Turned) BETROTHED is Book #6 in the Bestselling series THE VAMPIRE JOURNALS, which begins with TURNED (Book #1)! In BETROTHED (Book #6 in the Vampire Journals), Caitlin and Caleb find themselves, once again, back in time—this time, in the London of 1599. London in 1599 is a wild place, filled with paradoxes: while on the one hand it is an incredibly enlightened, sophisticated time, breeding playwrights like Shakespeare, on the other, it is also barbaric and cruel, with daily public executions, torture, and heads of prisoners impaled on spikes. It is also a time of superstition and grave public danger, with a lack of sanitation, and the Bubonic Plague spreading in the streets, carried by rats. In this environment Caitlin and Caleb land, on the search for her father, for the third key, for the mythical shield that can save humankind. Their mission takes them through a whirlwind of London’s most amazing medieval architecture, through the British countryside’s most breathtaking castles. It takes them back into the heart of London, where they just might meet Shakespeare himself, and see one of his plays live. It brings them to a little girl, Scarlet, who just might become their daughter. And all the while, Caitlin’s love for Caleb deepens, as finally they are together—and as Caleb might just finally find the perfect time, and place, to propose to her. Sam and Polly have traveled back, too, and as they find themselves stuck together on their own journey, their relationship deepens, as they each, despite themselves, can’t help feeling more deeply for each other. But all is not well. Kyle has come back, too, as has his evil sidekick, Sergei, and they are both intent on destroying everything good in Caitlin’s life. It will be a race to the finish, as Caitlin is forced to make some of the hardest decisions of her life if she is to save everyone who is dear to her, save her relationship with Caleb—and try to make it out alive. Books 1-11 now available online!

Hot cowboy twins, a not-so-prim schoolteacher, and a madam with a heart of gold…the West doesn’t get much wilder than this. Wyoming – 1897. Silas McKay earns his reputation as a brawling card sharp who’s short on cash but long on charm. As soon as he claps eyes on Dinah Thompson, the pretty new schoolteacher, he’s smitten. Dinah relocated to small town Wyoming to become a self-reliant woman, not to daydream about a persistent blue-eyed rancher. But Silas’s promises of home and hearth sway Dinah to take a chance on him.   While Jonas McKay is pleased by his twin’s happiness, his contentment stems from his deputy sheriff’s job. His life would be perfect if his longtime love Madame Ruby, local brothel owner, allowed him to publicly acknowledge their relationship. But Ruby refuses to destroy the upstanding deputy’s reputation, even at the expense of her own heart. When the McKays’ long-standing rivalry with Zeke West puts Dinah, Silas and Jonas in danger, each one is forced to make difficult decisions that will forever change their lives and legacies.