Showing results by narrator "Natalie Duke" in All Categories

June Tucker doesn’t understand people. Numbers, data, and statistics? Those make sense. People? Not so much. In a town of Friday night fighters and moonshine-swilling line dancers, she’s the odd duck. And that suits her just fine. But her sister and friends are pairing off, and the change is unsettling. George “GT” Thompson was at the top of his game — one of the best receivers in football. But a career-ending injury sidelined him for good. Now he’s hoping to find relief in the healing waters of this tiny West Virginia town. 

Downsized, broke, and dumped, 38-year-old Marley sneaks home to her childhood bedroom in the town she couldn't wait to escape 20 years ago. Not much has changed in Culpepper. The cool kids are still cool. Now they just own car dealerships and live in McMansions next door. Oh, and the whole town is still talking about that Homecoming she ruined her senior year.  

Raised by her three overbearing brothers, Scarlett is a hell-raising tomboy with a tool belt. A tornado stirring up trouble everywhere she goes. Her favorite pastimes? Drinking any man under the table and two-stepping. But she has zero interest in love. Scarlett’s only being neighborly when she claims her sexy next-door neighbor as her new pet project.

He didn't kiss me back like a gentleman. No, Derek Price slammed my back into the front door. A beast off his leash. Emily Stanton's perfect life just became a disaster. She has a trust fund brother looking for a handout, a father who is more board member than dad, and a mother who thinks she should give up on this whole billionaire CEO thing and meet a man with a pre-nup and a yacht. Oh, and then there's that "misunderstanding" with law enforcement witnessed by Miami's paparazzi.

All those years of adolescent fantasies and this was how Bowie Bodine first touched my boobs. And he apologized. Real life was stupid and unfair. Small town deputy Cassidy Tucker’s dating life is a train wreck on repeat. All she ever wanted was a solid partner. A man to share pajamas with. Cassidy’s officially giving up on love and adopting cats. Good thing the cold case disappearance of Callie Kendall is heating up to keep her distracted. Except the investigation is testing her friendship with all the Bodines - Bowie in particular.

Leveling up would be amazing...if it weren't so deadly. They injected me with a VR chip, a GPS tracker, and my first Seed. They gave me unbelievable powers. Then they sent me to fight. The monsters here are alien and vicious. There is a second moon in the sky. I watched a tree start moving and kill someone. And the other Players? They're even worse. I’m alone. I’m weak. And I’m scared. But I will cling to life by the tips of my bloody fingernails. Who is behind this twisted game? If I want to survive, I have to get stronger. But can I do it before the Game kills me?

Model turned disgraced reality TV starlet, Leah Mae Larkin, crash lands in her hometown of Bootleg Springs to lay low while a scandal threatens her career. She can’t shake the feeling that her agent - and supposed fiancé - manipulated her into the role of made-for-TV homewrecker. Connecting with her roots is just what she needs, and Bootleg Springs is home to her father, moonshine, and her childhood best friend, Jameson Bodine. 

What makes a romance novel a romance? Writing a well-structured romance isn't the same as writing any other genre - something the popular novel and screenwriting guides don't address. The romance arc is made up of its own story beats. Told in conversational (and often irreverent) prose, Romancing the Beat is like sitting down to coffee with romance editor and author Gwen Hayes while she explains story structure - the way she does with her clients, some of whom are regular inhabitants of the best-seller lists.

Detective Mary Joe Court sleeps with a shotgun beside her bed and a lovable bull mastiff at her feet. For the past 12 years, she’s hidden from a nightmarish past, but with every passing day, her scars fade, and her heart grows lighter. Now, for the first time in her life, she looks forward to her future. She’s happy. Then she finds the body. Someone shot the victim in her chest and left her to die in a cheap motel. Joe knew her well. She grew up with her. They were sisters, of a sort.

How far could society fall without data? Account balances, property lines, government ID records - if it all vanished, if everyone’s scorecard reset to zero, how might the world look? The Blind Mice are going to show us. Molly McGill is fighting it. Her teenage son has come downstairs in a T-shirt from these “hacktivists” dominating the news. Her daughter’s bus is canceled - too many stoplights out - and school is in the opposite direction of the temp job she’s supposed to be starting this morning.

They injected me with a VR chip, a GPS tracker, and my first Seed. They gave me unbelievable powers. Then, they sent me to fight. The monsters here are alien and vicious. There is a second moon in the sky. I watched a tree start moving and kill someone. And the other players...? They're even worse. I’m alone. I’m weak. And I’m scared. But I will cling to life by the tips of my bloody fingernails. Who is behind this twisted game? Where are they sending us? Is there anyone I can trust? If I want to survive, I have to get stronger. But can I do it before the game kills me?

If you can’t stand the heat, don’t fall for a firefighter.... Fire Chief Lincoln Reed is known for his heroics in the fire department and in the bedroom. Life is a never-ending good time. Until she lands in the middle of the accident scene he’s working...and then his backyard. Too bad she’s immune to flirty first responders. Flight trauma surgeon Mackenzie O’Neil is on a crash course with burnout. She’s got a scar on her face and a shake in her hands. A temporary job as a small-town family physician is just the prescription. She’ll learn to meditate. Sleep more.

The International Butter Festival has come to town! When Harlow Torrent, part-time journalist and full-time Slip Witch stumbles upon a dead body, frozen and drained of blood, she's pulled into a murder mystery. Someone has murdered one of the Festival competitors. Was it Zero Bend, punk sculptor with a history of violence? Perhaps Fusion Swan, a sleazy agent playing the publicity game when his clients meet their end.

The bride is a doll. The groom is the perfect gentleman. But the rest of the wedding party? They're the stuff of nightmares. Rich? Check. Vapid? Double check. Entitled? Not enough checks in the world. And the best man? More like the worst man. But maid of honor Franchesca takes her duties seriously. Kidnapped groom? She's got this. Rude attendees? You just watch her handle them. So a best man with a big attitude and an even bigger...checkbook? Yeah, there's no way she's going to let that pretentious, judgmental jackhole ruin her best friend's wedding. No matter how sexy he is.

Follow Harlow Torrent, part-time journalist and full-time slip witch in this three-book cozy mystery box set! Fabulous Witch: A movie is filming in Harlot Bay, but when the lead actor, Mattias Matterhorn, dies on his first day on set, Harlow Torrent is pulled into a dangerous plot. Holiday Witch: A series of thefts around Harlot Bay turn deadly. Shadow Witch: Elderly residents of Sunny Days Manor are going wandering, leaping fences, stealing cars and then forgetting everything before they die...or are murdered.

Luna da Rosa is America's vegan best friend. When she's not changing the cosmetics industry, she's dazzling her online fans with kombucha recipes - until Wild Heart is caught in a scandal, destroying her reputation as a cheerful do-gooder. Beck Mason is the prodigal son of Miami's most notorious biker gang. But Beck left his criminal family to start Lucky Dog, rescuing dogs who need the most help...except the surly ex-outlaw never realized leading a struggling nonprofit with a ragtag crew would be so damn hard.

The alien queen holds a grudge against Eve and her teammates. To avoid having their throats slit while they sleep, they escape the palace and set out to stop the real cause of the war, which is also slowly killing half her teammates - the incurable alien plague that NIX unknowingly weaponized. To save the people she cares about (and everyone else who happens to live on either world), Eve will have to fulfill an ancient prophecy. 

Nora hasn’t looked back. Not since she left home and her broken heart far behind her. But now tragedy calls her back, where she must finally come face-to-face with ex-boyfriend Charlie and best friend Sophie. Sophie seems to have everything. Married to Charlie, with a wonderful daughter and a successful career. Yet underneath that perfection lies an explosive secret. A secret that ripped through their town and destroyed her friendship with Nora. So when Sophie finds out that Nora has returned, she hopes Nora’s stay is short. The life she has built depends on it.

When a late season hurricane hits Merry, Connecticut, city manager and single dad Noah Yates has to inform the already devastated residents that there won't be a Christmas Festival this year. No festival means no tourism dollars. A disaster of epic proportions for his hometown. But when home renovation expert slash smoking hot reality TV star Catalina King shows up with a camera crew and a budget big enough to put the town back together again, Noah balks. Hard. The last time Cat was in town she stirred up trouble everywhere she went.

Reed Richards is brought in on a consult to oversee a privately funded dimension-spanning device...a device that will give wealthy patrons the opportunity to experience interdimensional travel. Never mind that the consortium wants to launch a sweeping endeavor that would be branded as Fantastic Forays, with the world's greatest superhero team receiving a cut of the profits; their brilliant lead scientist, Rachel Hunt, has now discovered a way to safely traverse interspace - the main conduits situated between dimensions - that allows one access to a multitude of realities.