Lauren Ezzo has narrated 166 audiobooks on Listento.it by 120 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.4★ across 1,423 ratings. The most-rated is Where the Forest Meets the Stars.
Drowning with Others
Summary
They have the perfect marriage. Did one of them kill to get it?
Prep school sweethearts Ian and Andi Copeland are envied by everyone they know. They have successful businesses, a beautiful house in St. Louis, and their eldest daughter, Cassidy, is following in their footsteps by attending prestigious Glenlake Academy. Then, a submerged car is dredged from the bottom of a swimming hole near the campus. So are the remains of a former writer-in-residence who vanished 20 years ago - during Ian and Andi’s senior year.
When Cassidy’s journalism class begins investigating the death, Ian and Andi’s high school secrets rise to the surface. Each has a troubled link to the man whose arrival and sudden disappearance once set the school on edge. And each had a reason to want him gone. As Cassidy unwittingly edges closer to the truth, unspoken words, locked away for decades, will force Ian and Andi to question what they really know - about themselves, about the past, and about a marriage built on a murderous lie.
©2019 Linda Keir (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Grange House
Summary
A beautifully told, captivating novel of 19th-century love and intrigue Maisie Thomas spends every summer with her parents at Grange House, a hotel on an island off the coast of Maine ruled by the elegant but distant Miss Grange. In 1898, when Maisie turns 17, her visit marks a turning point. On the morning after her arrival, local fishermen make a gruesome discovery: two drowned lovers, found clasped in each other's arms. It's only the first in a series of events that cast a shadow over Maisie's summer. As she considers the attentions of two very different young men, one an adventurous writer, the other an ambitious businessman from her father's company, Maisie also falls under the gaze of Miss Grange, who begins to tell her stories of her past. But which are truth and which are fiction? Another death, a cache of diaries, an exchange of letters - and a ghostly apparition - all play a part in changing Maisie's life forever. Rich with the details, customs, and language of the era, Sarah Blake's Grange House is part family saga, part ghost story, part love story; a wonderfully atmospheric, pause-resisting novel of literary suspense and romance. A Macmillan Audio production from Picador
©2001 Sarah Blake (P)2020 Macmillan Audio
Royal Games
Summary
Genesis Kelley didn't just get her heart broken. The aspiring veterinarian had it crushed in front of millions of viewers on the dating reality show Marry Me. Now, just as she's getting her life and dignity back together, her royal heartbreaker, Prince Rafael of Monterra, has landed in Frog Hollow, Iowa. And he's renting out her aunt's guest cottage. Deceiving TV audiences for his brother's sake cost Rafe the girl of his dreams. But he's going to fix it, even if it means moving from his mountain-kingdom home to small-town Iowa. A prince doesn't give up on his rightful princess - especially once he realizes Genesis is in deeper danger than she knows. Between fixing her truck, whisking her off to Monterra for a whirlwind date, and charming the entire town, Rafe is thawing the ice around Genesis's heart. Will it be enough to earn back her trust, protect her from her past - and sweep her into a real-life fairy tale?
©2016 Sariah Wilson (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.
Shine Not Burn
Summary
Andie Marks, known as "Party Girl" in her college days, is now a whip-smart lawyer on the fast track to success. Determined to move on from a bad break-up, she joins her girlfriends for a wild bachelorette weekend in Las Vegas, promising to let her hair down just this once. Vegas is a blur of cocktails and blackjack, and in the middle of it all she meets Mack, a real-life cowboy with a winning hand and an irresistible body. They get lucky in the casino and luckier back at the hotel, a hot night of passion that was definitely not part of Andie's life plan. By dawn Mack is gone and all she has to remember their one-night romance is a hangover and a pile of casino chips. Or so she thinks....
©2015 Elle Casey (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.
At Your Request (Apart from the Crowd): An Apart from the Crowd Novella
Summary
After her father lost the family's fortune, Wilhelmina was cast out of the fashionable set and banished to the wallflower section. Taking a position as a social secretary to help support her family, she's mostly come to terms with her new status. But when her old friend Edgar returns to New York society for the first time since she rejected his marriage proposal, she's newly ashamed at how far she's fallen - and how hastily she dismissed him years ago. Her strategy is to avoid a face-to-face encounter at all costs, but he seems to have other plans. Will Edgar take advantage of their now reversed positions and make her regret her refusal, or is there still hope for a friendship between them-or something more? At Your Request is a novella that gives an exciting introduction to Jen Turano's new Gilded Age historical romance series, Apart From the Crowd! Includes an extended excerpt of the first full-length novel in the series, Behind the Scenes.
©2017 Jennifer L. Turano (P)2018 Two Words Publishing LLC
Fierce Dreamer
Summary
From the bestselling author of The Bloodletter’s Daughter comes a historical novel about a defiant seventeenth-century artist who dared to feed her passions and explore the limitless possibilities of art. Born in the bustling artist quarter of Rome, Artemisia, daughter of renowned painter Orazio Gentileschi, is unavoidably drawn into a profession unheard of for women. With an innate grasp of color, light, and composition, and inspired by the mercurial Caravaggio, the fiery Artemisia embraces her calling with a precocious brilliance. But as a young woman, she also finds herself oppressed by a powerful patriarchy, and she is forced to endure emotional and physical abuse at the hands of men. Until a shattering act of violence unleashes Artemisia's righteous fury. Refusing to be silenced and resolved to best men at their own games, Artemisia does what no woman had dared to do before. She fights back. A bracing historical novel about a woman boldly at odds with her time, Fierce Dreamer explores the fearless determination that would fuel Artemisia Gentileschi's most courageous works of art and make her independent voice a vital one for our own time.
©2020 Linda Lafferty (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Broken
Summary
Trust becomes a fatal mistake in this shocking thriller by the bestselling author of The Ridge. Welcome to Beaumont Cove, a slowly decaying tourist town at the edge of the world, and the place where Maggie James’s worst fears for her estranged twin sister, Lilly, have come true. Lilly is dead, and Maggie has arrived to identify her body. Lilly’s husband, Mike, is in custody for her murder. With his long history of abuse, no one in town is surprised at the inevitable end to their stormy marriage, least of all Maggie. All she wants is to clean up her sister’s affairs, see Mike punished, and get out of Beaumont Cove. With the help of the local sheriff, a retired private investigator, and a strange but friendly carnival psychic, Maggie begins to uncover the truth about what really happened to her sister. But the truth comes at a price, and soon Maggie finds herself walking a dark path toward the same deadly trap that killed Lilly. The more Maggie discovers about her sister’s final days, the more she realizes that nothing is as it appears in this strange boardwalk town.
©2020 by John Rector. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
When Death Draws Near
Summary
Gwen Marcey takes death in stride. Until she's faced with her own mortality. Forensic artist Gwen Marcey is between jobs when she accepts temporary work in Pikeville, Kentucky - a small town facing big-city crime. But before Gwen can finish her first drawing of the serial rapist who is on the loose, the latest witness vanishes. Just like all the others. Gwen suspects a connection between the rapist and the "accidental" deaths that are happening around town, but the local sheriff has little interest in her theories. When her digitally-obsessed teenage daughter joins her, Gwen turns her attention to a second assignment: going undercover in a serpent-handling church. She could get a handsome reward for uncovering illegal activity - a reward she desperately needs, as it seems her breast cancer has returned. But snakes aren't the only ones ready to kill. Can Gwen uncover the truth - and convince anyone to believe her - before she becomes a victim herself? In a thrilling race against time, When Death Draws Near plunges us into cold-case murders, shady politics, and a den of venomous suspects.
©2016 Carrie Stuart Parks (P)2020 Tantor
We Are Here to Stay
Summary
The Stonewall Honor-winning author of Beyond Magenta shares the intimate, eye-opening stories of nine undocumented young adults living in America. “Maybe next time they hear someone railing about how terrible immigrants are, they'll think about me. I’m a real person.” Meet nine courageous young adults who have lived in the United States with a secret for much of their lives: they are not U.S. citizens. They came from Colombia, Mexico, Ghana, Independent Samoa, and Korea. They came seeking education, fleeing violence, and escaping poverty. All have heartbreaking and hopeful stories about leaving their homelands and starting a new life in America. And all are weary of living in the shadows. We Are Here to Stay is a very different book than it was intended to be when originally slated for a 2017 release, illustrated with Susan Kuklin’s gorgeous full-color portraits. Since the last presidential election and the repeal of DACA, it is no longer safe for these young adults to be identified in photographs or by name. In the print version of this book, their photographs have been replaced with empty frames. Their names are represented by first initials. We are honored to publish these enlightening, honest, and brave accounts that encourage open, thoughtful conversation about the complexities of immigration - and the uncertain future of immigrants in America.
©2019 Susan Kuklin, original book published by Candlewick Press. (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
To Stay Alive
Summary
Told in riveting, keenly observed poetry, a moving first-person narrative as experienced by a young survivor of the tragic Donner Party of 1846. The journey west by wagon train promises to be long and arduous for nineteen-year-old Mary Ann Graves and her parents and eight siblings. Yet she is hopeful about their new life in California: freedom from the demands of family, maybe some romance, better opportunities for all. But when winter comes early to the Sierra Nevada and their group gets a late start, the Graves family, traveling alongside the Donner and Reed parties, must endure one of the most harrowing and storied journeys in American history. Amid the pain of loss and the constant threat of death from starvation or cold, Mary Ann's is a narrative, told beautifully in verse, of a girl learning what it means to be part of a family, to make sacrifices for those we love, and above all to persevere.
©2016 Skila Brown, original book published by Candlewick Press. (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.
Out of the Ordinary
Summary
Rollicking new release from humorous historical romance author Jen Turano. Miss Gertrude Cadwalader hoped her position as the paid companion to Mrs. Davenport would be easy. But as she becomes acquainted with her employer, she realizes the wealthy Mrs. Davenport has a strange tendency to be a bit light-fingered with other people's trinkets. Gertrude is relieved when Mrs. Davenport decides to have a quiet summer away from the social scene - until the woman changes her mind in order to help a young socialite launch into society. When Gertrude is caught in the act of trying to return one of the trinkets by Mrs. Sinclair, the mother of shipping magnate Harrison Sinclair, the woman jumps to an unfortunate conclusion. Harrison is determined to mend fences with Miss Cadwalader, but he's unprepared for the escapades a friendship with her will entail.
©2017 Jen Turnao (P)2017 Two Words Publishing
Blue Flowers
Summary
"Ravishing...as if Saavedra were a modern-day Borges." (Luis Alberto Urrea, O: The Oprah Magazine) A novel of dark obsession, missed connections, and violent love. Marcos has just been through a divorce and moved into a new apartment. He feels alienated from his ex-wife, from his daughter, from society; everything feels flat and fake to him. He begins to receive letters at his new address from an anonymous troubled woman who signs off as "A." and who clearly believes she is writing to the former tenant, her ex-lover, in the aftermath of a violent heartbreak. Marcos falls under the spell of the manic, hypnotic missives, and for the first time in years, something moves him. Blue Flowers alternates between the letters detailing the dissolution of A.'s relationship, and Marcos' growing fixation with this damaged person. The letters become a kind of exorcism as both A.'s epistolary affair and Marcos' personal life reach a crisis point. Possessed by A., he is driven to discover her true identity. Blue Flowers is a dark portrait of desire, undermining accepted truths about love and sex, violence and fear, men and women.
©2020 Carola Saavedra (P)2020 Penguin Audio
A Simple Lie
Summary
What harm can one small lie do? Forced to give up her career as a dentist, and still unemployed a year later, Valentina Knight has finally run out of options. With foreclosure looming she acts in desperation, lying to get a position as an assistant to the county medical examiner. Val's relieved. She won't be homeless. But Val didn't count on the lie trapping her in a dangerous game with a killer. Val quickly becomes involved in the case of Francine Donohue, who disappeared from her neighborhood and is discovered dead six months later. The bizarre circumstances surrounding the murder are not the first of their kind. With the evidence pointing to a serial killer, and a calling card Val understands, she quickly gets sucked into the case. As Val is pulled in further, the situation takes a darker turn. Someone is aware of the lie she told. Someone who is prepared to kill...
©2019 Mary Bush (P)2020 Tantor
Truck
Summary
With daring realism and stunning imagination, the author of Geek Love, Katherine Dunn, takes us on a journey into the mind of a feisty, adventurous adolescent named Jean "Dutch" Gillis. Dutch goes "trucking" from Portland, Oregon, to Los Angeles on a quest in search of herself, which, like the river trek of Deliverance, is filled with discoveries and sudden violence. With boyish-looking Dutch is her friend Heydorf, a shadowy character who has his own secrets to hide. With her, too, is the confusion and volatile feelings of youth, when sex is a mystery waiting to be understood...and death seems remote until it brushes close with a breath-stopping suddenness. Truck, perhaps better than any other fictional account about a runaway, is a brilliantly convincing portrait of the archetypal teen rebel, and both the excitement and the terrible betrayals in the world she explores.
©1971 Katherine Dunn (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Gone, Kitty, Gone
Summary
With her new van, Cassie has expanded her Comfy Cat business to include mobile cat grooming. Next stop: a cat expo at a hotel just outside her hometown of Chadwick, New Jersey, where Cassie will give a grooming demo using shelter cats to encourage adoption while her veterinarian boyfriend Mark will offer a program on cat care and health. The highlight of the expo will be a major cat show featuring pop sensation Jaki Natal. Almost as famous as his owner is her pet Gordie, a Scottish fold, who's become a social media darling. But when adorable Gordie goes missing and his sitter is found murdered, Jaki is having kittens. While the cops are more interested in solving the murder of a human, Jaki insists Cassie help expose the catnapper and return gorgeous Gordie to the fold. Now it's Cassie's turn to solo as she plays a deadly game of cat and mouse with a culprit who's not afraid to pounce.
©2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC (P)2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC
Murder at Crossways
Summary
The days are getting shorter as summer's end approaches, which means it's time for the Harvest Festival, the last big event of the season, held by Mamie Fish, wife of millionaire railroad tycoon Stuyvesant Fish, at their grand "cottage", Crossways. The neocolonial mansion is decked out in artificial autumn splendor, and an extravagant scavenger hunt will be held. But the crowning jewel of the evening will be the guest of honor, Prince Otto of Austria. As acting editor-in-chief of the Newport Messenger, Emma had hoped to leave her days as a society reporter behind her. But at the last moment, she must fill in and attend the Harvest Festival. With nearly every eligible daughter of Newport high society in attendance, Emma can almost hear romantic dreams shattering like glass slippers when the prince fails to appear. The next morning, he is found dead in the side garden at Crossways, making it clear a murderer crashed the party. The prince has been stabbed in the same manner as another man, recently found on nearby Bailey's Beach - who strongly resembles Emma's half-brother Brady's father, presumed dead for nearly 30 years after a yachting mishap. As Emma investigates a connection between the two victims, she is joined on the hunt by Mamie Fish herself. But they must hurry - before the killer slips away like the fading summer . . . .
©2019 Lisa Manuel (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep
Summary
In powerful, vivid verse, the master behind The Watch That Ends the Night recounts one of history’s most harrowing - and chilling - tales of survival. In 1846, a group of emigrants bound for California face a choice: continue on their planned route or take a shortcut into the wilderness. Eighty-nine of them opt for the untested trail, a decision that plunges them into danger and desperation and, finally, the unthinkable. From extraordinary poet and novelist Allan Wolf comes a riveting retelling of the ill-fated journey of the Donner party across the Sierra Nevadas during the winter of 1846-1847. Brilliantly narrated by multiple voices, including world-weary, taunting, and all-knowing Hunger itself, this novel-in-verse examines a notorious chapter in history from various perspectives, among them caravan leaders George Donner and James Reed, Donner’s scholarly wife, two Miwok Indian guides, the Reed children, a sixteen-year-old orphan, and even a pair of oxen. Comprehensive back matter includes an author’s note, select character biographies, statistics, a time line of events, and more. Unprecedented in its detail and sweep, this haunting epic raises stirring questions about moral ambiguity, hope and resilience, and hunger of all kinds.
©2020 Allan Wolf, original book published by Candlewick Press. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
The Infinite Pieces of Us
Summary
From the author of The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland comes a hilarious and heartbreaking novel about coming apart, getting it together - and moving on. It’s just a two-hour drive.... Pondering math problems is Esther Ainsworth’s obsession. If only life’s puzzles required logic. Her stepfather’s solution? Avoidance. He’s exiled the family to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, to erase a big secret from Esther’s past. So much for the truth. Now for the consequences: an empty swimming pool, a water-sucking cactus outside her window, a goldfish rescued from a church festival, and Esther’s thirst for something real. Step one: forget about her first love. Step two: make allies. Esther finds them in Jesús from the local coffee bar; a girl named Color who finds beauty in an abandoned video store; Beth, the church choir outcast; and Moss, a boy with alluring possibilities. Step three: confess her secret to those she hopes she can trust. Esther’s new friends do more than just listen. They’re taking Esther one step further. Together, they hit the road to face Esther’s past head-on. It’s a journey that will lead her to embrace her own truth - in all its glory, pain, and awesomeness.
©2018 Rebekah Crane (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
The Good Girls
Summary
One of Us Is Lying meets Sadie in this twisty, feminist thriller for the Me Too era. The troublemaker. The overachiever. The cheer captain. The dead girl. Like every high school in America, Jefferson-Lorne High contains all of the above. After the shocking murder of senior Emma Baines, three of her classmates are at the top of the suspect list: Claude, the notorious partier; Avery, the head cheerleader; and Gwen, the would-be valedictorian. But appearances are never what they seem. And the truth behind what really happened to Emma may just be lying in plain sight. As long buried secrets come to light, the clock is ticking to find Emma's killer - before another good girl goes down.
©2020 Claire Eliza Bartlett (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers
Into the Hourglass
Summary
In the second book in The Evermore Chronicles by Emily R. King, Everley Donovan plunges into the roiling waves of a strange new world to hunt a wicked prince who cheated time. Everley Donovan’s mission: retrieve the hallowed sword of Avelyn stolen by the wicked Prince Killian, who slayed her family and left her for dead. Should she fail, the seven worlds will come to an end, as could time itself. And no one treasures time more than Everley, whose lifesaving clock heart cannot beat forever. She has set sail with a rogue crew for the otherworlds, where the key to dethroning the prince lies deep within the Land Under the Wave. But passage through these unknown seas - where horrors lurk and pirates rove - proves a treacherous gamble. The Land Under the Wave was not made for humans, particularly one with a fragile clock heart. Here, Everley’s tragic past resurfaces unsolved questions. Here, too, the prince has hidden secrets more precious than pearls, secrets that could fracture the future forevermore. Everley must take back her sword and break free from this watery world before her time runs out…or so will everyone else’s.
©2019 Emily R. King (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.