best love novel Audiobooks

“Papa explains the war like this: ‘When the elephants dance, the chickens must be careful.’ The great beasts, as they circle one another, shaking the trees and trumpeting loudly, are the Amerikanos and the Japanese as they fight. And our Philippine Islands? We are the small chickens.” Once in a great while comes a storyteller who can illuminate worlds large and small, magical and true to life. When the Elephants Dance introduces us to the incandescent voice of Tess Uriza Holthe, who sets her remarkable first novel in the waning days of World War II, as the Japanese and the Americans engage in a fierce battle for possession of the Philippine Islands. The Karangalan family and their neighbors huddle for survival in the cellar of a house a few miles from Manila. Outside the safety of their little refuge the war rages on—fiery bombs torch the beautiful Filipino countryside, Japanese soldiers round up and interrogate innocent people, and from the hills guerillas wage a desperate campaign against the enemy. Inside the cellar, these men, women, and children put their hopes and dreams on hold as they wait out the war, only emerging to look for food, water, and medicine. Through the eyes of three narrators, thirteen-year-old Alejandro Karangalan, his spirited older sister Isabelle, and Domingo, a passionate guerilla commander, we see how ordinary people must learn to live in the midst of extraordinary uncertainty, how they must find hope for survival where none seems to exist. They find this hope in the dramatic history of the Philippine Islands and the passion and bravery of its people. Crowded together in the cellar, the Karangalans and their friends and neighbors tell magical stories to one another based on Filipino myth and legend to fuel their courage, pass the time, and teach important lessons.

In a fusion of fact and fiction, nineteenth-century women institutionalized as hysterics reveal what history ignored “ City of Incurable Women is a brilliant exploration of the type of female bodily and psychic pain once commonly diagnosed as hysteria—and the curiously hysterical response to it commonly exhibited by medical men. It is a novel of powerful originality, riveting historical interest, and haunting lyrical beauty.” — Sigrid Nunez , author of The Friend and What Are You Going Through “Where are the hysterics, those magnificent women of former times?” wrote Jacques Lacan. Long history’s ghosts, marginalized and dispossessed due to their gender and class, they are reimagined by Maud Casey as complex, flesh-and-blood people with stories to tell. These linked, evocative prose portraits, accompanied by period photographs and medical documents both authentic and invented, poignantly restore the humanity to the nineteenth-century female psychiatric patients confined in Paris’s Salpêtrière hospital and reduced to specimens for study by the celebrated neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot and his male colleagues. Maud Casey is the author of five books of fiction, including The Man Who Walked Away , and a work of nonfiction, The Art of Mystery: The Search for Questions . A Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of the St. Francis College Literary Prize, she teaches at the University of Maryland.

He’s a fool for letting her go… Wyoming rancher Quinn McKay is biding his time until his wife comes to her senses and calls a halt to this trial separation—he’d never believed their marital rough patch could become permanent. Libby McKay knew when she married the gruff cowboy that he wasn’t one to blather on about his feelings. But three months have passed, and her stubborn-as-a-mule husband is still living by himself. Seems he’d rather hold onto his pride than hold onto her. When Quinn realizes Libby is determined to move on if he doesn’t change, he asks her for one weekend to rekindle their love life and to hash out their differences. Reigniting their passion is easy. The hard part comes when they open up to each other and sort through past mistakes, figuring out if what remains between them is strong enough to survive a new beginning.

Inspiration for Brave Girls Who Love STEM AZ is a young girl who finds herself in a robot building competition. Can she use girl power to overcome crashes, explosions, and hackers to beat school bully and three-time champ? Smart and strong is the new pretty. In this funny, action-packed story about STEM for kids, the talented AZ fights gender stereotypes and learns tough lessons on leadership. With the help of her quirky friends, Li and 10, the team builds a feisty robot named Ada. Together, they work hard, solve puzzles, grow in confidence, and learn the importance of friendship and collaboration. Calling all girls who code, techgirls, Grace Hopper fans, and stemettes. Written to raise awareness about the challenges faced by women in science and engineering, She’s Building a Robot celebrates voices from diverse socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. More importantly, it gives girls in science the opportunity to relate to strong, brave, smart characters. If your child enjoyed books like Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls , The Fourteenth Goldfish , Women in Science , or Hidden Figures Young Reader’ Edition , then She’s Building a Robot is your next read!

There’s one thing in life I’ve always, always wanted. And I’m tired of waiting for my prince charming to sweep me off my feet to help make that happen. On my 26th birthday I make a life altering decision. But before the deed is done, Army officer Nash Nichols walks into the children’s section of the library where I work, changing my trajectory forever. Falling in love sounds sweet and all, but my eyes have always been on another prize: being a mother. Maybe I will get my own version of a happily ever after … or maybe my heart will be broken in ways I didn’t see coming. His Curvy Librarian is a new filthy-sweet series brought to you by Frankie Love and Kaylin Evans. It’s full of heat, heart, and literary innuendo. What’s sexier than a man who loves to read? How about a naked man who loves to read?

This novella is also published as part of the collection SWEET HOME COWBOY. The Hathaway sisters might have grown up apart, but when they agree to move to Jasper Creek, Oregon, to revitalize their grandfather’s farm, it seems a straightforward decision. Until they meet their neighborhood cowboys… Prickly baker Georgie can’t resist the temptation of the most forbidden cowboy of all. The sisters’ feelings are anything but simple, but with the love and support of each other, they discover that a cowboy might be the sweetest thing of all about coming home.

Tolly Lee is pearls, debutant balls, and old silver on the breakfast table. She is ashamed of something she did thirteen years ago, but she was only sixteen and she didn't set out to do it. Still, she should not have led college senior Nathan Scott to think she was his age. She never imagined a football star like him would keep calling her, but it was mostly a long distance relationship and it's not like they had sex. In the end, she paid for her sins with her heart and she might not be done paying. When she moved to Merritt, Alabama, Nathan had been gone for over a decade. Now that he's back, and if the good citizens of her adopted hometown learn of her part in costing their hometown hero his chance at an NFL career, she might as well pack up her law practice and move to Siberia. A sports commentator christened Nathan Scott "The Angel" because of his flawless face and his ability to leap to catch a football, as if he had wings. He still has the face but his leaping days ended when he was injured after going on the football field distracted, only hours after catching the girl of his dreams in a terrible lie. He would never have accepted the job as head football coach of Merritt High if he'd known Tolly had set up shop on Main Street. Not that he still has feelings for her. But a small town has a way of reviving the past and when common interest in an orphaned teenager forces Tolly and Nathan to agree to an uneasy truce, guilt and old resentments resurface. With no end zone in sight, their mutual attraction leads to a Scrimmage Gone South.

FACT: Your brain is being controlled-and you don't even know it. Because if you think the ads you're seeing today are just pretty pictures with nice, creative copy, you're mistaken. Truth is, you are being powerfully influenced by dozens of proven scientific principles of advertising psychology... little-known techniques of consumer persuasion that go completely unnoticed by the buying public. And they're causing you--and millions like you--to spend enormous amounts of money every day on countless products and services. But what are these principles? How do they work? And how can you use them in your own advertising? Prepare yourself for a unique learning experience as author Drew Eric Whitman takes you on a wild, roller-coaster ride through the streets of New York's famed Madison Avenue and teaches you the specific psychological techniques that today's top copywriters and designers use to influence the masses... and how you can use them to rapidly increase your sales, no matter what you sell. In 207 fast-moving pages, Whitman teaches you dozens of well-guarded secrets that he learned during his 30+ years in the ad business, including: * How to Push Your Prospects' Hot Buttons in Every Ad, Sales Letter, or Email--It's not hard to do once you know the secret. * Why Developing Your "USP" Can Leave Your Competition in the Dust--It's the quickest way to instantly begin out-marketing your competitors. (And they'll never know what hit them.) * Why You Don't Need a Degree in Business to Create Great Ads--But there is one thing you MUST know or your ads will likely fail miserably. * How to Develop a Powerful Ad-Agency Mindset--What the pros know about consumer buying behavior and how you can use it to your advantage. * How to Save $600 for Every $1,000 You Spend on Ads--This idea alone is worth infinitely more than the price of this book...and you can start using it immediately. * The Amazing 5-Second, No-Fail Headline Test--Chances are your ads, emails, websites and other promotional materials fail this test every time. One small change boosts your response. * What a Good Ad Should "Feel" Like--How to connect to readers on a deep, emotional level. * How to Install Persuasive Images in People's Brains--Learn how to direct how people think about your products and services. * Why People Really Buy Your Product or Service--Sorry, but it's not what you think. (But you better know the reason... or else.) * Where to Always Put Your Biggest Benefit--Miss this and you're flushing your ad dollars down the toilet. * How to Write "Dragon-Slayer" Headlines that Get Read and Get Response--Tons of examples you can "steal" for your own ads. * Long vs. Short Copy: Which Is Really Best for Response? Don't believe the lies! We'll set the record straight and you'll learn to cash-in. * How to Use the Devilishly Effective Pyramid Principal--Lure readers into your ads by understanding human eyeball behavior. * 22 Tested and Proven Headline Prescriptions you can start using RIGHT NOW. * How to Turn Ordinary Words in "Money-Magnet" Copy that motivates, influences, persuades. (Yes, you can really do it.) * Put Your Copy Here and Boost Readership by 10-200%--Why doesn't everyone do this? * 10 Sure-Fire Ways to Start Writing Your Ads--So easy, it's almost automatic. * How to Cause People to Mentally Demonstrate Your Products... Before They Buy. * How Emotional Words Melt Sales Resistance a Red-Hot Knife Through Butter. * "Sneaky" Ad-Design Psychology Tricks that Work Like Magic--Start using them tonight. * Typestyles that Actually REDUCE Readership--Are you using them? * This "Evil" Design Sin Depresses Your Readership Up to 50%--Do you do it? * Widely Used Typeface LOWERS Comprehension Up to 67%--Are you using it? * The Eye-Grabbing "Advertising Guillotine"--The one image humans can't resist. * And Much More

They say librarians are old-fashioned. I’m anything but. As a 23-year-old woman I have my whole life ahead of me, and I’m in no rush to settle down. But my favorite patron of the Golden Creek Library has a different opinion … and at 72, Charles McArthur is hard to argue with. He wants to set me up with his grandson and I don’t have the heart to say no. When my date comes to my door, I am oh-so-glad I said yes. Chuck McArthur is a tall, dark, and handsome man who happens to love books as much as I do. He calls me Cookie, just like his gramps, and I’m more than eager for him to have a taste. Luckily for me, he likes a woman with some curves, and lucky for him, his dirty talk is quickly becoming my favorite sound. Best part? Chuck and I want the exact same thing: a no strings attached relationship But when tragedy strikes, everything changes. I may like it when he talks wordy to me … but maybe I need more than talk. Maybe I need forever.

ONE OF QUEER FORTY'S BEST PRIDE READS FOR SUMMER 2023! Three gay men in pre-Stonewall New York City find their fates thrown together in the police raid of a Village bar. Roger Moorhouse is a Wall Street banker and Westchester family man with a preciously guarded secret. As the shouting begins and flashlights blaze in his face, the life he’s carefully curated over the years―a fancy new office overlooking lower Broadway, a house in Beechmont Woods, his wife and children―is about to come crashing down around him. Columbia literature professor Julian Prince lives a comparatively uncloseted life when he finds his first committed relationship tested to its limits. How could he explain to Gus, a fearless young artist, that he couldn’t stay with him that weekend because the woman who was still technically Julian’s fiancée would be visiting? But when Gus is struck unconscious by a police baton, Julian comes out of hiding to protect him, even if exposure means losing everything. For Danny Duffy, an Irish kid from the Bronx with a sassy mouth and a diverse group of friends, the raid is a galvanizing, Spartacus moment. Danny doesn’t have too much left to lose; his family has just disowned him. But once his name appears in the newspaper, he’ll be fired from his job at Sloan’s Supermarket, where he’s risen to assistant manager of produce, and begin a journey that veers between political enlightenment and violent revenge. The three men find themselves in a police wagon together, their hidden lives threatened to be revealed to the world. Blackmail, a private investigator, Gus’s disappearance, and Danny’s quest for retribution propel Disorderly Men to its piercing conclusion, as each man meets the boundaries of his own fear, love, and shame. The stakes for each are different, but all of them confront a fundamental question: How much happiness is he allowed to have . . . and what share of it will he lay claim to?