Relationships Friendships

August 1918. Everybody likes twelve-year-old Josie Winslow. While she helps in the family drug store and plans for the first day of school, her pharmacist father is puzzled by newspaper articles about influenza arriving in New York on ships from Europe. It is still summer. Flu is a winter disease. Billy Detwiler has been kicked out of prep school. No one, not even Billy, is happy he will be in Josie’s school let alone her eighth-grade class. He is a bully of the first order and is looking for his next victim. He calls Josie “Pharmacy Girl,” but it is no compliment. By mid-October, ...

Up until senior year, Greg has maintained total social invisibility. He only has one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time - when not playing video games and avoiding Earl's terrifying brothers - making movies, their own versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics. Greg would be the first one to tell you his movies are f*@$ing terrible, but he and Earl don't make them for other people. Until Rachel.

Never fall in love when it's supposed to be just for fun… It’s the day before my brother’s wedding in Dunedin, in the South Island of New Zealand. It’s also the last day of my studies before I qualify as a veterinarian. At last, I can put aside my ditzy image and be the sophisticated career woman I’ve always wanted to be. Except I don’t notice my watch has stopped, and I miss my flight. Luckily, Ryan misses the plane too. He suggests we take a road trip to Dunedin, and I jump at the chance to spend a cozy couple of days with him. I’ve had a crush on him for years. When I ...

When Japanese-American Izumi Tanaka learned her father was the Crown Prince of Japan, she became a princess overnight. Now, she’s overcome conniving cousins, salacious press, and an imperial scandal to finally find a place she belongs. She has a perfect bodyguard turned boyfriend. Her stinky dog, Tamagotchi, is living with her in Tokyo. Her parents have even rekindled their college romance and are engaged. A royal wedding is on the horizon! Izumi’s life is a Tokyo dream come true.

The last thing Cammie Morgan remembers is leaving the Gallagher Academy to protect her friends and family from the Circle of Cavan - an ancient terrorist organization that has been hunting her for over a year. But when Cammie wakes up in an Alpine convent and discovers that months have passed, she must face the fact that her memory is now a black hole. The only traces left of Cammie’s summer vacation are the bruises on her body and dirt under her nails, and all she wants is to go home.

Never fall in love when you’re full of Christmas spirit… Stefan is the only guy I’ve ever really wanted. But on the night that I finally plucked up courage to ask him back to my room, he turned me down. Okay, he didn't just turn me down; he crushed my very soul. That was a month ago, and now, at Christmastime, I’m traveling with my family to the Arctic Circle to celebrate Noah’s wedding. Because Stefan and I are the only two singletons left, I just know we’re going to end up sitting together on the plane and in restaurants. I can’t bear to be near him. It hurts too much. And ...

Never fall in love with your roommate… I am not going to fall in love with Albie King. That was the first thought that passed through my mind when I met my new landlord. For four months, I’ve managed to keep my distance. Lord knows, I don’t need another rich playboy to break my heart. One was enough for any girl. But Fate, it seems, has other ideas. First, I find out what Albie does at the weekends, and I lose one quarter of my heart. Then, I discover what happened to the dogs he loved, and the quarter becomes a half. Next, I watch him be a hero when the storm hits the Ark, and the ...

Meet Julia Bancroft. Fabulous, talented, beautiful…deluded and friendless. You won’t like her at first but maybe her ‘nice’ lessons might change your mind? Being nice doesn't come naturally to (self-proclaimed) renowned Regency romance author, Julia. But when her husband walks out on her and she realises she has no friends, she faces a future of dying alone with the pesky cats eating her face. Thankfully, she doesn't have any cats but drastic times call for drastic measures. Guided (reluctantly) by her annoyingly wholesome new neighbour, Julia dives into the horrors of small talk, ...

Dead if he loses - damned if he wins. The time has finally come for Darren to face his arch enemy, Steve Leopard, and fight for control of the night. One of them will die. The other will become the Lord of the Shadows …and destroy the world.

Jason Carrillo is a jock with a steady girlfriend, but he can't stop dreaming about sex...with other guys. Kyle Meeks doesn't look gay, but he is. And he hopes he never has to tell anyone - especially his parents. Nelson Glassman is "out" to the entire world, but he can't tell the boy he loves that he wants to be more than just friends. Three teenage boys, coming of age and out of the closet.

Los Angeles is all about the sweet life: hot clubs, cute guys, designer... everything. Nineteen-year-old Jane Roberts can't wait to start living it up. She may be in L.A. for an internship, but Jane plans to play as hard as she works, and has enlisted her BFF Scarlett to join in the fun. When Jane and Scarlett are approached by a producer who wants them to be on his new series, a "reality version of Sex and the City," they can hardly believe their luck. Their own show? Yes, please!

What can two elderly women do, when they want to live their best lives, but don’t know where to start? Next-door neighbours, Molly and Janice, are in their seventies and are both widowed and lonely. In lockdown, they had their garden fence removed so they could have socially-distanced chats outside. Now the pandemic is over, but the conversation continues. In fact, it has become a daily ritual - weather permitting. As their friendship develops, talk turns from news headlines, the Sewing Bee and the Royal family to their own long-lost hopes and dreams. Is it ever too late to contact a ...

When my claustrophobic sister Julie Ann and her down-in-the-back husband Jody were trapped on a stalled elevator in a posh hotel, they were not alone in their distress. Two young male execs were with them. As soon as the elevator lurched heart-stoppingly close to a place near a floor level, the two young men were able to wedge open the elevator door just enough to squeeze up and through. The two executives escaped, leaving behind my sister-- a grandmother-- and her husband Jody, her hero. I heard later from my sister that, “Jody couldn’t believe his eyes--two young men leaving me behind...

When Chloe falls asleep in study hall, it is the middle of May. When she wakes up, snow is on the ground and she can't remember the last six months of her life. Before, she'd been a mediocre student. Now she's on track for valedictorian and is being recruited by Ivy League schools. Before, she never had a chance with super jock Blake. Now he's her boyfriend. Before, she and Maggie were inseparable. Now her best friend won't speak to her. What happened to Chloe? Remembering the truth could be more dangerous than she knows…

When Mindy and her best friend, B.J. Novak, are approached on a dark street by a Charles Manson-esque character, naturally they’re unnerved. Turns out he’s a huge fan of The Office! Now Mindy’s feeling a little judgy. But the night is young, unseasonably hot, and getting weirder. Mindy and B.J.’s brief encounter with the drifter is about to take an unexpected turn in Sunset Junction.

The summer after junior year of high school looks bleak for Alton Richards. His girlfriend has dumped him to hook up with his best friend. He has no money and no job. His parents insist that he drive his great-uncle Lester to his bridge club four times a week and be his cardturner—whatever that means. Alton’s uncle is old, blind, very sick, and very rich.

She never thought she'd fall for a younger man, but with Cee, it was so easy... There aren't enough hours in the day, and struggling single mom Jes just can't make it alone. Fortunately, a fantastic nanny just became available. Stacey is the perfect candidate: Young, college educated, glowing references... Trouble is, the nanny is a manny! The last thing Jes expects is a tall, muscular, handsome stranger on her porch looking for work as a nanny. The last thing Jess wants is a new man complicating her life. But Jes needs the help and there's no one better for the job than Stacey "Cee" Cook. ...

"I live in the loneliest city in America. I don't have a friend in this town." "I want to crawl into a hole and die." These sentiments and other statements like these are being said daily by friends and foes alike. There is such loneliness, such despair, such feelings of lack that is being expressed at this time due to the Covid-19 virus and additional factors as well. The church has an opportunity that should be expressed now to show care and compassion to reflect our concern. It can be our brightest hour. Biblical hospitality as reflected in the Bible and in early church tradition and ...

The Bonobo Sisterhood is a revolutionary call to action for women and their allies to protect one another from patriarchal violence. Internationally recognized legal expert Diane L. Rosenfeld introduces us to a groundbreaking new model of female solidarity; one that promises to thwart sexual coercion. Urgent, timely, and original, The Bonobo Sisterhood harnesses the power of the #MeToo movement into a road map for sex equality in humans.

One of the most difficult things is learning how to interact with others. Because you’re encountering so many new things at this stage in your life, you’re not sure how to act, and you end up either shying away from situations or behaving awkwardly. By building the social skills in this audiobook, though, you’ll be able to face any situation and overcome common social struggles with confidence.