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The Most Wonderful Time A Novel [electronic resource] : by Allen, Jayne.aut; cloudLibrary;
"The Most Wonderful Time is a lovable, unexpectedly thought-provoking Christmas romp of a novel from the ever-sparkling pen of Jayne Allen!"  — Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond Eye and The Alice Network The author of the beloved, bestselling Black Girls Must Die Exhausted trilogy returns with an intriguing blend of Such a Fun Age and The Holiday—an irresistible Christmastime novel about heartbreak, hope, love, and the joy that comes from rediscovering oneself. With Christmas around the corner, Ramona Tucker is desperate to get away. She has been lying to her family about her engagement to Malik, her (ex) fiancé. But breakups are fickle, and Ramona is convinced that she can make her pretend wedding real again—but only if she can avoid everyone discovering her secret at her mother’s over-the-top Christmas Eve party. Two-thousand miles away in sunny Malibu, Chelsea Flint needs money to hold on to the beloved beachside cottage she shared with her late parents. The taxes are expensive, and her art isn’t paying the bills. Once an irresistible star of the Los Angeles art scene, Chelsea seems to have lost that spark that vaulted her to the top. If she doesn’t rediscover that magic—and sell a painting—soon, it will be her family’s home she’s selling instead. The two women swap homes, just in time, thanks to some careful planning by Ramona’s best friend and a sturdy nudge from Chelsea’s gallerist godmother. Ramona’s Malibu dreams of sun and surf are interrupted as her first night brings an unwelcome stranger to her door, making her question who she can trust—the meddling neighbor Joan, or Jay, the handsome beachside fitness instructor with a secret of his own. Chelsea, desperate for Ramona to stay, hides what she knows—even if that means jeopardizing her budding connection with charming Carlos, whose dreams for his future could be the very key to unlock Chelsea from the weight of her past. Combining escapist fun and sizzling romance, a dose of poignant self-reflection, and a little holiday magic, The Most Wonderful Time is a warm and relatable novel that will delight at Christmas and throughout the year.
Subjects: Electronic books.; Holidays; Contemporary; Contemporary Women; Contemporary Women; Holiday; Family Life; Multicultural & Interracial;
© 2024., HarperCollins,
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Black girls must die exhausted : a novel / by Allen, Jayne,1978-author.;
After learning she might not be able to have children, thirty-three-year-old Tabitha Walker, a black woman planning to "have it all," watches her dreams dissolve and must rely on her two best friends to get through.
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; African American women journalists; African American women; Female friendship; Infertility;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 2
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Black girls must be magic : a novel / by Allen, Jayne,1978-author.; Allen, Jayne,1978-tBlack girls must die exhausted: and baby makes two.;
For Tabitha Walker, her grandmother's old adage, "Black girls must die exhausted" is becoming all too true. Discovering she's pregnant--after she was told she may not be able to have biological children--Tabitha throws herself headfirst into the world of "single mothers by choice." Between her job, doctor's appointments, and preparing for the baby, she's worn out. And that's before her boss at the local news station starts getting complaints from viewers about Tabitha's natural hair. When an unexpected turn of events draws Marc--her on and off-again ex-boyfriend--back into her world with surprising demands, and the situation at work begins to threaten her livelihood and her identity, Tabitha must make some tough decisions about her and her baby's future. It takes a village to raise a child, and Tabitha turns to the women who have always been there for her. Bolstered by the fierce support of Ms. Gretchen, her grandmother's best friend, the counsel of her closest friends Laila and Alexis, and the calming presence of her doula Andouele, Tabitha must find a way to navigate motherhood on her own terms. Will she harness the bravery, strength, and self-love she'll need to keep "the village" together, find her voice at work, and settle things with Marc before the baby arrives?
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Psychological fiction.; African American women journalists; African American women; Female friendship; Interpersonal relations; Man-woman relationships; Pregnant women;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 2
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Black girls must have it all : a novel / by Allen, Jayne,1978-author.;
"After a whirlwind year, Tabitha Walker's carefully organized plan to achieve the life she wanted--perfect job, dream husband, and stylish home--has gone off the rails. Her checklist now consists of diapers changed (infinite), showers taken (zero), tears cried (buckets), and hours of sleep (what's that?). Don't get her wrong, Tabby loves her new bundle of joy and motherhood is perhaps the only thing that's consistent for her these days. When the news station announces that they will be hiring outside competitors for the new anchor position, Tabby throws herself into her work. But it's not just maintaining her position as the station's weekend anchor that has her worried. All of her relationships seem to be shifting out of their regular orbits. Best friend Alexis can't manage to strike the right balance in her "refurbished" marriage with Rob, and Laila's gone from being a consistent ride-or-die to a newly minted entrepreneur trying to raise capital for her growing business. And when Marc presents her with an ultimatum about their relationship, coupled with an extended "visit" from his mother, Tabby is forced to take stock of her life and make a new plan for the future. Consumed by work, motherhood, and love, Tabby finds herself isolated from her friends and family just when she needs them most. But help is always there when you ask for it, and Tabby's village will once again rally around her as she comes to terms with her new life and faces her biggest challenge yet--choosing herself."--
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Psychological fiction.; Novels.; African American women journalists; African American women; Female friendship; Interpersonal relations; Man-woman relationships; Motherhood; Mothers-in-law;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The most wonderful time : a novel / by Allen, Jayne,1978-author.;
With Christmas around the corner, Ramona Tucker is desperate to get away. She has been lying to her family about her engagement to Malik, her (ex) fiancé. But breakups are fickle, and Ramona is convinced that she can make her pretend wedding real again--but only if she can avoid everyone discovering her secret at her mother's over-the-top Christmas Eve party. Two-thousand miles away in sunny Malibu, Chelsea Flint needs money to hold on to the beloved beachside cottage she shared with her late parents. The taxes are expensive, and her art isn't paying the bills. Once an irresistible star of the Los Angeles art scene, Chelsea seems to have lost that spark that vaulted her to the top. If she doesn't rediscover that magic--and sell a painting--soon, it will be her family's home she's selling instead. The two women swap homes, just in time, thanks to some careful planning by Ramona's best friend and a sturdy nudge from Chelsea's gallerist godmother. Ramona's Malibu dreams of sun and surf are interrupted as her first night brings an unwelcome stranger to her door, making her question who she can trust--the meddling neighbor Joan, or Jay, the handsome beachside fitness instructor with a secret of his own. Chelsea, desperate for Ramona to stay, hides what she knows--even if that means jeopardizing her budding connection with charming Carlos, whose dreams for his future could be the very key to unlock Chelsea from the weight of her past. Combining escapist fun and sizzling romance, a dose of poignant self-reflection, and a little holiday magic, The Most Wonderful Time is a warm and relatable novel that will delight at Christmas and throughout the year.
Subjects: Christmas fiction.; Romance fiction.; Novels.; Christmas stories; African American women; City and town life; Home exchanging; Interpersonal relations; Man-woman relationships; Secrecy; Women artists;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Hard rain / by Allen, Samantha Jayne,author.;
"In shock and found clinging to a tree branch, Bethany Richter is pulled from thrashing floodwaters that have decimated the town of Garnett, Texas and killed a dozen others. Six months after solving the murder of a local waitress, Annie McIntyre is working as an apprentice P.I. when she's handed her first solo case: uncover the identity of the man who rescued Bethany before he was swept downriver. When Annie's search turns up a different victim-shot dead, not drowned-Annie questions if the hero they seek is actually a killer. Flexing her new skills while relying on the wisdom of her eccentric, ex-cop grandfather, the case leads Annie into a web of drug dealers, preachers, and wayward drifters trying to make sense of life after a disaster. Annie's own convictions are put to the ultimate test as long-held secrets, corruption, and violence are exposed like the ruin that lies beneath receding waters"--
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Novels.; Corruption; Floods; Murder; Natural disasters; Private investigators; Secrecy;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Next of kin : a novel / by Allen, Samantha Jayne,author.;
"At a gathering for her cousin's wedding party, newly-licensed PI Annie McIntyre gets asked an age-old question: what really makes us who we are, nature or nurture? Clint Marshall, an up-and-coming musician and an adoptee at a personal crossroads, wants to hire Annie to find his biological parents, and that question is on his mind. Annie accepts his case, not knowing then that she, too, must decide if she really believes what she tells him that night-in essence, that people are in charge of their destinies. That people can change. When Annie discovers her client's father is a bank robber who her granddad, Leroy, arrested back when he was sheriff, reverberations sound between the past and the present, igniting old flames and rivalries. When the brother of her client dies suddenly, his death ruled a suicide, Annie questions whether or not it was in fact homicide-and who in this family of outlaws would rather some secrets stay buried. As Annie sets out to find who killed the brother-and stays out of sight lest she be next-she finds herself searching abandoned, overgrown fields, scouring pool halls and roadside motels, wondering if she will ever escape the sense that her world in Garnett, TX expands and contracts in off-kilter ways, growing smaller and yet still more confounding. Fearing that in a place where everyone knows everyone, your enemy is always closer than you think"--
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Novels.; Birthparents; Murder; Private investigators; Secrecy;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Pay dirt road / by Allen, Samantha Jayne,author.;
"Friday Night Lights meets Mare of Easttown in this small-town mystery about an unlikely private investigator searching for a missing waitress. Pay Dirt Road is the mesmerizing debut from the 2019 Tony Hillerman Prize recipient Samantha Jayne Allen. Annie McIntyre has a love/hate relationship with Garnett, Texas. Recently graduated from college and home waitressing, lacking not in ambition but certainly in direction, Annie is lured into the family business-a private investigation firm-by her supposed-to-be-retired grandfather, Leroy, despite the rest of the clan's misgivings. When a waitress at the cafae goes missing, Annie and Leroy begin an investigation that leads them down rural routes and haunted byways, to noxious-smelling oil fields and to the glowing neon of local honky-tonks. As Annie works to uncover the truth she finds herself identifying with the victim in increasing, unsettling ways, and realizes she must confront her own past-failed romances, a disturbing experience she'd rather forget, andthe trick mirror of nostalgia itself-if she wants to survive this homecoming"--Winner of the 2019 Tony Hillerman Prize for Best First Mystery Set in the Southwest
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Novels.; Murder; Private investigators;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Swallows and Amazons [videorecording] / by Lowthorpe, Philippa,film director.; Barton, Nick,film producer.; O'Hagan, Nick,film producer.; Oppenheimer, Joe,film producer.; Gibb, Andrea,screenwriter.; MacDonald, Kelly,1976-actor.; Scott, Andrew,1976 October 21-actor.; Spall, Rafe,1983-actor.; Hughes, Dane,actor.; Hill, Orla,actor.; Malleson-Allen, Teddie,actor.; motion picture adaptation of (work):Ransome, Arthur,1884-1967.Swallows and Amazons.; Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (Firm),publisher.; Orion Pictures,presenter.; Samuel Goldwyn Films (Firm),presenter.; Harbour Pictures,production company.;
Kelly MacDonald, Andrew Scott, Rafe Spall, Dane Hughes, Orla Hill, Teddie Malleson-Allen, Bobby McCulloch, Seren Hawkes, Hannah-Jayne Thorp.Four children (the Swallows) on holiday in the Lake District sail on their own to an island and start a war with rival children (the Amazons). In the meantime, a mysterious man on a houseboat accuses them of a crime they did not commit.Canadian Home Video Rating: PG.DVD ; widescreen presentation ; Dolby Digital 5.1.
Subjects: Action and adventure films.; Children's films.; Feature films.; Video recordings for the hearing impaired.; Ransome, Arthur, 1884-1967.; Battles; Children; Islands;
For private home use only.
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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