Showing results by narrator "Donna VanLiere" in All Categories

In June 1972, John Creighton determines to build his wife Joan a kitchen table. His largest project to date had been picture frames but he promises to have the table ready for Thanksgiving dinner. Inspired to put something delicious on the table, Joan turns to her mother's recipes she had given to Joan when she and John married. In June 2012, Lauren Mabrey discovers she's pregnant. Gloria, Miriam, and the rest of her friends at Glory’s Place begin to pitch in, helping Lauren prepare their home for the baby.

A typical day at the rehabilitation center turns into a nightmare for Emma Grady when her favorite physical-therapy patient vanishes in front of her, along with several colleagues. Fear turns to chaos as Emma begins the frantic race from Brooklyn to Queens, anxious to discover if her boyfriend is safe. Subways are closed, graves are open, and countless people have inexplicably disappeared. Mayhem erupts as terror grips the residents of New York City. This unique book takes listeners on a riveting journey from New York City to Israel, and, in the final chapters, into the Bible.

Thirty-two-year-old Amy Denison volunteers at Glory’s Place, an after-school program where she meets seven-year-old Maddie, a precocious young girl who has spent her childhood in foster care. Unbeknownst to Amy, Maddie is a mini-matchmaker, with her eye on just the right man for Amy at Grandon Elementary School, where she is a student. Amy is hesitant - she’s been hurt before, and isn’t sure she’s ready to lose her heart again - but an unexpected surprise makes her reconsider her lonely lifestyle.   

Christine Eisley is the mother of seven-year-old Zach and five-year-old Haley. Her ex-husband provides little, if any, child support and makes life difficult for Christine by using the children as pawns. She works long hours as a waitress to make ends meet, but her job is in jeopardy because she's often late to work due to the unreliable teenage sitters she's forced to use. When Christine saves the life of a woman who works in Wilson's department store, the owner of Wilson's wants to find her, to thank her, but Christine has disappeared, losing another job once again.

The small town of Morgan Hill, Tennessee, is turned upside down in 1947 when the Turners become the only black family ever to move into the area. Nine-year-old Jane Gable first lays eyes on young Milo Turner the day that her trouble-making, alcoholic father is buried in the Morgan Falls cemetery. When the Turners begin work as sharecroppers on a local tobacco farm, their presence challenges the comfort of many in the close-knit town and Jane leans heavily on her best friend, 53-year-old general store owner Henry Walker, for guidance. Then tragedy strikes the Turner household

Jane Gable thinks 1947 will be like every other year in Morgan Hill, Tennessee, but it turns out to be the year everything changes. Jane first lays eyes on young Milo Turner the day that her abusive, alcoholic father is buried in the Morgan Hill cemetery. The Turners are the first Black family ever to move into the area, and while their presence challenges the comfort of many in the small, tight-knit community, Jane and her brother, John, have found new friends.

The 80-mile journey of a common carpenter and a simple peasant girl is one of the most powerful stories in history. As books go out of print and stories fade from memory, the journey of Joseph and Mary and her delivery inside a common barn continues to bless and inspire hope in people around the world. Donna VanLiere’s retelling shows that the story of the Nativity is alive in our modern world.

Lauren Gabriel spent many years of her childhood in foster homes, wishing her mother would come back for her and be the family she needs. Now 20 years old, she still longs for a place that she can truly call home. Her work as a cashier is unfulfilling, and at Christmas it's unbearable with the songs and carols and chatter of Christmas that she hears throughout the day.

Patricia and Mark Addison have long given up the hope of having a meaningful Christmas. But this year, Patricia's job as a social worker will lead her to a very special five-year-old. Against her better judgment, Patricia bends the rules and takes the little girl to her own home. Through the presence of Emily in their house, and her penetrating questions about heaven, the Addisons learn that there is no sorrow so great that faith cannot help you find your way through. And Christmas will once more be a time of joy in their home.

Gretchen Daniels has recently moved into a condo with her two children to be closer to her mother, Miriam. As they build a life together in their new community, they notice a mysterious young woman, Melissa McCreary, who lives next door. She has few possessions, little personality, and keeps to herself. One day a local landlord who is looking for Melissa knocks on Gretchen's door for assistance. Melissa's mother has died and in the coming weeks the landlord needs Melissa to empty her mother's apartment.

Donna VanLiere's books movingly portray ordinary people reaching for more meaningful lives. In The Christmas Promise, she follows two seemingly separate individuals and shows how their lives intersect. Chaz McConnell realizes that his life is empty—and he's made it that way. He goes home every night to a bare apartment. For the first time in his life, he's working at a job that will last more than a few weeks, as security for Wilson's Department Store. Trying to reach out, he befriends 4-year-old Donovan, whose mother is part of the janitorial team at Wilson's.

Tennessee, 1950: a time and place that straddles the past and present. Ivorie Walker is considered an old maid by the town (though she’s only in her early 30s), and she takes that label with good humor and a grain of salt. Ever since her parents passed away, she has hidden her loneliness behind a fierce independence and a claim of not needing anyone. But when she realizes that someone has been stealing vegetables from her garden - a feral, dirty-faced boy who disappears into the hills - something about him haunts Ivorie.

In the small town of Grandon, five very different people discover the true meaning of Christmas. Jennifer and Ryan are both single parents, struggling with their own losses and heartache. Sixteen-year-old Kaylee is faced with a life-changing situation that has affected her whole family. Stephen and Lily are happily married and ready to start a family. All of them are facing their own struggles, and all are finding their way through the dark. When they are brought together for a rather unconventional church Nativity, they will learn that with strength, courage, and love, there is always hope.

Emma Grady has seen civilization collapse and New York gutted by nuclear attack. Amidst this international crisis, she and her growing family of outcasts must unravel the meaning of these strange and horrifying events, even as they struggle to survive. On the other side of the world, Zerah Adler finds Israel surrounded by invaders intent on total annihilation. In Jerusalem, two men have the power to stop the rain and call down plagues of every kind.

After his apparent resurrection, the beloved leader Victor Quade is hailed internationally as God. Yet when Victor mandates that everything from purchasing groceries to seeing a doctor will require a mark of allegiance to him, Emma Grady and her friends in New York City know they must go on the run, recognizing that Victor is not the savior he appears to be.