The Babbling Brook Naked Poker Club - Book One

by Ann Warner

  “You do realize, Josephine. If Myrtle turns Norman into her toy boy, we’ll never hear the end of it.”

  Toy boy? I didn’t know Lill even knew the term. “Oh, well. My loss. I have no interest in meeting another . . . art lover. Hasn’t art gotten us all into enough trouble?”

  “That wasn’t art’s fault,” Mac said. He and Devi had been watching the volleys between Lill and me with increasing mirth.

  “No, of course not,” I said. “You know, speaking of art . . . I’ve had a thought.”

  “That’s dangerous territory for you, Josephine,” Mac said. “Or if not for you, for the rest of us. Leads to all sorts of mayhem. Not to mention extra paperwork for me.”

  “But you have to admit, Darren McElroy, without Lill and me, you never would have caught the Brookside thief.” Which was rather a high falutting way of referring to Edna Prisant.

  “I’m willing to concede that,” Mac said. “As long as you and Lillian agree to retire from crime fighting.”

  I sighed. “I don’t think we have much choice. Nothing else is happening. It’s dreadfully boring.”

  “Which is precisely why you need something . . . or someone to spice up your life,” Lill said. “And I believe Norman’s just the ticket. Besides, he’s interested in you.”

  “What I want to know is why on earth someone named Neumann would saddle their child with a name like Norman?”

  “No accounting for white folks,” Lill said with an arch look. “Present company excepted.” Lill likes to tease that she and I are Brookside Retirement Community’s yin and yang. Or, as she dubs it, The Babbling Brook Retirement Community in honor of the missing brook and some of the present annoying residents. I retort that instead of the black and the white, we’re the black and the gray, and that always makes her laugh.

  “You know, Josephine, as improved as Devi’s looking, you need to get moving before Norman leaves.”

  Devi leaned her chin on her hand and stared at Lill. “What makes you think Norman might be interested in Josephine?”

  “Because he’s come up to me several times to chat.”

  “Well that’s certainly a dead give-away,” I said.

  “He’s noticed we’re friends, and since you’ve been avoiding him, he figures on getting to you through me.”

  “Really, Lill? That’s what you think? Here’s what I think. He’s heard the rumors about my painting, and he’s looking for a sugar mamma.”

  Lill hooted. “Oh, honey. That’s a good one. I’ll have to ask Norman about that and see what he says.”

  “Don’t you dare. Really, Lill, this entire conversation is most undignified.”

  “And to think it started with you having a thought,” Mac said, his lips twitching.

  “Oh, yes. That. Well, here it is. But don’t say anything right now, Devi. Just think about it, and we’ll talk later.”

  “What is it?” she said.

  “I’m thinking about loaning Sea Watchers out to museums, and I need someone to coordinate the visits and make all the arrangements.” Devi was a curator at the Winterford Art Institute in Chicago before she came to Cincinnati and she’ll know exactly what to do.

  She cocked her head and looked like she was thinking, then she straightened and opened her mouth.

  “No, don’t say anything yet. I know you’ll need to think about it. After all, you may prefer to return to your job here at Brookside and I’m okay with—.”

  “What if it’s yes, I’d love to do that? And, just tell me when I start.”

  “Hmm, okay. Let’s get together this week and work out the details.”

  Devi and I smiled at each other.

  “I like it,” Lill said, beaming. “If Devi isn’t coming back it means Norman will have to hang around a while longer.”

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  Also by Ann Warner

  Doubtful

  Doubtful Sound, New Zealand: For Dr. Van Peters, Doubtful is a retreat after a false accusation all but ends her scientific career. For David Christianson, Doubtful is a place of respite after a personal tragedy is followed by an unwelcome notoriety.

  Neither is looking for love or even friendship. Each wants only to make it through another day. But when violence comes to Doubtful, Van and David’s only chance of survival will be each other.

  Readers’ Comments

  …a wonderfully written story with well-rounded and real characters in a setting that Ann evokes with such detail and sensibility you are instantly transported to this remote New Zealand coast. I love Ann’s writing style—intelligent and unsentimental—with characters you are rooting for to the very end. —Jayne Close

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  If you like exciting books set in interesting locations, this one is for you. Warner has created characters we really care about, then she proceeds to present them with some really tough challenges. —Margaret Johnson, author of The Goddess Workshop

  This book has the lot—mystery, suspense, romance and something extra I enjoyed as an Australian reader—I found myself lingering over Warner’s vivid descriptions of places I’ve never seen but would love to visit in Australia and New Zealand. —Juli Townsend, author of Absent Children.

  Absence of Grace

  Available as a free download

  in multiple formats

  The memory of an act committed when she was nineteen weaves a dark thread through Clen McClendon’s life. It is a darkness Clen ignores until the discovery of her husband’s infidelity propels her on a quest for her own redemption and forgiveness. At first, her journeying provides few answers and peace remains elusive. Then Clen makes a decision that is both desperate and random to go to Wrangell, Alaska. There she will meet Gerrum Kirsey and learn that choices are never truly random, and they always have consequences.

  Readers’ Comments

  Absence of Grace is a riveting read of personal struggle, very much recommended reading. —The Midwest Book Review

  The writing is perfect. Absolutely smooth and divine. Like the best bar of chocolate in the world. — Fran Macilvey, author of Trapped

  Counterpointe

  Art, science, love, and ambition collide as a dancer on the verge of achieving her dreams is badly injured. Afterward, Clare Eliason rushes into a marriage with Rob Chapin, a scientist. The marriage falters, propelling Clare and Rob on journeys of self-discovery. Rob joins a scientific expedition to Peru, where he discovers how easy it is to die. Clare’s journey, which takes her only a few blocks from the Boston apartment she shared with Rob, is no less profound. During their time apart, each will have a chance to save a life. One will succeed, one will not. Finally, they will face the most difficult quest of all, navigating the space that lies between them.

  Readers’ Comments

  Counterpointe is not your traditional love story, just as Ann Warner is not your typical author. Ann’s brilliant, well-thought-out prose lifts her stories to a higher literary level than most of today’s fare. If you’re looking for a…thoroughly satisfying journey that takes your imagination from tragedy to self-discovery, with all of the tears and joys along the way, you should pick up Counterpointe and prepare to be impressed. — Pam Berehulke, Bulletproof Editing

  The chemistry between Clare and Rob is crackling. LOVE IT! — Kate Moretti, NY Times bestselling author of Thought I Knew You

  Reading your work is like coming home to a good friend I know I can trust…there is nothing I don’t like here…you wrote another brilliant story. Thank you. — Fran McIlvey, author of Trapped

  Love and Other Acts of Courage

  A freighter collides with a yacht and abandons the survivors. A couple is left behind by a dive boat.

  These are the dramatic events that force changes in maritime attorney Max Gildea’s carefully organized life, where, win, lose, or settle out of court, he gets paid and paid handsomely. As he represents the only survivor of the yacht sinking
and gets involved in the search for the couple missing from a dive trip, his reawakening emotions catapult him into the chaos of sorrow and joy that are the necessary ingredients of a life lived fully.

  Readers’ Comments

  Love and Other Acts of Courage is…beautiful. The plot is engaging and it focused on the development of the characters…and the ending (is) very satisfying. — Lorena Sanqui for Readers’ Favorite

  Love and Other Acts of Courage is a love story woven within an engaging mystery with twists and turns, believable villains, and enough tension to keep you turning pages. — Dete Meserve, author of Good Sam

  …the characterization of Max, Jake, and Sophie is done so delicately, so perfectly, that each alone would be worthy of a separate story. In short, Love and Other Acts of Courage is so much more than a love story. — Kate Moretti, NY Times Bestselling author of Binds that Tie

  Memory Lessons

  Glenna Girard has passed through the agony and utter darkness of an unimaginable loss. It is only in planning her escape, from her marriage and her current circumstances, that she manages to start moving again, toward a place where she can live in anonymity and atone for the unforgivable mistake she has made.

  As she takes tentative steps into the new life she is so carefully shaping, she has no desire to connect with other people. But fate has other ideas, bringing her a family who can benefit from her help if only she will give it. And a man, Jack Ralston, who is everything she needs to live fully again, if Glenna will just let herself see it.

  Readers’ Comments

  …you don’t want to miss this inspirational story. — David Johnson, author of The Tucker Series

  A lovely and compelling story. — Michelle Lam, author of The Accidental Prophetess

  Vocabulary of Light

  Living in Puerto Rico might sound like a dream to some people, but for Maggie Chase it’s more of a challenge than she’s looking for. Maggie, who has a PhD in biochemistry, agreed to put her husband’s career first after the birth of their daughters, and that has now led to Mike accepting the position of CEO of the Lillith Pharmaceuticals plant in San Juan. Struggling to fit into the bilingual, Latin culture of Puerto Rico in the late 1980s, Maggie’s adjustment is aided by the friendships she develops. Friendships that bring both dark and light into her life, and eventually demand of her an inner strength and resilience she didn’t know she was capable of.

  Readers’ Comments

  …vivid insight into a new place and a gripping, and yet heartwarming story.— Juli Townsend, author of Absent Children.

  I love Ann Warner’s books, and in this new offering she makes us live and breathe Puerto Rico in the 1990s . The dilemmas of Maggie and her new friends are emotionally engaging, and as always, her characters are brought vividly to life. Margaret Johnson, author of The Goddess Workshop

  Dreams for Stones

  Available for free download

  in multiple formats

  Indie Next Generation Book Award Finalist

  A man holding fast to grief and a woman who lets go of love too easily. It will take all the magic of old diaries and a children’s story to heal these two.

  Caught in grief and guilt over his wife’s death, English professor Alan Francini is determined never to feel that much pain again. He avoids new relationships and keeps even his best friend at arms’ length. His major solace is his family’s ranch south of Denver. Children’s book editor Kathy Jamison has learned through a lifetime of separations and a broken engagement that letting go is easier than hanging on. Then she meets Alan, and for once, begins to believe a lasting relationship is possible. But Alan panics and pushes her away into the arms of his best friend. Now the emotions of three people are at stake as they struggle to find a way to transform their broken dreams into a foundation for a more hopeful future.

  Readers’ Comments

  . . . incredibly vivid and emotional tale of love and loyalty, friendship, loss, and faith. —Booklist

  . . . a lovely story about life changes and love lost and found. —Romantic Times Book Review

  Stunning! —Juli Townsend, Author of Absent Children

  Persistence of Dreams

  Sequel to Dreams for Stones

  Lost memories and surprising twists of mystery. Alan, Kathy, and Charles’s story continues. The ending of his love affair with Kathy and an arsonist seeking revenge are the catalysts that alter the shape and direction of Charles’s life. Forced to find both a new place to live and a way to ease his heartache, Charles finds much more as he reaches out to help his neighbor Luz Montalvo. Helping Luz forces Charles to come to grips with his fractured friendships and the fragmented memories of his childhood.

  Luz Montalvo was a carefree college student until her parents died in a car crash. Frantic not to lose her younger siblings to foster care, Luz took them on the run. After nearly a year scraping by as an apartment manager, she’s just beginning to feel safe when she discovers her newest tenant is her worst nightmare. Charles Larimore, a Denver district attorney, has been shaped by losses that left him wary of everyone and everything. Including love.

  Readers’ Comments

  A compelling page turner. Warner’s portrayal of a life on the run is realistic . . . her heroine one readers will root for . . . a true sense of time and place . . . real secondary characters who do more than take up space. —Karen Sweeny-Justice, Romantic Times.

  Warner’s smooth writing style charms the reader . . . enthralling—a story to be enjoyed more than once. —Camellia, The Long and Short of It Reviews.

  Excellent characters and dialogue drive the romance and suspense . . . great reading. —Romance Studio

  Chapter List

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter_Thirty-Nine

  Chapter_Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter_Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Two