Milford-Haven Audio Books
by Mara Purl
When the Heart Listens
Winner – International Book Awards
Can the heart be telling us something we can’t quite hear? Landscape artist Miranda Jones thought she was on track. Yet something feels off kilter. The subjects of her work all live in nature, yet she herself lives in the city. Her rep and her family emphasize money as the benchmark of success, yet her own goals have to do with the professional challenges of excellence, adventure, and authenticity. She plans a brief trip to join plein air artists in the Carrizo Plain to paint this year’s extraordinary super bloom. Yet what she experiences is a journey that opens a chapter into a new life. At least it will, if she considers what might happen…when the heart listens.
What the Heart Knows
Winner – Silver Benjamin Franklin Award for Audio Fiction
Performed by the author, who’s also an accomplished voice actor, this compelling, multi-layered audio book introduces the delicious complexities of Milford-Haven. A murder, an environmental controversy and a long-buried secret confessed only in a private journal set the stage as wildlife artist Miranda Jones finds her career taking root and a new love knocking at her door as she does her best to listen to what her heart knows.
Where the Heart Lives
Winner – Gold USA Book News Best Book Award for Audio Fiction
Performed by the author–also an accomplished voice actor—this intriguing, richly-textured audio book continues the interwoven complexities of Milford-Haven. While a murder investigation begins in the Central Coast, artist Miranda Jones’ research journey takes her from the whales off the Los Angeles coast to the big cats of the Mojave Desert to the backstage drama of a Hollywood Bowl Doobie Brothers concert, as she discovers where her heart lives.
Why Hearts Keep Secrets
Winner – National Indie Excellence Award
Can the heart keep secrets, even from itself? Without revealing her plans, artist Miranda Jones fled her life of privilege to start over in Milford-Haven. Her heart knew what she wanted to do, and where she wanted to be. But now she must figure out why she had to keep it all to herself.
While she focuses on her first major art show in her new town, is she paying enough attention to the agent who handles her money, or to the odd absences of the man who claims to care about her? Why won’t he reveal his real career? And why does her own family keep a secret that could derail her new-found confidence? What is her own sister not telling her? Will her own heart unlock the secrets in her life?
Though the book stands alone, it is also Book 3 in the critically acclaimed, multiple-award-winning, Amazon best-selling series, a multi-generational Milford-Haven saga. Based on Purl’s hit BBC Radio drama Milford-Haven U.S.A.
Whose Hearts Align
Winner – Independent Press Award
Miranda Jones has found her true love. She’s over the moon with her astronomer, and her close friends are thrilled. With a deep, romantic relationship, and increasing success in her career as a painter, all the stars seem to have aligned for Miranda at last. But that leaves her sister jealous, her parents concerned, and her artist’s representative Zelda scrambling to realign her schemes. Meredith is now dating the man Miranda used to date, creating complexities for the both families. Meanwhile, Samantha is closer to finding her lost son, and Sally is making room for big changes in her life. Will all these relationships stay aligned?
When Hummers Dream
Winner – Gold USA Book News Best Book Award for Short Story (Novelette)
Performed by the author, this charming, quirky audio book invites you into a rarified world. Can a hummingbird dream? Artist Miranda Jones thinks so. Sensing the tiny injured bird that wings its way into her world still lives, she paints the creature’s dream-garden and seems to reach into his very heart, just as she reached into her own heart to create a new life for herself in Milford-Haven. . . .
When Whales Watch
Winner – Silver Global EBook Award for Short Story
Performed by the author, this compelling audio book draws you into a mysterious world. Can whales watch the humans who watch them? Miranda Jones is convinced they can and do. She’s enjoying her day of whale-watching. Yet even while the boat plies the blue waters, a potential disaster foments. She senses a presence below the waves, one that speaks to her heart . . . just off the coast of Milford-Haven. . . .
When Otters Play
Winner – American Fiction Awards
Are sea otters as cute and clever as they seem? Miranda Jones is as captivated by their sweet faces as she is spellbound by their antics. She can hardly wait to interact with them on her kayaking expedition off California’s Central Coast. Yet nothing could be more surprising than the controversy they’ve caused in the sun-drenched Santa Barbara waters, nor more disturbing than the vehement hatred they seem to inspire among local fishermen. Are the otters really as adorable as they seem? Or is there more at stake…When Otters Play?
Though the book stands alone, it also introduces Book 3 of the Milford-Haven Novels, the critically acclaimed, popular series, a multi-generational saga. Based on Purl’s BBC Radio drama Milford-Haven U.S.A.
When Birds Sing
Winner, Regional Lit – The Great Northwest Book Festival
Do birds sing for joy, or do they have something to say?
Artist Miranda Jones, doing research for a commissioned painting, is delighted by their songs but increasingly intrigued to understand what they seem to be saying. She’s excited to learn more both when she hikes with an expert and when she kayaks on the Columbia River in Oregon. Yet imagine her surprise when she hears what she thinks is a bird call but turns out to be a woman screaming! Can Miranda help without putting herself in danger? Or have the avians fooled her….
Though the book stands alone, it also is a midquel for Book 3 of the Milford-Haven Novels, the critically acclaimed, best-selling series, a multi-generational saga. Based on Purl’s BBC Radio drama Milford-Haven U.S.A.
What the Soul Suspects
Winner – Silver – Hear Now Featival – Audio Book
Performed by the author-and-audio-narrator Mara Purl, along with co-narrator Ilona Stone, listen to the paranormal novel that expanded the series into a new realm of awareness. Television journalist Christine Christian has been missing, and as this tale begins, we find her in the dirt where she was shoved by malevolent perpetrator sent to stop her from pursuing the dangerous story she was covering. Does her continuing journey mean she’s safe? Or does it mean something else? As Chris tracks her own progress, unimagined things begin to light in . . . What the Soul Suspects!
5 hours 30 minutes
Where an Angel’s On a Rope
Winner – Gold Los Angeles Book Festival Award
Winner – Silver – Hear Now Featival – Audio Book
Performed by the author-and-audio-narrator, this harrowing winter adventure takes to a treacherous Angeles Crest mountainside where astronomer Cornelius Smith rediscovers the meaning of Christmas.
43 minutes. $3.95
When Angels Paint
Winner – Silver Holiday Book Festival
Winner – Bronze – Hear Now Featival – Audio Book
Performed by the author-and-audio-narrator, this cozy novelette brings home the nostalgia of memories, the generosity of giving, and most uniquely, the magic of intuition at the holidays, as artist Miranda Jones follows her heart to create a painting that just might save someone she hardly knows.
1 hour 11 minutes. $4.95