Showing results by narrator "Rudy Sanda" in All Categories

Victoria Adler's plunge into midlife proves to be quite the rollercoaster. As a successful psychotherapist, she expected stability, but life had other plans. Abandoned by her faithless husband for a fling and overwhelmed by her increasingly neurotic patients, Victoria finds solace in the company of Athos, her late father's intelligent sled dog.

This collection of eight stories paints a vivid image of people who don't do what you might expect them to living on the fringes in America. Not stories of triumph over adversity but something completely other. Described in language that is brilliantly sardonic, Woods' characters return repeatedly to places where they don't belong - often the places where they were born. In the background are the endless American wars and occupations and too many early deaths of friends and family. This is fiction that is fresh and of the moment, even as it is timeless.   

Leadership is a set of abilities with which a lucky few are born. They're the natural relationship builders, master negotiators and persuaders, and agile and strategic thinkers. The good news for the rest of us is that those abilities can be developed. In The Leader's Brain: Enhance Your Leadership, Build Stronger Teams, Make Better Decisions, and Inspire Greater Innovation with Neuroscience, Wharton Neuroscience Initiative Director Michael Platt explains how. 

Thalia Lyndhoven's in a quandary. The Devil wants her daughter, and Thalia? Not unsurprisingly, she's not too fond of the idea. Thalia's proven time and time again that she'll do whatever it takes for those she loves, and for her unborn child? Well, Thalia's about to prove that momma bears have got nothing on her.  

Former ballerina Marlo Jonas has all the right moves - except when it comes to men. Her latest boyfriend? A cheater. In the wake of her breakup, her father has a novel idea for her: try dating men for who they are and not how they look. This makes it easy to ignore her hot nemesis, Seattle Times reporter Ben Wexler-Lowrey. Ben’s take on romance means spending time with interesting women whose personalities might sparkle more than their looks dazzle. But Ben’s mother thinks he can fare better.

Katya Pelletier is the practical, no-nonsense twin. While Alley is the life of the party and has boyfriends to spare, Katya can't seem to attract anyone's attention. Until she meets Carter Jag. As their relationship progresses, something primal and passionate awakens in Katya. She's introduced to and immersed in a whole world she never knew existed. A paranormal world. A world of antiquated ideas and imminent danger. Katya is a jaguar shifter, and her former "family" has come to claim their prize - her.

Victoria should be happy. Elated. Enemies have been defeated and her new life has endless possibilities. But things never stay uncomplicated for long. Not for her. The wolf essence stone was supposed to cure wolves of their shifting curse. Instead, it adheres itself to her, and casts a new curse on almost everyone surrounding her. Even worse, it speaks to her - leading her to a disturbing and heartbreaking realm where no one can find her and no one can follow. Each time she disappears, she returns with a feeling of dread and no memory of what transpired.

Her fiancé's family wants her dead. And they won't stop until she is. Victoria and Toby have faced one trial after another since falling in love. Now they must face Toby's old pack - a cruel traditional group opposed to anyone refusing to follow the old ways. Toby will do anything to protect Victoria, even to the point of separating from her. He sends her to a fierce bear shifter colony, where she will be hidden and protected.

Thalia Lyndhoven has the cojones to do what needs to be done to make things right in her pack. Nor is she afraid to dirty her hands or push her nose in where angels would fear to tread. With two of her three mates at her side, Thalia's life has never been brighter. For the first time, she's hopeful for tomorrow. She's freer than she's ever been, even if she does have the burden of a prophecy riding on her coattails. But then in walks mate number three. Not only does he have wings, a beautiful face, and an attitude, he has news. A second prophecy. 

Crime reporter Will Finch and private investigator Eve Noon escape to a remote media retreat deep in the redwoods of Northern California—until a midnight knock shatters the silence. A wildfire rages toward them, but the real danger isn't the flames. As the evacuation order comes down, Will and Eve find themselves trapped in a deadly game where the enemy isn't just nature—it's the people hidden among them.

Thalia Lyndhoven, until recently, was a Pack Princess. Not exactly spoiled, she was barely tolerated by anyone in her family, until an Elder came along and told her fathers, the leaders of the North American Pack, that she was at the center of a prophecy. Along the way, she's found her three mates, learned of the existence of three new races, and has discovered that the Devil is real, and his name isn't Lucifer, but Vulcun, and he doesn't have a tail or horns.

A powerful county commissioner is found murdered in a seedy motel. The killing has widespread implications, triggering a sequence of events reaching deep into Miami and Hialeah, and far beyond, shadowed by bloodlust that can never be quenched, and of course, the driving force behind it all: the money.

When the Blackout arrives, Dax Harper finds himself alone and fighting for survival on the chaotic streets of New Orleans. He is on the run, desperately searching for his estranged sister as the riots intensify. An unexpected encounter with his ex-girlfriend thrusts Dax into a leadership position - one he's not sure he can accept. As the hours pass, the city floods, pitting Dax in an epic battle against time and a mysterious new enemy threatening the future of humankind.

Some shadows are hard to shake. And someone has a mean sense of humor. And that person is springing nasty pranks around town. Who and why? And, more importantly, how can Keely Turner and Burke Sloan, the newest sheriff's deputy, stop the malicious prankster before someone gets hurt badly? 

Daniel O'Dwyer, ex-hospital pharmacist, accidental detective is back. Content to be unemployed and spend his days in the sun and sand of his Oak Island paradise, Daniel is once again drawn back to the local hospital and the mysteries that surround it. Construction on the hospital grounds unearths human remains, which are quickly dismissed as being part of a Native American burial ground. A young, clumsy medical resident who runs into Daniel, thinks otherwise. Meanwhile, Daniel's socially imbalanced sidekick, Willie, has a problem of his own.

While Mexicans were hopeful for economic reform following the Mexican revolution, by the 1930s, large numbers of Mexican nationals had already moved north and were living in the United States in one of the 20th century's most massive movements of migratory workers. Fernando Saúl Alanis Enciso provides an illuminating backstory that demonstrates how fluid and controversial the immigration and labor situation between Mexico and the United States was in the 20th century and continues to be in the 21st.

Prince Carden of Tierney lost his home, family, and claim to the throne in one fell swoop when he rebelled against his father for a cause he knew was right. Instead of wallowing in despair, he embarks on a new journey, starting a new life on the Southern Isle. When he finds himself caught in a web woven by the famously ruthless fae queen, Coeur, he insults her and she vows to teach him the most difficult and heart-breaking lesson he will ever learn: that humans are incapable of love, and that hearts are beastly things.   

With these captivating initial glimpses into her storytelling psyche, Jo Walton shines through subtle myths and reinvented realities. Through eclectic stories, subtle vignettes, inspired poetry, and more, Walton soars with humans, machines, and magic-rising from the every day into the universe itself. 

All I ever wanted was to be a female fighter. It was in my blood to smack people around. Some girls wore pink dresses and makeup; I wore sneakers and bruises. I was a loner, stuck to myself because I was different, until Camden Steel moved next door. I punched him in the mouth, and he saw me through rose-colored glasses from that day on. I had everything I ever wanted. The boy next door, inspiring career...until I didn't.

Newly crowned as Queen of the Fae, and mother to a newborn hybrid, Thalia is about to take on her most daunting role yet: she's been ordained, by the Gods themselves, to bring down the Devil. Morningstar needs to be taken down, and she's the bada$$ to do it. If she can get her hands on him. But when certain situations come to light in the face of Armageddon, Morningstar suddenly doesn't look like the biggest, baddest SOB out there. That title belongs to someone else. Only trouble is, Thalia and her mates can't take out the Earth's true foe on their lonesome.