Showing results by narrator "Shaina Summerville" in All Categories

I thought my invitation was a birthday present from my best friend. The dress, the limousine, the red carpet...I thought they were meant for me. That was mistake number one. Then my date arrives, all gleaming cufflinks and tousled hair, steely blue eyes, and a body honed to masculine precision. Arrogant. Charming. Panty-melting. And melt, they do. Hanky-panky with a rich hottie in the back room of the event I'm crashing? Don't mind if I do.

Perched between branches and shadows, we watch, we scheme, fighting for a kingdom forgotten and forlorn. Until we rip her away with our claws, our prisoner, our pawn, our plaything. She’s innocent and pure, fragile and helpless…but oh so guilty by blood. She calls us beasts, wicked and evil, vicious and cruel. We are all that and worse. One of us offers her shelter beneath his wings, whispering promises of pleasure, seeking redemption. The other longs to shatter her into a million pieces, whispering promises of pain, seeking revenge.

Shadows so Cruel is a full-length dark fantasy romance novel, and book two in the Court of Ravens duet. The two-part story features two morally gray raven shifters, a young woman at the mercy of their shadows, and a HEA.

Being a dog walker isn't as glamorous as you might imagine. Unless, of course, you're walking a tech billionaire's German shepherd mix. And when your grumpy, gorgeous billionaire boss asks you to spend the evenings at his place to babysit his teenage niece, who are you to refuse? You think, what could possibly go wrong? I'll tell you what can go wrong: Your business implodes, your heart shatters, and you find out you're carrying his baby.

Billionaire. CEO. Single dad. And for the next seven days, this arrogant hunk is going to be my boss. Easy, right? All I have to do is be a good nanny to Leif Sorensen's adorable, hell-raising, ballet-loving daughter. Keep my head down, my hands to myself, and forget about this silly crush I've been nursing. So he's big, and blond, and he stars in all my not-so-innocent "Hot Viking Ravages Innocent Maiden" fantasies? Who cares? Certainly not me. Nope. My week-long contract is my ticket out of trouble, and I'm not going to mess it up. Except . . . Leif has other ideas.

Not all monsters are fantasy. Some are very real, and they walk among us. They're our friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers. They're the people we're supposed to trust...and they know it. Contained within this anthology are 35 never-before-published works by supremely talented authors and best-selling novelists. Brace yourself for the unexpected and unimaginable horror of...human monsters.

Just because arts organizations are non-profits doesn't mean they shouldn't make money; it means the money they make goes back to fund the mission—whether that's music, visual arts, theatre, dance, or one of many other mediums that enrich our lives.

For decades, performance management has been seen as an annual chore by managers and HR alike. But this process is changing, and there are ways to make it more effective for your organization and more useful for employees. If you read (or listen to) nothing else on performance management in your organization, listen to these ten articles. We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help you assess performance more accurately, have more effective feedback conversations, and encourage the growth of your employees.

Apparently, conservative Midwestern voters want more than my brains, connections, and good looks to vote me in as a congressman. That's right, to appear as the all-American family man they want . . . I need a wife. ASAP. The lovely Odette Hastings seems to fit the bill. She's a wholesome small-town girl, and conveniently in need of cash. I'll give her the money to take care of her elderly parents, and she'll be the political arm candy I need. We both win, right? The only problem is Odette is a little too beautiful, a little too intelligent, and way too distracting.

Lilian always had a no-dating rule. For the last twelve years, she's been the guardian of her younger sister. She did the whole PTO, soccer mom thing. But now that her sister's a college graduate and married, Lilian is taking her life back . . . and looking for a good time. I respected her "no dating" rule even though I've wanted her since the day she started working for me. Two years later and my thirst for her has only intensified. Lily might think all she wants is a one-night-stand, but I'm determined to make her mine.

Layla Wright fit in her role as admin at West Oak Publishing about as well as she would at a five star restaurant in her 'I love DILFS' T-shirt. When she applied to the job she thought she would be learning the ins and outs of the industry to eventually write and publish her own novel. But after years of staying in this same position, she's unsure of how to break out of her routine and chase her dreams.

When Brianna Jenson agreed to move in with her cruel uncle, Shane, in rural Pennsylvania, she didn't expect to find herself in the middle of a terrifying town legend. Every afternoon on her walk home from school, as the sun begins to set behind the overhanging branches of Shadowrun Road, Brianna hears footsteps following her - footsteps that belong to no one. Then there's the car that races along the narrow country road with blinding lights and almost runs her over! That's when Brianna realizes...there's no one driving.

In Just as You Are, psychologist Michelle Skeen and her daughter, Kelly Skeen, offer simple tips to help you overcome feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness, stop comparing yourself to others, and be more open and accepting of all aspects of who you are. You'll also learn how to be more aware of your thoughts and feelings in the moment using powerful mindfulness tools and build a plan of action for the future based on your values.

I was having the worst day ever, and to cheer myself up I was trying on wedding gowns at a boutique. Which is cool, until my frenemy walked in with her posse of women. "Emma! You're getting married too? So am I!" I'm not getting married. I don't even have a boyfriend. I just find wearing a wedding dress can turn a bad day around.

When Naomi's daughter, Perle, starts to have nightmares about smokestacks and creepy doctors, Naomi is struck with terror—the terror of a mother who fears her daughter is in mortal danger. Naomi believes dreams are glimpses into the future. She, too, has had dreams of foreign soldiers with a strange flag invading her tiny village. She knows in her heart that evil is brewing.

Unfortunately, being a chronic people pleaser yet wanting to make sure he keeps a solid relationship with his best friend becomes difficult when said best friend asks for a huge favor: rent the spare room in his apartment to Luke's little sister, Calla.

Mr. Rockwood is so cocky no one in the office knows his first name. And even though there are hundreds of single women dying to date the playboy, he chooses to irritate me every day. And unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do about it, because the annoyingly handsome—and he knows it—man-beast just happens to be my boss. Oh, but it gets worse. He approaches me, his intense chocolate brown eyes eyeing me up like I’m a delicious dessert he wants to devour. And he makes me an offer I cannot refuse. One million dollars to be his wife for one year.

It's not until Dez's father shows up, wielding a gun and knowing more about Kale than he should, that Dez realizes there's more to this boy - and her father's "law firm" - than she realized. Kale has been a prisoner of Denazen Corporation - an organization devoted to collecting "special" kids known as Sixes and using them as weapons - his entire life.

In the heart of Atlanta, a virus has escaped the CDC and transformed most of the population of the southeastern US into homicidal cannibals. As society rapidly crumbles under the hordes of infected, three people - Ethan, a Memphis police officer; Cade, a former IDF sharpshooter; and Brandt, a lieutenant in the US Marines - band together against the oncoming crush of death and terror.

One year after the Michaluk Virus decimated the southeast, Ethan Bennett and his six companions have become as close as family while facing the trials of living in a drastically changed world. Then a mysterious woman arrives at their safe house in Alabama, pleading for assistance in Atlanta. Despite their suspicions that the woman is hiding important information, Ethan and his friends agree to help. But when they're suddenly forced to flee from the infected, the cohesion the group had cultivated is shattered.