Showing results by narrator "Jennifer Pickens" in All Categories

Diana Bellatrix has discovered the truth. She is the last surviving heir of the Athens throne, and the reason the Netherportal remains open. In her guilt, she leaves Afterlife Academy with the conviction of eradicating the curse on her bloodline and restoring the Overworld. In need of an army, she returns to her homeland to prove she is a worthy successor. And while queen Minerva accepts, it is with contempt and suspicion, for she has not forgotten the treachery of her son.

Now that Geraldine Porter is retired, she's got time to devote to her favorite craft. You'd think the world of shoe-box-sized Victorian shadow boxes and little ceramic bathtubs would be trouble free. But Gerry's problems are anything but tiny. Gerry likes working in a smaller scale, yet her to-do list is anything but. Between creating a miniature Victorian room box for the holiday auction, teaching crafts at the Mary Todd Retirement Home, and watching her granddaughter, her calendar is bursting with holiday cheer—until she has to add in a murder investigation.

Another state. Another city. Another dead-end job. A stellar FBI agent until tragedy set her adrift, Karen Pantelli finds herself working at a pizza joint in Billings, Montana, trying to ignore the increasing global unrest dominating the news, when three armed men walk through the door. Soon a shocking turn of events launches her on a cross-country quest for a former college classmate, an alluring but manipulative woman with just one goal in life: to marry rich. Very rich.

Emily Scott is a stand-up comedian and one-time bank robber who came into possession of knowledge that could get her killed. She knows the identity of Big Wheel. When presented with a chance to run away with a bag full of cash, she didn’t hesitate. But now pout on the road she’s stuck between two worlds. After spending 20 years getting good at one thing, and building her identity around it, can she abandon all that work and become someone new? And what happens when she finds out Chloe Medina is on her tail, the hot girl who broke her nose at high school after one kiss?

Want to be part of the 50 percent who complete their doctoral program? In just seven steps, you’ll learn tools and techniques to help you start strong, stay the course, and finish on time. Each step contains action items so you can apply the information for immediate results. You’ll learn how to position yourself for success, manage overwhelming emotions, build a supportive network, work smarter, and more. Informed by 20 years of work with hundreds of students and faculty, The Happy Doc Student Handbook demystifies the process so you can successfully navigate your program.

Her assignments were always to kill someone. That's what a hitman—or hitwoman—is paid to do—and that is what she does. Then comes a surprise assignment—keep someone alive! She is hired to protect Virginia Martin, the stunning and brilliant chief technology officer of a hot startup with an innovation that will change the world. This new job catches her at a time in her life when she's disillusioned, even depressed. She's confused about the “why”, but she addresses her charge as she always does, with skill and stealth, determined to keep this young CTO alive.

You would think that Shannon and her coven would have their act together by now—especially after Cynthia, who is waaay more experienced in the magical realm, joins them. Nope. With Shannon’s familiar, Robert the bobcat, still missing after being shot by Steve, and the budding romance with Devon also shot to hell, Shannon’s got some serious challenges. As for the rest of the neophyte coven members, Libby got the job promotion but she detests it. Careful what you wish for, right?

2115 Post-C: Humanity has been saved from the brink of extinction by Centurions. Extraterrestrial overlords impose androgyny and control reproduction through strict methods. AI world government, constant monitoring, and the ability to manipulate time are the results of advanced alien technology.

Two shocking words, torching a marriage of over 20 years. Totally blind-sided, Shannon, a middle-aged, stay-at-home mom, is traded in for a newer model. One of the few possessions her cheating ex didn’t swipe from under her nose, was the mountain resort she inherited from her dear aunt Maeve. With limited funds and bleak job prospects after being out of the workforce for so long, the decrepit resort is a lifeline.

When Diana of the cursed house Bellatrix loses her life, she is forced to admit to the king of the underworld that she had not become the hero she promised him. He did not rage, nor smite her soul where she stood. The king’s only demand for resurrection was her attendance at Afterlife Academy, a rehabilitation center for failed heroes of history. A place where she can learn to control her destructive, bloodthirsty power. As she adapts to her new home, she unexpectedly encounters a godchild of Mars known as Calix.

Mary floated across the room, shaking her hands in frustration. Finally, she turned back to Mike. “When will the men in my life realize that no one is responsible for watching over me?” she asked sadly. “I am a grown woman. I am a former police officer. I am not some hot-house flower that can’t handle my own life and my own safety.” Victoria sighed loudly and rolled her eyes.

Marcie, Maggie, and Diane all have one thing in common: Dan McKenzie, an unscrupulous man who uses women. His motto in life is "Lie, cheat, and steal". He faked his death and tried to frame Maggie's husband with his murder. He blackmailed Marcie to run drugs for him. And Diane, a cop, had to stand by, knowing he was responsible for planting drugs in her partner's locker. He's always walked away scot free. Until now.

Most cops have a past. A past they can speak of. A past they can share. But not Diane.... That is until one night a body is discovered on the highway close to her home. But Diane Larsen, a tough cop chick who has had to prove herself over and over to the cops she works with, is ordered by her new boss to investigate the one case that could be her undoing.

Biography of a Body is a lyrical meander through the development of a messy, flawed, imperfect human and what it means to live in a society that both pulls a person into itself and fiercely pushes back. In personal essays and snippets of verse that shift back and forth through time and place, Lizz Schumer fidgets with the puzzle pieces of a life that are at once starkly unique and glaringly obvious. This is less a narrative than a trail of breadcrumbs through an experience, where strange things whisper from the shadows and draw the listener into the dappled darkness.

Now that Geraldine Porter is retired, she's got time to devote to her favorite craft. You'd think the world of shoe-box-sized Victorian shadowboxes and little ceramic bathtubs would be trouble free. But Gerry's problems are anything but tiny. As chairwoman of the local Dollhouse and Miniatures Fair and babysitter for her precocious granddaughter, Gerry's got enough to think about without the curious behavior of her friend Linda Reed.

Ex-military operative Lottie Nightshade is enjoying civilian life helping her widowed sister raise three teenagers. When a last-minute job interview turns out to be blackmail, her peaceful days are over. Lottie is given two choices, and the least deplorable of them is doing wetwork for an eccentric millionaire.

Marcie is crazy in love with Dan, who has been using her and promising his love in return. And she'll do anything for him, which is fast becoming a one-way ticket to trouble. But in a freak accident, she loses her memory, landing in the path of sexy DEA Agent Sam Carre. For DEA Agent Sam Carre, when this attractive stranger lands in his path, he just can't resist helping her, even though he's haunted by a past that gives him no peace. But as the sparks fly, so do questions of what she's really involved in. This complex case pushes them both to explain the unexplainable.

Theatrical gender-bending, also called drag, is a popular form of entertainment and a subject of scholarly study. However, most drag studies do not question the standard words and ideas used to convey this performance genre. Drawing on a rich body of archival and ethnographic research, Meredith Heller illuminates diverse examples of theatrical gender-bending.

Generous Press is a new kind of romance imprint. Someplace Generous—a vibrantly diverse and inclusive anthology of romantic short stories—can be described in one word: yes. Featuring stories by award-winning poets like Richard Siken, Rachel McKibbens, and Brionne Janae; acclaimed fiction writers like Temim Fruchter, Corinne Manning, and Max Delsohn; and popular thinkers like Jessica P. Pryde, Someplace Generous presents voices largely new to the genre of romance, each bringing a fresh take on what it means to tell a love story.

Inspired by the explosive events of our polarized political climate, Burner is an all-too plausible contemporary thriller that examines the social and personal consequences of the lost sense of identity, trust, and truth itself that characterizes our technology-obsessed culture.