Showing results by narrator "Nicole" in All Categories

Nicole Avant—diplomat, philanthropist, filmmaker—grew up surrounded by some of the most extraordinary artists of our time: Bill Withers, Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones, Sidney Poitier. Her parents—entertainment mogul, Clarence Avant, and legendary philanthropist, Jacqueline Avant—turned their home into a place of refuge and inspiration for a generation of geniuses. Nicole drew on that magical upbringing to create a stellar career in the music business, become the U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, and produce critically acclaimed award-winning films and documentaries.

Piper Dove is a woman with a dream - to become the best detective in the city of Chicago. First job? Trail former Chicago Stars quarterback Cooper Graham. Problem? Graham's spotted her, and he's not happy. Which is why a good detective needs to think on her feet. "The fact is...I'm your stalker. Not full-out barmy. Just...mildly unhinged."

As the only child in an upper-middle class family, Rowan has had it easy. Doted on by a mother who never wanted anything but a child to love, she's never wanted for anything. Kiaya’s life, however, has been anything but easy. Parents who didn’t want her, followed by being torn away from her only sibling by the foster care system, she knows what it means to have to work hard for the things she wants. When a deadly virus sweeps the country, Rowan and Kiaya are away at college and far from everything they love.

The end of the world? That’s the stuff of Hollywood blockbusters and deep philosophical exercises in school. No need to sweat it. So when 16-year-old Tess’ doomsday-dad builds a bomb shelter in their suburban backyard, everyone thinks he’s gone crazy—until fire rains down from the sky, sinking whole cities into colossal craters and setting much of the world ablaze.

Fans of Zane’s APF sorority stories, which have appeared in earlier collections including The Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth, wanted more, and Zane has given it to them. Here is a book-length story about the sexy escapades of APF, a sorority dedicated to sexual freedom and the fulfillment of its members. Their on-campus antics are off the hook, and Zane, as ever, turns the heat up so high the pages are practically sizzling.

The New York Times best-selling author of Whiter Than Snow, Sandra Dallas delivers a novel about the secrets and passions of three generations of women who live in a Victorian Colorado house. While the house is under construction in 1880, a 17-year-old servant imagines living in the “Bride’s House” with one of her several suitors. Decades later, the legacy and secrets of earlier Bride’s House women cause the current occupant to question what she really wants and who she truly loves.

Gerald, a mid-level employee of a New York-based public relations firm, has been uploaded into the company’s internal Slack channels - at least his consciousness has. His colleagues assume it’s an elaborate gag to exploit the new work-from-home policy, but now that Gerald’s productivity is through the roof, his bosses are only too happy to let him work from...wherever he says he is. Faced with the looming abyss of a disembodied life online, Gerald enlists his coworker Pradeep to help him escape and to find out what happened to his body.

How many times have you had people ask you, "So, are you seeing anyone?" only to give you a condescending when you tell them you are single? I know it is enough to make you want to scream! When did being single become a bad thing? One thing my mother liked to say "It doesn't matter if you are alone on a desert island or surrounded by millions of people, you have to learn to live with yourself to be happy."

Emmeline has experienced more heartache and sorrow than any one person should. Though she now has immeasurable divinity granted by the gods, her new status came at a price she never would have paid. Haunted by the events of the Cascade and the horrifying acts she bore witness to, Emmeline must work alongside people she never expected to undo the atrocities committed on that dreadful day—starting with what was done to her daughter.

An interview recorded on an iPhone. A police interrogation tape. An FBI wire. At the center of them all is a writer researching a legal thriller...or is he? And somewhere within those recordings is the truth about a murder trial and a web of lies stretching back three decades.

Nothing Is Missing is a “sparkling and impassioned story” (Glamour) of what it takes to show up for yourself—and the joy that can come once you do. Raised in a home where food was unstable and anger was the norm, Nicole learned that she needed to take charge of her own safety and security. So she did: She got into an elite private school by talking to a stranger in her dad’s cab, she strategized her way onto Wheel of Fortune to pay for college, she adopted three girls after meeting their mother panhandling, she quit her job to launch her own business, and she struggled.

Pearl Baines is a straight Harlem stunna. She and her twin sister, Diamond, are chased by some of the most notorious ballers in New York City. But while their father, ex-gangsta Irish Baines, devotes his life to rehabilitating young thugs, his sexy twin daughters fall hard for the glamour and glitter of strip clubs and street life. Unlike Diamond, though, Pearl is able to shake off the trappings of the hood in search of a better future.

In this hot, explicit, multi-author collection filled with 20 filthy erotic stories, you’ll find BDSM, billionaire, gang bangs, lesbian first time sex, coming out, spanking, threesomes, doctor sex, nurse sex, older woman/younger woman, and much more...

How can we apply technology to drive business value? For years we've been told that the performance of software delivery teams doesn't matter - that it can't provide a competitive advantage to our companies. Through four years of groundbreaking research to include data collected from the State of DevOps reports conducted with Puppet, Dr. Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble, and Gene Kim set out to find a way to measure software delivery performance - and what drives it - using rigorous statistical methods. This book presents both the findings and the science behind that research, making the information accessible for listeners to apply in their own organizations.

A condition as old as the ancients, despondency thrives in today's culture of leisure, anxiety, and digital distraction. Time and Despondency is a penetrating synthesis of ancient theology, spiritual memoir, and self-help practicality. It envisions despondency as the extension of a broken relationship with the experience of time.

If you want to get to heaven, you’ve got to raise a little hell.... Callie Penrose is struggling to find her special purpose in life. Rather than allying with any of the powerful supernatural groups begging to sign her up - the Vatican, the vampires, the shifters, or the Armies of both Heaven and Hell - Callie has been picking fights with all of them. But when she’s abducted by a host of angels, and a greater demon begins hunting her through the daytime streets of Kansas City, Callie learns that her past has come back to haunt her.

Somewhere on the outer rim of the universe, a mass of decaying world-ships known as the Legion is traveling in the seams between the stars. For generations, a war for control of the Legion has been waged, with no clear resolution. As worlds continue to die, a desperate plan is put into motion. Zan wakes with no memory, prisoner of a people who say they are her family.

Evelyn Townsend is the friend your parents warned you about. She's always jumping off bridges with reckless abandon. So when a reality show promises the opportunity to meet her perfect match, Evelyn is all in. There's just one major catch—her soulmate will be picked by a panel of experts, and she doesn't get to meet him until they are face to face at the end of the aisle.

At 24, Zoey has struggled for several years to pay off her mother's hospital bills. While living in her car and working at a restaurant have been challenges, Zoey maintains a cheerful and optimistic attitude. Two endearing customers alert Zoey Geller to a job opportunity that changes her life. Jon and Cecily have a very different relationship in which Jon appears to be more of a father than a husband. Zoey is the only waitress in the diner who enjoys serving them. The others are uncomfortable interacting with the age-play couple.

Following the stunning success of her high-spirited debut, Karen Witemeyer delivers this compelling blend of humor and romance. When Adelaid Proctor finds herself stranded in 1883 Texas, she’s hired by a British-born sheep rancher as governess for a daughter still grief-stricken over her mom’s death. As Adelaid gently draws the girl out of her shell of silence, the governess and sheep rancher, at first, resist their mutual attraction.