Showing results by narrator "Joe Hempel" in All Categories

Some girls say no. Some boys don't listen. When Grace meets Ian, she's afraid. Afraid he'll reject her like the rest of the school, like her own family. After she accuses Zac, the town golden boy, of rape, everyone turns against her. Ian wouldn't be the first to call her a slut and a liar. Except Ian doesn't reject her. He's the one person who looks past the taunts and the names and the tough-girl act to see the real Grace. He's the one who gives her the courage to fight back. He's also Zac's best friend.

From the time she was a little girl, Mary loved Jason. He was her knight in shining armor. Her first crush. Her first kiss. Her first everything, until he broke her heart and she vowed to hate him for 1,000 lifetimes. Jason is the future Alpha of Westin Pack. As an only child, he's under extraordinary pressure to find his one true mate and carry on his family's legacy. When he returns home from college after years away, he finds her in a pup he had always been protective of and attracted to, despite their age differences.

It's not the fall that kills you. Three years ago, the body of an elderly woman was found in the cool waters beneath the Deception Pass Bridge near Whidbey Island, Washigton. Two years later, a deceased man of almost ninety floated onto the pebbly shore of Bremerton, just south of the Manette Bridge. Each case left the authorities puzzled. Were these the final acts of individuals lost to despair, or were they meticulously staged murders? Two inexplicable deaths, two years apart, the cases colder than the waters where the bodies were found.

Peyton Collier is unhappy in her life. She's watched as her sisters found their mates and dreams of the day it will finally happen to her. But when she meets Oliver, the swoon-worthy bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks, all she can do is faint, then crawl in a hole to die of embarrassment.

This year brings 22 more in-your-face stories that break boundaries and trash taboos, transgressive tales you can't "unread" (as Chuck Palahniuk says). Some of the stories you'll find here are loaded with very graphic descriptions of violence, sex, and depravities, while others may contain only one shocking moment of brutality. In others, the hardcore aspect may be less graphic and subtler than you might expect. Some of these quieter tales offer the listener some time to recover from the more disturbing ones preceding.

P.I. Wyatt Thomas is more than a French Quarter sleuth. Much more. Whenever a new client needs someone to investigate ghosts, possession, or the paranormal and supernatural backside of New Orleans, Wyatt is the person they call. Someone is killing New Orleans street people, and it is affecting the tourist trade in the venerable old city trying to recover from Hurricane Katrina. More than murder, voodoo is involved, the killer possibly an actual Vodoun deity.

Poor Ezra was about to have a very bad accident. One that would leave him trapped where he might never be found. Trapped with Virgil, who was not a very nice dummy. Virgil, who was about to make this blood-soaked nightmare so much worse....

When the mutilated body of a young woman is discovered in the desert on the outskirts of Los Angeles, the detective assigned to the case can't deny the similarities between this murder and one that occurred a year prior. Media outlets are quick to surmise this is the work of a budding serial killer, but Detective Bill Renney is struggling with an altogether different scenario: a secret that keeps him tethered to the husband of the first victim.

After a near-death experience caused by the park's star haunted attraction, Ben has come to Ghostland seeking to reconnect with his former best friend Lilian, whose post-traumatic stress won't let her live life to the fullest. She's come at the insistence of her therapist, Dr. Allison Wexler, who tags along out of professional curiosity, eager to study the new tech's psychological effect on the user. But when a computer virus sets the ghosts free and the park goes into lockdown, the trio find themselves trapped in an endless nightmare.

In a post-nuclear Eastern Europe, Hammel E Varka departs for a remote island to join a survey team cataloguing the abandoned Gollitok prison in the hopes that he will redeem his family's tarnished reputation. After the passage across the strait leaves a team member injured, Varka quickly realizes that this survey is far from routine and that what he thought he knew about the island was a cover for more horrifying truths. As his team presses deeper into the decaying facility, hidden agendas splinter the team, and they find themselves beset with dangers beyond their worst nightmares.

Jenna Lockhardt has always been the perfect daughter. Being a princess means making sacrifices. Her responsibilities are clear. Keep the Royal lineage pure. Her future is set. She must take a compatible black panther as a mate. But a moment of rebellion has her transferring across the country to attend Archibald Reynolds College. Chase Westin always knew he'd find his one true mate.... someday. He never expected that someday to be now. When he returns to college, it's the last thing on his mind but the arrival of an exotic beauty stuns him. She captivates him. She drives him insane.

My name is Marek, and I hunt monsters for gold. But now, with the help of a magic beacon, I'm seeking those who are tainted. The impure. Abominations. Monster girls. But not to kill. They need my help. All kinds of help. I'm more than happy to provide it, to do all I can to keep them safe from the real monsters that exist in the world.

Joran Den Cade and The Iron Princess, Alexandra Tiberius race to the capital before it’s too late. But little do they realize just how big a threat is waiting. The cult of The One True God is lurking in every shadow and they only want one thing, the destruction of the Tiberian Empire.

Everyone in Yaz's village has vanished. The only clue, a strange golden coin marked with mysterious runes. Can Yaz and his friends figure out what the coin means before it's too late? And what are the sinister Dark Sages up to in the northwest? It can't be anything good for our heroes. It's a race against time to rescue the missing villagers.

Liam Westin has carried a secret crush on his twin sister's best friend for most of his life. When she goes missing and is presumed dead as a teen, it nearly destroys him. Now the newest and youngest CEO of the Westin Foundation, his life is finally on track, until he comes face to face with the woman he's always loved. She has a lot of secrets and isn't the same as he remembers. Can his love mend her wounds? Or are there too many obstacles between them now?

Ryan Davenport is Mayor of Ravenden. He's a type A personality who likes things neat and orderly. He runs a tight ship and will do whatever it takes to keep Ravenden and those he cares about safe. But Gracie Montgomery doesn't make that easy. She's a carefree spirit with a death wish because she knows she can't die, at least not by fire. A rare fire witch known as the phoenix means fire can never really hurt her. This makes her reckless and wild, a danger to those around her.

The Art of Finding Flow provides a masterclass on getting into a flow state at will. Each step is accompanied by a specially designed exercise to help you develop this amazing ability at their own pace.

In today's world, men are more involved in their wives' pregnancies than ever before. This 2nd Edition of Dad's Guide to Pregnancy for Dummies gives new fathers a hands-on guide that covers all of the logistical, physical, and emotional aspects of pregnancy. It is a wealth of information on topics, such as setting up the nursery, childbirth 101, and how to take care of your newborn. The book includes ideas for knowing the right time to break the news and the pregnancy timeline.

Rachel Blackburn is back, and she’s more powerful–and terrifying–than ever. She’s now one of the Lightbringers, an ancient race of cosmic beings dedicated to “saving” the Omniverse from the ravenous Gyre by absorbing it into themselves piece by piece. But Rachel doesn’t give a damn about the Lightbringers’ mission. She intends to use her new powers to get revenge on the two Maintenance agents who stopped her from activating the Atrocity Engine–Neal Hudson and Gina Sandoval. And when she’s finished with them, she’s going to destroy Brother Nothing and the entire Multitude.

Gage Matthews is a self-proclaimed lone wolf, traveling the country and living life on his own terms. He carries the burden of a dark past and many secrets, trying hard to never look back. He prides himself on being free, until he's not. Running through the desert in his fur brings his life to a crashing halt when he finds himself picked up by a group of humans. Broken, beaten, starving, he prays for a quick and easy passing, rejoicing when the angel of death descends upon him. But she's no angel....