Showing results by narrator "R. Smith" in All Categories

When Reed Mattox and his K-9 partner, Billie, received a direct summons to the personal residence of Governor Thomas Cowan, he assumed it was another escalation over the particulars of their new position as liaisons between the Columbus Police Department and the state Bureau of Criminal Investigations.

When her husband dies, Charlotte can’t face the things she’s done that could tear her family apart. Especially when her mama leaves her to grieve alone. So she drops a goodbye letter in the cookie jar and flees south to escape everything—her life, her three daughters, the mistakes she’s made, and the secrets eating her alive.

This collection of 11 stories spans virtually the whole of Tolstoy's creative life. While each is unique in form, as a group they are representative of his style, and touch on the central themes that surface in War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Stories as different as "The Snowstorm", "Lucerne", "The Diary of a Madman", and "The Devil" are grounded in autobiographical experience. They deal with journeys of self-discovery and the moral and religious thought that characterizes Tolstoy's works of criticism and philosophy.

My best friend roped me into baking for her stepson’s wedding. I had just moved into town and I couldn’t exactly turn that kind of money down. But getting drunk enough to sleep with that tall, dark blond wedding guest? That was all on me. I should have known he’d leave without a word or even a proper introduction. But that wasn’t the last I saw of him. Kiefer just turned out to be my brand-new neighbor.

It started as a quiet night, a much needed reprieve for the overworked team of Detective Reed Mattox and his K-9 partner, Billie. With just a single phone call from dispatch, both are plunged into a nightmare they could have never imagined. Somewhere in the greater Columbus area, a young 20-something is sealed away inside a coffin. With no recollection of how she got there or who might have put her there, she is desperate.

Six weeks prior, on the heels of the most hellish case he could ever remember, Detective Reed Mattox and his K-9 partner, Billie, were placed on administrative leave from the Columbus Police Department. Fearful of what the media might say, the brass decided to put them at arm’s length, allowing the aftermath of that fateful night to settle. Not used to being placed on the sidelines, and no good at sitting still for long, the decision was made to travel west to his native Oklahoma and help his parents begin the long process of unpacking their new home.

In this Pocket Guide to Postmodernism, author Andrew Colgan, PhD, explores the fundamental premises and ideas of postmodernism by summarizing and interpreting Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault by Stephen Hicks, PhD. In his discussion of the philosophical foundations of this intellectual movement, Colgan presents a concise guide into the views of one of the most influential schools of the 20th century and its real-life consequences.

Homecoming is a steamy BDSM romance. Lucas Hudson has six weeks remaining before leaving his small town for college, but first, he must adjust to the return of his new stepbrother, Dane Bolton, from the Marine Corps. Although initially reluctant about the return of the local hero and former football jock, who had been three years ahead of him in high school, Lucas develops an instant crush on his new roommate.

The time of the rising is nigh! Following the Silver Monarch’s preemptive strike, the land has no choice but to come together if they are ever to be free from the tyranny. With her newly United friends, the prophesied elf maiden endeavors to recruit the Human and Elven Kingdoms and bring all the races together for the ultimate confrontation with the ruthless dragons. Unfortunately, with Aeris aware of the elf maiden’s plans, the Silver Monarch aims to strike them down before they ever get that chance.

For the past two months, Detective Reed Mattox and his K-9 partner Billie were in limbo. Victims of their own success, they were plucked from their posts on the graveyard shift at the Eighth Precinct and thrust into a newly created role working with the governor’s office when a young woman is shot down outside her front door. Immediately written off by some in the small town as nothing more than a tragic hunting accident; closer examination proves it to not just be a murder, but an execution.

Broken and shattered after her confrontation with the Great Silver Monarch Dragon, the young elf maiden is forced to put the pieces of herself back together. Realizing that healing the land of Onis will require a much greater effort than facing one dragon, the friends must devise a plan to strengthen their efforts and recruit whomever they can to join their cause.

In the peace following the Great Mage Hunt, the king's long-time mistress is revealed as a sorceress. Locked away for the safety of the kingdom, bounties are placed upon the heads of the seven children she birthed. Mage hunters have scoured the kingdom for four years, searching for the seven scattered mage-born bastards.

This essay discusses the essentials of Rand's ethics and its crucial relevance to America's intellectual, moral, and political crisis. There are overtones applicable to America. It serves as an excellent commentary on the historical and cultural significance of her ethics and the view of man as a moral ideal.

A human on the run, making her way through the expanse of space - Faith’s only goal is survival. She’s willing to do whatever’s necessary to stay alive, even if that means stealing the ship of the only alien who’s shown her kindness since her abduction. Rylan Graz Bregen’s life changes when he looks into those deep green eyes - he’s love struck. But when the woman of his dreams vanishes in the night...and takes his ship with her, he thinks he’s been played for a fool....

Roughly a month after going head-to-head with the copycat killer who had singled Detective Reed Mattox and his K-9 partner Billie out in an attempt to capitalize on their recent success, the duo is still reeling. Faced with uncertainty over where they are and what they are doing for the first time since partnering together years before, they retreat home to Oklahoma for the holidays to regroup.

Professor Andrea Diem-Lane, PhD, provides an in-depth analysis and summary of 10 key books on the religion of Jainism, providing the listener with a deeper grasp of this ancient Indian religion and its compassionate practice of ahimsa, or nonviolence. Serves as a general introduction to the Jain religion.

A girl walks home from school. She's tall for her age. She's wearing her winter coat. Her headphones are in. She's hurrying. She never makes it home. In the aftermath, while law enforcement tries to justify the response, one fact remains: A police officer has shot and killed an unarmed 13-year-old girl. The community is thrown into upheaval, leading to unrest, a growing movement to protest the senseless taking of black lives, and the arrival of white supremacist counter-demonstrators.

This book was written for people who struggle with being themselves and always try to please other people, to the exclusion of the one person that really matters: you. Too often you focus on the needs of others and fail to ensure your own needs are met. Do you even make yourself a priority? Do you even acknowledge that you have needs? This book should help you realize the things that you have been doing that benefit everyone except you. Your goal in life is to be the best version of yourself that you possibly can be, and you cannot do that by pleasing everyone except yourself.

Real love was all they ever wanted. A man who would protect and not hurt them. Someone loyal who would always put them first. In Giannis and Rio, cousins Dakota and Breelyn have found that and so much more. The ladies have discovered that not all men are the same, and that when you least expect it, the love of the right one can resuscitate a deceased heart, giving it new life. Sadly, just as their lives seem to be moving in the right direction, tragedy strikes, and for one of the women, the happily ever after that they've always dreamed of is snatched away without warning.

As the bassist for the band Caged, the last three years have been one, long non-stop party. Sure, I've had some regrets. Everyone does. But getting trapped in a relationship isn't one of them. I know good and well what happens when the attraction fades. I've seen it firsthand. Love is a zero sum game, so why play? As long as I'm upfront about my feelings, no one gets hurt. Besides, I'm never in one place long enough to worry about tomorrow. That is, until the band decided to take an extended hiatus in our hometown. That's when I met Melody Sullivan.