Showing results by narrator "Xenia Willacey" in All Categories

Against a backdrop of ongoing resistance to racial desegregation and strident calls for Black Power, the NBA in the 1970s embodied the nation’s imagined descent into disorder. A new generation of Black players entered the league then, among them Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Spencer Haywood, and the press and public were quick to blame this cohort for the supposed decline of pro basketball, citing drugs, violence, and greed.

I’m at the pinnacle of my career, and I don't have time for games. Not even training matches between the MMA fighters at my family’s famous gym. But when my brother’s enemy wipes the floor with him, I want no part of it. It’s just a game. Until the muscular god, with intense dark eyes, makes me his enemy, too. I’m ashamed to admit, it’s gotten dirty between Jhang and I.

I never saw Noah Weston coming. He swept into my life like an unexpected storm, but soon, he was everything to me. Until tragedy struck. One day, I was planning the rest of my life with my soulmate, and the next, I was picking up the pieces of a love so strong, it broke me apart. It took three years to put myself back together.

There are many rules to follow as your mom’s guest at the company holiday party.

The Urban Promise Prep School vows to turn boys into men. As students, J.B., Ramón, and Trey are forced to follow the prestigious "program's" strict rules. Extreme discipline, they’ve been told, is what it takes to be college bound, to avoid the fates of many men in their neighborhoods. This, the Principal Moore Method, supposedly saves lives. But when Moore ends up murdered and the cops come sniffing around, the trio emerges as the case's prime suspects.

Vampires had taken everything from Quinn Hogan during the war. She had spent her entire life hiding from them. The last thing Quinn wanted in life was to be matched to one. Each human was required by law to enter the draft. Her name was randomly picked for submitting her blood sample. Then Quinn matched with a vampire. Now she was being shipped off to some random vampire who would probably bleed her dry. As the warden of Northwest America, there was no time for Velika Riskel to take a mate. One look into Quinn's hazel eyes and all of that changed.

17-year-old Raven Jamison, and her three best friends, Nia, Jasmine, and Trinity, make up The Brown Girls Club. The girls spend long and carefree days in their bayou town of Lake Lacroix, nestled behind the big city of New Orleans. Hey, Brown Girl is a compelling and thought-provoking young adult novel about struggle, forgiveness and hope. When this Melanin rich family finds strength in their shared bonds, it’s undeniable proof… love conquers all.

The first ever drama series filled with more sex, drama, scandals, and shocking twists that will have you on the edge of your seat. Leading ladies Brianna and Natalie are the best of friends. Both deal with similar issues and they both desire a man who isn’t theirs. Fighting to win in and out of the court room, these rising lawyers are in it to win it.

Journey with children, fae creatures, and gods alike as they navigate the joy of friendship, the struggles of finding identity, and the unclear pathways of strange new worlds. From best sellers to rising voices, 11 terrifically talented authors explore the many faces of whimsy and wonder, mischief and misdoings.

By 2025, an estimated 70 percent of the workforce will work remotely at least five days each month. In The Virtual Leader, Takako Hirata, an experienced leader of large international virtual teams, shares her proven methods for thriving in the remote workplace with the help of new leadership principles.

Susan Livingston is back in her hometown with one thing on her mind: She wants to get back together with her old boyfriend, multibillionaire cowboy Spencer Reagan! But there’s just one “small” problem. Spencer doesn’t want anything to do with her, except to be his mistress! Susan had broken Spencer’s heart in the past. And he is reluctant to have the genteel African American beauty back in his life.

Billionaire Damien has always dreamed of being a father.... But after his long-term partner cheats on him, all his dreams suddenly disappear! Amber is feeling the exact same sentiment, although only in regards to her soul-crushing debt. And surrogacy might be the only answer to her financial woes! She agrees to bear Damien’s child in exchange for more money than she could ever imagine. The plan was to keep it all business and not to over complicate things. But they never expected to be attracted to each other!

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The Urban Promise Prep School vows to turn boys into men. As students, J.B., Ramón, and Trey are forced to follow the prestigious ""program's"" strict rules. Extreme discipline, they’ve been told, is what it takes to be college bound, to avoid the fates of many men in their neighborhoods. This, the Principal Moore Method, supposedly saves lives. But when Moore ends up murdered and the cops come sniffing around, the trio emerges as the case's prime suspects. With all three maintaining their innocence, they must band together to track down the real killer before they are arrested.

Chareese “Reese” Devlin spent every summer of her childhood in the lake town of Mount Dora, Florida. Reese never realized that the idyllic haven hid a deep divide between the town’s haves and have-nots. Not until the summer she turned seventeen and fell for Duncan McNeal, a boy who lacked the pedigree so valued by her parents and their friends. After her family squashed the budding romance, Reese refused to return to the place she lost her heart. Now, ten years later, she’s back to attend her sister’s debutante ball and must come to terms with all she’s missed.

Beauty for Ashes: Life Lessons in Verse is a redemptive journey told in three parts; the pain of trauma, the struggle to heal, and the beauty of overcoming. With more than 50 captivating poems, you’re sure to find several that will inspire you to push past your pain and seek healing for yourself. Written with raw emotion and told with a biblical slant, these are poems about real-life women who found the courage to keep going. Get lost with them in their ashes, struggle with them through their in-between, and come out on the other side of their beauty.

"The girls are worried about Lauren. She’s saying things that are scaring them.” These two text messages from my best friends began a chain of events that led to us being blindsided by suicide. Our 14-year-old daughter made her attempt at ending her life in our bedroom and succumbed to her injuries seven hours later. My bright, beautiful, talented, brave, funny, and serious daughter was gone. No one saw it coming.

Katherine Itacy was born deformed and, by the age of four, had developed both a dangerous spinal disorder and an incurable disease. Yet, 13 years later, she'd amassed five state and eight national high school championship titles in track and field. She went on to compete in the Division I NCAA Championships and, later, to graduate fourth in her law school class. By 25, she was operating her own law firm and by 29 was serving on three boards of directors for civil rights and criminal justice nonprofit organizations.

While scouting a location site on the Golden Gate Bridge, stunt double Darcy Lott sees a woman about to jump. The woman fights, but Darcy manages to pull her back. Before disappearing, the woman tells Darcy that by Thanksgiving she’ll be dead. Darcy has four days to find her and keep her from killing herself, but she has no idea who she is. Darcy tracks her to a dodgy San Francisco neighborhood, where she uncovers more perplexing facts.

Layla spent the first eight years of her life in a loving home with her grandparents. That comfort all ended once welfare caught up with her mother, who was still receiving food benefits for her. After moving to her mother's home, the dysfunctional relationships continued for years. Layla was abused emotionally, physically, and sexually. She looked to her mother for love and protection, but never found it. Layla sought to take her power back from all those that had taken advantage of her. This story will inspire you to look within for the strength to push forward.

With her marriage failing, Isabelle meets a Nicaraguan man online. Silencing her own intuition, she falls into the arms of hope, weaving for herself a new reality, one that puts her life and that of her daughter’s at risk. Set primarily in New England, this is the story of a woman’s struggle to seek stability where none can be found. It is the story of a woman’s desperate need to surrender and escape, whatever the price.