Showing results by narrator "Erik Bloomquist" in All Categories

They don't call me Belinda Boring for nothing. It's my name, after all. And for a 23-year-old with plain brown hair who still lives at home and gets tongue tied over nothing, it's a fitting one. I'm not even one of those quiet girls with a hidden talent, unless making a mean order of nachos at the NHL arena I work at counts. My life consists of working, reading, and harboring a secret crush on a hockey player who doesn't know I exist. At least, until we accidentally meet and become unlikely friends.

Twenty-one-year-old Vancouver student Elisa Lam was last heard from on January 31, 2013, after she checked into downtown LA's Cecil Hotel - a 600-room building with a nine-decade history of scandal and tragedy. The next day, Elisa vanished. A search of the hotel yielded nothing. More than a week later, complaints by guests of foul-smelling tap water led to a grim discovery: Elisa's nude body floating in a rooftop water tank, in an area extremely difficult to access without setting off alarms.

It's all fun and games to them - especially when someone gets hurt. One god of mischief and mayhem. One god of fur and fang. And the god of death himself. They've all been out to get me since the school year began, but this semester, the Rabbit's got some tricks up her sleeve. It's time to take these three vicious gods down a peg, or 10, and there's no better route to revenge than directly through the heart.

Aramin Decourcey - Min to his few friends - might be the best thief in Amberwich, and he might have a secret that helps him survive the cutthroat world of aristocratic families and their powerful magic users, but he does have one weakness: his affection for his adopted nephew, Harry. When the formidable Sabadine family curses Harry, Min must accept a suicide mission to save his life: retrieve Kazimir Stone, a low-level Sabadine hedgewitch who refuses to come home after completing his apprenticeship...and who is in Anhaga.

My first operation in the field, the marriage is a cover. Damian Fisher is a CIA legend with a shaggy beard, chocolate curls, and deep blue eyes. As a teen, my girlfriends swooned in his presence. I never expected to work with him as an equal. I'd bet he never expected it either. But my overprotective father is a powerful man and I wouldn't put it past him to pull a stunt like this to protect his baby girl. Requesting my old bodyguard and his close friend to work by my side is right down Daddy Dearest's alley.

Faith Brooks thinks of the academy as a new beginning. It's a way for her to put a traumatic event behind her and create a new life for herself. One where she understands her wolf as much as her vampire. And, one where she doesn't repeat past mistakes by falling for a guy who's unable to love. Too bad the academy doesn't teach students to tame their wild hearts as well as their wolves. Axel Stone is a rough-around-the-edges, tattooed, bad boy. His fists are his only way at maintaining his sanity, but he's ready to learn more control over his demons.

I knew who was meant to be mine as soon as I was old enough to understand what the definition of "want" was. Some would say it is an obsession. They may even whisper that I am . . . crazy. But when I set my mind on something, I don't stop until I have it. And what I want is him. Elias Reid. No one knows how twisted my mind has turned for him. How tangled up my heart has gotten over the older, sexy biker.

He calls me his heart. Tells me the only reason he closes his eyes at night is so he can see me in his dreams. Our months apart are torture for both of us, but at least I get to hear his voice every day. Each summer, he's all mine. Every minute he can spare, I'm right beside him, and our families just smile knowingly. Ryan has responsibilities, though. One day, my mafioso prince will be the king. And I will be his queen . . .

Sure, I'm bored out of my mind at times—boring job, boring dates . . . boring life. But I'm over Nolan Krenshaw. At least . . . I've tried to move on and get over him. When Nolan's career is suddenly on the line, I'm the one he turns to. I tell myself the only reason I'm helping him is so I can officially put him behind me. Of course, it's a lie. He was all I ever wanted, until he broke my heart. This time, I'm not stupid enough to believe that he would ever put me first.

Jack Sullivan is a man of few words. His cold emotionless countenance shields any glimpse of the human being within. If he didn't hire me to help his daughter, I'd suspect the man sold his soul for success. He's classically handsome. Confident. Scratch that. He's one cocky mo-fo. Admittedly, I don't have the best track record at picking decent guys, but I'm pretty positive this brooding billionaire with a massive ego is one flashing red warning light.

June Mabee is a lot of things. She's the girl next door. She's the best friend I ever had. She was my first kiss. And she's the last person I should have feelings for. Two years ago, I cut all ties with her because I had no choice. No more late-night phone calls, no hellos or goodbyes, not even a passing smile. I left her to wonder what happened to the us we used to be. We were best friends, and then suddenly . . . we weren't. And I know it hurt. But the truth would have hurt her more, and being anything with June would have destroyed my family.

Destroy the Vitucci family from the inside out. Break them as they had broken our great-grandmother. That was the plan. Then I set eyes on Ciana Donati. The moment she appeared before me, everything changed. Sheena might think that I was her loyal soldier, but I was the one she should fear.

Gloria Mayor, better known as Glow, is on a deadline. If she can't tap into her magic soon, she'll be kicked out of Lunar Academy. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and in this case, that means accepting help from the talented and sexy Lionel...Lionel Daniels is being punished for the actions of his father, a man he barely knows. When finds himself on magical probation, he chooses to focus his attention on helping Glow tap into hers. So what if he jumped on the opportunity because he wanted a way to get closer to her?

Mind Tools for Managers helps new and experienced leaders develop the skills they need to be more effective in everything they do. It brings together the 100 most important leadership skills - as voted for by 15,000 managers and professionals worldwide - into a single volume, providing an easy-access solutions manual for people wanting to be the best manager they can be. Each chapter details a related group of skills, plus the tools you need to put ideas into practice.

Everyone loves Willow Lancaster, and every girl wants to be her. She's the perfect student. Stylish, kind to all, and always flashing that beautiful smile. After spending her junior year studying in Europe, she returns to Lancaster Prep, eager to kick off being a senior with her friends and maybe even start something up with her old crush? But everything has changed. Her supposed best friend is dating her crush, new cliques have formed, and everyone is obsessed with the new guy on campus.

Sometimes, beauty covers a whole lot of ugly. That was one of the many valuable lessons I learned the summer I lived in Creswell Springs with the Angel's Halo MC. They taught me about responsibility and respect—not just for others, but, more importantly, for myself. I liked to think I came home a better person. Someone who wasn't just pretty on the outside anymore. And then I met Zak. Golden eyes. Chiseled jaw. That deep, gravelly voice mixed with a slight Russian accent that did something to me no man ever had before.

It was one night trapped with a hockey god due to a hurricane. We shared one bed too. I also ignored the little fact that Vaughn has always been my brother's rival on the ice. And when the storm cleared, so did Vaughn. Months later, he shows up in my hospital room in Lake Spark where it only takes one look at me and the man is counting back in his head, or maybe it's my face that explains it all. He's going to be a dad. And I didn't tell him.

Written by Wall Street Journal best-selling author S. J. Scott, Happier Human provides a detailed examination of the strategies and ideas that actually make people happy. Each idea is supported by a wealth of research into why it works. Plus, it also includes a simple action plan for turning these ideas into permanent habits that people can incorporate into their busy lives.

Time is the ultimate scarce resource and thus quintessentially a topic for economics, which studies scarcity. Starting with the observation that time is increasingly valuable given competing demands as we have more things we can buy and do, Spending Time provides engaging insights into how people use their time and what determines their decisions about spending their time.

It started as a stupid, desperate plan. Fake the baby bump. Claim my sister's secret love child as mine. Lie to everyone, including the most dangerous man in Vegas. Then my sister disappeared. Her forbidden lover and his wife got blown to bits in a car bomb. And I bankrupted myself trying to find her. That's when he found me.