Showing results by narrator "Chris Ruen" in All Categories

Bill, an IT manager at Parts Unlimited, has been tasked with taking on a project critical to the future of the business, code named Phoenix Project. But the project is massively over budget and behind schedule. The CEO demands Bill must fix the mess in 90 days, or else Bill’s entire department will be outsourced. With the help of a prospective board member and his mysterious philosophy of the Three Ways, Bill starts to see that IT work has more in common with manufacturing plant work than he ever imagined.

On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, Michael Benfante went to work, just like he had day after day, at his office on 81st floor in the World Trade Center North Tower. Moments after the first plane struck, just 12 floors above him, Benfante organized his terrified employees, getting them out of the office and moving down the stairwells. On his way down, he and another co-worker encountered a woman in a wheelchair on the 68th floor.

Danika hasn't had an easy life. Being insanely attracted to bad boys has never helped make it easier. One look at Tristan, and every brain cell she possessed went up in smoke. This man was trouble with a capital T. It was a given. She knew better. Bad boys were bad. Especially for her. Considering her history, it was crazy to think otherwise.

On Chaco Rez, keeping the balance between life and death is sacred—and darkness never sleeps for long. Years after her fight with Black Bear, Kai senses something is wrong. Children are vanishing without a trace, and whispers move through the canyons of a whistling man and his devil dog—shadows that refuse to stay buried. At her side is Chaco, a crow who can fly between worlds, bound to protect Kai and the power she carries. But when something from his past returns, he’s forced to confront memories he thought were buried forever.

Over six years after the night that changed everything, Danika finds herself forced to spend the weekend constantly in Tristan’s company, as they attend the wedding of two of their dearest friends. It’s been long enough that she feels they can be friendly again without it destroying her peace of mind, but just a small amount of time in his presence has her remembering something she had forced herself to forget: There’d been a reason she’d gone through hell with this man, for this man, some true good to precede the bad.

Now Emmaline Carson has settled into her career as a graphic designer, though she'd rather be painting or shopping with her sister Layla. But then - in the years before she went to art school in Paris - she was a shy, awkward teenager with frizzy hair, a flat chest, and a massive crush on the boy across the street, Cole Marlowe. Too bad her incredibly hot neighbor only had eyes for Layla.

I fell in love with Carter James Callahan’s smart-mouthed smirk long before it was labeled “The Sexiest Smile in Hollywood.” I also fell for his broad, muscular shoulders, his impossibly blue eyes, his… Nope! Not going there anymore. Because while Carter may frequent my dreams every night, I will only ever frequent his friend zone, which is why I’m on an official mission to rid myself of my pesky feelings for him. I’m gonna put myself out there, start dating, and stop hopelessly crushing on my best friend. Deep down, I know this is for the best.

Their love had the power of a runaway freight train, and the potential to be just as destructive. The tempestuous sequel to Bad Things picks up where the first book left off. Reeling from a profound loss, Tristan and Danika struggle to pick up the pieces and build a life together, but the hard habits of a lifetime are not so easy to escape. Rock Bottom takes us on a dual point of view journey through addiction and desire, through love and agony, and answers the question we've been asking since these characters were introduced in Grounded.

Seventeen-year-old Ashlyn Lanski is tired of her boring, single life. Swimming and spending time with Tatiana, her best friend, are her only sanctuary. The girls plan to leave their drab lakeside town far behind for college, and Ash hopes to finally ditch her longtime crush for Finley, Tatiana's twin brother. But when Tatiana and her family fail to return home after a family emergency, Ashlyn chooses to do something drastic to find them

While recovering from a heart transplant, Nadia Carmichael is haunted by a recurring dream that sets her on a path to discover the identity of her donor. Her efforts are thwarted, however, when the father of her baby returns to wreak havoc on her life. It's not until Nadia learns of his estranged brother Jesse that she begins to explore the true nature of her dreams, and discover what her new heart truly desires.

Seventeen-year-old Ashlyn Lanski is tired of her boring, single life. Swimming and spending time with Tatiana, her best friend, are her only sanctuary. The girls plan to leave their drab lakeside town far behind for college, and Ash hopes to finally ditch her longtime crush for Finley, Tatiana's twin brother. But when Tatiana and her family fail to return home after a family emergency, Ashlyn chooses to do something drastic to find them.

"There are no unsacred places," the poet Wendell Berry has written. "There are only sacred places and desecrated places." What might it mean to behold the world with such depth and feeling that it is no longer possible to imagine it as something separate from ourselves, or to live without regard for its well-being? To understand the work of seeing things as an utterly involving moral and spiritual act? Such questions have long occupied the center of contemplative spiritual traditions.

When circumstance brings Kate and Ryke together, they discover they don't have to hurt alone. Bound by a grief that haunts them both, they must rely on one another to survive heartbreak. But that grief is more powerful than they realize, and the tie that binds them together may ultimately tear them apart.

Ash and Fin's only desire is to be together and dive into their happily ever after, though their conflicting worlds work to pull them apart. Neither is ready to convert to the other's life: Become a human or a mer. Little do they know that somewhere in Natatoria a secret holds the fine fabric of everyone's lives together. If the truth is discovered, Ash and Fin will no longer have the luxury of waiting. They'll be forced to choose. But will it be for loyalty or love? Or will someone else make the choice for them if they can't decide?

Internet piracy: It’s an eternal battle pitting indies versus corporations, free spirits against the money-grubbing Scrooge McDucks of the world. Right? Sort of, sometimes - maybe not. Freeloading takes a critical, cool look at a near-pervasive phenomenon that involves almost everyone who taps a keyboard: Beyond that, it's a reminder of the truism that for every action there are consequences. What happens when we pirate a favorite work of art - a song, book, or movie? And as importantly: What, if anything, can or should be done about it?

Eli Sabatino, determined to make a name for himself amid Seaside, New Jersey's nightlife, has laid out the perfect plan for success. But that plan didn't include Layla, the hopeful bartender who walked in for an interview. He knows that as an employee this alluring blonde is off-limits, but he can't fight the undeniable force of attraction that pulls him toward her. Layla Del Luca has the weight of the world on her shoulders. With a full course load, a boyfriend, a sister to take care of, and an alcoholic mother, she needs to regain control of her life.

One bad hit has left the career of young NHL center Luke Hudson in question. When he arrives for rehab with a minor league team, his injury has robbed him of the edge that made him great. Team trainer Adella Price's job is to help Luke get back in peak condition. But their one on one sessions shake her resolve to remain unattached. Dell is hands-off to all hockey players, even one as charming and successful as Luke.

Two years ago, Jason and Kate Ryker were brought together by grief and bound to one another by love. Now married, they're confronting their fears together. But heartbreak finds them again, and the ties that bind Kate and Ryke are tested as she struggles against fear and sadness. As a grief counselor, Kate understands all too well the pain of her clients. And while her husband's career as an NHL forward is at an all-time high, he's coping with the frustration of feeling powerless as his wife's hopes slip away.

Once again, 26-year-old Layla Carson has the attention of a man eager to satisfy her. Ben Montrose, the hot, confident cop who gets off on frustrating her, is eager to show her just how arresting he can be. But as a reforming sexaholic, Layla's sworn off casual hookups and doesn't miss the days of her early 20s - much. Ben's caught off guard when the sexy, outspoken attorney turns him on and then turns him down. But the confident former marine knows he can handle the simple seduction of a beautiful woman.

For five years, Abby has gone to sleep wondering about the family she never knew and waiting for her eighteenth birthday. But when her birthday finally comes, she hesitates. What if her birth parents want nothing to do with her?But just one month after her birthday, Abby and her adoptive parents have a disagreement that sends her searching for the birth parents she never knew.