Showing results by narrator "Joe Hempel" in All Categories

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.

Kelsey Adams is alone, and has been since childhood. Running away is all she knows and necessary to preserve her deepest, darkest secret. She cannot afford for anyone to get close, or know about the monster within. But when she lands a lucrative job as an administrative assistant to Kyle Westin, CEO of the Westin Foundation, her life changes and everything's at stake. Can she conceal her growing feelings and her true self from this enigmatic, strong willed man, or will her world fall apart?

For nearly two decades, Jamie Warren has been running from darkness. He's haunted by a traumatic childhood and the guilt at having disappeared from his disabled brother's life. But then a series of unusual events reunites him with his estranged brother and their childhood friends, and none of them can deny the sense of fate that has seemingly drawn them back together. Nor can they deny the memories of that summer, so long ago—the strange magic taught to them by an even stranger man, and the terrible act that has followed them all into adulthood.

When the matriarch of a rich Seattle family dies under suspicious circumstances, private investigator Thomas Austin is on the case. This time, the suspect list is easy.

Aaron Decker's life changes one December morning when his wife, Allison, is killed. Haunted by her absence - and her ghost - Aaron goes through her belongings, where he finds a receipt for a motel room in another part of the country. Piloted by grief and an increasing sense of curiosity, Aaron embarks on a journey to discover what Allison had been doing in the weeks prior to her death.

On Memorial Day, 1992, three decorated navy officers disappeared in the sleepy beach town of Hansville, Washington. Thirty years later, their medals were found in the marshlands of Foulweather Bluff. So were their bones. For private investigator Thomas Austin, this case hits close to home. The son of a JAG lawyer, Austin grew up around the navy. To solve the case, he must piece together clues buried in the marshlands and dark secrets hidden in navy history.

Kaiju: Battlefield Surgeon. Survival horror. One of the most brutal, most terrifying full-immersion games ever made. A place where fantasy characters such as elves and dwarves clash with technology, where giant monsters roam the hills, entrusted with protecting the gates of heaven from the demons who would tear it all down. A game where one plays the last of the battlefield surgeons: a healer tasked with keeping the behemoths alive at all costs. But on this server, they don't care about the game. They've come because of the game's most unique feature: full pain.

The moment everything changed didn't happen in that cliche rockets-red-glare kind of way, it happened in the form of a waking nightmare. I caught my husband, my high-school sweetheart, the father of my children, balls deep in a sordid affair. That was when I gave up on men and love. I didn't count on the NHL's golden boy, the beautiful, arrogant Cooper Stone, turning my life and my hockey rink upside down. We're from different worlds and places in our lives, but when our hearts collided, something so wrong and different turned into something so right.

Thomas Austin was once a prominent NYPD detective, known for locking up a psychopathic serial killer dubbed "The Holiday Baby Butcher". Now retired in a small beach town in the Pacific Northwest, Austin runs a little café, trying to overcome the loss of his wife, a DA who was gunned down only one year ago.

My life was on track. The plan? Finish my MBA. Get out of the hotel. Finally date James, my manager. With only three months left, everything was set. Then he walked in. What I thought was just a difficult guest toppled my life in ways for which I didn't plan. He was an asshole, demanding, and more alluring than should be legal. I had a path. He destroyed it. What now?

Karis Begay is the only surviving heir to the Begay wolves of the Alaskan Pack. Someday she will take her place as Pack Mother, which is a lifelong burden she has always carried with pride. It kept her isolated from others and hesitant to let anyone close to her. As she enters her freshman year at Archibald Reynolds College, no one knows who she is or who she is destined to become. It's a chance at a fresh start, and just maybe...the beginning of something new.

The statues disappeared in an instant. While they were on Earth, they caused confusion and destruction without ever lifting a finger. They also contributed to the untimely death of April May: a young woman who stumbled into their path, naming them the Carls and gaining viral fame in an avalanche of conspiracy theories. When April's friends try to carry on with their lives, a series of clues arrive - mysterious books that seem to predict the future - and which also seem to suggest April may be very much alive...But there's a bigger mystery to solve.

Our ravens still haven't met, but in my heart, I already know she's meant to be mine. Stubbornly, she refuses to let that happen. She claims it won't matter anyway because our families would never allow it. We come from separate classes, but this is the twenty-first century, and I don't care. The road won't be easy, but if she is truly my one true mate, nothing will stop me from claiming her.

Stop enabling, people pleasing, and being so agreeable. The Art of Everyday Assertiveness is a guide for the chronically nice, overwhelmed, and accommodating. It is a deep psychological dive into what makes us lack assertiveness and how to systematically combat those compulsions.

Across the Pacific Northwest, a twisted killer stalks victims representing ancient archetypes: The Ruler. The Warrior. The Scholar. The Priest. Four are dead, leaving FBI investigators puzzled by the macabre, color-coded shrines the killer left behind. And clues now point to a fifth victim.

Only 1 percent of the population is blessed with magic affinity at birth. Fewer still have high enough affinities to rule. Ian’s decemancy eclipses all, granting him ultimate control over Death. He conquers cities with a thought and turns them into ruins with a gesture. But overwhelming power isn’t enough to escape the time loop or reveal its purpose.

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.

When the body of a beloved social media star washes up on the rocky shores of Second Beach, panic spreads through the surrounding coastal community. What was once a peaceful haven is now shrouded in fear, and the locals demand answers. But what begins as a tragic mystery quickly spirals into something far more sinister. Beneath the surface of Washington’s sleepy beach towns lies a hidden underworld—a secretive criminal syndicate that has operated in the shadows for years.

Cole Anderson has always known who his one true mate is, but the rejection he suffered at her hands was too much to bear. Still, it helped shape him into the man he is today. He swore he'd never return to Collier Pack, but under his Alpha's orders, he has no choice but to go for the celebration ceremony as Thomas and Lily step up as the new Alpha and Pack Mother. He knows he'll have to face her. But will his heart survive it? Fifteen years ago Elizabeth Collier was little more than a child.

Gia's red hair and lack of powers set her apart from every other raven shifter witch in existence, and not in a good way. Shunned by her Flock, still living with her parents, and working day in and day out as a waitress, she longs for a change. David is a mimic, one of a kind. Being different isn't always a good thing. The only time he feels like he's fitting in is when he's pretending to be someone else. Alone, jaded, and always hiding, he just wants someone to see him for who he really is.