Showing results by narrator "Sean Crisden" in All Categories

At the age of 16, R. Dwayne Betts - a good student from a lower-middle-class family - carjacked a man with a friend. He had never held a gun before, but within a matter of minutes he had committed six felonies. A bright young kid, he served his nine-year sentence as part of the adult population in some of the worst prisons in the state. A Question of Freedom chronicles Betts's years in prison, reflecting back on his crime, and looking ahead to how his experiences and the books he discovered while incarcerated would define him.

Jay na Thalang is a demanding, driven genius. He doesn't know how to stop or even slow down. The instant he lays eyes on Maria Lopez, he knows that she is a sexy distraction he can't afford. He's done his best to keep her at arm's length, and he's succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. Maria has always been cautious. Now that her once-tiny, apocalypse-centered blog is hitting the mainstream, she's even more careful about preserving her online anonymity. She hasn't sent so much as a picture to the commenter she's interacted with for 18 months.

Nate Shaw's father was born into slavery. Nate was born into a bondage that was only a little gentler. At the age of nine, he was picking cotton and plowing behind a mule. At the age of 47, he faced down a crowd of White deputies who had come to confiscate a neighbor's livestock. His defiance cost him 12 years in prison.This triumphant autobiography, All God's Dangers, assembled from the 84-year-old Shaw's oral reminiscences, is the plainspoken story of an "over average" man who witnessed momentous changes in the lives of Southern people, Black and White....

Chloe hasn't had the easiest childhood. With a mother who was absent most of the time, she practically had to raise herself. Determined to start a new life and leave her demons behind, she heads to West Virginia University with her best friends Amber and Logan. On the first day of classes, she spots a student who takes her breath away. Drake is a pierced, tattooed bad boy, and no matter how hard she tries to fight it, he's all she can think about.

My best friend’s brother is the most infuriating person to walk this planet. Since the day I met him, he’s made it his mission in life to make mine hell. If he’s not hiding behind the nearest dark corner, he's plotting his next trick. That’s Dorian Davis, and nothing about him has changed in the two decades that I’ve known him. I should be used to it by now. Immune to his antics. I even considered myself prepared when his sister coerced us into helping her host a Halloween party for her company.

A classic Westmoreland novel from New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Brenda Jackson Women call him "the perfect storm," and Jayla Cole knows that Atlanta fire chief Storm Westmoreland lives up to his devastating reputation. A business trip to New Orleans sparks a chance reunion and...

When Connor finds River on the roof of the campus admin building, he doesn’t know what to do. His friend is drunk and shouting into a snowstorm, a bottle of vodka in his hand. The easy part is getting River down; the hard part is insisting River comes home with Connor for Christmas. River doesn’t have a family or any place outside of college that he calls home. Not that it matters to him; he’s happy being alone for Christmas in his budget motel, watching reruns of Elf.

In the secret city of Sobek, Domin Thorne is making his way as the newly chosen semel-aten, the leader of the werepanther world. He aspires to make sweeping changes - he's set goals for himself and the people he chose to bring with him, modeling his reign after that of his friend, Logan Church. But Domin may have set too lofty a goal: His normal leadership style isn't working.

To prove to his mother that he can be responsible, Stephan Brooks takes a job at her firm and promises to be a better son. But one glimpse of Roselle Parker, her up-and-coming protégé, and all his good intentions disappear. All he has to do is conduct himself in a professional manner, but a trip to Paris with Roselle proves too big of a temptation. Roselle knows Stephan Brooks is nothing but trouble. She’s heard the stories, and her brief contact with him confirms they’re all true. But two nights in Paris and her inhibitions crumble beneath his seductive touch.

Three long, brutal years have passed, and Ace Crow swears he will find London Stallone one day. He'll do everything he can to get her back. She knows his word is true because he's back. Ace is everything London is not: ruthless, deadly, risky. And she's the last piece to his puzzle. But he's mistaken about one thing: Getting her back is not going to be easy. There are always consequences. There are always hidden truths. There is always betrayal. But things aren't so simple any more.

Bayard Rustin (1912 to1987), the famed openly gay African American organizer, taught Martin Luther King Jr. strategies of nonviolence during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, thereby launching the birth of the civil rights movement in 1955. Widely acclaimed as a founding father of modern black protest, in 1963 Rustin reached his pinnacle of notoriety as organizer of the March on Washington.

She was my "what if" girl. The one I longed for. The one I tried to find again after she left for the other side of the world. Now, years later, fate has swept the only woman I’ve ever loved back into my life. With her intensity, her honesty, her passion, Annalise tries to break down my walls, because she’s the one who knew me before my family shattered. When we collide again, it's tender and savage, gentle and rough, and makes me hungry for more of this electric, once-in-a-blue moon kind of connection.

Aidan Spencer walked away from his family and his friends when the woman he'd loved since childhood died while attempting to kill his best friend's wife. Aidan had chosen to save another and in doing so had lost Cassie. For over a year, he's been isolated from everyone he loves until a family emergency brings him back home. When he meets a woman along the way whose problems are more dire than his own, Aidan must decide if he's strong enough to fight for the woman he's falling in love with.

Colton has healed and completed me, stolen my heart, and made me realize our love’s not predictable nor perfect—it’s bent. And bent’s okay. But when outside factors put our relationship to the test, what lengths will I have to go to prove to him that he’s worth the fight?

Some of the best-known and most influential pieces of crime fiction have been from African American writers. Be it Walter Mosley's great Detective Easy Rawlins, or the mean streets of Harlem at the hands of Chester Himes, the stories and characters in this anthology have shaped the mystery genre with their own unique viewpoints and styles. Contributors to the collection include Robert Greer, Chester Himes, Walter Mosley, Cary Phillips, Frankie Bailey, and Richard Wright.

Could you survive a month without the internet? Robert Kingett didn’t think he could—until a friend dared him to try. The catch? Robert is blind, and he relies on the internet for everything. For thirty days he must use no Google. No social media. No online banking, shopping or job hunting. Ultimately, no digital shortcuts to help him navigate a world that’s already built to ignore people with disabilities.

Is perfectionism a good thing, or does it get in our way? In The Perfectionist's Handbook, clinical psychologist Jeff Szymanski helps listeners navigate their way out of the "perfectionism paradox": If your intentions are good (wanting to excel) and the outcomes you want are reasonable (to feel competent and satisfied), why would perfectionism backfire and result in unhappiness and stress? Learn when perfectionism will pay off, and when and why it sabotages you.

Sebastian Stark just isn't cut out for normal life with a girlfriend in the hot and humid city of Miami. All in all, he'd rather be back on the island where it was just the two of them, and he could keep everything in balance. The bar down the street tempts him daily, but he's determined to remain strong. Adjusting to normal life is difficult, but Bastian is doing his best to keep himself together and the nightmares away. Raine's happy, and that's what matters to him the most. But not all nightmares can be driven away. 

Driven by a combination of alcohol-induced recklessness and an overwhelming desire for something real, Josh ventures into a dark and seedy bar and lusts after a sexy, enigmatic hooker. When Josh negotiates a price for one night of pleasure he can't know that when his time with Ethan is over, he'll be left shattered and forever changed by the encounter. Fleeing with his son is the only means of ensuring their survival amidst the chaos of what comes next, and there's only one man he can trust to keep them safe. A hooker who isn't a hooker at all.

Private club owner, Mitch has been lusting after Tori since she first stepped foot into his dark, seductive world. But he waited too long to approach her, and she now belongs to someone else, while he watches from afar. When Tori asks him for a favor that involves going to Vegas with her and her lover, Mitch can’t refuse.