Showing results by narrator "Lauren Pedersen" in All Categories

After losing her job of 23 years, Mabel decides to launch what will surely be a glamorous new career as an author. Having recently inherited her late grandmother’s house, she has the freedom to spend time volunteering and writing about her experiences.

What happens when an evil queen envies a princess for her beauty? How does the poor son of a farmer become the killer of giants? And what price is too high for a mermaid to become a human?

Mabel plans to bring the thrills of volunteering to the masses—if she doesn’t go to the dogs first. When Mabel finds herself sharing a thicket with a dead body while volunteering with canine search-&-rescue, her life has clearly—once again—gone to the dogs!

If you read (or listen to) nothing else on artificial intelligence and machine learning, listen to these ten articles. We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help you understand the future direction of AI, bring your AI initiatives to scale, and use AI to transform your organization.

One in four American workers says their workplace is a "dictatorship." Yet that number almost certainly would be higher if we recognized employers for what they are—private governments with sweeping authoritarian power over our lives. In this compelling book, Elizabeth Anderson examines why, despite all this, we continue to talk as if free markets make workers free, and she proposes a better way to think about the workplace, opening up space for discovering how workers can enjoy real freedom.

In the face of hardship, you need perseverance and determination. You need grit. But how do you build it? This book explores how you can persist in difficult situations. You'll learn how to convince yourself to do hard things, find support in trying circumstances, and know when you're pushing yourself too hard. This volume includes the work of: Angela Duckworth, Misty Copeland, Shannon Huffman Polson, and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic.

Many workers believe that to compete with other top talent they must embrace a culture that rewards long hours and constant connection to work. Businesses and society have encouraged this by endorsing busyness, overwork, and extreme commitment as the most valued traits in workers. But more often it's an implicit contract, a buildup of organizational and cultural norms and the adoption of new technologies that increasingly make it easy to tether people to work. Either way, this workaholic behavior is unhealthy and counterproductive for workers and for organizations. It's time to fight back.

In the picturesque streets of Cedarwood Creek, follow Ryan and Emily as they grapple with the aftermath of a devastating family tragedy and unearthed family secret. Ryan, burdened by a family secret and in the throws of grief, embarks on a journey of growth, difficulty, and ultimately transformation that changes him forever.

Detective James Holton has been honorably discharged from the Army Criminal Investigation Division due to wounds sustained when an IED blew up near him. Now with the Lake City Police Department, he's rooming with his good buddy and partner, Cole, while he figures out his family dynamics. Physician Assistant Lainie Jackson is eighteen months out from an attempted murder perpetrated by her ex, which ended when she managed to grab the weapon and shoot him. When he appears to have survived and is back to finish the job he started, Lainie insists it's not possible.

There will always be limits to what you can do for your teen girl. But there are never any limits to what you can pray—and what God can do.

Tough-as-nails Kenzie King has finally earned her place as a tactical medic on a SWAT team. But not everyone on the all-male team accepts her. She has to work harder and longer than anyone else to prove herself. Cole Garrison is a man with deep faith who is finally ready to settle down and build a family of his own—if he can find the right person, that is. Kenzie sure has set off his interest meter, but trouble seems to follow in her wake. Since she joined the team, someone has begun to ambush and pick off team members, one by one.

The last thing Mabel needed was a flying saucer, not to mention a rash of similar sightings all over town. Her life’s already been upended by getting fired and moving to Grandma’s old house in Medicine Spring. So far, the deceptively sleepy village has delivered several murders—and romance with a handsome private investigator. Are little green men next? While Mabel tries to get to the bottom of the apparent space invasion, she also gets herself caught between competing candidates for township supervisor.

Jill's wedding to police chief Greg King is just days away, at a historic Spanish mission with a courtyard full of olive trees. But the folks in South Cove are more intrigued by what kind of ceremonies might be going on behind the walls of New Hope. Jill isn't fond of the man, but his followers seem nice, and they buy a lot of books. After a distraught woman stops by at Coffee, Books, and More with a picture of her daughter, who she believes needs rescuing from the suspected cult—and then Matthews's body is found, at Jill's wedding venue of all places—Jill makes a commitment to solve the case.

If Adele Marten’s troubled childhood taught her anything, it was that family is everything. So when the time comes to keep a promise she made to her dying friend, she knew she would do whatever it takes to reunite a father and son...who have never met. Even risk her fragile heart.

The first date is your earliest opportunity to get to know someone intimately. It’s your chance to find out if you’re compatible, if you have the same passions, and if the same things make you tick. For this to happen though, you need a killer question to spark hours of conversation. This is your golden key to securing a second date.

An anthology of time’s most beloved stories, written and adapted by the world’s most well-known fairy tale authors, and narrated by a variety of great storytellers.

Nothing exciting EVER happens in the tiny town of Alamo, Texas. But that doesn't stop feisty fifteen-year-old Crystal O'Mally from dreaming of becoming a top notch detective, just like her hero. She gets her chance when her dad, the local jeweler, is accused of stealing the town's treasure, a giant pink diamond. However, things quickly get out of control as clues don't add up, the suspect list grows rapidly, and a mysterious shadow always seems to be one step ahead of her.

When a bad case of writer‘s block prevents Scarlet Lane from wrapping up a successful detective series, she agrees to take a weekend trip to the mountains with her best friend, Quinn, to partake in an interactive game of murder. When they arrive at the secluded retreat of Mystery Ridge Lodge, Scarlet is hopeful that the distraction of vintage costumes and cozy ambiance will inspire her to write a satisfying conclusion.

Some days you're on fire at work; other days you're burned out and easily distracted. How can you maintain your drive, make consistent progress, and expend your energy wisely? This book will help you identify what's behind your flagging engagement and productivity—and provide the expert research and advice on what to do about it.

After losing my husband three years ago, I'm ready for a fresh start for me and my daughter. I appreciate all of my parents' help, of course, but I can't live with them forever (and I don't want to). Dr. Drew Reed, my father's coworker, informs me his basement (turned income-property) is available for rent. And he also needs a part time nanny. Lucky for him, I can do both! But living in such close proximity, seeing him in those dang sexy surgical scrubs, and watching him with our girls . . . is making my heart thaw in ways I never expected. But am I ready to love again?