Showing results for "The Media Book" in Literature & Fiction

Five short stories that give glimpses into the lives of Griffin, Jorie, and the other characters from Second Nature.

Sparks fly between Nicola Albright KC and Geeta Sachdeva, but not the good kind. They're the sort that leave small fires, devastation, and everyone peeping between their fingers at arrogant lawyer, Nicola, on one side, and everyone's favorite mum, Geeta, on the other. Yet when both are divorced and at a new stage in life, they find themselves living within glowering distance of each other, in beautiful Iffley Village, Oxford. Reluctantly, they call a truce and try to make friends. It's tricky though, when there's more than one reason they've circled and snapped for years.

Captain Sabine Fleischer is a skilled and dedicated US Army surgeon deployed to a combat hospital in Afghanistan. She is also one of the thousands of troops who are forced to serve in silence because of the military's anti-gay policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT)". Usually driven and focused, Sabine finds that battles raging both inside and outside are making it more and more difficult for her to deal with her emotions. Dealing with loss and mortality, lack of privacy, sleep deprivation, loneliness, and the isolation forced on her by Don't Ask, Don't Tell are all taking their toll.

Neil Josten is the newest addition to the Palmetto State University Exy team. He's short, he's fast, he's got a ton of potential - and he's the runaway son of the murderous crime lord known as the Butcher. Signing a contract with the PSU Foxes is the last thing a guy like Neil should do. The team is high profile, and he doesn't need sports crews broadcasting pictures of his face around the nation. His lies will hold up only so long under this kind of scrutiny, and the truth will get him killed.

Ellie Beckett's life is simple and uncomplicated; she's on track to become a leading expert in biomedical engineering, she has a pub where she feels comfortable enough to hang out multiple times a week, and so what if she doesn't have time for . . . people? She doesn't need or want them. Until she meets Mia Sharpe. As it turns out, maybe Ellie does want at least one person.

Billie and Vero are getting married and the gang's all here, even the only two members left of the Singles Girl's Club, Isla and Freya. When the wedding planner mixes up reservations for the wedding, party girl Isla and jaded artist Freya find that they're either sharing the very last room available or one of them is sleeping out on the beach. There's just one teeny-tiny problem—the room has one bed. But they're mature adult friends who can handle a sleepover.

Ash Harrington's life is out of control. At 23 years old, he's suddenly the head of a multibillion dollar global corporation he is in no way equipped to run. His father is dying. His mother's run away. He's spent his entire adult life playing fast and loose with his life and his loves, but when he's dragged into a position of responsibility with the fate of the company on his shoulders, he goes spinning into freefall. And Brand Forsythe is the only man to catch him.

Parker Wilson has the life he's always wanted: an apartment in Brighton Pier, amazing family and friends, and a job he loves. With the invitation to his childhood best friend's engagement party, the safe haven he's created around himself is soon flooded with memories of the past. The roadblock he's taken years detouring soon becomes a reality he can no longer avoid. After six years, Parker will have to see Sarah's brother again—the only man he's ever truly loved.

Domino Rush can't write a song. Every time she tries, nothing comes out. Her band, The Shrikes, had a hugely successful first album, but writing the follow up is way too much pressure. Adding to the pressure? Her entire band is depending on her. But Domino has never been one for responsibility. So, instead of writing, she surfs, drinks, and finds pretty women to keep her company.

Gabe D'Angelo has it all. Designer clothes, luxury cars, a cool confidence most would envy, and a never-ending supply of money - and men. When he arrived in Haven's Cove to be there for his best friend, he never imagined he'd end up extending his stay indefinitely. Small town living isn't so bad after all, and the views are magnificent - especially the view of a sexy, rugged blond. But when that mysterious, brooding man refuses all Gabe's advances, he is forced to take a step back and truly look at the person he's become.

From ex-con to self-made millionaire, there's no challenge too tough for Cash Sweeney to conquer. So why has he spent twelve years pining for his best friend instead of doing something about it? Because losing Nick would be like existing with half of his heart. Is it better to settle for what he can have, or battle for what he wants?

Dr. Ashlee Logan's world changed forever on a snowy December night in Boston. She has spent the last two years on the road, trying to escape the memory of that fateful night. With only her Great Dane, Drake, as her companion, she has worked her way across country from the Atlantic to the Pacific, working as an ER physician along the way. While serving her country, former Navy doctor Dale Parker had her life shattered in a single moment on a hot, windswept desert roadside. Now, three years later, although her physical wounds have healed, Dale is forever changed by the experience.

Detective Rebecca Wells, newly appointed to Atlanta's Juvenile Missing Person Unit, is a woman in a state of flux and on a mission to fix her unsatisfying personal life. That means reaching out to her ex, Dani, to make amends. But after sizing up the once warm, friendly woman she loved, Rebecca can't believe how unrecognizable she now is or how hurt she is. Is it too late for them? Has too much time passed to make things right?

When I left that night, I had every intention of coming back to you. To us. But no matter how hard I wish for what I want, there are some things in life that aren't meant to be. I don't expect you to understand. You've already moved on, living your life. But mine ended that night, nine years ago, and I still can't let you go. Not sure I ever will. I regret so many things, but hurting you, I'll never forgive myself. I'm sorry for...everything.

Valerie Westland isn't looking for love when she ends up on a date with Cressida Davis, despite the instant attraction or her inability to stop flirting with her. With a past she can't move on from and a heart she doesn't deem worthy of giving away, can the pair find a way to each other, or are opportunities gone forever when one refuses to seize the moment?

Nora Whitmore has been through the ringer both professionally and personally. Now, her life is more than she ever thought it could be, especially with Kelli McCabe in it. Kelli McCabe watched all the broken pieces of her life come together. The situation with her family settled down, and she's right where she wants to be back at work and in Nora's arms. For both of them, this quiet time is just the devastating calm before the massive storm hits and brings with it the violence of a vengeful enemy and the reality of drug abuse.

Oliver Rains joined Pegasus after the military to keep doing what he loves—helping out the innocent and putting scumbags in the ground where they belong. He was supposed to find a new team, not fall in love, but what he hadn't counted on was Parker Johnson walking into his life. The sexy man is everything he's wanted for a long time. Parker Johnson took early retirement from the police force after an altercation with the mayor. It wasn't his fault the guy was a jackass. He landed a job with the elite unit of operatives known as Pegasus and it's there he meets Oliver Rains.

Trailed by his bodyguards and deliciously strange, Mateo Garcia is like nobody I've ever crossed paths with. I've crossed paths with plenty of hot guys. Not a single one of them looked past what I was ready to show. Not like Mateo. But when he touches my wildest desires and the promise of a little happiness is too sweet to resist, I discover that he's nothing like what he said. He is a prince suffocated by tradition and expectations. And what does that make me? A rebellious experiment and a college flame.

Dragons were dying. All over the world, a curse was taking us out one by one, and nobody knew how to stop it. I watched my mother burn, I watched my little brother fall sick. That's when Robby practically falls into my lap, with his big brown eyes and charming smile and his penchant for being hunted by vampires. After saving him twice from certain death, we soon come to realize that there's a reason he's being hunted. And that reason may be the answer to all our problems, and the start to a whole new set of them.

While the investigations go on in Dallas and Baton Rouge after the disappearance of a senator's daughter, FBI agents CJ Johnston and Paige Riley are assigned to the sleepy backwoods of East Texas for a dead-end assignment to infiltrate an all-girls school. Random disappearances dating back 50 years and more raise red flags that point to the tiny, isolated community of Hoganville. But CJ and Paige fear there will be little distraction from the memories of the one-night stand they shared six months ago.