Showing results by narrator "Melissa" in All Categories

Soft skills are the personal qualities that make you a great communicator, problem solver, and leader on the job—and in your personal life. Soft Skills For Dummies helps you hone in on the traits you already have—or fine tune the ones that may need some extra attention—to market yourself as a workplace leader who's in touch with what today's employers are looking for: people who can lead and inspire through interpersonal communication, cultural awareness, time management, teamwork, critical thinking, and problem solving.

It was the early 1900s when Obadiah (Oba) and Merriweather's (May's) parents died tragically, leaving them orphans at ten and eleven years old. When none of their nearby relations volunteer to take them in, they are set on a train to Arkansas to go live on their Amish aunt and uncle's cotton farm. Once there, it didn't take long to discover they would be treated cruelly, no matter what they did. May, always anxious to be a godly young lady, took on more and more responsibility, trying desperately to keep the peace and convince her older brother not to run away.

Right this minute, your body is carrying roughly 38 trillion microbial cells along with it—and in the vast majority of cases, you couldn’t live without them. On top of that, you harbor around 380 trillion viruses, most of which are either beneficial or benign. The Hidden Power of Microbes draws back the curtain on this vast microworld in 24 half-hour lectures delivered by acclaimed science communicator Dr. Melissa Booth, research scientist, professor, and Founder and Principal of The Science Communicator, devoted to training scientists to tell accurate, compelling stories about their fields.

Maddie Thompson’s life just fell down a rabbit hole. Finding out she's a dragon shifter was one thing - she never quite fit into the human world, and this new reality feels...strangely right. However, discovering the next step is to choose a mate, and if she chooses wrong, she'll die, is the other side of crazy - especially when she already left a piece of her heart with someone who didn't want it.

I was an exorcist, one of the best. When things got hot, I got out. I wasn’t fast enough, and I ended up with nothing but my parents’ old pizza parlor. Then my ex-best friend Darius wandered back into my life needing my skills. Innocent lives were in danger and I couldn’t say no. That dragged me deeper into the occult than I ever thought possible, and I can’t see a way back out. There’s upheaval in the demonic world and it’s spilling onto Earth and into my life; including stealing away my incubus boyfriend.

Nach einem Streit mit ihrer Freundin beschließt Lilith, mit dem Hund eine Runde um den Block zu gehen, um den Kopf wieder klar zu bekommen. Doch als sie nach nur 30 Minuten nach Hause zurückkehrt, ist nichts mehr wie es war. Weder der Name ihrer Freundin findet sich noch an der Wohnungsklingel, noch passt Liliths Schlüssel in das Schloss. Als ihr dann auch noch eine fremde Frau die Tür öffnet und ihr erzählt, dass hier nie eine Frau namens Xena gewohnt hat, ist Lilith kurz davor, durchzudrehen und zu glauben, dass sie diejenige ist, die sich alles nur eingebildet hat.

Eva Dash has her career on track. After earning her PhD in literature, she became a professor at the same college she’d called home as a student. When she loses the only job she’s ever wanted, she’s forced to consider leaving the only home she’s ever really known.

One year after the tragic loss of her husband, Mercer Leighton returns home to Rarity Cove to be near family and resume her former job at the St. Clair resort. What she doesn't count on is being witness to a double murder in nearby Charleston's French Quarter. Charleston Homicide Detective Noah Ford is no stranger to the dark, violent side of humanity. Nor is he happy about the lone eyewitness in his investigation being part of one of the South Carolina Lowcountry's most prominent families. However, when an attempt is made on the beautiful widow's life, Noah vows to protect her.

The gorgeous, brilliant woman I have dirty dreams about every damned night? She's supposed to marry my best friend. She's supposed to be queen someday. She's off-limits. But I can't walk away. I'm supposed to protect her. Maybe even be her friend. I should not be lusting after her. And I absolutely cannot fall in love with her.

We were best friends at 10. Lovers at 16. Going to be married at 19. Until she woke up one day and couldn't remember me. Leaving the small town was easy. Leaving her was my only regret. Ten years later, with a resume that said I had the perfect kill shot, I landed a job at a security firm. Finding my way in the civilian life, I never thought it would be her I would find. She still owned my heart. She still looked at me like I was a stranger.

Verdan has found more questions than answers in the time since awaking, but the world waits for no one, and new threats are drawing close. With growing suspicion of the Sorcerer Sects, Verdan must give the people of Hobson’s Point the tools to protect themselves. Failure means death and the fall of the final independent city.

Melissa Hogenboom examines how the suite of changes we experience during pregnancy and motherhood influence our sense of self, both physically and from the wider world. From the way our brain changes during pregnancy and the psychological impact of our changing body, to the true cost of the motherhood workplace penalty and the intrusion of technology on family life, Hogenboom reveals how external events and society at large shape the way we see ourselves and impacts upon the choices we make.

Ella Carina, crown princess of Aelawyn, knows brutality and lies - she's seen the way her father rules. Princess. Possession. To her father, the words had the same meaning. She was only as valuable as the alliance formed with her betrothal. Her freedom comes from an unlikely place: an attack on the castle. When the conquering King offers to protect her from the betrothal her father arranged for political gain, she consents. Hiding her within a peasant family is the only way to keep her and her secret safe.

Luke is damn near invisible, or at least that’s how he usually feels. He takes care of things around the ranch before his boss-brother even knows there’s a problem. But when he finds Shayanne sitting in a tree on his property, that all changes. And though their families have a rivalry worthy of the Hatfields and McCoys, she wants him. Can Luke mediate the long-standing anger between the two families to get his girl, and can Shayanne finally be an adult in her family’s eyes, able to choose a future with a man they don’t want her to have?

You’d think I could get through one holiday season without some magical catastrophe looming over my head. But no, instead of cozying up with hot cocoa and pretending I don’t see the glitter explosion my kids call “decorating,” I get a phone call. Turns out, some relic is threatening to drain every ounce of Christmas magic from the world. Just your average holiday crisis, right?

In the small town of Donovan Grove, Anna Gunn's life is organized just the way she likes it: work from home, walks with her dog, Friday night drinks at the bar. But Anna's strict routine is challenged when the local bookstore is taken over by city slicker, Zoe Perez. Will Anna let Zoe into her life, despite the major disruption she will have to tolerate? And can Zoe look past Anna's eccentricity and embrace her unconventional behavior?

Charlie Adams has two best friends—Ember Elliot and Hailey Grant. She’s secretly been in love with Hailey since the moment they met more than a decade ago. She has watched Hailey date all the wrong women and never said anything about how she wanted to be Hailey’s forever love.

Mika knew the Council of Paranormals would suspect her, which is why they assigned a raven to "guard" her. But there is a "we" behind the killer, and she has no idea if that they are still out there, or worse, still on the island of Morgana waiting for the right opportunity to strike again. With Malachi being distant, Ethan, Lucien, and Audrey have to work without her to follow the dangling strings, while Mika tries to win the assassin to her side.

My best friend roped me into baking for her stepson’s wedding. I had just moved into town and I couldn’t exactly turn that kind of money down. But getting drunk enough to sleep with that tall, dark blond wedding guest? That was all on me. I should have known he’d leave without a word or even a proper introduction. But that wasn’t the last I saw of him. Kiefer just turned out to be my brand-new neighbor.

Not all alphas are good men. Charlie learned that lesson the hard way. After losing her daughter's father in a senseless act of violence, she hasn't figured out how to move on. She's trapped in a cycle of guilt and misery. It makes her the perfect target for a man who only wants to control her and exploit her impulses. A chance introduction at a neighbor's barbecue changes everything.