intimate short story Audiobooks

The night I meet Stella, everything changes. Somehow in the course of an evening, this sexy city girl not only gets my mountain man c*ck, but she captures my heart. I have to have her. But the next day, it all comes to a crashing halt. Literally. My life isn’t just mine anymore—now I have my brother’s babies to think about. Our lives were already going in different directions … I have to show her this mountain is the place she belongs. Darling Reader, This story has true love written all over it. It’s dirty, sexy, and WILD(ER) than the last. The cast from TIMBER and BUCKED are back in this novella that was written with you in mind. Treat yourself, sweetie! xo, frankie

Ayahuasca is a powerful tool for transformation, that more and more Westerners are flocking to drink in a quest for greater self-knowledge, healing and reconnection with the natural world. This formerly esoteric, little-known brew is now a growth industry. But why? Ayahuasca is a psychoactive tea that has a long history of ritual use among indigenous groups of the Upper Amazon. Made from the ayahuasca vine and the leaves of a shrub, ayahuasca is associated with healing in collective ceremonies and in more intimate contexts, generally under the direction of specialist – an ayahuasquero . These are experienced practitioners who guide the ceremony and the ‘drinkers’ experience. Ayahuasca has gained significant popularity these days in cities around the world. Ceremonies happen nightly and Hollywood stars, Wall Street players and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs now drink the brew. Why? What effect might ayahuasca be having on our culture? Could it be the LSD of our time? Does the brew, which seems to inspire environmental action, simplified lifestyles and more communitarian behaviour, act as an antidote to frenzied consumerist culture? In When Plants Dream , Pinchbeck and Rokhlin explore the economic, social, political, cultural and environmental impact that ayahuasca is having on society. Part 1 covers the background; what ayahuasca is, where it is found, and its cultural origins. Part 2 explores the role and practices of the ayahuasquero in both Amazonian and Western cultures. Part 3 examines the medicinal plants of the Amazon, looking particularly at the ingredients in ayahuasca and their therapeutic qualities, covering the most up-to-date biomedical research, psychedelic science and psychopharmacology. Part 4 looks more closely at how ayahuasca is perceived and used today, covering law, the drug wars, media and money. Lastly in Part 5 Pinchbeck and Rokhlin question the future of ayahuasca. When Plants Dream is the first book of its kind to look at the science and expanding culture of ayahuasca, from its historical use to its appropriation by the West and the impact it is having on cultures beyond the Amazon.

You Can Get Unstuck When author and podcaster Polly Campbell got tired of her hoodie smelling like pizza and her days being clouded by midlife over-exhaustion, emotional burnout, and boredom, she decided to get off the couch and reclaim her core energy. But could this burned-out, chronically ill, middle-aged mother of a teen rediscover her vitality? Yes. And so can you. Small Steps, Big Energy. Self-help books for women often encourage you to throw out the life you’re living and create a fresh start. You, Recharged isn’t about that. You don’t have to quit your mundane job, cut out cocktails, or sign-off of social media to recharge. Instead, Polly Campbell’s inspirational book is about adding things in―good habits, practices, fun, people, activities, self-care strategies―that ignite your essential energy, the sustainable source that fires you up from within and keeps you going during the good and bad. Meaning Ignites Power. When we align with the things that matter to us and allow the “why” to guide us, we are energized. Sure, there are challenges, setbacks, and plenty of things that piss us off, but they don’t have to deplete us. They don’t have to leave us mentally exhausted or take our power. Instead, our energy can be refocused and redirected into things that we value. You, Recharged will help you discover the small but meaningful ways you can feel happier, healthier, and more alive. In this personal development book, find: Easy-to-apply, practical strategies to ease stress, boost energy, and improve health and well-being Short chapters, delivered in a relatable, conversational tone, with plenty of humor Hope and inspiration, so you know that you can also create a meaningful, satisfying life no matter how stuck, lost, bored, and physically exhausted you feel If you were inspired by motivational books and self-help books like Own Your Everyday , How to Stop Feeling Like Sh*t , or The Self-Love Experiment , then you’ll love You, Recharged .

Play It Forward details the remarkable journey of Joan Barnes, founder and former CEO of Gymboree, and how she learned to align her inner life with outward success. Forty years ago, Joan Barnes founded a play center in a church basement with $3,000. Determined to enable women to achieve personal and entrepreneurial success, Barnes led Gymboree to become an innovative leader in a new industry: activity-based early childhood development. The company eventually became a global billion-dollar brand. But this dramatic entrepreneurial memoir is also a cautionary tale and redemption story. When GymboreeÕs IPO became a phenomenal success story, Barnes was nowhere near Wall Street. She had left the company because of an eating disorder that threatened to destroy her and everything she built. Barnes overcame the disorder, charting a path that replaced demons with an enduring sense of worth and hope. She eventually resumed her business career on healthier terms with a line of yoga studios in an inspiring example of how women can triumph through reinvention. Published to coincide with GymboreeÕs 40th anniversary, Play It Forward offers readers a deeply honest perspective of the challenges of business building and seeking a work-life balance in tune with personal values.

AN AMAZON BEST SELLING BOOK FOR KIDS! *2020-2021 One Book One School Book of the Year* **Purple Dragonfly Book Award First Place Winner** Should Sophie Stand Up to the School Bully or Become a Snitch? There's nothing worse than being a tattletale... That's what 10-year-old Sophie Washington thinks until she runs into Lanie Mitchell, a new girl at school. Lanie pushes Sophie and her friends around at their lockers, and even takes their lunch money in this entertaining chapter book for middle grade readers. If they tell, they are scared the other kids in their class will call them snitches and won't be their friends. And when you're in the fifth grade, nothing seems worse than that. Then a classmate gets seriously injured and Sophie needs to make a decision: fight back, or snitch? Here's what Goodreads reviewers say about Sophie Washington: The Snitch: "Great children's book that teaches children practical and valuable life lessons." "This would be a great book for the counselor, the library and the classroom ready for reading!" "I liked that, while a heavy subject matter, the book never felt preachy." "Good story about bullying and standing up for what's right." This is the second book in the Readers' Favorite five star rated Sophie Washington book series.

George Mason was a short, bookish man who was a friend and neighbor of athletic, broad-shouldered George Washington. Unlike Washington, Mason has been virtually forgotton by history. But this new biography of forgotten patriot George Mason makes a convincing case that Mason belongs in the pantheon of honored Founding Fathers. Trained in the law, Mason was also a farmer, philosopher, botanist, and musician. He was one of the architects of the Declaration of Independence, an author of the Bill of Rights, and one of the strongest proponents of religious liberty in American history. In fact, both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison may have been given undue credit for George Mason's own contributions to American democracy.

The true story of the brutal 1993 murder of a mother and daughter in Washington, D.C., told by federal homicide prosecutor Kevin Flynn. RELENTLESS PURSUIT follows the personal mission of a Washington, D.C., federal homicide prosecutor who dedicated himself to bringing justice and closure to the family of a brutally murdered mother and daughter, a case during which the author's own father passed away. On a late May morning in 1993, a mother and daughter were found murdered in their home in northeast Washington, D.C. Within a matter of days, an arrest was made. For the victims’ family and friends, and for a prosecutor obsessed with justice—the harrowing impact of the crime was just beginning...

AN AMAZON BEST SELLING BOOK FOR KIDS! Only Losers Don't Have Cell Phones... That's what Sophie thinks in the beginning of this hilarious and heartwarming, illustrated chapter book about fitting in. She feels like an outsider because she's the only one in her class without a cell phone, and her crush, new kid Toby Johnson, has been calling her best friend Chloe. To fit in, Sophie changes who she is. Her plan to become popular works for a while, and she and Toby start to become friends. Things get more complicated when Sophie "borrows" a cell phone and gets caught. If her parents make her tell the truth, what will her friends think? Turns out Toby has also been hiding something, and Sophie discovers the best way to make true friends is to be yourself. Here's what Goodreads reviewers say about Sophie Washington: Things You Didn't Know About Sophie: "Sophie is a real character with flaws and it is fun reading how she matures. The story line was funny and realistic." "Virtues like honesty, friendship and being true to yourself are always in style, and this book teaches that in a fun way. Also, it's great to learn a little bit about Texas too!" "Very well written middle school book." This is the third book in the Readers' Favorite five star rated Sophie Washington book series.

“It’s like the meanest, wildest monkey running around my head, constantly looking for ways to bite me.” That was how Kirsten Pagacz described her OCD to her therapist on their first session when she was well into her 30s she’d been following orders from this mean taskmaster for 20 years, without understanding why. Initially the tapping and counting and cleaning and ordering brought her comfort and structure, two things lacking in her family life. But it never lasted; the loathsome self-talk only intensified, and the rituals she had to perform got more bizarre. By high school she was anorexic and a substance abuser, common "shadow syndromes" of OCD. By adulthood, she could barely hide her problems and held on to jobs and friends through sheer grit. Help finally came in the form of a miraculously well-timed public service announcement on NPR about OCD -- at last her illness had an identity. Leaving the OCD Circus reveals the story of Pagacz’s traumatic childhood and the escalation of her disorder demonstrating how OCD works to misshape a life from a very young age and explains the various tools she used for healing including meditation, cognitive behavioral therapy, yoga, exposure therapy, and medication.

Few of us know how to navigate the territory of traumatic loss successfully. Sweet Sorrow shows how we can respond and grow stronger from loss and suffering. Written by a psychologist and certified bereavement trauma specialist in the decade following the loss of her husband, father, mother, and only sibling, this carefully considered work provides perspective on grief and healing over time. This longer-term approach allows readers to have a more complete and accurate picture of the oscillations of grief over time. The book describes not only the immediate agony of the author’s losses, but also the process of starting over and making a successful new life as a single person full of hope and joy. Sweet Sorrow combines the author’s psychological expertise and clinical experience with the compelling art of memoir to illuminate the surprising ways in which loss survivors can grow and even thrive to achieve wholeness after heartbreaking, traumatic losses. Using findings from post-traumatic growth, as well as evidence-based psychological approaches, Sweet Sorrow illustrates through story and example, ways for grief survivors to start over, to manage chaos and stress, to let go, and to heal with new strategies and re-storying. Sweet Sorrow also provides resources and recommendations for self-care, as well as tips and suggestions for all of us trying to respond creatively and helpfully to those around us suffering loss. Ultimately, Sweet Sorrow is a book of inspiration intended to companion readers through the processes of loss and grief much like a helpful Sherpa might guide a lost traveler.