naruto becomes cold and distant fanfiction Audiobooks

All signs point north for Not-So-Saint Nick After too many mugs of mulled wine, introverted accountant Holly North lets her best friend guilt her into filling in as Mistress Christmas at Sugar Plums, a Christmas-themed strip club. The combination of a velvet mask and a Mrs. Claus-meets-dominatrix costume gives Holly the courage to approach the hot-bodied man across the room who is as lickable as a candy cane. Detective Nick West is working undercover to find the sexy vixen who supposedly robbed his buddy at Sugar Plums. His interest in the pole dancers vanishes faster than a flying sleigh upon his introduction to Mistress Christmas—a leggy brunette with smoky eyes and a lush mouth that begs for hours beneath the mistletoe. One lap dance and their attraction flares hotter than a fireplace on a cold winter evening. And Nick is only too happy to oblige when Holly blurts out her secret Christmas wish…a night filled with sweet and dirty carnal pleasures that will land them both on the naughty list.

It's said that only in our darkest hour do we find light. That may be true for the lucky ones. When your light has been extinguished and pitch-black bleakness has taken hold, you could be excused for doubting that it will ever be reignited. In the past when people mentioned Joel O'Brien, they talked about "the quiet one". The boy who was the family's voice of reason and their go-to guy for wisdom well beyond his years. Nowadays, they whisper about the "crippled one". The man who radiates darkness, who wallows in his self-pity, and refuses to find a way to deal with the injuries he sustained at the beginning of the war that's threatening to engulf the Black Shamrocks MC. Sascha Koswalski is the light of her family's life. With a smile that could brighten the day of the most hard-hearted, the single mother's innate exuberance lessens the pain of her physiotherapy clients. She's yet to find a patient who doesn't respond to her sunny nature and skilled hands. Until Joel. The stubborn, angry man might be the one patient she fails. Unable to crack his protective shell, Sascha is on the verge of giving up when Joel shows her another side of himself. Buoyed by the knowledge that there is a man filled with hope hiding beneath his cold veneer, can she rehabilitate more than his broken body? Will she be the light that reignites his belief in himself and sets them both on the path to FINDING NIRVANA? DISCLAIMER: This book contains depictions of graphic situations and is not suitable for all readers.

Kyoko finds herself in the middle of an ageless war between the powerful Guardians and the ultimate Guardian who has become the enemy... a demon lord who holds the power to destroy them all. Secrets are kept and true hearts are hidden beneath layers of ice and wickedness. Once more the battle between good and evil begins to blur... sending the destinies of those involved into a most dangerous and seductive form of chaos. When the enemy shows his heart and the ally becomes heartless, these powerful immortals battle their own hearts as well as each other to protect the priestess. She is the center of their world and each Guardian seeks to make her what she was meant to be... A Guardian's Possession.

Facing the loss of a loved one in a death-avoidant culture can be excruciating. Grievers may be expected to put on a brave face, to “move on” quickly, and to seek medication if they are still grief-stricken after an “acceptable” amount of time. Psycho­therapist Judy Heath draws on extensive experience as a grief specialist in private practice to help those struggling with the anguish of loss. Addressing the myths and misinformation about mourning that still abound today, Heath gently coaches readers to understand that coping with loss is a natural process that our society tends to avoid and hurry people through, often leading to unresolved, lasting grief. No Time for Tears offers practical advice for both short- and long-term recovery, including how to manage rarely discussed physical and emotional changes: feelings of “going crazy” and inability to focus; feeling out of sync with the world, exhausted and chilled, and crushingly lonely. This updated second edition includes new information about medication and discusses various types of loss including that of a parent, child, spouse, friend, or pet. Helpful not only to grievers but also to those who care about, counsel, or employ them, No Time for Tears is an essential resource for grief management and recovery.

"A book to rival TWILIGHT and VAMPIRE DIARIES, and one that will have you wanting to keep reading until the very last page! If you are into adventure, love and vampires this book is the one for you!" --Vampirebooksite.com (regarding Turned) FATED is Book #11 in the #1 Bestselling series THE VAMPIRE JOURNALS, which begins with TURNED (Book #1). In FATED, 16 year old Scarlet Paine struggles to understand what’s happening to her, as she wakes and realizes she’s becoming a vampire. Alienated from her parents and her friends, the only person she has left to turn to is Sage, the mysterious boy who has quickly become the love of her life. Yet Sage, whose house she finds boarded up, is nowhere to be found. Scarlet, alone in the world, with nowhere left to turn, seeks out her friends and tries to reconcile with them. All seems to be patched up when they invite her to join them on a trip to an abandoned island in the Hudson—but as things get out of hand and Scarlet’s true powers are revealed, who her friends and enemies are becomes more confusing than ever. Blake, still interested in her, tries to make amends. He seems sincere, and Scarlet is confused as she has to grapple with whether to be with Blake or to wait for Sage, who is nowhere to be found. When Scarlet finally finds Sage, they have the most romantic time of her life; yet it is tinged with tragedy, as Sage is dying, with but a few days left to live. Kyle, meanwhile, turned into the only other vampire left in the world, is on a murderous rampage, seeking Scarlet; Caitlin and Caleb consult with Aiden, and they each embark on different missions—Caleb to stop and kill Kyle, and Caitlin, to the famed Yale University library, to research the ancient relic rumored to both cure and kill vampires for all time. It is a race against time, and it may be too late. Scarlet is changing rapidly, barely able to control what she’s becoming, and Sage is dying with each passing moment. As the book culminates in an action-packed, shocking twist, Scarlet will be left with a monumental choice—one that will change the world forever. Will Scarlet make the ultimate sacrifice to save Sage’s life? Will she risk everything she has for love? “Grabbed my attention from the beginning and did not let go….This story is an amazing adventure that is fast paced and action packed from the very beginning. There is not a dull moment to be found.” --Paranormal Romance Guild {regarding Turned} “Jam packed with action, romance, adventure, and suspense. Get your hands on this one and fall in love all over again.” --vampirebooksite.com (regarding Turned)

A closed room in her newest fixer-upper leads Indiana house-flipper Jazzi Zanders to reopen a chilling cold case involving a high school girl . . . Jazzi, her cousin Jerod, and her husband Ansel are preparing to renovate a charming house that reminds her of an English manor. Before purchasing it, they had inspected the house for structural issues, but now when they do a more thorough walk-through, they discover a teenage girl's bedroom that clearly hasn't been touched in years. Dust covers the pink canopy bed, clothes still hang in the closet, and a hope chest remains full of journals and memorabilia. They've stumbled on a shrine to a dead girl. They learn Jessica was killed in the middle of her high school graduation party. The murderer was never identified, but the brother-in-law of Jazzi’s friend, who went to school with Jessica, was suspected and never lived it down. He implores Jazzi to review the cold case and finally prove him innocent. Now it’s up to the house-flipper to nail a killer who will do anything to close the door on the past . . .

In 1994, Lizbeth Meredith said good-bye to her four- and six year-old daughters for a visit with their non-custodial father only to learn days later that they had been kidnapped and taken to their father's home country of Greece. Twenty-nine and just on the verge of making her dreams of financial independence for her and her daughters come true, Lizbeth now faced a $100,000 problem on a $10 an hour budget. For the next two years fueled by memories of her own childhood kidnapping Lizbeth traded in her small life for a life more public, traveling to the White House and Greece, and becoming a local media sensation in order to garner interest in her efforts. The generous community of Anchorage becomes Lizbeth's makeshift family one that is replicated by a growing number of Greeks and expats overseas who help Lizbeth navigate the turbulent path leading back to her daughters.

“Small town Colorado police detective Gemma Monroe is a human and fallible heroine I can't wait to meet again, and Littlejohn's prose is lyrical and gripping.”―Deborah Crombie In Emily Littlejohn's follow-up to her acclaimed debut Inherit the Bones , a twisted killer stalks his prey in the dead of winter. On a cold dark night in February, as a blizzard shrieks through Cedar Valley, police officer and new mother Gemma Monroe responds to an anonymous report of a prowler at the local private high school, The Valley Academy. In her idyllic Colorado small town, Gemma expects the call was just a prank by a bored teenager. But there in the snow lies the savaged body of a man whose presence in town was meant to be a secret. And a disturbing message left by his killer promises more death to come. This is only the beginning . . . Nothing is as it seems in Cedar Valley and stories, both fact and fiction, ensnare Gemma as her investigation moves from the halls of an elite academy to the forests that surround Cedar Valley. Against a backdrop of bleak winter weather, stymied by those who would lie to protect what is dearest to them, Gemma hunts a ruthless killer before he strikes again in A Season to Lie .

Ten years ago, Lily Rose Wright gave her all to Lucas Thompson. He was her only love and childhood friend. One day, Lucas vanished without a trace. He shattered her heart and left her a part of him. Time passed, and Lily swore to have moved on with her life. Unexpectedly, Lucas returned and spared no means to force her into marrying him. With a marriage certificate, Lucas bound her relentlessly to his side and the son he left behind. Lucas promised to give Lily and their son everything their hearts desired, but will his doting ways mend the deep wounds inflicted by the past? Why did he leave in the first place? If Lily were to find out, would the truth bring them together, or would it tear them apart? *** "Come back to me, Lily. I'll give you everything you want," Lucas offered. "What I want is for you to leave me alone," Lily coldly said. Lucas chuckled. Then, he firmly replied, "Anything but that."

Attorney Seth Bader and his wife, Vicki, moved to New Hampshire in 1992. Three tumultuous years later, their marriage ended and left Vicki a broken woman, driven to the edge as Seth seduced their teenage son Joey into a violent plot to kill her in cold blood. What followed was one of the most bizarre and harrowing crime stories in New Hampshire history.