Showing results by narrator "R. A. Stephens" in All Categories

You have likely heard stories from friends, family members, and colleagues who quit a job because of a toxic person. You may not have realized that these individuals not only take their tolls on our emotional psyches, but also the financial outcomes of their organizations. Through this book's many case examples, as well as evidence-based practices and templates, each chapter singles out one main issue and how to resolve it with respect and clarity. Dr. Kusy presents concrete practices that will restore civility and respect into your organization.

The arbitrary lines of zoning maps across the country have come to dictate where Americans may live and work, forcing cities into a pattern of growth that is segregated and sprawling. The good news is that reform is in the air, with states across the country critically reevaluating zoning. In cities as diverse as Minneapolis, Fayetteville, and Hartford, the key pillars of zoning are under fire, with apartment bans being scrapped, minimum lot sizes dropping, and off-street parking requirements disappearing altogether.

Free-market economists often have noted that there are winners and losers in a competitive capitalist world. The question of how to deal with the difficult real-life consequences faced by the losers, however, has largely been ignored. Populist politicians have tried repeatedly to address the issue by creating walls - of both the physical and economic kinds - to insulate communities and keep competition at bay. Economist Glenn Hubbard argues that because they delay needed adaptations to the ever-changing world, walls are essentially backward-looking and ultimately destined to fail.

If Atlanta falls, Witchlock will sweep the country in a bloodbath. After finally earning her place among the Beladors, Evalle is navigating the ups and downs of her new life with Storm when she's sucked into a power play between her Belador tribe and the Medb coven. Both groups claim possession of the Alterants-turned-gryphons, especially Evalle, the gryphon leader. But an influx of demons and dark witches into Atlanta threatens to unleash war between covens.

For Tristan, holidays rate just above having his fingernails ripped off. He's never had someone special to share the holidays with and doubts he ever will, but December does matter to the other half-blood Belador Alterants stuck alongside him on Treoir Island. To help his friends, Tristan has been secretly teleporting them to Atlanta for short visits. Sure, the Belador goddess warned him not to teleport in and out of Treoir's hidden realm without her permission, but she ranks below holidays for Tristan. Screw her.

Being a great leader means getting the fundamentals right. It also means consistently doing the "little things" that make a positive difference in the lives of employees, customers, and other stakeholders. The Busy Leader's Handbook: How to Lead People and Places That Thrive is a practical, easy-to-use book filled with gentle reminders of what we should be doing every day - especially when work is at its most intense.

Your mouth is the gateway to your body and is the most critical organ for improving your health, from childhood onward. Your mouth is a window into the health of your body as a whole; from its microbiome to its structure, it impacts your physical and mental wellness in countless ways. Unfortunately, the mouth-body connection has been largely neglected by American medicine . . . until now. In this groundbreaking work, Dr. Hoss connects the dots between oral health and whole-body health, offering a roadmap to a longer, more successful future for you and your family.

Nick Mehta and Robin Van Lieshout deliver an actionable playbook on how to cultivate meaningful communities that fuel quantifiable business growth. In the book, you'll learn how to capitalize on this new growth strategy to scale your company and develop excitement around your products and your firm. The authors outline the ten foundational Laws of Community, explaining why community development does not need to be expensive and how to integrate community in the heart of your customer journey.

Evalle cheated death after Storm and her friends pulled her from a brutal imprisonment in another realm only to now end up unable to shift into her gryphon. Against his better judgment, Storm agrees to hold off on bonding while they travel to Arizona to help his uncle figure out what is behind an unnatural death on the reservation. The more powers Evalle loses, the more she realizes linking to Storm could be lethal. As the investigation takes an unexpected turn, Evalle jumps at a chance to regain her gryphon and powers in an all-or-none gamble, but makes a deadly mistake.

Belador Maistir, Vladimir Quinn, has yet to locate his daughter and now his worst fears have come to fruition. A vicious enemy hot on her trail plans to turn his child into an apocalyptic weapon. Quinn doesn't even know what the young girl looks like or where her deceased mother hid her. He knows of only one woman - a remote viewer - who might be able to help, but Reese Ó Rinn has vanished into thin air, literally. A powerful entity is determined to push the Belador dragon king, Daegan, and the entire preternatural world into the open.

A vivid and enlightening oral history of homelessness in the Las Vegas storm drains and the hard work of reentering mainstream society. Dark Days, Bright Nights is the follow-up to the best-selling Beneath the Neon and shares the harrowing stories of Sin City's most marginalized people, from bottoming out in homelessness to mending relationships with family and adjusting to jobs, housing, and sobriety.

Trapped waist-deep in a flooded tunnel, Casidhe faces a new threat when Cathbad finds her, forcing her to gamble with her unpredictable sword. After Skarde attacked the gryphon village, a furious Daegan is no longer willing to show mercy to ice dragon shifters. Quinn, Reese, and the Beladors go after the demon-maker flooding Atlanta with predators, which backfires when Reese is faced with an unimaginable choice. Adrianna tries to work with Sen to escape their imprisonment, but he snubs her offer a moment before he shouldn’t have.

Fourteen mysteries to test your inner sleuth! This collection includes "The Stolen White Elephant" by Mark Twain, narrated by Mauro Hantman; "The Fenchurch Street Mystery" by Baroness Orczy, narrated by Davina Porter; "Problem of the Superfluous Finger" by Jacques Futrelle, narrated by Stephen R. Thorne; "The Blue Sequin" by R. Austin Freeman, narrated by Simon Vance; "An Intangible Clue" by Anna Katharine Green, narrated by Angela Brazil; and "The Oblong Box" by Edgar Allan Poe, narrated by Mauro Hantman, among others.

If there's one thing that's certain in business, it's uncertainty; still, some companies perform reliably and with excellence in spite of changing circumstances. Predictable Results in Unpredictable Times is about four essentials for getting great performance in good times and bad.

While investigating a report of unusual supernatural activity, Belador Alterant Evalle Kincaid suspects a threat stalking her. She unwittingly races into a trap and faces the impossible - she must fight her dragon king to the death, and win, or condemn everyone she loves to die. As a Skinwalker and unmatched preternatural tracker, Storm regrets his patience in waiting to permanently bond with his mate Evalle when she vanishes and even he can't follow her trail.

Casidhe discovers she doesn’t know Daegan at all. While Daegan battles to survive a satyr attack, a preternatural being offers him a chance to live, but at a price only a dying man would take. Reese is blindsided by the one person she thought she could depend upon at her worst moment. Atlanta is overrun by demons being created by an unknown supernatural with a hidden agenda, and Daegan’s time to save three Beladors facing execution by a VIPER Tribunal runs out.

Daegan is running out of time to find the destructive dragon impersonating him and the woman who claims to be the Treoir family squire, but Casidhe has no intention of being caught. She’s racing to find her best friend, believed captured by a deadly being. With Atlanta reeling from supernaturals being revealed, the Beladors are battling to protect humans while losing their own to Imortiks possessing any warm body, human or nonhuman. Hunting answers in Ireland lands Tristan somewhere he quickly realizes epitomizes a fate worse than death.

While the Imortik venom continues to drain Daegan, his dragon confronts the dragon pretending to be his who wants Daegan dead. Casidhe finds a lead on a grimoire volume without Daegan around to stop her from a decision that turns out nothing like she expects. Tristan pays a heavy price for trying to escape spelled manacles. Atlanta is invaded by an influx of demons being driven by an unknown player while VIPER headquarters is attacked, resulting in a dangerous backlash from Tribunal deities.

Daegan is given an unconscionable task to execute before he’ll be told how to find the last grimoire volume. Casidhe jumps at learning the truth of her bloodline, only to discover a deadly surprise. While running solo, Reese angers the Imortik master who sends two possessed Beladors to drag her to him. Human military lock on Evalle and her Belador team racing to stop preternatural threats. With one last hope of surviving, Cathbad goes all-in and encounters a battle he never planned for. The Imortik master escalates his plans sooner than anyone expected.

Daegan and Casidhe are tested at every turn by angry immortals when they appear uninvited in a place with no exits. An expected change of events devastates Daegan’s hope of gaining the second grimoire volume and shatters Casidhe’s trust. Faced with becoming a monster, Adrianna gambles with the ancient Witchlock power capable of cataclysmic results and becomes collateral damage. Possessed by an Imortik, Reese runs to keep Quinn safe and finds a way to save others even though she can’t save herself.