Showing results by narrator "Michael Curtis" in All Categories

After nightmares begin in the small town of Custer Falls, Montana, in 1992, it’ll be thirty years before they end. Just outside of Custer Falls, something is sleeping. Life in the small town was never ideal, but it was safe, quiet, and predictable. After Wes Henson and his friends’ field trip to Bloodtooth Caverns, all of that changes. All they did was stray off the path.

Grayson Reed is into me. We are each other's fiercest opponents in the rink. But now, Grayson's eyes are stripping me down whenever we cross each other's paths. I don't mind being the object of another guy's desire, but I also refuse to jump into a stranger's bed so quickly. It's just that I'm not really dating material. And of all the guys on Earth, Grayson Reed is the last person I would give a chance. But if there is one thing everyone knows about Gray, it's that he is not a quitter.

After a fire consumes the Heller Home for Children, the residents of Morganville, North Carolina thought they knew evil.... They were wrong.

It all started with a discovery. A cave beneath a waterfall that held a crystal. Two boys—best friends—embark on a journey they’re told will help all mankind. As the years go by, their friendship turns to love, and their adventure turns into a battle. Drew Langly is the keeper of the crystal. With his contact, the crystal allows them to jump to different timestreams and help, if they can, to further that society or fix anything that improves their lives. When he’s ripped from the timestream, it’s the beginning of what will change everything they’ve come to know.

Years of rivalry and quiet resentment finally come to boiling and one of us isn’t leaving this hotel room alive. Until big words are said. And crazy actions taken. And we’re no longer fighting, even if it sort of looks like a wrestling match. Turns out, I’ve got no problem with Caden kissing guys when I’m the guy he kisses. But… I’m straight, right?

Dispatches from the AIDS Pandemic is a unique firsthand account from three public health leaders of CDC's early response to AIDS. Drawing in part on interviews from the CDC's AIDS oral history project, the authors trace the evolution of AIDS from newly recognized disease to pandemic.

An hour after meeting a hot stranger at a bar, Max is with him on the rooftop of his Manhattan apartment, making out. Just five minutes later, Max is bolting back down twelve flights of stairs, hoping never to see him again. So the last person Max wants to turn up at his best friend’s wedding – where he is official Gay of Honour to the bride – is that very same hot stranger. Or for him to be a Best Man too – for the groom. Now the co-Best Men are in a fight to the death over who will be the actual best.

Since being thrown out by his parents, Caden has been struggling to survive on the streets. He finds an unlocked car and settles in to sleep, but is soon interrupted when someone steals the car. With little choice but to ride along, Caden soon learns that first impressions aren’t always correct. Damario has been raising his little brother and sister by himself since his parents were deported. He finds himself stealing cars to make ends meet, but he never expected to find someone sleeping in the back of one of them. And he really didn’t expect this stowaway to change his life.

Rio and Caden met under harsh circumstances when they were both teenagers trying to survive on their own. Together, they’ve made a family for themselves, and now they have a chance to add one more—a child of their own. When Caden’s sister offers to be their surrogate, they’re overjoyed. Now, if they can navigate nine months of pregnancy hormones, morning sickness, and mood swings, everything will be easy—until one little newborn arrives and keeps them busier than they ever imagined possible. Nine months seemed tough, but the first 12 will be even more challenging.

American Indians remain familiar as icons, yet poorly understood as historical agents. In this ambitious book that ranges across Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, and eastern California (a region known as the Great Basin), Ned Blackhawk places Native peoples squarely at the center of a dynamic and complex story as he chronicles two centuries of Indian and imperial history that profoundly shaped the American West.

Zookeeper Fred loves snakes, but his favorite is a tiny green snake named Vern. Vern is sneaky and constantly tries to hide in Fred’s lunch. When Vern gets loose in the zoo and lands atop a boy’s head, it’s trouble! A few citizens demand that all the snakes must go, and the Mayor closes the zoo until City Council decides what to do. Is Vern a menace? Are the snakes a danger to society, or are they a valuable resource for everyone? And who gets to decide? The Questioneers need all their talents to help Zookeeper Fred, but in the end, it’s Aaron’s art that leads the way.

Summer, 1989. It is a time for splashing in the lake and exploring the wilderness, for nine teenagers to bond together and create friendships that could last the rest of their lives. But among this group there is a young man with a secret—a secret that, in this time and place, is unthinkable to his peers. When the others discover the truth, it will change each of them forever. They will all have blood on their hands. Odd Man Out is a heart-wrenching tale of bullies and bigotry, a story that explores what happens when good people don't stand up for what's right.

This audiobook coins the term "noble automation" as combining intelligent automation technology with the inspired and insightful leadership necessary to help humans become heroes. Doing so stimulates a wave of human innovation and taps into the incredible potential of people working toward inspiring goals. Companies profit, and people thrive. The benefits of implementing noble automation include freeing people to be more human by removing drudgery, providing insights, and allowing us the time and energy to feel, think, empathize, and connect.

Joey Crow and Caleb Hollings first see each other across the rural Oregon country road that separates the farms they live on. Joey, an orphaned Native American boy, has come to live with his grandparents on their farm after the mysterious disappearance of his parents from the local reservation. Caleb is the only son of devoutly Christian parents. The Crow Flies Free follows the two young men in the summer of their 18th birthdays as they begin to recognize their loving friendship has grown into a deeper kind of love.

Intersexion is a life-giving true story about choosing between social acceptance or health, fear or authenticity. Cynthia, an adjunct professor with a trunk full of ungraded papers and snack wrappers, has been an LGBTQIA+ ally for years—in convenient ways. She enjoys the company of her queer friends—but her support isn’t risky; it hasn’t cost her anything. Until she meets Danny.

Charming Taylor Samuels doesn't expect his sister's video audition for the reality television show The World Traveler to result in anything. But when they're chosen to compete, he can do nothing but hope for the best. Adam Scott's best friend wants them to try to get on The World Traveler, and so Adam reluctantly agrees to make him happy. As the reality sets in that they'll competing, Adam tries not to panic too much. Little do they know that a twist in the show will see Taylor and Adam's worlds collide in a way they never imagined.

Grace Cromwell lives behind a cool, regal façade to mask the intense pain suffered in her past. Armed with an inner strength that others underestimate, she’s ready to restore peace to the world. Notions of her own happy ever after vanished years ago, even if her heart reserves a small space for the man who claimed it before the world was destroyed. Tristan Holder has one mission: to vanquish the evil dictator Luthor Cromwell from their ravaged dystopian world. Blinded by his need for revenge, he almost overlooks the woman Grace has become.

Gay bars have been closing by the hundreds. The story goes that increasing mainstream acceptance of LGBTQ+ people, plus dating apps, have rendered these spaces obsolete. Beyond that, rampant gentrification in big cities has pushed gay bars out of the neighborhoods they helped make hip. Who Needs Gay Bars? considers these narratives, accepting that the answer for some might be: maybe nobody. Greggor Mattson embarks on a journey across the country to paint a much more complex picture of the cultural significance of these spaces, inside "big four" gay cities, but also beyond them.

Arianna Lawson has one goal: help her sister defeat the Sendaxa regime and live a solemn existence free from the chaos of their dystopian world. Life has taught her hard lessons about pain and loss, and she has no desire to open herself to love—even for the strong, stoic man who consumes her every thought.

When life has taught you to hide, can you ever spread your wings in the light? Writing songs has always been the way that Beatrice Cipriani processes the world around her, but as a painful introvert, none of those songs are ever performed. She excels at being invisible—she’s the best server in a fancy restaurant. Sometimes, though, it feels like she’s dying a little more with every passing day. Easton Moorland has finally made it big, but with a public company comes a board that has demands. As the chairman of a luxury brand, all eyes are on him, and they want him to look the part.