Showing results by narrator "Jasmin Walker" in All Categories

Empress reigns as 1930’s Chicago’s cunning Queen Pin, yet sultry Dulce Ella Monroe still longs for freedom from oppression her criminal empire provides. But when rivals threaten all that the influential and glamorous Empress built, her last hope of defense walks through the door in sharp-shooting ex-lover Snipes Creed, now a foe for hire bound to the enemy.

Trillionaire Igbal Renz has constructed a starship capable of making the twentyyear journey to Alpha Centauri. So why is he stopping at barely one-tenth that distance, with a cargo of a hundred frozen scientists and diplomats? Rumors abound that Renz Ventures, Inc., has made contact with … something.

It's the most wonderful time of the year—for everyone except Starr Lewis. As if going home for the holidays jobless and single wasn't bad enough, she's dragged into a holiday season full of activities leading up to her sister's uber-romantic Christmas Eve wedding—to Starr's ex-boyfriend. But when her brother's best friend, Waylon Emmerson, attends their family Thanksgiving, she starts to wonder if maybe coming home for Christmas isn't so bad after all.

From the moment she picked up a tennis racquet, Coco Gauff was destined for greatness. Her parents believed so strongly in her future, they turned their lives upside down to make sure she had every opportunity to play the game she loved. One of the world’s most prominent coaches thought so highly of Coco’s talent, he brought her to train in France before she was even old enough for high school. And when she reached the fourth round at Wimbledon as a fifteen-year-old, she beat her idol Venus Williams in the first round, becoming an international sensation in the blink of an eye.

Ever since the day when everything changed, Cal Scott’s answer has been to run - run from her mother, who’s fighting cancer, run from her father, whom she can’t forgive, and run from those classmates who never seemed to “get” her. The only thing Cal runs toward is nearby Mount Meteorite, named for the extraterrestrial object some claim crashed there 50 years ago. Cal spends her afternoons plotting to summit the mountain so she can find the magic she believes will make possible the impossible: to heal her mother. But no one has successfully reached its peak.

For once, everything in Maya's life is falling perfectly into place. She's getting serious media cred uncovering the source of a new designer drug doing major glitterati damage. And the new man in her life is giving Maya all the cool bling and attention she craves off-camera. But the truth behind her scoop is about to cut too close to home — and put Maya and her family in the crosshairs. Soon, she'll have to decide just how far she can afford to go to save her family, her career…and herself.

Gossip show Rumor Central has gone beyond Miami to national syndication. So now's the time for Maya Morgan to really make her brand blow up. But her brand starts to blow up in her face when a super-fan takes over her online life, trashing her reputation and putting her gossip future at risk. Now Maya will need every down-and-dirty move - and a little help from her frenemies - to manage this disaster and save everything she's dished so hard to get.

Bossy bank executive Senalda breaks down men from business to bed no holds barred. Hip hop PR guru Jarena praises the Lord and pursues married men with equal persistence. Famous and infamous radio personality Mimi fights with her fans and for the love of her on-and-off-again boyfriend. But when an ABC News Nightline report, "Single, Black, Female - and Plenty of Company" asks why can't a successful Black woman find a man, the friends are suddenly hyper-aware of their inclusion in the sad statistic: 42 percent of Black women who have never been married.

The teen reality show Miami Divas made media sensations out of Miami's richest "in" crowd - and Maya Morgan is one of them. Now, Maya's been offered her very own show, and she'll do whatever it takes to step up the fame she's worked so hard for - and that includes spilling some secrets her friends wish were left buried. But as Maya gives up the goods for the sake of ratings, someone will do anything to shut her up. Between back-stabbing lies and hard truths, this gossip girl has only one chance to make things right...before it's too late.

For fashion designer Renee Rothchild, a friendship with marine Greg Bowman was always safer than imagining a future together. The stress of dating a military man might trigger the panic disorder she’s worked so hard to manage. Greg says he’s ready to leave the military, but he loves his job, and she can’t let him give it up for her. Can Greg convince Renee that despite their differences, they do belong together?

Multiple times a day, in cities across the US and beyond, a simple yet powerful message is repeated by the well-meaning, the ignorant, and the bigoted: “don’t go”—avoid at all costs those Black and Brown disinvested neighborhoods that have become bywords for social disorder and urban decay. This book is a collection of intimate stories that uncover the hidden influence of both subtle and overt “don’t go” messages and the segregation they perpetuate in Chicago.

Different sports. Different backgrounds. Different barriers to break. One thing in common: they got there first … fearlessly. Hear about more than 50 athletes who took risks, overcame the odds, and changed the rules. From historical figures to modern trailblazers, these athletes never gave up, wouldn’t take no for an answer, and transformed the world of sports forever.

In the past year, Hasani has learned she’s a witch, been accepted by Les Belles Demoiselles, and formed her own coven—and her YouTube followers for her makeup channel are growing every day. Now that she’s in eighth grade, she’s ready to rule the school with all her witch powers and best friends by her side. But frenemy LaToya is still at Riverbend Middle causing trouble, both magically and socially. LaToya’s determined to befriend every single possible witch at school (and turn them against Hasani), and Hasani can’t help but wonder if she’s got another scheme going

This wry collection of Hanukkah noir features eleven stories by critically acclaimed authors that run the gamut from hardboiled to heartfelt, curated by New York Times bestselling author Tod Goldberg. Across eleven stories, award-winning authors spin tales of family, corruption, buried treasure and delightful yet twisted capers that will entertain listeners through all eight nights of the Festival of Lights.

While the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, white southerners established a system of apprenticeship after the Civil War that entrapped Black children and their families, leading to undue hardships for generations to come. In Slavery After Slavery, historian Mary Frances Berry traces the stories behind individual cases from southern supreme courts to demonstrate how formerly enslaved families and their descendants were systemically injured through white supremacist practices, perpetuated by the legal system.

Madison loves helping people. So when it’s time for her class to plan an activism project, she knows this is her chance to prove she’s a leader. But when her ideas get shot down, she starts to feel small … really small. In fact, Madison turns into a mouse! Madison is panicked. Leaders do NOT have squeaky voices, whiskers, and tails! To change back, she will have to prove to others, and to herself, just what tiny beings can do—but first, she has to avoid getting stepped on.

On Mermaid Day, the mer-queen throws a fin-tastic party! She decorates her underwater castle and creatures of all kinds swim inside to celebrate together. Dolphins dance, narwhals play ring toss, and as night falls, the guests prepare to say goodnight to a mer-mazing day. But are all welcome to celebrate under the sea?

Simone Alexander didn't mean to end up back in school. She's a chef, and a pretty good one at that but when she finds herself without a job or money, she asks a Magic 8 Ball if she should go to law school. Much to her chagrin, it says yes. When Simone cruises onto campus, she assumes she won't have to work too hard to do well. She never has before. But law school is not what she expected: the professors are intimidating, the classes grueling, and the other students seem to have their lives all mapped out.

In a world gone wrong, heroes and villains are not always easy to distinguish and every individual has the ability to contribute something powerful. In this stunning collection of original and rediscovered stories of tragedy and hope, the stars are a diverse group of students, street kids, good girls, kidnappers, and child laborers pitted against their environments, their governments, differing cultures, and sometimes one another as they seek answers in their dystopian worlds.

Best friends Loli Crawford and Ryan Pope have earned their nickname, the “Bonnie and Clyde of Woolridge High.” From illegal snack swapping in kindergarten to reckless car surfing in high school, they have been causing trouble in their uptight California town forever. But everyone knows that the mischief starts with Loli; when it comes to chasing thrills, drama, and adventure, no one is on her level. At least until Loli throws the wildest party Woolridge High has ever seen and meets X, a strange, unidentified boy in the coat closet, who challenges her to a game she can’t refuse.