Showing results by author "Jessica" in All Categories

Meet Heaven: a young girl who is loving, submissive, and beyond appreciative of her husband, Ross. As a teenager, Heaven lived solely for her sister, Divine, and her daughter, Sunshine. Because her mother is mentally ill and her father ran off, Heaven had to do some unimaginable things just to feed the family. Then came Ross, and everything changed. He wasn't some filthy rich, dope boy that some young girls dream of, but Heaven felt like Ross was her blessing.

When teachers learn through inquiry, they teach through inquiry. Typical models of training and professional development focus on telling. It's a model that often trickles down to classrooms where the traditional way of "doing school" limits how educators teach and students learn. Fortunately, a better way to learn is through wonder, agency, and inquiry. From Leading with a Lens of Inquiry administrators, educational instructors, and peer leaders learn how to cultivate learning spaces that ignite curiosity and inspire critical thinking in adult and student learners alike.

I know Benjamin’s new business is in trouble, that he desperately needs your money. I saw the way Gwyn looked at him at your wedding reception, finding any excuse to be close, to laugh too loudly at his jokes. After all, she always wanted your perfect life. But don’t worry, Madeline. I won’t let it end like this. I can see everything from my place in the shadows between the trees. With their house lit up, they are on display. I’ll bide my time and worm my way into their home, their lives. They will never know the truth about who I am.

Hey there, darling! My name is Jess. There was a time that all I wanted in the world was a little farm where I could raise my family and grow our food. Now, that's exactly what exists outside my door. In watching it unfold, a new dream was formed in my heart – to share this beautiful life with others and teach them the lessons we've learned along the way. Welcome to the Roots and Refuge podcast, friend. I am so glad you're here.

Blair Ackerman is a girl with crazy hair and a bad attitude. She's a girl who doesn't care what anyone thinks of her. She's a girl with only a duffel bag and a car named Nancy to her name, and that's okay by her. She's tough because she has to be. Nobody gets inside her head, nobody gets inside her heart. Silver is everything she's never wanted. He's a good guy, a smart guy, a guy who's never met a girl like her before. He's the kind of guy who loves history, who laughs at his own jokes, who kisses like a sinful dream. Too bad he's forbidden.

Detective Rainey Astor has run headfirst into danger for as long as she can remember. Her trip to Salem was no different, and although she and Elijah are back in Billings, nothing could have prepared them for the repercussions they will face upon their return home. Determined to get back to normal despite the fact that everything's changed, Rainey dives back into work at the same time bodies of dead witches start popping up all over town. Their ritualistic style murders scream sacrifice, but there's something darker at work.

Now that her father has moved in, her daughter is finally settled, and her bakery is everything she dreamed it could be, Cassie should be able to sit back and enjoy her new life as a magical baker. But a string of disasters are disrupting business, her magic is going wonky, and her burgeoning relationship with the deputy sheriff is threatening her already shaky stability.

Deva Kent spent most of her life dreaming of escaping. She hated being forced to live among the Fellowship of the Enlightened, the small community closed off from the rest of the world, and was desperate to spread her wings and discover something new. When she applied to be a nanny for a single father and his two-year-old son, the Fellowship wasn't happy, but she knew that was her fresh start. However, she never thought she'd end up falling for the man with more baggage than he could carry and storm clouds in his eyes.

In the fabled land of Naipon, there is no warrior more feared, no samurai more respected than the legendary Tomoe Gozen. Her twin blades can change the course of any battle. After years of service to Lord Shigeno, she is about to renew her oath of loyalty when the sky darkens and a cry of rebellion comes from the hills. Possessed by an evil wizard, the peasants are marching against their master.

They lost the battle. Now it's time for war. What they feared has come to pass, and now, stuck in the center of an ancient war, Sienna and Daxon set out in search of a mythical stone that's rumored to have the ability to reshape their world. The magick's want it destroyed. The non-magicks want to cleanse the realm. And as an enemy unlike any they've ever faced sets its sights on plunging the realm into never-ending darkness, our heroes are faced with the impossible task of eliminating the threat, once and for all.

This is a story of humiliation, seduction, and torture, which reveals how I turned a man in to my slave! I am a normal girl with a sadistic streak, and I love the feeling of breaking a man!

First love. First guy I slept with. First heartbreak when he dumped me without explanation. A decade later, it’s just my luck he’s the first guy I run into after moving back to my hometown of Charleston. Three piece suit, tie, and a watch worth more than my car—being a mogul looks good on Ford. So does being a doting dad to his adorable four-year-old daughter. I tell myself I can resist him. But one impulsive, ill-advised kiss later, and Ford is in hot pursuit.

I've got darkness in my past that I can no longer keep buried. When Daimon finds out the truth, he's going to drop me and run. I shouldn't be falling for my brother's best friend, but I can't stop my feelings from growing. I want him. No, I need him. He's becoming my everything and I have no idea how to be without him. But that choice might not be mine. Once he finds out the truth about me, he's going to walk away because the truth is I'm broken, I'm damaged and my past is coming back to haunt me.

How do we model abundance and generosity — in teaching, in learning, in leading organizations, particularly non-profits — when dealing with fiscal austerity and other forms of scarcity thinking? Hope Circuits explores this question, presenting sophisticated ideas that support democratizing higher education for everybody.

Three Israeli women, their lives altered by immigration to the United States, seek to overcome crises.

When I’m captured by the dark elves and taken before their king, my first thought is of escape. The moment our eyes meet, King Varys claims I am his fated one—his Khio’ri. Humans and elves have been enemies for centuries, but his people believe that a soulbond woven by fate cannot be undone.

I know Tuck Monroe is trouble the second I walk in to interview for the nanny position. Six-four and covered in tattoos, he's distractingly hot. He's also grumpy as hell. But I need to pay for school, so I take a job as his daughter's live-in caretaker and move into the apartment above his garage. I fall hard for Katie, his adorable four-year-old. But I never expected to fall for my new boss, who's a decade older than I am. Turns out there's a heart of gold beneath Tuck's broody exterior, one I work to reveal bit by bit.

Enter Luke Rodgers. My brother’s best friend. Former major league baseball player. A guy who now hangs out on his farm, sweaty and shirtless, as he nurses a shoulder injury. If the rumors are true, he also likes to work up a sweat behind closed doors. A total MVP in the sack. Just the take charge guy I’m looking for.

Rico didn't get to be a mafia capo by trusting easily, but he never expected his newest employee, Kick, to be a threat. The meat shop he runs is a perfect front to launder the family's money, but when a violent robbery leaves Kick hurt and shaken, Rico's control begins to slip. Drawn by a need to protect her, he finds himself opening up in ways he's never dared—and growing close to the one person who could ruin everything.

These days, high-quality coffee can taste all kinds of ways, thanks to roasting techniques that help draw out the qualities of the bean. In addition to that characteristic coffee taste, you really can find hints of fruit, chocolate, and nuts in your cup—all it takes is a little knowledge, a little practice, and the ability to slow down and savor. In How to Taste Coffee, bestselling author Jessica Easto explains why flavor notes are not always as straightforward with coffee as they are with other beverages, such as wine, beer, and spirits.