Showing results by narrator "Charlie Wood" in All Categories

After her bakery went up in flames, Maura left her homeland, Beitar, behind for the shores of the Vaporiad Sea. Though the locals warned her of the vicious sirens that made that coastline uninhabitable, she doesn’t take their warnings seriously...until an unfortunate slip sends her tumbling into the brutal, icy waves.

After running from my past for five years, I'm finally ready to face it. I miss my family, my friends, myself. I take a trip to Ghana relax and figure out how to get my life back. It doesn't get off to a great start. But paradise keeps its promise and less than a week in, I'm more relaxed than I've been in years.

I’m broken. I’m well aware of this singular fact of my life. Even as I stitch up patients, correcting their imperfections, I know that there is no cosmetic surgery that will fix what’s broken inside of me. Which is why I don’t let anyone get too close. I learned early on, most people can’t be trusted. The ones who were entrusted with protecting you can do the most harm. So I deal with life the only way I learned how. I fight. On the days when work gets to me, or the memories from my past become too much, I head to the Underground.

Returning home after a long sojourn abroad, Blu contemplates whether the time has finally come for her to put down some roots. Bryan, meanwhile, has been firmly rooted in one place and in one life for what now seems like far too long.

To the naked eye, Khan looked like your typical hustler, but that was far from the truth. He was living his best immortal life while he waited for his mate… until he laid his eyes on Choice. He knew from their first encounter that she was his. Choice was a sweet and caring young lady living her life like any other normal female her age… that was until the mysterious Khan entered her life and changed what her definition of normal was. Will Choice accept her fate or try to deter it at every turn?

Avion has the weight of the world on her shoulders. Everyone relies on her to hold it together and keep the family moving, but when she seeks a much-needed break, she stumbles into something that isn’t easy for her to get out of. Samson has the world at his fingertips and isn’t looking for a soul to share it with. When his best friend drags him out for a night of relaxation, he spots his forever. But when Avion runs off to return to her reality, he stops at nothing to find her.

Nicholas Bowers was the oldest brother of three. He has always been the protector of his siblings. He’s always been quiet and reserved. It took a long time for him to warm up and let people in. Charm Adams was always a ray of sunshine. She always saw the best in people, which was why she ignored every red flag her boyfriend presented. After unfortunate events, Charm stumbles into Bowers Brews, looking for something to ease her broken heart, where she crosses paths with Nicholas.

Nahmir had a reputation for living wild and free in the streets of Houston, Texas. As the youngest Bowers brother, he made his money and slept with whatever woman he wanted. Amora Morris had a reputation of her own. She was a dangerous woman. Her father was the leader of a notorious mob while her brothers were known criminals. Men typically steered clear of her gaze in fear of being the next target of her family.

Elias Omari exists in the darkness that clouds his mind. Cress Devereaux exists in the light that inspires her soul. Together, they create beautiful shades of gray. An arranged marriage forces two families to smooth the edges of their jagged past with the hopes of a new beginning. But can a union tainted with secrets and uncertainty promise an unbreakable alliance? The one thing that Elias and Cress share in common is family over everything, but should they continue to fight for family when that same family has never truly fought for them?

Getting pulled over on Christmas Eve isn't what Regina wants to deal with. She just wants to go home, make some red and green pudding, and maybe get in a couple of Christmas movies. But when she realizes who is pulling her over, suddenly, Regina doesn't mind so much anymore.

For Nyla Holmes, life is never easy. Two steps forward always end up turning into ten steps back. As the coldest female barber in Elite Cutz, Nyla wants to own her own shop. She plans for years and has set her sights on the perfect building. Disappointment settles in once again when she finds out that her dream has to be put on hold. The one person Nyla believes will never hurt her does the unthinkable.

Mykeisha McCall has decided that she will just be single. After countless dating disasters and terrible relationships, she had called it quits. It may be time to start adopting cats to keep her company. Before she started going to shelters, she had to make a trip to her alma mater for alumni weekend. It had been a while since she’d seen some of her college friends, and it was just the getaway she needed.

Promise Price mapped out her entire life. She graduated high school at fifteen, graduated college at eighteen, and graduated medical school at twenty-two. She was an overachiever and wanted to be the best surgeon in the state of Texas. The only thing she cared about was her career … Until she met him.

Symere, aka Dinero, has a million ways to give a woman what she needs sexually. Romantic intimacy is the one thing that he is void of. During the day, he's a financial advisor and the CEO of Fugotti Enterprise. At night, he collects bloody debts on behalf of his uncle Timothy Fugotti Sr. Symere never thought that a woman could have him so smitten. Markela literally came crashing into him, making him question his way of doing things.

Young and passionately in love, Clara and Ben Pipestone came from vastly different worlds. She was a college student, studying the indigenous people of the Great Plains. He fixed cars in the winter and followed the amateur Indian rodeo circuit all summer. Ignoring those who doomed their relationship to failure, they married, settled into their life in Bismarck, North Dakota, and had a beautiful daughter, Anna. But now, thirteen years later, Ben's alcoholism blurs his judgment and lands him in the arms of another woman.

Freedom McGurry loved Ghost like no other. Even though she was nineteen and he was a bit older, broke and trying to trap, she loved him. One night in 2009 causes her to rethink things and she disappears off the face of the earth. She leaves Ghost wondering what ever happened to his love. Liberty, Freedom’s twin, loved her man Pook. After he caught a drug case, she loved him so much that she would have held him down to the end of time. That is, until she sees another woman pregnant with his baby and wearing the same exact ring he had gifted to her.

Hailed as “The Paris Review of BIPOC literature,” Kweli Journal has been a launching pad for many of today’s most celebrated writers. This powerful anthology marks the journal’s 15th anniversary, showcasing 15 unforgettable stories curated by founder Laura Pegram. With a foreword from award-winning author Edwidge Danticat, the narratives included in this vivid anthology explore the devastation of leaving home and the struggle to adapt to reimagined lives, lost loves, distant families, and buried pasts.

Ghost and the crew are back with a whole new world of issues. While the streets are calm, their home lives are far from that. Free is carrying their son and Ghost is over the moon with the pregnancy. This is his second chance to parent and become one with Free. While they’re preparing for the birth of their son, a curveball comes out of thin air and rocks the foundation of their home. How will Free and Ghost get through this? Will she stand tall and be everything that her man needs her to be? Or will she flee again like she did all those years ago?

In the finale, everything comes to a boil. Will Zeek’s luck finally run out? Did Priest murder Zoe, or has Zoe escaped death to live another day? With everything going on, Priest hasn’t had a moment to check in with his nieces. When he finds out that his niece has a baby with the enemy, will he turn a blind eye, or will he push Kiss out there with the wolves? Kiss witnessed her uncle shooting her baby’s father and doesn’t know how to get past everything. Does Kiss decide to cut her uncle, or does she choose family over everything?

When you’re at the top, people question why. Zeek and Zoe moved to Staten Island to lay low, but instead found out that there was money to be made there. Wanting Ghost’s position in the street, they’re willing to do whatever to get it, including killing whoever means the most to him. When Zeek makes a call that he thought would end Ghost, but could possible end him too … what happens? Ghost wants to know who would try him and his family this way?