Showing results by narrator "Eleanor McCormick" in All Categories

Lo Summers's life is falling apart. In a matter of weeks, she's lost her job and her home. To top it all off, she has a chronic illness and no health insurance. Then a photo of Lo looking cozy with her friend, Weston King, a famous YouTube star, goes viral, and it forces them to confront a past they tucked away a long time ago.

In the days leading up to Christmas, struggling actress Esther Diamond is working as a singing-and-dancing elf at Fenster & Co, a major Manhattan department store. As if dealing with hordes of holiday shoppers isn't bad enough, Esther's ex-almost-boyfriend, Detective Connor Lopez, is on the scene investigating a series of mob-related truck hijackings of Fenster's merchandise. Semi-retired hitman Lucky Battistuzzi is also nosing around, since the mob resents being implicated in thefts they didn't commit. 

One girls’ trip. One push from a cliff. One betrayal she never saw coming. For Quinn, the trip should have been simple—laughter, memories, and a chance to reconnect with her four closest college friends. But when she’s shoved from a cliff overlooking the ocean, everything changes. Miraculously, she survives the fall. The bigger question is why—and who among them wanted her gone. As Quinn struggles to recover with the help of strangers, questions consume her every thought. The faces of her friends haunt her; what once felt like trust now feels like betrayal.

In Falls Landing, Florida-a place built of theme parks, swampy lakes, and scorched bougainvillea flowers-something sinister lurks in the deep. A gang of thirteen-year-old girls obsessively orbit around the local preacher's daughter, Sammy. She is mesmerizing, older, and in love with Eddie. But suddenly, Sammy goes missing. Where is she? Watching from a distance, they edge ever closer to discovering a dark secret about their fame-hungry town and the cruel cost of a ticket out. What they uncover will continue to haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Historian Nora Zvezda is gunning for a promotion at the Chicago Field Museum. The discovery of two ancient Greek weapons unlike any she's seen before might be her big break—but the artifacts are more than they seem. Trying to uncover their secrets, Nora enlists the help of professor of ancient languages, Dr. Adam Scott, an undeniably handsome man of intrigue. Nora has been too busy to worry about romance, but Adam seems to be overflowing with charm—and secrets, the biggest being his rank among the Eteria, a secret society of powerful sorcerers.

You're probably aware that generative AI can output quality text and create stunning images in seconds. But smart managers are now using gen AI for high-level work—problem-solving, driving innovation, strategic thinking, and dozens of other applications. Managers who develop their generative AI capabilities will soon be leaping ahead of those who don't. Fortunately, you can start today and see immediate results. The HBR Guide to Generative AI for Managers is packed with practical tips, prompts, and case studies to accelerate and improve countless aspects of your work.

At the heart of dealing with difficult people is handling their—and your own—emotions. How do you stay calm in a tough conversation? How do you stay unruffled in the face of passive-aggressive comments? And how do you know if you're difficult to work with? This book explains the research behind our emotional response to awful colleagues and shows how to build the empathy and resilience to make those relationships more productive.

Dustin Bridges has always had two things he could count on—his fearless instincts behind the wheel and the support of his two best friends, Tommy and Hannah Judge. Dustin brought the speed. Tommy, the brains. And Hannah . . . she was the glue that held everyone together. Together, they were unstoppable. From the dirt tracks of their youth to the late-night drag races under a desert moon as teens, the Judge siblings pushed and watched in awe as their friend edged closer to his dream. Always racing, always running. That was Dustin's gift and curse.

Twelve-year-old Sarah Greene wants nothing more from her seventh-grade year than to beat the hardest escape room left in her town with her best friends, West, and Hannah. But when a foreclosure notice shows up on Sarah's front door, everything changes. Since her father became ill two years ago, things have been bad, but not lose your house bad . . . until now.

It's been just over a year since Sarah, Hannah, and West made it through the epic funhouse that changed their lives forever. Since then, the three best friends have been working for Mr. William Taters, the owner of that very funhouse, renamed The Delta Game, and completing every challenging escape room they can. But then a strange invitation shows up from the ominous and cryptic owner of a new funhouse―The Mystery Mansion.

It's 1935, and tuberculosis is ravaging the nation. Everyone is afraid of this deadly respiratory illness. But what happens when you actually have it? When Halle and her mother both come down with TB, they are shunned—and then they are sent to the J.N. Adam Tuberculosis Hospital: far from home, far from family, far from the world.

In the colorful chaos of New Orleans, Chase Harlem has three essentials for happiness: her trusted red Converse, a reliable taser, and a good sense of humor to survive it all. All she wants is a simple life–morning jogs in cemeteries, jazz that soothes the soul, and enough quirky cases to pay the bills without summoning her FBI past. But when a priest waltzes into her office with a divine mandate to crack a grisly double homicide involving an LSU football star and his actress girlfriend, Chase's plans for peace get thrown out like last week's gumbo.

All Ginny Anderson wants from her summer is to sleep in, attend a mystery writing workshop, and spend time with her best friend. But when Ginny's father—a respected restoration expert in Chicago—surprises the family with a month-long trip to Michigan, everything changes. They aren't staying in a hotel like most families would. No, they're staying in a mansion. A twenty-six room, century-old building surrounded by dense forest. Woodmoor Manor.

When twenty-five-year-old Danika Delaney, black sheep of the Delaney clan, returns home to Long Island to take over Jimmie's, her eccentric uncle's old fashioned malt shop on eastern Long Island, she's not exactly thrilled. But things start to look up when her uncle tells her she can do whatever she'd like with the shop, and it seems she might realize her dream of a small trendy cafe. That is, until she discovers the body of her ex-boyfriend's estranged wife in a melted puddle of rocky road in the malt shop basement.

Listening is a critical skill that leaders and managers often take for granted. By learning to listen mindfully, you can keep your employees more engaged, foster the discovery of new ideas, and hear what you need to hear in a discussion rather than what you expect to hear. Mindful Listening will teach you what great listeners do, how to stay fully present in challenging conversations, and how empathic listening can help others learn and grow.

Willow is alone, confined to a bed with restraints. She can't remember how she got there . . . or how long she's been there. An old lady appears in her room to feed her twice a day. Granny doesn't talk, but Willow can hear thumping from somewhere beyond her door. It's not Granny's shuffling steps. It's too loud to be Granny's cat. Is it someone? Something? Then Granny's cat dies in Willow's room. And Granny follows a few days later. Willow will do anything to survive. But freeing herself from her bed is only the beginning . . .

Eleven-year-old Bevvy spends her time avoiding other kids, playing with her neighbor’s kittens, and escaping into her fantasy novels. When new girl Cat arrives at school, Bevvy thinks she may finally have found a friend, until Cat provokes Bevvy’s worst tormentor and leaves her alone to deal with the consequences. Later, on Bevvy’s doorstep, Cat’s apology is cut short when a car with dark windows rolls up. Bolting into a nearby wood with Bevvy in tow, Cat proceeds to open a hole, in the air, just in time.

As a television reporter and double amputee, Odelle is used to having to prove herself. But fighting against the physical incarnation of evil for the fate of the world certainly raises the stakes.

Ellie Bates is in big trouble. When her parents, the owners of the apartment complex she manages, tell her she's on her last strike, Ellie knows she can't break any more rules or risk getting fired. She needs to tread very, very carefully or chance falling straight through this thin ice beneath her feet. That's easier said than done when Camden Lane moves into her complex and starts flipping her world upside down. But dating residents is off-limits and getting close to him is a rule she's not willing to break.

HBR's Emotional Intelligence series features smart, essential listening on the human side of professional life from the pages of Harvard Business Review. Each book in the series offers proven research showing how our emotions impact our work lives, practical advice for managing difficult people and situations, and inspiring essays on what it means to tend to our emotional well-being at work.