Showing results by narrator "Leon James" in All Categories

The music that would come to be known as hip-hop was born at a party in the Bronx in the summer of 1973. Now, fifty years later, it’s the most popular music genre in America. Just as jazz did in the first half of the twentieth century, hip-hop and its groundbreaking DJs and artists—nearly all of them people of color from some of America’s most overlooked communities—pushed the boundaries of music to new frontiers, while transfixing the country’s youth and reshaping fashion, art, and even language.

I’m on Prillon Prime for a surprise party. Me, the unmated Earth girl, a guest of the queen! I want to dress up and have fun. Not trip over my own two feet and fall into the arms of two of the hottest alien warriors I’ve ever seen. Ever. What happens on Prillon Prime stays on Prillon Prime. Before they touch me I make it clear that I’m not looking for a mate. Or two. I have to go back to the Colony. My life is there. But Prillon warriors are notorious for fighting for what they want. Apparently, what these two want…is me.

Portico Reeves’s superpower is making sure all the other superheroes—like his parents and two best friends—stay super. And safe. Super safe. And he does this all in secret. No one in his civilian life knows he’s actually…Stuntboy! But his regular Portico identity is pretty cool, too. He lives in the biggest house on the block, maybe in the whole city, which basically makes it a castle. His mom calls where they live an apartment building. But a building with fifty doors just in the hallways is definitely a castle.

Portico Reeves is the greatest superhero a lot of people have never heard of. He likes it that way—then no one can get in the way of him from keeping other other people safe. Super safe. He’s Stuntboy. He’s got the moves. And the saves. Except. There’s been one major fail. He couldn’t save his parents from becoming Xs. Which is a word that sounds like coughing up a hairball. But don’t talk to him about the divorce, because of the hairball thing, and also, it gives Portico the frets.

Since Yakima's been able to date, her detective father has reminded her of the type of men to steer clear of. At twenty-seven, she's done just that until one night of partying and a botched raid lead her into the house of mob boss Francisco Matisse.

Seattleite Austin Teph may not be the man he thinks he is. While studying for finals, a white flash of light causes him to pass out. When he awakens, he finds himself in a Colorado hospital with no idea of how he got there. A woman named Valerie Jonson claims he's her son, Tyler, a belief compounded by a man known only as Keith, who says he's Tyler's boyfriend. Austin soon discovers he may be a replacement for the actual Tyler Jonson who, according to local news reports, has died in a car crash.

These are stories about the choices we face in love and in relationships; and braving the consequences that may follow. Which path will you choose when your heart comes to a crossroads? Five Houston couples are forced to make choices about their relationships that will either keep them on the same path or completely change the trajectory of their lives.

At eighteen and against her father's wishes, Amyris moves to another country, hoping to make her dreams a reality. Before she can hit the ground running, her life takes a turn she hadn't expected after meeting and marrying Ivo Yannik—a man who lured her into the union under false pretenses.