Showing results by narrator "Alex Mortensen" in All Categories

From a longtime Vanity Fair writer and editor, a delightfully entertaining, intelligent, and illuminating history and tribute to teen movies—from Rebel Without a Cause to Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and on to John Hughes, Mean Girls, The Hunger Games, and more.

I don't want a new roommate. I especially don't want a new roommate who's loud, mouthy, and so painfully hot I can't keep my eyes off her. Not that I'm interested in Mira Evans. She's made it very clear that she agrees with the ex who famously broke up with me for being "too basic." But Mira breaks her ankle a few hours after moving in, and a couple of days later we're stuck in an elevator . . . in the dark. Now, this woman I wanted to avoid knows more about me than some of my best friends.

When I was twelve, I met this boy. I knew my parents wouldn't approve of our friendship, so I spent two years sneaking over to his house, hoping at some point I'd have a say in how I lived my life. When I was fourteen, there was an accident. As much as I wanted to keep him a secret, as much as I needed to see him every day, we were forbidden to ever see each other again. Three years have passed, three years of watching myself waste away without him, sinking into a deep depression that I struggle to pull myself out of each morning.

Boundaries, Priorities, and Finding Work-Life Balance is filled with practical advice from HBR experts who can help you answer questions like: How do I set clear boundaries around my work life and my personal life? How can I pursue my passions while making time for my job? What are the signs of burnout and how do I conserve my energy? What steps can I take to protect my mental health at work?

Before 9/11, the rugby team at West Point learned to bond on a sports field. This is what happened when those fifteen young men became leaders in war. Filled with drama, tragedy, and personal transformations, this is the story of a unique brotherhood. It is a story of American rugby and a story of the U.S. Army created through intimate portraits of men shaped by West Point's motto: "Duty, Honor, Country."

After solving another mystery from the past, Bodhi and Eva are left wondering where to go from here. For one split second, life might actually be calm. Then the unthinkable happens and they are once again thrown into a dangerous game that they want nothing to do with. The past unleashes a vengeance of secrets, and they realize they've been players in this game for far longer than they thought.

My new boss is my baby's daddy . . . he just doesn't know it yet. But when he sees my son for the first time . . . feels a fatherly connection that he can't describe, he knows something is wrong. Five years ago, Carter and I had one unforgettable night just before he moved away. I tried to find him, but fate had other plans. Now, five years later, he's back in town. And my baby's daddy is my prick of a new boss.

Cord Spellman might be everyone's Prince Charming, but I'm only his fake Cinderella. That's why Cord's offer is perfect. The hot hockey star has playoffs coming up. He doesn't have time for girls, especially his cheating ex who's determined to get back together with him. He needs to focus on his game, so he asks me to divert the attention—as his fake girlfriend.

Connor is smug, grew up destined for his hockey career, and he's irritatingly good-looking. He wouldn't give me the time of day, and made it clear he would never be friends with me. Except for that one time. Years later, one hazy night, and now he's apparently my husband according to the paper next to his bed in a Vegas hotel room. You would think we would have it annulled, but he needs to clean up his image, and I'm a sucker for his occasional glances.

Cami Simpson is the 'it girl'-at least until a string of terrible decisions leads to no boyfriend, no captainship of the dance team, and no fancy apartment. Due to a mold outbreak, she's forced to relocate to a coed dorm as a senior. And to top it off, she finds out she's at risk of not graduating due to an error in her schedule.

Like a sober, millennial Jesus' Son, Michael Deagler's debut novel is the poignant confession of a recovering addict adrift in the fragmenting landscape of America's middle class. Shot through with humor, hubris, and hard-earned insight, Early Sobrieties charts the limbos that exist between our better and worst selves, offering a portrait of a stifled generation collectively slouching towards grace.

Seventeen-year-old Emerald Dixon is the worst seamstress in London. Officially. No matter how hard she tries, she's lacking the skills that she's "supposed" to have. Sewing? Nope. Needlework? Absolutely not. Instead, her mind keeps drifting off into daydreams—ones filled with fantastical lands and high society balls. And above all, trying to find the father she's never known. But when her skipping stone hits an attractive young earl, the gilded doors to society are suddenly opened to Emerald . . . if she has the courage to enter.

After that perilous night, Bodhi and Eva find themselves trying to heal physically and emotionally. They finally have each other and their chemistry is undeniable, but life is still spiraling out of control. Secrets, discoveries, truths, and new people appearing, make them wonder yet again . . . Who can they trust? And what else has been kept from them? As they dive deeper into the past, the timeless question arises, will love conquer all? Or will this hurricane be the force that drives them apart?

Michael Reiner has the new start he's been craving, where no one knows about his past. He can't play hockey anymore, and life without hockey seems daunting. But when he gets the chance to intern under the Central State hockey coach, he couldn't be happier. Until he finds out the mysterious hottie he met at the bar is the coach's daughter.

It is often claimed that the French invented cinema. Dominating the production and distribution of cinema until WWI, when they were supplanted by Hollywood, the French cinema industry encompassed all genres, from popular entertainment to avant-garde practice. This Very Short Introduction opens up French cinema through focusing on some of its most notable works, using the lens of the New Wave decade (1958-1968) that changed cinema worldwide.

It's been years since Nova last saw Sam. She was too young then to understand why he had to move away-and what it had to do with the cuts and bruises he got from home and never wanted to talk about. All she knew is that they promised to find each other when they were older, something she thought was impossible. Until she bumps into Sam in her new school and realizes he has forgotten their childhood promise.

Daniella Laughlin might seem put together but on the inside, she's figuring out who she is without her mom's beauty pageant influence. Constantly being critiqued and set up by her mom, she dreads going home for the holidays. Enter her best friend's older brother, hockey captain Gabriel Van Helsing. Dani and Gabe have been friends for two decades and she's harbored a secret crush on him forever, but never acted on it. Gabe's a player, on and off the ice, and the longest relationship he's had is with his hockey stick.

Elle Van Helsing wants to start her life away from home. Constantly living under the shadow of her brother, she plans to find romance and survive on her own: even if its financially harder than she thought. Getting a job at a dive bar three doors down from her new place is the perfect solution. Well, it was, until the owner has a family emergency and asks his nephew to help out in his absence. The guy she used to have a crush on until he ruined it.

In the dead of winter, a young man and woman struggle to understand their relationship in Munich's expatriate community. Both Karl Schwarz, the former American Olympic skier, and Angelique Flaubert, the auburn-haired Belgian beauty, must overcome outside influences that conspire to keep them apart. They are united by proximity as tour guides for a German company traveling in Europe, while they feed their true passion—he as a floundering writer and she as an aspiring painter.

Dennis Monk is about to spend his first summer sober. At twenty-six he is ready to re-join sensible adult life, but just when Dennis needs stability, his uptight parents kick him out into a world of couch-surfing. Everything around him has changed and everyone he knows seems to be doing better than he is. At every street corner, former classmates, estranged drinking buddies, and prospective lovers threaten to burst the bubble of his recovery. And Dennis Monk is about to learn the difference between getting sober and staying sober in this new world.