Bailey Thomas

Can they leave their pasts behind to create a future? Clarke Dragoon has lived under an alias to infiltrate criminal organizations, dismantle them, and bring them to justice. He has perfected a similar tactic in his own life, as it demands his undivided attention. Another benefit is that it prevents him from dwelling on what's missing in his life. Aimee Lang's ex-husband shattered her life, and now she must use her new identity to reinvent herself. When a series of questionable events unfold, the carefully constructed lies of her new life fall apart, exposing the horrors of her past. As Aimee's life unravels, Clarke offers his home as a temporary refuge. Sparks fly between them, blurring the line between reality and perception and leaving them with life-altering decisions. Will Clarke and Aimee be able to see past the deception, uncover the truth, and forge a future together?

Can they endure captivity, corruption, and deceit to give love a chance? When FBI analyst Noah Parker receives a call from a ghost from his past-the man who shot him-the last thing he expects is credible intelligence about a kidnapped woman. The only way to obtain the coordinates of her exact location is to act alone, without the bureau's assistance. Time is running out for her survival before she's relocated or killed. Jasmine West's decision to follow a man who intrigued her while researching for her expos seemed reasonable until everything went wrong. Now, she finds herself alone and terrified in a makeshift prison, left to wonder if she'll survive another day. When a solitary man is dropped into her cell, she and Noah Parker forge an alliance to survive. Risking everything, they defy the odds and escape into the night. The longer they are together, the more apparent it becomes that her investigation and Noah's family history are intertwined. Each fact uncovered erodes the foundation of Noah's life and reveals a larger plot aimed at harming the country he swore to protect. As Noah and Jasmine navigate the chaos of the present, their unexpected feelings for each other further complicate an already impossible situation. When she publishes her story, the horrors of Noah's past will be exposed to the public. As the stakes rise beyond his control and corruption threatens to obliterate everything around them, Noah and Jasmine must choose between their growing love and the need to reveal the truth, which could shatter them both.

Can they face their demons and discover love? Trent Jacobs had everything he wanted until the flash of a muzzle ripped his world apart. Now, he only has guilt. Permanently removed from fieldwork due to questionable events, Trent retires from the FBI. He retreats to the small town of Mill Creek, Idaho, to become the town sheriff. Margaret King knows what it's like to be alone and isolated. Losing her parents as a child was impossible, but the death of her brother damn near killed her. When a strange van appears on her street and her apartment is broken into, she turns to Trent, the only man she can trust. After Maggie shows up terrified and haunted, Trent's guilt explodes. She makes him want things he doesn't deserve, including her. Trent must face his demons to protect her as their past collides with the present. Or risk losing her.

Much of the hoopla surrounding quality circles, teams, and high-performance work systems has been based on anecdotes and very thin evidence. It has not been established that those employee involvement strategies amount to anything more than another series of management fads or ruses designed to get more out of workers without giving them anything in return. This revelatory book, written by some of the skeptics, lays some of the suspicion to rest.Based on their visits to 44 plants and surveys of more than 4,000 employees, Eileen Appelbaum, Thomas Bailey, Peter Berg, and Arne L. Kalleberg concluded that companies are indeed more successful when managers share knowledge and power with workers and when workers assume increased responsibility and discretion.The study of steel, apparel, and medical electronics and imaging plants revealed much. In self-directed teams, workers were able to eliminate bottlenecks and coordinate the work process. In task forces created to improve quality, they communicated with individuals outside their own work groups and were able to solve problems. Expensive equipment in steel mills operated with fewer interruptions, turnaround and labor costs were cut in apparel factories, and costly inventories of components and medical equipment were reduced.And what did the employees think? The worker survey showed that jobs in participatory work systems often provide more challenging tasks and more opportunities for creativity. Employees in apparel had higher hourly earnings; those in steel had both higher hourly earnings and higher job satisfaction. Workers in more participatory settings were no more likely than others to report heavy workloads or excessive demands on their time. They were, however, less likely to report involuntary overtime or conflict with co-workers, and were more likely to be satisfied with their surroundings. Manufacturing Advantage provides the best assessment available of the effectiveness of high-performance work systems. Freestanding chapters near the end of the book provide full documentation of research data without interrupting the narrative flow.