Showing results by narrator "Marie Smith" in All Categories

A little over four months has passed since Desmond McLaughlin was physically yanked from his home and thrown to the mercy of a conquering alien empire when they demanded he be handed over for training as he was an ‘Adept’, one of the few able to harness the power of magic in the universe. During that time, he has learned how to manipulate mana and made several friends amongst the aliens whose culture he was now immersed in. And one lover.

All FBI agent Ethan Thomas wants is to come home to his new apartment and enjoy the luxury of his new flat-screen TV and some frozen pizza. Encountering a tiny toddler alone in the hall changes everything for the rough and rugged agent. Relief sets in when the child's mother appears. But when she collapses at his feet just before a blizzard hits Boston, Ethan is in over his head.

Throughout his entire life, Nate has been considered a cripple and an inconvenience, solely for being born without the precious magic for which the Great Arcane Families were both respected and feared. Being powerless as he was, he couldn’t fight back when choosing to do the right thing was rewarded with even more injustice from old men on even older thrones.

Winter Academy - Europe's #1 Fantasy Bestseller—Now finally available in English! Mina's first year at the legendary Winter Academy is anything but smooth. Tasked with mastering her ice magic to help protect the world from plunging into eternal frost, Mina struggles with unruly powers and the relentless criticism of Professor Abercroft, her enigmatic and demanding teacher. But her life takes a chilling turn when she's abducted and taken to the court of the ruthless Winter King.

Despite managing to claw his way out of the rough neighborhood he grew up in, Ethan Kilburn's life is a monotonous grind until he discovers a magical cuff that transports him to a magical kingdom with a cultivation system for leveling up... just like a video game. In this new world, he'll find everything he ever wanted out of life and more: wealth, adventure, excitement, meaning, and all the monster girls he could ask for.

Guy Gunaratne's blistering debut, In Our Mad and Furious City, is an unforgettable portrait of 48 hours on a London council estate. For Selvon, Ardan and Yusuf, growing up under the towers of Stones Estate, summer means what it does anywhere: football, music, freedom. But now, after the killing of a British soldier, riots are spreading across the city, and nowhere is safe. While the fury swirls around them, Selvon and Ardan remain focused on their own obsessions, girls and grime.

Arthur Osbourne-Cloud has always had his future mapped out for him – graduate Oxford and follow his dreadful father into politics. Except Arthur wants to do anything but that. He’s more than happy filling his days rowing for golds at the Olympics or World Championships, and this year he has The Boat Race to win. Kate Astley also has her future mapped out – the next six years at least. Fly half-way across the world, and win a scholarship at Cambridge University to study medicine. Oh, and become a crew member for the legendary Boat Race. Seems simple enough. But then she meets Arthur.

The widowed Duchess of Sailer has desires that are hard to fill in polite society. To that effect, she visits a brothel to have her bottom reddened. If word got out, her reputation would be ruined. So, when a member of society is murdered, and her name turns up in the books he is using to blackmail people, the metropolitan police show up on her doorstep. Olivia does the only thing she can to keep her name from being dragged through the mud: she agrees to take the investigator into her life so she can help him find a killer. Inspector Rupert McKinley expects to get in and out, and figure out who killed Lord Ethan. He doesn't care about Olivia's desires...until he starts to spend time with her, and realizes she's more interesting than he ever expected her to be. When their business relationship turns into a personal one, Rupert is determined to find the murderer before someone else - like Olivia - is killed.

My life is a giant crap pile with a cherry thrown on top. I'm an immortal woman cursed to kill people with just a glance. And now I've been kidnapped by three mouthwateringly sexy gargoyles, who I'm pretty sure want me dead. But it gets better...While I'm trying to make the best of being a prisoner, guarded by yummy eye-candy, I'm also being dragged on a dangerous mission...I think I'm not just risking my life this time, I'm risking my heart. And that's one thing that even monsters fear.

Jake has united and empowered the beastkin into a formidable force, marching towards Life's Haven to reclaim their city and exact payback for countless lives lost. Yet danger lurks as enemy Champions, reptile betrayers, and a horrible curse tests their resolve. The war to reclaim the world stretches beyond a single battle, for it is an unrelenting war for survival. With the help of Jake's new beastkin mate and his bonded wives, they press on, rallying their people to face the enemy head-on.

When a God of War barged into his apartment, Jake had no idea what to expect... but it wasn't being forced into a never-ending war against evil invaders, or that the battle would strangely resemble the MMORPG games he loved. Working hard and building himself up from almost nothing, Jake would need every bit of knowledge and preparation to master his new class of Summoner. Joined by a sly Demoness with an ancient past and a shy Valkyrie hoping to prove herself in battle, they'll find excitement and enjoyment as they level and grow in power.

After saving the world of Highlands from the eldritch horror and being crowned King, Jake had hoped for a chance to relax and enjoy fatherhood. But between undead insect armies, treacherous conspirators, and untrustworthy allies, Jake and his family will have to band together to protect the people and the land that they love.

Since becoming Moonstruck on her eighteenth birthday, Wren Nightingale has found herself thrust into a world filled with deception, danger, and murder. Uncovering that their magick was fractured and limited when the original Moonstruck ritual was broken by Selene, Wren is determined to find a way to restore it. But the Elementals are split into two factions—some want the ritual completed and their freedom—and others are so terrified of change that they’re willing to end Wren before she can reach the center of the island where the ritual Selene ruined can be completed.

Michigan, 1985. The drowning of a teenage girl causes ripples in the small town of Kettle Lake, though for most the waters settle quickly. For sixteen year old Joanne Kennedy, however, the tragedy dredges up untold secrets and causes her mother to drift farther from reality and her family. When troubled newcomer Lucinda arrives in town, she offers Joanne a chance of real friendship, and together the teenagers push against the boundaries of family, self-image, and their sexuality during the tension of a long, stifling summer.

After days spent locked in King Geon's dungeon, October's afraid her sanity has reached the point of no return. With one of her Reapers deranged beyond reason, and the other permanently altered, October isn't sure how she'll be able to keep up with the famine that's run rampant throughout Terraway. With too many souls to reap, October's body starts to break down as she struggles to redeem the world that seems set on her destruction.

Wren Nightingale isn’t supposed to have any elemental powers. Born of magickal parents but not under one of the four fated astrological full moons, she is destined for life as a Mundane—right up until she starts glowing on her eighteenth birthday. In a heartbeat, Wren’s life is turned upside down, and she’s suddenly leaving her home for the mystical Academia de la Luna—a secret magickal school on a hidden island off the Seattle coast.

Poor Ted never imagined the trouble that would follow when he decided to help out a single mother, but he’s ready for the challenge - if a Tiger Mom will give him a chance. A decade ago, Portia escaped an abusive situation by faking her death. With the help of the Killer Moms agency, she arranged protection for herself and the twins. Even better, she got a second chance at life. But she always worried that her past would catch up with her one day.

Meredith is practically old enough to be the mother of some of the younger Killer Mom agents, but that doesn’t mean she’s ready to retire. With her kids off to university, it is past time this Cougar Mom goes back to fieldwork. And she gets the perfect opportunity when she offers to help organize a wedding in the Caribbean…while completing a mission.

Abigail is a proud member of the New America Baptist Church. Living miles away from the nearest town in South Carolina, she is safe from the depraved modern world. She is a good daughter. A valued member of the community. So when she is the sole survivor of a fire that burns her family's home to the ground, it seems like a tragic accident. Until a surprising discovery is made: before the fire, Abigail let a stranger in. Who was the stranger? What started the fire? And was the outside world always the threat - or did danger lurk within the community's walls?

Emily Stark flees her crumbling home with baby sister Sammi and shelters with a shellshocked band of survivors. As she tends the injured and risks her life gathering supplies, she is keeping a secret… her father, her hero, caused this disaster. Fifteen years later. Against all odds, Sammi has grown up in the suffocating darkness and found love with soulmate Declan Chambers. When their hopes of a life together are jeopardised by mutiny in their commune, they slip past the guards and seek a life beyond its walls.