Showing results by narrator "Laura" in All Categories

After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows there's no more time for lessons. No more time for uncertainty. Because the battle has truly begun, and with enemies closing in from outside their walls and within their ranks, it’s impossible to know who to trust. Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College – Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky. Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is – unless she betrays the man she loves.

Trapped in the Seelie Court by a forest of thorns, Selena Hale lives at the mercy of the dragon shifters. Her only chance to gain her freedom is by entering the Atonement Trials: a deadly competition that pits fae magic users against each other. Only three people can win, and Selena intends to be one of them. There is only one problem. Draven Ryat, the ruthless commander of the dragon shifter army, is determined to make her lose.

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them. With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success.

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows there’s no more time for lessons. No more time for uncertainty. Because the battle has truly begun, and with enemies closing in from outside their walls and within their ranks, it’s impossible to know who to trust. Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.

Compiled by intrepid journalist Neve Pride, this archive of recordings spans the months after dragons emerged on earth, chronicling the communities that sprang up amid the destruction, the scientists, military leaders, and experts searching for a defense, and those steadfastly seeking the missing. Neve and her young daughter Bex travel among the wreckage speaking to those left behind and surviving, against all odds. Neve records everything for history, and in the hopes of locating a clue as to where the dragons came from and how one might stop them.

It is Marnie Blue's very first day at Lady Sealia Foam’s Mermaid School, and she's terrified. What if she can't make any new friends, or if she's asked to ride a seahorse? What's more, her famous diva aunt Christabel was a notorious rebel at the same school, and got up to all sorts of naughtiness. Marnie is soon branded a troublemaker by her grumpy octopus music teacher and wants nothing more than to clam up.

Marnie Blue returns for another exciting year at Lady Sealia Foam's Mermaid School! This time, Marnie and her friends are gearing up to compete in the Golden Glory Day competition - a series of events that includes a fishball tournament, an obstacle course and a seahorse race. In the past, the winner would receive the Golden Days Crown - but the crown went missing years ago, back when Marnie's aunt Christabel was still in school. But Marnie is determined to find the crown and swim to the rescue!

I thought moving to this quiet cul-de-sac was the fresh start my husband and I needed, escaping the noise of our cramped flat in Hounslow. I left India and all that was familiar for a new life with him in England. But my husband works all hours, leaving me alone in a house that doesn’t feel like a home. Our neighbours notice the bruises on my arms. They draw the obvious conclusions. They seem kind, but they’re hiding something. I just can’t shake the feeling that someone is always watching me . . . waiting. My husband’s working late. Again. That’s when I see it.

Lydia, Robyn and Dean don't know each other - yet. They live very different lives, but each of them, independently, has always felt that something is missing. What they don't know is that a letter is about to arrive that will turn their lives upside down. It is a letter containing a secret - one that will bind them together, and show them what love and family and friendship really mean....

Tessalyn Ausra’s fate has always been out of her hands. Still bonded to the Heir of Endings, she now finds herself with more control than ever before. Everyone wants something from her, and she has to choose a side. But in a realm full of villains, she trusts no one, and she has secrets of her own to keep.

Marnie Blue's adventures continue at Lady Sealia Foam's Mermaid School. Now that she's saved the day and made some new friends, she's ready to conquer the next challenge and continue to learn more about her underwater world.

Mornings are a madcap time for many of us. We wake up in a haze - often after hitting snooze a few times. Then we rush around to get ready and out the door so we can officially start the day. Before we know it, hours have slipped by without us accomplishing anything beyond downing a cup of coffee, dashing off a few emails, and dishing with our coworkers around the water cooler. By the time the workday wraps up, we're so exhausted and defeated that any motivation to accomplish something in the evening has vanished.

Natalie’s best friend leaves the dance club with a handsome stranger and is found unconscious at a bus stop the next morning. What happened that night? Only Natalie’s friend knows—except she’s in the hospital, in a coma… When Natalie sees a handsome man on the cover of a financial magazine, she recognizes the “Man of the Year”—the stranger her friend left the club with. He is a millionaire. He is famous. He is untouchable. And—Natalie suspects—dangerous. Desperate for answers, she takes a job as a housekeeper at his mansion.

What could possibly be “lucky” about addiction? Absolutely nothing, thought Laura McKowen when drinking brought her to her knees. As she puts it, she “kicked and screamed . . . wishing for something - anything - else” to be her issue. The people who got to drink normally, she thought, were so damn lucky. But in the midst of early sobriety, when no longer able to anesthetize her pain and anxiety, she realized that she was actually the lucky one. Lucky to feel her feelings, live honestly, really be with her daughter, change her legacy.

When Genevieve Grimm’s mother is killed, Genevieve wants answers nobody can give… until she receives an invitation to Enchantra, a cursed palace filled with temptations and illusions. Arrogant and dangerously handsome, Rowin Silver meets her at the door and refuses to let her inside. But Genevieve finds her own way in… And soon realizes her mistake. Enchantra is a twisted labyrinth of marble and thorns, where Rowin’s family are trapped forever in a deadly game. Now, Genevieve must win or die.

Estranged from her powerful family, Lilith Leviathan finds refuge in Nineveh, a district in the city of Eden devoted to sin. There, she uses her magic to steal for a living, attracting the attention of the five governing families as well as the church, which expects women to remain pious and silent. When Lilith comes into possession of a beautiful blade, she thinks all her worries are over . . . until her usual buyer dies while inspecting it.

There are only two rules to the game. Stay alive. And don’t fall in love. When Ophelia’s sister disappears, there is only one way to save her. Ophelia must enter Phantasma, a deadly contest inside a haunted mansion, and claim its prize—a single wish. Phantasma is a maze of twisting corridors and lavish ballrooms, of demons and temptations. Ophelia will face nine challenges, each more dangerous than the last. There can only be one winner, and the other contestants will stop at nothing to eliminate their rivals.

Delilah has always played it safe. Not that it was her choice. Her father, a formidable figure and power-hungry businessman, always seems to cast a long shadow over her decisions. No matter what she does, Delilah can never seem to escape her father's control. When Delilah's best friend Cora drags her out of her house to attend a costume party, she doesn't plan for what will happen next. Always the responsible one of the duo, Delilah spent her entire life living up to her father's name and keeping his business under the radar.