Showing results by narrator "Chelsea Stephens" in All Categories

The war we feared has come, and leading the invading army is the only remaining dragon, the "Black Death". If it's not stopped, the dragon will slaughter thousands. I'm Angie Ritter, former army mage and the first source mage to be born in centuries. I might be able to stop the dragon. If I can learn to control my new magic. If I can master the ancient entity possessing me. If I can act like a grown-up and stop fantasizing about the sexy were-jaguar I'm traveling with.

Even the circus that is Gem's personal life can't distract her from the danger that still lurks among the Nephilim council. Demons no longer slip through secret portals to terrorize Earth. Why ship them in from afar when they can be created right here? One by one, Gem's friends are being targeted until what began as a random science experiment becomes terrifyingly personal. This time, they have her dead to rights.

In Dreams of the Overworked, Christine M. Beckman and Melissa Mazmanian offer vivid sketches of daily life for nine families, capturing what it means to live, work, and parent in a world of impossible expectations, now amplified unlike ever before by smart devices. We are invited into homes and offices, where we recognize the crushing pressure of unraveling plans, and the healing warmth of being together. Moreover, we witness the constant planning that goes into a "good" day, often with the aid of phones and apps.

The first collection of short fiction from Lambda Award-winning novelist Dale Peck spans 25 years of writing, including two O. Henry Award winners and the recipient of a Pushcart Prize. The stories in What Burns examine the extremes of desire against a backdrop of family, class, and mortality.

With so much changing so fast-accelerated by the impacts of COVID-19, the most in-demand jobs and skills of today may be obsolete by the time our youngest become adults. For kids to be ready for this new reality, they must acquire four critical "currencies" that will serve them well: credentials, competencies, connections, and cash. Author Stephanie Malia Krauss lays out what adults can do to get young people ready for the future.

Zoe Hallett and her sister, Ava, are the precocious offspring of two pioneering scientists, but the sisters have been estranged for years. When Zoe reads a news story about Ava's mysterious disappearance, she assumes it's just another of her sister's twisted fictions, designed to blame Zoe and destroy the peaceful life she's created with her husband and beautiful stepdaughter in Houston. But Zoe's email is hacked to send threatening messages to Ava - and a more sinister picture begins to emerge.

What exactly is the difference between a love letter and a suicide note? Is there really any difference at all? These might be the questions posed by Dear Sweet Filthy World, Caitlin R. Kiernan’s 14th collection of short fiction, comprising 28 uncollected and impossible-to-find stories. Here are 28 tales of apocalypse and rebirth, of miraculous transformation and utter annihilation. Here is the place where professing your undying devotion might be precisely the same thing as signing your own death warrant or worse.

This collection of 22 short stories by the author of Daughter of Hounds and Alabaster firmly established Caitlín R. Kiernan as one of the preeminent voices in dark fantasy today. Through a cycle of interconnected narratives, Kiernan unflinchingly explores a surreal world where the fantastic and the mundane are never separated by more than the insubstantial thickness of a shadow.

The epic fantasy adventure begun in Sunshield races to its thrilling conclusion in this imaginative finale in which the fate of four extraordinary young people—and their nations—will be decided. When their hopes for ending Moquoia’s brutal system of bondage are crushed, unlikely allies...

A lawless wilderness. A polished court. Individual fares, each on a quest to expose a system of corruption. The desolate canyons of Alcoro—and the people desperate enough to hide there—couldn’t be more different from the opulent glass palace and lush forests of Moquoia. But the harsh...

When magic returns to Gloamington, the town holds a Spring Awakening Festival. It should be an opportunity to celebrate. Instead, it becomes the perfect stage for murder. When the mayor is found dead at the festival, Malcolm Fawkes and Ella Bloom find themselves hunting a killer among the celebrating crowd. The sheriff calls it an accident but the great detective knows better.

Vampire Alexis Black is stuck between two worlds… and not wanted by either. Alexis Black believed a dagger to her little sister Lysette’s heart would end her reign of terror, but she left one last parting gift before she died. A death-bomb that splintered the city of Chicago in two. Humans on one side. Vampires on the other. Leaving Alexis stuck in the crossfire of a race war no one asked for. But when Delano Melazi, the self-proclaimed leader of the vampire race declares her public-vampire-number one, she must face him fang-to-fang to protect the innocents she has sworn to save.

Under constant attacks, Matt and Natalia have weathered the storms of multiple plots against them. Now, with her ability to use her powers hampered by Dark magic, can she survive being held captive by one of the monsters from her past?

Ready for war, Rayna embarks on a daring and perilous quest, plunging deep into the Nest, where rebellion against the tyrant Lord Corvus and his ruthless Crows is the only hope for salvation. But as she unravels the secrets within, Rayna stumbles upon a chilling revelation—Corvus seeks the Stave, an ancient relic of unimaginable power that could seal the fate of humanity.

The one constant in Jules’ life is family—the plentiful Martin clan. Domestic terrorism brought the Martins together under one roof to endure food scarcity, punishing Gulf Coast heat, no electricity, and no indoor plumbing. One outhouse for twelve people is no way to live, but at least they are safe. For now. With every setback and stolen dignity, Jules questions whether she wants to survive at all.

Beautiful and independent, Shelly Scott is always looking over her shoulder, wondering if she'll have to run again. Her new position as manager at Dessert First Bakery shines more light on her than she likes, but Jake, her golden retriever, the handsome male in her life—loyal and attentive—is always there when anxiety immobilizes her. Max Bailey, bestselling author, thinks he has everything. Until he realizes the one thing that's lacking is someone to share his life with.

Within the sprawling ruins of Seattle, the Nest looms high above as a stronghold of the aristocratic Crow class, ruled with an iron fist by Lord Corvus. Rayna and her resilient Hydrans have long toiled at the depths of Lake Union, crawling for valuable scrap metal to trade with the Crows.

Days after her capture, Rayna finds herself locked in a merciless desert prison, enslaved, beaten, and hopeless. But inside those eternal walls, she discovers new alliances that share her visions of liberty, fueling her determination to choose between the chains of oppression or the battle of her life - Freedom.