Showing results by narrator "Laurel" in All Categories

She’s a martyr. A myth. A ghost. A legend. She’s my soulmate and my captive, my conscience and my wrath. I love her too much to let her die; I fear her too much to wake her from her slumber. She’s mine. And now she’s gone. He’s unnatural. Undying. Unethical. Unstoppable. He’s the keeper of lies and lost souls. Mine slipped through his clutches. I am his wife, his queen, the love of his very long life. And soon, I will be his executioner.

For most women, being newly engaged to the love of your life is a time of celebration. But Sunaya's happiness is overshadowed by loss. Her friends have not returned from their quest to bring back Noria, and though the Resistance has been beaten back, they are far from vanquished.

With the rebellion now in full swing, shifter-mage hybrid Sunaya Baine has no time for distractions. She must find out the true identity of the Benefactor and pull the plug on the Resistance's funding before they succeed in their grand plans for genocide and destruction. But the heat is upon Sunaya now, and it demands to be sated. And since the Resistance has marked her for death, she can no longer walk freely amongst the very people she is trying to save.

They say I am a queen. They say I married a monster. That I did so willingly. They say he cannot die, that he does not age. That, together, we rule a ravaged world. They say I used to be one of them, but now I am a traitor. They say many things, all which I cannot remember, but.... I fear what they say is true. Then there is what they don't say, what I see in their eyes - the king terrifies them. He cannot be stopped. And, most worrisome of all.... He is coming for me.

With the sudden disappearance of Iannis, the Chief Mage, Solantha has erupted into pandemonium. Citizens are rioting in the streets, the Mages Guild is on a misguided warpath, and shifters and humans are fleeing the city in droves. Ridden with guilt, Sunaya defies the Mages Guild and goes off in search of Iannis, trekking into dangerous, uncivilized territory to try and make things right.

Single-minded and spoilt, Undine Spragg arrives in New York determined to procure for herself a social status to match her family’s wealth. Ambition, greed and an arresting beauty soon secure her path to marriage...and also to divorce. The Custom of the Country is a sophisticated commentary on both, touching on the implications for a woman of ending a marriage at a time when the author herself was navigating that situation. As the mismatched Undine and Ralph travel to Europe, Wharton contrasts the pecuniary motivation of the nouveau riche in America with European tradition.

My mates and I got what we wanted — we found Rhys’s sister. We should be celebrating, but the danger is far from over. Our welcome into the Lost Pack was frosty at best, and tensions between old and new blood threaten to boil over. Crammed too close together, trapped by our fear, we’re hardly better off here than we were at Strand.

In the tangled bog city of Nannandry, Priloe Sharpe's life is worth only what his pick-pocketing skills can buy him. The entire planet of Grunholtz is now one big colonization failure and run completely by rival gangs. Hope of a better life is nonexistent - until the day off-worlders show up in the marketplace with a shiny piece of tech, which Priloe artfully snags. In a race for his life, Priloe must save his sister and somehow leave the planet, risking everything for a new life in the cloud city of Leger Nuage.

Got a demon that needs killing? I’m your girl. On paper, I’m a blood sorceress. I can whip up the spells of your dreams. It’s a legal occupation - barely - but mostly a cover. My real job is protecting my city from the monsters of the dark realms. I’m the resident demon slayer, and occasionally those suckers escape. Then it’s up to me. I’ve even got a side hustle using their blood for my sorcery biz. It’s gruesome, but that’s life. Things get complicated when I start clashing with a sexy bounty hunter.

Cass Clereaux is a FireSoul - one of the unlucky few to inherit a piece of the dragon's soul. It gives her a deadly, forbidden magic, but at least it helps her find treasure. The only people she can trust are her fellow FireSouls, Del and Nix. They hunt treasure to pay the bills and keep their FireSoul secret to save their lives. When Cass is blackmailed by a criminal overlord who holds their lives in his hands, things get rough. He wants a pair of rare daggers hidden inside a deadly temple.

Migration, terrorism, the tensions between global capitalism and nationalism, the promise and peril of a technological and communications revolution: these forces shaped the life and work of Joseph Conrad at the dawn of the 20th century. In this brilliant new interpretation of one of the great voices in modern literature, Maya Jasanoff reveals Conrad as a prophet of globalization as we recognize it today.

May 1144. Newly wedded, Gareth and Gwen travel across the border into England on a diplomatic mission with Prince Hywel of Wales. Within moments of their arrival, however, the mission goes awry and a murder case drops (literally) at their feet. Hindered at every turn by a climate of civil war and constantly shifting political alliances, Gareth and Gwen race to solve the murder and expose a plot that threatens not only their lives, but the life of the future King of England himself.

It is the winter of 1143 and all is not well in the court of Owain, King of north Wales: his future in-laws are untrustworthy; the Norman lords on his eastern border are restless; and among his wedding guests lurks a cold-blooded killer. Gareth and Gwen have marriage plans of their own, but their love will have to wait while the pair race to separate truth from lies, friends from foes, and unravel the mystery before King Owain--and his new bride--fall victim to their uninvited guest.

Somalian native, Mila Ali, endured two broken engagements. She never seemed to be destined for true love until billionaire Blake Baldwin came storming into her life. With a trail of heartache in the past, a dead fiance, and family drama to last a lifetime, she's at a crossroads when it comes to saying “I do”. Now, Mila has become everything to Blake. His queen. His world. Blake is determined to make her his wife and wipe away all the pain of her past. Even if that means he has to bribe, lie, or kill. He will give her a happily ever after at any cost.

Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right? If only. Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He's heard there's a curse here that needs breaking, but it's a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold.

My idea of a party is hanging out with a mini box of wine and a raccoon. So yeah, I need a life. When I’m accused of murder, things get wild. One, I learn that I have magic. Two, there’s a secret magical city hidden right in London itself. And three, the only one who can help me is a vampire who’s sexy as sin and scary as the devil himself. He's called the Devil of Darkvale and he all but owns Guild City. My life is on the line if I don’t solve the murder, which means surviving in this new world of witch parties, magical guilds, and a vampire with a tortured past.

In the city of Magic's Bend, I protect what's mine. To the world, I'm a feeble Conjurer. To my closest friends, I'm a dangerous Magica with unexplainable powers given to me by a dragon. The downside? If anyone discovers what I am, I'm dead. So I lay low - kicking ass with my weapons, not my magic. Things go to hell when I witness the murder of a powerful vampire ally and become the key suspect. Soon, I'm hunted by the sexiest, strongest supernatural I've ever met. I've got three days to catch the real killer. It will take my forbidden magic to succeed.

Cass Clereaux is good at two things: finding treasure and killing demons. Lying low is a close third - but not because she wants to be good at hiding. Cass is a FireSoul, one of the unlucky few to inherit a piece of a dragon's soul. On the surface, the perks are sweet - she has the power to find and steal any type of magical treasure, including the powers of other supernaturals. But it doesn't come without a price; stealing powers requires that she kill, and others would destroy her if they discover what she is.

The Age of Innocence is a powerful depiction of love and desire in New York's glamorous Gilded Age. When Newland Archer, happily engaged to May Welland, meets his fiancée's cousin Ellen, his entire future is cast into doubt: strong-willed, witty, and entirely unpretentious, Ellen is unlike any woman he has ever met. He is torn between his infatuation for her and his duty to marry May. In subtle and elegant language, Wharton delivers a critical look at the social mores of the time.

I don’t want him. I can’t do this. That’s what my ex said after our son was born, leaving me a single dad. These days, my world consists of two things: Noah and my bar. Until her—the woman I want—but can never have. My ex’s sister wasn’t supposed to be stirred into the mix. Even though I try to push her away, my son falls in love with her. As much as I want to keep my distance, I can’t break his heart.