Showing results by narrator "Natalie" in All Categories

God might seem silent right now. God’s people might seem not worth the wounds. But hold on as Natalie Runion embarks on a journey for all who are wandering, wondering, and wrestling. Together, we will move toward trusting God again, knowing that even though Christian community may fail us, the love of God never fails. When we say yes to God, we don’t say yes to church politics, ladder climbing, or burnout. We say yes to Jesus. We say yes to hope. We say yes to much that we can still embrace.

Awoken as an Immortal, Ling Qi must contend with her peers on the mountain now that the great truce enforced by the Elders of the Sect is no longer in effect. In an Outer Sect increasingly falling into two camps, her friendships have made where she stands clear. To continue climbing the steep mountain of cultivation and maintain the friendships and allies she had gathered to her side, she must strive like never before. But it soon becomes clear that there is someone watching her from the shadows...someone with an unhealthy interest in her advancement.

Ronke, Simi and Boo are three mixed-race friends living in London. Everyday racism has never held them back, but now in their 30s, they question their future. When Isobel, a lethally glamorous friend from their past, arrives in town, she is determined to fix their futures for them. Cracks in their friendship begin to appear, and it is soon obvious Isobel is not sorting but wrecking. When she is driven to a terrible act, the women are forced to reckon with a crime in their past that may just have repeated itself.

Homicide detective Elise Sandburg is traumatized after her run-in with a madman the press has dubbed "The Organ Thief". As Elise takes refuge in her deceased aunt Anastasia’s abandoned plantation to investigate and recover from her ordeal, she begins to question everything - from her dangerous line of work to her complex relationship with her handsome, tortured partner, David Gould. But with a madman on the loose, and her mother’s claims to still hear from Aunt Anastasia, she may have more immediate problems on her hands.

Welcome to the town of Promise, deep in the heart of Texas!Promise, a ranching community in the Hill Country, is a place with a mysterious past and a secret or two hidden under its everyday exterior. It’s also a place where family and friendship are the things that really matter....

The war may be over, but Hai Meilin is still paying a heavy toll. Upon her return to Anlai, she is cast into prison. Her crime? Wielding a sword as a woman. In the palace, Meilin is a pariah. But beyond the imperial walls, her legend has taken on a life of its own. To the east, a rebel leader needs Meilin to helm his revolution. In the south, a former enemy prince seeks her aid in restoring balance to the Three Kingdoms. And back home, Liu Sky, Meilin's commander and first love, wants Meilin by his side in his bid for the throne.

Tamara Barton has lusted after Connor Dunbar ever since she was old enough to know what those stirrings meant whenever he was near. Connor’s refusal to see her as anything but the young girl he’s befriended and protected for years soon drives them apart, but not before she catches an up-close, personal glimpse of him exerting the dominant control she’s heard rumors about.

The peace of the Sect has been broken. Incursions come from the nomadic tribes of the southern mountains and from deep underground. Against these foes of the Empire—both old and new—Ling Qi and her allies will be set to test themselves. It is said that conflict is the great whetstone of talent, but war may devour the genius and the common talent alike without differentiation. What is to be gained and what is to be lost as the fires grow?

He is ice cold. Both his personality and his skin. When his icy gaze lands on me it freezes me temporarily, but the first time he touches me....Sparks fly. Not the romantic kind. The tattoos on his pale skin illuminate and they are brighter than the Northern Lights. And then something in his eyes changes, making him less callous, less cold. And making me hot.

It's what he was raised to do. Most parents would hide or destroy any evidence so clearly demonstrating their child's failures, but-lucky for us-Greg Fitzsimmons's family has preserved each mistake in its original envelope like a trophy in a case, lest he ever forget where he came from.

After overhearing two crooked Chicago cops plotting against her, Avery Pierce goes on the run, not knowing who she can trust. When her low finances force her to take a job as a sex phone operator, she struggles, so when a caller senses her desperation and inexperience and offers assistance, she’s tempted to agree. As soon as Sheriff Grayson Monroe meets the new waitress at his favorite diner, something about her strikes a familiar chord. When he sees her enter his lifestyle club, the desire to get to the bottom of her evasive eyes and answers to his probing questions takes hold.

This was Nina Young's shocking realisation in her mid-20s, when she found out from online court records that her estranged father, Allan Ladd, had strangled a woman to death decades before. In prison he'd met Denise, Nina's mother, who was his tutor. Although Denise didn't know the extent of Allan's crime when she fell in love with him, by the time she found out, she was in too deep. She had to flee from him before Nina turned two. A decade after reading the court records, Nina, now a journalist, decided to release a podcast to tackle the questions she'd been asking herself ever since.

When Lucy wins a place at university, she thinks London will unlock her future. It is a city alive with pop up bars, cool girls and neon lights illuminating the Thames at night. At least this is what Lucy expects, having grown up seemingly a world away in working-class Sunderland, amid legendary family stories of Irish immigrants and boarding houses, now-defunct ice rinks and an engagement ring at a fish market. Yet Lucy's transition to a new life is more overwhelming than she ever expected.

The Lion’s Den club was better than I ever imagined and my worst nightmares, all combined. I thought I was going to explore my darkest fantasies. Gain a better understanding of myself and discover what I’d been missing in life. Instead, I made a deal with the devil.

Sang’s life was on pause after the dramatic break with her real family. Now she’s back in the game, returning to Ashley Waters to appear like a normal student. However, returning to school hasn’t made her life any easier. When it comes to the Academy and her role in the secret organization, there’s no such thing as normal. When Kota’s mother catches Sang and the guys in the complex web of lies they’ve woven, everything starts to unravel: Their relationships, their ties to the Academy. Everything’s under risk of exposure.

After Kelsey is assaulted, her FBI foster parents plead with her to spend a few weeks with their friends in Montana while they investigate the incident. Since she would do anything for them, she grudgingly agrees, wondering how she will pass the time on a ranch in the middle of nowhere without going stir crazy. As soon as she catches sight of her two hosts, Greg and Devin, she figures: What better way to take her mind off her troubles than with an affair with one of them?

It's been a week since Sang has attended any classes at Ashley Waters, and since then, everything has changed. Her school schedule has been turned upside down, and now, thanks to her absences, the school counselor, Ms. Wright, has suspended her. The fear of school officials getting further involved and looking to contact her parents has Sang and the boys forced into their best behavior. It seems that the once perfect student, Sang Sorenson, is now one of the school's worst, and without explanation, because she needs to keep her lips tightly sealed.

Following her astonishing quartet of Seasonal novels, Ali Smith again lights a way for us through the nightmarish now, in a vital celebration of companionship in all its forms.

Abby and Ellie were never close as children. Now in their thirties, they each harbour deep-rooted resentment for the other - Abby for her sister's looks and her status as their mother's favourite. Ellie meanwhile is envious of Abby's perfect husband and picturesque home, a villa on the sun-soaked Italian island of Elba. When Abby invites Ellie to stay, both sisters see the break as a chance to relax and put aside their differences. But with their mother Susanna there too, all the simmering tensions of the past quickly rise to the surface.

Annora risked everything to save her mates, exposing her deepest secrets, and now she must face the consequences when her past catches up with her. To protect her mates, she makes a deal with the devil himself. The only problem - it could cost her soul. Suspended from university, she and her mates are forced to leave its protective walls, dodging hunters and assassins every step of the way. As she trains to master her magic, she learns more about her mates and discovers she isn't the only one hiding from their past...secrets that threaten to destroy their fragile bond.