Showing results by narrator "Zehra Naqvi" in All Categories

If you're a woman, especially a woman of color, you know this already: You face unique challenges and obstacles as you work to scale the corporate ladder. From not seeing other faces in the room that look like you to dealing with the stereotypes and (often unconscious) biases in the workplace, you may know what to do to succeed, but not how to get it done in this environment. Show Your Worth shows you how. Shelmina Babai Abji speaks directly to professional women about how the power of being intentional and strategic can help transform the headwinds you face into tailwinds.

It's 1830, in an alternate Britain where the "scientific" principles of magic were discovered 60 years previously, allowing the British to win the American War of Independence. Although Britain is now supreme among the Great Powers, the gulf between rich and poor in the Empire has widened and unrest is growing every day. Master Thomas, the King's Royal Sorcerer, is ageing and must find a successor to lead the Royal Sorcerers Corps. Most magicians can possess only one of the panoply of known magical powers, but Thomas needs to find a new Master of all the powers.

Kiran Mathur knows firsthand how dangerous love can be. After all, her sister's marriage in India nearly destroyed Kiran's family. So she's decided to redeem romance herself - by not falling for anyone who might disappoint her parents. That is, that was her plan right up until she met her new neighbor, Nash Hawthorne. Nash is a dedicated psychologist and committed to being alone. His family life has taught him the inevitability of abandonment, and he isn't ready to question his beliefs. But spending time with Kiran makes him start to experience emotions he's never felt before.

A century after her legendary ancestors overcame a bloodthirsty tyrant, 17-year-old Valory Braiosa attends a training academy for elicromancers, immortal beings with magical gifts. Yet Valory's immense power seems impossible to tame, and she faces imprisonment by the Nisseran authorities. Then a forbidden resurrection spell awakens a long-dormant evil, and Valory may be the only one who can vanquish this terrifying villain.

Gwen, second of the 12 princesses of Ituria, has given up on happy endings. After a neighboring kingdom's heir stole her heart and then disappeared four years ago, she buried her heartache and vowed to serve her sisters. Her most recent mission: to arrange a match with her sister Hazel and the lost heir's youngest brother.

There's a body beneath the skip bins. Fae on the forklift. A vampire in the manager's office. And there's definitely something skeevy going on in the locker rooms. Hi. I'm Pet. Well, not exactly Pet. I am a pet. I was meant to stay out of it, but somebody's gotta do something when humans are being killed by Behindkind creatures.

Having escaped from the Golden City, Elaine, Johan, and their friends - including some strange allies with goals of their own - race desperately towards Ida, hiding place of the ancient Witch-King. Behind them, the armies of the new Emperor - a man permanently poised on the verge of madness - give chase, unleashing monsters and spells from the long-buried past on everyone who stands in their way. Ahead of them, the Witch-King waits, biding his time as he prepares for his ascension.

Elaine and Johan are preparing to leave Golden City, with Daria and the travelers, in order to search for the Witch-King. The Grand Sorceress instructs Inquisitor Cass to help them. But before Elaine can leave she is arrested by two Inquisitors on the orders of the Emperor. When she resists she is hit with a powerful spell that forces her to concentrate all her efforts on protecting her mind from its intrusion. Taken to the palace she finds that the Grand Sorceress has been removed and the Throne has accepted an heir to the Empire.

Viv has been living alongside behindkind and fae in the Historic Renner Tea House in Melbourne for nearly a month now. In that time, she's been almost killed by friends and enemies alike, discovered that the human world is not the only world on the edges of her reality, and become a glorified babysitter for Luca, an unstable assassin of otherworldly creatures who has nightmares that are a bit too...real.

I'm not supposed to push through the boundaries of reality without supervision. I'm definitely not meant to drag a cop Between with me. But stuff happens, you know? Hi. I'm Pet. Well, not Pet, exactly. I am a pet. Nothing too hard; I just cook and clean for the Behindkind who took over my house. Easy. But now one of my owners has gone missing. He's fae, so it shouldn't worry me, but if there's something out there that can kidnap fae, I don't wanna meet it. Good thing I've got another two owners and a spare cop up my sleeve....

Life is complicated. I mean, life has always been complicated, but there's a difference between monsters-are-trying-to-kill-you complications and monsters-are-in-love-with-you complications. I'm still not sure which is more dangerous. G'day. I'm Pet. Two-thirds of a pet, anyway: The vampire isn't claiming ownership these days, but he's definitely encroaching. On the list of other encroaching complications is the threat of heirling trials, a certain fae lord, and a mysterious librarian - not to mention the thing that's killing people on Hobart's waterfront....

G'day. I'm not really a pet anymore, but you might as well keep calling me Pet. It's not like I'm gunna tell you my name anyway. And if I sound stroppy, well, I am. First, I was threatened. Now, someone has cut off my house from the human world and left my emotional support vampire on the human side. On the inside, it's just me and an emotionally compromised fae; outside, a closed arena in the world Behind, where everyone is out to kill us and a few of that everyone might actually be capable of it.

G'day. I'm still here. Still Pet. Well, I'm only two thirds of a Pet these days, but you might as well call me Pet anyway. Everyone does: everyone but the vampire, that is. Life is more unbalanced these days - cases are cutting closer to home than usual. I thought I was the only one, but there are others like me: kids whose parents were murdered just like mine. Stuff that never fit into place before is beginning fall into place.

The world isn't the same as it was yesterday. In fact, Viv is no longer sure that she is the same as she was yesterday. She can do something she never knew was possible—and Luca tried to kill her, just like Jasper said he would if she let him get too close. At the teahouse, it's business as usual, however: tentacles in the top floor, an invasion of not-quite-real-but-nevertheless-terrifying spiders . . . and a new murderer to catch, of course. Someone is trying to make sure a Greek-Australian couple never makes it to the altar, and it's not just perfume they're sneaking into the bride's room.

Reginald, now king, is struggling against the rising tide of the Old God entities. He knows that his army alone cannot defeat them, even with cold iron that can contain them and free enslaved humans. But as cities burn and farmland is devastated, the people have been easily convinced by cultists to turn to the Old Gods.

At a time when many proclaim the death of active investing, Rupal J. Bhansali, global contrarian, makes a clarion call for its renaissance. Non-consensus thinking has resulted in breakthrough successes in science, sports, and Silicon Valley. Bhansali shows how to apply it to the world of investing to improve one's odds of achieving above-average returns with below-average risks.

Families are going missing in the city, and investigative operative Carmella Hunter has been tasked to find them. With the public eye on her every move, Carmella must work against a ticking clock to locate the missing humans. When the evidence begins to point to an entirely alien and sinister plot, the government agency Carmella works for is forced to change strategy. Now, Carmella and her friends must go undercover in the hopes of becoming the next victims. But will the kidnapper take the bait? And if he does, will Carmella and her friends make it out alive?

When Charlie Porter meets Hazaar Alim her first year of university, she's instantly smitten. Hazaar has it all: beauty, talent, and brains. What she doesn't realize is that Hazaar's future has already been decided, and Charlie has no place in it. Hazaar desperately wants to break with her traditions and stay with Charlie, but when forced to choose, she chooses her family over love. When she realizes the choice she made is the worst one possible, it's too late.

After the campaign in the Summer Isle, Isabella rides out the winter storms by studying the godly magic under Mother Lembu, in the process learning about the origins of the old gods. Crown Prince Reginald receives word that his father the King is ill and his sister Princess Sofia, acting as regent, is imposing a regime that is strangely similar to what had been happening on the Summer Isle - nobles killed, temples smashed, enforced public worship of old gods.

The cosmic gods are about to strike, humanity is on the verge of losing its free will, and Carmella Hunter and her friends are the last line of defense. The task of being anchor between the witches and the skein is draining Carmella by the hour, but she isn't one to sit by and let her friends do the work. With the clock ticking toward the eclipse, Carmella is determined to wrestle a plan B into place.