Showing results by narrator "Ava Lucas" in All Categories

My dreams came true when I was adopted at ten. I was the best on the ice. Living the life every kid dreams of. We’ve been best friends since then. Even when she was the annoying little sister following us around. I would do anything for her. It is another family vacation, except this time it feels different. Everything feels different.

Science fiction is a portal that opens doors onto futures too rich and strange to imagine. Fantasy takes us through doorways of magic and wonder. For more than a decade award-winning editor Jonathan Strahan has sifted through tens of thousands of stories to select the best, the most interesting, the most engaging science fiction and fantasy to thrill and delight readers. 

When I inherited the Dallas Oilers from my father, I became one of the youngest owners in hockey history. Even though the team was at the bottom of the hockey standings, I had big plans to change that and bring the Cup to Dallas. Falling in love was something I never believed would happen to me. You’d think I was getting everything I ever wanted with the girl and the winning record, but I still have a promise to fulfill to my childhood best friend.

Five years ago, a phone call forever changed my life as I listened to my wife being murdered half a world away. Going rogue from the CIA, I became a man feared by everyone as I sought vengeance. Lies she’d told and secrets she’d kept, pushed me over an even darker edge. With nothing to lose, I became unstoppable. A devil among men. Until justice was served, or so I’d thought it’d been . . . Working alongside a team of veterans, trying to find my way back to the man I’d once been, another life-altering call came, drawing me back to the dark world I’d left behind.

With The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 3, award-winning editor Neil Clarke provides a year-in-review and 27 of the best stories published by both new and established authors in 2017. 

Brianna Cassatto is off-limits. From the moment our families formed an alliance through marriage, she became untouchable. To not only me—but every man. I made sure of that by threatening all who dares to look her way. In the dark underworld of mafia monsters and villains, there is nothing more dangerous than the desire for a woman you cannot have. That temptation can drive a man mad, make him do the unthinkable.

Danica Waterhouse is a fully modern witch - daughter, granddaughter, cousin, and co-owner of the Fix-It Witches, a magical tech repair shop. After a messy breakup that included way too much family feedback, Danica made a pact with her cousin: They'll keep their hearts protected and have fun, without involving any of the overly opinionated Waterhouse matriarchs. Danica is more than a little exhausted navigating a long-standing family feud where Gram thinks the only good mundane is a dead one and Danica's mother weaves floral crowns for anyone who crosses her path.

He’s the popular jock everyone loves. Funny, gorgeous, and a flock of girls to choose from. But she’s the bullied and antisocial girl no one notices. She has no friends and she likes it that way - until he walks into her life. They shouldn’t be friends, they definitely shouldn’t be roommates, but that doesn’t stop him though. When friendship blooms into something more, she’s not sure if she should hold on or let go. She’s hiding things, secrets so dark, and deep. If he ever discovers them she is certain he won’t want her anymore.

FBI Agent Kristin Webster has spent the last eight years tracking and taking down the worst of humanity. She’s seen too much to believe she could ever trust a human man, but the promise of a perfect match through the Coalition’s Interstellar Brides Program has her settling into the testing chair to be matched to her alien mate. But her match isn’t a male from a distant planet, but two scarred Prillon warriors on the Colony. And when warriors begin to disappear, Kristin will take matters into her own hands.

Arpad growlypants Beauchamp a.k.a. Grumpzilla. The first time he met me, he told me that he hated my company. I retaliated by spitting my Chai Tea Latte all over his tailormade slacks. He granted the security agency I run his business, anyway, huh? Clearly, it's because he wants to control me. To make my life miserable. To become a thorn in my side, glowering down at me from his superior height. So when I end up stowing away on his boat, by a quirk of fate, I demand he turn back.

The North Yorkshire moors are always a magical place, but they’re particularly enchanting at the holidays…especially if one gets to travel back in time to a Victorian Christmas. For Bronwyn Dale, it is the stuff of dreams. Fancy-dress balls, quirky small-town traditions, even that classic one-horse open sleigh, complete with jingle bells. There’s just the tiny problem of the Butterfly Effect. How does a time-traveler make a difference without disrupting the future forever?

Diesel, the MC’s Sergeant at Arms and enforcer, is tasked with not only keeping the club’s property and its members safe but also taking care of “business” when needed. His motto, “live free, die free”, means he sees most women as nags and clingers, and he wants none of that. The last thing he needs is to have one sitting on the back of his bike and trying to dictate his life. Unlike the other DAMC women, Jewel wants to be an ol’ lady. Being born and raised within the club, her goal is to earn her place on back of a brother’s bike. But not just anyone’s.

After having been abducted from an FBI operation, Jake Summers wakes up the victim of an explosion in London a week later. He is perhaps the sole witness to the start of a massive terrorist plot, but his memory of the event—and of the last 12 years of his life—have been erased. Jake's not sure if he can be the man he once was to help the government stop another attack. But when MI6 Agent Alexa Ryan shows up needing his help, Jake begins to recall some of his past. And some of those memories include her.

Constantine Costa has spent his life shielding others from harm. As the eldest brother and a former clandestine operative, he’s made it his mission to help those who can’t help themselves. But despite his strength and dedication, there’s always been something missing—a void he’s never been able to fill. Juliette Carmichael had her future mapped out with medical school, a bright career, and a stable life all within her grasp. But on her twenty-first birthday, she threw caution to the wind and embraced a moment of freedom. No names.

Who says you can’t live the rock and roll life after 40? You just need a lot more vitamins and a bigger bottle of aspirin. Valerie Costa was pretty sure she was rocking her 40s. She had an amazing coffee shop, two cool teenagers, and a new superpower that gave her insight into any random object she touched. Okay, she wasn’t thrilled about that last one. Ever since Val and her two best friends had driven their car off the edge and into Glimmer Lake the year before, Val has struggled with her new abilities.

Though the club blood runs thick in Axel’s veins, he’s despised by them for being a cop. They also hate him because his family turned their back years ago not only on the club but his brother, the president of the Dirty Angels MC. However, he's loved Bella forever, watched her marry the wrong man, one who broke her in almost every imaginable way, and yet she's still the strongest person he knows. Despite their rivaling families, he won't let anything stand in the way of making her his this time. Bella hasn’t known anything other than alpha bikers her whole life.

Connor Matthews, a Marine and now gun for hire, is not what you'd call the quintessential businessman. But when his father's unexpected passing leaves the family business to him and his brother, Connor agrees to take over until his brother finishes his last tour of duty. Connor resigns himself to a life of dull meetings and paperwork, but quickly finds himself mired in his father's web of shady business deals. And in the midst of the mess is Olivia Taylor, his gorgeous and headstrong ex-girlfriend.

There are a few lessons one has to learn for themselves. Then there are the lessons that most people don’t have to learn because it’s just not done. For instance, most people know instinctively that they shouldn’t crave the mother of their brother’s child. Bourne Pena isn’t most men. Bourne does everything he can to fight the attraction he feels for Delanie, but in the end, his refusal to go there almost ends up costing him his life.

Charlotte has spent her 20s adrift, searching for a spark to jump-start her life and give her a sense of purpose. She’s had as many jobs as she’s had bad relationships, and now she’s feeling especially lost in her less-than-glamorous gig at a pie-and-fry joint in Los Angeles, where the uniforms are bad and the tips are even worse. Then she collides - literally - with Adam, an intriguing, handsome, and mysterious painter.

Billionaire Lucas Oliver is hell-bent on revenge. And his plan begins when Sydney Blake - the stunning daughter of his enemy - is tricked into bidding on him at a bachelor auction. Then he serves up a little blackmail...followed by a marriage proposal Sydney has no choice but to accept. Sydney has been controlled by her family her whole life. When Lucas threatens to reveal her father's shady business, she is once again forced to do her duty for her family. But worse - oh so much worse - is the rush of lust that Lucas ignites in her blood.