Showing results by narrator "Brenda Scott Wlazlo" in All Categories

Ryder Brooks is living the dream—he's famous, loved by millions of girls, and miserable. All he really wants is to write his own music, not Seconds to Juliet's sugary sweet pop. In order to do that, though, the "bad boy" of the band will have to play by the rules. And that includes behaving with his new—and super cute—tutor. Tutoring her favorite member of her favorite band? Mia Reyes is in fangirl heaven. Then it turns out Ryder is crude, arrogant, and a total jerk. And the worst part? She's roped into pretending to be his girlfriend so that no one finds out he's being tutored.

For over fifteen years, researchers have described a crisis in our nations' early learning classrooms. Hundreds of children are expelled from childcare and preschool every day; a rate nearly three times that of kindergarten-twelfth grade students. Each child's expulsion is symptomatic of a larger crisis—an overburdened, underfunded, undervalued, and fragmented early education system. No Longer Welcome starts a critical conversation between and across sectors of the early childhood field.

Brooke’s treetop city is a charred husk of its former glory. Her people demand revenge against the Emberhawk tribe, blind to the larger threat: the ravenous Malaano Empire. Determined to subvert a bloody war, Brooke accepts a marriage alliance she knows she’ll soon regret. Meanwhile, an Emberhawk prince is seeding a rebellion, and if Brooke’s secret support can reforge the Tribal Alliance, they might stand a chance against the Imperial threat. Lysander is a former slave who feels he has nothing to live for…unless he can convince Brooke to teach him the magic of thought-speak.

As if it wasn't bad enough to be deemed the "most single person" at her magazine's office, budding reporter Penny has now been tapped to write a series of features called "The Dating Itinerary." From speed dating to Tinder, old-fashioned matchmakers to up-and-coming "dark dating," Penny has to go on a lot of dates. Silver lining: meeting new people should be fun, right? But running into her old rival, George, at her first dating event is decidedly not. Not only does the arrogant know-it-all have zero trouble attracting women, wherever Penny goes, somehow he just. Keeps. Showing. Up.

Azlana's best friend set out to save her, only to become a captive of the Fairy Queen. Now it is up to her to travel to the Twilight Realm to save Luka, but there was one thing she didn't account for: The Darkness doesn't want to go back. When Anhedonia forces Azlana to leave the Realm prematurely, she's met with another task: reclaiming two of the imprisoned Amasai from the human king. Wielding that much power may very well kill her, but it is also her only chance at freedom. Can Azlana rise to the challenge, or will her desire to own her own destiny lead her to her own undoing?

A princess of elves on the run, a changeling lost in the Realm, and a dragon preparing for war. Anhedonia is a thrilling young adult coming of age fantasy novel set in a land where men and magic are at war. Azlana is a runaway princess who believes in uniting the kingdoms of men and magic. She wants is to be rid of the Amasai, Anhedonia before it harms someone she cares about; but the Dragon Fiora cannot take her burden even if she wasn’t holding Azlana captive.

Amasai Rising is an enchanting young-adult coming-of-age fantasy novel set in the Kingdom of Aythia. Azlana is a half-human, half-elf princess on the run, forced from the only home she has ever known and shouldered with the responsibility of uniting men and mystics. But an ancient darkness has taken hold of Azlana’s mind, flooding her thoughts that horrify her.

After a year of banishment in the modern world Persephone must convince Olympus that love comes in many forms. Persephone and Aphrodite must settle an old rivalry regarding their shared lover, or forfeit them to the mortal realm forever in this LGBTQ+ romantic fantasy short story. As their time runs out and the Goddess of Love shows no sign of wavering, it is up to Persephone to find a way to save the mortal she loves, without hurting the immortal she married.

Seventeen-year-old Teagan McNeel falls for captivating Garreth Adams and soon discovers that her crush has an eight-point star etched into the palm of his right hand-the mark of an angel. But where there is light, dark follows, and she and Garreth suddenly find themselves vulnerable to a dark angel's malicious plan that could threaten not only her life, but the lives of everyone she knows.

It’s 2130. The air is full of choking smog and radiation, and former solider Cynthia spends her days (and nights) in a lonely office slaving away as a corporate lawyer for the Alliance, a combination government and business organization that runs most of the world. When she stumbles into a secret meeting that offers a new life in a hidden undersea colony governed by the principles of science and equality, she jumps at the chance to start over.

Creations have become the new enemy in the America. With the Vojin manipulating the Guidance, no Creation is safe, and the America will be defenseless against the Zombies that now roam freely. Unless Kylie can find the light within her that has laid dormant for so long. Is there any hope for the people of the America? Can Kylie find it within herself to rise up into the person she truly is? There is one possibility for saving everyone and restoring freedom and safety to the land. But it will force Kylie to choose between who she is and who she wants to be.

The walking dead besiege the twins forces, turning even Creations wrong. With the help of an unexpected pact, the twins begin discovering who they really are. But now their former masters threaten to destroy their soul and their world. Every good commander knows to negotiate first. Can Kylie and Luke convince the Vojin to roll back the virus and let humanity live? Or will they be forced to go to war with an enemy that will do anything to wipe out humanity?

“No matter how hard it gets, there’s always a version of you who can fight a little longer.” Laney’s world collapsed when she caught her dad cheating. He begged her not to tell, but she did. Her family fell apart and regret consumes her, especially when she learns every decision she makes spawns a new universe for the opposite choice. If only she could skip sideways to the Laney who didn’t tell. But her only escape is through her imagination, until a news story blurs the lines between worlds.

In a ruined world, choices are a thing of the past. What happens when a Creation seizes hers anyway? Nearly a century ago, an extraterrestrial attack destroyed the majority of the world and decimated humanity. In a time of war, protection is needed. Designed to fight for their country, twins Kylie and Luke Alexander are Second Generation Creations, emotionless genetically altered fighters. They have one mission. Fight and live to fight again. But these twins are hiding impossible feelings and deadly secrets.

Merciless drought withers Kira's ranch, leaving her family hungry and desperate enough to cross the border into the forbidden forest to trap wild game. But the forest is infested with tree scorpions and giant cats that wield elemental invisibility, and they're hungry, too. When Kira mistakes one elemental creature for another, she ends up with the last thing she wants in her trap: an enemy soldier.

The Keating kids are shocked and intrigued when a tiny visitor suddenly appears during a lightning storm. Once they realize the visitor is friendly and needs their help to return to his dimension, they do everything in their power to help him. As time is running out, they enlist the help of others, but someone is working against them and not with them. Will they be able to help their traveler return to its own dimension? Or will it be stuck in this dimension forever?

Grieving over a broken romance and her newborn son put up for adoption against her wishes, 17-year-old Cara Walden arrives in 1950s London with her half-brother Gray‚ a blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter and closeted homosexual. Gray has looked after Cara ever since her mother‚ glamorous actress Vivien Grant‚ was found drowned in the pool at their estate.

To save her son from ultimate evil, she must turn to a God she no longer believes in.... Julie's crushing grief brought a swift end to her faith. Left to raise her fatherless son, the Seer can rely on no one but herself...which is exactly how the demons prefer it. When nefarious whispers foretell the impending death of her son, she’ll do whatever it takes to keep him safe. As sinister forces flood her idyllic coastal community, Julie’s God-given gifts may be her only hope for salvation.

With a touch of her hand, Octavia Hollows can restore life. Yet, she couldn’t save the man she loved from the horrific accident that stole him from her. Octavia thought she could outrun the pain, but ghosts from the past refuse to be silenced. Seattle, Washington: Octavia blew into town in search of information, only to get swirled up in a paranormal predicament even she couldn’t fathom. A neonatal nurse is dead, and her young patient is aging at an alarming rate.

It’s a lot of work to kill off Kentuckiana’s pedophile population. Cosette and her Miserables dig deep into the world of kidnappers, drug dealers, and child sex traffickers. It’s a downward spiral she might never recover from, but no one wants her to - she is, after all, a hero.