Showing results by narrator "John A. Rogers" in All Categories

Denise Levertov has called the poet Pattiann Rogers “a visionary of reality, perceiving the material world with such intensity of response that impulse, intention, meaning, interconnections beyond the skin of appearance are revealed.” The consistent theme In Flickering, her new collection, is the very breadth and prodigiousness of the universe itself. These wise poems, many inspired by various kinds of flickering actions in plants, animals, and natural processes, move nimbly between inner and outer worlds.

Devon Connor has always known life as a normal 12-year-old girl at St. Frances Institute for Heirs and Orphans. That is, until a supernatural shadow walker arrives to assassinate her. Unbeknownst to Devon, she wears the enchanted and legendary Crown of Guilledon as a trinket, and the shadow walker will stop at nothing to get it. With this attempt on her life, Devon is forced into the journey of discovering her true power and her forgotten past. But the timing couldn’t be worse. This mysteriously cursed crown has led her right to the brink of a dark and dangerous war.

I’m at the pinnacle of my career, and I don't have time for games. Not even training matches between the MMA fighters at my family’s famous gym. But when my brother’s enemy wipes the floor with him, I want no part of it. It’s just a game. Until the muscular god, with intense dark eyes, makes me his enemy, too. I’m ashamed to admit, it’s gotten dirty between Jhang and I.

As the wife of a pioneer in the field of biotechnology, Katherine Stallworth had an up-close view of the ugly underbelly of corporate espionage and the cutthroat nature of competition. When her husband is murdered and her life threatened, she turns to Raheem Miller, the one man she can trust - despite their sordid past. While he’d rather avoid this assignment, he’ll never forgive himself if anything happened to her. In the middle of conducting an investigation into her husband’s death, he discovers a conspiracy that could rock the very foundation of the United States.

Labor organizer Padma Mehta is on the edge of space and the edge of burnout. All she wants is to buy out a little rum distillery and retire, but she's supposed to recruit 500 people to the Union before she can. She's only 33 short. So when a small-time con artist tells her about 40 people ready to tumble down the space elevator to break free from her old bosses, she checks it out - against her better judgment. It turns out, of course, it was all lies.

Sharon "Obsession" Coley is on a journey of self-discovery. Tired of being the object of random men's affection, she longs to be loved for who she is. Therein lie the problems. One, she has no clue who she is, and two, she has fallen in love with two men. The fact that they are club brothers makes it more of a challenge. In the midst of dating both men, she decides she can't choose and opts to have her Matrix and Baby too. As the men reluctantly agree to this unusual relationship, the MC is faced with unforeseen challenges.

The best laid plans can still go awry...in the most terrifying way. Shanice Lawrence is hiding, but she soon learns that everything she’s been told has been a lie. After she and Cruz finally reunite, she’s happy and content in the life they’ve built together. A normal life, far from the turmoil of the past. But then the unthinkable happens, and she’s thrust into a nightmare she didn’t see coming. When Cruz Cordoba finds Shanice alive, he vows to never leave her again, and for a while, life is good - a far cry from the violence and chaos he’s used to as a Plan B assassin.

She's a singer posing as a maid. He's a surgeon forced to serve the Reich. For both of them, deception is the only way to survive the war. Cocktail singer Victoire Duplanchier knows Nazi-occupied Paris is not safe for a black woman. But that's exactly why she's trying to get her family out. When she's caught in a roundup, a man with ocean-blue eyes saves her from being sent to the camps. But can she really trust him? He might seem kind and handsome, but he's also a Nazi. Surgeon, Emil von Konig, was duped into serving the Reich by his deceitful father.

Anything can happen during a blackout. Even finding a soulmate. That's not what Celine Harris had been thinking during the historic Manhattan power outage of 2019. After hours of facing darkness, who would've guessed the first face she'd see would be one she would never forget! Musician Garreth King had just come from a tour only to end up on a New York subway to sit in the dark. But it had been well worth the wait after he spotted the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. As fate sweeps them back into each other's lives, they'll learn that time has nothing on love.

Luz De Los Santos thought her job was easy. Being the Sex and Relationship Director of Modern Magazine, no one knew the art of dating and hookups like she did. When the commitment-phobe beauty gets singled out by her editor to write a challenging column for the coveted, annual Valentine's issue, Luz is forced to confront her issues about relationships with her newly pitched project.

Eshu the Trickster needs a mortal form for his mischievous plans, but the only other Orisha who can help him swore off the practice ages ago. It will take careful scheming to convince the Original Architect to come out of retirement. Any misstep and Eshu will be thrown from the Sky Realm. What’s worse, Eshu hasn’t visited the heavens for several centuries. Would his former comrade even be the same? How can Eshu persuade someone he barely knows anymore?

He eliminates the monsters that come from the rift. Vex is the third-highest-ranked striker in the Interplanetary Galactic Force, and he’s gaining fast on number two. Every victory, and every progression in rank, comes with upgraded weapons technology and magic defenses. But after a decade of loyal servitude to the IGF, he’s finding himself at odds with his fellow elves. His shadow fox phenome has begun whispering strange warnings. The monsters he’s hunting are no longer mindless beasts: They’ve somehow grown sentient.

After a brutal fight to the Mississippi River, Jonathan Fisher and the few survivors that follow him have begun their journey south. His task is clear and his reason to live has been renewed. Somewhere out there is power, working airplanes and a possible refuge from the nightmare around them. A small mute girl known as Geeda deserves a chance at life, and they want to make sure she has it. But it will not be easy. Lack of food, shelter and weapons makes their trip difficult. Foreign invaders, infected crazed citizens, and treasonous “Wranglers” make it perilous.

Long ago, before the end of the gods, cursed crystal fragments lay hidden about the world. These objects were imbued with immeasurable power, yet to use one plagued the bearer with a heinous blight. Facing an empire's fleet of warships against his village's fishing boats, Jelani had no choice but to tap into the powerful and vicious Gods’ Glass. The reward for his heroism was stoneskin, which slowly consumes the body with stiff welts of rock. To all who know it - brewmasters and scholars alike - it’s a death sentence.

She’s a princess. He’s a demon. Both are fighting for control. Princess Shanaki, second heir to the throne of Ya-Set, has journeyed to a foreign land to serve as a pawn in her father’s game. Ikenna, demonkin, has been betrayed by his own. When the demons make a target of the princess to claim what is rightfully theirs, Ikenna moves against her first. Caught between beast and man, how will Shanaki save herself from the dark?

Lizzie is a pretty, but quite simple village girl when circumstances lead her to the artist Theo. She made a bad marriage to Lionel, a man who mistreated her and who then threw her out when she refused to sell her body on the streets for him. Now, she is trying to make her way alone. Theo is the rebellious son of a viscount, who left his privileged background to pursue his chosen career as an artist. His favorite subjects are pretty young women whom he loves to paint in the nude.

The first collection in the ongoing series of fantasy stories from the world of Esowon. You'll find dastardly beasts, tortured monks, and unexpected lovers in a set of tales that'll transport you to lands lost to time. Delve into these companion novellas to The Kishi, an African fantasy based on Angola folklore.

With no magic, no brawn, and no pirate crew, Zala seeks to steal back the one treasure that matters to her most: Her husband. To succeed she needs a ship - and not just any ship, but the latest, secret invention by the Vaaji Empire. An airship. Zala will have to use her wits to overcome scoundrels and nobles alike on her journey through the clouds. But if she's smart enough, she may just have what it takes to save her husband - and go down in history as the first sky pirate.

Following the loss of his family, Amana is determined to master the mystic arts and have his revenge. The only place he can learn to hone these abilities is with a group of pacifist mountain monks who rebuke the act of vengeance. If Amana is to achieve a power great enough to avenge his loved ones, he’ll have to embrace the philosophy of the Junga monks and keep his true intentions locked away.

What did it mean to be a hero in 1944? What does it mean today? On the 75th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy, these are the questions we ask ourselves as the world faces resurgent nativism, deep social divisions, and rising xenophobia. It’s no exaggeration to say that the gravity of our crises today echoes back to the crossroads of 1944. Finding St. Lo presents us with two distinct voices from the past.