Showing results by narrator "Victoria Villarreal" in All Categories

Nina Popoca needs help. So, so much of it. The only place she can find that help is on a sprawling ranch in Colorado. A place hiding more than a community filled with magical creatures trying to live their lives in safety and in peace. A village that might hold the answers to questions she’s had her entire life.

Every town has its secrets, but no one has a secret like hers. Amber Blackwood, lifelong resident of Edgehill, Oregon, has earned a reputation for being a semi-reclusive odd duck. Her store The Quirky Whisker is full of curiosities, from extremely potent sleepy teas and ever-burning candles to kids' toys that seem to run endlessly without the aid of batteries. The people of Edgehill think of the Quirky Whisker as an integral part of their feline-obsessed town, but most give Amber herself a wide berth.

Hacienda San Isidro was meant to be Beatriz's haven, her salvation from an oppressive life with her uncle and his vicious wife. When Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposed, Beatriz dreamed only of the security his estate in the countryside would provide, ignoring the rumors surrounding his first wife's demise and his sinister allegiances. She will have her own home again, no matter the price. But the house has ideas of its own. Visions and voices claw at Beatriz, stealing her sleep, and the weight of invisible eyes follows her every move.

Najwa Zebian, EdD, has been grappling with the concept of letting go for years, both in her own journey and in her interactions with community members, students, and friends. More and more, Najwa has observed that while our problems are personal, the themes surrounding them are universal. She concluded that letting go is a topic that deserves specific attention and consideration. Wanting a tool that is practical for as many people as possible, Najwa used her considerable platform to solicit questions from longtime followers.

For all of Kat’s life, it’s just been her and her mother, Jamie—except for the forty-eight hours twelve years ago when Jamie was married and Kat had a stepbrother, Liam. That all ended in an epic divorce, and Kat and Liam haven’t spoken since. Now Jamie is a jewel thief trying to go straight, but she has one last job - at billionaire Ross Sutherland’s 80th birthday party - and Kat has figured out a way to tag along with her mother. .

For decades, bestselling author J. R. Alastor, king of the murder mystery, has hidden in the shadows. His novels adorn countless bookshelves across the world, but no one knows his real name. One day, event coordinator Mila del Angél gets a message: Alastor wants her help to host a murder mystery retreat on his private island. It’s the perfect cover for Mila to finally carry out her long-held plans for revenge on one of the authors, a ghost from her past. But when a different guest turns up dead, she finds herself in a lethal game she didn’t plan for.

Grieving mother Magos cuts out a piece of her deceased eleven-year-old son Santiago's lung. Acting on fierce maternal instinct and the dubious logic of an old folktale, she nurtures the lung until it gains sentience, growing into the carnivorous little Monstrilio she keeps hidden within the walls of her family's decaying Mexico City estate. Eventually, Monstrilio begins to resemble the Santiago he once was, but his innate impulses—though curbed by his biological and chosen family's communal care—threaten to destroy this fragile second chance at life.

The week before Luna's twin sister Solina was supposed to head back for her final term at the prestigious Kingswood Academy, she told Luna she was dropping out. Twelve hours later, she was dead. Luna knows Solina's death wasn't an accident. There's a reason Solina didn't want to go back to Kingswood—Luna knows the truth is there and she has nothing left to lose. All she has to do is become Solina.

Rumination—obsessive thinking about an idea, situation, or choice that can interfere with normal life—is a common and destructive issue that can negatively impact romantic relationships. You may feel anxious, worried, hopeless, and frustrated, but even if you know your overthinking is a problem, it can be seriously hard to stop. In Stop Overthinking Your Relationship, certified couples therapist Alicia Muñoz draws from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness to offer an effective, four-step approach to reduce rumination and change negative thinking patterns.

A gripping blend of the raw, the astonishing and the tragic, every story is as perfectly unexpected as a snare: tightly, exquisitely wound, ready to snap at a touch. Here, a young father is haunted by the consequences of a moment of distraction; tragedy is complicated by the inexplicable appearance of an injured horse; an attempted poisoning leads two writers to startling conclusions; a lonely woman’s charity is rewarded with home-invasion. And in the shocking opening story, a mother surfaces from the depths of the lake behind her house, where she saw something awful yet alluring.

On the dawn of 16 July 1990, Liliana Rivera Garza, Cristina Rivera Garza’s sister, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend and subsumed into Mexico's dark and relentless history of femicide. She was a twenty-year-old architecture student who had been trying for years to end her relationship with a high school boyfriend who insisted on not letting her go. A few weeks before the tragedy, Liliana made a definitive decision: at the height of her winter she had discovered that, as Albert Camus had said, there was an invincible summer in her.

As Monster High prepares for its annual talent show, Frankie Stein is left wondering what they could perform. When Torelei Stripe mocks Frankie's music playing abilities, Frankie is left even more confused about which of their brain parts is exciting enough for the talent show.

Whether you’re planning on traveling to Spain or just want to learn another language, this audiobook guides you toward learning a basic to intermediate level of Spanish.

There isn't a style or pop culture trend in the monster world that Cleo De Nile isn't on top of. But on a visit to the human world, Cleo discovers a tradition that completely escaped her: Monster Con, where humans gather to dress up as their favorite monsters. Convinced it's what Monster High has been missing-and determined to prove to her family that she can be a leader-Cleo decides to put on the school's first ever Human Con.

Mia has had a heart condition her whole life. She’s not afraid of dying but something has always stopped her from her biggest fear: tracking down her biological mother in Spain...until now. Before her next surgery, Mia wants to meet the woman who gave her away once and for all. Kyle has always been the life of the party...that was until the car accident that killed his best friend. Since then he’s been reeling with guilt and willing to do just about anything to escape his reality. After a twist of fate, Mia and Kyle meet and make the decision to travel to Spain together in search of answers.

From David Levithan’s story about a non-binary kid collecting pieces of other people’s collections to Jenny Torres Sanchez's tale of a girl gathering types of fire while trying not to get burned to G. Neri's piece about 1970's skaters seeking opportunities to go vertical—anything can be collected and in the hands of these award-winning and bestselling authors, any collection can tell a story. Nine of the best YA novelists working today have written fiction based on a prompt from Printz-winner A.S. King (who also contributes a story) and the result is itself an extraordinary collection.

Amber Blackwood, Edgehill’s secret resident witch, recently found her parents’ grimoires and the powerful time spells within. The malevolent Penhallow clan has been ruthlessly seeking the grimoires so they can travel back in time to undo their clan’s cursed magic. Because the Penhallows will stop at nothing, Amber must find an impregnable hiding place for the grimoires, though she has no clue where to start looking. When her cousin Edgar suggests the game of Magic Cache, a magic-infused version of geocaching played by witches all over the world, Amber agrees to learn how to play.

The Here and Meow Festival has finally arrived! Amber Blackwood and her fellow festival committee members still have plenty to do before the celebration of all things feline begins. Even though Amber’s witchy past keeps interfering, she knows the show must go on. Edgehill’s livelihood depends on the festival’s success. When two incidents involving her malfunctioning products cause her to shutter the doors of her curiosity shop, The Quirky Whisker, only days before the busiest season of the year, Amber thinks things can’t get any worse.

Lakin Hale, true crime writer and victim of an attack that left her for dead, helps crime solvers and victims close cold cases, yet there is one crime she hasn't been able to solve: her own. As she embarks on a new case, working closely with Special Agent Rhys Nolan, the details of the murder begin to eerily resemble the event that nearly ended her life. A silhouette of a man haunts her dreams, but there were only two people there that night - Lakin and her murderer. Is the phantom hero who pulled her from the water a delusion, or is he the only one who can unlock her dark memories?

Golden Age Hollywood - a city overflowing with gossip, scandal, and intrigue. Every actress wants to play Salome, the star-making role in a big-budget movie about the legendary temptress. So when the film's mercurial director casts Vera Larios, an unknown Mexican ingenue, in the lead role, she quickly becomes the talk of the town. Vera also becomes an object of envy for Nancy Hartley, a bit player whose career has stalled and who will do anything to win the fame she believes she richly deserves.