Showing results by narrator "Laurel Laurel" in All Categories

Seraph Black has endured a vicious stalker, a change of schools, a bonding, a triple-murder, and more than her fair share of uncomfortable situations; but it seems like the world isn’t done with her yet. The messenger is back with a systematic vengeance that knocks her flat, and not even her self-proclaimed secret-keepers are prepared for how far he is willing to go to get what he wants.

Patricia Highsmith had more than her fair share of secrets. During her life, she felt uncomfortable about discussing the source of her fiction and refused to answer questions about her private life. Yet after her death in February 1995, Highsmith left behind a vast archive of personal documents which detail the links between her life and her work. Drawing on these intimate papers, together with material gleaned from her closest friends and lovers, Andrew Wilson has written the first biography of an author described by Graham Greene as the “poet of apprehension.”

A powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an 1100-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe and built her back up again. At 22, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. After her mother's death, her family scattered and her own marriage was destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she decided to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State - alone. She had no experience as a long-distance hiker, and the trail was little more than an idea: vague, outlandish, and full of promise.

In 1935, six-year-old Emily Evans vanishes from her family's vacation home on a remote Minnesota lake. Her disappearance destroys the family - her father commits suicide, and her mother and two older sisters spend the rest of their lives at the lake house, keeping a decades-long vigil for the lost child. Sixty years later, Lucy, the quiet and watchful middle sister, lives in the lake house alone. Before her death, she writes the story of that devastating summer in a notebook that she leaves, along with the house, to the only person who might care: her grandniece, Justine.

A dark god rises, and a queen to meet him.... As librarian in the most gorgeous library in the world, I'm living my book nerd dreams. The hallowed halls are my haven, until the specter of a dark god begins to haunt my days and nights. When he kidnaps me, my lethally beautiful enemy gains a name: Hades. That should make me Persephone, but I’m no goddess. So why does he want me? I'll do whatever it takes to foil his deadly plans and escape, including seducing the brooding dark god.

Meet the Sorenson Family. Marilyn has somehow fallen into motherhood and spent four decades married to David, who's pretty certain he loves her more than anyone has ever loved another person. Wendy, their eldest, a cause for concern, soothes herself with drink after being widowed young, while Violet, lawyer-turned-stay-at-home-mother, is disturbed by the reappearance of a son placed for adoption 15 years earlier.

Ella Harrow is trying to carve out a normal life for herself. Well, as normal as an art geek with psychic abilities can hope for. As museum docent and gift shop manager, Ella is able to keep her distance from people - and her powers in check - while surrounding herself with the artifacts she loves. But how on earth is she supposed to act normal when a thousand-year-old statue on the museum's terrace suddenly comes to life?

Mila Ali's fiance Warren is killed in a corporate plane crash. Grief wraps around her heart and soul - cushioning her to the outside world and the reality that is now her life. Nothing could have prepared her for such a devastating loss, yet the fragile bubble she has built around her heart is shattered when Mila comes face to face with Blake Baldwin - billionaire, womanizer, Warren's boss, and the owner of that fateful airplane. Mila is not looking for love - been there, done that, but Blake will not rest until Mila Ali is his.

NYPD detective Sheryn Sterling has had her eye on Alex Traynor ever since his friend Cori fell to her death under suspicious circumstances a year ago. Cori’s death was ruled a suicide, but Sheryn thinks Alex - a wartime photojournalist suffering from PTSD - got away with murder. When Alex’s fiancée, Emily, a talented and beloved local doctor, suddenly goes missing, Sheryn suspects that Alex is again at the center of a sticky case.

Waking up in hell is not Del Bellator’s idea of a good time. She’d rather be back on earth, killing demons and hunting down magical treasure for her shop, Ancient Magic. Turns out escaping hell is easy - it’s staying out that’s hard. Del's dragon magic is illegal in the supernatural world. Worse, she doesn’t know how to control it. And if others learn her secret, she’s dead. Things get ugly when the Warden of the Underworld shows up to drag her back to hell. He’s a one of a kind demon shifter - the sexiest, most powerful one she’s ever met - and he’s set his sights on her.

Home from their travels at last, Sunaya and Iannis are confronted with a threat against which even their strongest magic is largely helpless. The very ground under their city is becoming increasingly unstable, and there are disturbing predictions of an impending quake the likes of which Solantha hasn't seen in centuries. While their hands are full preparing for disaster, Iannis's most dangerous rival returns to Solantha, intent on finding anything he can use against Iannis.

Shice is a player. All the women want and have had him. Except, Shice doesn't settle down with anyone. When the cleaning woman comes into his room after he's been robbed, he goes off on her. Not expecting Amor to fight back with her words, he's intrigued. Will Amor and Shice end up together, or are they like oil and vinegar?

So here’s the deal—I’m a magical disaster. A witch from a family of witches, and the only one whose magic blows up in her face. Which is why I came up with my rules....

After nearly losing his friend in a logging accident, Gage Barringer is convinced now more than ever that he needs to find a different job. But his side business of breaking colts at the small Montana ranch he inherited from his grandfather doesn't earn him enough money. He has his mind set on running The Raven's Nest, a popular bar and restaurant near his ranch. The original owner has died and Gage is waiting for it to be put up for sale. But there is a five-foot-four, brown-eyed obstacle in his way, an obstacle with lips made for sin and a voice made for breaking hearts.

With both her best friend and sister safe, Rosalind has nearly everything she wants. The three of them dream of a simple life together - a cozy little house in the woods. If nothing else, it would take Rosalind far away from the gorgeous incubus Caine and the conflicted feelings he inspires. But when Rosalind's psychopathic cousin Drew invades the vampire kingdom, the slaughter begins. He punishes Rosalind in the worst way possible. Now under siege, Rosalind's old plans are in shambles.

When you know, you know. Or so say the men in my family. While I was never one to run from love, marriage, or commitment, I knew it’d take a strong woman to handle everything that came with being with me. Not only was my family well connected and wealthy, but as one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL, I had made a success of my life on my own. In my world, women came a dime a dozen...or so I thought.

Tuesday night in the library started out normal--alone with cheap beer and a murder mystery. Partying, librarian style. Until the god Hades appears. When he abducts me, I try to say he's got the wrong girl--I'm no goddess. At least, I don't think so. Suddenly, I'm in his world, captive. The upside? I live in a castle with a lethally beautiful god who wants to make me a queen. The downside? He's scary AF and also wants me to help him destroy the world.

When I board the flight to Mexico, I can’t wait to leave my old corporate lifestyle behind. After a much-needed sabbatical, I plan to return home and open the coffee shop I’ve always wanted to. Getting to know the strong, handsome stranger sitting next to me on my flight is an unexpected bonus. And so is our whirlwind holiday romance that leaves me breathless. Brutus says he wants to continue things back in the real world, but I’m not sure he has room in his life for me, and I’m tired of settling for second best.

Landmark Essays, Volume 2 continues a wonderful journey to the heart of the matter of our lives, to what matters most. It points out what's possible if we step outside of what we know, and recognize and embrace our capacity to bring forth an entirely new possibility for living—not because it is better, but simply because that is what human beings can do.

Have you ever fallen so deeply for someone that you’d be willing to do anything for them? I was willing to do anything for Aaron, including leaving him if it meant keeping him from getting tangled up in my past. Aaron wasn’t going to let me run. Even if there was an army after me, he’d gather arms and prepare for a war.