Showing results by narrator "Natasha Soudek" in All Categories

In the 1950s, Oscar Hammerstein is asked to write the lyrics to a musical based on the life of a woman named Maria von Trapp. He’s intrigued to learn that she was once a novice who hoped to live quietly as an Austrian nun before her abbey sent her away to teach a widowed baron’s sickly child. What should have been a ten-month assignment, however, unexpectedly turned into a marriage proposal. And when the family was forced to flee their home to escape the Nazis, it was Maria who instructed them on how to survive using nothing but the power of their voices.

Swept up as a child in the events of Nazi-era Europe, Ruth Kluger saw her family's comfortable Vienna existence systematically undermined and destroyed. By age 11, she had been deported, along with her mother, to Theresienstadt, the first in a series of concentration camps that would become the setting for her precarious childhood. Interwoven with blunt, unsparing observations of childhood and nuanced reflections of an adult who has spent a lifetime thinking about the Holocaust, Still Alive rejects all easy assumptions about history, both political and personal.

Chasing the trail of the woman who was once considered her best friend, Kira Forrest returns to the planet of her birth. When a near deadly incident jeopardizes her arrival, Kira will find the secrets she's worked so hard to hide bubbling to the surface one by one. Her only hope to control her destiny and protect the ones she loves is to embark on a dangerous rite of passage that may require far more of her than she's willing to pay. For a hidden menace stalks her from the shadows—it's target those closest to her.

Family members and friends of adults with a mental illness often navigate difficult journeys, filled with fear, heartache, frustration, helplessness, exhaustion, and guilt—feelings that may be intermingled with immense pride and hope. Suffering in silence can magnify confusion, isolation, and pain. Loving Someone with a Mental Illness or History of Trauma provides actionable strategies for these family members and friends who give so much but whose needs and sacrifices are often unappreciated.

Before the First World War, enthusiasm for a borderless world reached its height. International travel, migration, trade, and progressive projects on matters ranging from women's rights to world peace reached a crescendo. Yet in the same breath, an undercurrent of reaction was growing, one that would surge ahead with the outbreak of war and its aftermath. In this sweeping work of history, Tara Zahra examines how nationalism, rather than internationalism, came to ensnare world politics in the early twentieth century.

With three powerful groups vying for control of the discovery's unlimited potential, it will take a delicate touch not to tip the scales toward war. Something Tate Fisher, a newly accepted dragon, ridden with a bit of a memory problem, has never been known for possessing.

Book two in the Heirs of Neverland series.

Claire Kenton believes the world is too dark for magic to be real - since her twin brother was stolen away as a child. Now Claire's desperate search points to London...and a boy who shouldn't exist. Peter Pan is having a beastly time getting back to Neverland. Grounded in London and hunted by his own Lost Boys, Peter searches for the last hope of restoring his crumbling island: a lass with magic in her veins.

Lacking health insurance when he was diagnosed with cancer, Shawn Speakman asked friends in the science fiction and fantasy writing community to donate short stories he could use to counter mounting medical debt. The result was Unfettered, an anthology offering tales from some of the best authors working today. Now, in Unfettered III, Speakman continues to pay forward the aid he received, raising money to combat medical debt for SF&F artists and authors.

Clio Louise Barnes leads a picture-perfect life as a stylist and influencer, but beneath the glossy veneer she harbors a not-so glamorous secret: she grew up in a haunted house. Well, not haunted. Possessed. After Clio’s parents' messy divorce, her mother, Alex, moved Clio and her sisters into a house occupied by a demon. Or so Alex claimed. That’s not what Clio’s sisters remember or what the courts determined when they stripped her of custody after she went off the deep end. But Alex was insistent; she even wrote a book about her experience in the house.

On her 18th birthday, Cleo receives a mysterious invitation to a scavenger hunt. She's sure her best friend, Hope, or her brother, Connor, is behind it, but no one confesses. And as Cleo and Hope embark on the hunt, the seemingly random locations and clues begin to feel familiar. In fact, all of the clues seem to be about Cleo's dead boyfriend, Declan, who drowned on a group rafting trip exactly a year ago: a bracelet she bought him, a song he loved, a photo of the rafting group, taken just before Declan drowned.

Aileen Travers thought she had it all figured out. Part private investigator, part fixer to the supernatural community, she was slowly building a reputation as the go-to vampire in Columbus. If you had a supernatural problem and nowhere to turn, she was the girl for you. The best part - no one had tried to kill her in weeks. Aileen's peaceful existence comes crashing down around her when an unwilling visit to the police station results in her picking up a stalker - or two. Now, Aileen is dodging suspicious looking portals while evading kidnapping attempts.

Do you struggle with the ongoing effects of trauma? If you have experienced a traumatic event or suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), you may believe that you're permanently damaged; that the anxiety, self-doubt, depression, and fear will never go away. The truth is that it's possible to rewire your brain, so you can free yourself from the past, find healing, and live for the future. This workbook will show you how. You'll discover a complete program to help you get in touch with, understand, and heal from the beliefs, feelings, and bodily sensations connected to your trauma.

A magical collection of 17 original stories by an amazing list of contributors—including a Dune story by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson!

A courier for the shadow world no more, Aileen's former protection is gone. Alone but still defiant, she survives one night at a time. Sure, working a dead-end job isn't part of every young vampire's dreams, but it pays the bills. When the darkly seductive Liam calls in a favor, she'll find her carefully constructed world tilting on its axis as he draws her into a dangerous game against a wily enemy. The High Fey - creatures as powerful and beautiful as they are deadly - have come to town, their motivations unclear as lines are drawn and shadowy alliances made.

Except when you're an outcast. Then it sucks. It really, really sucks. (Really). Euryale, sister of Medusa, longs to be accepted, but no matter what she does, all she gets is more of the same: Heroes who want to kill her, strangers who want to manipulate her, and gods who want to torment her. But there's only so much a gorgon can take. So when Euryale finally snaps and seeks vengeance, she discovers an ancient being who offers her a way to bring all of her enemies to their knees - if she's willing to pay a hefty price. And for a girl who's shunned by all, what's one more curse to bear?

Evangeline Hussey has made a home for herself on Nantucket, though she knows she is still an outsider to the island's small close-knit community, one that by 1849 has started to feel the decline of a once-thriving whaling industry. Her husband, Hosea, and the life they built together, was once all she needed—but now Hosea is gone, lost at sea. Evangeline is only able to hold on to his inn, and her place on the island, by employing a curious gift to glimpse and re-form the recent memories of those who would cast her out.

After the events in the Harridan's city, Tate is settling back into life in her chosen home of Aurelia. Peace doesn't last long when a simple misjudgment leads to an event Tate would do anything to avoid—making her formal debut to court. When an attack on the palace leads to the discovery of a dead body at the nexus between Tate's world and the dragon's, Tate will find that her enemies are no longer content to exist in the shadows. They have a plan, and not all her allies will be standing on her side in the final battle for the fate of this world.

A self-confidence book for women. Is it time to shake up your life? Sick of feeling unfulfilled? Looking at "it" girls and wondering how? CiiCii's empowering book is all about healing negative patterns through radical self-realization, self-love, and growth-all with that positive energy that only a big sister can bring. A self-love bible by the big sister you wish you had. Business owner, life coach, and podcast host CiiCii brings the energy and experience you need for true self-realization and transformation.

Alexander Weiss inadvertently insults Athena, goddess of wisdom, and she casts him away on a forgotten isle filled with statues. Being marooned is bad enough, but the fact that the island is also the home of Euryale, elder sister to Medusa, makes the situation a touch worse. The only thing keeping Alex from being petrified is the fact that Euryale has taken a liking to the blundering mortal. For now.