Showing results by narrator "Zura Johnson" in All Categories

Blame the booze, her shaky marriage, her troubled son, or a thousand other things, but Jewelann Jordan has one thing on her mind when she attends her class reunion: making sure her old crush Christian Campbell sees exactly what he lost all those years ago. A late night, a hotel room, a rekindled flame that burns even hotter than it did back then—what could go wrong? Everything. The night with Christian isn't the first secret Jewelann has kept from her husband Ken, so one more shouldn't be much harder—except that Christian shows up without warning.

Deep in the dark forest, in a cottage that spins on birds’ legs behind a fence topped with human skulls, lives the baba yaga. A guardian of the water of life, she lives with her sisters and takes to the skies in a giant mortar and pestle, creating tempests as she goes. Those who come across the baba yaga may find help, or hinderance, or horror. She is wild, she is woman, she is witch—and these are her tales.

In Shadow Lab, a brilliant roster of speculative fiction writers pulls listeners into a diverse and genre-bending collection of stories, each as irresistible as the last.

I don’t trust people, and for good reason. My parents kicked me out the second I turned eighteen, and my friends from high school or college all lost touch. No matter how close we get, how much they claim they love me, they always abandon me. The only person I can rely on is me, which is why I’ve built my own business from the ground up making bookish merch and accessories. So far, I’m hitting or exceeding all my goals and that’s all I need.

The government wants them dead. They want to know why. And if they want answers, the crew will have to pull what may be their most dangerous job yet. Long before signing on with the Ungovernable, back in his university days, ex-convict and one-time-student Lev stumbled onto a secret, a secret that ended in his professor and mentor disappearing, never to be heard from again. Now he and the rest of the crew are going back to university - but this time they’re breaking in, and they’re bent on sabotage.

Ice is a wicked deadly magic that creeps up dark corridors, threatening to crack all it touches. Valentina finds herself vulnerable behind enemy lines in the court of her nightmares. But frost has quieted her mind, ice has hardened her soul, and the Frost Witches of Winter Court have a power she never expected. Survival means making deals with unlikely allies of the North if she wants to return to The Court of Shadows.

The darkness of the Hunt is going to find out exactly what the light of Summer is made of. Dancing With Darkness is a deliciously slow-burn fantasy romance. The heat and court intrigue ramp up as the series continues. The world of Eadha is full of unique fantasy creatures, magical artifacts, and tavern-type songs.

When a commercial flight goes down en route to Hawaii, all 184 people on board perish with the one exception of a two-year-old boy named Ethan. Before their untimely deaths, Ethan's parents, Tag and Amanda, chose their good friends Matthew and Nicole to be Ethan's guardians in the event that the worst ever happened. From the afterlife, grief-stricken Tag and Amanda watch as Nicole's addictions (which the family had hidden), the family's financial struggles, and the public obsession with their story ignite events that threaten Ethan's welfare.

Tirne is one of four humans rigorously selected to usher the turn of the seasons into the mortal world. Every year, she escorts the taciturn god Autumn between the godly and human realms. Autumn’s seasonal stay among mortals brings cooler weather, changing leaves, and the harvest of apples and gourds until Winter takes his place. This year, the enchanted Mirror that separates their worlds shatters after Tirne and Autumn pass through, trapping both of them in the human realm.

Growing up in Chicago’s Little Sicily in the years following the Great War, Grace Dragotta has always wanted to be a ballerina, ever since she first peered through the windows of the Near North Ballet company. So when Grace is orphaned, she chooses the ballet as her home, imagining herself forever ensconced in a transcendent world of light and beauty so different from her poor, immigrant upbringing.

Strange magic is in the air... or rain, rather. Seeing the bravery of those being slaughtered by Winter and frustrated with those who can't help but refuse, Valentina vows never to return to the broken chair in Otti Theater ever again. Especially once she learns what she truly is. Life may flow on Spring's breeze but it's pulling Valentina into dangerous fae court games that are determined to send her into the ground. Or worse, back to the endless fire of Autumn Court.

In the village of Liver-and-Onions, there was a Potato Face Blind Man who used to play an accordion on the corner near the post office. The sometime narrator of these tales, he transports readers and listeners to Rootabaga Country, where the railroad tracks go from straight to zigzag, the pigs wear bibs, and the Village of Cream Puffs floats in the wind, looking like a little hat that you could wear on the end of your thumb. Carl Sandburg, the beloved folk chronicler and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, invented these stories for his own daughters.

For almost thirty years, Shirley Jackson Award–winning horror author Gemma Files has consistently served up tale after tale celebrating monstrosity in all its forms: the imperfect, the broken, the beautifully alien, and the sadly familiar. Her characters make their own choices and take their own chances, slipping from darkness into deeper darkness yet never losing their humanity—not even when they’re anything but.

Tomorrow isn’t promised, no matter how immortal you think you are. In the aftermath of Vivienne’s capture, she discovers she's destined to become one of the Forgetful P.A.N. The devastating diagnosis leaves her questioning her relationships - and her place in Neverland. While on her second recruitment mission, she ignores a cardinal rule, and one of her fellow P.A.N. pays the ultimate price for her mistake.

Breck, the dungeon core, has been captured by a group calling themselves The Scorpion. The god of living death essence now has his claws around him. The remaining dungeon mobs and bosses are struggling to keep the dungeon from falling apart in his absence. Zach is gathering allies to form an alliance to combat the growing dark forces on the rise. More gods are being reborn as these two massive armies are getting ready to clash.

They just pulled off the heist of the century. Now, ex-smuggler pilot Jez and the motley crew of the Ungovernable have a promise to keep: an extraction from a high-security political prison. But the timeline for the rescue is shorter than they ever imagined, and if they want to save their target from certain death, they’ll have to go in blind - no specs, no intel, no time to prepare, and only the skeleton of a plan.

Breck isn’t alone. After months of being in this strange new world full of swords and magic, trapped as a dungeon core, he’s desperate to communicate with a fellow Earthling. He’ll stop at nothing to advance up the essence ranks and make contact with Zach. During his attempts to rank up, his experiments turn deadly. He’ll need to call upon help from everyone and everything he can.

The P.A.N. Trilogy (The Complete Series) Omnibus contains all three books: The P.A.N., The H.O.O.K., and The C.R.O.C.. With high-flying adventure, a dash of science fiction, and a whole lot of angst, this YA romance reimagines the Peter Pan story, bringing the tale into the 21st century. The P.A.N. trilogy is perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer’s The Lunar Chronicles, Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight, and fans of the hit TV show Once upon a Time.

Throughout time, felines have played a sacred role in human life. In this guidebook, you’ll meet 51 feline deities and demons from four geographical families around the world—Africa, Americas, Asia, and Europe. You’ll also encounter mystical cats who work in alliance with human gods and goddesses. The feline entities come from different eras and cultures all over the world. Some are angelic guides, and others, demonic adversaries, but all play a role in our understanding of feline deities and why they became to be so.

Ex-smuggler pilot Jez and the crew of The Ungovernable desperately need a way to stop the government from killing them all. So, when Grigory - godfather of the biggest mafia organization in the System - invites them aboard his private gambling ship and tells them he can give them a way out, it’s an offer they can’t refuse. But accepting it means dealing into Grigory’s game, and he hasn’t forgotten the money they'd cost him in their first heist. If they don’t want to end up floating in space without a spacesuit, they’ll have to find a way to beat him at his own game.