Showing results by author "A.J. Smith" in All Categories

The last thing on Esther Dunja's mind is falling in love. Her goal is to keep her head down and slide through the next twelve years until her son graduates. After being run out of the last school she taught at by her ex, Esther needs to make this new teaching job work. It's her last chance to retain custody. The problem is she never anticipated falling for her son's kindergarten teacher.

Jack Zulu and the Waylander's Key is an enchanting adventure in the tradition of Tolkien and Lewis, as well as Spielberg and Lucas. But this fantastical journey launches in rural West Virginia in the '80s, with a half-Appalachian, half-African kid trying to escape the town he sees defining his small, sad life. Jack discovers a gate hiding a city between 12 realms and finds out where he truly belongs in a surprising, satisfying adventure.

Welcome to New Zealand: golden beaches, forest-covered mountains, pristine water and exotic bird life. A safe, friendly place to raise your family. Not anymore. All that was before the Hemorrhage Virus decimated the population. Before the survivors fled to the islands to escape the new and terrifying apex predators—the Variants. That was before Operation Utu launched to reclaim their land.

After his brother, Damon Salvatore, betrays him in New Orleans, Stefan starts over in Manhattan. Vowing never to harm another human, he roams the streets, trying to disappear into the city’s chaos. But just when he thinks he’s left his past behind, Stefan discovers that he can never escape his brother. Damon has grand plans for the vampire Salvatore brothers - whether Stefan likes it or not. Together, they take New York by storm. When their exploits end up on the society pages, an old enemy resurfaces - one hell-bent on revenge.

This book is a manual for becoming the kind of man God intends for you to be, and leading other men to do the same. Taking ten qualities from the Apostle Paul's short letter to his mentee Titus, The Titus Ten will help you grow in your understanding of the gospel, your identity, your character, your doctrine, and more. Each chapter includes questions for reflection and discussion, to both process the way the Lord is growing you, and read in a group with other men. As you grow in these areas of your life, you'll become the kind of man God desires to use in the world.

When Laura Finch’s business partner hires Skylar to bring their company to the next generation, Laura sees red. An obnoxious millennial isn’t someone she wants to work with—they’re known for failing their side hustles. Since Laura gave up everything for Solace Inc to succeed, including her dreams of marriage and family, she’s not willing to risk it on just anyone.

Beyond the reach of the nuclear infernos, the masterminds survived and continue their assault on outposts across the Allied States. Timothy Temper and Sergeant Ruckley narrowly escaped one of those attacks. On the run from hostile forces, they fight to get an urgent message to command - the monsters aren’t the only threat. Their human allies have a nuclear weapon. Refusing to hide underground, President Jan Ringgold heads to New York. Doctor Kate Lovato and her team are there working to infiltrate and sabotage enemy communications.

To rescue her boyfriend Tom and her cousin Zach from the evil Julian, Jenny Thornton and her friends--Audrey, Michael, and Dee--venture into the Shadow World, armed only with a set of runes that hold the key to the doors of hell.

Elena Gilbert's love, the vampire Stefan Salvatore, has been captured and imprisoned by demonic spirits who are wreaking havoc in Fell's Church. While her friends Bonnie and Meredith explore the evil that has taken over their town, Elena goes in search of Stefan. In order to find him, she entrusts her life to Stefan's brother, Damon Salvatore, the handsome but deadly vampire who wants Elena, body and soul.

The Hemorrhage Virus tore through America and swept the globe, leaving no country untouched. New Zealand was no exception. Those infected mutated into monsters, monsters that became known as Variants. Seven weeks have passed since Jack and Dee's quiet world shattered. Along with a small band of survivors, they fled to Mayor Island. Determined to help stem the Variant scourge, they volunteer for what remains of the army. Led by Captain Ben Johns, a grizzly retired NZ SAS soldier, they are sent on a dangerous mission to rescue a scientist.

The best seller that helps you say, "I just said 'no', and I don't feel guilty!" Are you letting your kids get away with murder? Are you allowing your mother-in-law to impose her will on you? Are you embarrassed by praise or crushed by criticism? Are you having trouble coping with people? Learn the answers in When I Say No, I Feel Guilty, the best seller with revolutionary new techniques for getting your own way.

Bellamy has worked with and loved her wife of 10 years, but it’s never enough. When Bellamy finds her limit of abuse and a young, cute waitress offers an opportunity, she seizes the moment, knowing she’ll never see Payton again. But months later, Bellamy comes face-to-face with the one-night stand she can’t forget and the failed marriage she has yet to escape. Payton knows she can’t be the normal 20-something when she ends up with custody of her nephew. Leaping at the opportunity for a full-time job, she has instant regrets when in walks the woman of her dreams. Bellamy.

The year is 1888, and the scent of blood lingers heavy in the London air. Stefan Salvatore thought he could escape his violent origins by settling in the peaceful countryside of England, but when a heinous murderer named Jack the Ripper surfaces, Stefan fears darkness will always follow him. Drawn into the investigation, Stefan assumes the worst: This is the work of a vampire. And the more he learns, the more he becomes convinced that the killer is someone close to him - and that he can never outrun his past.

Elena Gilbert is alive - again. When Elena sacrificed herself to save the two vampire brothers who love her - the handsome, brooding Stefan and the sleek and dangerous Damon - she was consigned to a fate beyond death. Until a powerful supernatural force pulled her back. Now Elena is not just human. She has powers and gifts that were bestowed on her in the afterlife. What's more, her blood pulses with an overwhelming and unique force that makes her irresistible to any vampire.

Suburban soccer moms and soy latte-sipping men have no clue what these blue-collar men and women have to put up with on a daily basis. From chupacabras chewing the cable lines during the big game to zombie infestations boiling out from beneath that derelict double-wide on the other side of the trailer park, the heroes of It Came From the Trailer Park: Volume Two have their work cut out for them! Hold their beer, Romero and Hitchcock. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

Elena: transformed, the golden girl has become what she once feared and desired. Stefan: tormented by losing Elena, he's determined to end his feud with Damon once and for all - whatever the cost. But slowly he begins to realize that his brother is not his only enemy. Damon: at last, he possesses Elena. But will his thirst for revenge against Stefan poison his triumph? Or can they come together to face one final battle?

Elena Gilbert is dying. When Damon Salvatore avenged his brother Stefan’s death, he broke the sacred deal he’d made with the Guardians - and put Elena’s life at risk. She should be dead, but instead, the Guardians are offering Elena a once-in-a-lifetime chance: To start over. Ever since she met the Salvatore brothers, Elena’s love for them both has caused endless death and destruction.

Kaitlyn Fairchild's prophetic drawings frighten her, but she is offered a scholarship to the Zetes Institute with four other psychically gifted students that seems like a new beginning - until they discover an experiment that can destroy them all.

Jenny's friends are lost one by one to a ghostly wolf and a phantom snake, instruments of the sinister but attractive Shadow Man, who has returned from the Shadow World with a deadly game called "Lambs and Monsters."

Keller is a black panther. She will do whatever it takes to survive. Keller meets her match when she’s hired to protect Iliana Harman, a blond ditz whose only concerns are clothes, boys, and parties. Can Iliana be the legendary Witch Child, one who can fend off the end of the world?