Showing results by narrator "Natalie Duke"

They captured me in a dirty alley and injected me with a virtual reality chip, a GPS tracker, and my first Seed. They made me a Player. At first, I loved the miraculous ability to level up anything about myself. Then they yanked me off my world for the first time and sent me to fight for my life on a vicious alien planet where the other Players are just as dangerous as the monsters, and if you can’t level up, you die. But I’m the type to cling to life by the tips of my bloody fingernails. And I hate it when people try to control me.

The International Butter Festival has come to town! When Harlow Torrent, part-time journalist and full-time Slip Witch stumbles upon a dead body, frozen and drained of blood, she's pulled into a murder mystery. Someone has murdered one of the Festival competitors. Was it Zero Bend, punk sculptor with a history of violence? Perhaps Fusion Swan, a sleazy agent playing the publicity game when his clients meet their end.

When people started getting sick, they thought it was just the flu. My roommate, my boyfriend, my family ...they're all gone now. I got sick too. I should have died with them-with the rest of the world-but I didn't. I thought witnessing the human population almost disappear off the face of the earth was the craziest thing I'd ever experience. I was so wrong. My name is Dani O'Connor, I'm twenty-six-years-old, and I survived the ending.

Baylee Morgan is at a crossroads of her life. Leaving her marriage of ten years and the only life she's ever known, she starts over in a penthouse ocean-front condo in Santa Monica, California. She soon finds herself immersed, albeit reluctantly, in the daunting and perilous world of dating as an almost thirty-something in Los Angeles, unsure of how to act, what to do, or whether that hot guy she meets in yoga class is straight.

Follow Harlow Torrent, part-time journalist and full-time slip witch in this three-book cozy mystery box set! Fabulous Witch: A movie is filming in Harlot Bay, but when the lead actor, Mattias Matterhorn, dies on his first day on set, Harlow Torrent is pulled into a dangerous plot. Holiday Witch: A series of thefts around Harlot Bay turn deadly. Shadow Witch: Elderly residents of Sunny Days Manor are going wandering, leaping fences, stealing cars and then forgetting everything before they die...or are murdered.

Adrienne Pierce, buffeted by fate and abandoned by love, seeks refuge from her past as well as her uncertain future on Whitley Point, a secluded island off the coast of Maine. Tanner Whitley - young, wild, restless - and heir to a dynasty, desperately tries to escape both her destiny and the memories of a tragic loss with casual sex and wild nights, a dangerous course that may ultimately destroy her. One timeless summer, these two very different women discover the power of passion to heal - and the promise of hope.

As Dani and Zoe make the perilous trek home to Bodega Bay, they learn that danger can take many forms--other survivors, their friends, even themselves--and that things are rarely what they seem. Zoe is desperate to become the woman she sees in others' memories, while Dani struggles to conceal damaging secrets, risking losing herself--her humanity--completely. Together, they must rediscover the true meaning of friendship, love, and trust, and learn just how hard they're willing to fight.

In the wake of destruction left behind by the Virus, it took Dani and Zoe months to find each other. But their reunion was short-lived. Dani has been taken, and though little distance separates them, they might as well be worlds apart. From the moment she hears Dani's scream, Zoe's only goal is to save her best friend.

A year ago, Dani and Zoe were lost. They traversed the country to find one another, losing some of the people dearest to them along the way. They fought for their right to simply live, uncovered long-buried secrets, and discovered irreversible truths. And after everything Dani and Zoe have been through - even with the battle wounds that they bear - they're still not safe. It's time for the struggle to end, for survivors to take back their lives, their families, their safety. It's time to really begin to live, and to do that, they must wait for the first rays of dawn.

Murder, sabotage, a talking mouse, and a high-school reunion - life is getting busy for part-time journalist and full-time Slip Witch Harlow Torrent. When the family businesses come under attack, the Torrent Witches gear up for war...except a little Slip magic problem gets out of hand. Is it the work of the diabolical Coldwell family or a dark force intent on mayhem?

It’s meant to be an easy job for Harlow Torrent, Slip Witch: personal assistant to Red Forrest, best-selling cozy mystery author in town for Writerpalooza. But when a man staggers out of an alleyway claiming he was attacked by a monster, Harlow is pulled into a dangerous mystery decades in the making. Between Red running her own investigation, two possible charlatans with a history of faking monsters, Aunt Cass leading expeditions under the mansion, mysterious symbols appearing everywhere, and Jack’s parents in town, Harlow has her hands full.

What makes a romance novel a romance? Writing a well-structured romance isn't the same as writing any other genre - something the popular novel and screenwriting guides don't address. The romance arc is made up of its own story beats. Told in conversational (and often irreverent) prose, Romancing the Beat is like sitting down to coffee with romance editor and author Gwen Hayes while she explains story structure - the way she does with her clients, some of whom are regular inhabitants of the best-seller lists.

Harlow Torrent, part-time journalist and full-time slip witch, definitely knows there is something deeply wrong with the world...and it isn’t the mimes infesting Harlot Bay. She keeps waking in strange places with new bruises and has no idea how she got there. When a magically twisted skeleton is discovered on Truer Island and a dark witch attacks, the Torrent Witches must prepare for the battle of their lives.

Three years after Courtney McAllister loses her partner in a car accident, she's finally trying to move forward. She's even dated half-heartedly over the past year, but no one is able to penetrate her emotional barricades until she meets aggressive real estate broker Rachel Hart. Despite Rachel's cool facade, Courtney is drawn to her - when she isn't furious with her. Still, despite an undeniable attraction, Courtney has given her heart once and doesn't have room for that kind of love in her life again.

Drew Clark, ex-Marine and martial arts master, is the new instructor at the Golden Tiger dojang. Intense and aloof, she hides dark secrets and unhealed wounds beneath her warrior's exterior. Sean Gray is the young psychologist and senior student who threatens to bring down the barriers Drew has erected around her heart. Battle hardened and world weary, Drew discovers that Sean wields a weapon she has no defense against - tenderness.

This novella is a prequel to the Vampire Series "The Firsts" and tells the story of the troubled childhood of that book's heroine. It is a dark tale that details some of what she went through with her mother, addicted to drugs and alcohol, and made a living providing sex for men. It is harsh at times, but true to her journey that begins, as a successful woman, in the first book of the series, Forbidden Days.

Lily Frazer would do anything to save the Frazer Center for the Arts - even take on the infamous billionaire Calder Cunningham. When Lily breaks onto the Cunningham estate, she only wants to find and reason with Calder. (All right, all right, she wants to punch him in the face, too, but that's Plan B.) As it turns out, the arrogant billionaire is willing to give her the money he promised, but there's a catch: she must win it from him. And the games he has in mind aren't exactly... innocent.

Harlow Torrent, part-time journalist and full-time Slip Witch has a new job working on the set of Bella Bing's latest movie, filming in Harlot Bay. It's meant to be a change of pace but when the lead actor, Mattias Matterhorn, dies on his first day on set, Harlow is pulled into a dangerous plot. A saboteur is on set and they'll do anything to shut the film down... including murder.

On a remote planet, an autonomous scout makes first contact with extraterrestrial life. Without warning, the alien attacks, ripping the drone to shreds. Humanity is at war. Back on Earth, Sam is just another jobless graduate, drifting aimlessly while she lives off of the government's monthly stipend. When war breaks out, she sees a way out of her life of boredom: she signs up to be a "deathstreamer", a new breed of mercenary chasing fame and fortune by streaming combat footage from the front lines. If she can go viral, wealth and celebrity are within Sam's grasp. But she'll need to survive long enough to enjoy it.

Before senior year, I was forced to move away, leaving behind the only man I have ever loved. He promised he'd love me forever. He vowed nothing would tear us apart. He swore he'd wait for me, but Jack lied. Six years later, when our paths cross again, his broad shoulders, rock-hard chest, and rippling muscles almost make me forget his betrayal. His rugged voice, tempting lips, and sinful smile make it harder for me to deny the feelings I still have for him. He wants to make me his again, but our past may be too much for us to overcome.