Showing results by narrator "Zura Johnson" in All Categories

Abby Callier is more in love with Shakespearean heroes than any real man, and she’s beginning to wonder if there is life for her outside the pages of a book. It doesn’t help that her esteemed parents tend to view her as they would one of their science experiments gone wrong. On the eve of finishing her dissertation, she escapes her staid existence to live in the house she inherited from her Great-Aunt Evie in the small town of Echo Springs, Colorado. Because, let’s face it, when a woman starts comparing her life to horror films, it might be time for a break.

I live so that I can dream. I trudge through work so that I can go home and close my eyes, awakening in the real world - one where dreams really do come true. A place where I can fight a king instead of my ever-disappointed boss, where I’m a warrior instead of a glorified telemarketer. A place where I matter.

Jez and the crew of the Ungovernable are injured, exhausted, and out of time. Their long-time nemesis, Evka, has finally perfected the weapon the crew has been desperately fighting to stop for months—a protocol that will allow her to track down and kill anyone in the system with the click of a button. And the lives of the crew, and of everyone they love, are on the line. With their backs to the wall and no more tokens up their sleeves, they’ll need every bit of skill and ingenuity they possess.

Russian enforcer Luka Zadorov is no fan of the South. Being traded to Alabama has meant swapping the glory of northern hockey for playing second fiddle to college football, but his plan to get traded back hits an interesting snag when he crosses paths with Ava Grace. Maybe the South has something to offer after all…

Decades ago, Masha hid under a table and watched her parents die. Now, with war in the streets and chaos in the government, she can at last put the ultimate piece of her revenge into action. But it will involve murder, deception, and cunning on an unprecedented scale, and she's no longer as certain as she once was that she can pull this off. In the meantime, behind the barricades, the rest of the crew is trying desperately to survive as the Svodrani System government brings its full weight to bear. And surviving a war against the entire System might be a step too far, even for them.…

In an Alaska owned by Tsarist Russia, steamtech is melded with spirit magic to create a mighty machine. The elements are plentiful, but the Higher World crumbles and the local Inuit people are consumed. When their father dies, the council denies Fanya her inheritance and sells her sister into slavery at the behest of the mysterious Zachary Finley. Fanya's quest to protect her sister and regain what's rightfully hers leads her from the Underworld of Stalgorod to the untamed wilds of greater Alaska. It isn’t just Zachary Finley who wants Fanya to suffer.

Looking back, Tara Carter wonders if what followed her first kiss was a warning of things to come. At the young age of 10, her heart broke when her best friend, Trey, moved 1,500 miles away. Crossing paths five years later, the two teens exchange beautiful letters that cement their love. They embark on an idealized relationship, despite trauma and heartbreak on both sides, only to be forced apart shortly after.

After taking down the two most powerful mafia bosses in the system, ex-smuggler pilot Jez and the crew race back to the capital to head off an impending civil war in the ensuing power vacuum. But to stop a bloodbath, they need to buy themselves time to prepare. So while Masha, Ysbel, and Tanya provide a distraction, Jez and Lev infiltrate a government paralyzed by the news, while Tae goes out into the volatile streets to neutralize the gangs who are more than willing to prove they’re the mafia’s natural successors. But preventing a civil war is more complicated than it sounds.

On the surface of the sea, a burning island beckons a mysterious man called the Collector. Approaching the fire, the Collector bears witness to a vicious crime. When he realizes an innocent life will be lost—a baby, swathed in a bundle and left to die in a floating rowboat—the Collector makes a choice that will change his course forever.

Five strangers, thrust into a crisis situation that transforms them and forever solidifies their destiny. Mythical battles, legendary universal forces, and constant journeying further into chaos is a price you must pay to become a half dragon. Though with great danger and suffering come hope, motivation, and even love.

In this follow-up to Ask Baba Yaga: Otherworldly Advice for Everyday Troubles, award-winning writer Taisia Kitaiskaia once again embodies the legendary witch of Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga, to provide life advice to the questioning and the hurting. Answering real questions from audiences, Baba Yaga provides responses in the form of short poems that are lyrical, surreal, sometimes funny, and always honest. During these difficult days, Poetic Remedies for Troubled Times provides literary self-help for those who appreciate Baba Yaga's strange, surprising style and striking honesty.

Honoria Talbott is just a quiet Irish girl who loves to swim and tinker with her clockwork inventions - until she meets Cathal mac Ler, a selkie lord charged with marrying a human female as part of a treaty negotiation between fae and humans. When her father and brother go missing at sea, Nora finds herself at the whims of her stepmother, who would see her married to a high-ranking cousin in order to keep her father’s wealth in the family.

The search for Ramathule and Xirow involves a new cast of characters both bad and good. More fights take place on the planet Zarthala and even some in outer space. If they can't stop Ramathule from summoning Sulvaria, the universe itself will be destroyed.

Isaline is desperate to keep her identity a secret. In the space of one night, her future as a City Watch has crumbled before her eyes. And now she’s on a train across Benemourne with two complete strangers—dangerous treasure hunters that she can’t trust with her real name.

Lost, frightened, and thousands of feet underground, Isaline is trying to hold herself together. The expedition to find King Faraday’s workshop has begun, and deep in Benemourne’s deadly Adrudian mines, anything can happen. With the help of her companions, Isaline is ready to discover who she is. But lies and forgotten memories are catching up to her.

A wildly inventive, exhilarating debut narrated by a young woman meditating on her Czech ancestors' 'falling curse', her twin brother's fall from a window and the malleable, breakable bonds keeping her family from falling apart. One thing that the city of Prague is famous for is throwing men out of windows. The word for this is defenestration.

Grace has always wanted to be a ballerina, ever since she first peered through the windows of the Near North Ballet company. The elegance of the dance seemed transcendent to an immigrant child of the working poor, and so, when she is orphaned, it is to the ballet that she flees. Years later, Grace is on the verge of becoming the company's new prima ballerina - though she is beginning to realise that achieving her long-held dream may not be the triumph she once envisioned.

My transformation from a poor, orphaned scullery maid into the enchantingly mysterious lady who snagged the heart of the prince did not happen - as the rumours insist - in a magical metamorphosis of pumpkins and glass slippers. Instead, with the help of a touchingly tragic past and the some highly illegal spells, my stepsisters and I infiltrated the ball and captured the attention of the prince. I became a princess, secured our fortunes, and ensured we'd all live happily ever after. But of course, there's always more to the story.