Showing results by narrator "Saskia Maarleveld " in All Categories

Fiercely feminist and set in a thrilling, intoxicating world evoking the Jazz Age—full of speakeasies with magic cocktails, sharp-edged, duplicitous glamour, and handsome rogue alchemists—Nightbirds is an exciting debut fantasy that dazzles as powerful girls emerge from the shadows to determine their own fates.

To keep little secrets, they tell big lies.... 'I am not sick. I just like the little dolls.... I think I'll break one soon.' It's every parent's worst nightmare. A tiny porcelain doll appearing on your doorstep. Bright blonde hair, rosy cheeks, even a little blue dress. A perfect replica of your six-year-old daughter. But then anonymous letters from 'The Doll Collector' begin to arrive. And in the small town where everyone has their own little secrets, no-one is safe from suspicion.

When Helen Keller was very young, she got a rare disease that made her deaf and blind. Suddenly, she couldn't see or hear at all, and it was hard for her to communicate with anyone. But when she was six years old, she met someone who changed her life forever: her teacher, Annie Sullivan. With Miss Sullivan's help, Helen learned how to speak sign language and read Braille. Armed with the ability to express herself, Helen grew up to be come a social activist, leading the fight for people with disabilities and so many other causes.

In the 1960s, locked in a heated race to launch the first human into space, the United States selected seven superstar test pilots and former military air fighters to NASA's astronaut class - the Mercury 7. The men endured grueling training and constant media attention for the honor of becoming America's first space heroes. But a group of 13 women - accomplished air racers, test pilots, and flight instructors - were enduring those same astronaut tests in secret, hoping to defy social norms and earn a spot among the stars.

Debut author Katharine Duckett reimagines the consequences of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, casting Miranda into a Milanese pit of vipers and building a queer love story that lifts off the page in whirlwinds of feeling.

That long-ago summer, four friends came face-to-face with strange, dark events they couldn’t explain away. As they grew up and left town, they each tried to forget. Instead, the secrets lingering in the shadowy corners of their minds shaped their lives, haunting each of them in their own way. Now, in this chilling four-part serial by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger, it’s time to stop running. It’s time to come home. Featuring: All My Darkest Impulses, Fog Descending, Circling the Drain, and Love the Way You Lie.

France, 1918. Nurse Marcelle Marchand has important secrets to keep. Her role as a spy has made her both feared and revered, but it has also put her in extreme danger from the approaching German army. American soldier George Mountcastle feels an instant connection to the young nurse. But in times of war, love must wait. Soon, George and his best friend Philip are fighting for their lives during the Second Battle of the Marne, where George prevents Philip from a daring act that might have won the battle at the cost of his own life.

Jacob and Alice have no choice but to turn their focus to Belldorn. The coastal city is paramount in the war with Fel. Without Belldorn, and the aid of Canopy’s dragonriders, all will be lost. Soon, the battle takes to the skies once more. Knowing they need all the support they can find, Mary, captain of the Skysworn, engages the same Pirate guild she turned her back on years before.

Time grows short to secure the desert city of Midstream. Fel struck a devastating blow, and it’s only a matter of time until their next attack. Out of options, Jacob turns to the abandoned works of Charles von Atlier to create a Titan Mech. The towering machine may be just the weapon they need to protect the city. But Mordair’s thirst for power is escalating. As King of Fel, he is taking full advantage of his alliance with the kingdom across the sea. Together, they’re preparing a siege on Belldorn sure to split their enemies’ focus.

Dee Matthews is the cohost of the smash-hit podcast Did I Forget to Tell You?, where she interviews family, friends, and past lovers. Nothing is off-limits, except for one man (known on the show only as Name Redacted) who happens to be her high school best friend Ben. During their senior year spring break, Dee and Ben took a road trip to visit Ben’s grandma. They buried a time capsule in her backyard, pledging to return in 10 years to open it. Then their friendship fell apart in spectacular fashion. They haven’t spoken to each other since.

Since times long lost to history, magic power has been gained through a contract with divinity. The vast majority of mages are pacted to the eight core gods and the sixty-four lesser ones. Lily Syashan—formerly Lily of House Byron—holds an oath to a forgotten god. Exiled into a peasant village after her parents were executed for treason, Lily swore that she would gain power and succeed where her family failed. To build her power, she will need to kill, destroy, and ruin. Whether her target is an Altered monster or another human getting in her way, Lily will need to be ready to defeat them all.

The last of his clan to come home to Big Sky, Montana, Laramie Cardwell wasn't planning to spend the holidays chasing an elusive cat burglar. He's stunned to discover that the masked, black-clad figure he tackles to the snowy ground is a woman. After a distracting and sizzling kiss, she flees Laramie, who's knocked senseless by the culprit. Even though he manages to hold on to the stash in the melee, the sexy thief single-handedly steals Laramie's heart!

Every fifty years, the most powerful ethereal and infernal beings convene on Earth to resolve conflicts with mediation by kopides - humans born to police relations between Heaven and Hell. They're meeting in Elise Kavanagh's territory this year, and she used to be the greatest kopis in the world. But she's not invited. An old friend, Lucas McIntyre, asks her to attend the summit in his place. But when she arrives, she discovers that a human faction called The Union has taken charge of the summit, and they're not playing nice.

Lucky Morgan has had her share of heartbreak. She is devastated when her boyfriend dumps her after sleeping with him, and she vows to herself that she won't be used again. Zane Beaumont is a mysterious and snooty guy that comes into her diner every Friday night, always with a different girl. He's the type of guy she has learned to avoid: carefree, fast, handsome, rich, and sarcastic. Unfortunately, she can't stop thinking about the devilish gleam in his eyes.

Perched on the North Sea, this port town—by turns legendary and mythological—is a place where Highland rebels and English authorities clash in a mortal struggle for survival and dominance. Among the fray is a lovely young widow who possesses rare and special gifts. A true beauty and trained physician, Isabella has inspired longing and mystery—and fury—in a great many men. Hunted by both the British government and Scottish rebels, she came to the Highlands in search of survival.

Some call it a monster, laying waste to the villagers and their homes. Some say it is an invulnerable demon summoned from the deepest abysses of the Immortal Realm. Many soldiers from the royal guard are sent out to hunt it down. Not one has ever returned. When Asterin Faelenhart, princess of Axaria and heir to the throne, discovers that she may hold the key to defeating the mysterious demon, she vows not to rest till the beast is slain. With the help of her friends and the powers she wields - though has yet to fully understand - Asterin sets out to complete a single task. To kill it.

To do list: Don't let the fetching American woman charm her way into my heart. Definitely don't give in to spending the night with her as we plot and plan a way into the event of the century. And absolutely don't fall in love. Trouble is - from her smarts to her sass to her wicked, witty mouth - Jess is everything I ought to avoid. But resisting my sexy rival is going to be oh so hard.

Desperate to flee a horrific arranged marriage, Princess Tanzi turned to the only man who could help. Lorcan Malone, infamous necromancer, had vowed to come to her aid whenever she needed him. And even as they traveled from the mortal world into the fantastical Otherworld, Tanzi knew her true need ran deeper than just a rescue.

In London in the mid-1920s, a young Australian and her aunt are each on a journey of self-discovery - one by attempting to swim the English Channel, the other to rediscover the woman she used to be. It's 1925, and 15-year-old Catherine Quick longs to feel once more the warm waters of her home, to strike out into the ocean off the Torres Strait Islands and swim, as she's done since she was a tiny child. But with her recent move to London, where she lives with her aunt Louisa, Catherine feels that everything she values has been stripped away.

Verity Wolf dreams of being a poet - not that she'd ever admit it to anyone. Her best friend, Jess, thinks she's definitely got what it takes while her cat, Zorro, is characteristically indifferent. As for the cute boy she's just met, he's about to discover her best-kept secret. When Verity stumbles on an old, mysterious book, Poemsia, she finds herself suddenly thrust into the dizzying world of social media stardom, where poets are the new rock stars and fame is sometimes just a click away.