Showing results by narrator "Natalie Naudus" in All Categories

It’s known as the Cataclysm - an event responsible for arresting most electronic technology. Its impact was global, and few countermeasures existed. Civilization was nearly brought to its knees. At least for a while. We found ways of getting by. Humanity connected with its past while auguring new solutions. Even for college students like Joanna Westenra, a world without smartphones or the Internet was survivable - albeit just barely. We were down but not out. Life could go on. Then, the Cataclysm unveiled something new. Monsters arose in the night. They are known as the Turned.

After a victory that came at too high of a cost, Ryn's sacrifices have paid off. Ryn has awakened Grace, the Davina who's prophesied to save them all...but she's not what Ryn expected. From the start, Ryn knows Grace is keeping secrets. But it's worse than she originally feared, for Grace is hiding something that could mean the end of the world. Ryn decides she has to discover the truth - even as war erupts in Eagle Valley. Everything Ryn thought she knew about the magical world is wrong, but somehow, she and her friends have to make it right again.

Karda rule the skies over Adalta. The powerful hawk-headed flying horses have been the protectors of their world for millennia. Now they are called to do battle again to save Adalta from an ancient enemy. On Adalta for her first solo undercover mission, Marta Rowan is awed by the sight of these beautiful, fierce creatures. She wants more than anything to fly one. As cover for her mission, she applies to join their riders. Sidhari, a majestic bay Karda with shining copper colored wings chooses her, and Marta is caught in a soul-deep bond she never expected.

Ryn Tyler finally found her home - and demons are out to destroy it. After a lifetime of searching for where she belongs, Ryn knows it's in Eagle Valley...but war threatens to take that all away. Attending an angels-only high school should help her master her magical abilities, but stopping the upcoming battle is more important. Ryn trains in secret with the help of her mentor, Marek, a bad boy who can't decide between duty and love - and who's already stolen Ryn's heart. But the arrival of another Davina complicates things, and Ryn finds herself torn between the two boys.

After a heated argument, Clara's fiancee stormed out of their apartment, but before they have a chance to reconcile, he died a tragic accident. It's been two years, but she's still paralyzed with grief, and her friends are worried about her. So, to try to say what was left unsaid, she start's texting his old phone. What she doesn't realize is that the number has been reassigned.

The West has taken to meditation with great enthusiasm. We contemplate. We concentrate. We embrace mindfulness techniques and a multitude of mantras. We have undertaken to “do” meditation. The Aspects of Meditation series is comprised of brief, precious texts in which Osho shows us the core of meditation is not about sitting silently or chanting a mantra. It is, instead, a question of understanding the subtle workings of the mind. In book one, Osho reintroduces us to our body, focusing on the “root” of the human, the soul.

In one week, Maude will be dead. At least, that’s what she wants everyone to think. After years of research, Maude has decided to fake her own death. She’s figured out the how, the when, the where, and who will help her unsuspectingly. The why is complex: revenge, partly. Her terrible parents deserve this. But there’s also 'l’appel du vide,' the call of the void, that beckons her toward a new life where she will be tied to no one, free and adrift. Then Frankie, a step-cousin she barely knows, figures out what she’s plotting, and the plan seems like it’s ruined.

September 11, 2001. Padma Mahajan mourns the loss of her newlywed husband, Major Kyle Mason, killed while defeating terrorists from crashing American 11 into the World Trade Center. As she watches harrowing videos on TV of American 11 missing the North Tower by mere feet, a mysterious visitor enters her apartment, possessing stunning knowledge about the future. Leveraging this information, Padma becomes the world’s wealthiest person and de facto "Empress of America" until a new authoritarian challenges her rule and forces her and the visitor from the future to escape into the past.

Amicae, City of Sweepers, survived the Falling Infestation which nearly destroyed it thanks to the efforts of Laura and Okane. While the ancient monsters have been beaten back for the moment, new and more monstrous dangers face them in the form of belligerent bureaucracy, dangerous gangs, grasping Sweepers bent on personal glory...and Rex, the City of Kings, who breed their own kind of monstrosity. Laura and Okane must go to Rex to reclaim the secret weaponry that keeps Amicae safe and come face to face with a horrifying truth about the Rex and their designs on all of Orien's cities.

Tessa, a young girl with a shattered dream, must unite with Galen, a young man with a shattered emotional shell...When a blood-and-death magician releases an ancient alien imprisoned for centuries, its horrific creatures rise to kill everyone who threatens to block its returning powers and its invasion of the planet. Together Tessa the Hunter and Galen the Kern must fight this alien evil that threatens to enslave their planet.

Lacy Purdy loves her new town, her new job, and her old cat, Meatball. And she loves to run. This summer, she'll be running for her life. A phantom lurks in the shadows of Run For It, the local running store, terrorizing an unpopular run group leader with an arsenal of sharp, shiny scissors. Lacy can't stand mean-girl Marlene and everybody knows it, so when she mysteriously disappears in the middle of a run, Lacy suspects foul play. Everyone else suspects Lacy.

Hua Minglan didn't fear death. At least not hers. What scared her was watching the people she loved suffer for nothing more than the history in their blood. Because as descendants fo the last Dragon Lords of Piao, the Minglans had dragon blood. The capital city wasn't a welcome place for anyone suspected fo harboring the ancient power inside them. No dragon had been seen in Piao in a hundred years, yet the legends called their blood royal. It was said those with dragon blood were fit to sit on the emperor's gilded throne.

Aubrey Choi has been content running her highly successful bakery Comfort Zone, with dating the least of her priorities. Then a one-night-stand with gorgeous Korean hunk Landon Kim makes her want things she didn't think she had time for. Too bad it turns out he's a celebrity food critic whose scathing review of Comfort Zone goes viral and nearly destroys Aubrey's business - and her fond memory of their night together.

In the legendary Floating World, wars are waged with wit, the strongest soldier can be bound with threads of silk, and flesh is the currency by which life, death, and freedom can all be purchased. Half-elf Jie doesn’t mind her temporary assignment as a Night Blossom in the most sought-after house. It’s perfect cover for her real work as an assassin in the emperor’s service, and keeps her close to one who matters most. Her life belongs to her clan, but her heart lies with clan junior, Lilian.

Lexa Thomas has never quite fit in. Having grown up in a family of blondes while more closely resembling Constance Wu, she's neither White enough nor Asian enough. Visiting her father in Taiwan as a child, Lexa thought she'd finally found a place where she belonged. But that was years ago, and even there, some never truly considered her to be a part of the family. When her estranged father dies unexpectedly, leaving the fate of his Taiwanese family in Lexa's hands, she is faced with the choice to return to Taiwan and claim her place in her heritage.

Maiko Fox and Adrian Hightower were young, beautiful, in love…and famous. The latest model to grace the Valentina Posh runway show and the hottest new superhero actor were Hollywood’s breakout couple. They were in every magazine, all over the most popular celebrity-blogs, and on countless E! News stories. They starred in a blockbuster film together, reaping box-office gold. Fans were at a fever pitch. No one could get enough of Madrian, the couple that printed money for the studios, for the paparazzi, for themselves. But then, their relationship crumbled.

A keenly perceptive coming-of-age novel set at a prestigious New England prep school, as nine young women navigate their ambitions, friendships, and fears against the backdrop of a scandal the administration wants silenced. An all-girls boarding school in a hilly corner of Connecticut, Atwater is a haven for progressive thinking and feminist intellectuals. The students are smart, driven and worldly; they are also teenagers, learning to find their way.

What exactly is the difference between a love letter and a suicide note? Is there really any difference at all? These might be the questions posed by Dear Sweet Filthy World, Caitlin R. Kiernan’s 14th collection of short fiction, comprising 28 uncollected and impossible-to-find stories. Here are 28 tales of apocalypse and rebirth, of miraculous transformation and utter annihilation. Here is the place where professing your undying devotion might be precisely the same thing as signing your own death warrant or worse.

Noblewoman and cultivator Li Yao is called to a small village to investigate a mysterious illness that has drained residents of their chi. Accompanying her are her suitors, Xiang An and Shen Wei, both more trouble than they're worth in Li Yao's eyes. Perhaps not all is as it seems.

October 1, 1890. Colonel Annika Wise is stranded in time. After Kyle Mason and Padma Mahajan return to the year 2008, Annika is stuck in 1890s Deadwood, unable to escape. After the punishing defeat of the US Army at the Massacre of Grand River, the military will stop at nothing to exact revenge on Annika and her Lakota allies.