Showing results by narrator "Billie Fulford-Brown" in All Categories

Tristan Wydrick, sworn enemy of House Daired, is back from the dead. Possessed by a ghast and sharing its shadowy unlife, he commands not only the soul-sucked ghastradi but also the monstrous Tekari forces bent on Arle’s destruction. As their enemies begin amassing, desperate Arleans look to their greatest defenders. But Aliza and Alastair Daired, along with their dragon Akarra, are far from home, trapped in the icy northern wastes by Wydrick’s treachery.

Convinced that two unexplained deaths on her London patch are murders, rookie police officer Heather Prendergast’s unofficial investigation takes her to an isolated mill town on the Huddshire moors where she unearths a web of corruption that threatens her career – and her life. A dyed in the wool Southerner, Heather discovers that the isolated mill town is a throwback to another age - the personal fiefdom of a crooked Mayor Cameron Carmichael in league with a corrupt police force led by Chief Constable Euridice Montefiore.

Out of Dublin, a survivor's captivating story of loss, abuse, and resilience, is a stunning short memoir told with startling honesty and vulnerability. Perhaps what's most arresting about this work, above its unique voice, above its call to end silence, is the depth of its author's capacity for compassion, love, and forgiveness.

Orphan. Thief. Witch. Twelve-year-old Quicksilver lives as a thief in the sleepy town of Willow-on-the-River. Her only companions are her faithful dog and partner in crime, Fox - and Sly Boots, the shy boy who lets her live in his attic when it’s too cold to sleep on the rooftops. It’s a lonesome life, but Quicksilver is used to being alone. When you are alone, no one can hurt you. No one can abandon you. Then one day Quicksilver discovers that she can perform magic. Real magic. The kind that isn’t supposed to exist anymore.

Maud has grown up in a house made of gingerbread, wanting nothing more than to be a witch like Mother Agatha. But just like all of Agatha's gingerbread creations—from the magical house to the chocolate mousse squirrel—Maud will turn back into crumbs if anything ever happens to Agatha. This seems unthinkable…until Hansel and Gretel, a pair of witch hunters, push Agatha into the cottage's oven.

Growing up in a small town on the Cornish coast, Natalie and Fiona have always been besties. Then roommates. But now, with thirty looming on the horizon, it all seems to be falling apart. Fiona’s decided it’s finally time to move in with her long-term boyfriend, leaving Natalie wondering how on earth to pay the rent. Just as she’s on the brink of despair, Natalie somehow lands her dream job, and surviving solo suddenly doesn’t seem so bad. But Fiona had set her sights on that same role.

Chess Raven is a hacker who has grown up with nothing and no one. Her parents died when she was three, and her foster care situation turned out badly - very badly. But on her 16th birthday, her life is turned upside down. Chess learns her mother was Queen of the Fae and her father was a brilliant physicist. The unique blend of her mother’s fairy blood and her father’s humanity gives Chess - and Chess alone - the ability to unlock a mysterious vessel that will unleash unimagined powers - with devastating consequences.

In VOLUME 9 of The Things Our Fathers Saw® series, ‘Homefront/Women At War’, we will take an often-overlooked view of the story of World War II. You will visit with the people on the homefront, from schoolkids navigating growing up during the Great Depression and the War, to the women on the factory floor and the armed services, newly independent but having to fight for their rights and later, their jobs, laying the seeds of societal change for the future.

Mary Draper knows she is a normal, gap-toothed schoolgirl--until her sleep disorder is brought to light, she dreams her cat can talk like a toff, she learns how to use the camera obscura and wishing steps, and she rescues her Victorian friend, a suspected jewel thief. The reason: Mary Draper can time travel!

Fleeing the nightmares of Coldthistle House, Louisa and her friends have taken up in a posh new London residence. But religious zealots from the shepherd’s army are flocking to the city in droves, and ominous warnings are being left on Louisa’s very doorstep. With the evil influence of her father’s spirit growing stronger, Louisa knows she’ll have to pick a side in the coming war between the old gods, whether she’d like to or not.

Liv knows what kind of boy her grandson is. She knows Seb would never do anything to hurt his girlfriend, Izzy. But could the shadow cast by his father be influencing the boy she loves? Caitlyn, Izzy’s mother, is desperate to reach her daughter, but she only seems to push her further away. Can she help her daughter or are Caitlyn's own demons standing in the way? When an inappropriate photo of Izzy is shared online, no one is prepared for the ripples that threaten to tear their lives apart. Will the truth come out before it's too late? Or is the damage already done?

After the frightful events of last autumn, 17-year-old Louisa Ditton has settled into her role as a maid at Coldthistle House, but she has not settled into what that means for her humanity. As Louisa struggles to figure out whether she is worthy of redemption, the devilish Mr. Morningside plans a fete - one that will bring new guests to Coldthistle House. From wicked humans to Upworlders, angelic beings who look down on Mr. Morningside’s monstrous staff, all are armed with their own brand of self-righteous justice.

The story of a woman's life, from childhood to death, somewhere in provincial France, from the 1950s to just shy of 2025. She has doting parents, does well at school, finds a loving husband after one abortive attempt at passion, buys a big house with a moonlit terrace, makes decent money, has children, changes jobs, retires, grows old and dies. All in the comfort that the middle classes have grown accustomed to. But she's bored.

Adaptation is everything. Inge Lohmark is well aware of that; after all, she's been teaching biology for more than 30 years. But nothing will change the fact that her school is going to be closed in four years: in this dwindling town in the eastern German countryside, there are fewer and fewer children. Inge's husband, who was a cattle inseminator before the reunification, is now breeding ostriches. Their daughter, Claudia, emigrated to the U.S. years ago and has no intention of having children. Everyone is resisting the course of nature that Inge teaches every day in class.

Blood-red lights have appeared in the sky over the frozen island of Skane, causing a cloak of fear and suspicion to fall over the village like a blanket of snow. In a desperate attempt to keep out the plague, the village elders barricade its borders - no-one, no matter how in need of help, will be permitted to enter in case they bring infection with them. Teenager Janna refuses to turn her back on people seeking refuge and is banished to the swirling snow and lurking darkness beyond the village. Can she survive?

They say a Rider in possession of a good blade must be in want of a monster to slay—and Merybourne Manor has plenty of monsters. Passionate, headstrong Aliza Bentaine knows this all too well; she’s already lost one sister to the invading gryphons. So when Lord Merybourne hires a band of Riders to hunt down the horde, Aliza is relieved her home will soon be safe again. Her relief is short-lived.

A dream job on a tropical island. For the world's foremost entrepreneur. But employer and employee have secrets. Whose secrets are the darkest?

Clemency Fry has always been certain that marriage is a ludicrous arrangement—a notion she has believed ever since reading a scandalous feminist treatise as a girl. But her outlook on romance suddenly changes after meeting the handsome Lord Boyle. With the proposition of a different sort of union, one with mutual respect and financial security for her family, Clemency is won over, but when the wedding is set and the plans are in motion, Lord Boyle turns cold and dismissive. Clemency fears the worst has come to fruition; she had been right all along about affairs of the heart.

Best friends Mary Lennox, Sara Crewe, and Cedric Erroll are best friends. And thank goodness, since their boarding school is basically insufferable. When one of the friends suffers a personal tragedy, a plan—and a secret—change everything for the trio...for good.

These 16 short tales delve into realms of existential investigation, from dark horror and science fiction futures to fantastical flights of scientific wonder. Each story is a self-contained world of its own, a moment in time that illuminates a thought, a person, an experience or a curiosity.