Showing results by narrator "Ellen Quay" in All Categories

Cursed with dark magic, living virtuously has always eluded Celeste, but she’s determined to right the wrongs she wrought in the sleepy village of Briarwyke and maybe even find her ever after, happiness unrequired and, as she sees it, undeserved. But darkness accompanies Celeste as keenly as clumsiness and shame, and when she accidentally releases a new evil on Briarwyke, she must find a divine source of magic to destroy it.

Perla Wultz lives with her husband, Grant, and their precious daughter, Sophie, in a gated Pasadena community. Affluent, sociable, and accomplished, Perla plays the part of loving wife and mother to perfection. It seems an ideal life, if not for a decades-old crime that has become Perla’s dark and consuming secret obsession. Twenty-three years ago, Leewood Folcrum confessed to murdering two young girls during a birthday party. Though he’s been condemned to a life sentence, his crime is not forgotten.

Lady Ammalie Avington, Baroness of Faebarrow, has discovered the truth, and it should not come as a surprise: the blood mage who threatened, spellbound, and abducted her intends to bring ruin to the realm—the very one she is sworn to serve. It's just a terribly inconvenient fact to learn because, well . . . he's rather cute.

Dark lord, demon spawn, prophesied realm destroyer. With a demon for a father, Damien Maleficus Bloodthorne’s destiny could be nothing but nefarious, and with the completion of his most vicious spell, Damien is on the cusp of fulfilling the evil inevitability all of his dark machinations have led to. And then, her—bubbly, obnoxious, blonde.

Bookseller Annie Murray is thrilled when the mystery-themed book festival she sets up to revive the dwindling fortunes of her workplace and sanctuary seems poised for success. But events take a shocking turn when a body is discovered hidden behind the shelves, and it’s revealed that the victim is Annie's old college acquaintance.

Damien and Amma have landed themselves in the midst of Yvlcon, the preeminent congregation of the vilest and most unscrupulous villains in existence. Once again amongst his peers, Damien’s moral growth is threatened just when he’s learning to be slightly less evil. Consequently, Amma finds her own virtue in peril when faced with so much temptation. But a burgeoning romance is doused in the coldest of baths when the Grand Order of Dread commands Damien to once again face the swirling vortex of entropy that’s been hunting them all over the realm.

Piper MacLean’s Christmas is a ho-ho-horror show, but she’s used to all that by now, five years into becoming the de facto matriarch of the family—still single and childless, much to everyone else’s chagrin. But she does have one indulgence every year: finding the perfect Christmas tree. While searching the national forest, Piper is led to a beautiful spruce by way of magic. Well, not actual magic—magic, of course, doesn’t exist—but it sure feels magical when she hears the voice of her deceased mother floating on the wintery winds, telling her just which tree to chop.

Armed with memories of her impending past, Ash bids farewell to Lotus Lake and sets her sights on conquering the crows of Clover City. However, her knowledge and newfound lease on life comes with a twist—each decision she makes sets off a chain reaction of consequences, revealing that there's far more to her future than even she expected.

When her friend Penny confesses she’s struggling to finance the restoration of the historic Wentworth farmhouse, Annie is instantly inspired. The beautiful property has stood empty since the 1970s, but rumors still swirl about the eccentric Wentworth family and their hidden fortune. It’s the perfect setting for a spooky, immersive dinner party, and the evening is a roaring success—until neighboring landowner Curtis Wright drops dead at the dining table…

Juniper Bean has big plans for her writing career. Swoony kisses, sigh-inducing happily ever afters—she’s going to write them all. There’s just one problem: she can’t seem to stop killing off her main characters. After accepting that a genre change is in order, Juniper sets out to do some research. What’s the best way to carry a dead body? How exactly does one pick a lock? Juniper is going to find out—with the unwilling help of her new roommate, Aiden.

Lorelei Fischer desperately needed somewhere to spend the night, and, as if by magic, Moonlit Shores Manor appeared. But there’s a cost for everything, magic included. More than willing to escape her old life and fill the open position at the bizarre bed and breakfast, Lorelei quickly learns of the dangers waiting for her. She’s only human, after all, and casting spells, shifting into wild animals, and caring for mythical creatures aren’t exactly in the wheelhouse of a former barista and art school failure.

How well do you know people? How well do they know you? Six award-winning, bestselling authors of suspense explore the lingering threat of secrets and the inescapable fear that they can’t stay buried forever. No matter how dark the hiding place, the consequences of revealing the truth can bring out the worst in lovers, friends, family, and strangers.

Reborn five years in the past. A second chance to do everything over. What would you do? For Ashlyn, being reborn five years in the past is both a boon and a bane. She’s reborn in the wreckage of tragedy, forced to deal with a life that she messed up before. Now, all she has to show for her life is five years of accumulated knowledge in the greatest virtual reality game ever released - Elysium - and the pain of friendships lost.

Ten years ago I made a mortifying, life-altering mistake. Now, this once seemingly insignificant choice is threatening to wreck my entire existence. And possibly throw Tristan Palmer—my next-door-neighbor and the guy I’ve had a secret crush on for the entirety of my life—into the fray unaware.

After the success of her first event, which revived the fortunes of the bookstore she loves so dearly, Annie is excited to launch Redwood Grove’s first film festival. But when an infamous film critic plunges to his death during the premiere of a Hitchcock-inspired thriller, Annie’s instincts tell her that this was no accident. She soon discovers that many of the cast, crew, and guests are harboring dark secrets—from the lead actress with a scandalous past, to a film historian obsessed with protecting his vintage reel collection.

As Wyn’s search for the perfect story leads her to an anonymous, campus-wide dating app, she hits it off with a mystery man she thinks might be the cute RA from her dorm. But Wyn is all too familiar with being rejected because of her weight, and she’s hesitant to reveal her identity, even as she grows closer with someone who might be the guy of her dreams. When Three breaks a story that’s closer to home than he or Wyn expects, the two must put aside their differences to expose the truth—and face their real feelings for each other, which threaten everything Wyn has built.

Each year on the center island, one girl is chosen to be the next Mortal Queen of the idolized fae. The mortals praise these lucky girls, but their daughters are never seen again. The fae realm is eternal night, where disputes are settled by chess matches, power is acquired through the most devious kinds of trickery, and seven illusive kings roam. The fae hide their faces behind masks and guard their glass hearts to keep them from shattering. But beyond the veil of this luxurious paradise, a dark secret simmers, for their Queens have disappeared.

After a violent home invasion, Neve Maguire returns with her daughter to Black Lake, her childhood summer home, hoping for a fresh start. But when the body of a woman is found floating among the reeds in the lake behind her house, she fears she has made a horrible mistake. Neve is hiding secrets, though. Detective Jess Lambert can tell. Recently back after her own personal tragedy, Jess knows what it’s like to live with skeletons in your closet, and she’s sure Neve has a few of her own.

Xander Shadowhart's mother is dead. Well, no, not exactly--she is banished to the infernal plane, and that's almost as bad, especially considering she seems to have taken Xander's control over his powers with her. Born to a demon, Xander’s purpose has been beaten into him his entire life: serve his maker and carry out her will, but when the time comes to summon his mother back into the material realm, he’s not exactly sure he wants to…er, is able to, not without mending his command over the noxscura first.

Ivy Sylvan thought after losing her job, her apartment, and her boyfriend, that having no other option but to move in with her flunkee brother would be the cherry on top of her bad luck sundae, but after finding a dead body, she realized things can always get worse.