Showing results by narrator "Chelsea Stephens" in All Categories

After flipping her twin brother from foe to friend and staking her sadistic sire, Alexis Black hoped things would become a little less vamp-centric. But when, Lysette, the sister she thought was dead shows up alive and allied with her enemy, the vengeful vamp Delano Melazi, Alexis finds herself up to her fangs in undead. 

After barely escaping an attempt on her life, veteran demon hunter Karian Vanador must root out infiltrators within her own order. At the same time, she is presented with a unique opportunity: Infiltrate the very realm of the demon kings to bring back a possible defector. With a family to consider and the risk of inciting a war between two worlds, Kari must decide: Is the life of a Syrinthian priestess worth the risk?

Grada was only 17 years old when she met her soulmate, Peter. By 19 she was married and had migrated from Holland to live in Peter’s homeland, Tasmania, Australia. Grada lived her dream - homesteading at the "back of beyond" with the love of her life, six children, and a menagerie of farm animals. In 2000 she and Peter opened a wellness clinic in their back yard. At the pinnacle of her life, Grada was hit by a truck - literally. During the near-death experience that followed, Grada had to make the decision to return to her body.

An underworld serial killer prowls the streets. The head of a criminal guild arrives demanding the help of the Order. Things had been quiet since the incident on Tsalbrin, but Karian Vanador recognized the calm before the storm all too well. When one of the Order's most prominent mortal enemies arrives on campus demanding help with an underworld threat, Kari knows there has to be a connection. Harried by a deadly foe, Kari must call upon friends old and new to track down an assassin leaving a trail of bodies in her wake.

This collection of 22 short stories by the author of Daughter of Hounds and Alabaster firmly established Caitlín R. Kiernan as one of the preeminent voices in dark fantasy today. Through a cycle of interconnected narratives, Kiernan unflinchingly explores a surreal world where the fantastic and the mundane are never separated by more than the insubstantial thickness of a shadow.

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.

In Caitlín R. Kiernan’s The Ammonite Violin & Others, one of contemporary dark fantasy’s most bewitching and distinctive voices is back with another banquet of the weird and unexpected. Within this book, you’ll discover a dazzling suite of stories situated on the borderlands between the unspeakable and the erotic, the grotesque and the sublime.

Hook is back. Or at least that's what my partner, the Mad Hatter, aka Maddox, claims. And I should totally believe him. He does have the sight after all. But I can't. I just won't. Because Hook...he was my world. And the day he died in my arms, I nearly died too. It's taken me forever to get to a good place again, and that's why I won't go looking for him. I won't go searching for a ghost. Besides, I have a case. Crow shifters. Bank heists. And lots and lots of stolen goodies. Just what I need to keep my mind off of Hook.

There are no perfect parents and no perfect kids - just perfect moments. Mindful Parenting in a Chaotic World features mindfulness strategies and activities that are easy for anyone to do anywhere. It’s a mindful parenting guide for caregivers and children to practice being totally present, so everyone feels noticed, respected, and heard.  

Bea Hughes had put the past behind her. Until an anonymous caller phoned to say they knew what she'd done. To make matters worse, Bea suspects someone else in the house was listening in on the line. Fearful she's been found out and desperate to keep her family together, Bea must identify and silence the person who stands in the way of her happiness.

The idea of voting is simple, but the administration of elections in ways that ensure access and integrity is complex. In How We Vote, Kathleen Hale and Mitchell Brown explore how election officials work, how ballots are cast and counted, and how jurisdictions try to innovate while also protecting the security of the voting process.

I'm Angie Ritter, former army mage and recovering headcase. Seven days ago, I was struggling to survive without my magic. Now I'm on the run with a family of werewolf super-soldiers. Not going to lie. I'm in trouble - a lot of trouble: A cult of dragon-worshipping fanatics wants to cut my heart out, vampire assassins hunt me, and even my own countrymen want to hang me for treason. Oh, and a dark empire plots to conquer the entire West Coast. It may be led by a pair of dragons, honest-to-god dragons.

A rundown apartment in Koreatown. A Los Angeles winter. A strung out, worn out, wrecked, and used government agent is scraped up off the pavement, cleaned up, and reluctantly sent out into battle one last time. Ellison Nicodemo has seen and done terrible things. She thought her only remaining quest was for oblivion. Then the Signalman comes calling. He wants to learn if she can stop the latest apocalypse. Ellison, once a unique and valuable asset, can barely remember why she ever fought the good fight.

Zoe Hallett and her sister, Ava, are the precocious offspring of two pioneering scientists, but the sisters have been estranged for years. When Zoe reads a news story about Ava's mysterious disappearance, she assumes it's just another of her sister's twisted fictions, designed to blame Zoe and destroy the peaceful life she's created with her husband and beautiful stepdaughter in Houston. But Zoe's email is hacked to send threatening messages to Ava - and a more sinister picture begins to emerge.

Never should have been the end of my problems. I should be back on Grimm. With Hook. Hating Crowley. And working alongside my partner, the Hatter. But life rarely turns out how I expect. The Sea Witch, and oh, incidentally my mother, has told me I'm a witch. Not just any witch either, but one of the biggest bad. I wouldn't believe her, except I can do magick now. Unfortunately, I can't do enough to escape the predicament I'm in. Hook's dead. Crowley's dead. And I'm alone in a realm that hates my guts. And there has been a murder. My sister's, Aquata's. The realm blames me.

The desolate canyons of Alcoro - and the people desperate enough to hide there - couldn’t be more different from the opulent glass palace and lush forests of Moquoia. But the harsh desert and gleaming court are linked through their past, present, and future: a history of abductions in the desert to power Moquoia’s quarries and factories and a bleak, inhumane future built on the sweat and sacrifice of these bond laborers.

Detective Abish Taylor left Utah for a reason. But with her husband’s passing, it’s time to come home. Reconnecting with her family means dealing with her past: the father she abandoned and the community she left behind. Her one escape is serving as the sole police detective in the small town of Pleasant View. But when the quiet Mormon suburb in the Wasatch Mountains is shaken by a macabre death - with the hallmarks of a sacred ritual dating back to the days of Brigham Young - Abbie is called into action.

For 10 years, Denny's father has battled cancer. The drawn-out loss has forged Denny into a dazed, antisocial young woman. On the clock, she works as a lab tech, readying fruit flies for experimentation. In her spare time, only her parents, an aggressively kind best friend, and her blowhard imaginary pal, Gene - who she knows isn't real - ornament her stale days in the DC suburbs. Now, her father's cancer is back for a third time, and he's rejecting treatment. Denny's transgressive reaction is to flee.

Sofia Kennedy has spent the last 24 years keeping her past a dark secret. To the rest of the world, she's a gifted graphic designer, marvelous cook, and doting Minneapolis mother. But then her world is shattered when her teenage daughter is murdered. Has her life of lies caught up with her? Detectives are asking dangerous questions and going after the wrong man. It's up to Sofia to find her daughter's murderer before her elaborate deception is exposed and she loses whatever semblance of a life she has left.

What would it be like if the moon was your friend? Find out as you walk alongside a little boy who journeys through life to achieve his dream of becoming an astronaut. Then blast off with your little one as you zoom to the moon together!