Showing results by narrator "Lauren Fortgang" in All Categories

Romance, dating, sex and - Muslim women? In this groundbreaking collection, 25 American Muslim writers sweep aside stereotypes to share their search for love openly for the first time, showing just how varied the search for love can be - from singles' events and online dating, to college flirtations and arranged marriages, all with a uniquely Muslim twist. These compelling stories of love and romance create an irresistible balance of heart-warming and tantalizing, always revealing and deeply relatable.

Chance Matthews is drawn into a battle between angels and monsters because of something in her possession - a fossil of a creature that couldn't possibly have ever existed. But it did. And still does.

"Being a vampire is a life-or-death situation. When I was first turned, I had only my survival to worry about. Now I'm locked in a battle for the existence of the entire human race - and the cards are definitely stacked against me."

When the Dickenson clan sits down for Thanksgiving dinner in 2016, it is the last holiday where their tight-knit family will ever be the same. Oldest brother Pete and his wife are expecting their first child. Youngest sibling Sophie is too busy running her restaurant. The Little Plum, to bother with any kind of social life. And middle child Charlie’s happy, uncomplicated life as a midwestern science professor is upended when his wife Annette is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Knowing this will be her last Thanksgiving, Annette asks Sophie to look after Charlie after she’s gone.

In this third Grisha Trilogy folk tale from Leigh Bardugo, a young girl's beauty causes discord in her small town, but her father's solution may prove far more dangerous. "Little Knife" is a companion story to the third book of the Grisha Trilogy.

War has been simmering for generations, but the Legend is about to make the violence boil over. Forces gather from across the continent and even across the world as complex conflicts are forced into narrow categories. For the first time, Tani and her allies have a chance to make a difference, but that will pit them against one of the most dangerous warriors in the world. The Zeitai wants war as much as the Hero, and the result may really be the end of everything. Time is running out, sending everyone scattering in different directions before the final battle.

Can you fall in love while operators are standing by? Kevin’s a widower doctor with a precocious 12-year-old. He’s just met Mary, his daughter’s substitute teacher, who is experiencing her first Christmas without her beloved mother. As the holiday season ramps up, the twosome is unaware they’re also both in hot pursuit of a limited edition poinsettia angel being sold on their favorite television shopping channel.

Every evening for eight years, at his request, President Obama was given 10 handpicked letters written by ordinary American citizens - the unfiltered voice of a nation - from his Office of Presidential Correspondence. He was the first president to interact daily with constituent mail and to archive it in its entirety. In To Obama, Jeanne Marie Laskas interviews President Obama, the letter writers themselves, and the White House staff who sifted through the powerful, moving, and incredibly intimate narrative of America during the Obama years:

As the current queen of the Ashland underworld, you would think that I, Gin Blanco, would know all about some secret society controlling things from behind the scenes. I might be the Spider, the city's most fearsome assassin, but all my Ice and Stone elemental magic hasn't done me a lick of good in learning more about the Circle. Despite my continued investigations, the trail's gone as cold as the coming winter.

Valentine's Day is Abby's least favorite holiday. Mushy stuff like valentines, red hearts, and a school dance turn her into a Valentine's Scrooge. When Ross Brown, a perfectly nice guy in Abby's English class, invites her to the dance, Abby tries to set him up with her twin sister, Anna.

When visitors arrive, Clara Valmont must make an entirely new agreement with the vampire she is indebted to in order to stay alive. But even her brief reprieve might not be enough when something far more dangerous than a vampire comes to call. Things between Clara and Alaric are not what they appear to be, and if anyone learns the truth, then it could spell death, for both of them.

Sean Kowalski no sooner leaves the army than he's recruited by Emma Shaw to be her fake fiance;. Emma needs to produce a husband-to-be for her grandmother's upcoming visit, and, though Sean doesn't like the deception, he could use the landscaping job Emma's offering while he decides what to do with his civilian life. And, despite his attraction to Emma, there's no chance he'll fall for a woman with deep roots in a town he's not planning to call home.

Meditations with Miya Blue is an upbeat, irreverent story of a wellness influencer living her best (sponsored) life. That is, until a very un-Zen series of events threatens to pull the thread of Miya's calm and unravel her carefully woven world.

A certain pen, a certain book, and a certain person can craft entirely new worlds through a branch of science called scriptology. Elsa comes from one such world that was written into creation, where her mother—a noted scriptologist—constantly alters and expands their reality. But when her home is attacked and her mother kidnapped, Elsa is forced to cross into the real world and use her own scriptology gifts to find her. In an alternative Victorian Italy, Elsa finds a secret society of young scientists with a gift for mechanics, alchemy, or scriptology.

Veronica Mars meets the World of Warcraft in The Astonishing Mistakes of Dahlia Moss, a mystery romp with a most unexpected heroine. You'd think that after I took a bullet in my arm following my last case, that I'd be timid about going in guns blazing a second time. But you'd be wrong. I faced down death, and the only bad thing that happened was that I got a cool scar. Which is a like a tattoo, but with street cred. I may have been a little overconfident this time. Like, Leeroy Jenkins overconfident.

Seventeen-year-old Nora Holmes is an artist, a painter from the moment she could hold a brush. She inherited the skill from her grandfather, Robert, who's always nurtured Nora's talent and encouraged her to follow her passion. Still, Nora is shocked and elated when Robert offers her a gift: an all-expenses-paid summer trip to Europe to immerse herself in the craft and to study history's most famous artists. The only catch? Nora has to create an original piece of artwork at every stop and send it back to her grandfather.

The juniors at Paloma High School all have their secrets, whether it's the thespian who hides her trust issues onstage, the closeted pansexual who cares only about his drug-dealing profits, or the neurotic genius who's planted the seed of a school scandal. But it's Juniper Kipling who has the furthest to fall. No one would argue that Juniper - obedient daughter, salutatorian, natural beauty, and loyal friend - is anything but perfect.

One humiliating photo, a stupid prank, and a hashtag that goes viral. That's how my senior year goes from predictable to absurd in a heartbeat. This year is supposed to be easy. I've finally scored first chair in band, my college applications are done, and all my friends and I have to do is survive one more year of high school before our real lives can begin. Instead, I find myself in trouble with the principal, humiliated in front of the entire school, and fighting with my neighbor - AKA star quarterback, Prince Charming, and nicest guy on the planet.

In spring 2008, inspired by the Vietnam-era Winter Soldier hearings, Iraq Veterans Against the War gathered veterans to expose war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. Here are the powerful words, images, and documents of this historic gathering, which show the reality of life in Afghanistan and Iraq.

To stand at the side of an elemental as their familiar is a gift given to few familiars. Yet here I stand with my thirteenth - Larkspur, child of the earth. I do not want this charge, for all my previous have ended in deaths I could not prevent. I am not sure my heart can take another loss of one bonded with me. Larkspur’s strength and heart call to me as only one other elemental's had, and I cannot deny the need to protect her and to shield her from all pain.