Showing results by narrator "Amy Soakes" in All Categories

The Garden Party and Other Stories was published in 1922. A collection of fifteen short stories, it explores themes including life and death, gender and family roles, relationships and duty.

Gertrude Stein's work flourished in a world which was finding bold new ways of expressing itself. Forms like Impressionism, cubism, expressionsism and other non-representational styles were developed that provoked and challenged the observer (as well as the established art world). What avant-garde artists did with paint and ink, Gertrude Stein did with words – dispensing with conventions of grammar and clarity, she gave free rein to word play and the musicality of sounds, without regard to their meaning or relationships.

No sooner has Narissea successfully recovered the Stone Crown and used its power to fend off Inyene, the evil metal queen, she discovers the crown can’t be removed. And it’s consuming her mind with its poisonous whispers. Irrational commands and uncharacteristic rage burst forth before she considers their impact. Unwittingly, dragons across the land are enslaved by forced obedience to her every word.

After a harrowing escape from the Weatherblight, Ari, Kerys, and Eva find themselves on Deepwater Spire, an ancient structure surrounded by endless ocean. With no other options, they bide their time, slowly building up the essence they need to reactivate the teleportation wards that will allow them to travel freely. Their isolation takes on a life of its own, manifesting as much in their relationships with each other as their situation in the world.

She can save her people - or doom the world. Narissea faces an impossible choice. Armed with a map discovered in the hidden shrine, she’s forced to lead Inyene’s heir through the wilds of the Plains to claim the ultimate prize. For only the wearer of the Stone Crown can command all dragons and take the High Throne that rules over the three kingdoms. To place the crown’s power into Inyene’s hands is unthinkable. Yet failure to obtain it means certain death.

The three kingdoms lie splintered, their aging dragon riders content with stories of glorious battle victories. But a new evil creeps across the land. Inyene, a powerful noblewoman of the Northern Kingdom, plunders valuable resources to power mechanical dragons in her quest to gain a foothold in the Middle Kingdom. From there she will ascend the High Throne, once again uniting the realms under a single crown. For the wearer of the Stone Crown can wield unlimited power - if it can be found.

New problems bring new opportunities. After escaping the attack on Varna, Rav, Ari, and friends begin converting an ancient arena into a home defensible against the Weatherblight. For the first time in his life, Ari understands what it means to be a part of a real community. But establishing a new frontier town brings with it a new set of responsibilities. He’s needed as a leader, a cornerstone of the newly growing settlement. He’s needed as a man, to give comfort and intimacy to the women he loves. He’s needed as Lord Stoneblood.

What's your name, sweetheart? That was the first thing. I wasn't his sweetheart, and he should have already known my name. But, that was the moment I became caught in Tyler Lohan's sight. He was wonderful and complicated, and I'd spent my life trying to hate him for being the golden boy who had everything so easy. However, as with all things, Tyler wasn't the person he appeared to be from the outside, and once I saw him - the real him - I fell, and I don't think I ever got back up.

Ryan "West" Westlake belongs on the island. It's in his blood and who he is. Nobody can deny that. When Piper Harland walked out of his life years ago, West let her go. He'd never stand in the way of a woman and her dreams. But now that she's back, their past smacks him right in the face. With tempers flared and desires heightened, West just might realize what he lost so long ago. Piper would do anything for her brother - even if means going back to Stewart Island - the one place she swore she'd never go again.

After a catastrophe in the real world leaves Kraven's broken body trapped in a regeneration capsule, his mind is connected to the latest new-generation virtual reality game, World of Noria. But things in game-world are not all they seem, and to survive, Kraven will need a strength he has little time to cultivate.

Have you ever felt so drawn to someone, that you will put up with anything to be with them? That's how I feel when I'm around him. Most of the time, I want to hate him. I want to stay as far away from him as possible. He's so cocky and arrogant. And he gets in the way and tells me what to do. He's all things that I normally detest in a man. But, when we're alone...I can't even think for myself - the pull is that intense.

In the hours just before dawn, blasphemous curses echo throughout the stone manor. A knife clatters to the floor, and a feisty young widow is bound, blindfolded, and led to the marriage altar. The king couldn't possibly have sanctioned this farce of a marriage, could he? After all, she alone transformed a few mud huts and starving serfs into a flourishing town, never once hesitating to pay generous taxes to his royal kingdom.

In the early Renaissance, a captain born in a noble family must choose. Will he marry the child bride his father has chosen or the woman who has captured his heart? The doctor's assistant is brave, learned, and handles a weapon like a man. Unfortunately, her beauty is beyond compare, and without a dowry, she attracts the attention of a powerful man who would have her as his mistress.

Grace Dobbs, a champion at her local gun club, lives a quiet life in Western Australia with her mother. But when a violent killing spree in the neighborhood involves Grace coming to the rescue, she is catapulted into the limelight as a local heroine. However, her fame spreads much further than the local town, bringing her to the attention of someone in Britain who is very keen to meet her. But what does this person want? And can they be trusted?

Maggie Walker has never called Wirra Station home. Orphaned as a child, she spent more time at boarding school and then working in the city than she ever spent on the edge of the outback. But when her great aunt dies, Maggie inherits everything and reluctantly returns to tidy the place up before selling. Ambitious cowboy-next-door Max O’Connor has the means and the desire to buy Wirra Station outright and return it to its former glory. But first, he wants elusive Maggie Walker to know what she’s giving up.

Big, sexy men who don’t relate well to kids need not apply.... Ben Harland is, by his own admission, a bit of a grouch. He doesn’t do soppy chick flicks or cozy home and family. He sure doesn’t need any more drama in his world. But life has a way of biting him in the ass. Cue insta-daddyhood to an eight-year-old girl who lands on his doorstep and an out-of-control attraction to Stewart Island's hot school teacher. Kezia Murphy plays her widow card well. When you don’t trust people not to let you down, you don’t get involved.

Three years have passed since Damien lost Etta. His obsessive and irrational behavior drove her away and destroyed his life. For three years he has languished in prison. Every day he's had but one thought: Etta. She is the holder of his soul, and he can't see a life without her in it. When he is finally released and tracks her down, he is faced with something he didn't expect: his daughter...and Aaron. Damien needs to redeem himself in the eyes of the woman he loves.

Prince Kai Afkarr-Younger hides a dangerous secret—he’s been infected with the Nightmare Plague. Exhausted from battle and illness, he must force himself to stay awake, or risk spawning yet another monster attack on the already beleaguered city, an impossible undertaking without the strength of his tamer.

What foul devilry is this? They told her he was dead. After six long years without a word, her knight falls onto his knees and sings poetry. Then he denies their son? Heed this well. She's no longer an innocent who'll giggle and tarry on his every word. The sharp edge of her tongue and knife is the only welcome he'll get. She'll not marry him. Besides, the pain would be too much to bear should he ever leave again.

In the light of the early dawn, Lady Fay traverses her parapet wall and waits with bow drawn taut. Only when she realizes the group of men who exit the Saxon rowboat are tonsured does she allow herself to breathe. She need not shoot another of King Alexander's suitors. At least not today. With a wicked grin, she lets go the bowstring, and the arrow makes a perfect arc to land directly in front of the one in the lead. She isn't so fond of priests, either.