Showing results by narrator "Khristine Hvam" in All Categories

After a college student speeding in a blue Honda Civic kills her husband of less than a year, Olivia is completely lost. One hot summer day, she walks into the beachfront Rhode Island cottage she and David bought the previous August—the place where they had planned to someday start a family—and finds a stranger sitting at her kitchen table. Pregnant fifteen-year-old Ruby is looking for a safe haven for herself and her baby-to-be. Olivia takes her in, desperate to assuage her grief through human connection, even with a troubled teenager.

I had no idea how those words would change my life. Or how they’d changed my life already...until the day the most dangerous man I’ve ever met waltzed onto my farm and left us a death sentence. In an invitation. My younger brother has been chosen for the prestigious, secret magical school hidden within the folds of our mundane world. A place so dangerous, they don’t guarantee you’ll make it out alive. If he doesn't go, our entire family will be killed. It’s the same invitation my older brother received three years ago - the same place where he mysteriously died.

When police officer Rick LaFLeur is infected with the taint of black were-leopard, he goes to Jane Yellowrock for help. But her idea of "help" is not quite what he was expecting: she knocks him out and he wakes up in a cage.

Birdie Binkowitz is just a little bitter. As a young actress, she was the toast of Hollywood, definitely destined for greatness. Then the dragons had to rise up from their thousand-year slumber, take over Earth and ruin everything. Twenty years later, Birdie is living her worst life in her hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, working at her father's Seed and Feed (and Bagels). Then, a mysterious dragon appears in front of the store seeking her help. He’s got a bone to pick with his fellow dragons–and he wants to hit them where it hurts.

Kieran has stepped up to take his place as the ruler of magical San Francisco. As his girlfriend I'm in the spotlight, and the Hades Demigods have taken notice. They want me on their team, and they don’t plan on asking nicely. Kieran and I are both under fire. They will kill him to get to me, and they'll take me by force if necessary. It is essential I learn more of my magic. With no other options, I do what scares me the most - I summon the last Spirit Walker to help train me.

The battle between vicious spirits and strong-willed queens that started in The Queen of Blood and continued in the powerful The Reluctant Queen comes to a conclusion in The Queen of Sorrow, the final volume of the Queens of Renthia trilogy. Queen Daleina has yearned to bring peace and prosperity to her beloved forest home - a hope that seemed doomed when neighboring forces invaded Aratay. Now, Daleina believes that her dream of ushering in a new era can be realized, even in a land plagued by malevolent nature spirits who thirst for the end of human life.

In Rip-Off!, 13 of today’s best and most honored writers of speculative fiction face a challenge even they would be hard-pressed to conceive: Pick your favorite opening line from a classic piece of fiction (or even non-fiction) - then use it as the first sentence of an entirely original short story.

My name is Amelia Gray. They call me The Graveyard Queen. I've been commissioned to restore an old cemetery in Asher Falls, South Carolina, but I'm coming to think I have another purpose here. Why is there a cemetery at the bottom of Bell Lake? Why am I drawn time and again to a hidden grave I've discovered in the woods? Something is eating away at the soul of this town - this withering kingdom - and it will only be restored if I can uncover the truth.

In the aftermath of a vicious battle between darkness and light, the city of Elantra has emerged victorious. But Shadows continue to haunt every corner of its streets.... Elantra stands strong, but countless numbers of Hawks, the city's staunchest protectors, were lost in the brutal attack. Humans, Barrani, Aerians, Leontines - none of the races emerged unscathed from the defense of the city. Homes were lost, families were scattered - and the outcast Barrani Lord Nightshade is missing from his castle in the fiefs.

George Dumas (Bruiser) calls Jane Yellowrock to the Royal Mojo Blues Company, because the club has been the scene of vampire attacks from an unknown rogue-vamp. And they dance. Oh, do they dance…

Winter has hit San Francisco, and a surprise snow storm has hit the city. But instead of staying warm and curled up with a cup of hot cocoa, Poppy quickly finds herself mired in a case of theft from a local art gallery. While battling the elements, as well as the thieves, Poppy finds her life taking another unexpected turn, when her book begins generating buzz, and she finds herself becoming a bit of a celebrity in town. It’s great for her ego, but not the best when she’s trying to investigate a case.

Jane Yellowrock is a vampire-killer-for-hire, but her last battle with an ancient arcane enemy has brought her low. She seeks retreat in the Appalachian Mountains to grieve the loss of her friends, and to heal - or to die - from the disease brought on by her magic. But malevolent elements in the paranormal community still seek to destroy Jane, and a terrifying foe stalks her, even into the safety of the hills. With nowhere to run and her body failing, the rogue-vampire hunter and her inner Beast must discover a way to defeat this new threat.

Diana's life was in a rut - she hated her job, she was perpetually single, and she needed a place to live. But then the perfect apartment came along. It seemed too good to be true - because it was. As it turns out, the apartment was already inhabited - by monsters.

It's been almost a year since Coyote and her dad left the road behind and settled down in a small Oregon town. . . time spent grieving the loss of her mom and sisters and trying to fit in at school. But just as life is becoming a new version of normal, Coyote discovers a box containing her mom’s ashes. And she thinks she might finally be ready to say goodbye.

There's a hot new pizza joint in Bailey City and Mrs. Jeepers brings the kids there for a special treat. The castle-shaped building and medieval-style costumes on the waiters are fun, but when a rumble from the kitchen shakes the restaurant's foundations, the kids get suspicious. George, the owner, says his cook is temperamental and the earth-shaking fits he has are nothing unusual, but the kids are pretty sure the owner is St. George the dragon slayer and that his cook is a captive dragon. Can the kids uncover the truth before the disgruntled cook becomes a real problem?

A spell revealed I was marked by the raven. Now what? Well, I already know day drinking isn’t the answer. And Mephisto, with his increasing interest in me and my magic, isn’t either. But what is? The secrets behind the mark keep unfolding, revealing that I’m more dangerous than anyone ever suspected and that I’m the only person preventing the demise of several powerful and dangerous magical beings. Some people want me as an ally and others simply want me dead - and I have no idea who’s on my side.

My name is Leah, and I am a Cazador. Trained to hunt and kill vampires over 300 years ago, my training became essential once I became one of those monsters. The underbelly of the supernatural world has begun to bleed into the human world, and journalist Rachel Sambrook is asking too many dangerous questions. Unwittingly, she's revealed a conspiracy I had hoped would never become a reality: using vampire blood for human experiments. As I attempt to contain her, she's by my side, and the truth of just how deep the darkness goes is exposed.

Beast, with Jane Yellowrock in the background of her mind, observes the lumber camp of white men who are destroying her hunting grounds. She decides to take revenge on the leader of the lumberjacks.

In Off the Grid, Jane goes on what looks like a simple mission for the Knoxville blood-master - finding a missing Mithran. Her search leads Jane to a young woman named Nell, a woman with a scarred past and a strange power, a woman who may hold the key to saving the missing vampire, if Jane can convince her to assist.

In this story from the Jane Yellowrock universe, undercover agent Rick LaFleur has been working on gaining access to Leo Pellissier, Master of the City of New Orleans. But he wakes up naked and bound in an old barn, at the mercy of a magic-working tattoo artist and an insane vampire.