Showing results by narrator "Michael Lesley" in All Categories

I’ve made some stupid decisions in my life, and one in particular keeps coming back to haunt me. When I keep running into a handsome stranger, I know I should push him away, if only to keep him safe from my mess, keep him safe from me. But something inside of me—my heart, my magic, or my soul—keeps pushing me toward him, offering to make all my secret dreams come true. And I don’t know how to stay away.

Once upon a time, in an alleyway in the slums of the City of Lockes, a young and somewhat lonely boy named Sam Haversford turns a group of teenage douchebags into stone completely by accident. Of course, this catches the attention of a higher power, and Sam's pulled from the only world he knows to become an apprentice to the king's wizard, Morgan of Shadows.

Once upon a time, the wizard’s apprentice, Sam of Wilds, got his happily ever after in the arms of his cornerstone, Knight Commander Ryan Foxheart. A year has passed, and while Sam’s been captured five or six more times since then, things are pretty great. Until they're not.... Because Vadoma, the leader of the gypsy clan and Sam’s grandmother, has come to the City of Lockes with a dire prophecy written in the stars.

Look, I'm an extremely busy, handsome, and charming guy. I am a paragon of physical perfection. I run a wildly successful architecture firm, and I take care of my family. I don't have time to organize a tenth-anniversary party for my business, so it just makes sense to hire someone else to do the work. Except as soon as I see my new event planner, Anita Chaudhary, with her dark eyes, no-nonsense attitude, and sensible shoes, I decide that maybe I should be involved in the process. Just, you know, for the sake of being thorough. But mainly so I can keep butting heads with her.

Catch up with the original monster-human couple, Danny and Wyn, in their Wastes-style adventures. Witness Moth and Wyn's blossoming and potentially concerning friendship. Find out all the new ways Edin has been frustrating Hunter (lovingly) since their story ended. And join Lor and Jugs in welcoming a new furry addition to their monster-world family.

Twenty years ago, monsters rose on earth and began a new age of civilization. One where humans live in military-controlled, cramped and dirty cities along the coasts, and the majority of the United States is known as the Wastes. A lawless, desolate and dangerous place, teeming with monsters that have claimed the land for their own. Including Wyn the Soul Eater. He appears every three years, making his way across the country and slaughtering humans randomly, sucking them dry until they’re nothing but husks.

Nick landed himself the superhero boyfriend of his dreams, but with new heroes arriving in Nova City, it's up to Nick and his friends to determine who is virtuous and who is villainous. Which is a lot to handle for a guy who just wants to finish his self-insert bakery AU fanfic.

Nearly a year ago, blinded by grief and betrayal, Sam of Wilds made a desperate decision to follow the Great White into the Dark Woods. Now, he emerges to a world changed. The City of Lockes is a prison. The King has been locked away in the dungeons. The Kingdom of Verania has fallen, and the Dark wizard Myrin sits on the throne. But soon after his return, Sam learns of a resistance fighting in his name, led by a courageous knight, a defiant prince, a pissed-off unicorn, and a half-giant who wants to smash everything in sight.

Along with my band of… misfits (I’m trying to be nice here), including a firestarter who seems to excel at burning the clothes off others (I’m never going to complain about a naked August), an excitable assassin who really needs to start asking before he shoots, and an illusionist who is disgustingly normal, we’re going to save the world.

I was just a boy when the monsters rose on earth, forcing humans to flee to the coastlines and live in cramped, dirty, military-controlled cities. I enlisted as soon as I could to escape. Now, I’ve been in the military for twelve years and have the scars—and missing body parts—to prove it. As a hardened soldier who’s spent his fair share of time out in the Wastes—the dangerous place where monsters roam free—I didn’t think anything could surprise me anymore.

Do you believe in love at first sight? Sanford Stewart sure doesn't. In fact, he pretty much believes in the exact opposite, thanks to the Homo Jock King. It seems Darren Mayne lives for nothing more than to create chaos in Sandy's perfectly ordered life, just for the hell of it. Sandy despises him, and nothing will ever change his mind. Or so he tells himself.

Life as a raider in the Wastes, where monsters roam and the military lurks, is as easy as it sounds. I’ve been out here for a long time, and the fear that courses through my blood every time I step outside our camp walls to scavenge never fades. No matter how many monsters you face—and have to run for your life from—it doesn’t ever get easier. But when I come across a bound and injured monster in an abandoned military base, I can’t leave him behind.

In The Canterbury Tales Chaucer created one of the great touchstones of English literature, a masterly collection of chivalric romances, moral allegories and low farce. A story-telling competition between a group of pilgrims from all walks of life is the occasion for a series of tales that range from the Knight's account of courtly love and the ebullient Wife of Bath's Arthurian legend, to the ribald anecdotes of the Miller and the Cook.

Rumer Godden is well known for her acclaimed novels for adults and children. She wrote over 60 works in her lifetime, nine of which were made into films. Included here are dramatisations of three of her classic tales, as well as a fascinating interview with the renowned author.

Despite growing up in a family of villains, I’d rather curl up and read than commit crimes. When I get coerced by my brother into helping him rob a bank, I run into August, my childhood crush, also known as Chrono, the city’s greatest superhero. He’s sexy, sweet, and suddenly, he’s asking me to Thanksgiving with his parents.

I swear I was only looking for a roommate. Just someone to watch TV and eat dinner with. Nothing… romantic. No way. But when I see all these humans gazing at me with open adoration and blatant lust and other things that make me wildly uncomfortable, I realize what a terrible mistake this is. Until I spot the one human woman in the group who is definitely not pleased to see me. In fact, she's scowling at me. She looks really, really annoyed. I'm kind of into it.

When a strange woman shows up outside our camp in the Wastes with monsters chained up to her RV, it feels like I’m the only one who actually wants to help them. That big, grey-skinned monster with the cage on his head and the chain hanging from his back—something is telling me I need to help him. I need to free him. But I have absolutely no idea how I’m supposed to do that, especially when he can’t even talk to me to tell me how. Collector Mary is finally leaving our camp to head back to her monster menagerie, so I do the only thing I can think of to help him: I go with her.

My role as Moric—ruler of a small and prosperous fiefdom in a quiet corner of the world—has always been painfully dull and stifling. Until a beautiful, otherworldly creature with pink skin and a mane of golden hair falls through a strange void that has appeared in my guestroom. I am instantly captivated by him. I have never seen anything like him. I have no idea where he came from, and what else is through that unsettling void—another world filled with soft-skinned, defenseless creatures like him? No tails, no horns, no claws, no sharp teeth. Tiny clothing, rounded ears, bright blue eyes.

I am a monster. A ghoul. A demon. The bogeyman. I have been called all of them. Most creatures fear me but humans are repulsed by me. They are terrified of me. They have created legends about me ever since they became aware of my existence when the tear between our worlds grew and we—the monsters from their nightmares—flooded through in our droves. There is only one human who isn’t afraid of me, the only one who matters. I will destroy anyone who tries to hurt him or take him from me. Danny is mine.

A year has passed since the Dark Wizard Myrin attempted to take control of the Kingdom of Verania. Though the scars of the final battle remain, Veranians have come together in unity in order to rebuild. Good King Anthony sits on the throne once more, with Morgan of Shadows at his side. However, a king is not immortal. One day, Anthony will step down, paving the way for his son, Grand Prince Justin, to assume the throne. And Justin wants anything but. Unfortunately for him, he finds himself with bigger things to worry about than just becoming the ruler of a country.