Showing results by narrator "Laura" in All Categories

I’ve got debt—yeah, I know, so does everyone else on Planet Earth. But the bills I’m paying keep my dad and my grandma alive. So it’s pretty messed-up for Timofey Viktorov to use them as a threat to keep me under control.

Five old school friends reunited for a weekend in Sheffield. A drunken game of truth or dare. One won't survive. The young woman is found murdered in a swanky hotel room. Detective Claudia Nunn gets the text just as she leaves her therapist's office. The victim's friends all say the same thing: she had been distracted and kept disappearing all weekend. And on the Saturday, someone had screamed abuse in her face. Did she know her killer?

"What do you mean, 'You gave me the wrong sperm sample'?!" But the doctor says he isn't joking. Instead of being my sister's surrogate... I'm accidentally carrying my boss's baby. A few months ago, I agreed to be my sister's surrogate. Then she died in an unsolved accident. I swore I'd keep her child and raise it on my own. But as it turns out, there was a mix-up at the clinic. Instead of carrying my future nephew... I learned I'm pregnant with my boss's child. But Dmitri isn't just my boss. He's also the one who killed my sister in the first place.

Nine years ago, I killed my brother, and I’ve been running from my past ever since. I find a home in Darkwood, finally safe from those who hunt me. But no matter what I do, the darkness keeps pulling me in. I allow my shadow magic to edge closer to the surface to feel something, anything. But no matter how much I want to embrace the power, I can’t. My magic thirsts for violence but I won’t let it kill again. It remains dormant... until he shows up.

For eight harrowing years, the iron grip of Rhagor—a tyrant god masquerading as the prophesied savior—has choked Levanthria, pushing it to the edge of annihilation. Trapped within the confines of mortal flesh, Rhagor frantically hunts for an ancient artifact, his key to unleashing an era of darkness and reshaping the world under his sinister rule. As Rhagor’s menacing plans cast a shadow over Levanthria, the fates of its fabled heroes intertwine, in part 1 of this electrifying climax.

On the night of 3 October 1922, in the quiet suburb of Ilford, Edith Thompson and her husband, Percy, were walking home after an evening spent at a London theatre, when a man sprang out of the darkness and stabbed Percy to death. The assailant was Frederick Bywaters, a 20-year-old merchant seaman who had been Edith's lover. When the police learned of his relationship with Edith, she was arrested as his accomplice, despite protesting her innocence.

Tara Carver seems to have the perfect life. A loving mother and wife and a business woman who runs her own company, she's the sort of person you'd want to live next door to, who might even become your best friend. But what sort of person is she really? Because in one night of madness, on a work trip far from home, she puts all this at risk.

Zoe always knew this day would come. After all, no one can live for ever. She may not be ready, but Zoe knows the importance of goodbye. Harriet doesn't know where she fits anymore. It's not in Cornwall with the new family her mum is building, and it's certainly not in the job she hates. Ange was doing fine. Well, she was coping. Like she has been for the past fourteen years because her daughter needed her. Then, the last person any of them expects to see suddenly turns up, and soon it seems the only way to move forward is to revisit the past.

Do we own it? Being a woman that is. Do we f--k! We live in fear of how we look, what we eat, how we age and what we do. Wow, it's 2022 and we're still churning out that same old shit. I've been told as you get older you care less. F--king great. I can't wait to be menopausal with skunk-like grey track lines in my hair, saggier tits and miserable as shit. I don't know about you, but I'd quite like to have that experience—the no-f--ks-experience that is—now, before that all happens. To have the confidence to believe in who I am.

I walked into the wrong hotel room...to a naked man fresh out of the shower. Now, I'm pregnant with his baby. I should've left as soon as I saw him. He was too beautiful to be real. I got halfway to the door… And then he saw exactly what I was trying to hide.

Late summer, 1963. Fresh from London and a recent cookery course, Alexandra has always loved a challenge. Which is why she now finds herself standing outside an imposing chateau in Provence. Waiting for her inside is three silent, rather hostile children who are to be her charges for the next month. They will soon be more friendly, she tells herself. All they need is some fun, good food and an English education. Far more of a challenge though is their father—an impossibly good-looking French count with whom she is rapidly falling in love.

Nevada, 1869: Beyond the pitiless 40-Mile Desert lies Golgotha, a cattle town that hides more than its share of unnatural secrets. The sheriff bears the mark of the noose around his neck; some say he is a dead man whose time has not yet come. His half-human deputy is kin to coyotes. The mayor guards a hoard of mythical treasures. A banker's wife belongs to a secret order of assassins. And a shady saloon owner, whose fingers are in everyone's business, may know more about the town's true origins than he's letting on.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, the endlessly-mysterious moon is explored in this reprint short science fiction anthology from award-winning editor and anthologist Neil Clarke (Clarkesworld, The Best Science Fiction of the Year).

Als Pippilotta Viktualia Rollgardina Pfefferminz Efraimstochter Langstrumpf in die Villa Kunterbunt einzieht, staunen Tommy und Annika nicht schlecht. Pippi hat nicht nur einen Koffer voller Goldstücke, einen Affen und ein Pferd - sie ist auch das stärkste Mädchen der Welt! Zusammen erleben sie viele Abenteuer, gehen in den Zirkus und auf den Jahrmarkt, feiern Geburtstag und reisen auf der Hoppetosse zur Taka-Tuka-Insel.

In a sweeping narrative encompassing political intrigue, illicit love affairs and even a murder mystery, Nancy Goldstone tells the riveting story of a queen who lost her throne, and of her four defiant daughters. Elizabeth Stuart's (1596-1662) marriage to a German count far below her rank was arranged with the understanding that her father, James I of England, would help his new son-in-law achieve the crown of Bohemia. The terrible betrayal of this promise would ruin 'the Winter Queen', as Elizabeth would forever be known, imperil the lives of those she loved and launch a war that would last thirty years.

Violet “Vy” Finch is a vampire cursed, for the very blood she needs is poison to her. Suffering unquenchable hunger and shunned for being of mixed lineage, Vy searches desperately for her mother who disappeared over a decade ago—the one person who may be able to heal her. Unfortunately, a great sorceress prophesies that Vy will only get what she wants if Petra Malkovitch willingly works with her to find a magical relic with the power to change everything.

With the Dragon Wars over, Creel finds herself bored with life as a seamstress. Then word comes that a bordering country has been breeding dragons in preparation for an invasion. Never one to sit around, Creel throws herself headlong into an adventure that will reunite her with dragon friend Shardas, pit her against a vicious new enemy, and perhaps rekindle a friendship with Prince Luka that seems to have gone cold.

July 1981. As the country prepares to celebrate Prince Charles’ wedding to Lady Diana, Libby wants to be as far away from royal wedding fever as possible. Having caught her own fiancé in bed with her best friend just weeks before they were due to marry, she’s fled London for the comfort of the Suffolk countryside.

Urgent! An epidemic is sweeping the country. You are among the infected. There is no cure, and you cannot be permitted to infect others. You are now under quarantine. The 5 percent of the infected who survive are dangerous and will be taken into the custody of the army. Young runaway Callie survived the disease but not the so-called treatment. Her brother, Kai, is still looking for her. And his new friend, Shay, may hold the key to uncovering what truly happened.

Laura Belbin survived hitting her 30s (oh, to be wrinkle-free again), anxiety (just), motherhood (two adorable little shits) and the new body that went with it (a left tit that sags slightly more than the right, anyone?). In Knee Deep in Life she gives a fearless and filthy account of her transformation from no-responsibilities woman to being in demand 24/7, the heartaches and humiliations, and most importantly, her (definitely-pushed-to-the-limits-but-totally-indestructible) marriage to Steve.