Showing results by narrator "Caren Naess" in All Categories

She is heir to a Sultanate that once ruled the world. He is an unwanted prince with the power to destroy. She is order and intellect, a woman fit to rule in a man's place. He is chaos and violence and will stop at nothing to protect his people. His magic answers hers with shadow for light. They need each other, but the cost of balance may be too high a price. Magic is dying and the only way to save it is to enlist mages who wield the forbidden power of death, mages cast out centuries ago in a brutal and bloody war.

The Blight ravages both Tamar and Sarkum, and their people, and armies, are starving. Violence and protests in Narfour have the city on the brink of rebellion. When Ihsan sees a chance to gain an ally with the only productive land left in Tamar for his cousin, the Sultana, he takes it. But nothing is as it seems when Behram Kadir is involved. Ihsan knows he should not trust the woman who has upended his life, even if she is the first warmth he has felt since fire stole everything from him.

When Cassia seeks out a Hesperine, he could end her mortal life in a heartbeat. But she has no fear of his magic or his fangs. She knows the real monster is the human king, her father. If he finds out she’s bargaining with his enemy, he’ll send her to the executioner. As a Hesperine diplomat, Lio must negotiate with mortals who hate him. Cassia is different, but politics aren't why she captivates the gentle immortal. He wants more than her blood, and if he can’t resist the temptation, he’ll provoke the war he's trying to prevent.

Amara Mutar has risen to the highest ranks of Tamar society by her wits and ambition. But it is not high enough to keep those she loves, and herself, safe from a past that will not release her. Cassian Haydar has sunk as low as it is possible to sink, but he intends to take back what is his, and crush those who took everything that mattered from him—after he’s done stealing back all the other lives they’ve robbed.

She is lightning and storm. A spy, driven out of her home by a tyrant ruler. He is granite and earth. A guard, ordered to keep her contained. To protect herself and her family, she’s learned to go unnoticed, unseen. Suddenly, a refugee in a land that once was enemy and now must be home, she isn’t certain where she belongs, or what her duty is beyond her family. She can’t protect them alone this time, but the only man who can help her is the only one she cannot ask.

He is the future sultan, a man who wields brutal magic and only knows how to be what they’ve made him. She is a commoner, a woman who champions the vulnerable and treads where she does not belong. Dilay Akar is the daughter of a judge. By day, she trains the wealthy in magic, and by night, she breaks the Sultan’s laws. But even those closest to her do not always appreciate what she is striving for, or believe that she can achieve it.

When vampire heiress Poppy Villalobos entered my store looking for help, my life became intertwined with the Villalobos mafia in a way I could have never expected. With a killer on the loose and a mysterious man haunting my every move, the Villalobos men insert themselves into my life as my protectors. Now, a demon, angel, werewolf, fae prince, and vampire mafia boss are glued to my side, and it sounds more like a terrible joke than the reality of my life. These sexy-as-sin men may be the face of a mafia family, but the way they look at me leaves me wondering if they truly can be redeemed.

Reunited with her husband after an epic battle in Alekka, Jael wants nothing more than to return to her island kingdom and start again. She first heads to Andala to pick up her children, only to have her plans upended by a dream revealing a horrifying future: her brothers dead, her daughter, even herself—all of the Furycks gone. She seeks urgent advice from her grandmother—a better dreamer than she will ever be—soon discovering that she has mysteriously disappeared in Tuura.

Cassia has risen from the ashes of her human life as a Hesperine with magic the world has never seen. The Gift of immortality from Lio seals their fated Grace bond and frees her from the ancient necromancer known as the Collector. But she won't leave everyone they love, Hesperines and humans alike, as pawns in his schemes. Lio fears their hard-won alliances only played into the necromancer's plots. With their warrior brothers Mak and Lyros, Lio and Cassia embark on a quest to uncover the conspiracy he's been brewing for centuries.

When Lio brought Cassia to the land of their allies, he believed nothing would threaten her or their fated Grace bond. But a nameless enemy has ensnared her in a conspiracy reaching as high as the Imperial Court. With the Empress out for Cassia's blood, will Lio abandon his path as a diplomat and unleash his fangs? Although Cassia is now a fugitive, she can't flee to safety until they uncover the secret that could change the fate of two continents. Their path leads into a treacherous desert where long-forgotten magic threatens to tear her apart from Lio forever.

Lio is an immortal Hesperine, but he's out of time. His Craving for Cassia's blood is killing him while an ancient spell and deadly politics keep them apart. When he learns she is also in danger, he forms a plan that could save them both—or leave the Hesperines defenseless against their mortal enemies.

Cassia has reunited with her beloved Lio in the land of eternal night. She longs to become a Hesperine like him so they can stay together for all time, but she's torn between their happiness and her duty to the kingdom of mortals. To win her freedom, she must convince the humans to ally with the Hesperines despite centuries of conflict.

Lio and Cassia spend their nights in each other's arms but sit on opposite sides of the negotiation table. Their clandestine partnership has brought his immortal kin and her fellow humans close to a treaty after generations of violence. Lives hang in the balance. Failure means war. Peace would bring the future they hope for, one where their love will no longer be forbidden. Just when success is within reach, they realize their plan has played into the enemy's hands. A threat lurks within the delegation, an old nemesis with magic unlike any they have ever faced.

Lady Cassandra Fallon is finally ready to take control of her life and join her late mother’s investigative society. She’s more than confident she can do the job—even when her first case involves a potentially deadly scandal. What she’s not quite prepared for is her brother’s attractive (and increasingly distracting) friend acting as her self-appointed bodyguard....

Andala is under attack! The king and his warriors are on alert, but their enemy is playing games, not revealing who has come or why… Jael fears for her brother, sensing that something is wrong, desperate to leave S'ala Nis behind and help him. In Castala, Raymon Vandaal is injured, and Edela remains in shock. Though her journey must continue, and now the only question is to where? And in Hallow Wood, a dreamer works her magic, conjuring up a surprise that will bring them all to their knees...

She's ready for her eternal future with him. But the past won't let them go… The night Cassia has fought for is here. At last, she'll drink Lio's blood and join him as an immortal Hesperine, fulfilling their Grace bond. Then, an unexpected guest returns to Orthros with a revelation about the past she never imagined. Secrets lay hidden in the illustrious Empire, where she must travel with Lio to find the truth.

As Axl works on strengthening Brekka's defenses, he discovers he has more enemies than he realized. Help arrives in the form of a dreamer, though he doesn't know the woman, so how can he trust her? Yet, with so much at stake, how can he not?

If one more person gives Rosemary Lillywhite unwanted advice on when to stop mourning the loss of her beloved husband, she fears she will lose control of her sensibilities. All she wants is to be left alone to drown her misery in a glass of gin and tonic, but when Grace Barton knocks on the door of her dead husband’s investigative office, Rosemary faces a choice: come out of hiding, or turn away someone in need of help.

Ancient magic is sleeping inside Cassia. Wielding it is her birthright, but her bloodright is to become an immortal Hesperine like Lio, her Grace. Until she masters her dormant magic, it's too dangerous for him to transform her. To claim both her legacies, she must return to the land that holds the secrets of her power: the mortal kingdom where she was once powerless.

Kat Canton sees too much—even while she sees nothing at all. Used to being both blind and psychic, she does the best she can with the cards she has been dealt. Even if those cards are of the Tarot variety.