Showing results by narrator "Alexandra Hunter" in All Categories

Growing up in a ghastly orphanage run by an abusive matron, Nica coped in the only way she could—by retreating to her imagination, where she lived out fantastical stories, especially about the Tearsmith, the man who makes tears, a terrifying figure who forges all the fears that dwell in people’s hearts. When she’s finally taken in by an adoptive family at seventeen, Nica thinks she’s leaving the group home, its torments, and her prison of otherworldly tales behind her. That is, until Rigel—a young man raised from birth in the same dreadful orphanage—joins her new family.

To Kaley Arens, a PhD student and expert in folklore, fairy stories have always had a power and an allure beyond mere entertainment. It’s only when Kaley accompanies her lifelong friend Jobi on a visit to his home that she realizes how much she still has to learn. Bellis isn’t the remote island that she believed it to be. It’s another world—a stunningly beautiful and seductive one, with its own royalty, its own rules, and inhabitants who breathe life into the tales she was taught were fiction.

Esther Larson has been cooking for funerals in the Northwoods of Wisconsin for seventy years. Known locally as the “funeral ladies,” she and her cohort have worked hard to keep the mourners of Ellerie County fed—it is her firm belief that there is very little a warm casserole and a piece of cherry pie can’t fix. But, after falling for an internet scam that puts her home at risk, the proud Larson family matriarch is the one in need of help these days.

Edira Brillwyn is a threadmender. She holds a rare, lifesaving power that can cure disease and heal injuries in the blink of an eye. But magic always comes with a cost, and saving anyone sacrifices a sliver of her own life. She’s always kept her abilities hidden…until the powerful Fernglove family discovers her secret. The Ferngloves are charming and beautiful, possess powerful magic, and don’t take no for an answer—especially Orin, the head of these ruling elites. When Edira’s brothers unexpectedly contract blight, Orin offers to help.

Anna Hunt may be the new girl at East Middle School, but she can already tell there’s something off about her eighth-grade class. Rachel Riley, who just last year was one of the most popular girls in school, has become a social outcast. But no one, including Rachel Riley herself, will tell Anna why.

Sophia Lee and her best friend, Kat, live on Adoption Island, a paradise filled with pets, customizable homes, and endless adventures. But their world is turned upside down when Sophia and her dog, Jumper, discover that the Queen Bee and other beloved pets have mysteriously vanished. As panic spreads across the island, Sophia and Kat embark on a quest to uncover the truth. Their journey leads them to encounter everything from a self-proclaimed king to a talking book with cryptic clues and the island's most popular party host.

Atlas has lost her way. In a last-ditch effort to pull her life together, she’s working on a community service program rehabbing trails in the Western Sierras. The only plus is that the days are so exhausting that Atlas might just be tired enough to forget that this was one of her dad’s favorite places in the world. Before cancer stole him from her life, that is. Using real names is forbidden on the trail. So Atlas becomes Maps, and with her team—Books, Sugar, Junior, and King—she heads into the wilderness.

Ena never hoped for a peaceful life. She never dreamt she’d become a killer either. Ilbrea: A country mercilessly ruled by the seven Guilds where commoners struggle to survive - no one knows the cost of survival better than illegal healer Ena Ryeland. Ena is offered a life of freedom and a chance to fight the Guilds. But she can’t win the battle alone....

From the founder of the Fat Girls Hiking community comes an inclusive, inspiring call to the outdoors for people of all body types, sizes, and backgrounds. In a book brimming with heartfelt stories, practical advice, personal profiles of Fat Girls Hiking community members, and helpful trail reviews, Summer Michaud-Skog creates space for marginalized bodies with an insistent conviction that outdoor recreation should welcome everyone.

Jude loves photography, and he’s good at it, too. Between his parents’ divorce and his anxiety, being behind a camera is the only time his mind is quiet. Florence is confronting the premature end of her dance career as a degenerative eye disease begins to steal her balance. She’s having a hard time letting go. The two meet at Sunrise Night, their sleepaway art camp’s dusk-to-dawn closing celebration, and decide to take a chance on each other.

Ena has pledged herself to the Black Bloods’ cause, spending months saving children from the grips of the Sorcerers Guild. But freedom demands a steeper price. Following her heart has led Ena through danger and to a sanctuary she never dreamt existed. Surrounded by magic, a future free of blood and pain seem within her grasp. But hope and love have never been a part of her story.

Tylia Coder is the bridge between worlds. Born of the GEOs underground, she’s one of only two known victors of the Acceptance trials - a survival contest that promises to prevent infection from the GM virus that nearly wiped out humanity, decades ago. Now with precious antibodies in her blood, she may finally hold the key to finding a cure.

Ro Devereux can predict your future. Or, at least, the app she built for her senior project can. Working with her neighbor, a retired behavioral scientist, Ro created an app called MASH, designed around the classic game Mansion Apartment Shack House, that can predict a person’s future with 93% accuracy. The app will even match users with their soulmates. Though it was only supposed to be a class project, MASH quickly takes off and gains the attention of tech investors.

Vanessa Clark, a second-year college student, has a visceral love of books and rain and an unbreakable bond with her best friends. Marked by her parents' difficult divorce, she found comfort in Travis, apparently the good guy that all mothers—including hers—would like next to their daughter. With him she hopes to be able to build a happiness that she has been missing for too long now. After two years, however, even that love seems to have cracked and only rubble remains in Vanessa's heart. At least until, in class, she meets new classmate Thomas Collins for the first time.

I was 12 the first time I killed a man. After the war, I was driven to the human world by a vengeful leader. My only chance at survival? Run. With the help of a genderfluid shifter, I learned to hide in plain sight and harness the powers within, but my luck soon ran out.

Decades ago, a band of neurally augmented rebels, the Seventy-Seven, and their leader, Arthur Lannius, helped liberate a remote mountain town from the Perpetual Corporation in a great machine war. Eventually defeated, the Seventy-Seven scattered, and Lannius went into exile without a trace...except for a child. When memories of a stranger burst into her mind, Aurora learns she is not an ordinary orphan of the war, but that she is augmented and that her past is more than it seems.

It’s been decades since the deadly GM virus decimated humanity, but the world continues to hold out for a cure. Hidden underground in the dark, GEOs remain, what’s left of the population as Farrow Corp works tirelessly in their never-ending search for a miracle. For seventeen-year-old Tylia Coder, survival is all she knows. With virus mutations continuing to spread, Tylia must either watch her ailing mother be ravaged by illness or hack her way into the terrifying Acceptance trials and face the infected world above to save her family.

Healing is a hanging offense, and Ena is done risking her neck to watch her patients die. Fleeing a future of blood and death, Ena braves the dark unknown. Life taught her the cruelty of the world. But she never imagined the dangers of her journey. As evil surrounds her, Ena is threatened with a fate worse than the one she escaped. Legends and dark magic stand between her and the future she dreams of. A future that will cost more than pain. When innocent lives depend on her mercy, Ena must face an enemy with the power to set the sky on fire.

Some battles cannot be won. The time has come to fight. There are no allies left. There is nothing but flames ahead. The end has arrived. Prepare for the final installment in the Ena of Ilbrea series.

Ancient magic lurks in the shadows. The Black Bloods’ home is more magnificent than Ena imagined, and more perilous than the life she fled. The time has come for the Black Bloods to unite against the Guilds, but loyalties born in blood will be tested by fire. And not everyone she loves will survive the flames. As murder and malice surround her, Ena must prove her innocence or risk a fate worse than death. Facing her enemies will test every friendship she has and risk the heart she has won.