Showing results by narrator "Michael Lesley" in All Categories

Sam of Wilds faced the Dark wizard Myrin and lived to tell the tale. Granted, the battle left him scarred, but things could be a hell of a lot worse. It’s not until he reunites with Morgan of Shadows and Randall that he realizes just how much worse things could be. Because the scars have meaning and hint at Myrin’s true plans for Sam and the Kingdom of Verania. With time running out, Sam and his band of merry misfits must travel to the snowy mountains in the North and the heart of the Dark Woods to convince the remaining dragons to stand against Myrin.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I've already mentally prepared myself to kill the screaming, murderous monster in the cage outside our camp. I'm used to it. It's what I do here. Kill monsters and other people. This monster, Seraph, is particularly unstable—has been since the moment he arrived from Collector Mary's monster menagerie to the west, where the military stashed him away. He's in pain. I can see it. But he's not a mindless beast. Not like some of the others think. When I start guarding him in his cage every night, I begin to see the person beneath the agony that tortures his every waking moment.

Do you believe in love at first sight? Paul Auster doesn't. Paul doesn't believe in much at all. He's thirty, slightly overweight, and his best features are his acerbic wit and the color commentary he provides as life passes him by. His closest friends are a two-legged dog named Wheels and a quasibipolar drag queen named Helena Handbasket. He works a dead-end job in a soul-sucking cubicle, and if his grandmother's homophobic parrot insults him one more time, Paul is going to wring its stupid neck.

When I—along with my best friend and his big purple monster boyfriend—come across a fortress-like raider camp while journeying across the monster-infested Wastes, we stop to deliver a message. Somehow, that simple pit stop turns into a seemingly impossible quest to get this camp's missing leader out of the prison where he's being held and forced to fight monsters and other humans. I know exactly where it is because I've been there. Problem is, I'm making this journey with the prickliest and most arrogant guy I've ever met, who seems to hate me on sight. Oh, and he's also half-monster.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Through bravery, charm, and an alarming amount of enthusiasm, Nick landed himself the superhero boyfriend of his dreams. Now instead of just writing stories about him, Nick actually gets to kiss him. On the mouth. A lot. But having a superhero boyfriend isn’t everything Nick thought it would be - he’s still struggling to make peace with his own lack of extraordinary powers.

Nick Bell? Not extraordinary. But being the most popular fan-fiction writer in the Extraordinaries fandom is a superpower, right? After a chance encounter with Shadow Star, Nova City’s mightiest hero (and Nick’s biggest crush), Nick sets out to make himself extraordinary. And he’ll do it with or without the reluctant help of Seth Gray, Nick's best friend (and maybe the love of his life).

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.

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.

Josiah Erickson wants to be a movie star. The problem with that is so does half of Los Angeles. But he's on his way, what with memorable roles as a TV show background cadaver and a guy in a commercial for herpes medication. All he needs is his big break. And that break may come in the form of a novelist who goes by the enigmatic name of Q-Bert.