Showing results by narrator "Esther Wane" in All Categories

On the hottest day of the summer, we wait for Molly on the riverbank, desperate to slip into the cool water. But as the sun starts to fade, it’s clear she isn’t coming. We’ll never see our friend again....

Daria has spent her whole life caring for others. So when she's rescued by traveling merchants while fleeing for her life, she's more than happy to work for them in return for her safety. But danger follows her, as does Prince Percy.

Frances Stenzel was just trying to prove her scientific worth to her parents so they would take her with them to their scientific symposiums for once—instead, she reawakened her great-grandfather’s secret and most terrible invention. Before it can destroy the town, she sets off after it, with her pet chimp and sarcastic robot tutor by her side.

A young writer is brutally attacked in her home and left for dead. For her sister, Nina Bergmann, it's the beginning of a nightmare that will threaten to destroy her marriage, her job and ultimately her life. As she sets out to unravel the truth about what really happened to her sister, Nina comes face-to-face with inner demons she believed long since banished and discovers that her sister's past and that of the once-divided city are intertwined in unimaginable ways. The Wall may be gone, but its legacy still haunts Berlin.

Zara is an unwilling thief, trapped by fate in an abandoned castle whose brutally scarred king resents her presence as deeply as she longs to escape. But after an unimaginable betrayal, they will have no choice but to work together, and in the process, find a love they would risk anything to keep.

Princess Giselle is excited to be leading her first royal delegation—until everything goes wrong before they even reach their destination. With her rank and authority stripped away and her people scattered, she’s left with nothing but a gaggle of geese. Giselle is determined to prove herself a true princess—in action as well as in name. But to do so she must uncover a conspiracy that threatens far more than her own future. With her life in danger and only a talking horse and an irritable goose boy at her side, she needs assistance.

Cassie knows she was made for more than a life buried away in her uncle's remote forest estate. Eager to meet the great spymaster, Aurora, she jumps at the chance to travel to her distant kingdom. But meeting Aurora isn't enough - Cassie wants to prove her worth.

When peddler John Durbeyfield learns that he may be a descendant of a noble family, he sends his oldest child, Tess, to “claim kin.” Blindly ushered into harm’s way, the strong-willed yet untinctured peasant girl is not prepared for the blighted course her life will take. Nor for those whose destructive desires will determine her fate, and force Tess to make only the most desperate of choices. From her tragic loss of innocence through betrayal and revenge, Tess’s struggle for survival challenged the era’s mores and the cruel indifference shown women in Victorian society. 

Batrice Reyard has everything she's ever wanted - a fabulous job, an understanding mentor, and the freedom to be herself. Or so she thought.... Suddenly, she's being sent off to visit her ailing grandmother for the sake of keeping up appearances. Her grandmother is the last person she wishes to visit, especially with a collection of strange companions in tow. But she does love an adventure, so she sets off into the woods determined to find some excitement. She never bargained on the excitement finding her. 

After more than 20 years in hiding, Alexei is returning home. His kingdom is destroyed, his people dead or enslaved, and the magic that once protected them lost to all but memory. His only hope to provide sanctuary for the few who remain is the uncertain word of a traitor, a broken man who claims to know the hiding place of Erath's greatest treasure. To find it, Alexei will have to return to the place where Erath fell, and brave the shadowed halls of a castle that echoes with the ghosts of his past.

Justin Rodale is the wealthy bastard son of the duke of Chanceworth. Educated with the rest of the aristocrats, he knows all the rules by which Society lives, but he is beholden to no one. Clarissa Kincaid has been raised to be the perfect English lady...in need of the perfectly respectable English husband. She's found her quarry, but the man won't commit, and she finds herself seeking assistance in the form of seduction lessons from someone the opposite of respectable...Justin.

Jess Bright, single mum and journalist, feels her life has stalled. So when she's offered a writing job in Paris for the summer, she leaps at the chance to go back to a city full of old memories and the promise of new opportunities. Her subject is the iconic artist Adelaide Fox, whose personal life has always been steeped in scandal and intrigue. Now approaching eighty, she's ready to tell her side of the story - and serve up some scalding-hot revenge in the process. Amidst a stormy working relationship, Jess and Adelaide must face up to their pasts.

Mathematics prodigy, Caroline Jellico, plans to support herself by winning big in the gaming hells of London - while dressed as a boy. She's tired of waiting for the elusive Roe to notice her. She'll marry him or no man.

The mansion of larger-than-life business magnate Titus McAvoy hums with the energy of his servants Nessa and Aoife, two Irish maids bonded through their journey to America, and a dream of escape. When preparation for one of Titus's famous parties sends the pair to the beach, Aoife stumbles upon a strange find on the shoreline. She instinctively pockets it, unaware that it is the key to her and Nessa's freedom. Ambergris holds more worth than silver or gold.

The sorceress Oria has finally come into her own—able to wield the power of her birthright and secure in the marriage she once believed would bring her only misery. But the past she escaped still chases her, and the certainty of war promises to destroy everything she’s fought to have.

No longer a princess and not yet a queen, the sorceress Oria welcomes the rush of power the ancient mask brings her—though the obsessive connection to it frightens her and alarms her barbarian husband, Lonen. But retreat is not an option. She must wrestle the magic to prevent an annihilating war, even if she must make the ultimate sacrifice.

Tatiana, a half-demon/half-human, was orphaned as a child by a horrific war between the demon and human kingdoms. A human Duke took her in, but only so that he could take advantage of her special skill: Tatiana can speak Shadowtongue, the native language of demons, unspeakable by anyone devoid of demon blood. Despite the abuse she receives from the Duke's family, she works hard as an interpreter between the kingdoms, in hopes of maintaining peace and winning her family's affection.

Child genius and budding inventor Frances is in trouble. Her dreams of scientific glory were dashed when her first big experiment nearly destroyed her whole town. So when a prestigious society invites her to their symposium, Frances sees it as a chance to redeem herself. On the way there, her train is hijacked, and she and her friend Luca flee into the Black Forest. Seeking shelter with a group of orphans, Frances learns the rules of the woods: Never travel alone. Never make a sound. Because something hunts in the shadows, something with glowing eyes and sharp teeth