Showing results by narrator "Amanda" in All Categories

Fairy tales shape how we see the world, so what happens when you identify more with the Beast than Beauty? Amanda Leduc looks at fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm to Disney, showing us how they influence our expectations and behaviour and linking the quest for disability rights to new kinds of stories that celebrate difference.

An Atlanta ex-cop comes to Lake Sackett, Georgia, seeking peace and quiet - but he hasn’t bargained on falling for Frankie, the cutest coroner he’s ever met. Frankie McCready talks to dead people. Not like a ghost whisperer or anything - but it seems rude to embalm them and not say hello. Fortunately, at the McCready Family Funeral Home & Bait Shop, Frankie’s eccentricities fit right in. Lake Sackett’s embalmer and county coroner, Frankie’s goth styling and passion for nerd culture mean she’s not your typical Southern girl, but the McCreadys are hardly your typical Southern family.

17-year-old Dovie doesn’t believe in magic even though she comes from a long line of women who can hear the bones of the dead sing, and for the past few years the bones have been crooning nonstop, calling out to Dovie to dig them up. Because there is a killer on the loose – someone is snatching hikers from the miles of tracks, leaving their mutilated bodies for Dovie to find. And the body count grows ever higher.

Sometimes a graveside goodbye isn't the end. That's usually when I get a middle of the night phone call. In this case, the person seeking help from their friendly neighborhood reaper is none other than the director of Beechwood's funeral home. Who may be more of a frenemy than a friend. Oops. Here's to hoping I can help rid the funeral home of its latest unwanted guest without burning the last bits of kindling on the bridge back to Karla's good graces. After all, if there's one person you want on your side, it's a summoner of the dead.

Exploring subjects like work and comedy, history and sport, the beauty industry and domesticity, anonymous author Man Who Has It All imagines a world in which men are bombarded with the same stereotypical bullshit as women. What if men's t-shirts were emblazoned with slogans encouraging them to be smiley, positive and kind? What if we laughed at jokes about fathers-in-law and male drivers? What if men's history was a niche topic? Behind the jokes about crazy cat gentlemen, testerical men and the 24-hour moustache, lies a deeper, darker message about language, power and control.

My name is Quinn MacKenna, and magic doesn’t work on me. When I’m not getting roped into bar brawls in Boston, I’m usually acquiring - stealing is a form of acquisition, you know - dangerous magical artifacts to turn around and sell them to the highest bidders. But I prefer to be paid in favors, not money. Because favors are a hot commodity in the Land of the Fae. Favors are the only currency that will buy the answers I seek: Why magic doesn’t work on me, and who my real father is.

I would not say things are going well, exactly. I live in a burnt-out car under a bridge, surrounded by rubbish. When Ruadan shows up to bring me back to the Institute, I leap at the chance. That is, until he throws me into the dungeons. I’m on the naughty list, and the mentor who once trained me is cold as ice. Now, I must pass every single trial or the Institute’s executioners will rip me to pieces. Good thing I can handle it. I was the queen of the gladiator ring, and I do not go down easily.

The big day is on the way, and Holly's got the jitters. She also has a house full of royal vampires out for blood. When Lacey Vaughn comes back to Beechwood Harbor, she sure knows how to throw one heck of a welcome back party. Catch up with Holly and her gang of paranormal pals in Men Love Witches, the 11th book in the Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries by Danielle Garrett.

Rocker Jesse Pike’s chance at fame may be ruined when his drummer ends up out of commission. Jesse blames himself. If he’d been with his friend instead of shacking up with Brianna Steel, none of this would be happening. Now their big break as the opening act for Emerald Phoenix on a hugely publicized tour of Europe may end as they’re technically in breach of contract. Brianna also blames herself. She put herself between Jesse and his band for purely selfish reasons, and now Jesse and his drummer are paying the price. She desperately wants to fix things, but she doesn’t know how.

Betwixt is a collection of the in-between. Catch up with Holly, Scarlet, and all of your Beechwood Harbor friends in this anthology of short stories.

Abby and Tex both show up at the auction, and they both want that land. The sparks between them are as hot as they were twenty years ago, but Tex tells himself it's because the uppity town librarian outbid him and bought his family ranch. So he devises another plan to get the ranch back—and it includes taking his gorgeous former girlfriend to dinner a time or two. Can Tex and Abby build a real, lasting relationship now that they're both back in Coral Canyon for good? Or will Tex's plan to get his family ranch back end up breaking both of their hearts?

Myra Reed’s life is going great. Being a cop is great. Guarding the library of arcane secrets is great. Even dealing with the monsters and gods vacationing in the little beach town of Ordinary, Oregon is great. Then the demon, Bathin, strolls into town and steals Myra’s sister’s soul. So much for great. Luckily, Myra has a plan to evict the demon and save her sister’s soul. Step one: shut down the portals to hell popping up in town. Step two: get rid of the pink know-it-all unicorn. Step three: don’t die while teaching Death how to be a cop.

After 20-plus years in the land of the not-so-living, I didn't think a ghost could surprise me. Consider that winning streak over. While looking for the perfect piece of Seattle real estate, leave it to me to find the world's first ghost detective. Yeah, you heard that right. A ghost detective. The Supernatural Protection Agency has written her off as the ghost who cries murder, but this time she swears she's onto something big. Something real. Like a moth to a bonfire, I dive in headfirst, just in time for the trouble she's been following to take a U-turn.

Baba Yaga has taken over and no one knows if Bethany Anne will ever come back. Beaten on the crucible, Bethany Anne decided she will bring justice to the Kurtherian's that tortured the Leath and her people, personally. The problem? She releases Baba Yaga who has now taken control. Even ADAM and TOM aren't sure they can help their friend. While Baba Yaga is tracking down the Seven Kurtherians, her friends and family are desperately trying to find her. During this time, General Lance Reyolds must start negotiations with other star nations who wish to create an Etheric Federation.

Ophelia Lambert, 400-year-old vampire princess and college freshman, suddenly finds herself domesticated by humans and forced to suffer the indignities of dorm rooms, communal bathrooms, and a roommate with sticky fingers. As one of the hundreds of undead venturing into postsecondary education, Ophelia has a lot more to learn that just "undead studies" - she has to learn to get along with her fellow vampire classmates and, worst of all, her human ones.

Tylene McClaine, black sheep of the McClaine Half Moon Hollow werewolf pack, has spent a lifetime blocking out the criticisms of her boisterous pack. They say she’s too bookish, too sarcastic, and worst of all, too picky when it comes to finding a nice werewolf boy and settling down. But when she meets vampire and Half Moon Hollow music teacher Alex Bonfils, Tylene starts to wonder if she could create the life she’s always wanted.

When Nina Linden is hired to landscape a private island off the New England coast, she sees it as her chance to rebuild her failing business after being cheated by her unscrupulous ex. She never expects that her new client, software mogul Deacon Whitney, would see more in her than just a talented gardener. Deacon has paid top dollar to the crews he’s hired to renovate the desolate Whitney estate - he had to, because the bumps, thumps, and unexplained sightings of ghostly figures in 19th-century dress are driving workers away faster than he can say “Boo.”

Kaylina must dodge assassins and kidnappers while revelations about her past, and power she never knew she had, stun her to the core. She has the support of Lord Vlerion, the ranger she's developed feelings for, but he has problems of his own, and an insidious plot threatens to take him from her forever.

A Bustle Most Anticipated Book of January 2020 “Scalpel sharp.”—Kathy Reichs A young rookie medical examiner. A suspicious case. An underworld plot only she saw coming. From the New York Times bestselling authors of Working Stiff For San Francisco’s newest medical examiner, Dr. Jessie...

Bloomsbury presents That Librarian written and read by Amanda Jones. NATIONAL BESTSELLER “Amanda Jones started getting death threats, all for standing up for our right to read . . . but she’s not stopped fighting against book bans, or stopped advocating for access to diverse stories...