Showing results by narrator "Julia Motyka" in All Categories

Deciphering an ancient alchemy book is more difficult than Zoe Faust bargained for. She'd much rather be gardening and exploring her new hometown of Portland, Oregon - but time is running out for living gargoyle Dorian Robert-Houdin. If Zoe isn't able to unlock an unusual alchemy book's secrets soon, the French gargoyle will remain awake but trapped in stone forever.

When Zoe Faust sees the ghost of a murdered young woman, is it really a spirit—or a flesh and blood woman who stopped aging because she’s a fellow alchemist? Sixteen years ago, high school student Ridley Price discovered a secret she planned to reveal through a party game—but someone killed her first. The baffling crime was never solved. Zoe’s friend Heather has always wondered: Which of the seven guests at the party killed Ridley? When the newly appeared ghost turns dangerous, threatening people they love, Zoe teams up with her gargoyle roommate to unmask the supposed specter.

Alchemist Zoe Faust and her impish gargoyle sidekick Dorian Robert-Houdin travel to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris to investigate a mysterious discovery found in the wreckage of the tragic fire: a long-lost gargoyle illustration drawn by Victor Hugo himself. When the work of art is stolen under impossible circumstances, Dorian must use his “little gray cells” — not to mention his culinary skills — to solve the crime and discover the true origins of where he came from.

Unpacking her belongings in her new hometown of Portland, Oregon, herbalist and reformed alchemist Zoe Faust can't help but notice she's picked up a stowaway. Dorian Robert-Houdin is a living, breathing three-and-half-foot gargoyle - not to mention a master of French cuisine - and he needs Zoe's expertise to decipher a centuries-old text. Zoe, who's trying to put her old life behind her, isn't so sure she wants to reopen her alchemical past... until the dead man on her porch leaves her no choice.

Amber Farrell, Denver PI and hybrid paranormal, is hunting a rogue Were through the secret heart of her hometown. Without the help she needs from Denver's paranormal community, she's unsure whether she can keep ahead of her own lethal problems long enough to catch the rogue.

Marrying her beloved friend, Kyle Grayson, will allow Evelyn Tucker to care for her ailing father and resurrect their failing business. But when Kyle’s older brother, Radford, returns home with his young daughter, Evelyn’s life is turned upside down. She is drawn to the deeply wounded man and withdrawn little girl, and can't help reaching into Radford's darkness with her healing love.

Zoe’s hard-won peaceful life is shattered when a devious thief targets her most prized possession—a vibrant portrait that’s her last connection to her long-dead brother. It’s a painting that also holds the secrets of a forgotten artist who created recipes for the most breathtaking colors ever seen. When the canvas disappears and murder follows, Zoe must unravel a palette of deadly puzzles. With her quick-witted sidekick Dorian and their eclectic group of friends, Zoe races to catch a killer, evade a secret society, and recover her beloved painting.

Alchemist Zoe Faust is no stranger to magical mayhem, but when her boyfriend's new tea shop is vandalized and his special tea blends stolen, she plunges into a baffling mystery to save him. The clues lead Zoe and her gargoyle sidekick Dorian to an eerie mansion high in the Portland hills, filled with creeping carnivorous plants and enigmatic topiary monsters. When they stumble across a corpse in the conservatory that appears to have been killed by sinister shrubbery, an estranged member of the family is implicated in the murder.

Centuries-old alchemist Zoe Faust is tired of running from her past. She's finally got her life on track in Portland, Oregon, gardening and cooking in her fixer-upper house with her mischievous best friend, Dorian the gargoyle chef. It seems like the perfect life for Zoe, until she discovers that her old mentor Nicolas Flamel, who she thought had abandoned her, has been imprisoned. A local artist holds the secret that could lead Zoe to her mentor, but the artist is murdered and the painting containing the hidden clue is stolen.

Amber Farrell, Denver PI, is coming to terms with being part of the paranormal community, but she's about to find that includes very dangerous responsibilities for her. Nothing is quite what it seems, least of all Amber herself, and to survive she must form alliances with powerful groups whose interests are in conflict. But she knows she's expendable, and betrayal is inevitable....

The Athanate are on the brink of war. Amber has to search for Diana in the forbidden zone of New Mexico, for the good of the paranormal world and her own sanity. Every step she takes is another opportunity to precipitate more conflict. Every easy choice is denied her and she must work without the support of the powerful paranormal factions in Colorado. When she most needs help, she has nothing. But sometimes, nothing can be a real cool hand.

Dorian Robert-Houdin, the three-and-a-half-foot gargoyle chef who fancies himself a modern-day Poirot, is slowly turning into stone, and it's up to Zoe Faust to unravel the alchemical secrets that can save him. When they discover that a long-lost stone gargoyle with a connection to Dorian has reappeared in Europe, the stakes are even higher. From Portland to Paris, Zoe searches for the hidden knowledge she needs, but a cold case that harkens back to 1942 throws her off course.

Alchemist Zoe Faust’s mentor Nicolas Flamel is back in her life, but catching up with him will have to wait. An elusive blackmailer has threatened to expose a dangerous alchemical secret. Zoe’s boyfriend is out of town protecting secrets of his own. So when rumors of a treasure map reach Zoe, she turns her back on what sounds like no more than a game. Zoe’s mischievous living gargoyle best friend Dorian, who thinks of himself as a modern-day Poirot, is convinced the map is real - and that it’s the key to proving himself as valuable to Zoe as her human family.

Haunted by a past filled with violence and abuse, Claire Ashier must protect her new home and her battered heart from Boyd Grayson, the charming saloon owner who is ruining her boardinghouse business. That’s not an easy task when her only friend in town is Boyd’s dog Sailor. While marching on Boyd’s noisy saloon, Claire matches wits with the handsome saloon owner, and what begins as a test of wills becomes a test of courage. During their confrontations, they develop an unexpected friendship that changes the game for them.

Dorian Robert-Houdin is used to living his life in the shadows, his existence only known to a few trusted friends. When a dangerous book from his past resurfaces, he follows his closest confidante, alchemist Zoe Faust, from Oregon to England to investigate.

The Athanate meet in Los Angeles, the city that feeds on dreams, leaving nothing but dust and nightmares. They must forge a new Assembly and reach a consensus before Emergence is forced on them. They have to reach out and include the Were and Adepts, and they need Amber to do it. But Amber is deep in her own personal crisis. Can she find a resolution for herself as she takes on the tasks of the Assembly?

What price would you pay? Dr. Amanda Lloyd, a dying psychiatrist, is desperate to give the only testimony that will keep the criminal mastermind of a human trafficking network in jail. She can’t spare time for the handsome patient who claims to be a vampire. Unless what he offers her is exactly what she needs....

Everything changes. Everything. That is the gift and sorrow of immortality. Amanda Lloyd was brave when she testified against an evil criminal and ensured he went to prison. That was when she thought she was dying. Now she knows she’s not dying, and that same criminal has put out a contract on her. She flees from her comfortable life in Detroit into the teeth of a winter storm, leaving her old life behind and emerging into a frightening world where the normal and paranormal worlds collide as they both hunt her.

What happened in the army casts a shadow across Amber's life from which she will never be free. The prequel to the Bite Back series introduces Amber Farrell, a kick ass lady with a secret problem - she's been bitten by a vampire. She's working hard to start a new life, hold down a job, and meet all the expectations put on her. When people start to die suspiciously in Denver, Amber has to decide between duty and instinct, between what she should do and what she must do.

Dozing in the backseat of her father's car, Mary Ann Hubbard is the happiest eight-year-old in the country. It's 1935, and she and her parents are going to spend Fourth of July weekend with her headmistress and the Zimmerns, whose daughter, Lolly, is Mary Ann's best friend from school. While the two little girls frolic in the attic, endowing the rambling old house with wonder, creativity, and imagination, their parents are downstairs, mired in all the pleasure, pain, and occasional childishness of adulthood.