Showing results by narrator "Laurie Winkel" in All Categories

King Alexander and his guildmates have expanded Elysia into a formidable kingdom. Their ongoing battle against the Dark One and the drow wizards is escalating. Alexander works to bring together the Elves, Dwarves, and Human Kingdoms to establish the alliance proposed by the Dragon King. But the dark magic of the drow has infiltrated even the highest offices, blocking his efforts. War comes once again to the gates of the keep, and Alexander must find a way to defend his citizens before he can go on the offensive and take the fight to the stronghold of his enemies.

He’s barely set foot in the city when someone recognizes him as Archibold Stormblood, the immortal hero of legend. Worse, a lieutenant of the local crime lord overhears the exchange. Not exactly the best way to start a vacation. Charm, his companion, watches with her usual unreadable calm. She doesn’t raise her voice, but her rebukes cut like a blade. To her, his plan is reckless, foolish, and bound to fail.

Ryan has died, been reborn as a dungeon core, defeated a necromancer, and made a number of friends along the way. Life, well un-life, is good. However, everything changed when the demons attacked. With his dungeon town in danger and cultists scheming in the shadows, Ryan must decide whether to draw upon the darker side of his own nature - unlocking powers far greater than anything he has accessed before. Something his new dungeon fairy seems suspiciously excited about.

Mace and Shari continue to pursue their mission to eliminate the Black Flame. Nearing the city of Graf, they and the crew of the Sea Sprite were ambushed on the river. After suffering losses and stopping to make repairs, they have been approached by two drow thieves walking out of the woods. An epic battle awaits them in Graf, where they’ll try to eliminate Garya, the drow priestess who has become master of the Black Flame. Griff and Lisa are leveling quickly so that they can join Mace and Shari at Darkstone.

In the aftermath of the Developer’s Tournament, Esil has a new life filled with opportunity. He’s the first person to test out their most innovative technology, full-immersion gameplay, in a brand new, unexplored gameworld. Magic and mayhem collide in ways he never thought possible, and soon he finds himself caught in a quest that may alter the course of the game for years to come. As Esil experiences the grandeur of full-immersion and the line blurs between reality and the gameworld, the NPCs he meets feel more like friends than data.

Esil is content with his quiet life beta testing new game worlds, so he doesn’t give the invitation a second thought. Having every detail of his life scrutinized while pursuing gold and glory are ambitions of the past, and mentoring is at the bottom of his to-do list. That all changes when Dean, a teenager from the same orphanage where Esil grew up, begs for help. This is a life-changing opportunity for a kid from the boxes.

The End is Coming. An extinction-level asteroid is cannonballing toward Earth. In humanity’s final hours, a lucky few earn a one-way ticket to the brand-new, ultra-immersive, fantasy-based VRMMORPG, Viridian Gate Online. Making that leap of faith might mean survival, but it comes with a steep price tag: “Travelers” will forever be stranded as digital avatars inside a fantastical world filled with vicious monsters, all-powerful AIs, and cutthroat players. Let the games begin....

Michelle has been figuring out what her life is like now that the demon has been killed, and Sylvia and Varro are dead. Even the clans of witches trying to attract her to their way of life have backed off and given her a chance to grieve. Her relationship with Elron is stronger than ever, but there are things left unsaid. On the way to her parents' wedding, the delicate calm she’d been living in is broken. Witches are out for her blood, her family is caught in the crossfire, and friendships are threatened.

Things are about to get sticky...I might as well permanently add the label "Ex" to my name. I'm an Ex-Mr. Universe. Ex-Mr. Olympus. An Ex-Hollywood Stuntman. But no one from my small hometown cares anything about that. They only care that I'm the ex-boyfriend to the beloved Mayor's daughter, Elaina Dyker. And now, t10 years later, I'm back, helping my siblings run my mother's bakery while she takes on chemotherapy treatments. What should have been a routine cupcake delivery turns into utter chaos when the bachelorette party thinks I'm a stripper.

Even heroes need a vacation—preferably one with good ale.Archibold Stormblood once saved kingdoms, slew demon lords, and carved his name into legend. Now he just wants to keep his tavern open, his ale cold, and his barmaids from brawling with the patrons.

What do you get when you take a half celestial, add in a pinch of devil, elven wizard, and two charming goblins? A giant mess, that's what. And that's exactly the mess I find myself in as I inch ever closer to answers. When the fairy who cast a glamour on me goes missing, Sebastian cuts a deal so we can investigate. Only he's acting all weird and jealous, and it's getting in the way of what we need to do.

With years of experience as a Registered Veterinary Technician, Frannie O’Callaghan offers an unapologetic window into the daily encounters of the humans who take care of pets. This whip-smart but darkly humorous confessional spans from the Patients who bite, claw, urinate, or defecate in scrub pockets. Are the few and farther in-between moments of wagging tails and slobbering tongues worth it?

Double, double, bard in trouble. Mob will catch him in a couple... Okay, the mobsters looking for Daniel still hadn't found him. That was the good news. Bad news? The net was tightening - and Daniel was running out of places to hide inside the Dawnlight Forest in the World of Chains. His skills and achievements as a bard did not help avoid attention - quite the opposite, in fact.

Nothing is ever as it seems. In a world where lies and deceit rule, my carefully hidden secrets weren’t an exception. The privileged hide behind masks that only elitism and power can provide. Yet, I’m still learning just how vile and ruthless you need to become to play their twisted game. In my naiveté, I thought my heart would always be safe in their hands. But I was wrong. So very wrong. And now I have to live with the tangled mess my actions have created.

Since leaving the orphanage, Esil has spent the past year toiling in the data mines of Pangea while watching the wealthy elite traverse its myriad of game worlds. His luck changes forever when he discovers a legendary Developer's Chest. The Premium Worldpass inside grants him unlimited access to all of Pangea. Now, Esil isn't just stuck watching as others explore Pangea. He can finally level up. With his newfound fortune, he enters a tournament to compete against some of the most skilled adventurers Pangea has to offer.

He could have been way worse off. Sure, Daniel was stuck in-game as the local bard of a quaint village, but people were nice, the quests juicy, and the lore intriguing. Even so, with the mob on the look-out, Daniel would soon find himself sorely tested to avoid detection.

This program includes a bonus interview with the author. Paris, 1889: The world is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. In this city, no one keeps tabs on secrets better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. But when the all-powerful society the Order of Babel seeks him out for help, Séverin is offered a treasure he never imagined: his true inheritance.

Liam "Mr. Popular" Carter will always be the closest thing to the "walking plague" in my eyes. His cockiness seeps through his every move, and no matter how many state championships he wins with the basketball team, he will forever be a "loss" to me. Because he's my older brother's best friend, I'm forced to tolerate him, and he's forced to tolerate me. In fact, unless my brother is around, we happily ignore each other every chance we get. It wasn't always this way, though....

Once a cowboy, always a cowboy Ten years ago, Jack Everett left his family's ranch without a backward glance. Now, what was supposed to be a quick trip home for his father's funeral has suddenly become more complicated. The ranch Jack can handle---he might be a lawyer, but he still remembers how...

I gave away my heart only to have it broken. I relinquished my soul, and it was mercilessly ripped to shreds. All that is left is my faith that somehow I’ll be able to make things right. I’ll fight tooth and nail to restore our love and bring us back our freedom. I’ll make sure every secret is revealed. Every hidden lie uncovered. I won’t allow the tyranny and manipulation over our lives to continue. The madness ends here. I just pray it’s not too late to save us all.