Showing results by narrator "Phoenix" in All Categories

In a world of beauty, a ceramic-made ballerina awakens atop her music box. She must dance for her elven owners, and so her ballet goes on and on. They praise her elegance, her poise and balance, until one day she falls and her ceramic fractures—but the ballerina dances again, ignoring her ever-increasing fissures. The music plays, captivating and demanding... but should she dance? Even when what she once loved becomes a trap? A clever, dark, psychological fairy tale for adult listeners.

Daphne, a devoted wife and mother, makes an unexpected connection with a man that opens her to desires that could change her life and her marriage forever.

The short story The District Doctor by Turgenev, written in 1848, is part of the "Sportsman's Sketches" cycle. It tells the tale of a hopeless love between a dying girl from a noble family and a humble county doctor. Other famous works, such as "Asya", "Fathers and Sons", "A Nest of Noblemen", "Biryuk", "On the Eve", "Mumu","Fire at Sea", "The Wayside Inn", "The Watch", "Three Portraits", "A Strange Story", "The Meeting", etc.

All her life, Katerina has known she was destined to join a convent and give her life to God. When her home is invaded and her parents and brother are murdered while she listens, she flees to the only place she knows to go—the Lain castle. Upon her arrival, she is immediately welcomed into the family, but it is made clear they would like her to marry their son, Braden, but it must be her choice to do so.

The Collected Works of F. Scott Fitzgerald includes the short stories: The Great Gatsby ; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ; The Camel's Back ; The Jelly-Bean ; May Day ; Porcelain and Pink ; Tarquin of Cheapside ; Oh Russet Witch! ; The Lees of Happiness ; Mr. Icky ; Jemina, The Mountain Girl.

Kennan McClain approaches his childhood sweetheart’s father with the idea of marriage, and is told he must get to know her first. When Gillian convinces her father to allow them to marry later that day, he quickly realizes that they don’t know each other as well as he thought. Will they be able to get to know one another quickly enough for a marriage to work? Or will his responsibilities as laird keep them apart?

The Aquarius Guided Meditation Series is a sanctuary for the visionary soul—a place to rest, renew, and reconnect with the electric brilliance that lives inside you.

The Pisces Guided Meditation Series offers a sacred space for dreamers, healers, empaths, and intuitives to return home to themselves. Designed for the timeless and tender spirit of Pisces, these meditations blend mindfulness, deep breathing, visualization, and affirmation work into a restorative inner journey.

Caitlin Stewart carries the world on her shoulders. Orphaned by the merciless black death, she has become the sole protector of her younger siblings in the rustic village of the McClain Clan. Her strength earns her the admiration of her fellow villagers—and the heart of Fearghas McClain. Fearghas, the future laird of the clan, is a man of power and prestige. Yet beneath his tough exterior beats a heart that has always yearned for Caitlin. Seeing her struggle, he makes a bold proposition—marriage. Not just an act of charity, but a declaration of a love that has long remained unspoken.

May Night, or the Drowned Maiden, 1831 is the third tale in the collection Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka by Nikolai Gogol. It was made into the opera May Night by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1878–79 and also a Ukrainian setting by Mykola Lysenko. This story comes from the unnamed story-teller (who was previously responsible for "The Fair at Sorochyntsi"). In this tale, a young Cossack named Levko, the son of the mayor, is in love with Hanna. He comes to her house to talk about marriage and mentions that his father is not pleased with the idea, though he doesn't say anything directly and merely ignores him.

The Cloak (sometimes translated as Overcoat) is a short story by Russian author Nikolai Gogol, published in 1842. The story and its author have had great influence on Russian literature, as expressed in a quote attributed to Fyodor Dostoyevsky: "We all come out from Gogol's 'Overcoat'." The story narrates the life and death of titular councillor Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin, an impoverished government clerk and copyist in the Russian capital of St. Petersburg. Akaky is dedicated to his job, though little recognized in his department for his hard work.

Madelina is the youngest daughter of a Norman conqueror and a woman of power. Her own power is insignificant enough in her eyes that she trains to be a healer under the expert tutelage of her mother. When a child is brought to the castle where she lives, she knows she doesn’t have the skills to heal him, and her mother’s powers—and her own—will need to be revealed to a handsome knight.

The daughter of a peasant, Matilda goes to work at the Lain castle, away from her parents for the first time in her life, her mother’s admonishments to stay away from the men of the castle still ringing in her ears. With barely enough time to put her things away, she meets the son of the family, who makes it clear he is very interested in her. Afraid to trust him, she follows his commands and finds herself engaged to him within the week. Robert Lain has always known that he would someday meet the woman who was just right for him and together they would raise seven sons.

Marina has spent her entire life knowing that her power to heal would someday be required to save the world. When England is invaded by William the Conqueror, and her entire life changes, the other threat is still there and waiting for her. As her sisters find love amidst their own private battle with evil, Marina knows love that overwhelms her for the brother of her eldest sister, but he's made it clear that he will not marry her.

Alana McKay is an independent woman in 15th century Scotland who has been raised by her father to do all the things a man would do. After her father tried to arrange a marriage for her with a man she loathed, he set up tournaments in which the winner would marry Alana.

Paradiso (Italian: [paraˈdiːzo]; Italian for "Paradise" or "Heaven") is the third and final part of Dante's Divine Comedy, following the Inferno and the Purgatorio. It is an allegory telling of Dante's journey through Heaven, guided by Beatrice, who symbolises theology. In the poem, Paradise is depicted as a series of concentric spheres surrounding the Earth, consisting of the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Fixed Stars, the Primum Mobile and finally, the Empyrean. It was written in the early 14th century. Allegorically, the poem represents the soul's ascent to God.

When Brynna, the daughter of an English earl, is kidnapped and found tied to a tree in Scotland, she believes her life is over. Her father refused the ransom her abductors asked for because he felt he had too many daughters anyway. Now, Brynna has no home to return to, and knows no one in the Highlands where she was found. Colin, the heir to the Clan McClain, finds a girl while on his walks. He quickly discovers she has been kidnapped and has nowhere to go.