Showing results by narrator "Julia Motyka" in All Categories

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

The real stories behind the scenery of America’s national parks. For 12 years, Andrea Lankford lived in the biggest, most impressive national parks in the world, working a job she loved. She chaperoned baby sea turtles on their journey to sea. She pursued bad guys on her galloping patrol horse. She jumped into rescue helicopters bound for the heart of the Grand Canyon. She won arguments with bears. She slept with a few too many rattlesnakes. Hell yeah, it was the best job in the world! Fortunately, Andrea survived it.

Eighteen years ago a teenage pregnancy changed Kate Worthington's life forever. Faced with many difficult decisions, she chose to follow her heart and embrace an uncertain future with Glenn Ferguson, her devoted first love...and the father of her baby. At the same time, in another part of the world, sixteen-year-old Ryan Hamilton makes his own share of mistakes, but learns important lessons along the way.

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....

Ambitious Paige Walters is ecstatic when she's hired to recruit musicians for a literacy campaign - it's her chance to prove she's got the chops to make it in the family business. When Dylan steps in, she immediately dislikes him and vows not to let the fallen idol screw it up. But as the work brings Paige and Dylan closer together, their attraction grows...and so do their challenges....

On New Year's Eve, she tumbles 700 years back in time - and into the bed of a darkly handsome knight. Sir Gaston de Varennes wanted a docile bride who would fit into his plans for vengeance and justice, but a trick of time finds him married to a thoroughly modern American lady who turns his castle, his life, and his heart upside down. Will her desperate secret tear them apart after only a few bittersweet weeks of stolen passion - or will they conquer mistrust, treachery, and time itself to discover a love that spans the centuries?

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....

Whether laughing to tears reading Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great or clamoring for more unmistakable "me too!" moments in Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, girls all over the world have been touched by Judy Blume's poignant coming-of-age stories. Now, in this anthology of essays, 24 notable female authors write straight from the heart about the unforgettable novels that left an indelible mark on their childhoods and still influence them today. After growing up from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing into Smart Women, these writers pay tribute to one of the most beloved authors of all time.

Five years ago a night of forbidden passion between Remi and Julien, the heirs of two powerful and competitive horse-racing families, led to a feud that is threatening to ruin both farms. Now Remi must find Julien again - but when she does, her need for Julien is just as strong and just as forbidden...

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.

Kidnapped by a mysterious warrior, she's swept away to a hidden island paradise filled with pleasures…and secrets. Abducted from a trade fair, Lady Avril de Varennes awakens on Asgard Island, an enchanted paradise cloaked in mists and mystery, kept secret from the world for centuries. Against her will, Avril weds her arrogant captor, Hauk Valbrand - even as she vows to escape. Hauk believes himself beyond the reach of love, until his fiery captive bride begins to melt his heart of ice.

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.