Showing results by narrator "Lauren Ezzo" in All Categories

When their hopes for ending Moquoia's brutal system of bondage are crushed, unlikely allies Lark and Veran are forced to flee into the harsh desert. With no weapons or horses, they must make their way to safety across the 50-mile expanse of waterless plains known as the water scrape. It is an odyssey filled with unexpected dangers that challenge even a skilled outlaw like Lark - though the farther they travel, the more she wonders if she even fits the fearsome title of the Sunshield Bandit anymore.

Born in Paris, Kentucky, and raised on her gram’s favorite country music, Cline Alden is a girl with big dreams and a heart full of song. When she finds out about a young musicians’ workshop a few towns over, Cline sweet-talks, saves, and maybe fibs her way into her first step toward musical stardom. But her big dreams never prepared her for the butterflies she feels surrounded by so many other talented kids - especially Sylvie, who gives Cline the type of butterflies she’s only ever heard about in love songs.

The long night is upon them. After five years of hard work, dedication, and too many sacrifices, Lara thought she had made progress in bringing what remained of humanity together in her small part of the world. She also thought they had seen the last of the ghouls as a major threat. She was wrong on both counts. An unnatural alliance between two enemies, forged in secrecy, has finally been revealed. With Keo away on a mission, the real threat is at the gates, leaving Lara, Gaby, and a city full of civilians unprepared for a long and relentless night of fighting.

Trading the urban sprawl of Manhattan for the tranquility and exotic beauty of a Florida barrier island was the best decision author Liz Holt ever made. What could be more ideal for relaxing, regrouping, and getting a writer's creative juices flowing than observing life at the unconventional hotel that has been in Liz's family for generations? But it's death that grips the island when a body sweeps in on the tide....

Veterinarian Wade Roberts is done with love. But try convincing the elderly folk of Cape Harmony who are determined to play matchmaker. Now the young single women in town are bombarding him with baked goods and love notes, and being “taken” is the only way to stop the meddling grannies - which is why he needs a fake fiancée. Fast. Arden Pearson loves planning weddings. Other people's weddings, that is. After her own engagement ended in disaster, she prefers to live vicariously through her work.

Welcome to the end of the world. One minute, people are going about their lives, and the next—not. In the wake of the inexplicable purge, only a handful of young misfits remains. When it all went down, “Wizard of Odd” Dev Brinkman was seeking shelter from the taunts of his classmates. Goth girl Lucy Abernathy had lost her best friend and had no clue where to turn. And Twinkie-loving quarterback “Marcus” Haddad was learning why you never discuss politics and religion in polite company—or online.

Eighteen-year-old Jules has always wished for a close-knit family. She never knew her father, and her ex-addict mother has always seemed more interested in artistic endeavors than in bonding with her only daughter. Jules's life and future look as flat and unchanging as her small Illinois town. Then a simple quest to find a baby picture for the senior yearbook leads to an earth-shattering discovery....

Over seven feet tall and with a newfound ability to sense future events, Corinthia Bledsoe is far more than just another Midwestern high-school junior; she's a force of nature. When she predicts with terrifying accuracy the outcome of a tornado that will hit her high school, leaving a cow standing midcourt in the Lugo Memorial field house, Corinthia finds herself at the epicenter of another kind of storm entirely. And as things get stranger and stranger, lives start to intersect in ways even Corinthia can't foresee.

Arden and Dade are running for their lives from a city on fire; they're wounded, desperate, and shadowed by two families who want them dead. But it's Dade's debt to a devious crime lord that plunges them further into danger - especially with their mining planet in chaos... The ruling Solizen have grown more calculating, while the Undercity population remains trapped in the darkness below. With the supply of life-saving VitD wiped out, the rebellion is ready to erupt at any moment.

Former Pinkerton spy Lily Handland has always dreamed of a quiet, safe life, free from chasing criminals and putting herself at risk. So when the opportunity to invest in a failing Great Camp in the Adirondacks comes to her attention, she quickly jumps at the chance. Filled with grief, widower Owen Murphy wants to run away from it all. Though he's worked hard to forge a future for himself, his guilt has kept him mired in the past. But all that changes when a headstrong, mysterious woman shows up at Owen's door.

In a stratified society where contact with the sun is a luxury reserved for the elite, those kept prisoner in the darkness will do anything to find the light. Arden - beautiful, street-smart, and cynical - is one of the citizens of the lowest Level, known as Undercity, of an off-world colony. A blackout band traps Arden in her district, but as sister to the leader of the most powerful gang in Undercity, she has access to Above.

For as long as she can remember, Kugy has loved to write. Whimsical stories are her passion, along with letters full of secret longings that she folds into paper boats and sets out to sea. Now that she's older, she dreams of following her heart and becoming a true teller of tales, but she decides to get a "real job" instead and forget all about Keenan, the guy who makes her feel as if she's living in one of her own fairy tales.

In a future United States where those who control technology control the wealth, 17-year-old Marguerite's viral video propels a populist candidate to presidential victory on a platform of "tech for all". But as the mouthpiece of the new leader determined to break the elite stronghold, Marguerite finds herself on the opposite side of the divide in a new high school full of technocrat teens. When the enigmatic Percy, with his flamboyant fashion sense, sharp wit, and tragic past, takes an interest in her, she is suspicious.

It was supposed to be a fresh start for eighteen-year-old Devon Grace and her father, but fate had other, darker plans. The Appalachian town of Millicent, Ohio, is poor and forgotten by the world - the perfect setting for a disgraced cop and his artistic "misfit" daughter to regroup after a tragic mistake upends their lives. Trouble is, the young men of Millicent are disappearing, including Devon's sole confidant and first love.

Inspired by the Dickens tale, A Christmas Carol, three young women decide to hold a séance to raise the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future. They don't expect a result, but what they call out of the ether gives them a creepy holiday they will never forget, if they live to tell the tale!

Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona, where we raise our dead. Romeo - the only heir to the Montague name, a socialite who dreams of making a name for himself as a playwright and the consummate lover; he seems just as famous for his kissing skills as he is infamous for his inability to do much of anything else. Juliet - Capulet heiress, born soldier; in most every way, the precise opposite of Romeo.

Delaware, the morning of April 19. Senior Skip Day, and April Donovan's 18th birthday. Four days after the Boston Marathon bombing, the country is still reeling, and April's rare memory condition has her recounting all the tragedies that have cursed her birth month. And just what was that mysterious gathering under the bleachers about? Meanwhile, in Nebraska, Lincoln Evans struggles to pay attention in Honors English, distracted by the enigmatic presence of Laura Echols, capturer of his heart.

Conversations with the Dead is a themed trio of very short stories - yes, three very short stories - perhaps better described as anecdotal tales with a spooky twist. In "Of Ghosts and Ghouls", Kelly is a very naughty girl, and her ill deeds have grave consequences. In "The Unwanted Birthday Gift", Mary discovers the unpalatable truth about her family. And in "Tomorrow Waits for No Man", Luke gets stuck in traffic with an unusual passenger.

When schoolteacher Elsie Mitchell meets rugged William Benton on a train platform in Albany, it appears they have nothing in common. He isn't the sort of fellow a proper young woman of the 1890s would ever speak to, much less become involved with. But when she arrives at her small town in the Adirondack Mountains, Elsie is offered a job as caregiver for this mysterious out-of-towner's niece and nephew, who've been tragically orphaned. Heartbroken for them, she accepts.

Helen believed she could escape her destiny and save her people from utter destruction. After defying her family and betraying her intended husband, she found peace with her beloved Theseus, the king of Athens and son of Poseidon. But peace did not last long. Cruelly separated from Theseus by the gods, and uncertain whether he will live or die, Helen is forced to return to Sparta. In order to avoid marriage to Menelaus, a powerful prince unhinged by desire, Helen assembles an array of suitors to compete for her hand.