Showing results by narrator "Matthew Lloyd Davies" in All Categories

Kidnapped from dying Earth by the heinous Tonan race, Piper is locked in a small cell, deprived of light and human companionship, and tormented on a daily basis. When the door to her hell opens unexpectedly, Piper is blinded by the light and walks headlong into a massively built creature. She is tossed over a shoulder, taken on the wildest ride of her life, then placed into a healing pool.

Etta's happy with her simple life in the mill, but when her aunt passes and leaves her a very peculiar cat, everything goes awry. Now, determined to find her place in the world, Etta's learning to hunt, having audiences with a king, and falling for a man who's keeping something from her. Beau's happy at sea until his father passes and leaves him with an odd last request. Now he's setting up shop in a small town, searching for ogres, and, inconveniently, falling for the miller's sister - who just happens to be taken with someone else.

Music journalist Mike Barnes (MOJO, The Wire, Prog, and author of the acclaimed biography Captain Beefheart) goes back to the birth of progressive rock and surveys the cultural conditions and attitudes that fed into, and were in turn affected by, this remarkable musical phenomenon.

Today, the economic environment is global, highly sophisticated, and in continuous flux. Thus, the challenge for business leaders is to stay ahead of market flow and change, in order to gain competitive advantage. Creating Competitive Advantage explores why this pioneering can be the safest and best course for organizations to get ahead and guides leaders on how to forecast trends without increasing risk. It introduces the new concepts of market flow visualization and the line of probability, pioneering the safe course, and analytically supported intuition.

Winning the United Kingdom's favorite singing contest is a challenge for half-Afghani Pasha Trueman. He doesn't have the best voice, but success would be life-changing. His strategy is simple - he'll make the British public love him. Ed Britten is an ex-soldier with a different agenda. Winning means he'll keep a promise made after a deadly Afghan ambush. His voice is his weapon, but he leaves his heart unguarded. Ed and Pasha's discovery that the contest isn't a fair fight calls for creative tactics. Staging a fake love story could bring victory, only there's more at stake than the prestigious first prize.

Athelas has always been opposed to having a small possibly cursed Australian boy in the kitchen. When that small boy disappears, however, and Athelas's housekeeper Camellia strongly encourages him to do something about it, he finds himself wavering. YeoWoo wants nothing to do with the disappearing Harrow, cursed or otherwise. Caught up with her own investigation and preparations for revenge, she would prefer her housemates to remain unseen and unheard. Entirely absent is even better. But Athelas and YeoWoo have something in common.

Hot on the tails of the gumiho who slaughtered her family, YeoWoo instead stumbles over the battered and broken body of a merman who knows just a little bit too much about her quarry. It should be simple to keep Marazul both alive and useful, but although YeoWoo is successful in the former, the latter is a different tail. YeoWoo has always taken what she wanted in blood and force. Athelas has always gained what he needed by deception and manipulation. With their usual methods failing at every turn and the investigation swiftly becoming deadly, it's time to make a few changes.

Wandering a shattered, dying Earth, Roam despises the loneliness. Alien vessels he must avoid circle overhead. When he collides with a Tonan deep in the heart of a jungle, Roam engages in a brutal battle. To his surprise, a human female comes to the Tonan's aid. The Tonan, Taz, has six females under his protection, including his mate and child. Jinx hates Castians and Tonans alike. The handsome man Taz brings home is breathtaking. He's also the only male besides Taz she has seen in four years.

Getting snowed in at a remote cottage in Wales with someone he'd fancied for ages isn't exactly how Sam expected to spend Christmas. His feelings for Ryan are pointless. Ryan's straight - or so he thought.

Though best known now for his collection of lively and vivid Parallel Lives from ancient Greece and Rome, Plutarch (c46 CD-120 CE) was, for centuries, more respected for his Moralia, a remarkable and wide-ranging collection of essays and speeches. No fewer than 78 in total, they range over a broad list of topics in which Plutarch observes, dispenses wisdom, admonishes, entertains and informs: covering social issues and politics, manners and religion - in short, life in general.

Adam has come far. Once a lowly apprentice, and a powerless one at that, he has discovered a whole new field of magic. Combining magic and technology into one, he has become the leading light of the university. His innovations have made many things possible, from powerful magics anyone can use to hot air balloons and flying battleships. The world has changed beyond hope of repair.

Published anonymously on January 10, 1776, Thomas Paine's legendary work made the case for American independence. An immediate sensation across the thirteen colonies, Common Sense extolled Paine's belief that government should be simple and represent the will of the people, acting not as an oppressor but as a body to protect society. His clear and persuasive argument appealed to the common people, impressing on them the importance of secession from Great Britain.

Situated high in the Pyrenees the monastery of St. Lazarus is a forbidding place. Behind its ramparts and battlements it hides a secret so dangerous its keepers will kill to protect it. At the end of a bitter winter, a delegation headed by the ambitious Inquisitor Rainiero Sacconi arrives to investigate the monks of St. Lazarus.

Kieran's love life didn't get off to a good start. He threw up after his first kiss; he was beaten up by the first girl to have a crush on him; and after a mix-up with his first love letter, he could only sit back and watch as the entire school mistook him for a brutal murderer. By the time the hormones kicked in, Kieran had all but given up on love, but the worst was yet to come.

Nora Cooper is about to get her shot at 'the big time.' The Paradise Bay Resort is hosting the World Bartending Championships and she's been asked to lead the hospitality team. If all goes well, she'll be getting the promotion she's been working toward for years. There's only one problem—billionaire Theo Rojas, the major sponsor of the event, who seems determined to make Nora's life a living hell.

Julius Quintus Quirinius and his cohort sail to the mysterious land of Britannia. They have been sent on a mission to scout out the savage country and battle the local tribesman to pave the way for their emperor.

But before they can land, a violent storm scatters their ships, separating Quintus, newly promoted to Decanus, from some of his comrades. In seeking them, he encounters Britons who may be friend or foe.

Bryen spent ten years fighting for his life on the white sand of the Pit. But now he faces a new challenge deadlier even than constant combat against man and beast in the Colosseum. Forced into a new form of servitude, Bryen is compelled to become a Protector and charged with guarding the Lady of the Southern Marches from both steel and magic. For she holds the key to power in Caledonia. Gain her, and you gain the Kingdom.

Bridget and Will have the kind of relationship that people envy: They’re loving, compatible, and completely devoted to each other. The fact that they’re strictly friends seems to get lost on nearly everyone. For three decades, they’ve nurtured their baby, the Forsyth Trio - a chamber group they created as students with their Juilliard classmate Gavin Glantz. In the intervening years, Gavin has gone on to become one of the classical music world’s reigning stars, while Bridget and Will have learned to embrace the warm reviews and smaller venues that accompany modest success.

Hours before his wedding, fifteen-year-old Conrad, heir to the house of Otranto, is crushed to death. His father, Manfred, Lord of Otranto, sees only one recourse to protect the family lineage. He will divorce his wife and marry the boy’s bride-to-be. Her wishes be damned. When the fearful and resistant Isabella takes flight, Manfred follows in mad pursuit. But it is he who must outrun a greater fear: a curse cast on his family generations ago.

Surprising, entertaining, and illuminating, this is a must-listen for armchair travelers and word nerds. Our dictionaries are full of hidden histories, tales, and adventures from all over the world - if you know where to look.