Showing results by narrator "Laurie Catherine Winkel" in All Categories

Events have shown Meghan that protecting her kids also means making sure they're ready to stand on their own when needed. Meghan needs to figure out a way, however, and the aliens won't let her sit down and figure it out. While wrestling these personal dilemmas, she also needs to keep stabilizing her area, find a way to deal with these mysterious new Titans, and deal with some other nasty twists humanity's alien tormentors have in store.

Go to the big city. Hang out with the bigwigs. Have fun. That was the plan, right? Right! Except, our hero was supposed to be the guest of honor and the mob was not supposed to be invited. Daniel was running out of places to lay low, however. Something needed to be done, or he’d be caught in the ever-tightening net of his pursuers.

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.

Two weeks ago, Hector Park cheated death by uploading his mind to the ultra-immersive fantasy RPG game, Archemi. After exposing the rotten heart of an order of dragon knights, he’s now on the run with a young queen dragon who could one day become the most powerful mount in the game. To get strong enough to face their enemies, they need a quest - a big one. Fortunately, trouble has a way of finding Hector, and it does - in the form of a series of brutally murdered priests, a king in desperate need of a hero, and a beautiful, fiery berserker.

Book 3 left us on a cliffhanger, when in the middle of a superpower-infused battle with the CBGs, Mother took control of Dorian Gray’s mind and had her teleport Gideon and an unconscious Stella to the middle of nowhere in an empty Nevada desert. Well, nearly empty. It turns out that "the middle of nowhere" happens to be the home of a man Gideon has never met, but who is inextricably tied to his fate.

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.

Draysky was born to die on the ridge. Like his father before him, his fate was to harvest elemental treasures until the dust claimed his lungs. As the lowest of society, a Knotted, the thin cord around his neck signifies to all his low rank. He would never progress as a mage, nor learn of the forbidden runes of the kingdom magicians.

Before being conscripted to fight in the Total War, Private Hector Park had a shattered family, a collection of old video games, and a promising career as a motorcycle stuntman. Now, he is dying from a virus threatening humankind with extinction. He has three days to live. When Hector’s brother contacts him after years of hostile silence, Hector goes to try and make peace. But his brother has an offer even more unbelievable than reconciliation: the chance to cheat death by joining him in Archemi, a full-immersion fantasy VR-RPG video game.

As a long-time gamer and guild leader, Cerys has always wondered what it would be like to live in virtual reality. When her guild members convince her to try a new VRMMO, she discovers reality is far more complex than she knew. Chosen by the gods of another world, Cerys finds herself trapped between warring factions: a tyrannical human empire and an oppressed kingdom of demons.

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.

I was a just normal guy until the night the cherry blossoms bloomed, the night that Grace appeared on my doorstep. A failed sci-fi writer, a gamer, but a normal guy nonetheless. Grace was everything I was not - a psychic shifter, beautiful beyond my wildest imagination, a government conspiracy waiting to be unraveled. And that was before the second superpowered woman showed up to kill us both.

Success beyond my wildest dreams? Too bad I wasn't able to fully enjoy it. No time to sit back and watch the fame roll in when you're being hunted by superpowereds and a private military force. Still, everything was going according to plan. Grace, Veronique, and I were headed south. Our target? The secret government facilities scattered across the country. The second installment of Mutants in the Making was nearing completion, ready to be published any day now. Things were tense, but all was well. I wish they would have stayed that way....

Deputy Jesse Maddox's reputation in Beach Pointe is...less than stellar. He thought following in the footsteps of his late father, a former cop, would make up for it. Not quite. Every time he closes his eyes, his past is there to haunt him. After falling asleep on the job (again), the sheriff gives him an ultimatum. Get counseling for whatever's keeping him awake at night or get out. Jesse would rather have a root canal, but he goes anyway, expecting a big waste of time. What he doesn't expect is to fall in love.

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.

Mace and Shari continue their search for survivors among the undead even as they struggle to stay alive themselves. While working to raise their sync levels with the game, the new couple pursue the quests they’ve picked up, explore a dungeon or two, and work to stabilize the game world they hope to live in. With the undead world above closing in, will they have the time to figure out how to save themselves and other survivors?

Old Man Vincent is heading for the top of the World-Tree and beyond in the final installment of the World-Tree Trilogy. To get there, he's going to have to overcome titan-sized bosses, strange new worlds, an army of angels, and a seemingly invincible final boss. And yes, he's looking forward to the challenge.

The [Skyclad Sorceress] has made new friends and discovered she has some enemies. Now, along with the Worldwalker Dana and the survivors of the Expedition, she is working to get out of the Wildlands. Meanwhile, the Deskren have beseiged Fort Expedition and The General rides with his troops to their relief. He is followed by The Hammer, leading the Children of the First Beast. Certainly an impressive and dangerous force, but will they get to Expedition in time to save the city? If they arrive in time, can they hold the walls until the Tribes arrive?

It wasn't the day the Gates appeared that changed Jynn's life; she'd only ever known an Earth where hordes of interdimensional monsters terrorized humanity. No, Jynn's life changed forever when she graduated from high school and tested positive as a Hunter: a breed of enhanced humans evolved to challenge the monsters who are ushering in Earth's apocalypse. The only problem is . . . she has the very lowest stats possible.

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 to work with his hands. But turning around the failing vineyard he's also inherited? That requires working with the one woman he never expected to see again.

She's gotten food and shelter for her family. Her oldest is turning into a wizard, her middle boy is some kind of self-healing monkey, and her youngest is accumulating a small army of pets. That's a bit much to roll with, but when monsters are appearing on the lawn, it's probably for the best. What worries her is the mysterious—and dangerous—"challenge" she knows is fast approaching, and she's got to get her kids and community ready to face it. Some neighbors are ready and willing to pitch in, but others? They might end up being a bigger problem than the alien monsters.