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

Against all odds, Ben the Bengal cat defeated the demon dragon and sent it back to the Seventh Dimension. Consequently, Ben's nemesis, the evil warlock Astravar, is ever so slightly miffed. A demon dragon was meant to take over the realm for Astravar, while the warlock stayed in a tower with a nice cup of tea and watched the conquest from afar. But it didn't quite work that way . . . 

Originally published in 1927, these short stories represent the fifth and final collection of Arthur Conan Doyle's tales featuring Sherlock Holmes. Included are stories originally published in Strand Magazine beginning in 1921 and stretching through 1927.

After Jason's world falls apart when his young daughter is brutally murdered, a demon offers to give him another life where she is alive and well, but there’s a horrifying catch.

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.

Noah thinks he's nothing special. Average height, a bit on the skinny side, and cute but rather geeky, he's relentlessly ordinary. He certainly doesn't expect to be noticed by Sol, the gorgeous, dark-haired stranger Noah sees on his commute home most days. After taking a huge risk to get Sol's attention, Noah and Sol start dating, and much to Noah's surprise, his feelings seem to be reciprocated. But Noah's insecurities make him doubt Sol. Sol needs to convince Noah he is something very special indeed....

When they were at uni, Owen always had a bit of a crush on Nathan. But Nathan was apparently straight, and Owen was too busy with other guys to take his crush seriously. When Nathan moves back to Bristol after a year away, Owen hears that Nathan has come out of the closet, and he propositions him. Nathan doesn't want to be just another notch on Owen's bedpost, though, so he challenges Owen to prove he can be serious: five dates before they have sex.

Wyatt Stanton served as a spy for Wellington until he receives word of his brother's death. Reluctantly, he returns to England as the Duke of Amesbury and to Amberwood, a place he once loved and was banished from after his brother falsely accused Wyatt of burning down the family stables with over two dozen horses inside. His soul seared by war, the man who lived for danger must now become a member of Polite Society and find himself a duchess so he has an heir.

Cory Wilson is woken in the middle of the night with a summons to appear in the president of Nations of Earth's office. An aid worker in Djibouti has discovered a shipment of alien guns. As ambassador to gamra, the extraterrestrial organization which controls the Exchange, the FTL wormhole network, Cory has often been critical of Earth's handling of extraterrestrial problems. This is his moment to shine, to apply his knowledge about alien customs, to, in the words of the president, "get those idiots out of there".

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.

When Brody Taylor receives a "death letter" from a fellow elite hacker, sent a week after his murder, its contents present Brody with an offer even he can’t refuse. With the investigation being led by his girlfriend, DI Jenny Price, Brody faces an unexpected personal and professional conflict of interest. Meanwhile, unaware of the victim’s true occupation, Jenny is stumped. How and why would a disabled Afghan War veteran be poisoned in his own home by one of the world’s most deadly snakes?

In Craeft, archaeologist and medieval historian Alexander Langlands argues that our modern understanding of craft only skims the surface. His journeys from his home in Wales have taken him along the Atlantic seaboard of Europe, from Spain through France and England to Scotland and Iceland in search of the lost meaning of craft.  

Bryen and Aislinn both learn they hold immense power as Magii. Working separately, they discover multiple players vying for control of Caledonia. The King and his advisor are obvious threats, but an evil runs deeper and endangers more than who controls the Duchies. As more Ghoules break through the weir, the soldiers of the Southern Marches start to feel the strain of battle–and the Magii realize they may be too few in number to combat the beasts.

Once a renowned tournament fighter known as the "Lion of Kent", William Raven joined the Templars in the Holy Land to escape his past and the political machinations of his enemies. Called to protect travelling pilgrims bound for Jerusalem, William comes face to face with Guy de Metz, his lover from the past. But Guy is no longer the foppish young noble William knew.

Elfland is an intimate, sensual novel of people—both human and Aetherial—caught between duty and desire. It is a story of families, and of Rose Fox, a woman born to magic but tormented by her place in her adopted world.Led by Auberon Fox, a group of Aetherials—call them the Fair Folk, if you will—live among us, indistinguishable from humans. Every seven years, on the Night of the Summer Stars, Lawrence Wilder, the Gatekeeper, throws open all gates to the Other World. But this time, something has gone wrong.

Spanning three centuries and eight thousand nautical miles, and compiled by a direct descendant of a sailor who waged war with pirates in the early nineteenth century, The Penguin Book of Pirates takes us behind the eye patches, the peg legs, and the skull and crossbones of the Jolly Roger and into the no-man’s-land of piracy that is rife with paradoxes and plot twists.

Two years from their first date, Owen and Nathan are living together and life is good - except they're not on the same page about marriage. A traditionalist at heart, Nathan wants it all: the wedding, the vows, and a pair of matching rings. Owen, on the other hand, believes marriage is old-fashioned and unnecessary. They don't need a wedding to prove their commitment to each other. Love should be enough on its own.

The climactic concluding novel in the spellbinding magical contemporary fantasy Aetherial Tales trilogy. A painting, depicting haunting scenes of a ruined palace and a scarlet-haired goddess in front of a fiery city, arrives unheralded in an art gallery with a cryptic note saying, “The world needs to see this.” The painting begins to change the lives of the woman who is the gallery's curator and that of an ancient man of the fey Aetherial folk who has mysteriously risen from the depths of the ocean.

London, 1666. Orphaned by the Great Plague, Sam is soon starving on the streets - and desperate enough to steal. He's quickly recruited as one of sinister Uncle Jack's children, and taught to steal. If he gets caught by the law, the punishment will be death - and if he crosses Uncle Jack, it could be just as bad. Still, it's a living for Sam and his fellow thief Catherine - until the long, hot London summer means a blaze at the Pudding Lane bakery runs out of control.

In his new collection, Bitter Waters, Brenchley has assembled stories queer and weird: a man with morbidly sensitive hearing sets sail to chart dangerous rocks called the Silences; a ship's chandler from among his shadowed stock gives an old friend a compass that guides through Hell rather than point north; a eunuch and his dwarf lover leave the Sultan's harem to visit the baths of a city poisoned by magic; a youth who climbed the echelons of power thanks to his looks and guile finds being on the losing side of war has forced his to return to his sordid, early life.

Peter Mitchell walked away with from his marriage with two things: a suitcase and hairy Harry, the family pet. When Harry becomes ill, Peter is faced with one of the hardest decisions he's ever had to make...saying goodbye to his best friend. Evan Wells is the locum vet who attends to Harry, and Peter is surprised at how quickly they become friends. Peter finds himself looking forward to Evan's nightly phone calls and the meals they share together.