Showing results by narrator "Darla Middlebrook" in All Categories

In the ruins of the collapsed United States, private inspector, Cybil Lewis and her inspector-in-training, Jane, fill a need. When Jane insists they look into her cousin's disappearance, Cybil agrees and is catapulted into a world of lies and deceit. As they investigate, they move far into the reaches of the divided states and deep into the upper crest of political turmoil. Caught up in the malestrom of betrayal and corruption, Cybil and Jane unearth long buried secrets and survive attempts on their lives.

Faith, an anomaly to the human race, must defend herself, her world, and her universe from certain doom after accidentally injuring a monster she runs into at her high school graduation. Her adventures lead her and a Watcher known as The Man, to the planet Quii, a city-planet outside her own universe that potentially holds a key to stopping the end of planet Earth. On Quii, secrets come out, and they learn truths about the mysterious Rymuth Elves, the planet's only inhabitants.

After that disappointing and sudden end to what had been a promising career, Mei rewarded herself with a long, relaxing vacation in the outback to celebrate her gender reassignment and her new start in life. The first stop on her journey turned out to be a little backwater planet called Deanna....

Rachel doesn't know what's weirder - that there's a dragon in the woods by her school, or that Scott Morrison actually thinks she's beautiful. Or maybe it's the elves. Yeah, it's totally the elves. It was an ordinary weekday for Rachel Hampton. You know, like every day - you wreck your bike on the way to school because the gorgeous queen snot of the universe slams on the brakes of her spanky little convertible right in front of you, so you swerve to miss her and get run over by Scott "Oh My God" Morrison who is so nice and so cute and so out of your league.

"If your death ever comes before mine, I hope the gods take my life soon after." Duli and her husband had stated those words to each other several times. Then the day came when his dwarf kin brought his body back from the field of an ambush...Duli only wishes her own death, but in the process sparks a liberation movement that shakes the subterranean city to its core values. Even if the women win over their clan, they must still prove they have the mettle to face their husbands' killers, and the magic that humans command.

Do you want to live forever? Ever since Jacob Benjamin touched his dead grandmother's cheek while she lay in her coffin, he has had a fascination with death. The mystery of the grave and what lies beyond it became a lifetime quest for the young man. His Master's Degree thesis project explores the decades-abandoned Waxley Mortuary, sitting in ruins. His research partners join him on a journey through life and legacy, but Jacob discovers there is still activity inside the dilapidated walls of Waxley. Jacob realizes that there is one figure standing between him and his legacy, salvation, and redemption: The Mortician.

Roble’s quest requires that he journey deep into the Woodnog Swamps to confront the god Lez’minx. Through trickery and temptation, Roble accepted Lez’minx’s gift of two magical rings, and soon learns of the deceitful enchantment, but not until after he finds the rings permanently attached to his fingers. Roble plans to meet the god and demand the spell binding him to Lez’minx be broken forever. But no one should ever order a god to do anything.

During a dark, foggy night, Vyking ships from the Isles of Welkstone slip into Hoffnung Bay to aid Lord Waxxon's coup to take Hoffnung's throne from half elf Queen Taube. As Lord Waxxon's guards storm the castle, Queen Taube flees to Lady Dawn's chambers to help her daughter escape. After Hoffnung's fall, Lady Dawn flees for her life in the hope of gathering together an army to overthrow Lord Waxxon, who killed her mother to take the throne.

Often the smallest unexpected surprises garner the most demanding dilemmas, which proves to be the ordeal that entomologist Ben Whytten faces. While netting butterflies to add to his vast collection, he mistakenly sweeps what he thinks is the most spectacular butterfly he has ever seen into his net. Upon examining his catch, Ben is horrified to discover he has captured a faery and shredded her delicate wings into useless ribbons.

After a virus wipes out all life on the planet, Ryan Steward believes he's all that's left. Now, a race of scavengers descends on Earth, ready to consume the remaining resources. Ryan, tasked with preserving humanity's written word, must travel the country in hopes of saving books from their destruction.

Action! Adventure! Time Travel! Each day shapes the days that follow...The Time Saving Agency liked having fresh agents on the job, who had a clear mind and steady hand. After all, time travel wasn’t for the faint of heart. The pay was good enough, but as Johnathan Scrooby decided long ago - even if he didn’t get paid for it, the thrill alone was payment enough! Then again, the TSA realized they couldn’t afford to have disgruntled employees with the power of God at their fingertips, so the pay was very, very good indeed!

Inspired by the classic Led Zeppelin song, and the 12th Justice Security story, Black Dog takes place very soon after the events of Hell's Bells. The story opens with Jessica Queen, Percival "King Louie" Washington, and Dexter Beck dealing with recurring nightmares. The dreams are so bad that all three consult with Dr. Caleb Mitchell, the Justice Security staff psychiatrist.

She never wanted to be a faerie princess. Deor Smithfield just wanted to find her dad, get him to acknowledge her so the magic in her blood wouldn’t run wild and kill her, then go home to her career and forget about her faerie side forever. Well, two out of three might not be so bad, right? But when your father is the King of the Winter Court, and you’re the real heir to the throne, things go from strange to complicated really fast.

Skillfully narrated by storyteller Darla Middlebrook, this Robert Louis Stevenson tale of Keawe, a poor Hawaiian man, who buys a strange bottle from a sad, elderly gentleman who credits the bottle with his fortune. The elderly gentleman promises that an imp residing in the bottle will also grant Keawe his every desire. Of course, there is a catch - the bottle must be sold at a loss, i.e. for less than its owner originally paid, or else it will simply return to him. The currency used in the transaction must also be in coin (not paper money or a bank check).

One of America's first civil rights activists was a former slave named Sojourner Truth. Truth was born into slavery around the year 1797, and would wait thirty years to win her freedom. Her 1850 autobiography brought attention to the evils of slavery, and her work during the Civil War, her speeches highlighting injustice, and her efforts to ensure greater equality for all Americans inspired those who would follow.

The Bronze Age saw the beginning of empires, as well as their mysterious and catastrophic end. In a world not unlike our own, the nomadic Whisperers of the Gods have been given a grave vision of the gods destroying the world in a great flood, and they send three messengers to the great empires in hopes of appeasing the gods. Finding themselves in strange new lands with even stranger customs, the Whisperers soon discover the hardest thing is not only convincing the kings and queens to listen, but also reaching their destinations without falling prey to the dangers and temptations of these new lands.

Magic and madness don't always run hand in hand, but there's a reason they call it the Touch. Delaney Green is one of them that don't burn, not that no one ain't never tried. After her mama tried and failed to murder her for pulling on the future like it was a piece of string, Del has spent her whole life in a mental institution for her own safety. And everyone else's. No one wants to see what might happen if she goes cracked. When a dozen young women turn up burned to a crisp, local folks are quick to point the FBI straight at Del.

This collection of stories from some of the brightest fantasy writers in the world run the gamut from steampunk to horror, from steamy romance to weird western, from Victorian thriller to contemporary bondage. But they all feature one thing in common - the corset. From vampire comedy to steampunk action to BDSM, Cinched is certain to free your mind. What else will follow?

Life's never simple for private inspector, Cybil Lewis. Her investigation for her latest client runs into a snag: dead bodies all over The District with his DNA. Is it a malfunction in the system or something far more sinister?

Kiya, a Portland hair stylist in her early 20s, becomes unexpectedly pregnant and determined to keep the baby as she struggles to recover from her brother's suicide. Peter, the baby’s father, wants to break away from Kiya and find love - somewhere else. Maddie, Peter’s mother, fights her own loneliness as she cares for Alex, incapacitated in a nursing home. Evie, Maddie’s mother, appears as a young woman in the 1950s, searching to heal herself both emotionally and physically.