Showing results by narrator "Krystal Hammond" in All Categories

High school senior Mindy Murphy has been questioning her small town life forever and, more recently, her sexuality. Maybe it has something to do with her new friend, Lucia West. When they were kids they used to be besties, until Lucia grew a head taller and a cup size bigger. Now she's captain of the cheer team, winner of the Boyfriend Olympics, and voted least likely to remember Mindy at their high school reunion. In short, she's possibly the worst person alive for Mindy to crush on. Especially after Lucia's bitten by a vampire.

Outlaw Elle Barstow spends her days robbing stagecoaches with her gang, bedding women and, most importantly, keeping her heart safely locked away. Into her chaotic world slides entrancing Isabella "Izzy" Collins. Banished by her family, the feisty suffragette from Boston is on her way to marry a man more than twice her age. Elle stumbles upon Izzy's stagecoach being robbed, rescues her, and is urged by Izzy to teach her how to survive on the land. Except Elle's far more interested in stringing her along and collecting a reward for her safe return. There's one hitch with that plan.

It's every influencer's biggest nightmare when a follower decides to kidnap her TikTok hero in order to become her BFF and a big star herself. Like Stephen King's Misery...for the TikTok generation.

Ruga Karrsdaughter, dutiful orc princess with a heart of gold, has spent the years since her sister was elected queen serving the orc country of Torden. Her duties now include marrying an elf princess for a much-needed alliance against an outside threat. Elketh Ceridwen, rakish elf princess with a penchant for chaos, has never lifted a finger in her life. Now that an engagement is sprung upon her by the stern elvish king, she has to fulfill a fifty-day betrothal period in Torden surrounded by strangers . . . unless she can wreak enough havoc to get sent back home.

What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About has become a rare gem in the literary world. Both a viral sensation online and chosen by Oprah Daily as one of the best nonfiction books of the past two decades, it is an essential collection that dives into the personal and poignant topics we often struggle to discuss with those who are meant to know and love us best. This captivating follow-up, edited by Michele Filgate, tackles the intricate and challenging relationships we have with our dads, breaking the silence around these vital connections.

Caroline Beckett has spent those last four years shining up a stellar portfolio that will get her into a top journalism program and convincing herself she could not be less interested in what her former best friend and first crush has been up to since she left without a word. But when Arden suddenly shows up at her doorstep with the promise of a real byline in Cosmopolitan in exchange for a write up on their “secret romance” and twelve snow-covered holidates in their Christmas-obsessed hometown, Caroline can’t help but be tempted into playing along.

Horror movies hold a complicated space in the queer community: historically misogynist, and often homo- and transphobic, the genre has also been inadvertently feminist and open to subversive readings. It Came from the Closet features twenty-five original essays by writers speaking to this relationship, through connections both empowering and oppressive. From Carmen Maria Machado on Jennifer’s Body, Jude Ellison S. Doyle on In My Skin, Addie Tsai on Dead Ringers, and many more, these conversations convey the rich reciprocity between queerness and horror.

To my people, the sky-reigning Empyreans, Intention Day is sacred.... To me, it’s the day my carefully crafted lie crumbles and my truth gives way to my ruin. The intense power surging through my veins is revealed, immediately coveted by those eager to exploit me for what they deem a greater good. If they have their way, the future I long for will be ripped away. But I am a warrior born to fly. To fight. Not to be caged and controlled.

Six immortal siblings. Five sworn to peace. One demands a throne. Radiance, the mysterious power of life and creation, is theirs to command. Death cannot claim them. For hundreds of years, the ever-living ruled with ease. Yet when the world is nearly broken beneath their reign, the humbled six swear a vow: They will sit upon no thrones, wear no crowns, and no longer teach humanity the gifts of radiance. But after centuries of peace, Eder rejects their vow, anoints himself Voice of Father, and spreads a cruel new faith across the land.

Hazel Davis is drifting: newly unemployed, living in a city she hates, and significantly less successful than her infamous younger sister, Evie. Evie grew up online, having gone viral at age five in a daddy-daughter dance video. Now she’s a megapopular lifestyle influencer. But to Hazel, @evelyn is just Evie, her beloved little sister—and a kid who has been exploited for her entire childhood. So when Evie disappears—in the middle of a live stream, during a brand-sponsored trip to Los Angeles—Hazel knows something is terribly wrong.

In Earth Witch: Finding Magic in the Land, animist, witch, and herbalist Britton Boyd invites you to seek out the deep and mysterious connections with the earth that lie at the ancestral roots of witchcraft. She describes the path of the earth witch not as a linear journey of upward growth, but rather as a cyclical one that ebbs and flows with the forces of nature that reflect the world around us-a path utterly different from the spiritual materialism that has crept into the witchcraft often found in today's capitalist culture.

In Nebula Award-winning author Sam J. Miller’s devastating debut short-fiction collection—featuring an introduction by Amal El-Mohtar—queer infatuation, inevitable heartbreak, and brutal revenge seamlessly intertwine. Whether innocent, guilty, or not even human, the boys, beasts, and men roaming through Miller’s gorgeously crafted worlds can destroy listeners, yet leave them wanting more.

Winter Holliday is devoted to her friends, her career, the quaint town of Anneville, and Christmas—though not necessarily in that order. Romance is not on her agenda, no matter how much her friends, coworkers, and neighbors try to convince her otherwise. As the cochair and vice president of the Anneville Special Events Committee, she can't imagine abandoning her duties for a fling with her high school crush, Avery Sumner.

B has lived with so many different foster families and youth programs that they have to invent nicknames for them to keep track. Their parents died in a car accident when they were four, and they’ve been moved around ever since. And even though some foster families don’t really get B or why they haven’t picked a new name yet (though B has been grappling with that for a while), B tries their best to stay positive. They try to keep a list of names that might fit, and they dream of being able to live in a home where they could adopt a dog and teach him all sorts of tricks.

Twelve-year-old Al Schneider is too scared to talk about the two biggest things in her life: 1. Her stomach hurts all the time and she has no idea why. 2. She’s almost definitely 100% sure she likes girls. So she holds it in…until she can’t. After nearly having an accident of the lavatorial variety in gym class, Al finds herself getting a colonoscopy and an answer—she has Crohn’s disease.

Queering the Runes is a love letter to the runes, the gods, and the people who follow the Nordic path. The author presents an alternative approach to the runes, one that creates a gentle container for those who want to follow this heathen path. Based on the author's personal gnosis, as well as deep academic research on runes and Nordic culture, this book is an invitation into the root culture of the runes, both in terms of myth and in terms of lived, real folkloric experience.

Instead of winning a prestigious cooking competition, Sundia Sharma won infamy by breaking her tailbone on television. Thinking her culinary dreams are over, she prepares to head back to her corporate accounting job. That is, until a world-famous celebrity chef, impressed by her innovative recipes, offers her an internship at his new restaurant. It's Sundia's last shot to prove to herself—and her family—that she has what it takes. If only her crush wasn't the chef's personal assistant . . . and her new roommate.

Mara and Owen are as close as twins can get, so when Mara's friend Hannah accuses Owen of rape, Mara doesn't know what to think. Can her brother really be guilty of such a violent act? Torn between her family and her sense of right and wrong, Mara feels lost, and it doesn't help that things are strained with her ex-girlfriend, Charlie. As Mara, Hannah, and Charlie come together in the aftermath of this terrible crime, Mara must face a trauma from her own past and decide where Charlie fits into her future.

Investing for the first time can be intimidating. In easy-to-understand language, Stock Market 101 provides the groundwork needed to begin building knowledge on the stock market. It cuts out the boring explanations of basic investing, and instead provides hands-on lessons that keep you engaged as you learn how to build a portfolio and expand your wealth. Full of basic definitions and real life examples, Stock Market 101 will alleviate any uneasy or overwhelmed feelings during your first steps toward your investment goals.

Culinary student Quinn is excited to finally move up in her culinary career when she lands an internship of a lifetime on Coastal Cruises. It's the opportunity of a lifetime, and an adventure that will take her across the sea. The only downside? It means spending the summer with her lazy rival, who's only there because his father is a famous chef. And he isn't afraid to play dirty . . . . . . even if that means throwing her overboard.