Showing results by narrator "Cecily Bednar" in All Categories

Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya—the exceptional, the empowered, the Elites. The powers these Elites have possessed for decades were graciously gifted to them by the Plague, though not all were fortunate enough to both survive the sickness and reap the reward. Those born Ordinary are just that—ordinary. And when the king decreed that all Ordinaries be banished to preserve his Elite society, lacking an ability suddenly became a crime—making Paedyn Gray a felon by fate and a thief by necessity.

Paedyn Gray and Kai Azer return to the Kingdom of Ilya… And Paedyn has a life-altering choice to make. Whatever she decides will determine her fate—and the fate of those around her—forever. In the ultimate battle of love and loyalty, who wins?

After surviving the Purging Trials, Ordinary-born Paedyn Gray has killed the King and kickstarted a Resistance throughout the land. Now she’s running from the one person she had wanted to run to. Kai Azer is now Ilya’s Enforcer, loyal to his brother Kitt, the new King. He has vowed to find Paedyn and bring her to justice. Across the deadly Scorches, and deep into the hostile city of Dor, Kai pursues the one person he wishes he didn’t have to. But in a city without Elites, the balance between the hunter and hunted shifts—and the battle between duty and desire is deadly.

Paige has ticked off everything on her senior year bucket list except one tiny thing—she's never kissed anyone. And her best friend, Grayson Darling, is to blame. Grayson is the school hockey team's notorious enforcer, and he's been scaring away any eligible bachelors who so much as look in Paige's direction. With time running out, she demands that Grayson stop defending her honor. Instead, he'll become her dating coach, training her to win the guy of her dreams.

Long blonde hair. Sparkling dark eyes. Perfect pearly white teeth. I’ve never met her before, but I know exactly who she is as I spot her through the crowds of the terminal. Because our new guest is the spitting image of the daughter we lost. And that’s exactly why I chose her.

Like everyone else in the settlement of Mistaken, Greer Mackenzie is trapped. Founded by an ambitious lumber merchant, the village is blessed with rich natural resources that have made its people prosperous—but at a cost. The same woods that have lined the townsfolks’ pockets harbor dangerous beasts: wolves, bears, and the Bright-Eyeds—monsters beyond description who have rained utter destruction down on nearby settlements. But Mistaken’s founders made a deal with the mysterious Benevolence.

Paedyn Gray and Kai Azer return to the Kingdom of Ilya.​ And Paedyn has a life-altering choice to make. Whatever she decides will determine her fate – and the fate of those around her – forever. ​In the ultimate battle of love and loyalty, who wins?

After surviving the Purging Trials, Ordinary-born Paedyn Gray has killed the King, and kickstarted a Resistance throughout the land. Now she’s running from the one person she had wanted to run to. Kai Azer is now Ilya’s Enforcer, loyal to his brother Kitt, the new King. He has vowed to find Paedyn and bring her to justice. Across the deadly Scorches, and deep into the hostile city of Dor, Kai pursues the one person he wishes he didn’t have to. But in a city without Elites, the balance between the hunter and hunted shifts – and the battle between duty and desire is deadly.

When seventeen-year-old Violet is left heartbroken by the captain of her school's ice hockey team, she vows to never date a jock again. But, in an attempt to prove she's moved on, she turns to the most unlikely person—her ex's biggest rival, the notorious captain of the Ransom Devils. Reed Darling is gorgeous, mysterious, and intimidating, both on and off the ice. Wild rumors constantly circulate about him, and the only thing people love to talk about more than his hockey skills are his exploits as a ruthless heartbreaker. Who better to serve as Violet's fake boyfriend?

The Elites have possessed powers for decades, gifted to them by the Plague, while those born Ordinary are just that, banished from the kingdom and shunned from society. No one knows this better than Paedyn Gray, an Ordinary posing as a Psychic to blend in with the Elites. When she unsuspectingly saves one of Ilya’s princes, Kai Azer, she’s thrown into the Purging Trials, a brutal competition showcasing the Elites’ powers. If the Trials and the opponents within them don’t kill her, the prince she’s fighting feelings for will if he discovers what Paedyn is...completely Ordinary.

Magic has been banished in the land of Syhl Shallow for as long as best friends Jax and Callyn can remember. They once loved the stories of the powerful magesmiths and mythical scravers who could conjure fire or control ice, but now they’ve learned that magic only leads to danger: magic is what killed Callyn’s parents, leaving her alone to raise her younger sister. Magic never helped Jax, whose leg was crushed in an accident that his father has been punishing him for ever since.

The King’s Courier Tycho has made a treacherous bargain. Now beholden to the magical scraver who saved King Gray’s life, one false move could end everything. Jax escaped his life in Briarlock and traveled with Tycho to Emberfall. But life outside his small village brings unexpected challenges--and unlikely adversaries. After years of hating the royal family and their magic, Callyn never expected to be at the Queen’s side, with magic on her fingertips. But at the royal court, she can’t trust anyone--including the man she thought she loved.

When the call finally comes, my life as I know it is over—my job as a teacher, my marriage, my family are all gone. In a heartbeat, I’ve lost everything that ever mattered to me. All because of one secret and what someone thinks she saw....

Tycho of Rillisk has been a lot of things: son and brother, stablehand, prisoner, soldier and friend to the king. Now, four years after Grey took the throne of Emberfall, Tycho has taken on a new role: courier and spy. As the only person the king can trust, Tycho carries secret messages back and forth between the kingdoms of Emberfall and Syhl Shallow. But even though the war is over, peace still seems far away.

Tash was thrilled when the dramatic rights to her surprise-hit feminist novel were snapped up by an indie film studio. But no one warned her that a Hollywood shuffle could land her smart, literary epic in the hands of a huge action-movie franchise director more famous for his machismo than his artistry. And now this big shot director wants “the dirty version” of her book, demanding Tash transform the strong, complex female warriors she created into eye candy.

Imagine yourself fully conscious, but trapped in a completely paralyzed body, with no way of telling anyone you were there. This is exactly what happens to Nina, the young and talented presenter of a popular TV dating show. Unable to move or speak to her fiancé or anyone else around her, slowly, fragments of memory emerge like pieces of a puzzle, and bit by bit, the reason for her state of paralysis becomes apparent...

The King’s Courier Tycho has made a treacherous bargain. Now beholden to the magical scraver who saved King Grey’s life, one false move could end everything. Jax escaped his life in Briarlock and traveled with Tycho to Emberfall. But life outside his small village brings unexpected challenges – and unlikely adversaries. After years of hating the royal family and their magic, Callyn never expected to be at the Queen’s side, with magic at her fingertips. But at the royal court, she can’t trust anyone – including the man she thought she loved.

There is one rule in the small and prosperous town of Mistaken - if you spend a night within its borders, you belong to it forever. The Warding Stones that surround Greer Mackenzie's town have stood for as long as she can remember, erected by the mysterious Benevolence to keep out the Bright Eyeds - unthinkable monsters that haunt the deep forest. But the barrier works both ways, and like everyone else in Mistaken, Greer is trapped.

Belle is an American descendant of the world famous Müritz family. Just as she is about to go on her gap year, Belle receives a locket and a photo album, both of which once belonged to her late grandmother; both items hold a clue to a hidden family history. Inspired by the secrets they hold, Belle decides to follow in the footsteps of both her grandmother Elizabeth and her great-great-grandmother Johanna. Belle's historical and physical journey of discovery takes her from nineteenth century Vienna to the hippy trail in the 1960s as she tries to unravel the secrets of the Müritz women.