Showing results by narrator "Christian Drerup" in All Categories

There’s something magical about Yarrow, Kentucky. The three empathic witches of the Haywood family are known for their shadow garden—from strawberries that taste like chocolate to cherry tomatoes imbued with the flavors of basil and oregano. Their magic can cure any heartache, and the fruits of their garden bring a special quality to the local bourbon distillery. On one day every year, a shot of Bonner bourbon will make your worst memory disappear. But the Haywoods will never forget the Bonners’ bitter betrayal.

Evergreen Academy was meant to be my fresh start. My hair was on point. My skin was flawless. And now I wore the hell out of my clothes instead of hiding them. Even running into Ryder hadn't thrown me. So what that the silver-eyed devil who tormented me for years now ruled my new school with a band of boys everyone called the Knights? The four of them were devastatingly rich, enviously handsome...and heartbreakingly cruel.

Being an empath in a tough World can be very challenging at times. Often your greatest gift is seen as a weakness, and your natural essence can make you feel vulnerable. It's important to realize that this gift is one that you should feel proud of. It's good to be a caring and sensitive person who has concerns about other people's feelings. The trick is knowing how and when to use this gift and when to set healthy boundaries. Unfortunately, we live in a World where the energy vampires and narcissists lurk and the empath, if you're not careful, can often be the victim.

It happened in stages. My father left. My twin sister died of an incurable autoimmune disease. My mother started breaking down. Then I was diagnosed with the very thing that took my other half from me. That was when I realized Mama’s eyes turned gold when she cried. So I moved in with my father and his new family - new wife, new son, new stepbrother. Kaiden Monroe made me feel normal. Hated. Cared for. Loathed. And...loved. Somewhere along the way, I’d found solace in the boy with brooding eyes. But everything happens in stages. And nothing good ever lasts.

Four tests. Seven days. Nine teens. Only the chosen shall breed.Humans now live in a super greenhouse. Seas have risen. Oceans have acidified. And the fight for resources is deadly. To ensure nothing of this magnitude ever happens again, only those with enough intelligence and heart will earn the right to bear children and heal the earth. Nine teens must face the tests of the Proving to decide who will be Bound to this new order. Four of them will challenge the system in ways even they can’t imagine.

Four teens must face the fallout of the Proving. Three have made it through. One has not. Nova. Kian. Dex. Wren. Four lives defined by the outcome. Four lives who thought the Proving was the most difficult test they would ever have to face. They all assumed Askala was safe, but a link to the Outlands has been established and a Remnant invasion is now a threat. In a starving, damaged world, Askala has what others want.

Falling for a narcissist is easily done, don't worry you're certainly not alone. On the surface, they can show up as everything you ever wished for but as the veil starts to lift it can truly be a shock to the system. You can feel lonely, scared, and unsure of what the narcissist is going to do next. The unpredictability leaves you feeling vulnerable. Then comes the inevitable manipulations, mind control, and smear campaigns. The whole ordeal is made 10 times harder as the narcissist weaves their spells and start to influence people who are close to you.

I never thought I could forgive them. I didn't believe there was still a heart inside of me that could forgive. But my boys, my knights, were taking down my walls and claiming a piece for themselves. All I wanted was to lock our secret away and enter junior year as though the past never happened...but someone won't let me. Someone knows what we did and the price for their silence may be more than I can give.

Sea levels have receded, exposing fertile, untouched land. Virgin soil that everyone in a ravaged world is willing to fight for. Askala knows it needs to stake a claim if they’re going to continue healing the Earth. To do that, a team of Seekers will be sent to colonize it...and assimilate those who don’t understand. This year, the testing won’t end at the Proving. Passing is no longer just about having a kind heart and a sharp mind.

Last One Out Shut Off the Lights is an evocative portrait of the last-chance towns of Southwest Louisiana, where oil development, industrial pollution, dying wetlands, and the ever-present threat of devastating hurricanes have eroded their inhabitants' sense of home. These 11 piercing stories feature indelible characters struggling to find a foothold in a world that is forever washing out from under them, people who must reckon with their ambivalence about belonging to a place so continually in flux.

They are everything to me. I love Jaxson, Ezra, Maverick, and Ryder the same and in vastly different ways all at once. It's a love that threatens to consume me. To take over every waking second of my final year...if only hidden enemies, ancient secret societies, and unsolved murders weren't also competing for my attention. This will be my hardest term yet. Not just for the horror of the present, but for the uncertainty of my future. How can I have a life with my knights when someone is determined that I don't survive my senior year at all? But I will find them. I will expose them.

Only the chosen shall seek. Sam, Hawk, Luca, and Mercy. Four teens no longer sure what they’re seeking. Four teens no longer sure whether it can be found. They were supposed to be building a new world. One where the Earth is respected as much as the people who depend on it for survival. One where the benefits of Askala could be shared by all. Except instead of bringing people together, Sam, Hawk, Luca, and Mercy are more divided than ever. In the struggle to repair the world from the ravages of global warming, the fight to reunite is going to be their greatest battle yet.

Their society was meant to mold human evolution. Their future, and that of Earth, was to be decided by the kindest and smartest. Askala was supposed to be a beacon of hope in a flooded, desecrated world. Except the line between the Bound and Unbound is blurring. The Outlands is no longer some distant, faceless world. And the Remnants have a leader who knows more about them than any Remnant before. In a world devastated by global warming, the fight for survival has always been deadly. Now, the battle for Askala is about to define the very future of humanity.

Austin Romero crash lands in Nereida Kelly's perfectly typical life. She's a normal RN working too many hours with a man who doesn't appreciate her. A patient on the verge of death comes into the ER and her heart stops. There's something magnetic about him...something alluring...something dangerous. She can't stop herself from wanting to be close to him. With her relationship falling apart, Nereida sets her eyes on someone else.

Askala has been seized by a new order. A cruel army that rules with greed and fear. An army that seems impossible to defeat. Forced into the forest, the people struggle to survive using all they’ve learned from the harshness of the Outlands. Bound, Unbound and Remnant alike are going to have to create unity in a world founded on division if they are to win.

They were meant to bring Askala to the world. Now the war is coming to Askala. Sam, Hawk, Luca, and Mercy must return home to protect the society they were bred to champion. But how do they defend peace loving Askala from the greatest threat yet? As secrets are revealed and loyalties are tested, everyone will be forced to question who is friend and who is foe. The Commander is far more dangerous than anyone realized. The Outlanders are divided about whose side they’re really on. And Askala is unprepared for an attack.

Four young lives now have to choose where they belong. To choose what and who they will fight for. Because no matter where they turn, the legacy of the past is inescapable. The Newlands already has settlers. The Outlands has a new leader. And danger has arrived in Askala. Hawk, Sam, Mercy, and Luca must work together or be swept away by a world even more divided than themselves. As the fight for survival becomes a fight for the future, as hearts yearn and secrets are protected, loyalties will be tested.

In a new world isolated by a rising, toxic sea, a single bridge connects Askala to the Outlands. Those who remain will need to pass a "proving" to determine if they have the intelligence and heart to champion the future of their broken Earth. Those who succeed will become Bound, the ones chosen to breed. Those who fail, are Unbound. Free of responsibility, but robbed of their ability to bear children.

Have you asked yourself what “Divination” is all about? Have you been interested in foreseeing the future? Or maybe you have heard about people in various cultures using different tools to predict certain outcomes? Well, you are not alone in this. Since the beginning of time, humankind has been trying to find ways to predict the future and get a glimpse of what is coming round the corner, so to speak.

Welcome to the town of Kismet Bay where magic and fate are a way of life...Sage Strange is back in Kismet Bay to plan her sister's wedding and the last thing she wants is to see her ex-boyfriend, Tristan Scott. They didn't end on good terms and she fully intends on avoiding him at all cost. Tristan still loves Sage and when he discovers she's back he decides to test his luck and pray the magic of Kismet Bay will bring them back together for good.