Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in Dark Fantasy

Isla Crown has charted a new destiny and leapt into the unknown, determined to defeat her insidious ancestor, Lark, no matter the cost. But Skyshade is nothing like she anticipated, and she’ll have to use all of her skills just to survive, let alone end Lark for good. Meanwhile, Grim and Oro would sooner set fire to their own kingdoms than leave Isla stranded on a path toward certain death. But getting her back will involve forging an alliance—if they can find a way to forgive their long history of betrayals.

The performers of the Playhouse are as worshipped as they are feared, their enchanting shows bending hearts, minds, and even reality itself. Eighteen-year-old Riven Hesper knows the dangers better than anyone, after her own encounter with a Player resulted in a curse that is slowly killing her. When the Playhouse announces the spectacle of a lifetime, Riven sees her last chance to live. Desperate for answers, she infiltrates the competition. There, she finds Jude, the Playhouse’s Lead Player, whose charm is as dangerous as his Craft, and strikes a deadly bargain to save her life.

Every hundred years, the island of Lightlark appears for only one hundred days to host a deadly game, where the rulers of six realms fight to break their curses and win unparalleled power. Each ruler has something to hide. Each curse is uniquely wicked. To break them—and save themselves and their realms—one ruler will die.

Back in Grim’s castle on Nightshade, Isla is reeling in the wake of a brutal battle and the devastating truths it exposed. Her future—and the fate of the world—now hinge on a heart split in two. Past Isla, who fell in love with the ruler of Nightshade, fights to resist feelings she considers treasonous. The Isla of the present, who has seen the ruin her powers can cause, will do anything to save Lightlark and its king. As the line between enemy and friend is tested, Isla is more desperate than ever to understand the oracle’s final prophecy and change her heartrending fate.

The novel is narrated by Oro and offers a window into his complex identity: that of a king torn between desire for justice and passion for the woman he loves more than anything. It includes key moments from the ruler’s love story with Isla, told in his own voice.

In the wake of her father’s death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, she finds her only joy by the light of the dying hearth fire, re-reading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she begins to believe that her wish may be granted.

When Leena Edenfrell swore herself to the Frozen Prince, Noc Feyreigner, she never dreamed she'd ignite the flames of war. And yet as their enemies combine forces against them, Leena and Noc have no choice but to gather their allies and fight. While Noc makes moves to reclaim their lost throne, Leena acts as the new Crown of the Charmer's Council, searching for a way to stop the enemy from raising an ancient creature destined to burn their world to ash.

Rat Evans, heir to one of the oldest magical bloodlines in New York, doesn’t cast spells anymore. For as long as Rat can remember, they’ve been surrounded by doorways no one else sees and corridors that aren’t on any map. Then one day, they opened a passage and found a broken tower in a field of weeds—and something followed them back. When Rat is accepted into Bellamy Arts, all they want is a place to hide and to make sure they never open another passageway again. But when the only other person who knows what really happened last year.

Beaked. Feathered. Monstrous. Avita was born to be a star. Her circus tent sells out nightly, and every performance incites bloodcurdling screams. She’s the most lucrative act from Texas to Tacoma, the crown jewel of the Family Fortuna. Avita feeds on the fear, the screams, the gasps. But when a handsome young artist is commissioned to create new posters of the performers, Avita is appalled by his rendering of Bird Girl. Is that truly all she is—a hideous monster, all sharp beak and razor teeth, obsidian eyes and ruffled feathers?

Beneath the streets of York, the goblin market calls to the Wickett women—the family of witches that tends to its victims. For generations, they have defended the old cobblestone streets with their magic. Knowing the dangers, they never entered the market—until May Wickett fell for a goblin girl, accepted her invitation, and became inextricably tied to the world her family tried to protect her from. The market learned her name, and even when she and her sister left York for Boston to escape it, the goblins remembered.  

Chicago, 1893. For Alter Rosen, this is the land of opportunity, and he dreams of the day he’ll have enough money to bring his mother and sisters to America, freeing them from the oppression they face in his native Romania. But when Alter’s best friend, Yakov, becomes the latest victim in a long line of murdered Jewish boys, his dream begins to slip away. While the rest of the city is busy celebrating the World’s Fair, Alter is now living a nightmare: Possessed by Yakov’s dybbuk, he is plunged into a world of corruption and deceit.

The sorority girls at Kappa Rho Nu—the Ravens—are determined to restore balance to the world. After destroying an ancient talisman and barely saving their sorority in the process, they’ll go to any lengths to keep their secret as Westerly College’s most powerful coven of witches. Scarlett Winter, a legacy Raven, has finally gotten what she’s always wanted: the Kappa Rho Nu presidency. After the disaster that killed the sorority's last president, Scarlett is determined that no sister will fall under the sway of wicked magic ever again.

Impressed by the work of the puppet master and his apprentice, Tavia's ruler, The Margrave, has ordered dozens of life-size marionette soldiers to be sent to Wolfspire Hall. When the orders for more soldiers come in with increasingly urgent deadlines, the puppet master's health suffers and Pirouette, his daughter and protégé, is left to build in his stead. But there is something far more twisted brewing at Wolfspire - the Margrave's son wants Pirouette to create an assassin. And he wants her to give it life.   

Emilie de Marais is more at home holding scalpels than embroidery needles and is desperate to escape her noble roots to serve her country as a physician. But society dictates a noble lady cannot perform such gruesome work. Annette Boucher, overlooked and overworked by her family, wants more from life than her humble beginnings and is desperate to be trained in magic. So when a strange noble girl offers Annette the chance of a lifetime, she accepts. Emilie and Annette swap lives. But when their nation instigates a terrible war, Emilie and Annette come together....

Marked by Darklings and Death alike, Saskia is a mechanically minded Mundane, raised by Barton and Phae on daring stories about Roan Harken. But the world Roan left behind is in turmoil. The Darklings now hang in the sky as a threatening black moon, and with the order-maintaining Elemental Task Guard looking to get rid of all Denziens before they rebel, Saskia's only option is to go into the Brilliant Dark and bring Roan back.

Frey, Ovie, Juniper, and Runa are the Boneless Mercies - girls hired to kill quickly, quietly, and mercifully. But Frey is weary of the death trade and, having been raised on the heroic sagas of her people, dreams of a bigger life. When she hears of an unstoppable monster ravaging a nearby town, Frey decides this is the Mercies' one chance out. The fame and fortune of bringing down such a beast would ensure a new future for all the Mercies. In fact, her actions may change the story arc of women everywhere.

Celia Sand faced Diavala and won, using ink magic to destroy the corrupt religion of Profeta that tormented her for a decade. But winning came with a cost. Now Celia is plagued with guilt over her role in the death of her best friend. When she discovers that Diavala is still very much alive and threatening Griffin, the now-infamous plague doctor, Celia is desperate not to lose another person she loves to the deity's wrath. The key to destroying Diavala may lie with Halycon Ronnea, the only other person to have faced Diavala and survived. But Halcyon is dangerous.

On the heels of a devastating plague, Torvi’s sister, Morgunn is stolen from the family farm by Uther, a flame-loving Fremish wolf-priest who leads a pack of ragged, starving girls. Torvi leaves the only home she’s ever known, and joins a shaven-skulled druid and a band of roaming Elsh artists known as the Butcher Bards. They set out on a quest to rescue Torvi’s sister, and find a mythical sword.

At first glance, the sisters of ultra-exclusive Kappa Rho Nu - the Ravens - seem like typical sorority girls. Ambitious, beautiful, and smart, they’re the most powerful girls on Westerly College’s Savannah, Georgia, campus. But the Ravens aren’t just regular sorority girls. They’re witches. 

Lorena Adler has a secret. She holds the power of the banished gods, the Noble and the Vile, inside her. She has spent her entire life hiding from the world and her past. She's content to spend her days as an undertaker in a small town, marry her best friend, Julian, and live an unfulfilling life so long as no one uncovers her true nature. But when the notoriously bloodthirsty and equally Vile crown prince comes to arrest Julian's father, he immediately recognizes Lorena for what she is.