Showing results by narrator "Chelsea Stephens" in All Categories

Matt and Natalia can’t catch a break. All they want to do is chase bounties, get paid, and live their lives in peace. If only life in the Big Easy was that simple. Everywhere they turn, something or someone is hell-bent on interfering with their plans. Winston Blackwell’s plotting against Matt and Natalia turns dark when he hatches a scheme to remove Matt from the equation and leave Natalia vulnerable. Will Matt prevail, or will Winston claim his ultimate prize?

Humanity is on the verge of extinction. The government has a simple plan to save the species: mandatory genetic matching. But it's not so simple when it's your own life on the line. Sadie doesn't want to marry a stranger at nineteen, let alone figure out which of her seven matches is the best fit. Things get even worse when one of the other women in the program gets drugged and disappears for voicing a complaint. Can Sadie navigate the matching program and save her friend, or will she get swallowed up by the conspiracy herself?

Life's pleasures used to be so simple: a fast ride on my motorcycle, a backyard barbeque with my siblings, and taking down criminals to safeguard Montreal's citizens. Sadly, those days ended the moment my fiery side emerged. I'm a fire elemental. Mind blown. The deadly Poreskoro family wants to feed on my fae essence. Rude. And if they succeed, they'll gain the strength to rebuild their army of evil. Terrifying. Demons, drug lords, and deception I can handle, but when a dark storm of danger falls over my family, things have gone too far.

I knew three things about my life before adoption: I was a baby rescued from a blazing house fire, I was found in the arms of a dead man, and no one ever came to claim me. No one. Not ever. Now, as a Montreal detective, I'm dedicated to hunting truths for a living. Unheard voices. Cold cases. Unsolved mysteries. Unearthing secrets hidden in the shadows is my jam. Until the fae veil falls . . . When the world learns magic is real, everything changes. Montreal begins seething with prana energy, dormant genes activate, and seemingly normal humans experience magical awakenings.

It’s not in my nature to beg, but I’ll stay on my knees until I feel that flame sputter out. And then … I’ll rip the world to shreds. I’ve tumbled into a darkness so deep it’s hard to see the light, my petals curling inward as I tip my face from the sun. Hide from my monstrous actions. Traitor. Murderer. High Mistress. My mistakes hunt me down, and I’m pulled into a political tug-of-war, balancing Ocruth’s welfare on the edge of a bloody blade. The moon is swelling, the weight on my shoulders is compacting, and my unfailing curiosity keeps weaving its roots in the wrong direction.

When a new girl, Becky Rusett, joins the Evermore Publishing team, she'll start to realize no office setting is as safe as it appears. The secrets, lies, and underhanded dealings of the publishing house are unsettling enough—but now some sinister events are putting the entire office in real danger. Decades before Evermore Publishing existed, a group of five meanspirited children terrorized a young child in a small town. The Fab 5, as they were called, set off the chain of events that would lead to the horrific events at Evermore. 

A dangerous assassin comes to town, and Matt has no idea he’s the mark. Natalia’s sister and jilted fiancé hit the Big Easy with revenge on their minds. To make matters worse, Natalia’s magic is still unreliable, with no cure in sight. Can Matt and Natalia overcome their latest obstacles, or will all the challenges be too much to conquer?

Formally trained pastry chef Chloe Barnes is opening a cannabis bakery. When her beloved grandmother falls ill, Chloe returns to quaint Azalea Bay, to start over in the most satisfying way possible—concocting delicious edibles with her quirky Aunt Dawn. Combining French luxury and THC, Baked by Chloe will take pot brownies to another level...until a creepy past acquaintance rehashes old drama and shockingly turns up dead—landing Aunt Dawn as the number one murder suspect.

Bounty hunting is rewarding, but nobody ever said it was easy. When your partner is a powerful dark witch with anger issues, it can get downright terrifying. Good thing Matt Bordelon is up for a challenge because the weather isn’t the only thing heating up in the Big Easy. A cabal of dark witches and wizards will do anything to control magic. A powerful, idealistic, and extremely misguided politico can only make things worse. As if that wasn’t enough, something evil is snatching people from the New Orleans area.

Tales of blood, magic, and steel by masters of the craft!

Who answers the call when the mundane police dial 911? Matt Bordelon—former Silver Griffin, wizard, and the Big Easy Bounty Hunter. Matt has a good thing going. Deliver justice to magicals? Check. Keep the world safe from threats? Check. Make good money doing it? Cha-ching. Unless his bounty ends up dead when the paperwork specifies alive, that is. Good thing he’s a pro at avoiding that. Then he stumbles across a dark witch embroiled in a vicious spell battle with a dark wizard and feels compelled to aid her.

What explains the insistent pull of Roe v. Wade? Abortion law expert Mary Ziegler argues that the US Supreme Court decision, which decriminalized abortion in 1973 and was overturned in 2022, had a hold on us that was not simply the result of polarized abortion politics. Rather, Roe took on meanings far beyond its original purpose of protecting the privacy of the doctor-patient relationship. It forced us to confront questions about sexual violence, judicial activism and restraint, racial justice, religious liberty, the role of science in politics, and much more.

There's no action too small when it comes to creating better habits. For teens looking to boost their grades, make a new friend, or save money for something special, forming healthy habits is the key to success both right now and in the future. Mini Habits for Teens shows them how to build good habits that stick, with easy advice for practicing little, everyday changes that help them work toward their goals one step at a time. 

These seventeen tales take listeners into the uniquely twisted mind of “one of Canada’s most promising new horror writers” (Publishers Weekly). From a live necrophilia show starring reanimated corpses to a confrontation between a security guard and inhuman squatters, from who can be found at an all-night laundromat to what lies in wait at the bottom of the sea, from undead addictions to all-consuming obsessions, Kissing Carrion is “a journey through some of the most beautifully rendered visions of darkness and death to be published this past year."

Elisabeth R. Anker reckons with the complex legacy of freedom offered by liberal American democracy, outlining how the emphasis of individual liberty has always been entangled with white supremacy, settler colonialism, climate destruction, economic exploitation, and patriarchy. These "ugly freedoms" legitimate the right to exploit and subjugate others. At the same time, Anker locates an unexpected second type of ugly freedom in practices and situations, often dismissed as demeaning, offensive, gross, and ineffectual, but that provide sources of emancipatory potential.

There’s a lot going on in Joy Howard’s life. She’s got an ex-husband who starts acting like he doesn’t want to be an ex anymore, a sixteen-year-old daughter in need of a guiding hand and a lot of rides to dance practice, more orders for paintings than she has time to paint, and a roster of tutoring clients who sometimes need far more than she can give.

Plus-size fashionistas have been writing their own narrative for the past two decades, creating a market all on their own that is now worth more than $21 billion dollars. The Power of Plus features interviews with trailblazers such as Tess Holliday, Hunter McGrady, Gabi Gregg, and more, as it follows the evolution of plus-size fashion from its start on small blogs to its current boom, examines the way this market has changed women’s relationships with their bodies, and predicts how plus-size fashion is integral to the future success of the industry.

Russ Griffin has always wanted to be a fantastic medium. Growing up in the town of St. Hilaire, where most residents make their living by speaking to the dead, means there’s a lot of competition, and he’s always held his own. But Russ knows the town he loves is corrupt, and he’s determined to save it before the sinister ruling body, The Guild, ruins all he’s ever wanted.

Widow Kelly Carlsen has been through a lot since the death of her husband three years ago. Reported to the police for murder by her vindictive mother-in-law, she was suspected of poisoning her husband, jailed away from her son, and nearly went to prison before an autopsy proved her husband died of an undiagnosed nut allergy. 

Seventeen-year-old film noir fan Neve Lanier is a girl who just wants to be seen, but doesn't really fit in anywhere. When Neve is betrayed by her best friend, Yasmin, at the end of the school year, she heads off to a girl's empowerment camp feeling like no one will ever love her again. So when she grabs the attention of the beautiful, charismatic Diane, she falls right under her spell, and may accidentally promise to murder Diane's predatory step-brother, Javier, in exchange for Diane murdering Yasmin. But that was just a joke…right? Wrong.