Showing results by narrator "Scott Richards" in All Categories

When her friend, Lady Samantha, spies a rather handsome groom from her bedchamber window, Lady Julia agrees the man is far too handsome to be a groom. "He could be a gentleman", she tells Sam, thinking it wouldn't be too difficult to teach the servant how to speak and dance and dress like a gentleman. Doubting Julia can accomplish such a task, Samantha dares her to do just that - and in time for the Mayfield ball - in just three weeks!

Taya has risen from humble roots to become a fire seer in the Coalition of Mages. Eager to prove herself, she arrives in the town of Hrappa to locate a "jackal" - a mage operating outside the Coalition's authority - who has murdered three people.

Enlisted by the Japan Buddhist Federation to catalog a number of ancient shrines dotted across Nepal, archaeologist Annja Creed is honored to help. Political violence has prompted the Federation to protect holy sites from desecration and vandalism, and Annja is their last hope to properly conserve these sites. Where there's vandalism, there's plundering, and local police soon become suspicious of Annja's presence. But she is more concerned about the antiques smugglers and Maoist guerrillas trying to kill her.

The theft of a whetstone from a Welsh museum and the murder of a curate during a grave robbery seem, at first, like random crimes. But the troubling deeds are linked by a precarious thread. An unusual collection of rare and scattered British antiquities has become a target — and the relics' value lies in something much more dangerous than money....

It’s high-stakes, win-or-die football action in the far future, as aliens and humans fill positions based on physiology and leave their blood, sweat and tears on gridirons across the galaxy. Last season, 19-year-old rookie quarterback Quentin Barnes overcame his racism and unified his team. He led the Ionath Krakens to a lower-tier championship, a championship that earns them promotion into the meat grinder known as “Tier One.”

We return to P.I. Matthew Richter, currently a zombie, in the city of Nekropolis. In this case, he’s after a wand that turns things into silver, but before he can get far in his search, he’s forced to use a coin to turn himself into a human. He’s got one shot now to get back home to his significant other for their only chance at having a kid...but of course, all of Nekropolis is out to get him (or so it seems).

What Luck, This Life begins in the aftermath of the space shuttle's break-up, as the people of Piney Woods watch their pastures swarm with searchers and reporters bluster at their doors. A shop owner defends herself against a sexual predator who is pushed to new boldness after he is disinvited to his family reunion. A closeted father facing a divorce that will leave his gifted boy adrift retrieves an astronaut's remains. An engineer who dreams of orbiting Earth joins a search for debris and instead uncovers an old neighbor's buried longing.

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 CAROL SHIELDS PRIZE FOR FICTION FINALIST FOR THE 2024 GILLER PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2025 FERRO-GRUMLEY AWARD FOR LGBTQ FICTION The Globe and Mail’s Best Books of 2024 CBC’s Best Canadian Fiction of 2024 “Pure delight.” —Ann-Marie MacDonald...

Julia's daddy was the judge in town. He used to be fair, but recently it seemed that had changed. What cost to regular folks would there be?

When Clarinda married the Earl of Norwick, she thought she was marrying the Fitzwilliam twin who courted her. Little does she know that it was David's identical twin brother Daniel, the spare heir, who captured her heart with pink roses and delectable kisses. So when the rakish David married her and made her his countess, an embittered Daniel left London to oversee the earl's estates in Sussex.

In 30 years of prospecting, old Jim had never discovered Amber's Mirage - a shining cliff above a spring that ran heavy with gold. But his young sidekick took up the search to find the gold - a search that would cost him two years away from wild Ruby, the woman he loved.

A viscount's son and a bare knuckle boxer, Michael Cunningham is more interested in building his fortune than spending time at the Marriage Mart. But long ago, he promised his mother he would get married "if not before, then on the eve of my 28th birthday."

This is the story of a drug deal gone bad. Having committed the crime of selling a potent poison to a desperate youth, a destitute apothecary must decide how to spend his ill-gained fortune. Resolving to start his career afresh, he flees to the city of Verona to set up a new shop of medicinal healing and alchemical discovery. Plans go awry when he finds himself in the middle of a woeful tragedy he had unwittingly helped to cause.

The Fae spirit felt the great ship above it. There was so much love there, so much kinship. All who breathed on the ship had someone in their life that mattered. All, but one. That must be the one that the summoner meant. The spirit swam around the ship and gathered the heartbreak and sorrow from those who had lost. Then, it drew the sadness and pain away, as requested. It swam off, making a vacuum that would be filled with the caring it could sense was there.

Caleb Doorn is better known by his Blackfoot name, Many Coups. Doorn is scouting for the US Army in the Mexican campaign when a small wagon train passes on its way to California. Their trek will take them into Indian country, and to protect the train from attack, the wagon master has foolishly taken a young Blackfoot woman hostage.

Arkos, a reclusive artisan, bides the long age of peace carving animal bones and remembering his days of adventure. In the ancient city of Tierrion where he dwells, no one suspects he is one of the legenders - those forces of nature clad in human form who spoke with the elements and shaped them into mighty beasts.

Original story published in Lariat story magazine - July 1947.

Jana, a powerful witch, and Tigan, a deceitful mercenary from Sabe's and Kiera's past, join forces to summon Samyaza, one of the most powerful of all fallen angels. The witch strikes a bargain with the fallen angel to possess Tigan, making him indestructible in battle. In exchange for granting this gift, Samyaza seeks a sacrifice, someone gifted with seraph abilities so he can free himself of the bonds that hold him captive in hell.

Sold into slavery when he was six years old, Kai has never known love. As he reached maturity, his slavers realized Kai was no ordinary man. There was something else lurking inside. An uncontrollable force that feeds on his rage and anger gives him the advantage when thrown into the pits of Darkmide to fight for his life. There he learns that killing brings rewards - after each win, he's given a female slave to sate his sexual needs.

A cruel, hated man collects a fortune, then disappears in the desert. The Texas Rangers think it's murder and put one of their best on the job - but he'll need help. There's evil here that no one suspects.