Showing results by narrator "Natalie Beran" in All Categories

She's the key to everything . . . Sofie has a choice--she can eke out an existence in the shadow of Felicitos, the tethered way station where she works on the breakaway planet of Garmen, or she can try to bring it crashing down. When she teams up with Leo, a man who's dedicated his life to fighting her enemies, her choices start to narrow, until her secrets are the only thing keeping her alive. Leo is all too aware he doesn't know enough about Sofie, something his own security detail is not slow to point out, but he can't keep away.

About Interference: The tiny moon of Cepi is on a countdown to destruction, and while Nyha Bartali has been persuaded to take her four wards for a final look at the archaeological wonder, now she's eager to leave. The only problem is someone has other plans—plans to exploit Nyha and the girls in her care in order to give themselves time to steal Cepi's secrets. Mak Carep knows his team's presence on Cepi is the last flex of his planet Arkhor's muscles before the moon is blown to bits.

When Alyssa inherits her late grandmother's house in the quiet town of Kotahi Bay, she hopes for a fresh start. But as she settles into her new home, Alyssa quickly learns that her family legacy is more than just property—it's a powerful magic and a centuries-old ghost desperate to break free. The townspeople expect her to step into the role of local witch, but haunting memories of a night filled with fire and loss make that impossible. Torn between a restless spirit and mounting pressure from the town, Alyssa faces an impossible choice.

Trillin isn't technically a person. She's a tiny breakaway piece of consciousness from the all-devouring Endless, doomed to eventually rejoin it. But when a human witch stumbles into her world, Trillin suddenly has a new reason to figure out individuality—one shape-shifting tentacle at a time.

Life is already complicated enough for Awa Bryant when she starts having weird dreams—waking dreams—and strange coincidences start appearing in her real life. She meets dream-charmer Veila, a quirky glowing creature who helps to guide Awa through the mysterious Dream realm. At first, the Dream realm is a glorious escape from Awa's daily struggles, but something is not right… Soon, Awa discovers she has a bigger quest, and everything she cares about is at stake. Will she be brave enough to face her fears and save her friends?

Nestled in a cozy cottage with a lush garden and an abundance of bookshelves, Ursula hopes for a peaceful escape. But strange occurrences quickly unravel, leaving her feeling as though she's being watched. Unusual visions of a mysterious purple-haired woman and out-of-season plants add to her unease. As she becomes acquainted with the enigmatic Rowan and his eccentric house truck, Ursula begins to suspect that he may hold the key to understanding the bizarre happenings in this enchanting world.

Like every other girl in her class, twelve-year-old Justine is drawn to her glamorous, charismatic new teacher and longs to be her pet. However, when a thief begins to target the school, Justine's sense that something isn't quite right grows ever stronger. With each twist of the plot, this gripping story of deception and the corrosive power of guilt takes a yet darker turn. Young as she is, Justine must decide where her loyalties lie.

A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR A LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FINALIST A TIME MUST-READ BOOK OF THE YEAR A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR “A heartfelt portrait of a complex family.” —People “Laugh-out-loud-funny.”...

All Sian wanted was a quiet moment to make out with her new girlfriend. Instead, she and the adorably monstrous Trillin find themselves trapped by a world whose fairytale magic has very strict ideas about who gets a happily-ever-after. Princesses exist to be rescued. Heroes do the rescuing. And monsters? Monsters get killed. In a world where happy-ever-after has teeth, Sian and Trillin are going to learn to bite back.

Alyssa was just getting used to life in Kotahi Bay when an old friend arrives, bringing a kitten and more complications. Then a handsome stranger with a dark past moves in next door, and everything she believed about magic—and herself—begins to unravel. When the town's guardians call upon her for help, Alyssa must face a choice that terrifies her more than any ghost ever could. But with new threats emerging and old secrets surfacing, running is no longer an option.

From the outside, Awa seems like a normal teen, struggling with anxiety over school and friendships. Secretly, she holds a rare power. She is a Dreamweaver, one who walks between worlds: that of waking life and the Dreamrealm. Now, she's finally managed to master some of her powers and alchemize the shadow fragments that were plaguing the beautiful Dreamrealm. Still, she knows there's so much more that has to be done in order to face the terrifying shadow.

This prizewinning debut from New Zealand novelist Tom Baragwanath is both a nail-biting thrill-ride and a beautifully written, acutely observed portrait of a community. How far would you go to keep your family safe? Lorraine Henry is generally content to keep her head down and get on with her...

They say you can never go home. They don't tell you that it's because the people you left behind split time itself into a million glittering shards, trying to figure out where you went. In the final book of the Monster Girlfriend trilogy, Sian and Trillin return to where it all began. . . . kind of.

When her zany neighbour Doris Cleaver invites Ruth Finlay on a hiking tour with a mixed group of trauma survivors, neither anticipates that they'll have to solve a murder. When one of the party, a nurse from Melbourne, is found dead in her room before they’ve even started the hike in Apollo Bay, they know there is a killer in their midst. Then, on that same day, one of the tour group disappears.

With the tragic passing of her mother, Grace is sent to a father she thought was dead, relocating from the bustling streets of inner Melbourne to an island home she doesn’t remember. When she answers the call for help from a sign in a store window, Grace thinks she’s found the perfect job. But behind the smile of a welcoming town sits a community bathed in lies and deceit, and it’s not long before this new arrival is caught in the middle of a deadly mystery.

The fragments Awa Bryant trapped just after she learned she was a long-awaited Dreamweaver are terrifyingly close to breaking free—so close that even in the waking world she can hear their efforts to crack their giant glass prison.

Twenty years ago, Liz left Easthaven to escape the memory of one tragic night at Lakewell Manor. Only she and her best friend Tamsin saw what really happened, and in the aftermath they drifted apart. Now she’s forced back after a nasty divorce, with two daughters in tow, the shadows of that terrible night lurking on every corner. With a custody battle looming, she’s one wrong move away from her life falling apart completely.

Meet the Tobin family. Joy - the mother: Unconscious in a hospital bed, Joy's latest act has thrown the family into turmoil. Frances - the middle child: Seemingly perfect wife and mother, Frances is having inappropriate dreams about an ex, and might be about to derail her whole life. Conor - the protector: Successful and famous, high-flyer Conor is walking a fine line between self-promotion and self-detonation. Sinead - the baby of the family: Bohemian rebel, trying to write the story she needs to tell, but despising herself for failing to do it.

When feature writer Ruth Finlay and her elderly neighbor Doris Cleaver visit an antique and collectibles market in the small town of Myrtle Bay, they get a lot more than they bargained for. After Ruth's old tennis coach is found dead, they discover that there's no lack of people who harbor a grudge against the victim, and a tangled web of family ties and lies begins to unravel. But can Ruth and Doris find the killer in time to avert a second murder?

Saffron vowed to love Miles no matter what life threw at them both. But when her mother-in-law moves into their happy family home, Saffron’s shiny life begins to tarnish. Even as Caprice’s barbed comments turn to something more sinister, Saffron hopes the new nanny’s arrival will shield her from the worst of it. She’s starting to feel paranoid in her own home.