Showing results by narrator "Stacy Gonzalez" in All Categories

To celebrate the end of high school, Izzy Morales joins her best friend Kassidy and five friends on a luxury 1920s-themed getaway at the glamorous Ashwood Manor. There, Izzy and her friends party in vintage dresses and expensive diamonds - until Kassidy's boyfriend turns up dead. And when a raging storm traps them on the island with two detectives, the sparkling young socialites become the prime suspects in his murder. There's the girlfriend, and the other girl. The old friend, and the new friend. The brooding enigma. And then, there's Izzy - the girl who brought the knife.

I have a plan. A goal. It never occurred to me how sheltered I was until I played—and failed—a game of Never Have I Ever. Now, I have a list of firsts I want to experience. And there's only one person who can help me with it. Grayson is the complete opposite of me. Tattoos, dark hair, piercings. You name it, he's probably done it. And now I'm on the way to ask him to take my virginity and to show me his world, how he lives, how I can be like him.

In a society where bionic enhancements are the epitome of wealth and power, scientific researcher Dr Rosio Arata threatens to topple the status quo with her pioneering organic enhancements. Yet when a horrific accident kills her daughter, Ro's quest for answers leads her to becoming trapped in a twisted version of her life's work. In a bleak underground colony, sixteen year-old Ever is primed to rise through the ranks, gain selection and become a Saviour.

Professor Jeremiah Post, the poor handsome man, is in fact standing in the way of Alejandra “Alex” Torres turning Loretta’s, her grandmother’s bar, into a viable business. The hot brainiac who sleeps in one of the upstairs tenant rooms already has all of her Mexican American family’s admiration; she won’t let him have the bar and building she needs to resurrect her career, too.

I have rules. Dating? Out of the question. One night stands? That's my specialty. That is until an unexpected game of spin the bottle lands me face-to-face with Aiden Pierce, Redfield's basketball team captain. Aiden is captivating, talented, and persistent, and he slowly chips away at my defenses until we strike a deal. No strings attached and absolute secrecy. It was supposed to be uncomplicated, but the more time I spend with him, the harder it becomes to remember why we can't be together.

In the courtroom, defense lawyer Quinn Cortez has a reputation as a ruthless predator who always gets what he wants. In the bedroom, it's no different. Quinn is an accomplished seducer with a long list of conquests. But now, someone has brutally slaughtered one of them, and Quinn has no memory of the night he was found in her home . . .

Elisa Levi's That's All I Know explores the toll of caring for those who cannot care for themselves, the fear of the unknown that anchors people to unfulfilling lives, and the bravery it takes to stop deceiving oneself, to give in to longing.

Despite the best efforts of her enemies, Cari Dix is alive and well. Now she’s ready to come out of hiding and bring the missing heir back to the imperial capital. Together this group of swashbuckling rogues must travel across the entire continent and brave undermountain tunnels with fairy-tale witches and an entire army on the hunt for them. The fate of the Empire of Fantasma hangs in the balance.

If there's no place like home, that's more than okay for Mara Makinen. In fact, she prefers it that way. Going back to the place where she made the worst mistake of her life? Not ideal. So when a family emergency forces Mara to return home to her small lake town in Maine after seven years, she knows there's only one way she'll get through it unscathed: avoid Ambrose King at all costs. But that might prove difficult considering he lives right across the street.

On a crisp April morning, Sara Parcell disappears without a trace. No one saw a thing. Desperate, her family agree to take part in a reality TV show following Sara's case. Cameras swarm the house. Viewers tune in. The addiction begins. As the show gains traction, what began as a small-town crime becomes a global sensation. Everyone who knew Sara is questioned on camera - but the producers want more. Hungry for twists, they delve deeper into the story - and soon, it takes on a life of its own.

For Amelia Rose Grayson, there was only ever one love: Cal Hollister. When Cal, a police captain, is wounded, she’s there for him and helps nurse him back to health. After he shrugs off their undeniable chemistry, Amelia knows she needs to cut all her old ties. She escapes her small-town life and forges a new path, trying to leave Cal behind. But Amelia can't break free of Cal’s orbit. Emotion—and an unrelenting passion—takes over when they reconnect, sending them both into dangerous territory.

Shadow bruja Ren Santiago was relentlessly pursued by the evil Aztec Lords of Night, who claimed that she was destined to be their queen, a destiny she wasn’t willing to accept. So she chose death instead. Too bad death wasn’t the answer to her problems. Ren soon realizes she must return to the land of the living to make things right. Unfortunately, that means negotiating with Ixtab, queen of the underworld.

In his introduction, guest editor S. A. Cosby observes that writing short stories is “a special skill that combines brevity with wit and cleverness and the hint of the existential malaise that imbues crime fiction with its gravitas.” The stories in this collection overflow with gravitas in the most unexpected ways: a cryptic note left on a windshield, a murder for hire meets a game of Mouse Trap, a swipe right on a dating app goes horribly wrong.

Rain pelted my face as I pushed through the roar of the storm. Deep in the belly of Mexico, my team and I were on the hunt. One of the cartel’s mules flipped and wanted a ticket to freedom. The information they held could be our game-changer. Returning home to a civilian lifestyle was always an adjustment, even if it was temporary. However, a chance encounter with Catalina Mandas made that transition a little bit easier. She was sweet, sexy, feisty, and saw me for who I was. She completely captivated me. But Catalina warned me that her past and mine could never coexist.

Emi Vargas, whose parents helped save the world, is tired of being told how lucky she is to have been born after the climate crisis. But following the public assassination of a dozen climate criminals, Emi’s mother, Kristina, disappears as a possible suspect, and Emi’s illusions of utopia are shattered. A determined Emi and her father, Larch, journey from their home in Nuuk, Greenland to New York City, now a lightly populated storm-surge outpost built from the ruins of the former metropolis. But they aren’t the only ones looking for Kristina.

I’m a warrior. Cursed to fight monsters. Sworn to act as Zeus’ sword to protect mankind. But I’d give it all up for one last kiss with the god who stole my heart…Apollo. I never wanted to carry my family's legacy. But blood ties cannot be broken, and I’ll keep the promise I made my father on his dying bed. Legendary monsters hunt in city streets of Chicago, and my job was to take down the worst. I’ve trained with Heracles. Been blessed with super human powers. What I’ve never done is fallen in love—until Apollo crossed my path. But he isn’t the only god to catch my attention.

Cari Dix is tired of playing by the rules. Let everyone else race to rescue the fate of an empire. She chooses a return to the high seas and her raider ship, the Vengeance. Then, Cari discovers a secret that could change the world and once again save the heir to the Crystal Throne. The chase is on for Raider Captain Cari Dix. Her parents, Hal and Mona, follow along behind, trying to catch up to their daughter, lost in the game of Fantasma.

Gillian Armstead-Bancroft—Pride of the East Side and once-perfect bruja, wife, and mother—is going to spend her summer getting good at being bad. The first time she left Freedom, Kansas, behind, she did it by doing everything right. This time, she’ll hide from the large Mexican American family welcoming her home and work in secret to break the curse that’s erased her magical life. Only by doing it all wrong can Gillian get herself and her two children away from the ghosts of her hometown by summer’s end.

Despite the undeniable fact that Indigenous communities are among the most affected by climate devastation, Indigenous science is nowhere to be found in mainstream environmental policy or discourse. And while holistic land, water, and forest management practices born from millennia of Indigenous knowledge systems have much to teach all of us, Indigenous science has long been ignored, otherized, or perceived as "soft"--the product of a systematic, centuries-long campaign of racism, colonialism, extractive capitalism, and delegitimization.

In the small town of Farlow, mysterious advertisements appear for a summer scavenger hunt. Twelve-year-old Maggie and her friends can't wait. They have their team, and more than bragging rights, they want that huge cash prize. On the big day, a strange man welcomes everybody to the game. The first items are ridiculously easy ("An egg? Seriously?"), but they quickly grow more difficult. Even a little scary. Okay, a lot scary. When the game moves to the cemetery, nobody wants to play anymore. Except now it's too late to quit . . .