Showing results by narrator "Di Kay" in All Categories

A mixtape in story form. Fifty short stories inspired by the songs that helped one gay man find his voice, make sense of heartbreak, and uncover the shape of home. Structured like a double LP across eight thematic sides, each story arrives with the lyric that sparked it. Together they move through the full emotional range of gay life: first crushes and final goodbyes, quiet reckonings and soft landings, the moments we replay long after the person is gone.

In a future of near-instantaneous global travel, of abundant provision for the needs of all, a future in which no one living can remember an actual war, a long era of stability threatens to come to an abrupt end. For known only to a few, the leaders of the great Hives, nations without fixed location, have long conspired to keep the world stable, at the cost of just a little blood. A few secret murders, mathematically planned. So that no faction can ever dominate, and the balance holds. And yet the balance is beginning to give way.  

Your first kiss is supposed to be sweet. Ours was baptized in fire. I was the new girl trying to find her place. Landon was the brooding neighbor I tutored over the summer. I didn’t know he was a legend at Black Mountain Academy. I didn’t know they worshipped him like a religion. But, I fell for him before I knew those things. To me, he was just the tortured soul who drew me in like a magnet. And then, he did something so unspeakable, so unforgivable, it shattered me. I ran away then because I was weak, but I’ve shed my tears.

After accidentally witnessing a sword-wielding woman slay a demon in the streets of Boston, Valeriana is kidnapped and forced to enroll in the magical Celeste Academy. It would've been great if she fit right in, but while everyone's learning to use their magic powers to protect the world of Valemnia from demons, she's stuck being the only human in class! To make matters worse, the demons are getting stronger. Not only is Valemnia in growing danger, but Earth could be their next target. Surely demons can wait to destroy the world until she gets her life together, right?

I’ve made two impulsive decisions in my life, and both have involved the notorious enforcer of the Disciples MC. First, I humiliated myself by spying on him. Second, I decided to throw caution to the wind and show up at probably the worst possible time. He’s dangerous, demanding, and able to consume me with just one look. He’s also on trial for murder, and no one in his club trusts me. You’d think I’d run. I mean, the cards are stacked against us. But I can’t escape my need, this all-consuming pull I have with him.

Taking the nanny job was supposed to be a temporary arrangement for me. I needed money, not a full-blown life detour, with no prior qualifications, and definitely not a brooding billionaire with a too-serious stare and a daughter who hadn't smiled in months. But Ashton Cross isn't what I expected. Yes, he's powerful. Intimidating. Frustrating. He watches me like he's starving. He touches me like he's forgotten how. And I'm falling fast for a man who's everything I swore I'd stay away from.

Of all the things to end up in jail for, embezzling wasn’t what I thought would bring me down. I’ve got a pretty healthy arson and murder hobby on my downtime. White collar crimes never go to Scorchwood. I should have been given a fee and probation at most. Something is going on. My cell mate Skoll is an alpha wolf in for manslaughter. He wants me to meet Roman, a vampire, and Amduscias, a demon who is really shifty about what his demonic form is.

Life after death is supposed to be peaceful, right? You die, float off to paradise, and spend eternity sipping celestial cocktails with your fellow ghosts. Yeah. No. Turns out, my lying, cheating, suffocating husband had other plans. Literally. He wrapped his hands around my throat and squeezed the life out of me—and just like that, my story should've been over. But Death had other ideas.

Set in the underground bar and club scene of 1970s Tokyo, Set My Heart On Fire tells the story of Izumi in her turbulent twenties. Through a series of disarmingly frank vignettes, author Izumi Suzuki presents an unforgettable portrait of a young woman encountering missteps and miscommunication, good music and unreliable men, powerful drugs and disorientating meds. Izumi usually keeps her relationships short but complicated, until she meets Jun.

The Bloodstone imprisoned Sol. They want the power behind her birthmark. She wants to stop them from attaining their dark gifts. As she fights to free herself, she discovers a magic she never wanted. Each day, it whispers broken promises in her ears. Promises that make her question her people, the Bloodstone, and the fractured bond she shares with her husband. One question rises above the rest: Is she Kyanite or Bloodstone? The answer may lead her down a path she never wants to flee. Or it may write her fate in the sands, leaving her no choice but to escape.

Long Chao is the son of a hedge mage — a heretic cultivator. He doesn’t cultivate for power, but to satisfy his endless curiosity. One fateful day, Xiao Huifen, a girl aiming to be the youngest Sky Realm cultivator in the Monolith continent’s history, crashes into his life. She’s from the world of top-ranked sects and strict cultivation methodologies. They share nothing in common except for the unquenchable desire to unlock heaven’s every mystery.

Shepherd Security has its mental health protocols in place for a reason. PTSD is real. Returning from a mission to Africa that should have ended him, Doc finds out firsthand how real it is. He has a past that only Dr. Lassiter, the team shrink, knows about, a past that they both thought Doc had dealt with. They both thought wrong. The events in Africa trigger dark thoughts and feelings that Doc can’t get past.

When a warp engine malfunction spits them out in a distant corner of the galaxy, Lem and the crew of the Teapot seek refuge with the robotic catering staff of a backwater space station. With their ship out of action and comms offline, all they can do is wait for rescue … and enjoy the best snacks this side of the Oort Cloud.

Paris, 1923. Lily Levin boards a train with her baby daughter Mimi and American husband, leaving behind her beloved mother Chloe for a new life across the ocean. Carrying her mother’s precious diamond pin and the Yiddish lullabies she sings to Mimi, Lily faces an uncertain future in a country she’s never seen. In New York, as Lily struggles to fit in, she finds an unexpected ally in Gloria, a young mother hired to care for Mimi. The two women forge a friendship deeper than blood as they share dreams, fears, and their fierce love for their children. Then tragedy shatters their world.

The hardest part is waiting for the fall. I am currently in love with, have always been in love with, and will continue to be in love with, my best friend, Bennett Walker Shaw. In five minutes, my best friend's bride will greet him in a gorgeous white gown with forever on her lips. Except that...

Ghosts, ghouls, witches, and other unearthly creatures promise to chill the blood and raise the hair of even the most courageous listener. Volume Two in this series presents more classic horror to enjoy beyond the spooky season. Brought to you by the slightly unhinged Utah Audiobook Narrators.

Eric de Vries. Looks like millions. Worth billions. A body like the David with a mind to match. Unfortunately for this wayward heir, to keep his money, he needs a wife. And of all the women in the world, he chooses me. Too bad I've hated him for five years, since he took all my tears and tossed me away. The guy slept his way through half of New England and discarded women like hotel toiletries. Been there. Done that. Still...what would you do for 20 million dollars? Would you wear the dress? Fake a smile for the man who broke your heart? Or would you run far, far away?

Truly Langford-Bardot has spent her life pretending to be normal. No one knows about the monsters that stalk her sleep, or that she was left inside a cardboard box on the steps of a church as a newborn. Raised in foster care on the tough streets of Philadelphia, she learned to take care of herself. After being forced out of her dream job, a mysterious stranger arrives with proof she's heiress to a mansion in a ramshackle neighborhood. But upon entering her new home, Truly accidentally unlocks a door to a magical realm, releasing an ancient evil from its prison-along with a dark family secret.

Maya has died and been resurrected into countless cyborg bodies through the years of a dangerous long career with the infamous Dirty Dozen, the most storied crew of criminals in the galaxy, at least before their untimely and gruesome demise. Decades later, she and her diverse team of broken, diminished outlaws must get back together to solve the mystery of their disastrous last mission and to rescue a missing and much-changed comrade … but they’re not the only ones in pursuit of the secret at the heart of the planet Dimmuborgir.

Drawing on her own experiences as a hostess and adult film actor, Gifted—Suzumi Suzuki's first novel to be translated into English—offers a nuanced, frank, and intimate portrayal of the lives of a mother and daughter getting by (or not) in an industry rarely depicted authentically in literary fiction.