Showing results by narrator "Shakira Shute" in All Categories

She was born to be a queen, yet she’s nothing more than a political pawn. With no name and no place to call her own, she’s doing her best to hold on to the only thing that belongs to her and her alone—her soul. A difficult task, given that she was kept alive for the sole purpose of being given to the formidable King Rowan of Northrend to fulfill the treaty signed by the three kingdoms of Greatland long before she was born.

Jamie is proud of everything he’s achieved. A consultant anesthetist and the medical education director - he’s a pretty big deal. So when one of his medical students falls asleep, right in the middle of a tutorial, he is furious. He’s a bloody good teacher, damn it! Maybe he could have been a little more understanding. Maybe he didn’t have to try to humiliate her. But the shock of how beautiful this particular student was when she finally opened her eyes, and his inappropriate reaction, only fueled his anger.

When Hannah met David, it was love at first sight. They were married quickly, but she knew it was the right choice. They're always laughing, the passion is unmatched, and they want the same things. Most of all, they both want a family. For David, it's doubly important. He tragically lost his first wife, Katherine, several years before. Hannah is, he says, the person who saved him from his grief. Although his friends worried he was moving on too fast, and Hannah sometimes still feels a strange jealousy towards his first wife, deep down she knows she's meant to be his happily-ever-after.

When beautiful and successful Susan Harris jumps from the roof of her apartment building, she sets a tremor through her New York City mothers’ group that forces them all to look at one another with new cynicism: How could this have happened right under their noses? To one of them? Between her death and the harrowing private school admission season on the horizon, these women are forced to explore the hard truths about themselves.

The first in a new historical rom-com series, a handsome earl hires a fake fiancée to keep his matchmaking mother at bay, but hilarity ensues when love threatens to complicate everything.

Working as a maid on a luxury yacht certainly isn't Urvi's idea of a dream job, but she needs money—fast. As a student at the Royal Academy who's been cut off by her family for choosing music instead of medicine, she needs every penny of the exorbitant fee the powerful advertising executive, Jack Bailey, is willing to pay. So what if she thought Jack was asking her out but offered her a job instead? So what if she thought they had a connection during all those late-night chats they had at the bar where she works? Jack and his mega yacht are clearly more out of her league than she realized.

When Bella stumbles upon her dead sister’s diary, she sets out on a mission to find her sister’s killer, but it leads her to the wrong side of town. And right into the path of Rocco, a loner, a bad boy, who is determined to keep her away. After all, you protect your own, and Bella certainly doesn’t belong with the likes of him. But it’s hard to move on when you’re chained to the past, and Bella is intent on getting justice for her sister…even if it’s at the cost of her own life.

My time with the Blackwoods opened my eyes to a frightening side of the new world I belong to. The night brought me closer to Tobias, but now he’s discovered a hidden connection that tears us apart. My reality turns upside down for the second time since I arrived at the academy and my visions become more horrific.

Gabriel de León has saved the Holy Grail from death, but his chance to end the endless night is lost. After turning his back on his silversaint brothers once and for all, Gabriel and the Grail set out to learn the truth of how Daysdeath might finally be undone. But the last silversaint faces peril, within and without. Pursued by children of the Forever King, drawn into wars and webs centuries in the weaving, and ravaged by his own rising bloodlust, Gabriel may not survive to see the truth of the Grail revealed.

The princess always knew her name would come with a price, but she never knew how steep the cost would be. Falsely accused of killing her husband’s family, she’s on the run with the father she never knew. With his help and a band of outcasts, she’s learning just how much she might have to pay, not only to save herself but also all of Greatland. It’s up to her to learn who she truly is and restore the ways of the Ancestors. Yet what her heart yearns for most is to be reunited with the man she must speak her name to first—Rowan, King of Northrend.

Standing in the remote windswept moors of Northern England, Coldwell Hall is the perfect place to hide. For the past five years, Kate Furniss has maintained her professional mask so carefully that she almost believes she is the character she has created: Coldwell’s respectable housekeeper. It is the summer of 1911 that brings new faces above and below the stairs of Coldwell Hall—including the handsome and mysterious new footman, Jem Arden. Just as the house’s shuttered rooms open, so does Kate’s guarded heart to a love affair that is as intense as it is forbidden.

When Ellie and Ash move into a beautiful old house in rural Norfolk, England, they believe they’ve found their perfect home. Intrigued by the people next door, Ellie befriends shy but sweet Benjamin and, as time goes by, becomes ever more curious about his elusive sister, Virginia.

Duncan Stone is one of the country's most eligible bachelors, and he wants to take me, Callie Parker, on a date. At first I am surprised and flattered, the envy of my friends. Then when our whirlwind romance escalates and he asks me to move in with him, it's like a dream come true. But as I get to really know my new boyfriend, my fairytale turns into a nightmare. Duncan is no Prince Charming. He is the Devil.

After her brother loses their entire family fortune in a wager he cannot afford, Alice ventures into the Rose Briar Woods to make a deal with the formidable Fae marquis who now owns her family’s estate—a portrait in exchange for her brother’s freedom. But instead of Lord Ambrose, the young artist meets a mysterious masked man who saves her when her carriage is attacked by goblins. Right away, Alice realizes Lord Ambrose is not what she expects. He’s kind when the Fae are supposed to be cold. And he’s hiding a painful past—one that seems to have something to do with Alice.

The Women on Platform Two is a haunting, powerful story of feminine resistance and resilience that reminds us all of where we started—and how far we still have to go.

For centuries, vampires freely roamed the land until the Grays came out of nowhere, wiping out half the population in a night. The survivors fled to the last vampire city of First Light, where the rules are simple. If you’re poor, you drink weak blood. If you’re nobility, you get the good stuff. And you can never, ever leave. Palace maid Sam has had enough of these rules, and she’s definitely had enough of cleaning the bedpans of the lords who enforce them. When the son of the city’s ruler is murdered, she seizes the chance to blackmail her way into a better class and better blood.

Following events at the lodge and my unfortunate encounter with the fence post, I've no choice but to turn to my father for help. Of course, my blood-covered entourage of guys don't exactly receive a warm welcome, but at least Grayson walks away in one piece. With suspects galore, I can't stay on the edge if I want to find the truth, so I'm forced to insert myself further into the Thornwood Academy social scene.

In the short time since father dearest dumped me here, I've collected a couple of murder accusations, a deadly witch bond with one guy, and a thirst for the blood of another. Good grief. What next? I'm neck-deep in investigations to clear my name, and as I peel away each layer of facade from town and academy life I discover more shady connections between supes and humans. The local business mogul and his vampire attorney. The mysterious talismans bestowed on the sons of influential families. Shifters with a vendetta against almost everyone. It's the murder-mystery gift that keeps on giving.

As Hollywood prepares for its most glamorous evening, five actresses compete to see who will claim the top prize. With humor, wit, and an insider’s insight, The Talent peels back the layers of women who are in the business of being perceived. And while they work to push their careers forward and maintain the public’s goodwill, all five are forced to confront truths about themselves that they would rather ignore.

Lady Clover’s life suddenly takes a turn for the worse when she’s framed for necromancy by Princess Camellia. She and the princess both know she’s not a dark magic user, but little good that does Clover when Camellia disappears. The kingdom is in turmoil over the abduction of their beloved princess, and Clover is determined to find her way into the rescue party - even if Henrik, the most handsome commander in all Caldenbauer and the man of her reoccurring dreams, is in charge.