Showing results by narrator "Katie Koster" in All Categories

Vampires and merpeople, angels and demons—the stories in this anthology imagine worlds where the only thing more powerful than the supernatural, is love. A girl in a graveyard goes on an unexpected date, a shipwrecked sailor makes a connection on a forbidden island, a piano melody summons a soul mate. Creatures of folktales and legend, of land and sea, of centuries past and life after life, all wrapped into one spellbinding compendium. Once you sink into its story, it’ll never let you go.

For years, Edna Miller has found herself drawn to Emery Hoschtettler with an attraction she can explain no better than she can put a stop to it. Other suitors come and go, but none make her feel the way she feels around Emery - that incredible floating feeling, as if she was walking on air, mixed with a painful desperation to be ever nearer to him. Despite the fact that Emery seldom seems to pay her much attention, she decides it would be unfair to marry anyone else when her heart longs only for him. He hasn’t seriously dated anyone else either.

Pregnant and alone, Sarah Hughes finds herself in a village at the mercy of strangers. Along comes Bear who is determined to bring her home. She doesn't want to leave but having killed a man she is left with little choice. On the run with an Indian who calls her a spoiled brat isn't the best of starts to romance. Over time, she comes to see the person behind the stony face. Bear is intent on staying single due to his mixed heritage. Can Sarah prove to herself and Bear, not to mention their respective friends that they belong together?

Ricky and Nini, who play Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez, share chemistry on and off the stage, but with their understudies E.J. and Gina plotting to take over their roles, will these talented performers make it to opening night?

Dare Chase doesn’t believe in ghosts. But as the host of Attachments, her brand-new paranormal investigation podcast, she knows to keep her doubts to herself if she wants to win over listeners. Her first season’s subject is the Arrington Estate - a sprawling manor rumored to be haunted by the spirit of Atheleen Bell, who drowned in its lake almost 30 years ago. Dare’s more interested in investigating the suspicious circumstances of Atheleen’s death, which she thinks point to a decades-old murder, not something supernatural. But Arrington is full of surprises.

Years ago, a tragic accident robbed me of my mother and emotions. Because I find beauty in darkness and thrive outside social norms, I’ve been labeled a “freak” at school. I know my continued apathy hurts my loved ones, but I’m not about to change. Nothing will ever hurt me again. Then I wake up in an alternate reality...and everything else has changed. Goth is in. I’m considered cool, and my archenemy is the freak. But my real friends won’t talk to me...and the new boy is getting under my skin. As my world spins out of control, I’m desperate to return to normal.

When a guy named Martin Nathaniel Munroe II texts you, it should be obvious who you're talking to. Except there's two of them (it's a long story), and Haley thinks she's talking to the one she doesn't hate. A question about a class project rapidly evolves into an all-consuming conversation. Haley finds that Martin is actually willing to listen to her weird facts and unusual obsessions, and Martin feels like Haley is the first person to really see who he is. Haley and Martin might be too awkward to hang out in real life, but over text, they're becoming addicted to each other.

Harriet Wolf's Seventh Book of Wonders tells the moving story of the unforgettable Wolf women in four distinct voices: the mysterious Harriet, who, until now, has never revealed the secrets of her past; her fiery, overprotective daughter, Eleanor; and her two grown granddaughters - Tilton, the fragile yet exuberant younger sister who's become a housebound hermit, and Ruth, the older sister who ran away at 16 and never looked back.

Thirteen-year-old Gabby Woods is looking forward to another summer vacation at her family’s lake house, even though she would rather bury herself in a mystery novel than make new friends. But soon Gabby befriends Paige, a snarky kid from Chicago, and they get caught up in a local mystery: the sudden disappearance of a glamorous couple and the extravagant lake house they left behind. To gather clues about the missing couple, Paige coaxes Gabby into trespassing, even though she knows it’s wrong. Yet, each sneaky visit to the abandoned lake house uncovers new mysteries.

Becky Thompson doesn't take no for an answer. She knows what she wants, and his name is Scott Jones. Scott Jones's future was stolen along with his heart. He cannot love Becky, but can he keep her safe? After months of illness, deprivation and betrayal, with the end in sight have their problems only started?

When you feel that pull to be part of social change, where do you start? How can you ensure that your good intentions create a positive impact? How do you focus your scattered efforts? And how do you sustain yourself throughout? Impact brings you the answers. Drawing on their network and experience as founders of She's the First, Christen Brandt and Tammy Tibbetts show you how to create your own impact strategy, one that fits into your life and allows you to match what you have with what the world needs.

Tenley Reed and Sydney Morgan have never seen eye to eye - until now. United by a common goal, they are determined to find out who was behind their friend's murder. Joined by Emerson Cunningham, a gorgeous but troubled teen model, the girls start their own investigation. But in the isolated beach town of Echo Bay, it's hard to know who's a friend and who's an enemy.

Friends for over a decade, Amanda and Sophie decide it’s time to flip the script. Why not spend their lives with each other and keep men on the side for fun, sex, and occasionally fixing things around the house? Amanda is a lawyer who excels in her professional life but crumbles at the slightest sign of a common cold. Sophie is an aspiring artist who has lived all over the world and doesn’t crumble, period. Together, they’ve been through it all. But when their romantic lives implode at the same time, they decide enough is enough.

Seventeen-year-old Rory McShane has signed on to be a summer errand girl for the Rules, a wealthy family. Feeling claustrophobic in her country-club world, the youngest Rule child, 17-year-old Isabel, embarks on a summer romance her family would never approve of. Isabel has decided that this is the summer for taking chances, and she's bringing Rory along for the ride. The girls forge a true friendship, but when secrets start to surface and Rory reveals that she has feelings for someone, too - Connor Rule, Isabel's older brother - their relationship is put to the test.

Themes of unspoiled paradise tamed by progress can be seen in stories about pioneer history across the US, especially in Florida. Selling Vero Beach explores how settlers from northern states created myths about the Indian River area on Florida's Atlantic Coast, importing ideas about the region's Indigenous peoples and marketing the land as an idyllic, fertile place of possibilities.

It all started on a whim: The game was a way for Tenley Reed to reclaim her popularity, a chance for perfect Caitlin "Angel" Thomas to prove she's more than her Harvard application. Loner Sydney Morgan wasn't even there; she was hiding behind her camera, as usual. But when all three start receiving mysterious dares long after the party has ended, they're forced to play along - or risk exposing their darkest secrets. How far will Tenley, Caitlin, and Sydney go to keep the truth from surfacing? And who's behind this twisted game?

Angelica Marie Hutcherson only agreed to write 250 words on the Academic Battle for the Homecoming Edition of the school's newspaper because the editor won't accept any of her other stories. But as Angelica starts to do her research, she comes to a startling realization: The Academic Battle, the Homecoming game, and the class election have all accidentally been scheduled on the same day, and it's too late to do anything about it!

Here, with laugh-out-loud humor and well-earned experience, Julie Vick offers coping mechanisms for everything from sharing the news that you are becoming a parent to the moment the baby is born (one way or another, it will happen), from managing doctor’s visits to handling playdates. She offers advice on finding childcare and ignoring the nursing versus formula conversation with strangers. Witty yet valuable, her tips and checklists focus on the time from pregnancy through preschool.

Alexandra Campbell’s life comes to a crashing halt the night her younger sister is killed during a convenience store robbery. Shattered by guilt, Alex distances herself from her friends and family. Months later, with the police investigation stalled, she fears justice may never be served. Determined to avenge her sister’s murder, Alex disguises herself and joins the gang responsible for the shooting.

When the resurrectionists of Fissure's Whipp begin disappearing, 18-year-old Allie knows someone is after their blood - or, more accurately, the genetic mutation that allows their blood to heal wounds, save lives, and even bring back the recently deceased. She's trained her whole life to protect herself by any means necessary, from self-defense classes to extensive weapons training in knives. Now she’s gone so far as to befriend a homeless boy named Ploy who unknowingly trades a few nights a week on her couch in exchange for being a human tripwire to those hunting her.