Books with author Celeste

Freedom. Love. Duty. War. When those things collide, human Clara finds herself faced with the Revant named Renall, and choosing between love and the life she planned...Clara Waters is aboard a supposed brideship headed to a planet far from her home world, it’s her punishment for being a carder and carrying currency on a world ruled by an oppressive and dangerous government that often lets its poor citizens starve.The ship is taken over by wreckers headed up by four brothers, none of whom know that there are brides aboard as the ship is listed as a mere non-life-form carrying cargo ship. When the wreckers attack to strip the ship Renall, the eldest, finds himself face to face with Clara, who is not about to go down without a fight.Clara does not want to be attracted to Renall. He owns a gambling hall on Orbitary and he makes her an offer she can’t refuse. He will reunite her with her family and remove the chip that would prevent her from escaping the Federation’s clutches as a prisoner, but at a high price. Not to mention he is betrothed to a female of his own dying race, and not just any female, a pureblooded Revant whose father is the king of a planet next to the one Renall and his brothers are determined to buy.Renall does not want to fall for her either. Clara, as beautiful and tough as she is, couldcost him everything he has spent centuries working for. But he can’t stay away from her either.With the Federation loosing a spy into the brother’s midst and futures hanging in the balance Clara and Renall will have to decide whether to admit their feelings and forge a life together, or flee to opposite ends of the galaxy in search of the shelter they both so desperately need.Revant Warriors Renall is the first book in the Revant Warriors Standalone series. All books in this page-turning Sci-Fi romance series can be read as standalones, there are no cliffhangers, and happily ever afters are guaranteedNote: Adults Only!

Giselle is a cultured ballet student, the daughter of the famous ballerina Marina Parke-Vanova and the late dance historian Grigori Vanov. On her first-ever trip to "Westchest-ah", as her mother's deranged boyfriend Blitz calls it, she meets the most beautiful boy she's ever seen. Will introduces Giselle to the world beyond Manhattan, and for the first time, makes her feel comfortable outside her perfectly protected apartment on Central Park West. But Giselle has some issues to overcome--and some memories about her father that keep rising to the surface. With Will's help, Giselle must come to terms with her family's glorious--and not so glorious--past and focus on the future.

[Read by Cassandra Campbell] A haunting debut novel about a mixed-race family living in 1970s Ohio and the tragedy that will either be their undoing or their salvation. Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet . . . So begins the story in this exquisite debut novel about a Chinese American family living in a small town in 1970s Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother's bright blue eyes and her father's jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue - in Marilyn's case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker, in James' case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the center of every party. - - When Lydia's body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together tumbles into chaos, forcing them to confront the long-kept secrets that have been slowly pulling them apart. James, consumed by guilt, sets out on a reckless path that may destroy his marriage. Marilyn, devastated and vengeful, is determined to find a responsible party, no matter what the cost. Lydia's older brother, Nathan, is certain the neighborhood bad boy Jack is somehow involved. But it's the youngest of the family, Hannah, who observes far more than anyone realizes - and who may be the only one who knows the truth about what happened. - - A profoundly moving story of family, history, and the meaning of home, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, exploring the divisions between cultures and the rifts within a family and uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.

In the village of Huanan, in medieval China, the deity that rules is the Great Huli Jing. Though twelve-year-old Li Jing's name is a different character entirely from the Huli Jing, the sound is close enough to provide constant teasing-but maybe is also a source of greater destiny and power. Jing's life isn't easy. Her father is a poor tea farmer, and her family has come to the conclusion that in order for everyone to survive, Jing must be sacrificed for the common good. She is sold as a bride to the Koh family, where she will be the wife and nursemaid to their three-year-old son, Ju'nan. It's not fair, and Jing feels this bitterly, especially when she is treated poorly by the Koh's, and sold yet again into a worse situation that leads Jing to believe her only option is to run away, and find home again. With the help of a spider who weaves Jing a means to escape, and a nightingale who helps her find her way, Jing embarks on a quest back to Huanan--and to herself.

SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, CELESTE NG! "Witty, wise and tender. It's a marvel." - Paula Hawkins, New York Times-bestselling author of The Girl on the Train and Into the Water. From the bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You, a riveting novel that traces the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives "I read Little Fires Everywhere in a single, breathless sitting. With brilliance and beauty, Celeste Ng dissects a microcosm of American society just when we need to see it beneath the microscope..." -Jodi Picoult, New York Times-bestselling author of Small Great Things and Leaving Time In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned - from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules. Enter Mia Warren - an enigmatic artist and single mother - who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community. When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town--and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs. Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood - and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster.

[Read by Cassandra Campbell] A haunting debut novel about a mixed-race family living in 1970s Ohio and the tragedy that will either be their undoing or their salvation. Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet . . . So begins the story in this exquisite debut novel about a Chinese American family living in a small town in 1970s Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother's bright blue eyes and her father's jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue - in Marilyn's case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker, in James' case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the center of every party. - - When Lydia's body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together tumbles into chaos, forcing them to confront the long-kept secrets that have been slowly pulling them apart. James, consumed by guilt, sets out on a reckless path that may destroy his marriage. Marilyn, devastated and vengeful, is determined to find a responsible party, no matter what the cost. Lydia's older brother, Nathan, is certain the neighborhood bad boy Jack is somehow involved. But it's the youngest of the family, Hannah, who observes far more than anyone realizes - and who may be the only one who knows the truth about what happened. - - A profoundly moving story of family, history, and the meaning of home, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, exploring the divisions between cultures and the rifts within a family and uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.

"Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet" . . . So begins the story of this exquisite debut novel, about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother's bright blue eyes and her father's jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue--in Marilyn's case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker, in James's case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the center of every party. When Lydia's body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together tumbles into chaos, forcing them to confront the long-kept secrets that have been slowly pulling them apart. James, consumed by guilt, sets out on a reckless path that may destroy his marriage. Marilyn, devastated and vengeful, is determined to find a responsible party, no matter what the cost. Lydia's older brother, Nathan, is certain that the neighborhood bad boy Jack is somehow involved. But it's the youngest of the family--Hannah--who observes far more than anyone realizes and who may be the only one who knows the truth about what happened. A profoundly moving story of family, history, and the meaning of home, "Everything I Never Told You" is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, exploring the divisions between cultures and the rifts within a family, and uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.

Mike Celeste's Prophecy of the Eagle 1, the first of a two book series, is a powerful and unique coming of age novel about a Native American boy's journey into manhood using the lessons he has learned on the lacrosse field and with the love and tradition of his family and tribe. The story opens with Chief Pontiac's capturing an English fort in 1763 under the ruse of playing a lacrosse game. Pontiac's uprising is born of an ancient prophecy in which a giant eagle sweeps the white man from Indian lands. Pontiac's uprising is eventually quelled and the prophecy yet unfulfilled until...fast forward to 1910 in upper state New York where we meet our protagonist, Jake, a 17 year old Onondaga, who thinks of little other than earning the right to play lacrosse with the men of his tribe against the vaunted Mohawks during the Green Corn Festival, earning the respect of his grandfather, a chief, and winning the love of his sweetheart, Sarah. Proving his readiness to play in the game against the Mohawks by touching the tail of a deer in the hunt, Jake soon gets his chance to display his talents in his peoples' game, lacrosse, given to them by the Creator. But the game takes on deeper meaning as Jake copes with the challenges of love, responsibility, rivalry, victory and defeat and a sinister group that threatens Jake's journey on the path of becoming a human being and fulfilling the prophecy of the eagle.

Kinetoscope tells the true story of the author's father who was born in Germany and who fought in World War I on the German side during the years 1917-1918. In post World War I Germany Willy suffered from "shell-shock" and his future in economically-bankrupt Germany appeared depressing and demoralizing. Then, a relative in the United States initiated a series of events that caused Willy to immigrate to America where he lived in freedom, married, and started a loving family.