Books with author Cris Dukehart

When five-week-old Prudence, a brown tabby, meets a woman named Sarah in a deserted construction site on Manhattan's Lower East Side, she knows she's found the human she was meant to adopt. For three years their lives are filled with laughter, tuna, catnaps, music, and the unchanging routines Prudence craves. Then one day Sarah doesn't come home. From Prudence's perch on the windowsill she sees Laura, the daughter who hardly ever comes to visit Sarah, arrive with her new husband. They're carrying boxes. Before they even get to the front door, Prudence realizes that her life has changed forever.Suddenly Prudence finds herself living in a strange apartment with humans she barely knows. It could take years to train them in the feline courtesies and customs (for example, a cat should always be fed before the humans, and at the same exact time every day) that Sarah understood so well. Prudence clings to the hope that Sarah will come back for her, while Laura, a rising young corporate attorney, tries to push away memories of her mother and the tumultuous childhood spent in her mother's dusty downtown record store. But the secret joys, past hurts, and life-changing moments that make every mother-daughter relationship special will come to the surface. With Prudence's help, Laura will learn that the past, like a mother's love, never dies.Poignant, insightful, and laugh-out-loud funny, Love Saves the Day is a story of hope, healing, and how the love of an animal can make all of us better humans. It's the story of a mother and daughter divided by the turmoil of bohemian New York, and the opinionated, irrepressible feline who will become the bridge between them. It's a novel for anyone who's ever lost a loved one, wondered what their cat was really thinking, or fallen asleep with a purring feline nestled in their arms. Prudence, a cat like no other, is sure to steal your heart.

Maggie is a seventeen-year-old girl who's had a bad year. She was smart and on track, but her mom left, her dad is depressed, she's graduating, barely, and her boyfriend of almost three years dumped her for a college football scholarship. Lately she thinks life is all about hanging on by a thread and is gripping tight with everything she has. Then she meets Caleb. She saves his life and instantly knows there's something about him that's intriguing, but she's supposed to be on her way to a date with his cousin. Things change when they touch, sparks ignite. Literally. They imprint with each other and she sees their future life together flash before her eyes. She learns that not only is she his soul mate, and can feel his heartbeat in her chest, but there is a whole other world of people with gifts and abilities that she never knew existed. She herself is experiencing supernatural changes unlike anything she's ever felt before and she needs the touch of his skin to survive. Now, not only has her dad come out of his depression to be a father again, but Caleb's enemies know that Caleb is imprinted and are after Maggie to stop them both from gaining their abilities. Can Caleb save her or will they be forced to live without each other after just finding one another?

When five-week-old Prudence, a brown tabby, meets a woman named Sarah in a deserted construction site on Manhattan's Lower East Side, she knows she's found the human she was meant to adopt. For three years their lives are filled with laughter, tuna, catnaps, music, and the unchanging routines Prudence craves. Then one day Sarah doesn't come home. From Prudence's perch on the windowsill she sees Laura, the daughter who hardly ever comes to visit Sarah, arrive with her new husband. They're carrying boxes. Before they even get to the front door, Prudence realizes that her life has changed forever.Suddenly Prudence finds herself living in a strange apartment with humans she barely knows. It could take years to train them in the feline courtesies and customs (for example, a cat should always be fed before the humans, and at the same exact time every day) that Sarah understood so well. Prudence clings to the hope that Sarah will come back for her, while Laura, a rising young corporate attorney, tries to push away memories of her mother and the tumultuous childhood spent in her mother's dusty downtown record store. But the secret joys, past hurts, and life-changing moments that make every mother-daughter relationship special will come to the surface. With Prudence's help, Laura will learn that the past, like a mother's love, never dies.Poignant, insightful, and laugh-out-loud funny, Love Saves the Day is a story of hope, healing, and how the love of an animal can make all of us better humans. It's the story of a mother and daughter divided by the turmoil of bohemian New York, and the opinionated, irrepressible feline who will become the bridge between them. It's a novel for anyone who's ever lost a loved one, wondered what their cat was really thinking, or fallen asleep with a purring feline nestled in their arms. Prudence, a cat like no other, is sure to steal your heart.

Maggie is a seventeen-year-old girl who's had a bad year. She was smart and on track, but her mom left, her dad is depressed, she's graduating, barely, and her boyfriend of almost three years dumped her for a college football scholarship. Lately she thinks life is all about hanging on by a thread and is gripping tight with everything she has. Then she meets Caleb. She saves his life and instantly knows there's something about him that's intriguing, but she's supposed to be on her way to a date with his cousin. Things change when they touch, sparks ignite. Literally. They imprint with each other and she sees their future life together flash before her eyes. She learns that not only is she his soul mate, and can feel his heartbeat in her chest, but there is a whole other world of people with gifts and abilities that she never knew existed. She herself is experiencing supernatural changes unlike anything she's ever felt before and she needs the touch of his skin to survive. Now, not only has her dad come out of his depression to be a father again, but Caleb's enemies know that Caleb is imprinted and are after Maggie to stop them both from gaining their abilities. Can Caleb save her or will they be forced to live without each other after just finding one another?

When a young sorceress is exiled to teach magic to a clan of assassins, she will find that secrets can be even deadlier than swords. Teen Vogue proclaimed, It's impossible not to fall deep into the dark yet alluring world of sorcery and secret assassins. A dangerous and eerie fantasy about murder, shocking discoveries, and fiery star-crossed romance that readers of Cinda Williams Chima and Robin LaFevers won't be able to put down.Ileni is losing her magic. And that means she's losing everything: her position as the rising star of her people, her purpose in life, and even the young man she loves. Sent to the assassins' cave hidden deep within the mountains, she expects no one will ever hear from her again. The last two sorcerers sent died within weeks of each other. Accidents? Or something more sinister? As Ileni navigates the dangers--both natural and human--of the caves, she'll discover secrets that have been kept for decades. And she'll find an ally in Sorin, the deadly young man who could be the assassins' next leader. With Sorin determined to protect her, sparks--magical and romantic--will fly. But will even he understand the choice she must make in the end?

While vacationing on an island with her parents, a young girl must overcome her greatest fear in order to rescue the local animals and sea life from the magical curse of a villainous toad. Beloved by fans for her beautifully written stories and interesting characters, Rusalka Reh has penned yet another fun and fantastical tale that is sure to enchant young readers the world over. When Kat’s mom suggests a family vacation to the beach, her ten-year-old daughter is less than thrilled. In fact, the idea sounds downright lousy, considering the fact that Kat is terrified of the water. Yet from the moment they arrive, Kat senses there is something very unusual about the island. Her hunch turns out to be right: moments after discovering a strange whistle in the surf, she realizes she can hear the island’s animals talking to her. She doesn’t understand why…until a dolphin known as the Water Knight tells her about a curse cast upon the island by a villainous toad. Only a child can break the spell and only during a special full moon that shines once every forty years. The dolphin tells Kat that just such a night is rapidly approaching, and it’s up to her to free the island from the curse. But to do so, she must dive down into the toad’s lair, deep beneath the ocean’s dark waters. Packed with adventure and suspense, this story about a plucky girl conquering her greatest fear makes for a rousing—and heartwarming—read. A worthy follow-up to her novel Pizzicato: the Abduction of the Magic Violin, Rusalka Reh’s newest tale, The Secret of the Water Knight, is sure to be praised for its excitement and suspense and hailed as a “compelling story of adventure…in the vein of a classic story, enjoyable by young and old alike.”

A young sorceress's entire life has been shaped to destroy the empire controlling her world. She could change history. But everything she thinks she knows is a lie. The sequel to the critically acclaimed Death Sworn will thrill fans of Leigh Bardugo and Robin LaFevers.At seventeen, Ileni lost her magical power and was exiled to the hidden caves of the assassins. She trained the assassins in magic--and fell in love with one of them. And she discovered her entire life had been built on a lie. After all of this, she wants to see the truth for herself. She infiltrates the Imperial Academy of Sorcery. She will see everything she despises about the corrupt empire--its thirst for power, merciless control, and careless violence. But she also finds something she never expected--friends, and a place to belong. Ileni no longer knows whose side she is on. Leah Cypess spins an intricate and beautiful conclusion to Death Sworn.