When Doug lost his only grandson in Afghanistan from a terrorist I.E.D., it was unbearable for him. Michael had been like a son to him and his grief led him on his own personal war to hunt down the 35 suspected terrorist cells in America. Follow as he hunts them down and does his best to destroy them.In the fifth book of the series, family loyalties are put to the test; Eric and Travis fret over Tanner, while Eric’s girlfriend Dana proves Sam and Jenny’s youngest hasn't fallen far from the tree. Mitch’s tenure in Iraq continues as Chelsea marries, then receives the shock of her life.As the recession hits America, the Cassels and Smiths are faced with further joys and dilemmas; Will and Bethany give Sam and Jenny their first grandchild, but Eric is torn by his love for an injured young woman. Jenny’s aches grow worse, but help for her illness soothes Rachel’s heart. David finds Rachel’s new boyfriend lacking, but when a cousin’s life is on the line, David’s reckless nature triggers a crisis.Events in Iraq add to the melancholy, but as a family gathers for various holidays, love is paramount. Then hearts are broken when one man’s revenge explodes. Will Arkendale ever be the same?

How would the course of your life change if someone new sat next to you?Meet Liz. She’s sixteen, the daughter of immigrant parents, doesn’t fit in at home and hides in plain sight in school. She’s an outsider until she’s rescued by an unlikely friendship that changes her life.How would the course of your life change if someone new sat next to you?Meet Liz. She’s sixteen, the daughter of immigrant parents, doesn’t fit in at home and hides in plain sight in school. She’s an outsider until she’s rescued by an unlikely friendship that changes her life.FALLING (first in the Bits and Pieces Series) is a coming of age friendship story about Liz that chronicles parts of her life during the fall of her junior year. She’s had a rough year and managed to get through it without anyone’s support, including her parents’. Her life changes when her physics teacher assigns new seats in class and Patrick, her new lab partner, befriends her. Unlike her past partners, Patrick challenges her to see the true meaning of teamwork and friendship. With him as her new best friend, she learns what friendship is really about and starts to find herself in the process.

Karen is the most talented student in her ice-skating class. Her new friend, the best skater in Stoneybrook, thinks Karen could grow up to be a champ. But it will take hard work...and Karen is sick of practicing!

Min Ho Jun is the heir to his father's business, but there are those who believe he can't take on the job. His father decides to prepare him for the position and he is suddenly faced with the daunting task of winning over a board of directors as well as working with a man he doesn't trust.Min Ho Jun He is the heir to Hanje Group. When the three friends he trusts leave Seoul for a year, he is left to face the daunting task of leading Hanje Group alone. His father orders his Chief Executive, Young Jae to help him adjust but they clash at every turn.Young Jae KimHe works for Hanje Group. His job is to make sure that Min Ho's father gets what he wants. Until he is ordered to work with Min Ho, the spoiled rich brat from hell. Love finds these two men in the most unexpected of ways. That Dog, Young Jae is about a journey of growing up,making choices and holding on to love.

Meet The Five. They will become more than friends amid the crucible of college. Yet, none are prepared for events to come.One will triumph. One will be betrayed. One will be left broken-hearted. One could lose herself. And one could lose her life.Because life is never the same after we experience the many adventures and the dueling dangers of those long, dark college nights...By Lucy St. JohnAll will love. All will lose. All will change.And it happens during those long, dark and crazy College Nights...Meet The Five: The striking -- and strikingly different -- female friends are newly arrived college freshman, and their entire future is before them. Monica is the sheltered police chief's daughter. Sonya is the sexually adventurous artist. Amanda is the British-born photojournalism student. Chelsea is wide-eyed innocent from a small town. And Lauren is the streetwise skateboarder from Philly.They come together to form an unbreakable bond at Pennsylvania's Old State University, a football powerhouse party school rocked by scandal, not unlike Penn State.What their future holds in love and life is anyone's guess. That’s because there is no freedom like the first flush of freedom at college. There are no friends like college friends. And there are no nights like college nights, when anything is possible.The Five will become more than friends amid the crucible of college. Yet, none are prepared for events to come. One will triumph. One will be betrayed. One will be left broken-hearted. One could lose herself. And one could lose her life.Because life is never the same after we experience the many adventures and the dueling dangers of those long, dark college nights...Lucy St. John, author of the acclaimed Morgan Chase series, turns her keen attention to detail, her zest for suspense and her utter love for romance to the institution where career women are made -- college.A place to learn, to be sure. But also a place to experiment. A place to be bold. A place to find ourselves -- and each other. A place to become the women we were always meant to be. And that's just the College Nights.The romantic, erotic, suspenseful and true-to-life adventure begins now with "Innocence - College Nights Book One" by Lucy St. John.Their world will never be the same. Neither will yours. Not after those crazy College Nights.Don't miss a second when the sun goes down...*This e-book contains 46,000 words.

A short story of 5k words. April Stevens works, day in and day out, in an office, part of the secretarial pool. There is nothing remarkable about her life; it is pristine, organized, ordered. She dislikes change, dislikes the unpredictable. But she is changing, and in ways that she can’t predict, doesn’t understand, and can no longer hide...

When Danny and Jake enter the graveyard on Halloween, for a bet, Danny climbs the wall of a mausoleum, loses his footing, and falls inside. Upon regaining his senses, Danny realises he is not alone in the tomb. He shares this dark place with a strange, shadowy man who loves to tell scary stories to pass the time. As the night progresses, Danny learns that there is much more to fear than stories.Young Danny and his friend, Jake, love everyting about Halloween - and are regular 'Trick or Treaters'. On their way home after a particularly good Halloween night, full of candy and chocolate, they simply had to stop off and visit Blacklow Cemetery. The huge, circular mausoleum, with its imposing high wall and the strange old tree at its centre was the focus of a bet. Would Danny have the courage to scale the wall and climb up on top, to look down at the mysterious interior of this communal grave? You bet! And what's more, he would win ten pounds from his best friend, Jake, for taking the dare!But when Danny loses his balance and falls inside, suddenly it's not so much fun any more.As Jake runs for help, and Danny's spinning senses start to clear, he realises he is not alone inside the circular tomb. He has a companion, the strange and shadowy Mr Fraxinus; a man who seems to enjoy Halloween just as much as Danny and Jake. A man who likes to pass the time telling stories of a distinctly spooky nature...And with each story told, Danny's sense of very real terror begins to increase.A collection of linked short and scary stories, from master macabre-story teller, John Clewarth - author of The People's Book Prize 2013 finalist, Firestorm Rising, and the newly released, Demons in the Dark.Be sure to read these tales with the lights on - and keep telling yourself: 'They're only stories.... They're only stories...'Now. Are you brave enough to step inside Blacklow Cemetery, on Halloween?Go on, I dare you...

A short dry-humoured adult fairy tale based on some well known classics.Arianna Grace liked her boring, Midwestern, teenage life where she ignored the many unanswered questions of her childhood. Why were her parents dead? Why did she not have family? Where was she raised until she was five? When someone offers to explain it all, Arianna thinks she’s just getting answers. Instead, she is thrown into a world of night humans who drink blood.On Arianna's sixteenth birthday, her world is thrown upside down when she changes into a vampire. Night humans, or demons, as some call them, live in normal society. Learning all of the new rules of a world she didn’t know existed might be hard enough, but it's further complicated by two former-friends that now want to help her take her role as the successor to her grandfather. There is a war going on between the night humans. Sides have been taken and lines are not crossed. Four main clans of night humans are struggling for control of the night. Divided into two sides, clans Baku and Tengu have been at war for centuries with the clans Dearg-dul and Lycan. That is, until Arianna Grace finds out the truth; she’s the bridge of peace between the two sides. But not everyone wants peace. With the night humans divided, Arianna is now a pawn in the war between them. She must choose a side—her mother’s family or her father’s—and for once in her life, decide her own fate.---- Early Reviews ---- “The Legend of the Blue Eyes is overall a fantastic read with a new spin on the world of the Night Humans. The story feels natural, not forced, and I think that this series will really develop into something great.” -Bethany@Reading Vixens “Okay! WOW! This novel is amazing!! I’m surprised at just how much I enjoyed reading this novel! The Legend of the Blue Eyes is the first novel in the trilogy and let me tell you, its worth a read! B. Kristin McMichael has a new and original take on Vampires and the Vampire World.” -Ana @SoManyBooksSoLittleTime “Arianna finds herself embroiled in kidnappings, poisonings, and nefarious plotting to undermine current leadership. With little choice but to embrace this new life, Ms. McMichael keeps you interested in Arianna’s rise to glory and pursuit of adjustment and happiness. The story is far from done.” -Carmen@TheReadingCafe

When outlaws stole a thousand Texas longhorns, the rustlers' main problem was what to do with the slow-moving cattle. Johnnie Bell’s problem lay in getting them back. The army couldn’t help — they had marauding Cheyenne to deal with. Texas Rangers had no jurisdiction once the cattle were over the border. Fortunately Johnnie had the help of Comanche friends, and a certain feisty widow woman.Hot lead flew, and blood flowed freely in 1859. The Cheyenne were raiding. When outlaws gunned down two sleepy cowpokes, and rode off with a thousand Texas longhorns, their main problem was what to do with the slow-moving cattle. Johnnie Bell’s problem lay in getting them back. The army couldn’t help — they had the marauding Indians to deal with. Texas Rangers had no jurisdiction once the cattle were over the border, and other settlers had their own homes and herds to guard. Luckily for Johnnie, he had two Comanche friends with points to prove, and along the way he met up with a feisty widow woman, who had lost both husband and herd to the self-same rustlers.

When all is lost for one particular guy there is something he needs to do! His woman has gone and she is living the high life with ‘Mr Successful’ himself! He tries to take stock of his life! Someone ought to help him to pull himself together and help is at hand from a trusted source.For Henry, it's about avoiding a repeat of the desperate struggles he faced as a child. He does not want the mistakes of the past repeated, and his work as a mercenary is a means to this end, for the one thing he desires above all else.For Mary, it's about escaping the monotony of her work serving one of the wealthiest men in Amestraton. Regardless of what may come, she is determined to move away from the only life she has known, and onto the path that she has chosen.For both of them, the goal is simple enough: to build a better life together. However, the conflicting politics of the city - and the sudden arrival of a living legend - put everything they have worked for at risk. Regardless of outcome, the decisions they must make could very well change the future of the city they call home...

Gaius was a centurion in the Roman army--a professional soldier. His orders were to find a way behind the enemy stronghold in order to launch a surprise attack. Little did he realize that as he led his men on the mission, a surprise would be coming his way instead. He would find himself pitted against a foe unlike any he had ever faced.Gaius was a centurion in the Roman army--a professional soldier. His orders were to find a way behind the enemy stronghold in order to launch a surprise attack. Little did he realize that as he led his men on the mission, a surprise would be coming his way instead. He would find himself pitted against a foe unlike any he had ever faced.--"The Cave" with its unexpected twists is a lusciously told fable surely relatable to many men.A 4,321 word short story by Tom Cormany

Balle Kumar's Universe represents the eccentricity present in every human being.Thirteen-year-old Matt Barnes, while searching for his father, a scientist trapped in quantum foam, ventures onto the red planet. He and his faithful, though reluctant, companion, Sarah Sachs, stumble through a canyon maze and make a grisly discovery - perhaps a strange twist of evolution. Things go downhill from there. After all, Mars is a planet with an unbreathable atmosphere and hurricane-force winds where your blood might boil. The perfect place for a summer vacation, or a short disastrous adventure. Will they escape the maze, and will they stop arguing long enough to survive their next deadly encounter?

Deep in the rainforests of Brazil a young boy from a remote tribe watches as his father is murdered. His desire for vengeance causes him to make a decision that could eventually unleash an undead epidemic upon the civilized world. Undiscovered species and mystic powers merge to create a new threat mankind could never fully prepare for.Deep in the rainforests of Brazil a young boy from a remote tribe watches as his father is murdered. His desire for vengeance causes him to make a decision that could eventually unleash an undead epidemic upon the civilized world. Undiscovered species and mystic powers merge to create a new threat mankind could never fully prepare for.The boy's own survival depends on his ability to outrun the relentless pursuit of his own creation.Cover art for this story was created by Dale Neal and is his property. I am just borrowing it.

If you go down to the woods today, you're in for a big surprise...A horror fantasy short story. 1500 words plus an Authors AfterwordIf you go down to the woods today, you're in for a big surprise...A horror/fantasy short story of 1500 words.Including an Authors Afterword. Warning; Though not of an adult nature, this story contains some scenes concerning animals which some readers may find disturbing...but then it's a horror story, innit?A different version of this story appeared in the Amiga diskzine "Dark Portal 4" in 1996.

The Soul Shadow and Other Tales of Tomorrow are stories that fancifully defy the everyday. People are plunged into unpredictable events that amuse, amaze, terrify. They are sometimes the retaliation of man's ingenuity and sometimes the result of baffling outer influences. So don't take your reassuring routines for granted!The eleven stories in "The Soul Shadow and Other Tales of Tomorrow", are often rooted in reality. But they soon become improbably perturbing, droll or outlandish. However, in The Soul Shadow - the first story - we are already in a weird and wonderful future, whose equilibrium is threatened by former traits of dark ambition.In "Klein", a curious creature designed for a film set, begins to breathe, then takes off in a bid for freedom....And the ageing fortune teller in "Zizi's Last Wish", opts for her ashes to be launched in an urn into outer space where she hopes to discover, even after death, the secrets of the universe!People, who at first appear to be living an everyday life, are suddenly pitched into an unearthly element or terrified by events beyond their control.In "The Flood", why was a whole community borne away so rapidly by the rising water? And in "The Bell Flowers of Lymphos", how had malicious plants taken root so readily in humble homes and gardens?You won't find any answers but enjoy these deviations, even if they are the stuff of bad dreams. At least you can confront them while awake!

It's Midsummer's Eve, but Sam Tyler is starting to regret agreeing to find her ex's adopted brother a suitable coat for the coming night's ball.*Read this if you enjoy the work of Jon Courtney Grimwood, Tad Williams or Joe Abercrombie, or love watching Alias or Teenwolf.It's Midsummer's Eve, but Sam Tyler is starting to regret agreeing to find her ex's adopted brother a suitable coat for the coming night's ball.*The city of Neppon drifts through the shallows, where the walls circling the mortal realm are thin. Here the daemons gather out of the surrounding night, drawn by its promise of candle flame warmth.As the election for the city's mayoral office approaches, one man stands head and shoulders above the other candidates. His reputation is as a bastion for all that is good and honest, in a world beset from all sides by horrors. But Jaret Roscan carries a secret. A secret that could bring ruin to his political career, and chaos to his beloved city.One person carries the key to his salvation. The question is, will they come forward in his hour of need?Harlem's Deck; a story in instalments. Keep your hand close to your chest...*Read this if you enjoy the work of Jon Courtney Grimwood, Tad Williams or Joe Abercrombie, or love watching Alias or Teenwolf.

Whispered prayers are the most dangerous ones.If only I'd kept my desires hidden because nothing could have ever prepared me for the darkness which filled my very soul. I expected to be charmed with the delights found in movies. Beauty and grace. History and elegance. I found out the hard way that the past is a very dark place. Darker than anything I could ever wish to know.Some things were not meant to be known. I didn't listen. I asked for visions into the past and got exactly what I wished for. If only I'd kept my desires hidden because nothing could have ever prepared me for the darkness which filled my very soul. I expected to be charmed with the delights found in movies. Beauty and grace. History and elegance. I found out the hard way that the past is a very dark place. Darker than anything I could ever wish to know.

Allia Washington watches as another Compound candidate is wheeled to the morgue. Now a new position is open and the first in line is Allia's young son. She knows the program will kill her son, but protecting him will take more than solving why all of the candidates die too soon. She may be forced to do anything to save her son, even if she has to defy the Compound itself. This is a short story.Allia Washington watches as another young Compound candidate is wheeled into the science lab for emergency care. The boy is only 12 years old and will not survive to see another sunrise. This means a new position will open in the candidate program and the Compound will be looking for new applicants, the first of which is Allia's four-year-old son. She knows the program will kill her son and she has to find a way to keep him out of it. But protecting her son will take more than solving the mystery that kills all of the candidates too soon. She may be forced to do something drastic, anything to save her son, even if it means she has to defy the Compound itself. This is a short story prequel to The White Lilac a YA dystopia sci-fi novel.

The old man next door, Old Man Rab, has disappeared and been replaced by the sinister Mrs Hitchcock and now no-one remembers him, except nine year old Kim Cutbush. His Mum and Dad think he's mad but It’s not just Rab who has gone. All over the village, people’s loved ones are disappearing and being stitched, or ripped out of time, and no-one can remember them except Kim.The old man next door, Old Man Rab, has disappeared and been replaced by the sinister Mrs Hitchcock and now no-one remembers him, except nine year old Kim Cutbush. His Mum and Dad think he's mad but It’s not just Rab who has gone. All over the village, people’s loved ones are disappearing and being stitched, or ripped out of time, and no-one can remember them except poor Kim, the only one who sees what she is doing.The only one who has the chance to save them from her is a child.

A hit man has tracked down his victim and contemplates the meaning of his actions as he waits the right time to strike.Eloise Assad never wanted to spend eternity as a corpse. But two years after waking up as a vampire, Eloise wields powerful magic, sleeps in graves, and lives with a tiny pixie determined to annoy her forever. Turned against her will, Eloise has dedicated her undead life to helping innocent people avoid the same fate. Instead of joining a coven of vampires, Eloise has sided with their sworn enemies. She slays monsters and stakes her own kind alongside the human magicians who’ve done so for centuries. To keep safe from the bounty hunters who profit from the sale of vampire blood—a curative liquid worth millions to the right buyer—Eloise poses as a human witch in society, her true identity known to only a handful of close friends. In the modern world, protecting innocent life has never been harder. Ocean levels are rising, coastal cities are flooding, and the United States is dealing with climate change refugees, homeless citizens on the move. These people make easy targets for monsters, and as many of them seek shelter in Senna, Colorado, the monsters keep arriving in town along with them. As Eloise and her teammates fight for their lives, Eloise must confront nightmares and secrets, terror and lies, forbidden love and a fate worse than death, as she struggles to outwit an enemy who is always three steps ahead—only to find herself caught in one final trap. Outnumbered, weaponless, and stripped of the use of her magic, Eloise has to face the hard truth that she will never save the people she loves unless she becomes a true monster, and the most ruthless vampire in the room is herself.