Three short stories.Imperiata: Ishta’eth, demon-slave of Eternal Imperium, kept the empire safe for a thousand years. Now the empire has fallen, and she faces one last, great battle, to restore the throne once again.The Prince of Fey: Prince Ribeag is bored. His world is cruel and violent and bloody, but that is no longer enough for him. He seeks ways to entertain himself.Three short stories in one volume.Imperiata: Ishta’eth, demon-slave of Eternal Imperium, has kept the empire safe for a thousand years. When an aging emperor dies without an obvious heir, an interregnum begins, and it is a terrible time of civil war and chaos. All is not lost, however. Ishta’eth is immortal, a ruthless fanatic, and has been organizing the world for longer than most peoples have a recorded history. Determined to ensure the throne is restored and such an interregnum never happens again, she will carry out her plans no matter what price the world must bear.The Prince of Fey: Prince Ribeag is bored. His world is cruel and violent and bloody, but that is no longer enough for him. He is the most cunning ruler the Tr’nah have had in generations, but that simply makes everything dull. If he wished, Ribeag knows he could win his people’s eternal war with the dark Tn’trith, but cannot see a reason to bother. Instead, he torments his lords, and his subordinate and cousin Bahn, and keeps his royal sister’s fanatical followers at bay. Half-heartedly, he seeks a way to escape his life. Then one day he finds it, by undertaking a quest, but first he must force those around him to let him leave.A Mote, Amidst a Tide of Darkness: I step from the cliff and fall and die and find myself somewhere new. Naked, cold, and alone. My gut is empty, as it always is. I have a raging thirst, and I am tired, as if desperately lacking sleep. Death for me is never death. I go somewhere else, somewhen else, to another life. I do not know why, and I do not know how, this is simply how it is.

Tate is afraid of the dark. But his junkie sister has disappeared into the terrifying storm drains below Las Vegas. Tate wades into the drains to rescue his sister from her demons.Every step into the smothering darkness challenges Tate’s resolve. With his sister’s life and his own sanity at stake, Tate must face his fears or risk fading into the dank oblivion of the Las Vegas tunnels.Tate is afraid of the dark. But his junkie sister has disappeared into the terrifying storm drains below Las Vegas. The tunnels stretch hundreds of miles beneath the city, housing the city’s homeless and criminal element. Armed with only his flashlight, Tate wades into the gritty depths of the storm drains to rescue his sister from her demons. Every step into the smothering darkness challenges Tate’s resolve. With his sister’s life and his own sanity at stake, Tate must face his fears or risk fading into the dank oblivion of the Las Vegas tunnels.

Can Susie successfully cook Thanksgiving dinner, or will the day end in tears?Susie is hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year, but Susie can burn water. Will the dinner go on as planned, or will they eat hamburgers for Thanksgiving?"As someone whose adventures in the kitchen do not always go as planned, I felt a lot of sympathy and empathy for the intrepid, if naive, heroine. I’d gamble that if not this exact series of events, at least something very similar has happened to the author. It felt that real." - Katie Lawson, 4/27/2014

A thrilling chase through history as Patrick Pierce tries to discover the truth behind a secret society known as the Black Tower Hunt Club.After receiving a mysterious letter, a withdrawn mid-level public servant is pulled from his quiet routine and thrust into a world of intrigue and danger. Invited to join the Black Tower Hunt Club, Patrick Pierce quickly realizes that the luxurious grandeur of Ravenwood Manor belies a dark secret within. Unsure who to trust, he delves into the past to find out why he was recruited and who is behind it.Meanwhile one of Ravenwood Manor’s maids finds herself caught up in an internal power struggle for control of the Club. Trapped between two brilliant and dangerous adversaries, Jane is forced to choose a side in order to achieve her goal of a life beyond servitude.As the stakes become higher, both Patrick and Jane will have to look inward for the strength to survive the perilous ordeals they’ve been pulled into.

A short story about idealism and its literal implications.On the night of 'The March', The Teacher will find himself, in the most profound and liberating test of his ideals. Part philosophical and politcal satire, and part gut wrenching horror, The Anarchist, proving once again that C.SeanMcGee is to be found neither on the left nor the right of traditional and scholared ideology, points an ironic, poignant and articuate finger at idealism and its literal implications.

Read the story of relations between the earthly girl and the celestial guest on the pages of this book.Have you heard about angels? And what if one of them will come to you in a dream, and then will appear in reality. And what this meeting prepares for you? Can angels love? And, if so, whether they can fall in love with a human? An unforgettable meeting opened for Nastya the way to heaven and brought her into the spiritual world of our planet. And who is the mysterious Teacher and his 13 friends?Read the story of relations between the earthly girl and the celestial guest on the pages of this book.

Enter the chilling Ghostly Writes Anthology and be prepared to be scared with 27 short stories from around the world. Creepy houses, murder mysteries, paranormal and much more to haunt and thrill those who dare.Pinnacle is strong, he's fast and he can fly. He wants to follow in his father's footsteps and dedicate himself to saving others. He's a real-life superhero.But he gives too much. He can't draw a line between his heroics and his own life. So when he meets a girl, she wants to look after him. She wants to tell him to be selfish. But will doing so be asking him to hang up the cape? Or can she convince him that he can be a hero without sacrificing himself?

The collection of wonderful words and drafts were compiled into a book called The Poet's Heart. I hope you will enjoy reading it.The words and phrases written inside this book are the result of direct and even indirect experiences of life. Certain songs are about my own life and some are about my friend's life. These songs were written in an intention of letting the feelings and imaginative words out. The conversion into a book is my own choice and I need everyone to read and at least go through the pages in order to seek the special connection with each song. I am sure you will enjoy the imaginative context.

The Nick Adams Stories show a memorable character growing from child to adolescent to soldier, veteran, writer & parent--a sequence closely paralleling events of Hemingway's life. The 1st section, called Northern Woods, includes "Three Shots", "Indian Camp", "The Doctor & the Doctor's Wife", "Ten Indians" & "The Indians Moved Away". The 2nd section, On His Own, includes "The Light of the World", "The Battler", "The Killers", "The Last Good Country" & "Crossing the Mississippi". The 3rd section, War, has "Night Before Landing", "Nick Sat Against the Wall", "Now I Lay Me", "A Way You'll Never Be" & "In Another Country". The 4th section, Soldier Home, has "Big Two-Hearted River", "The End of Something", "The Three-Day Blow" & "Summer People". The 5th section, Company of Two, has "Wedding Day", "On Writing", "An Alpine Idyll", "Cross-Country Snow" & "Fathers & Sons".

From USA TODAY Bestselling Author, C. L. Stone, read The Healing Power of Sugar, the ninth book in The Academy Ghost Bird Series. It’s been a week since Sang has attended any classes at Ashley Waters, and since then, everything has changed. Her school schedule has been turned upside down, and now, thanks to her absences, the school counselor, Ms. Wright, has suspended her. The fear of school officials getting further involved and looking to contact her parents has Sang and the boys forced into their best behavior. It seems that the once perfect student, Sang Sorenson, is now one of the school’s worst, and without explanation, because she needs to keep her lips tightly sealed. Academy secrets are becoming hazardous to keep. The more that Kota, Victor, Silas, Nathan, Gabriel, Luke and North try to protect her, the more inevitable her downfall seems to be. They do their best to make sure Sang stays in school and when she returns to classes, try to help her get back on the straight and narrow—she can’t afford to screw up anymore. But then fate deals out a setback that cripples the whole team, and they need to make a move, it turns into a risky one. There’s no way to predict the outcome. If they fail, the boys may lose the job they were sent to do, and worse, they may even lose Sang. Everything gets more difficult when it’s revealed there might be a traitor amidst the group. Desperate to fix things, Sang needs to stop the group from spilling secrets and find out the truth. And why all fingers seem to be pointing to Luke. The Academy, Magnanimous

Soulmates, pawns of prophecy and inheritors of an ancient conflict, Richard and Kahlan's destinies have been bound together since their first encounter in Wizard's First Rule. But now Richard lies on a funeral bier - suspended between the worlds of life and death and Kahlan faces her greatest challenge. She must fight for Richard's very existence, and Richard, trapped in the underworld, must fight to keep the world of life from ending. Desperate sacrifices are required. This is the final battle in a war three-millennia old, a war that saw the Sword of Truth forged, a war that could mean the end, not only of their lives, but of their world.

A lot can happen in 3 Seconds. It's the space of time between walking onstage and stepping up to the mic. It’s that moment when your eyes meet across a crowded room and the chemistry between you is undeniable. Bronagh has accomplished a lot in her thirty-five years. A successful pub owner and happy divorcée, she's learned to enjoy life, but have realistic expectations. Her past has taught her that it's best not to depend on others, but that doesn't mean she won't sample a tasty morsel when it's right in front of her. After taking a break from culinary school to travel abroad, Brendan is back and eager to finish what he started. Although he relishes the nights he gets to play with his brothers in their band, and enjoys their healthy supply of groupies, he's ready to start acting like the twenty-something that he is…a fact he craves to prove with Bronagh. What starts as a one-night-stand becomes more when Bronagh and Brendan realize that they can't walk away. But can a younger man who's prone to late nights and scantily-clad women convince a woman who's been hurt that age doesn't matter, and he's the man she needs?

Dina DeMille isn't your typical Bed and Breakfast owner. Her inn defies laws of physics, her dog is secretly a monster, and the only permanent guest of the inn is a former Galactic tyrant with a price on her head. The inn needs guests to thrive and guests have been scarce, so when an Arbitrator shows up at Dina's door and asks her to host a peace summit between three warring species, she jumps on the chance. Unfortunately, for Dina, bridging the gap between space vampires, the Hope-Crushing Horde, and the merchants of Baha-char is much easier said than done. To make the summit a success, she must find a chef, remodel the inn, keep her guests from murdering each other, and risk everything, even her life, to save the man she might fall in love with. But then it's all in the day's work for an Innkeeper.… “Andrews is an auto-buy no matter what the genre!” —Romantic Times “If there is one author that defines Urban Fantasy, it is Ilona Andrews.” —Annie Tegelan, Fresh Fiction "One of the brightest voices in urban fantasy and one of my favorite authors. Ilona Andrews delivers only the best." —New York Times bestselling author Jeaniene Frost

**You can follow the rules or you can follow your heart... **THE MOMENT OF LETTING GO Sienna Murphy never does anything without a plan. And so far her plans have been working. Right after college, she got a prestigious job and gained the stability she'd always craved-until work takes her to the sun-drenched shores of Oahu and places her in the path of sexy surfer Luke Everett. For the first time, she lets her heart take control. Drawn to his carefree charm, she makes a spontaneous and very un-Sienna-like decision to drop everything and stay in Hawaii for two more weeks. Luke lives fast and wild. When he meets Sienna, he's convinced that some no-strings-attached fun is just what she needs. As their nights quickly turn from playful to passionate, Luke can't deny the deep connection he feels. But there's a reason Luke doesn't do long-term. He can't promise Sienna forever, when the enormity of his past has shown him just how fragile the future can be . . .

A floating natural gas facility in Lithuania is blown up. A Venezuelan prosecutor is assassinated. A devastating attack on a Russian troop train kills dozens. A chaotic world is the best camouflage for a series of seemingly unrelated attacks. Only one man recognizes an ominous pattern in the reports of terror from around the globe. U.S. President Jack Ryan sees a guiding hand in the worldwide chaos. Faced with collapsing energy prices the Russian economy depends on expansion abroad. But it's a strategy that has been, in the past, thwarted by the United States. And so now it seems the Russian Leader, fearful of losing his grip on power, is pursuing his ambitions more indirectly. While Jack Ryan's intelligence agencies race to uncover the truth behind the attacks, the President struggles to unite a fractious and distrustful coalition of Western nations against the schemes of the Russian dictator. With five thousand Russian troops poised to invade a NATO nation, can Jack Ryan move swiftly enough to stop Volodin's grand plan of global conflict and conquest? Or will he succeed in changing the balance of world power forever?

At a small marine institute off the coast of Connecticut, only marine biologist Simon Chase realizes that a sixteen-foot pregnant Great White is feeding in the area. But even Simon doesn't know that a far deadlier creature is about to come out of the deep and threaten everything he cares for. A creature whose malevolence is unthinkable. Whose need to feed is insatiable. And whose relentless hunt for prey is unstoppable. Twenty years after his huge bestseller Jaws, the master of the deep has done it again, letting loose a chilling new predator that only he could create. Drawing on his singular knowledge of the sea, science, and history, Peter Benchley masterfully spins a suspense-filled novel that hits you on a primal level, makes your heart pound, and leaves your blood running cold. White Shark is Peter Benchley at his best. Read it at your own risk.

When thirty-year-old English teacher Anna Emerson is offered a job tutoring T.J. Callahan at his family's summer rental in the Maldives, she accepts without hesitation; a working vacation on a tropical island trumps the library any day. T.J. Callahan has no desire to leave town, not that anyone asked him. He's almost seventeen and if having cancer wasn't bad enough, now he has to spend his first summer in remission with his family - and a stack of overdue assignments -- instead of his friends. Anna and T.J. are en route to join T.J.'s family in the Maldives when the pilot of their seaplane suffers a fatal heart attack and crash-lands in the Indian Ocean. Adrift in shark-infested waters, their life jackets keep them afloat until they make it to the shore of an uninhabited island. Now Anna and T.J. just want to survive and they must work together to obtain water, food, fire, and shelter. Their basic needs might be met but as the days turn to weeks, and then months, the castaways encounter plenty of other obstacles, including violent tropical storms, the many dangers lurking in the sea, and the possibility that T.J.'s cancer could return. As T.J. celebrates yet another birthday on the island, Anna begins to wonder if the biggest challenge of all might be living with a boy who is gradually becoming a man.

The Redford rail smash was a bad business. On that cold November morning, glittering with sunshine and a thin layer of snow on the fields, the London-Manchester express hit a wagon that had strayed on to the main line from a siding. Engine and two first coaches were derailed; scattered cinders set fire to the wreckage; and fourteen persons in the first coach lost their lives. Some, unfortunately, were not killed outright. A curious thing was that even when all the names of persons who could possibly have been travelling on that particular train on that particular morning, had been collected and investigated, there were still two charred bodies completely unaccounted for, and both of women.

Dominant, wild, and alpha af. This single mom just got tangled up with the hardest new outlaw on the mountain. And he’s about to show her how a real man claims what’s his. I was a beast. A devil on two wheels. A rebel outlaw with a gun on my hip and a bigger one between my legs. Seven bullets almost put me in the ground, and now, all I’m looking for is a fresh start up on Blackthorn Mountain. But when I cross paths with the gorgeous, sassy single mom on the run, everything changes. Beautiful, fierce, and temping as all hell. Soft, pouty lips that were made for me to claim, curves that make my engine roar, and legs that I can’t wait to get my filthy hands all over. I’ve got no business getting tangled up with Jackie McKinnon. But one touch of her soft skin, and one taste of her mouth, and I know she’s mine. She’s got trouble hunting her down, though. Her abusive dirty cop of an ex thinks he can lay hands on her and her little girl Brooke again, but he has no idea how f**king wrong he is. Because this is my mountain, Jackie and her little girl are mine to protect and keep safe, and I’ll bury anyone who tries to hurt them. I found her, I claimed her, and I’m keeping her. Jackie needs a real man. …And she’s about to get every damn inch of one. This is a standalone story. The books in Blackthorn Mountain Men series can be read in any order. Love your alpha heroes possessive, wild, and utterly obsessed with claiming what’s theirs? Yeah, me too ;). Heads up, this one is completely over-the-top, hot as sin, and one very wild ride. This is one alpha you’re probably gonna need both hands for! As with my all my books, this one is safe, with no cheating and a HEA guaranteed.


BASEBALL BAT BANDIT?The girls have joined the Mahoney Marlins junior baseball team! Nancy will pitch, Bess will catch, and George will play shortstop. The girls are excited, but Bess worries that baseball isn't exactly her thing. However, Bess turns out to be an amazing hitter and she quickly earns the nickname "Home Run Bess." Bess thinks her newly found talent is thanks to her lucky bat, which she calls "Magic Bill." But one day she discovers that Magic Bill is missing! Can Nancy find Bess's bat in time for the big game, or is Bess destined to strike out?

A SEARCH FOR A MISSING HORSE LEADS NANCY TO A DARK DISCOVERY! Nancy's attending the Midwest Grand Prix Dressage Championships, where many of the world's best riders and finest horses compete. But more than blue ribbons is at stake. As Nancy quickly learns, these horses generate big money, turning a friendly competition into a very nasty business. Discovering a fire in the stables, Nancy barely averts a terrible tragedy. But now she faces a new danger: a valuable horse has vanished, and it's up to Nancy to save it. She pursues the truth down a trail of greed, deception, and sinister secrets...only to find herself in jeopardy!