Colby Jack is a murse, but not like you think. Shy, kindhearted, and very sarcastic, Colby is trying to get his act together to continue working his dream job as a Registered Nurse at Henry Ford Hospital. When he is running late for work, again, his morning takes a turn from bad to weird. By the end of the day, Colby will learn there are secrets lurking in the shadows...and within himself.Colby Jack is a murse, but not like you think. Shy, kindhearted, and very sarcastic, Colby is trying to get his act together so he can continue working his dream job as a Registered Nurse at Henry Ford Hospital. When he is running late for work, again, his morning takes a turn from bad to weird. By the end of the day, Colby will realize there are secrets lurking in the shadows…and within himself. M.U.R.S.E. is the first of a five part short story series from Christopher Lee Cousino, author of the superhero novel HOMELESS and the ZOMBIE HERO novel series.

Fred the Bartender has heard many wild tales in his time, but the one Jack Matthews is about to tell him will challenge both his credulity and his sanity."For so many years, passionate fans of The Count of Monte Cristo have suffered a loss upon finishing Alexandre Dumas' last words. It is a grieving of sorts that has long been unmitigable... until now. The mysterious Holy Ghost Writer has penned "The Sultan of Monte Cristo" as a direct continuance of the story readers have long struggled against leaving behind. The adventure-laden journeys of Edmond Dantes continues in (Dumas') newly-honed role as investigative reporter who publishes his (original) book as part of (this) story. New life is breathed into those characters we all knew and loved (or loved to hate) in the original Count of Monte Cristo tale (what can now, finally, be referred to as Book 1). Haydee, the infamous Villeforts, and even Countess G are lifted from the stalemate of our beloved story and given new life, and readers will also be introduced to a host of colorful new characters (like the memorable Raymee) whose lives, loves, and circumstance flow comprehensively and effortlessly through the entire narrative. Amazingly, the prose so closely matches the mood, tone, pacing, and richness of environment of Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo that this feels like the natural continuance of those lives. The sequel manages to introduce such a microscopic view into the full-flesh world our colorful characters engage in that readers can't help being sucked in. We cannot help but run breathlessly alongside them throughout the journey, to imagine the consequences between their words, to ponder on their insights and their woe-filled courses of action. We stand next to Mercedes as she lives and breathes; we get that rare glimpse into the future of the characters that Alexandre Dumas himself surely intended. Through well-defined and multilayered plotlines, the story's laser-point pacing, and rich character building, this work lends the quagmire of adventures, missteps, and danger-filled mysteries a guarantee of unforeseen, adventurous turns and cathartic "a-ha" insights. The Holy Ghost Writer seems a literary time-traveller: the swiftness with which he carries us straight into the 1800s is mind-boggling and a rare feat even in the best historical fiction writing. Excellent novel, and highly recommended!" Peanut's review.

The story of Stephen Desmonde, an English painter who struggles for recognition in a conventional world, sacrificing everything for his passion for art. The title is a reference to John Keats' 1818 poem, Endymion, which begins, "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever."

Peter stands up to his older brother who stole from him.Lindsay Matthews has reached a critical and painful decision to leave her home because the man she has loved for many years has pushed her away and said to leave him alone. In the middle of a casual dinner between the two, Lindsay disappears and Nick Cates is bewildered by Lindsay’s sudden withdrawal from their life-long friendship because he isn’t aware that he has hurt her. These two need to work through the issues and will need the assistance of a rodeo rope trick. Lindsay is book two of the Stage West series.

Boy meets girl after dark, at the conclusion of the circus... for a rendezvous both bitter and sweet.excerpt:“I got you a rum and coke,” he said, “without the rum.”She smiled again as her fingers enclosed the glass and he noticed for the first time her nails, long and perfectly rounded, the color of dark twilight sparkling with starlets.“Oh that’s okay,” she said, still smiling. “I don’t care as long as it’s cold and carbonated, and non-alcoholic.”She lifted the glass and he lifted the bottle and for a moment they watched each other drinking. He noticed the curl of hair dropping down like a long and delicate spring brushing each cheek. And then he noticed her darkly kohled eyes. “Would you like to play some pool?” He asked the question just to say something, and disengaged his eyes from her gaze to look over her left shoulder where the table stood. The triangle rack lay roughly centered upon a lit green velvet field next to the unmarked white ball. “I don’t know,” she said. “How good are you?”“I’m okay.”“Better than me, then; I’m not good at all.”

Mith and Ludus leave their secluded town for the first time as part of a coming of age ceremony. Upon leaving they come across a guide who helps them on their way. Once at their destination they find that everything and everyone is frozen in time. Mith and Ludus learn that the world around them is much stranger than they ever thought, and it is up to them to solve the mystery and save their home.Mith and Ludus are about to leave their secluded town for the first time as part of a coming of age ceremony that all fourteen year olds must complete. Having never been out on their own before, they are frightened and excited. Just a day out they realize that it is going to be harder than they ever imagined. Lucky for them they happen upon a guide, Mitchum. He tells Mith and Ludus that there is so much more to the world than what they know. This becomes ominously clear when they arrive at their destination and find that everyone there is frozen in time. Mith and Ludus must grow up fast as they discover the secrets of their home and the golden roses, which are magic objects that control the life force of every living creature. It is now up to them to travel across their large island to stop those responsible and protect the last golden rose.

An Austrian pastor helps a Jewish family escape the Nazis, but their elderly grandmother must stay behind. He hides her in the church, caring for her and learning from her, until one fateful Christmas Eve.Pastor Gottlieb finds it difficult to preach with Nazis in the pews, but since the Anschluss, he has no choice. When a Jewish family seeks his help, he willingly agrees, seeing it as a way to oppose the troops that have invaded Austria.He hides the family in the church, in a service corridor behind the organ pipes. The younger family members plan their escape to New York, but soon realize their elderly grandmother is too frail for the trip.

From an empty hotel room in London, Scott Drake takes a freewheeling trip across the East of England and back again. On trains, in cars, and on foot, the journey lets him say goodbye to the people he has loved and lost; finally allowing him to let go of the pain of the past and find peace in the present.‘There are other places to go; places I shouldn’t have put off visiting for as long as I have. This’ll be the last of my sudden disappearances. The last time I’ll be a summer breeze, gone too soon…’From an empty hotel room in London, Scott Drake takes a freewheeling trip across the East of England and back again. On trains, in cars, and on foot, the journey lets him say goodbye to the people he has loved and lost; finally allowing him to let go of the pain of the past and find peace in the present.The tenth and final short story in the ‘Diamonds’ collection is about love, survival, and finding ways to appreciate the beautiful things that make life worth living.

Part one of a series of short storied named "American Slavery Chronicles". In 2032 development was made on a lobotomy chip to enslave the mentally ill and criminals. It was designed to replace the smartphone and tablets as well. Yet something went wrong.In 2032, a lobotomy chip is designed to enslave the mentally ill and criminals. Yet it can do more, and is set to replace the smartphone and tablets. One programmer finds out his code was used for something sinister. That there are hidden functions to this l-chip, and some mega corporation is behind it. He meets with a reporter and someone else tricked into making the chip to expose the truth about it.

Again we join Tommy, Robert S. Thompson and Nona The Waitress, in The Midwest, the Westerly Midwest, of America — as they follow The Swarm on their little bicycles zooming around town, and the activities of Moon Walking, the head librarian, as she fights the city fathers, who have demanded that everyone put up a fence in town, to keep everyone safe, from all sorts of terrible dangers.Following his brother's dealings with the demon Harlem, Elliot takes some time for himself to catch up with an old friend. Storm clouds gather as we enter the Deck's second act.For fans of character driven supernatural drama.(...Back cover write up...)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? A bastion for everything 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...

To sail the skies aboard an airship is a great adventure – unless you happen to be a slave. Then it is full of hard work and dreadful conditions. But Askaro is up to the task. He’s spent all of his sixteen years honing his skills. Bruvano, the Slave Master, is determined to get as much as he can for Askaro when they finally get home. But Askaro’s family has other plans for his future.Askaro was born aboard the Falcon, the greatest airship ever built in the Sky Realms. His mother was captured during a raid so according to the ship’s charter, Askaro is a slave who will be the property of the Slave Master when he turns sixteen. But his father and grandfather say otherwise.The Falcon, her hold full of wealth, is finally headed for her homeport, Rockathalon, the capital of the Sky Realm, which she left 17 years ago. When treachery sets Askaro adrift in the precarious mountain stronghold, he must find a way back to his family and the Falcon. But when he stumbles onto a plot against the future king, Askaro and his newly found friends must decide if their needs outweigh the good of the kingdom.

Lucy falls in love with Gregorio Raviolli, the presenter of the TV game show, 'The Big Hammer' and sends him a bottle fill of love and kisses. A couple of weeks later the bottle returns from across the sea. It's fill of pasta....Suitable for 10 years and upA quintessential novel of modern Los Angeles, Peeko Pacifiko is at once an outrageous romp, a survival story, a sardonic political history, and a keen literary walkabout. At once squalid and glamorous, literary and low-brow, philosophical and wanton, wickedly funny and empathetic, it is as honest as it is innovative, its own unique, hydra-headed genre. As the Nineties dwindle down, the waning days of one era and the dawn of a new one are seen through the eyes of Donovan. At loose ends, he and his wife forced by economic necessity to live apart, his is a unique passage through many a strata of Los Angeles life. Donovan and those around him may be down, but they are never more than superficially out. Peeko Pacifiko is an exuberant, episodic ride, an exploration of character, as well as of a city, rendered with playful and disarming erudition, straight razor wit, and well-observed descriptive power.

Perry keeps having weird, strange dreams, only to discover that it was trying to warn him from something or in this case , someone. ...Meet, Harvey Valentine. A tough as nails, top-notch, Private Dick that doesn’t take sh#t! Based on the Harvey Valentine Novels. Each adventure is fast moving, hard-hitting, and punches you right in the chops with excitement!If you’ve read the Harvey Valentine Novels, you will know that Harvey had a sidekick and assistant, Cato, in both the Novels. In this short series, the timeline is after The Judge and the Cultist, and now Harvey has a secretary for a little-added tension and possibly added excitement if he can take his mind off the job and the bad guys long enough to pay attention to his new secretary. A hot tamale named, Connie.But for Harvey, it’s always work and no play!Follow a top notch private dick as he takes down the bad guys, and does it his way. Hold on to those pages as you turn them, because each story moves fast from beginning to end at a pace rarely told by today's crime fiction writers.The Case of Mr. Nobody marks the 4th Case File in this Hard-Boiled Short Series from Hard-Boiled Books in the Harvey Valentine Short Series. Each Adventure can be read in any order as the stories themselves do not take place in sequence. Grab a Case File and READ Harvey’s Reports of his exploits.In this Case, Harvey takes on a Client that isn’t really sure just who he is.

Take a glimpse into Elin's world as he jumps from body to body searching for the something that he never knew was missing from his centuries of life. Enjoy this first installment into the grand story of the EverOnes.A teenage girl must learn to face the challenge of life and she has a secret that no one knows that soon will be revealed.. will this make her fall harder in the world she has discovered or will it make her see the light in her life?

Yusuf's parents were murdered when he was ten. The Master promised him vengeance in exchange for his soul. He owed his life and death to the Master. Until he was given another mission that made him question the choices he'd made.Zainab had the perfect life, until her sister returned a murderer and she found herself drawn to the new family driver; a man with a with a lot of secrets.A mother awaits her son's visit in the nineteenth century before his life - and her life - will change forever. A short story of a mother's love and belief in her son's future greatness, you will walk away smiling, learning about a little known woman in American history that enabled a nation's greatest change with her belief in literacy and love of a son... who wasn't even her real child.

Can a universal evil ever be defeated or only contained? Life long friends Darion and Isaac, living in their safe urban world, are shortly to discover the answer.Transported to Salnikov by the mysterious Wodan, they battle gIants, champion a rebellion, fall in love and lose those closest to them as they fight for freedomCaught in the middle of an ancient battle between good and evil, Darion Descartes and Isaac Evans are transported to the Island of Salnikov through the magical powers of the mysterious Wodan, a wizard who for millions of years has created worm holes through his paintings, to escape the monster Muntare.Separated during their journey, Darion arrives inside the ancient mountain fortress of Mesania once occupied by the Aeserians, a race of giants who were ousted a thousand years earlier by the invading Omarins. Darion becomes embroiled in an Omarin civil war where he is made the leader of a rebellion from the Lower Ships of subservient labourers, against the repressive Upper Ships ruled by the Seeress Mara and her prelates. The rebels believe Darion to be the fabled Rok of Salvation as foretold in the Jharnell, an ancient book of prophecies.Through his new rebel friends, Darion meets the beautiful Le Carra, the hidden half queen whose existence had been kept secret from the higher orders until the day when the rebels are victorious.Meanwhile, Isaac has arrived on the other side of the island and travels to the city of Salnikovia where he meets the remnants of the Aeserians who, led by Hammer the Exalter, are on a quest to assault Mesania and return the mountain to their people. Two recalcitrant giants, Arad the Generous and Minar the Loyal rally against Hammer’s plans and are exiled from the city. Joined by Isaac, they seek out the mythical leader of their race, Kolin the Lawgiver, the only one of their kind who can avert a bloody and fruitless war.As the clouds of battle gather the true enemy reveals himself and the races of Salnikov must rally in a last stand for freedom and the future of the universe.

It is Bombay in 1971, the year India went to war over what was to become Bangladesh. A hard-working bank clerk, Gustad Noble is a devoted family man who gradually sees his modest life unravelling. His young daughter falls ill; his promising son defies his father’s ambitions for him. He is the one reasonable voice amidst the ongoing dramas of his neighbours. One day, he receives a letter from an old friend, asking him to help in what at first seems like an heroic mission. But he soon finds himself unwittingly drawn into a dangerous network of deception. Compassionate, and rich in details of character and place, this unforgettable novel charts the journey of a moral heart in a turbulent world of change.

Author of "Bared to You" and "A Hunger So Wild "Sylvia Day takes us into a shadowy underworld, where a powerful angel breaks all the rules by falling for the mortal whose life she's saved... Chained in the dark, Trevor Descansos endures pain and terror as vampires slowly drain the life from him. He finds mercy in Sentinel Siobhan, a beautiful avenging angel with lethal wings. She draws Trevor from the depths of hell, wrapping him in the softness of the same feathers that she wielded like blades to cut down his tormentors. Ageless and eternal, Siobhan has seen too much to be surprised by anything, but the mortal she finds in the pit of a vampire den shakes her to the core. Broken and near death, his ravaged masculine beauty stirs the heart she hadn't realized she possessed. Though she's tasked with eradicating the vampire disease sweeping across her world, she nurses Trevor back to health, healing him even as he awakens a forbidden longing. But the true test has yet to come. Siobhan faces an even darker fate than Trevor's, as she falls from grace into mortal love... Includes a preview of the next Renegade Angels novel, "A Hunger So Wild"

While clawing her way out of Houston’s worst neighborhood, Lena vowed to never let any man have power over her. After a lifetime of broken promises from her criminal father and a mother who abandoned her, Lena believes that love makes you vulnerable. She’s never been tempted to test that belief…until Yuri. Sexy as sin and with a dark reputation, Russian billionaire Yuri survived a miserable childhood of poverty and neglect to ascend the pinnacle of success. He enjoys the perks of his massive wealth without much thought to the consequences…until Lena. When Lena’s father blunders into an international art theft operation, Yuri seizes his chance to be her protector and save her family from ruin. But when past misdeeds catch up with him and threaten Lena’s safety, Yuri puts her love and trust in him to the test. He’ll show Lena he can be the man she needs—a man she can trust and depend upon—one sensual, wicked kiss at a time.

Jessie lives with her family in the frontier village of Clifton, Indiana, in 1840...or so she believes. When diphtheria strikes the village and the children of Clifton start dying, Jessie's mother reveals a shocking secret -- it's actually 1996, and they are living in a reconstructed village that serves as a tourist site. In the world outside, medicine exists that can cure the dread disease, and Jessie's mother is sending her on a dangerous mission to bring back help. But beyond the walls of Clifton, Jessie discovers a world even more alien and threatening than she could have imagined, and soon she finds her own life in jeopardy. Can she get help before the children of Clifton, and Jessie herself, run out of time?