Ethan is the first human child created on Earth in 500 years. Is he the answer to the current labor shortage or will his creation change life for the synthetics forever?Don’t get me wrong, George loved his wife, he loved her dearly, in fact he adored the ground she walked on. However, there was a problem; Martha, George’s beloved wife, SNORED. For three long years George struggled to overcome his weakness, the fact that he was an incredibly light sleeper. Every night, after the happy couple had retired and kissed the other goodnight, George lay in bed awake, waiting, listening, fearing, wondering when the nightly performance would begin. Sometimes it started straight away, the very moment his wife’s sweet head touched her pillow. Other times it began much later, well into the wee small hours, after George, having tired of waiting for it to begin, had drifted off to sleep. However, the one thing that each night had in common was the undeniable fact that his wife – Martha – snored with as much force and ferocity as a Storm Trooper invading Poland.

Second story in the 'Slayer of Evil (Prices Negotiable)' series. A freelance monster hunter's gotta eat, and Eric Margrave is no exception. Follow our 'hero' in a day on the job, as he deals with all the same problems you deal with in your own job; necromancy, zombie hordes, and a shortage of piano wire.Okay, maybe not EXACTLY the same problems.The world of the supernatural is a place of intense horror and blood-chilling danger. Dark, twisted monsters stalk among humanity from the shadows, seeking only to devour us.Seems like somebody should make some money from all that, right? Enter Eric Margrave, semi-professional monster hunter (He'd be a professional, but they really don't have a certification process for this sort of thing.). When the things that go bump in the night start actually knocking on the door, he's the one who serves them their walking papers... for a nominal fee. Prices negotiable. No demons, please.In this short, Eric has taken on a job from the residents of a little town in the middle of nowhere, who find themselves with a minor case of the next town over disappearing. To some this would be a sign it was time to pack up and leave the diner; to Eric, it just means time buckle down and make a quick buck doing what he does best: The judicious application of extreme violence. Just another day at the office.

Mia was given a baby pigeon by the porter of Astor Court, the building where Mia lived. She named the pigeon Peepers and called Rita a wildlife doctor. With the help of Rita, Mia was able to find Peepers a new home where she could learn to be a bird. The other pigeons didn't accept Peepers until Hubert came to the aviary. Peepers and Hubert found true love and a true home in the New York skies.Mia was given a baby pigeon by the porter of her apartment house, Astor Court. She named it Peepers because it peeped so much.She called the neighborhood Wildlife Bird Fund and spoke to her mothers friend Rita a wildlife doctor. When Rita was able to check it over, she pronounced it in good health. Rita suggested that it go to live with another patient of hers, Squeaks so Peepers could learn to be a bird. The guardian of Squeaks lived in the grand Hooper Cooper Mansion and so Mia thought that surely Peepers would be leading a life of leisure. When Mia arrived at the mansion everything was in renovation and the place looked like a dinosaur had sneezed tossing everything this way and that. The other pigeons didn't accept Peepers until one day a black pigeon named Hubert came to the aviary. Peepers and Hubert became instant friends and found true love and their true palace in the New York skies.

The Golem War is over. One year to the date of final victory over the automaton armies of an evil wizard sect, the kingdom states of the Third Continent gather in the human kingdom of Vastervik to party. The guests of honor are all of the known surviving members of the 19th Legion (popularly known as the Dragon Legion), the military unit that ended the Golem War.Pro Se Productions proudly presents a fantasy noir epic as a part of its Pro Se Single Shots Signature line- Mark Bousquet’s The Disintegration of Dragons.The Golem War is over. One year to the date of final victory over the automaton armies of an evil wizard sect, the kingdom states of the Third Continent gather in the human kingdom of Vastervik to party. The guests of honor are all of the known surviving members of the 19th Legion (popularly known as the Dragon Legion), the military unit that ended the Golem War via mysterious, unknown actions. In the morning, Vastervik awakens to find two Legionnaires murdered and another the main suspect. Panic slowly grows among the Queen’s men. The 14 surviving members of the 19th are the most popular men in the continent, and neither the dwarves nor elves would dare move against them. The Queen needs someone who can stand up to the 19th to solve the murder, so she turns to the 15th surviving member of the Legion who none may mention without facing the penalty of death, a man locked away in the deepest, darkest cell. With the Legion in crisis, the Queen turns to the one man that she can trust to stand up to the 19th to find out who’s killing the greatest heroes of the Continent.

When a forensic psychologist warns the city of San Diego about a modern day Jack the Ripper on live TV, she becomes the killer's next target and must work with her black ops fiancé to catch the Savior before it’s too late.When honor becomes disgrace…When two boys form an alliance in 1958 Brooklyn, neither realizes that sworn friends will later become bitter enemies. John Edge and Vince DeMeneoDISCLAIMER: This is SERIAL, not a book, novella, or short story. Each section will be approximately 10,000 words, some more, some less. This serial should be read in the correct order. I am planning on releasing each new section 3-5 weeks apart, This is a Romantic Thriller that contains adult language and violence. Does NOT contain erotica.When a forensic psychologist warns the city of San Diego about a modern day Jack the Ripper on live TV, she becomes the killer's next target and must work with her black ops fiancé to catch the Savior before it’s too late.When honor becomes disgrace…When two boys form an alliance in 1958 Brooklyn, neither realizes that sworn friends will later become bitter enemies. John Edge and Vince DeMeneo live by a code. When that code is broken, it will cost them their children, because inevitably what goes around, does at some point, come around.Their honor has created a monster.A brilliant madman is watching….A serial killer the media has dubbed the “Savior” is terrorizing San Diego. He is a chameleon, a computer hacker who can create and delete his identity at will. He blazes through firewalls, strolls through doors that are closed to millions, and dreams about saving the world against sin. He’s a wizard, a god, a ruthless killer. What started as a friendship has become something more…When Jessica Bentley’s horrific past rises from the shadows and threatens her life, Jake Kincaid must find the Savior before the Savior finds Jessi.Wanted for murder, Jake is the Navy SEAL whose choices could lock him away. Jessi must face her worst fear or face certain death.How far will a man go to save the woman he loves? The answer is simple--all the way over the edge.

The Legend of Beka Cooper gives Tamora Pierce's fans exactly what they want—a smart and savvy heroine making a name for herself on the mean streets of Tortall's Lower City—while offering plenty of appeal for new readers as well. Beka and her friends will face their greatest and most important challenge ever when the young heir to the kingdom vanishes. They will be sent out of Corus on a trail that appears and disappears, following a twisting road throughout Tortall. It will be her greatest Hunt—if she can survive the very powerful people who do not want her to succeed in her goal.

A bloody and apparently senseless murder had been committed at Carne School, one of the oldest and most glittering ornaments in the British public school system. George Smiley, whose connections with Carne were complicated by sentiment, had had a curious forewarning of the crime and, in a private capacity, pursued its investigation. Without his espionage-trained insight into the workings of the human mind, Smiley might never have solved the case. But logic and insight were hardly enough to spare him the emotional aftermath of a conclusion he did not want to face.

"One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time." The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, messy, affectionate. And every day from her rooftop perch, Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs up next to her and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely for each other, stumbling through the awkwardness and awesomeness of first love, Jase's family embraces Samantha - even as she keeps him a secret from her own. Then something unthinkable happens, and the bottom drops out of Samantha's world. She's suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself? A transporting debut about family, friendship, first romance, and how to be true to one person you love without betraying another.

In this extraordinary collection of stories, the New York Times-bestselling author of Evening Class and This Year It Will Be Different once again reveals her incomparable understanding of matters of the heart. In The Return Journey, Maeve Binchy brings us sons and lovers, daughters and strangers, husbands and wives in their infinite variety--powerfully compelling stories of love, loss, revelation, and reconciliation. A secretary's silent passion for her boss meets the acid test on a business trip....A man and a woman's mutual disdain at first sight shows how deceptive appearances can be....An insecure wife clings to the illusion of order, only to discover chaos at the hands of a house sitter who opens the wrong doors....A pair of star-crossed travelers take each other's bags, and then learn that when you unlock a stranger's suitcase, you enter a stranger's life. In their company are many more, whose poignant, ironic, often humorous stories--unforgettable slices of life--make up The Return Journey, a spellbinding trip into the human heart. Maeve Binchy was born and educated in Dublin. She is the author of the bestselling books Evening Class, This Year It Will Be Different, The Glass Lake, The Copper Beech, The Lilac Bus, Circle of Friends, Silver Wedding, Firefly Summer, Echoes, Light a Penny Candle, and London Transports, three volumes of short stories, two plays, and a teleplay that won three awards at the Prague Film Festival. She has been writing for The Irish Times since 1969 and lives with her husband, Gordon Snell, in Dublin. From the Hardcover edition.

Ristéard Roald is the powerful and deadly ruler of Elpidios, a planet that is slowly dying without the blood stones needed to absorb the radiation gradually destroying its stratosphere. He has sworn to do whatever it takes to protect his world and his people, but time is running out. Hope comes from an unexpected source, the Kassis. They have found a way to replicate the blood stones needed to save his world, but his first dealings with a traitorous Kassisan has left a deep distrust for the species. Ricki Bailey is used to dealing with diplomats and handling complex situations. After all, as the daughter of the owners of Cirque de Magik, the most spectacular Circus to the Stars, she is used to organizing their trips to foreign countries. Her life changes when her mother and father decide to take the circus to the real stars… and to another star system! If she thought learning new laws and customs was going to be a challenge, it was nothing to the sudden interest she was getting from a huge blue male known as the Grand Ruler! Ricki discovers words that she didn’t even realize were in her vocabulary, most of them not in the least polite. She decides the best way to deal with the arrogant male is to treat him like she did when encountering difficult Consuls during the circus’ travels on Earth; stay cool, calm, and professional and only deal with the facts necessary to complete whatever business transaction was required. Ristéard is stunned when a strange, alien female, foretold in the ancient tablets as being the great Empress who will save his world, appears. He is even more astonished when she refuses his attentions! With the life of his planet at stake, not to mention his own peace of mind and body, he will do whatever is necessary to ensure the female stays by his side. Yet, there are forces working against him and Ricki, powerful forces that do not want him to be successful. Dangers and traitors among his own council threaten not only him, but her. It will take all of Ristéard’s resources, and a few unexpected allies, to complete the dangerous journey ahead of them. Can he keep his unwilling Empress safe from those that would destroy her? Better yet, can he save his world when there are those that would destroy it for the treasure of precious blood stones hidden somewhere beneath its surface?

Two exquisite cousins must exchange identities in a scandalous deception. Madeline de Lacy, the duchess of Magnus, prides herself on being one of the most sensible young women in England, which is why she can't believe that, in a turn of the cards, her noble father has lost his entire estate -- and her! -- to a stranger. On a mission to salvage her family fortune, she changes places with her cousin and companion, sending the meeker Eleanor to confront the man who had won Madeline's hand. Now, Madeline is free to enter the home of a notorious gambler, and pretends to be meek, humble, and competent with an iron. She is, of course, none of those things; she simply is resolved to win her family's fortune back. Just when she thinks matters can't get worse, she meets Gabriel Ansell, the earl of Campion, and they do. Horribly worse. Four years ago, Madeline was engaged to Gabriel, and worshipped his arrogant kisses. Now, being forced to marry a man she doesn't know pales in comparison to the ordeal of facing Gabriel again, the man who betrayed her -- Gabriel, the only man she ever loved.

Nancy enters a world of glamor and glitz where murder is all the rage While in San Francisco to visit Ned's cousin, whose husband works at one of the Coast's hottest talent agencies, Nancy and Ned rub elbows with some of the city's most beautiful people. But one of those beautiful people has met a blunt and ugly end. The agency's #1 model is out of the picture for good--found dead in a back alley! The urge to make it big in front of the camera is powerful and tempting. Even Ned has stars in his eyes, and Nancy's beginning to wonder if he's lost sight of her. But behind the spotlight, she finds that the climb to the top can prove slippery and dangerous. Greed, ambition, and deceit are the rules of the game...and murder has struck the final pose!

This original short story tells the tale of how a girl named Mallow defeated King Goldmouth with the help of the Red Wind, Mr. Map, and many fairyland friends new and old--from Catherynne M. Valente, author of the children's fantasy sensation The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The Dial-a-Ghost Agency finds good homes for ghosts. And Fulton and Frieda Snodde-Brittle are looking for a few frightening ghosts to "accidentally" scare their young cousin and heir, Oliver, to death. The ladies at the Dial-a-Ghost Agency have the perfect match: the Shriekers, two bloodstained and bickering horrors. But thanks to a mix-up at the agency, the Wilkinsons, a kind family of ghosts, arrive instead. Can they put a stop to the Snodde-Brittles' schemes before it's too late?

*Chasing fame. Chasing love. Chasing a future. Emme* has long lived in her best friend Sophie's shadow. She writes songs, and Sophie sings them. It's always been like this, and feels like it always will be. Sophie will stop at nothing to be a star. Even if it means using her best friend and picking up a trophy boyfriend, Carter. Carter is a victim of a particular Hollywood curse: He's a former child star. Now all he wants is a normal life. But being normal is about as hard for him as being famous. Ethan has his own issues - a darkness in his head that he just can't shake. He's managed to sabotage every relationship he's ever been in. Emme's the only girl he's ever really respected... but he's not sure what to do about that. Emme, Sophie, Carter, and Ethan are all students at a performing arts school, where talent is the norm and fame is the goal. But sometimes, being in the spotlight isn't as important as the people you're sharing it with - as the four of them are going to find out in Elizabeth Eulberg's excellent new novel, which is about the auditions life puts us through every day, both big and small.

In this latest novel from bestselling author John Verdon, ingenious puzzle solver Dave Gurney puts under the magnifying glass a notorious serial murder case – one whose motives have been enshrined as law-enforcement dogma - and discovers that everyone has it wrong.   The most decorated homicide detective in NYPD history, Dave Gurney is still trying to adjust to his life of quasi-retirement in upstate New York when a young woman who is producing a documentary on a notorious murder spree seeks his counsel.  Soon after, Gurney begins feeling threatened: a razor-sharp hunting arrow lands in his yard, and he narrowly escapes serious injury in a booby-trapped basement.  As things grow more bizarre, he finds himself reexamining the case of The Good Shepherd, which ten years before involved a series of roadside shootings and a rage-against-the-rich manifesto.  The killings ceased, and a cult of analysis grew up around the case with a consensus opinion that no one would dream of challenging  -- no one, that is, but Dave Gurney.  Mocked even by some who’d been his supporters in previous investigations, Dave realizes that the killer is too clever to ever be found.  The only gambit that may make sense is also the most dangerous – to make himself a target and get the killer to come to him. To survive, Gurney must rely on three allies: his beloved wife Madeleine, impressively intuitive and a beacon of light in the gathering darkness; his de-facto investigative “partner” Jack Hardwick, always ready to spit in authority’s face but wily when it counts; and his son Kyle, who has come back into Gurney’s life with surprising force, love and loyalty. Displaying all the hallmarks for which the Dave Gurney series is lauded -- well-etched characters, deft black humor, and ingenious deduction that ends in a climactic showdown – Let the Devil Sleep is something more: a reminder of the power of self-belief in a world that contains too little of it. From the Hardcover edition.

Kristy, Mary Anne, Stacey, Claudia and Dawn are the luckiest baby-sitters in the world. This summer they're going on the greatest trip ever: a plane ride to Florida, a boat trip around the Bahamas, and then three days of fun - in Disney World! Of course they have a million adventures. Claudia gets notes from a mysterious "Secret Admirer." Kristy, Mary Anne, and Stacey make some unusual new friends. Dawn has her first real romance. And they still have time for what they like best of all - baby-sitting.

Before the spring of 1878, 11-year-old Annabel Lee had never even heard of a wanigan. But she and her mother are now stranded on the small floating cookshack for three months while her father and the other loggers move their timber down the river to the mills at Lake Huron. With a constant threat of forest fires, timber pirates, and log jams, it’s a perilous journey, especially for a delicate girl who’d rather read poetry than live in the rough company of loggers. But the Au Sable river and its shores soon reveal their beauties. And by the time the wanigan nears Lake Huron, Annabel can’t imagine waking up without a brand-new surprise outside her window each morning. In a novel of rugged river adventure and evocative nature writing, Gloria Whelan brings 19th-century history—and one girl’s summer river journey—to life for young readers. From the Hardcover edition.

A magisterial account of the pains, the struggles, the humiliations, and the glories of the world's largest and least likely democracy, Ramachandra Guha's India After Gandhi is a breathtaking chronicle of the brutal conflicts that have rocked a giant nation and the extraordinary factors that have held it together. An intricately researched and elegantly written epic history peopled with larger-than-life characters, it is the work of a major scholar at the peak of his abilities...

There's one thing even the tabloid hounds haven't managed to dig up about celebrity Ryan Brady: he is married! He may be one of America's most desirable men, but his secret wife has just filed for divorce. Since their separation six years ago, Claire has turned her life upside down: new business, new friends, new life. But when she sees Ryan to hash out a settlement, her body tells her one thing hasn't changed--he's still the only man who really does it for her. With all other guys guaranteed to be totally meh, she's in last-chance saloon: it's either an X-rated fling with her ex, or straight to chastitybelts.com!

Before DragonSpell, on a different continent and a different time, a young emerlindian's desperate decision threatens to disrupt the foundation of the world. Tipper has been caring for her family's estate for years now, ever since her father disappeared, making a living by selling off his famous artwork. Then she learns that three statues she sold were carved from an ancient foundation stone, and the fabric of her reality is crumbling. She must free her father and save the world. But she can’t do it alone. Her ragtag band of adventurers includes Beccaroon, a giant parrot; Bealomondore, an aristocratic young artist; a handsome dragonkeeper prince; the Wizard Fenworth; and the tumanhofer librarian Librettowit. Together they travel through valleys and kingdoms and consort with purveyors of good and agents of evil to find and reunite the missing statues. Will they learn to rely on Wulder's grace and guidance along the way?