Linares del Arroyo
Ryan Frawley
A short story about friendship.This story received an Honourable Mention in 'The Fiddlehead' magazine's Short story contest."....(Linares del Arroyo) is a story prepared to take risks. When they pay off the reader is rewarded with a sensual and evocative meditation on youth and the passage of time." Gerard Beirne, author of 'Eskimo in the net'He must find the ghost train, he must discover what happened to his father, and so he returns to the site night after night trying to get a glimpse of the train. One night he finally encounters the train and he finally enters the train. Once inside he finds he will never leave his father again.
Scandal's Bride
Stephanie Laurens
How can an honourable lady like Lady Catriona Hennessy unite with a rake like Richard Cynster? Though charmed by his commanding presence, she cannot give up her independence. Marriage had not previously been on Richard′s agenda, but perhaps taming the lady was just the challenge he needs - if he can have the rights of the marriage bed without making any revealing promises of love?
Thief's Paradise
Marlowe, Sr
Story about a thief who doesn't hesitate to kill people if he has to, and how a mere sight of vultures drive him toward his own death!"It's his choice" is a single short story for quick, half an hour read. It 's about a teen who chose the wrong path of racism. What are the troubles and consequences he had to face? Did he find a solution to his problem? What did he eventually realize? What did he choose in the end? This is my first story I wrote few years back. So, please excuse me for any mistakes. I made it really simple and brief by writing in a more 'story telling' style. This is a long story trimmed to just above 4000 words. the reason i did that is because I didn't want to bore the readers with elaborate story writing in a 'wrong way'. Reviews and suggestions from readers and other authors will be appreciated. I want to know if you think i'm good enough to continue writing novels, Thank you.
Acoustic Fishes
Michael Vu
After a young Noah Spence survives a tragic car accident, he is left with a condition: he can never fall asleep. Set in Illinois, beautiful Elizabeth and Noah go through the hardships of junior high school: unpopularity and bullying. They meet as adults in New York City madly in love. But can the two lovers break their silence and confess their love for each other?Gish Heart is in trouble. At 35, her small public relations firm has dwindled to nothing. She has a mortgage, a car, debt and a penchant for independence. Now, she is forced to seek work in the "real world," say what she's "supposed" to say and do what she's "supposed" to do. She is not pleased. What's more, she's pretty sure she's falling for her recruiter, a friend from college and a sympathetic listening ear.
A Christmas Twist
Gabriel Belin, Jr
Only a week before Christmas and it’s busy, busy, busy for everyone working in Santa’s office. On top of that, it is so cold that even thoughts are getting frozen in Everfrozen Land. Especially in the heads of those for whom thinking is not second nature. There is a remedy, of course, but some regard it as rather painful.Only a week before Christmas and it’s busy, busy, busy for everyone working in Santa’s office. On top of that, it is so cold that even thoughts are getting frozen in Everfrozen Land. Especially in the heads of those for whom thinking is not second nature. There is a remedy, of course, but some regard it as rather painful.Yet all that doesn’t seem to be enough to satisfy Evil Fortune, so things are getting worse. After many winters of waiting, Santa Claus finally acquires a grandson — who turns out to be a granddaughter. And not one, but two.The Elf is about to learn the hard way that, even in daylight, flying can be a leap in the dark, and the Wolf shockingly changes his habit from dating Little Red Riding Hood to having Christmas parties with Snow White.And it seems to be contagious . . .
Opposite Sides
Susan Firman
A love story, spaning three decades to the end of the war, explores the difficulties of friendship and acceptance. However, duty to one's country dictates how one has to live and behave but one young man has a secret, even his own family does not know.A love story which spans a period of turmoil from the end of World War I to the end of the Second World War. A group of young people eagerly look forward to a new world without the hate and prejudice of war but during these years of peace, there is also anger, love and jealousy. However, just as acceptance is attained, international events take a turn for the worst and friends are ripped apart. Duty to one's country dictates how one has to live and behave but one young man has a secret, even his own family do not know. Can love triumph over suspicion and hate?
Tea with Emma (Book One of the Teacup Novellas)
Diane Moody
Fresh from a Jane Austen tour in England, Maddie Cooper returns home to Texas, determined to bring a touch of “Austen to Austin.” She dreams of opening an authentic English tea room and, like Austen’s Emma, use her self-proclaimed gift as a matchmaker. When a cranky Englishman moves in across the street is he the perfect match for someone else, or has Maddie finally found true love?Tea with Emma - Book OneFresh from a Jane Austen tour in England, Maddie Cooper returns home to Texas, determined to bring a touch of “Austen to Austin.” She dreams of opening an authentic English tea room and, like Austen’s Emma, put into practice her self-proclaimed gift as a matchmaker. But an airport mishap with a cranky Englishman gets her off on the wrong foot (quite literally), especially when he moves into the university guest house across the street. Can Maddie find a love for her unapproachable new neighbor, or has she finally met her match?The Teacup NovellasLucy Alexander has a serious case of writers' block. That is, until her UPS guy delivers a box of vintage teacups - a gift from the estate of her late Aunt Lucille, her namesake. The teacups immediately take her back to memories of those many summers she spent with her beloved aunt and the special tea parties they'd share when Aunt Lucille would tell her all those wonderful stories. Suddenly the stories rush through Lucy's mind like so many movie scenes all vying for her attention. And as those stories bombard her, her writers' block disappears. A series of novellas begin to unfold in her mind. The first, a modern-day take of Jane Austen's Emma . . .
The Summer That Made Us
Robyn Carr
Mothers and daughters, sisters and cousins--they lived for summers at the lake house until a tragic accident changed everything. *The Summer That Made Us is an unforgettable story about a family learning to accept the past, to forgive and to love each other again. That was then... For the Hempsteads, two sisters who married two brothers and had three daughters each, summers were idyllic. The women would escape the city the moment school was out to gather at the family house on Lake Waseka. The lake was a magical place, a haven where they were happy and carefree. All of their problems drifted away as the days passed in sun-dappled contentment. Until the summer that changed everything. This is now... *After an accidental drowning turned the lake house into a site of tragedy and grief, it was closed up. For good. Torn apart, none of the Hempstead women speak of what happened that summer, and relationships between them are uneasy at best to hurtful at worst. But in the face of new challenges, one woman is determined to draw her family together again, and the only way that can happen is to return to the lake and face the truth. Robyn Carr has crafted a beautifully woven story about the complexities of family dynamics and the value of strong female relationships.**
Haunted
Heather Graham
Love is everywhere. . . When does a gift become a curse? Matt Stone doesn't believe in ghosts. But there are those who are convinced his home, a historic Virginia estate that dates back to the Revolutionary War, is haunted. Pressured to get at the truth about some strange happenings at Melody House, he agrees to let Harrison Investigations explore the house. But he isn't ready for beautiful, intriguing Darcy Tremayne. As a paranormal investigator, Darcy has learned to believe in the unbelievable. And she's given Matt fair warning: sometimes people don't like the skeletons she finds. She never dreamed that the warning would apply to herself. For she's about to discover that Melody House holds much more than a simple mystery form the distant past. What it holds is a very real and lethal danger, one that will cast her into a struggle against the worlds of both the living and the dead.
Cougar's Mate
Terry Spear
Cougar’s Mate: Instinct told her to run… Shannon Rafferty learns that hanging out with the bad boys could be a dangerous business, but hooking up with a cop is even worse. Now she’s on the run, trying to avoid being murdered by his cougar shifter brothers and uncle. If that isn’t bad enough, a deputy sheriff hunts her down while she’s running as a cougar and trying to survive in the Colorado wilderness. He vows to protect her no matter what she’s done. With three dead boyfriends to her name, she’s sure she will be the death of Chase Buchanan before either of them can prevent it. No matter how much she knows she has to run again, he soon holds her heart hostage. But will that be enough to keep them both alive? Chase Buchanan—as wilderness cabin resort owner, former US Army Special Forces, and part time deputy of the small town of Yuma, Colorado that boasts a love of cougars—is tasked to track down a cougar reported to be hunting human prey. Chase soon learns she’s a shifter, not a full-time cougar, and she’s on the run. When he takes her in, he vows to protect her. After losing his wife and baby to the human kind of predator years earlier, he’s not letting Shannon’s hunters kill her, too. But how is he going to hold onto the wild-cat woman, who is unpredictable at every turn, without losing his heart to her, and then losing her as well?
Iron Council
China Miéville
Following Perdido Street Station and The Scar, acclaimed author China Miéville returns with his hugely anticipated Del Rey hardcover debut. With a fresh and fantastical band of characters, he carries us back to the decadent squalor of New Crobuzon—this time, decades later. It is a time of wars and revolutions, conflict and intrigue. New Crobuzon is being ripped apart from without and within. War with the shadowy city-state of Tesh and rioting on the streets at home are pushing the teeming city to the brink. A mysterious masked figure spurs strange rebellion, while treachery and violence incubate in unexpected places. In desperation, a small group of renegades escapes from the city and crosses strange and alien continents in the search for a lost hope. In the blood and violence of New Crobuzon’s most dangerous hour, there are whispers. It is the time of the iron council. . . .
Time and Chance
Sharon Kay Penman
In When Christ and His Saints Slept, acclaimed historical novelist Sharon Kay Penman portrayed all the deceit, danger, and drama of Henry II's ascension to the throne. Now, in *Time and Chance, * she continues the ever-more-captivating tale. It was medieval England's immortal marriage--Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II, bound by passion and ambition, certain to leave a legacy of greatness. But while lust would divide them, it was friendship--and ultimately faith--that brought bloodshed into their midst. It began with Thomas Becket, Henry's closest confidant, and his elevation to be Archbishop of Canterbury. It ended with a perceived betrayal that made a royal murder seem inevitable. Along the way were enough scheming, seductions, and scandals to topple any kingdom but their own. . . . Only Sharon Kay Penman can re-create this truly tumultuous time--and capture the couple who loved power as much as each other . . . and a man who loved God most of all.
In the Night Room
Peter Straub
In his latest soul-chilling novel, bestselling author Peter Straub tells of a famous children’s book author who, in the wake of a grotesque accident, realizes that the most basic facts of her existence, including her existence itself, have come into question. Willy Patrick, the respected author of the award-winning young-adult novel In the Night Room, thinks she is losing her mind–again. One day, she is drawn helplessly into the parking lot of a warehouse. She knows somehow that her daughter, Holly, is being held in the building, and she has an overwhelming need to rescue her. But what Willy knows is impossible, for her daughter is dead. On the same day, author Timothy Underhill, who has been struggling with a new book about a troubled young woman, is confronted with the ghost of his nine-year-old sister, April. Soon after, he begins to receive eerie, fragmented e-mails that he finally realizes are from people he knew in his youth–people now dead. Like his sister, they want urgently to tell him something. When Willy and Timothy meet, the frightening parallels between Willy’s tragic loss and the story in Tim’s manuscript suggest that they must join forces to confront the evils surrounding them.
Dark Shadows of the Past
Angel Sefer
A mysterious death…Christina Connors wakes up on a freezing hard surface surrounded by spine-chilling darkness. Realizing that she has been dumped in an alley next to a dead body, she searches her mind for an explanation but it’s terrifyingly blank. As the fog lifts, memories of dreadful events come crashing down. A secret identity…When the handsome police detective Dan Mallory finds Christina injured and terrified, he is enchanted with her beauty and resilience. But his instincts tell him she is more than a simple jewelry designer in the wrong place at the wrong time. When she disappears from the hospital, he feels responsible but his suspicions grow. Is she truly an innocent victim or a deceitful charmer who stole his heart? A deadly game…Christina and Detective Mallory find themselves caught in a deadly game of conspiracy, murder, and vengeance. While the detective fights to save Christina and protect his career, she must discover how to play the game without revealing her true identity. But her secret won’t stay buried for long, and the truth could mean death for them both.
The Borrowers Afield
Mary Norton
Driven out of their cozy house by the rat catcher, the Borrowers find themselves homeless. Worse, they are lost and alone in a frightening new world: the outdoors. Nearly everything outside -- cows, moths, field mice, cold weather -- is a life-threatening danger for the Borrowers. But as they bravely journey across country in search of a new home and learn how to survive in the wild, Pod, Homily, and their daughter, Arrietty, discover that the world beyond their old home has more joy, drama, and people than they'd ever imagined.
The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two
Catherynne M. Valente
September misses Fairyland and her friends Ell, the Wyverary, and the boy Saturday. She longs to leave the routines of home, and embark on a new adventure. Little does she know that this time, she will be spirited away to the moon, reunited with her friends, and find herself faced with saving Fairyland from a moon-Yeti with great and mysterious powers. Here is another rich, beautifully told, wisely humorous and passionately layered book from New York Times bestselling author Catherynne M. Valente.
Mists of Everness
John C. Wright
The Chronicles of Everness continue. Young Galen Waylock is the last watchman of the Dream Gate, beyond which the ancient evils wait, hungry for the human world. For a thousand years, Galen's family has stood guard, scorned by a world that dismissed the danger as myth. Even Galen's father deserted their post. Discarding his belief in the other world, he left Castle Everness and the lonely coast of Maine to travel the world as a soldier. But the warning bell has sounded in the dream world, unheeded. Now, the minions of Darkness have stirred in the deep and the long watch is over. An army of mythic monsters has invaded our world, and Galen and his friends have begun to fight them. To join the battle with universal darkness, even his father returns. The forces of light have gathered in Castle Everness, which must stand, or all is lost. John Wright has been called the most important talent of the new century, and received rave reviews for each volume of his debut SF trilogy, The Golden Age. Now, in Mists of Everness he continues the towering fantasy begun in The Last Guardian of Everness, a stirring epic that will inspire readers everywhere.