Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie

      Maggie Stiefvater
     Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie

In this mesmerizing sequel to Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception, music prodigy James Morgan and his best friend, Deirdre, join a private conservatory for musicians. James' musical talent attracts Nuala, a soul-snatching faerie muse who fosters and feeds on the creative energies of exceptional humans until they die. Composing beautiful music together unexpectedly leads to mutual admiration and love. Haunted by fiery visions of death, James realizes that Deirdre and Nuala are being hunted by the Fey and plunges into a soul-scorching battle with the Queen of the Fey to save their lives.

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    Kiss of the Black Angel

      Della Van Hise
     Kiss of the Black Angel

Kiss of the Black Angel explores one man’s grief as it plunges him into the realm of the vampire. Here, Stefan encounters Miquel, who is destined to become his maker. But the price of immortality is high and the vampire warns, “Through my blood you will learn a secret which will compel you to live forever, yet a secret so profane it will haunt you for all eternity." The secret will haunt you, too.Kiss of the Black Angelan erotic vampire novella byDella Van Hise_____________________Kiss of the Black Angel was originally published in the prestigious TOMORROW MAGAZINE. It was released as a limited print first edition in 1997, as Ragged Angels.There is now a novel-length version of this book entitled Sons of Neverland."The virtuosity shown here is only the beginning of a pyrotechnic talent unfolding into the hidden dimensions of the human and nonhuman spirit." -Jacqueline Lichtenberg___________"Sensual! Sexy! Surreal!"-North County Times____________"A literary triumph where the undead have more heart & soul than the living." -The Readers First published in 1997 as a limited first edition under the title of Ragged Angels, this was the last fiction novel by Della Van Hise before she turned her attentions to non-fiction and metaphysical pursuits. Ms. Van Hise is the author of the controversial STAR TREK novel, KILLING TIME, as well as many underground novels under a variety of pseudonyms.Now, by popular demand, SONS OF NEVERLAND has been re-packaged and re-edited, bringing it into the 21st Century with the style and literary emphasis it truly deserves. The novella (Kiss of the Black Angel) is offered free on Smashwords - and we hope you will enjoy the novella enough to order the full-length novel!________________One Amazon Reviewer said..."What Sons of Neverland resembled to me was the creative hagiographies of Nikos Kazantzakis, where a few stylized characters deliver a message that goes way beyond the parameter of the characters themselves. And much like Kazantzakis, this book zones on the question of immortality. However, this is not just the decadent historical immortality of the long-lived vampire, it is immortality as a change in one's perception. This is the story behind the story, delivered by characters that are hyper-real - each one loaded with symbolism. Sons of Neverland will have you filled, even brimming over with the sense of Mysterium Tremendum et Fascinans. Go there for a full helping of the numinous."____________________Set against a backdrop of contemporary culture, SONS OF NEVERLAND explores the universal questions of life & death, sex & love - the most crucial challenges every human being faces - through the eyes of the immortal vampire. _______________We hope you will give SONS OF NEVERLAND the opportunity to not only entertain you with its erotic and sensual descriptions, but to also challenge YOUR mind in the way any controversial work of "fiction" may well be a mildly disguised look at the absurd reality in which we all live...Readers have compared SONS OF NEVERLAND to the works of Anne Rice, Carlos Castaneda, and Anais Nin. One reader summed it up as follows: "SONS OF NEVERLAND is one of the most erotic books I've ever read. It made me believe in the power of the human heart and gave me a real glimmer of hope that maybe we CAN live forever if we can get past the idea that tells us we can't. I found it totally uplifting regardless of the gritty story In the end, it made me realize that light can't exist without darkness. Thank you for a truly exceptional read!" (Charlene J.)_______________Told in the poetic voice of myth, SONS OF NEVERLAND is the tale of one man's search for immortality and love.

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    The Object Of His Affection

      Francis W. Porretto
     The Object Of His Affection

In a little storefront on a side Manhattan street, a nameless old man keeps a shop. His customers don't pay him for the dusty, battered items on his shelves, but for the wonders he can do with them...not all of which are good. Into his shop wanders widower and corrupt retail inspector Carl Harris, wearing a wedding ring the shopkeeper will surely covet for the power stored within it...when 15 year old ali al-amin’s parents are killed by an al-qaeda bomb in baghdad, he is recruited by arab intelligence to spy on a syrian school for suicide-bombers. there ali is turned into a human bomb, a dead boy walking, and sent to blow up a wedding reception as prelude to the most dreadful terror-attack ever devised, the release of two litres of sarin from saddam hussein’s missing wmd stockpile into the audience at the jerash arts festival in jordan. with 3 days to stop the plot, ali must grow up fast and face his destiny as the lone wolf defending islam from the extremists who would destroy it.for readers 15+ who enjoy action thrillers, this spy series for young adults and adults sits somewhere between alex rider, james bond and homeland.

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    Seized: Book One of the Pipe Woman Chronicles

      Lynne Cantwell
     Seized: Book One of the Pipe Woman Chronicles

The winter solstice 2012 won't be the end of the world. It will be the beginning of the end....Naomi has a pretty sweet life. Respected as a skilled mediator, she has an almost uncanny knack for getting people on both sides of a dispute to agree. And her handsome boyfriend Brock has just proposed to her. But a white buffalo calf is bowing to her in her dreams. And who is the Native American man who has been following her around?Naomi doesn’t know it, but things are about to change....

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    Given to Glass

      Brian S. Wheeler
     Given to Glass

Goodman Asher has marred his face to show humility. He has sewn shut his mouth. He has broken his nose and cut notches into his ears. Such hurts reward him by summoning a Fay Regent to his mirror. Goodman Asher smiles, for it is rumored that treasure follows the Regent. Only, Goodman Asher misreads the Regent's intention, and Asher's sewn mouth fails to correct the terrible misunderstanding.The magistrates rush to Goodman Asher's cabin. For Asher's daughter has warned her village that her father's obsession with the mirror tempts wicked magic. Rumors and fables have lured Goodman Asher off of the good path, and so the magistrates rush towards their neighbor's cabin to plead with Goodman Asher to relent from his folly. They will give Goodman Asher a choice, an opportunity, before putting that cabin and its master to flame.

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    Fiction Vortex - March 2014

      Fiction Vortex
     Fiction Vortex - March 2014

Just when something feels played out, a fresh viewpoint can revitalize it. That's the power of being a writer. You get to show people a way of perceiving the world they had never considered before.Life is full of surprises, and sometimes you find yourself doing something you never thought you'd do. For instance, this issue includes something we swore we'd never publish: a vampire story.We've sworn off certain kinds of stories because they're so overdone. Vampires fit snugly into that category, whether they sparkle or not. But one day our inbox was graced with a submission that showed us vampires could still feel new and interesting.That's wonderful in it's own right, but it's also a fantastic reminder of the power of good storytelling. Just when something feels played out, a fresh viewpoint can revitalize it. That's the power of being a writer. You get to show people a way of perceiving the world they had never considered before. In a way, all our stories this month include people with a new way to look at the world. We sure enjoyed their viewpoints, and we hope you do to.

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    Crawlspace

      Asotir
     Crawlspace

Young Tommy helps an elite government band hund and destroy insect-people across America's heartland. But as he matures, Tommy begins to harbor secret doubts, and fears. Is he mad, or a monster himself?Young Tommy, thanks to his extraordinary powers, travels the country as member of an elite government team empowered to hunt and destroy the strange insectoid humans plaguing humanity. But Tommy has his secret doubts, as well as fears. Is he perhaps closer to the monsters than he dreams?

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    Every Never After

      Lesley Livingston
     Every Never After

It's happening again! Despite their vow to each other at the end of Once Every Never, best friends Clare and Allie once more find themselves in trouble—and travelling in time. Indulging in a low-key vacation at Glastonbury Tor, taking part in an archaeological dig while soaking up the sights of summertime England, the girls have promised each other: no time travel shenanigans; no involvement with dangerous Druids or villainous museum thieves; and definitely no weirdness about the fact that Clare is now seriously dating Milo, Allie's super-genius hottie cousin! But when Allie makes an unexpected discovery at the dig site—a skull—the grisly artifact sends her spiralling back in time to a Roman encampment besieged by rampaging Celts. Caught between the Legions and the war band, Allie is rescued from certain death by Marcus, a young Roman soldier with a secret. As she struggles to survive in the past, Clare and Milo race desperately against time in the present to bring Allie home...before she loses her head OR her heart.

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    The Willows at Christmas

      William Horwood
     The Willows at Christmas

The twelve days of Christmas are fast approaching and Mole is planning to enjoy every one of them with his River Bank friends. So when the normally cheerful Toad despairs at the arrival of Mrs. Ffleshe, an impossibly rude houseguest who every year sets out to protect Toad from overindulgence, Mole must do something about it. But the plan he hatches with Ratty, Badger, and Otter goes horribly wrong. With the prospect of spending Christmas in jail, Mole will have to work hard if he is to salvage some Christmas spirit for his friends. The Willows at Christmas is the crowning achievement of William Horwood's enchanting sequels to Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. The new story is set just after the original, but before Horwood's critically acclaimed The Willows in Winter. It will give pleasure to the countless readers around the world who have reveled in each new work. Merry Christmas!

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    Joshua Then and Now

      Mordecai Richler
     Joshua Then and Now

Joshua Then and Now is about Joshua Shapiro today, and the Joshua he was. His father a boxer turned honest crook, his mother an erotic dancer whose greatest performance was at Joshua’s bar mitzvah, Joshua has overcome his inauspicious beginnings in the Jewish ghetto of Montreal to become a celebrated television writer and a successful journalist. But Joshua, now middle-aged, is not a happy man. Incapacitated by a freak accident, anguished by the disappearance of his WASP wife, and caught up in a sex scandal, Joshua is besieged by the press and tormented by the ghosts of his youth. Set in Montreal, the novel chronicles the rocky journey we all make between the countries of the past and the present. Raucous, opinionated, tender, Joshua Then and Now is a memorable excursion into Mordecai Richler's comic universe.

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    Stealing Phoenix

      Joss Stirling
     Stealing Phoenix

Phoenix belongs to the Community, a gang of thieves with paranormal powers. Yves Benedict, an American student visiting London, is her mark. But Yves turns out to be more than just a target. He is her destiny. Her soulmate. The Community owns Phoenix's past and it wants her future too. Can Phoenix save the boy she loves . . . and herself?

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    Cursed (Cursed Magic Series, Book One)

      Casey Odell
     Cursed (Cursed Magic Series, Book One)

The night Claire Tanith’s small village is attacked, her mother sends her alone into the cursed forest, the one she’d been forbidden to enter all her life with these mysterious words: ‘They will protect you.’On the run from her attackers, she soon finds the forest is not as abandoned as she’d once thought.The night Claire Tanith’s small village is attacked, her mother sends her alone into the cursed forest, the one she’d been forbidden to enter all her life with these mysterious words: ‘They will protect you.’On the run from her attackers, she soon finds the forest is not as abandoned as she’d once thought.Beautiful and elegant, the elves seem to be everything the legends said they would be. But legends sometimes forget the true history of things and Claire’s eyes are soon opened to a world she never knew. One that has been kept from her for most of her life. All Claire wants to do is return home and start looking for her mother, the only family she ever had. But the elves have different plans. The mysterious mark that appeared on her arm isn’t a curse, at least not to them anyway, and before she knows it, she is whisked away on a mission she never agreed to, unless they help her in return.Now she is stuck on an adventure with the perverted elf, Aeron, and one with an attitude, Farron. But there is more to this adventure than she’d ever hoped for.

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    The Running Girl (Kaunovalta, Book I)

      D. Alexander Neill
     The Running Girl (Kaunovalta, Book I)

Ally of Eldisle bears twin burdens: a complicated heritage, and a penchant for finding herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Faced with false accusations of treason and murder, she flees to foreign lands, finding enemies all around, friends in unexpected places, and wonders undreamed-of, and must come to terms with the meaning of a bloodline lost in the depths of antiquity."Wonderful escapism. 5 stars! If you're looking to escape into another time and place then you will greatly enjoy this read." - 'Raven', NC, 14 May 2012"Outstanding debut novel and a great new series. The author has created a complex yet highly enjoyable world...that I encourage more and more readers of fine fantasy to embrace...one that I cannot wait to enter again and again... Neill is a fresh new face and great addition to the fantasy genre. Five out of five stars for this debut novel." - 'Canuckreader', 15 July 2012------------------------------------------------Ally of Eldisle, sword-thegn and sometime mage, bears twin burdens: a complicated heritage, and a penchant for finding herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Faced with false accusations of treason and murder, she flees to foreign lands, finding enemies all around, friends in unexpected places, and wonders undreamed-of. While struggling to keep an ancient treasure out of unfriendly hands, she is forced to reconcile her preconceptions about the wider world and its myriad inhabitants with her own origins - and to come to terms with the meaning of a bloodline lost in the depths of antiquity, created by ancestors both inhuman and unknown, and with the awful powers they have bequeathed her.Ally's tale continues in Book II of the Kaunovalta trilogy - Dweorgaheim.

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    Witch Flame

      Tara West
     Witch Flame

From the author of the bestselling Whispers Series, comes a new fantasy saga...Witch Flame (A Keepers of the Stones prelude novelette)Feira, a fledgling witch just discovering her own powers, must battle warriors and monsters before she and her true love can find a safe haven away from the vengeful eye of a jealous goddess.Bonus read origin myth, The Beginning of Time, included.There’s something magic inside us all – and it’s trying to get out!The rules of chance, even physical laws, are breaking down. The time of magic is returning.And Bethlehem Jones finds she’s sharing her body with Lynese, an unpredictable water-sprite entrapped within one of her ancestors in an ancient war.Hell-bent on restarting that war, bigger, more powerful magical spirits are attempting to break free of their own human confinement. Can Beth use Lynese’s powers without relinquishing her own control? Or is untrustworthy Lynese her most dangerous foe of all?

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    Legend of the Elementals, Book 1: Reintroduction

      Kyle Timmermeyer
     Legend of the Elementals, Book 1: Reintroduction

Get tricked. Get trapped. Get trained. Get free? The legend begins!Ryan, Erin, Kris, and Jason are heroes defined by the villain, unwitting assistants in a cataclysm brought about by an old man who calls himself... Devidis. The four modern, international teens awaken deep within a jungle canyon, a prison in the post-apocalyptic empire established by the tyrannical Devidis. Surrounded by danger, the four Elementals quickly embrace their new-found super-powered control of the elements--wind, fire, water and stone--under the guidance of Sensei, an imprisoned freedom fighter who believes that Devidis' near omnipotence is a clear sign that the world is a persistent illusion in the mind of its evil emperor. And so the Elementals are forced to come of age in an increasingly hostile land. Though supernaturally capable, they are faced with a frightening possibility: are their hopes, goals, powers, friends, enemies, surroundings and selves... all an illusion? It's "Final Fantasy meets X-Men" as worlds are torn asunder!

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