It has been sixteen years since the Day of Reckoning, when magic and witchcraft were outlawed throughout all of Eileanan. And though rumors say that she is dead, the Arch-Sorceress Meghan o' the Beasts still lives. Traveling with her are the true heir to the throne, and the red-haired warrior Iseult. Their fates are woven together in a quest to bring magic back to the land

Memories flood Mr. Voss as the man sits amid the winking lights of his treatment. Mr. Voss’ memories have been lost for years, and disease shrouds his mind with mist. Treatment composed of glimmer promises to restore Mr. Voss’ health, and his wife will give everything to help him return. But the children fear what the light might summon, and they hesitate to pay any of the light's cost.Elaine Voss looks upon her husband and prays that Thomas quickly returns to her. Disease has stolen her husband’s memory, so that Thomas fails to recognize the faces of his family. That disease seems especially cruel to Elaine, for her husband’s shoulders remain wide, his legs strong, and his face little wrinkled. Elaine puts her faith into the lights, and she sacrifices to pay whatever cost the sparkle requires to reunite with the man Elaine always believed Thomas to be.Vicki Voss looks upon her father as the lights dance upon him. She learned to carve her own path while the mist filled Thomas’ mind, and she wonders if a returned father would do her more harm than good. Like her mother, Vicki believes the therapy will heal her father, but she remains unsure if she desires a family reunion. Vicki fears Thomas will mock her aims and force her to remain silent and meek.Logan Voss drives through the night to return to his childhood home. Mother again contacts him with news that his father will soon walk out of the light. Yet Logan remains skeptical. He has often hurried home only to find that disease keeps it grip upon Thomas Voss’ mind. But Logan hurries home now with a different purpose; he is determined to convince his mother and sister to let their father drift forever away, believing a quiet death a better option than the monster Logan fears his family summons.

Vivi’s animal instincts are her legacy—and maybe her downfall—in this start to a romantic fantasy series that will appeal to fans of The Nine Lives of Chloe King. Vivi has known the truth about her family—and herself—since she was thirteen. But that doesn’t mean she’s accepted it. Being Haguari isn’t something she feels she’ll ever accept. How can she feel like anything but a freak knowing that it’s in her genes to turn into a jaguar? Now eighteen, Vivi’s ready to break away from the traditions of her heritage. But all of that changes with the shocking, devastating deaths of her parents and the mysteries left behind. Vivi discovers family she never even knew she had, and a life open with possibility. New friends, new loyalties, and even romance all lay ahead—but so do dangers unlike anything Vivi ever could have imagined.

Jane Yellowrock used to hunt vampires, but now she must fight--and win--beside them. As Enforcer to the vampire Master of the City of New Orleans, Jane Yellowrock stakes her reputation and her life on keeping her territory safe. But Leo has been issued a blood challenge by the emperor of the European vampires, who seeks to usurp all of his power and possessions. If Leo loses the match to the death, the city will be forfeit, and the people of New Orleans will suffer the consequences. Jane can't let that happen. Preparing for the duel requires all of Jane's focus, but with so much supernatural power in play, nothing goes according to plan. She has to rely on herself and the very few people she knows she can trust to stand and fight. Only two things are guaranteed: nothing is sacred, and no one is safe.

The story is about a lonely child who is made to see the world through her cousin's unusual eyes. When the child becomes a young woman, she inherits her dead cousin's house as well as her reputation among the local community as a witch. However, as she finds out, this is no normal community, and worries quickly present themselves.

Deep in the bowel's of Zeaburg's infamous prison the young druid Slade is plagued by a bizarre and troubling dream. In the dream his father, High King Erich of Vestland, appeals for his son's help.Somehow Slade must do the impossible and escape to save not only his father but all the Kingdoms of Kaynos from the threat of the most brutal war Kaynos has ever seen from a new, deadly form of magic.Prequel to Book One of The Gifted Series Lily East is different from other people and has been since her birth. The government has been trying to recruit her, wanting to use her uncontrollable gift to their advantage. After years of evading, Lily finally gives into her "civic duty" and helps the government solve cases gone cold. Her life outside of being a special agent is far from normal. And as if that isn't enough, she finds herself falling in love with the man who almost killed her. This is life, as she sees it. Coming soon, in Book One of The Gifted Series, you will learn the whole story, and how Lily's powers came to be. I hope you'll enjoy this novella until then.

In the dark, when you hear a rustling… wait a minute. Didn’t I say that last time? Let me try again. Beware the night, for it holds many evil things that exist only in nightmares. I’ve seen things that will make your heart stop, things that will turn you white—cliché, I know. That howl that you hear in the distance, isn’t a coyote or a wolf. Don’t fret, because I am the one who will save you.In the dark, when you hear a rustling… wait a minute. Didn’t I say that last time? Let me try again. Beware the night, for it holds many evil things that exist only in nightmares. I’ve seen things that will make your heart stop, things that will turn you white—cliché, I know. That howl that you hear in the distance, isn’t a coyote or a wolf. Don’t fret, because I am the one who will save you. I’m Wes Parker: Monster Hunter.My job, or calling, is to hunt the monsters that try to prey on you every night. Usually they stay in small packs or keep to themselves but things have changed. They’re gathering, preparing for something big. I don’t know what it is but I fear whatever it may be, even I won’t be able to stop it.I’m going to say right now that if you haven’t read Volume One yet, then you’ll be really lost. So turn back and Search for Wes Parker: Monster Hunter Volume One. I promise you won’t be disappointed. Well, maybe you will be. In that case to hell with you.This book is a collection of short stories that were originally posted on my blog. You can visit there, cjpikebooks.wordpress.com, for more hunting.

Terrified of the contamination and the creatures it has created, humanity hides behind The Wall. No one knows what lies beyond the wasteland. Maya has never thought much about what might still be out there, lurking in the forgotten places.But when she's thrust into the unknown, she's forced to question everything she's ever been told.Not everyone outside died, some of them became something...elseTerrified of the contamination and the creatures it has created, humanity hides behind The Wall. No one knows what lies beyond the wasteland. Maya has never thought much about what might still be out there, lurking in the forgotten places. But when she's thrust into the unknown, she is forced to question everything she has ever been told. Not everyone outside died, some of them became something...else. As her heart is torn in two, every choice she makes is harder than the last. What she discovers will change her forever. She knows she will probably die, but Maya has seen enough of death and she won't let it have her without a fight.

Ella thought it was tough being an avatar of Gaea. But it was tougher still when she found herself polluted by harpy blood and left chained in a dungeon with the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen. And then, that man revealed that he had once been an angel--did this mean he was one of the fallen?Ella thought it was tough being an avatar of Gaea. She and all her female relatives spent their lives dispatching the monsters that slipped into Gaea's world through rifts in the Dreaming. But Ella's life became tougher still when she found herself polluted by harpy blood and left chained in a dungeon with the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen. Okay, so it was a wine cellar. Throw in the chains, and it made a prison that Ella had been stuck in for nearly a week. Then, her fellow prisoner, Tappani, casually revealed that he had once been an angel--did this mean he was one of the fallen? She'd worry about that later. First, they needed to work together to free themselves and rescue the people who lived in the house.

“Whoa!” says a voice, nearly scaring me to death. “What are you doing here?”Heart pounding, I whip around to see a boy about my age emerging from the trees that form one side of the wooded trail. He has curly light brown hair, a healthy olive glow to his skin that I would kill for, and a few random freckles dotted lightly across his nose. His mouth is drawn up in a cocky grin.....The first in a five-part series, “Never Lost” opens just as sixteen-year-old Harper Johnston is trying to adjust to moving from the suburbs of Chicago to the remote Wisconsin farm town where her mother grew up. Harper is convinced that there is nothing for her in this town, which she sarcastically dubs “Hick Town USA.” All she wants is to go back home to her old house and her old school and her old friends. Then Harper meets Danny, who is unlike any other boy she’s ever met before. There is something different—maybe even magical—about him that Harper can’t quite put her finger on. Then Harper earns Danny’s secret…and decides that moving to Oak Leaf was maybe not such a bad idea, after all….

A lone human soldier wanders in a vast desert, almost dying of thirst. He meets a severely wounded orc warrior. What will be the outcome of this encounter?How do you handle a Cup Final when the two teams come from planets with different conditions? Taw Braley, a socially challenged robotics expert, finds out the hard way in this short piece of SF comedy when his football-crazy girlfriend drags him along because a team from Earth is involved. As the hapless Taw does his best to get to grips with the complicated nuances of an interplanetary football match, disaster strikes the robot officials and it's up to Taw to save the day.

(This is a short story of approximately 12 pages.)The Medical Society requests the pleasure of your company as it presents the journals of the esteemed vampire and physician, Dr. Dunham. These brief entries chronicle his theories and observations of his immortal progeny, Miss Harper Marwick, and her descent into despair.A retired MLB pitcher finds love and redemption via a hurled can of humble soup. Refusing to obey signals cost him his career, once--but this time--a beanball is exactly what's called for, and the signs all make sense. Making a hero often requires a "zero" to balance the equation. Seeing life from both sides of the fence, the protagonist reconciles his past, finds humility, and creates a new beginning. This story isn't about about baseball, though it makes significant commentary on contemporary status, thereof, and incisively nails what's wrong with the sport...where greed has driven it awry. This narrative is primarily about what's truly important in life--what's solidly pure and what's vacuously hollow--what's important when looming largely in front of us, but insignificant in the rear-view mirror with distance applied. Dreams and aspirations loudly drive us when young, while wisdom softly chuckles from the quiet perch of maturity. Each has its time and purpose.

Gem is one of the unlucky ones, the one child in every seven that Magic forgets. Years later, her Gift finally surfaces, but to claim her Magical inheritance means rewriting her past. Then there’s Buddy, who died one night in a car accident, but is still turning up on Gem’s doorstep, asking for his Fortune to be read, desperately seeking a future when his life is already over.Gem is one of the unlucky ones, the one child in every seven that Magic forgets to bestow a Gift upon. And, as an extra unhappy bonus, she gets to be terrified of birds. Years later when her Gift finally surfaces and she should be happy that Magic didn't forget her after all, she discovers that to claim her Magical inheritance she must revisit and conquer her old childhood fears. Then Gavin, her son, manifests his Magic while little more than a baby, but his peculiar ability to restore youthfulness to the old brings its own problems, not to mention hordes of old people. And worst of all, there’s Buddy, who died one night in a car accident, but is still turning up on Gem’s doorstep, day after day, asking for his Fortune to be read, desperately seeking a future when his life is already over.

Xander de Hunter is a rising star on Catamondo's kick-boxing circuit and has dreams of becoming a Purrtector, but in Seattle, Xander must face his biggest fear – water.Xander de Hunter is a rising star on Catamondo's kick-boxing circuit and has dreams of becoming a Purrtector. After a match in Seattle, he is asked to help find Merlin's littermate, Cha-Cha, a white Norwegian beauty, who is missing. With Merlin's assistance, they follow Cha-Cha's trail into the Puget Sound where Xander must face his biggest fear – water.

An unthinkable betrayal threatens everyone Rory loves in the third installment of our dark, thrilling Shadowlands series from New York Times best-selling author Kate Brian. Rory Miller didn't just fall in love with Tristan Parrish. She fell in love with the idea of forever. He was the one who told her the truth about her existence in Juniper Landing: that her mortal life is over, and she will now spend eternity on the island, helping others in limbo move on. But like Juniper Landing, a bright island with dark secrets, Tristan is too good to be true. The mysterious, heartbreakingly beautiful boy Rory thought she knew is responsible for unthinkable evil-sending good souls to the Shadowlands in order to get himself a second chance at life on Earth. He has already claimed Rory's friend Aaron and her own father, but when SPOILER Tristan sends her sister, Darcy, to the Shadowlands, too, Rory decides to take matters into her own hands. She will do anything to save her family, even if it means going to hell and back.