First Love

      Ivan Turgenev
     First Love

"The great thing is to lead a normal life, and not be the slave of your passions. What do you get if not?" One of Russian literature's most renowned love stories—a vivid and sensitive account of adolescent love, wherein the sixteen year old protagonist falls in love with a beautiful but older woman living next door, thereby plunging into a whirlwind of changing emotions that are heightened by her capriciousness, and leading to a truly heart-rending revelation. The Art of The Novella Series Too short to be a novel, too long to be a short story, the novella is generally unrecognized by academics and publishers. Nonetheless, it is a form beloved and practiced by literature's greatest writers. In the Art Of The Novella series, Melville House celebrates this renegade art form and its practitioners with titles that are, in many instances, presented in book form for the first time.

Read online

  • 1 101

    Swallowing Darkness

      Laurell K. Hamilton
     Swallowing Darkness

I am Meredith, princess of faerie, wielder of the hands of Flesh and Blood, and at long last, I am with child–twins, fathered by my royal guard. Though my uncle, Taranis, King of Light and Illusion, claims that he is the true father since he abducted me from my home, betrayed, and defiled me. And now he has branded my guards as a threat to my unborn children. Bearing an heir has placed me halfway to my aunt’s throne, that much closer to my reign over the Unseelie Court–and well ahead of her son, my cousin Cel, in this race. Now I must stay alive to see my children born and claim my place as queen. But not all in faerie are pleased with the news, and conspirators from every court in the realm plot against me and mine. They seek to strip my guards, my lovers, from me by poisoned word or cold steel. But I still have supporters, and even friends, among the goblins and the sluagh, who will stand by me. I am Meredith Nic Essus, and those who would defy and destroy me are destined to pay a terrible price–for I am truly my father’s daughter. To protect what is mine, I will sacrifice anything–even if it means waging a great battle against my darkest enemies and making the most momentous decision ever made as princess of faerie.

Read online

  • 1 100

    The Jamaican Ninja Bert!!

      Richie Drenz
     The Jamaican Ninja Bert!!

When Portia Simpson implemented tax on patty, it mad Dr. Bert Kemp, a psychiatrist. He then became a fat ninja, hell bent on murdering Portia. His wife, Marj scorned by all for living with a madman except the handsome, thick-bodied Dr. Arnold who desires her. Bert grows jealous and goes to utterly unsound measures to keep her but instead, pushes her away. Will he regain sanity or her love?When Portia Simpson implemented tax on patty, it mad Dr. Bert Kemp, a psychiatrist. He then became a fat ninja, hell bent on murdering Portia Simpson’s head-crown, so every patty can be tax-free. His wife, Marjorie, decides to take care of her mentally-touched husband and hopes she has the strength to stick by him for better or worse. But as she unbearably loses everything and everyone because of Bert’s insanity, she crumbles, thinking she’s holding on to dead hope for her husband to regain his sanity, but will it ever happen? Scorned by her friends and family for living with a madman her only listening ear is the handsome, thick-bodied Dr. Arnold who wants her for himself. Bert grows jealous and goes to utterly unsound measures to keep his wife’s love but instead, is pushing her away. The ultimate question then is, “Will Bert ever get to take off the Right Honourable Portia Simpson’s head-crown?”EXCERPT 1Marj looked at him and the wrinkles straightened out her face. “See how mi smart? You nuh see how fast mi mek you reach yah?” Bert asked, “You lucky you come quick though enuh, a light mi did gone light the gas cylinder and mi couldn’t find the matches, you think you coulda out it in time if mi did get fi put mi hand pon the matches? You stay deh, you woulda blow till you weak you couldn’t put out that deh big fire deh mi woulda set the house pon. A woulda bun dung the whole a in yah then claim insurance.”She threw her hand up and slapped her forehead harder than she intended to. She wanted to be angry, but when she looked in his eyes she breathed out some of the fire out her chest and shook her head. Her voice lowered,“Bert, that’s a boxing ring Hun, I can’t wear that.”She repeated her mantra, “For better or for worse Lord, for better or for worse.”EXCERPT 2Six and a half hours later, Marj came in the evening and was greeted by the Vybz Kartel, he was blasting in the house, ‘Cock it up pon the Dumper Truck’. Her ears hurt. But what was more alarming to her senses was a smell. She was smelling heat, stale heat like an iron left in fire. Something was burning. She charged into her living room. Bert still had the curling iron plugged in, until it was dangerously hot and red.“What are you doing Bert?!”Bert was reclined on his back in the sofa, he offhandedly answered,“Clearlyyyy,” he dragged on the word ‘clearly’ for emphasis, because she must have been blind not to recognize what he was doing, “what I’m trying to do here Marj. I’m trying to master level seven of Ninja’s Thermatology, where my eyes can absorb the direct heat from the hot curling iron. Alsooo, . . . mi can absorb the heat wid the inside a mi bottom lip. Ain’t that obvious?”EXCERPT 3Bert totally oblivious to the hill and gully in his chest that Clivey was talking about, Bert indifferently said,“A suh mi chest stay. Mi a get thick from morning. No pills.”“No Bert, mi know a nuh suh it stay. Mi know a sponge under deh fi buff up your chest. Mi a nuh idiot.”Bert slammed down his fart tonic on the bench and said,“You chat too much. A mi chest. A mi so-so chest.”“A nuh your chest. Lift up your blouse mek mi see if a so-so chest under deh.”Same time Clivey spotted the piece of sponge shifted up at the neck of his blouse. It was obvious now. A piece a sponge Bert have underneath deh. Bert replied,“Weh mi a tell lie fa!” He kissed his teeth and blatantly said, “God kill mi right yahso ten time if mi a tell lie.

Read online

  • 1 100

    Alex Finch: Monster Hunter

      Cate Dean
     Alex Finch: Monster Hunter

**Book 1 of an exciting YA paranormal series!** Meet Alex Finch - tomboy, techno geek, monster hunter. Reluctant monster hunter. A school project, an absentminded project partner, and a misplaced backpack all change 16-year-old Alex Finch's life forever. In a single afternoon Alex finds the missing backpack, has a run-in with Sam, the boy she's had a crush on since first grade - and discovers that monsters are real. That mind-blowing incident throws her life in a completely different direction, uncovering secrets that cost her more than she could ever imagine. And the further she digs, the darker and more dangerous the secrets become. What else is hiding behind the ordinary facade of her California beach town? Alex is about to find out. ***Includes an exclusive excerpt of *Truth and Consequences*, the second Monster Files adventure.** **The Monster Files (ideal reading order): Book 1 - *Alex Finch: Monster Hunter* Book 2 - *Truth and Consequences Once Fallen *(The remarkable Life of Zach Wiche Continued) Book 3 - *Welcome to The Haven Finding Grace *(The Remarkable Life of Zach Wiche Continued) Book 3.5 - *A Monster Files Wedding* The Monster Files Box Set ** Zach joins Alex and her friends in Book 2 of The Monster Files - ***Truth and Consequences***. ***Once Fallen*** takes place right after the events in Book 2, and ***Finding Grace*** after Book 3. And if you can't get enough of Zach, he is introduced in Book 3 of **The Claire Wiche Chronicles.** **More YA by Cate Dean:** **The Black Mountain Saga:** **Book I - *Rosamond's Heart* Book II - *Danel of Black Mountain*** **Shattered Throne Series:** **Prequel - *Second Son* Book 1 - *Shattered Throne* Book 2 - *Blood Prince* Lore - Tales of Myth and Legend Retold - *The Barricades*** ** ### From the Author Cate Dean loves writing stories with an edge of supernatural. Enjoy falling into a new world. ### About the Author Cate Dean loves all things spooky - and hopes you enjoy being on the edge of your seat with Alex and her friends. Even the unwanted ones...

Read online

  • 1 100

    Love the Way You Lie

      Skye Warren
     Love the Way You Lie

A dark romance about the lies that lead us down… * I’ll do anything to get safe, even if that means working at the scariest club in town. I’ll do anything to stay hidden, even if it means taking off my clothes for strangers. I’ll do anything to be free. Except give him up. When he looks at me, I forget why I can’t have him. He’s beautiful and scarred. His body fits mine, filling the places where I’m hollow, rough where I am soft. He’s the one man who wants to help me, but he has his own agenda. He has questions I can’t answer. What are you afraid of? You.

Read online

  • 1 100

    Spectacle--A Novel

      Rachel Vincent
     Spectacle--A Novel

In this riveting sequel to New York Times bestselling author Rachel Vincent's acclaimed novel Menagerie, Delilah Marlow will discover that there is no crueler cage than the confines of the human mind... When their coup of Metzger's Menagerie is discovered, Delilah and her fellow cryptids find their newly won freedom brutally stripped away as they are sold into The Savage Spectacle, a private collection of "exotic wildlife." Specializing in ruthless cryptid cage matches, safari-style creature hunts and living party favors, the Spectacle's owner, Willem Vandekamp, caters to the forbidden fetishes of the wealthy and powerful. At the Spectacle, any wish can be granted—for the right price. But Vandekamp's closely guarded client list isn't the only secret being kept at the Spectacle. Beneath the beauty and brutality of life in the collection lie much darker truths, and no one is more determined than Delilah to strip the masks...

Read online

  • 1 100

    Justice Ascending

      Rebecca Zanetti
     Justice Ascending

Before surviving the Scorpius bacterium, Tace Justice was a good ole Texas cowboy who served his country and loved his mama. After Scorpius, the world became dark, dangerous, and deadly... and so did he. The Vanguard medic is stronger, faster, and smarter than before, but he's lost the line between right and wrong. His passion is absolute, and when he focuses it on one woman, there's no turning back for either of them. Sami Steel has been fighting to survive right alongside Tace, convincing the Vanguard soldiers she's one of them. In truth, Sami is a former hacker turned government agent who worked at The Bunker, where scientists stored both contaminants and cures. Only she knows the location, and she's not telling. Yet when sexual fire explodes between her and Tace, she'll face even that hell again to save him.

Read online

  • 1 100

    Forgiving

      LaVyrle Spencer
     Forgiving

There's a place in every heart for forgiving.... SARAH She came to Deadwood, a rough and tumble western town, with an ambitious dream of starting a newspaper. But her journey had another purpose--to find her sister and mend the family tie that was severed years ago, when Addie left home with a hardened heart--and without an explanation. NOAH The thought of this headstrong woman turning his town upside down riled Marshal Campbell to no end. But there was something about Sarah that the lawman found irresistible. Inside, he longed to treat her like a lady. But outside, he'd keep up his ornery image--and give her a rocky welcome to town... Two strong-willed souls, Sarah and Noah would discover the timeless beauty of love--when the heart learns to take back the past and start again...

Read online

  • 1 100

    Fanged & Fabulous

      Michelle Rowen
     Fanged & Fabulous

My name is Sarah Dearly, and I've got major problems. Last month, I was turned into a vampire by the world's worst blind date. Then I may have, totally by accident, started a war between the mostly peaceful bloodsuckers and a bunch of sociopathic vamp hunters who have nicknamed me the Slayer of Slayers. Now I'm being used as bait to draw out the hunters' bad-ass leader, while my gorgeous 600-year-old boyfriend Thierry seems to be blowing me off, and my sizzle-hot, fanged friend Quinn is trying to turn my self-defense lessons into make-out sessions. So you know what? I'm done. I've had it. There comes a time when a vamp has to just suck it up and go after what she wants. And as soon as I figure out what that is, that's exactly what I'll do...

Read online

  • 1 100

    Two Summers

      Aimee Friedman
     Two Summers

ONE SUMMER in the French countryside, among sun-kissed fields of lavender . . . ANOTHER SUMMER in upstate New York, along familiar roads that lead to surprises . . . When Summer Everett makes a split-second decision, her summer divides into two parallel worlds. In one, she travels to France, where she’s dreamed of going: a land of chocolate croissants, handsome boys, and art museums. In the other, she remains home, in her ordinary suburb, where she expects her ordinary life to continue — but nothing is as it seems. In both summers, she will fall in love and discover new sides of herself. What may break her, though, is a terrible family secret, one she can't hide from anywhere. In the end, it may just be the truth she needs the most. From New York Times bestselling author Aimee Friedman comes an irresistible, inventive novel that takes readers around the world and back again, and asks us what matters more: the journey or the destination.

Read online

  • 1 100

    Juliet Immortal

      Stacey Jay
     Juliet Immortal

Fans of Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver and Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush will relish this intense paranormal love story featuring Romeo and Juliet, literary history's most tragic couple, who meet again, not as true lovers, but truly as enemies. The most tragic love story in history . . . Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But what Romeo didn't anticipate was that Juliet would be granted eternity, as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light. For 700 years, she's fought Romeo for the souls of true lovers, struggling to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent. Until the day she meets someone she's forbidden to love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy that love. "These violent delights have violent ends And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, Which as they kiss consume." —Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare From the Hardcover edition.

Read online

  • 1 100

    Angels Pain

      Maggie Shayne
     Angels Pain

Briar needs just two things: blood and vengeance. The first sustains her immortal life; the second gives it meaning. First on her hit list is Gregor, the renegade vampire who schooled her in brutality, then betrayed and tortured her. To achieve her deadly ends, Briar joins the inscrutable Reaper and his misfit gang of vampires who are also hunting her old mentor. But once she's destroyed Gregor, she'll be gone. The group means nothing to her. Not even Crisa—damaged, defenseless, a liability in every way—the childlike vamp with whom Briar shares a blood bond. Or Reaper. Though they shared one moment of pure passion, it's not as though Briar has feelings for him. Because Briar needs no one. She needs only to satisfy her twin hungers—ones that may ultimately consume her.

Read online

  • 1 099

    Ministry to the Shepherds

      Annie Pelle
     Ministry to the Shepherds

Content to live in the background due to her handicap of blindness, Rachel Hale creates a ministry to help ministers. She prays for them and helps them find resources. A call comes to her ministry from Ethan Hayes as he needs help to relocate to Albuquerque. Rachel’s patience at his multiple requests for help leads him to want to find the woman who has made his transition to Albuquerque easier.Content to live in the background due to her handicap of blindness, Rachel Hale creates a ministry to help ministers. She prays for them and helps them find resources. Ethan Hayes comes to pastor the church she attends and changes Rachel’s point of view. When a call comes to her ministry from Ethan Hayes as he needs help to relocate to Albuquerque to become a pastor at a church in that city. Rachel’s patience at his multiple requests for help leads him to want to find the woman who has made his transition to Albuquerque easier. A near tragedy reunites Rachel and Ethan but Rachel is still unwilling to believe that she can be the kind of wife that he would need. Ethan is sure that she is wrong and sets out to encourage her to let the Lord lead in their lives.

Read online

  • 1 099

    The Girl Who Knew Too Much

      Amanda Quick
     The Girl Who Knew Too Much

Amanda Quick, the bestselling author of ’Til Death Do Us Part, transports readers to 1930s California, where glamour and seduction spawn a multitude of sins… When Hollywood moguls and stars want privacy, they head to an idyllic small town on the coast, where the exclusive Burning Cove Hotel caters to their every need. It’s where reporter Irene Glasson finds herself staring down at a beautiful actress at the bottom of a pool… The dead woman had a red-hot secret about up-and-coming leading man Nick Tremayne, a scoop that Irene couldn’t resist—especially since she’s just a rookie at a third-rate gossip rag. But now Irene’s investigation into the drowning threatens to tear down the wall of illusion that is so deftly built around the famous actor, and there are powerful men willing to do anything to protect their investment. Seeking the truth, Irene finds herself drawn to a master of deception. Oliver Ward was once a world-famous magician—until he was mysteriously injured during his last performance. Now the owner of the Burning Cove Hotel, he can’t let scandal threaten his livelihood, even if it means trusting Irene, a woman who seems to have appeared in Los Angeles out of nowhere four months ago… With Oliver’s help, Irene soon learns that the glamorous paradise of Burning Cove hides dark and dangerous secrets. And that the past—always just out of sight—could drag them both under…

Read online

  • 1 099

    Mate for the Feral Barbarians

      Scarlett Grove
     Mate for the Feral Barbarians

Can their wild passions win her heart? After the world’s worst date, Kimmy Simms is ready to try anything -- even an online quiz about her perfect match. When two cupids materialize out of thin air to give her the results, and then poof her into another dimension, Kimmy’s sure she’s dreaming! The huge blue barbarians who greet her, however, feel very real. Their enemy has poisoned most of the women and twins need to mate with her … but since they are enormous panther shifters and she is but a tiny human, she must choose between them. Vock and Konko then compete win her over, each seeking to outdo the other in deeds of sensual pleasure. But contrary to their instructions, Kimmy has fallen for both her extraordinary lovers. Can they escape an enemy attack and complete their ancient ritual, so that both of them can claim her? Or will she be forced to deny one of her would-be mates? Mate For The Fear Barbarians is a full-length, smoking hot, five-alarm fire of alien shifter lovin’! Scorching satisfaction and the naughtiest of happy endings guaranteed.

Read online

  • 1 099