You need to have read the following series (in this order) to understand what is happening in this story: The Watchers Trilogy, The Watcher Chronicles, and Caylin's Story. Please be advised that this series will contain sexual situations of a mature nature. If I were to rate this series like a movie, I would rate it 'R'.On the night Anna was born, she was promptly sent away from the down-world to live in the cloud city of Cirrus. That very same night her future was decided for her when she became betrothed to Crown Prince Augustus Amador. For twenty-one years, she has lived as Lady Anna, future Empress of Cirrus and proud daughter of Andre Greco. Although Anna's destiny seemed laid out for her, fate intervenes to reveal the true path she was always meant to take. With the unexpected arrival of Malcolm Devereaux into her world, Anna knows without a shadow of a doubt that she has finally been reunited with the missing piece of her soul. Chaos and turmoil soon turn Anna's once docile life upside down, but she knows with Malcolm by her side she can accomplish the mission she was born to undertake. Not only must Anna fight against the princes of Hell, but she must also find a way to help Malcolm stop living in the past so they can have a chance at a future.

    But Mia isn’t scared of her domineering boss. The friction between them generates an undeniable heat—but Mia will not be kept, and Ford will do anything to protect what’s his. A few notes:Unlike Beyond Temptation, this story stands separate from the main series plotline, with a tight focus on the hero and heroine as they travel through some parts of the Sectors we don't usually get to show.

    A short story about Sahara & Kaleb's daily life. Timeline: Takes place some time after Heart of Obsidian.This story can be found on Nalini Singh's official website.

    All she wants is peace--but the sins of her father haunt her. He ruled the sector as a petty tyrant before the O'Kane takeover, and plenty of people harbor bitter memories of his cruelty. Especially now that Tatiana's beloved baby sister has fallen in with a man who wants to start a revolution. Zan failed his boss once, and it won't happen again. So when Dallas O'Kane asks him to defuse the rebellion brewing in the sector, he'll do whatever it takes to get the job done--including seduce Tatiana. It's the perfect opportunity to get closer to the pretty crafter and complete his mission. But what he discovers is a fiery, passionate woman--and an affair that could destroy them both.

    The only weak spot in his armor is his best friend’s sweet younger sister--the girl he swore to save, even from himself. With her brother dead and a target on their backs, getting her out of the sector--and out of danger--meant giving her up for good. Or so he thought. Emma Cibulski has made her own home in Sector Four, as a full member of the O’Kane gang and apprentice to their infamous tattoo artist. When Noah--the first man she ever loved--stumbles back into her life, it’s her chance to have it all. The spark between them burns hotter than ever, and this time her fantasies are far from innocent. But can they handle the heat...or will Noah’s dark secrets drive them apart forever? Note: BEYOND TEMPTATION was originally published in the anthology MARKED alongside stories by Vivian Arend and Lauren Dane.

    Summer Killian falls fast and hard when Charlie arrives in Paradise Village. But the heat turns all the way up when she learns Charlie is also with Hatch - the man she loved three years before. While she's not sure she's cut out for a triad, neither man is going to give her up.Take a ROCKY RIDE with New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Vivian Arend as she leads you back to the Six Pack Ranch. Anna Coleman might be the law around Rocky Mountain House, but bad boy Mitch Thompson knows that under the stiff RCMP uniform is a woman with a passion for speed and pleasure that matches his own, and he’s not giving up until she’s his.Kit Rocha returns to Sector Four in BEYOND TEMPTATION. A promise to a dying friend backfires when Noah Lennox finds that the girl he was supposed to rescue is all grown up--and wearing O'Kane ink. He wants to protect her from the secrets of their past, but she wants him. And an O'Kane woman always gets what she wants.

    Cybernetic technology designed to fuse with human DNA gave it the ability to heal anything. Instead, it left ninety-eight percent of Earth’s population more machine than man. Eve is a soldier without a past. Her only goal is to keep her family, the colony of Eden, alive and away from the Bane: those infected by TorBane. She hunts, she watches, and she fights when needed. Avian and West will wake her up. One a soldier, one a keeper of secrets—they will both test Eve’s sanity and awaken emotions she never knew she could feel. And she will make a choice that will change the future of mankind. Those few humans left will fight. Against the evolving Bane, against those among themselves that may be human, but may not have a conscience or soul. And they’ll stand together until the very end. The Eden Trilogy is The Terminator meets The Walking Dead with a heart-twisting romance and an explosive finish you’ll never see coming. This omnibus edition includes THE BANE, THE HUMAN, THE EVE, THE RAID: an Eden short story, and THE ASHES: an Eden prequel.

    A short story featuring Clay, Talin, Jon and Noor from the DarkRiver pack. Timeline: Takes place some time after Play of Passion and before Kiss of Snow.This story can be found on Nalini Singh's official website.

    When the police trace an illegal Bible to her house, Heather’s world begins to crumble. Her father’s life hangs in the balance. No one with the power to help knows or cares. If she tries to save him, she could lead her friends to their deaths. If she does nothing, her father’s fate is certain. Can she evade a hostile police force and win public sympathy before it’s too late?

    With his faithful friend, Verin, by his side, they acquire a gently used ship with a drag-queen AI. Hell for the Company: Brimstone 1 Everything's going just fine, thank you very much. All right, the anti-gravity cows are a bit problematic and some of Shax's buyers are bad for his health, but he manages until he comes across an injured angel in a psychedelic alien jungle. Fear of Frogs: Brimstone 2 While Shax recovers from a near fatality, his shipmates have taken the initiative and found them a lucrative cargo run. Shax is horrified to find out what sort of cargo. Unfortunately, he'll soon discover that a healthy fear of frogs doesn't prevent frog-driven disasters. Shax's War: Brimstone 3 The boys desperately need a vacation. With the not-quite-ill-gotten gains from the Frog incident, Shax takes the Brimstone's crew to the exclusive resort planet, Opal. What could possibly go wrong?

    When she runs straight into the hands of Reid McCallum things start spiralling out of control and everything she believed is turned upside down. Elina soon finds out that Judgment isn't all she thought it was and people she thought enemies and friends are total opposites.Reid McCallum –Subject Delta, has been searching for ‘The Eight’ for eighteen months, hoping to build himself an army to take down the establishment that took so much from him.When Elina storms into his life, he and his friends find out just how devious and greedy Judgement have become. What seemed like a ‘freak mistake’ in one of Elina’s trials wasn't exactly what they thought and her break out wasn't as simple as it seemed. However, what Reid comes to find out is that he no longer needs an army…. Because Elina IS an army!This book contains strong language, violence and explicit sexual scenes.

    Wolfen were the pinnacle of scientific achievement, redefining the limits of what it means to be human. Their counterparts, in turn, grew into the ultimate predators. Incapable of higher thought, converts were unstoppable in their need to breed and devour, and when they escaped, they brought the world to its knees.Almost two decades later, humanity is on the brink of extinction and only the heartless survive. Rescued by two Wolfen brothers, Sinna must now brave the treacherous wastelands of North America in order to reach safety and the promise of a better life. But when an unexpected gambit forces them to separate, a genetic advantage becomes a liability, and the worst monsters turn out to be the ones who don’t have claws.In the game of survival, Wolfen were created to be champions. No longer. The enemy keeps evolving, rendering old tactics ineffective, and the only rule left is to endure at any cost.

    After several failed attempts at finding a bride, it’s hard to get excited about yet another festival. No matter how honorable they try to live, it would seem fate thinks them unworthy of such happiness–that is until now.With very few words spoken and the shortest, most bizarre courtship in history, they will bond to their women forever. And once bonded, these men don’t let go… Too bad no Book 5: His Highness the Duke Aeron wants nothing more than to continue to live out her very long, solitary life in a small metal room listening to communications for the Federation Military. It’s not glamorous. It’s not even charming. But it’s safe. There’s no chance of getting hurt. When she intercepts a communication about the impeding genocide of the Qurilixian people, she has no choice but to act. High Duke of Draig, Lord Bron, is not looking forward to his seventh failed attempt at a marriage ceremony, but when he sees the lovely Aeron he knows instantly his years of waiting have finally paid off. The gods have blessed him with a life mate… or have they? His new bride is insistent she’s not there for marriage, but for a mission. It’s up to Bron to convince her to stay, or risk spending the rest of his life alone. Book 6: The Stubborn Lord Kendall Haven’s life turns upside down when she’s kidnapped off her fueling dock home by thugs claiming to have the right. Her father, the gambler, used her to cover his losses at the Larceny Casino Ship. Drugged and treated like cargo, she’s sold to the highest bidder–Galaxy Brides Corporation. Lord Alek, Younger Duke of Draig, has not been lucky in finding his life mate. Resigned to a lonely life, he attends the bridal ceremony out of familial duty. Then the impossible happens–Kendall. Nothing goes according to tradition, but he can’t let that dissuade him. She is his only chance at happiness, and no matter how she protests, he’s not going to let her get away Book 7: The Reluctant Lord Lady Clara of the Redding, a living statue of perfection, has been raised a true Redde noblewoman. She has been taught to never show emotion, to never raise her voice, to touch as little as possible, and to never act wildly or rashly. After Clara denies all suitable males on her home world, her parents are left with one choice—send her to a primitive planet where several noblemen await marriage. The men hardly appear picky about their choices, a perfect arrangement for a reluctant bride. Lord Vladan, Ealdorman Honorary of the Draig is not like his noble brothers. Adopted into their family after a mining accident killed his parents, he is every bit as titled as his new brothers, and every bit as welcome into the fold. Yet he can’t help but feel the pull of his commoner past. He loves his family, and will always do as duty demands, but a part of him still yearns to shift into dragon form and run free in the wild. This is how he knows his bride will be the most wild of creatures, for he wants passion, not perfection. Surely the gods are mistaken when they bind him to the most refined, reserved, frustratingly perfect creature in the universe.

    When Lewis unwittingly records one of Merkel’s private conversations, he discovers his boss is a secret member of the murderous Society for Human Enlightenment and party to a plot to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Kahn. Kahn’s elimination is planned as a prelude to the kind of slaughter not seen since the holocaust. Lewis is discovered, but saves the recording and runs, pursued by the relentless Alan Williams and several of the Society’s feared operational security teams. The Fellowship of the Essentials mobilizes Team Leader Ted Kehr and such men as they have, but Lewis trusts no one. In the end, Lewis is the only one standing between the Society and genocide. His only hope is to return to the woman he loves, but knows betrayed him years ago.

    Contains language and actions some may deem offensive. M/F This collection contains the first nine books in the Katieran Prime Series. Katieran Prime (Book 1) Prime Commander (Book 2) Prime Medic (Book 3) Kiljorn Prime (Book 4) Prime Deliverance (Book 5) Prime Salvation (Book 6) Colonial Prime (Book 7) Katieran Prime Celebration (Book 7.5) Kiljorn Commander (Book 8) Join the Katieran Prime Nation!

    Scholey's popular science fiction & romance series are available in one ebook bundle, including:Book 1: SHIELDEarth is all but dead. With meteors exploding in their midst, the shuttle Grace boards takes flight in a last ditch effort to save human lives. With little food, water and eight stowaways the situation is volatile while they race to the new planet, Ulsy. A wormhole and a crash are their undoing. While fleeing into the strange surroundings on an even stranger planet two of Grace’s shuttle pilots are killed by a massive ebony creature with fangs as white as ivory.Rask is a full blooded Castian warrior who thinks his planet has been stormed. When he comes across the little being that cowers from him he is intrigued. After four hundred years and virtual immortality Rask thought he had seen everything. When the being before him declares herself to be a human female he is beyond amazed. Females have been extinct as long as he can remember. But there is no denying her sweet scent. One inhaled breath is all it takes to drop his shield and reveal the muscular tanned male beneath.Rask had thought his armor impenetrable - but one touch from a slender hand and he realizes he is powerless against the tiny human he must have.Book 2: ARMOREarth is a fiery pile of rubble. Amy, a woman left to fend for herself on the volatile planet, seeks to feed a pitiful group of women and children, misfits left to perish because of various and devious reasons. Amy was diagnosed with cancer the year her world fell apart and not given a shuttle pass to the new planet, Ulsy. That she is still alive is all but a mystery to her. When strange beings land on Earth’s surface, Amy presumes the armored, hideous creatures are looming death.Dasks is a full-blooded Castian warrior from Dargon. He and his warrior mate have come to Earth seeking human females to bond with. A male of almost four hundred years old, he can’t believe how captivating his new human female, Amy, is. But Dasks’ race can sense deception and lies—he can smell fear. Amy is keeping a secret from him.When a Castian mates, he mates for life. If Amy dies, so will Dasks. Dasks must decide if he can live without her—because if they mate he will surely die with her.Book 3: IMPENETRABLEKidnapped from dying Earth by the heinous Tonan race, Piper is locked in a small cell, deprived of light and human companionship and tormented on a daily basis. When the door to her hell opens unexpectedly Piper is blinded by the light and walks headlong into a massively built creature. She is tossed over a shoulder, taken on the wildest ride of her life then placed into a healing pool.Jago is a four-hundred-year-old immortal who has never seen a living breathing female before, but he knows of their existence. Their ship was headed to the planet Earth to see if they could find these rare human gifts when they accidently stumbled onto the Tonan vessel. Desperate to find a mate Jago was thrilled when the little female walked right into his arms as though she was waiting for him. Unfortunately Jago’s leader, Cobra, has asked to impregnate Piper, thinking Jago too young. Ultimately, the choice is Piper’s. Who will she choose?Book 4: APPARITIONHalf Castian and half Tonan, Doss is considered nothing more than a Tonian hybrid. A being to be feared, with the power to kill by penetrating what is supposed to be impenetrable.Loathed by many, feared by more, Doss has spent the last 700 years alone, shunned by the Tonans on his planet. He prefers it that way until a nude female rider on a huge, black stallion, fleeing for her life, catches his eye. If left alone, both beast and human would be killed by their pursuant, an enraged Tonan warrior. When the scent of the female invades his nostrils, Doss is captivated. He must have the female human and will go to great lengths to secure her safety.Zoe hates both Castians and Tonans. The promise of salvation from dying Earth, on planet Ulsy, had been nothing more than a lie. Human males were slaughtered, and human women were captured to lure secrets of the Castian planets, Bagron and co-planet Dargon, from enslaved warriors with the promise of sex. When met with the six-foot-six hybrid warrior who moved like an apparition in battle to save her and her beloved stallion Caveat, Zoe is unsure what to do. She has no idea of his intentions, but from the shiver that runs down her spine she is certain she's about to find out.Book 5: ENGULFFor a year, Abri and five other women have found themselves trapped on a lonely planet, after their shuttle crashes on its way to Ulsy. They have fled Earth and the fiery rubble it has become. The crash has left Abri deaf and hurting with her aloneness. When sound becomes nothing, her other senses heighten, especially when they encounter two huge, handsome aliens.Raiden has seen human women, but on his planet, females are few and far between. He and his warrior mate Cace can't believe their good luck when they stumble across six of them on a deserted planet. The little deaf female, Abri, catches Raiden's heart the moment her essence seeps into his skin. He must have her. Their healing waters or his shield will cure her strange malady once they have mated. Or will it?

    This is a short story of the original Shiv Crew.

    All she remembers is a phrase she does not understand. Lex Talionis. The law of revenge. Stripped of her past, Lex focuses on the only thing she can. Retribution. She will find the people who murdered her and she will make them pay.What Lex doesn’t know is that she’s being hunted. The alien who saved her and the soldier fighting for survival are the keys to her past…and her future. She must discover what they know before the hunter finds her. Every clue brings her closer to powerful enemies. Everything she learns draws her nearer to the person who almost destroyed her.The only man she has ever loved.

     Book 4: Calder He's known as the Beast. Calder is scarred all over, the result of a plasma fire years ago. He's learned that women crave to be with him, and he's created a world where they can indulge in their darkest fantasies. He gives them an exotic experience with a capital E. But when he meets Katarina, a medic at a Pas City clinic, she wants to know Calder, the man behind the mask, something Calder can't afford to let her see. Book 5: Braden Braden, a level-three Shareem, never thought he’d find anything interesting in a library, of all places. That is, until he spies Elisa n’Arell sitting behind a reference desk. She’s lovely, polite, and uses cute words like “mustn’t.” The trouble is, the pretty librarian is a registered celibate, off-limits, forbidden, especially for the nearly outlawed Shareem. Book 6: Justin Justin has spent much of his life as a free citizen, but he returns home to search for the daughter he was forbidden to have. But a feisty female patroller who's following him around is getting in his way, especially when she keeps shooting him in the backside. Welcome back to the world of the Shareem!

    They looked and behaved just like humans. But when the Mechanics malfunctioned and started to kill those who had given them life, they were hunted down and destroyed, until only one remained.When twenty-two-year-old, Hope Last, has a chance encounter with a mysterious man named Aidan Croix, an immediate and intense attraction forms between them.…Hope soon fears that Aidan is keeping a terrible secret and begins to suspect that he might not be human after all but the last of the Mechanic’s the world has been hunting for. But Hope knows that it isn’t just her heart but her very life, Aidan holds in his hands.

    But now, the evil sorcerer Mordak has broken free, and the time for battle has come once more.Brunar, a noble Mage, turns to the magick of six powerful and ancient weapons, the Jidaan. Using the power of these mystical spears, Brunar finds those Chosen to fight as Guardians of Talwynn, but only five of the six accept their destiny. Gart, a farmer with scars on his face and his soul, angrily refuses the call of the Jidaan. Nevertheless, Brunar plunges forward, teaching his new students the ways of magick and combat.Afire with insanity, Mordak makes an unholy bargain with a Daemon-God. Filled with unfathomable power, he unleashes his hideous army of creatures and undead soldiers across the land. When Mordak’s forces murder Gart’s family, Gart sets out alone, swearing revenge.As war erupts in Talwynn, Brunar prays that his teachings will be enough to save the Guardians. . .and the Realm.

    Governors hold territories instead of states, and while Washington, DC, is gone, the government has more control than ever before. For fifteen-year-old Vivica Wilkins, the daughter of a governor, this is life as usual. High school seems pretty much the same--until one day, that controlling power steps right through the door during study hall.When Vivica speaks out to defend her pregnant friend against the harsh treatment of Population Management Officer Marina Ward, she has no idea she's sowing the seeds of a revolution in her own life. But it isn't long before she discovers her own illegal pregnancy. Now she has to decide whether to get the mandatory abortion--or follow her heart, try to keep the baby, and possibly ruin her mother's chances at becoming president.A rebel group called the Emancipation Warriors, who are fighting to restore freedoms once held unalienable, offer her asylum. Can Vivica trust these rebels to help her or will they bring everything crashing down around her? Accepting their help may come with consequences she isn't ready to face.Marissa Shrock's debut novel crafts a chilling story of what may be to come if we allow the economic and moral crises currently facing our country to change the foundations on which we built our independence--and of the difference one person can make when they choose to trust God's lead.

    But keeping custody of her brother meant becoming her former boss's bride. And giving Jackson a baby.Despite his powerful size and presence, Jackson had been hurt before. Yet he'd protected her at a personal cost, respecting her virginal apprehension. Suddenly, for Jackson's sake, Taylor wanted to replace pain with pleasure. Only, she'd never imagined what sensations — and secrets — she would awaken...Awaken The SensesCharlotte Ashton had never belonged anywhere — until she met worldly Alexandre Dupree. The winemaker was consulting at her family's vineyard, and soon shy Charlotte had fallen completely under his spell. He seemed to know all her secret desires, all her dreams — as if he'd been put on earth just for her pleasure.Alexandre seduced Charlotte in all the ways she had fantasised about. He'd read her secret journal and discovered the real Charlotte — the sensual lover, the generous woman, the vulnerable virgin. Was his crime so unforgivable when all he'd wanted was her love? Yet now to maintain her trust, he would have to continue to lie...Craving BeautyMarc was dangerous to her in the way that only a strong, sexy male could be to a woman. Even knowing that, Hira had agreed to marry him. Her mother had worried that he was scarred, but the lines on his face did nothing to lessen his raw masculine appeal. If anything, they gave him an even more dangerous male air, enticing the feminine core of her to thoughts that shocked her.What did a man's face matter anyway? She had no use for handsome men. But for a man with a heart? For such a man, she might risk everything...

    The official movie prequel to the eagerly anticipated Dawn of the Planet of the Apes movie, scheduled for release in July 2014.No Planet of the Apes fan should miss out on this original Apes story written by New York Times bestselling author Greg Keyes, whose previous works include the Star Wars: New Jedi Order novels Edge of Victory I: Conquest, Edge of Victory II: Rebirth, and The Final Prophecy.Bridging the gap between the events of the box office smash Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the eagerly anticipated sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, this movie prequel takes readers on a journey through the build up that leads to the action on screen.

    The few humans that survived the invasion are forced to live underground to escape the oppressive heat. Joe, his daughter Willa, and son Ezekiel are among the few brave enough to venture outside to gather food and supplies in the arid, rocky landscape. Their job is to bring enough food, water, and materials for their town to survive the summer in the cool caves of Red River Falls. The world outside isn’t safe. Genetically altered animals, experimented on by the Colcoa, roam the surface. When a pack of experimental grizzly bears attack the family, Willa’s life is altered forever. What she learns on her journey will change the world. Together with her new friend Xander, Willa will explore their world and uncover clues that lead her through a doorway into the unknown.

    A top-secret project exposed to a select group of scientists. Lei Heaton, a man desperate to save his daughter, is at the top of the bionics empire. He not only hired the team to repair his daughter’s damaged body, he plans to reanimate her dead mind using the Sapphire AI. A dangerous man—a killer that is no regular human… Maxwell Landon—codename: Deimos—is the Adelphi Organization’s top agent. His M.O is simple: Never fail. He's used to annihilating anyone that gets in his way. But this time, he's being called to protect and deliver. Deimos is aware that this mission won't be like any other. Then he lays eyes on the resurrected Ms. Heaton, and instantly he knows:That is not Magdalena Heaton.And he will never be the same again. Control, his most prized possession, is ripped from him with a single glance... The violent attraction he feels for the girl complicates matters immediately. But what Deimos doesn't know is that things are about to get much worse. Sapphire isn't just a completely different person than the dead Ms. Heaton—she's the AI miracle of the century. An advancement that many would kill to own. Including himself, no matter how hard he fights against it. A girl determined to protect her creator. A man determined to protect her... Despite the fact that she is not Magdalena, Sapphire is bent on taking her place as Mr. Heaton's daughter in order to keep her creator safe. Deimos knows that he has to honor her wish. But the thing inside him is demanding more. More than a touch. A lot more than a taste. It responds to everything about her...every stuttered breath that lets him know she wants him as much as he wants her.How does he walk away when he knows that no matter how far he is from her, she’ll always be in danger and he'll always hunger for her?

    Following a bio-terrorist attack, the population now lives within comfortable Citidomes. MindValues advocate acceptance and non-attachment. The BodyPerfect cult encourages a tall thin androgynous appearance, and looks are everything. This first book, Future Perfect, tells the story of Caia, an intelligent and highly educated young woman. In spite of severe governmental and societal strictures, Caia finds herself becoming attracted to her co-worker, Mac, a rebel whose questioning of their so-called utopian society both adds to his allure and encourages her own questioning of the status quo. As Mac introduces her to illegal and subversive information she is drawn into a forbidden, dangerous world, becoming alienated from her other co-workers and resmates, the companions with whom she shares her residence. In a society where every thought and action are controlled, informers are everywhere; whom can she trust? When she and Mac are sent on an outdoor research mission, Caia's life changes irreversibly. A dark undercurrent runs through this story; the enforcement of conformity through fear, the fostering of distorted and damaging attitudes towards forbidden love, manipulation of appearance and even the definition of beauty, will appeal to both an adult and young adult audience.

    A mortal entranced by a Faerie Queen. A quest that could save his realm… or doom it forever.Thomas Rymour is hopelessly infatuated with the Queen of Faerie. On a mission to find a way into the realm and reunite with his love, he makes a pact with an elf lord to steal a legendary magic sword in return for a way inside. But in a land where dragons prowl the skies, he starts to wonder if his quest could prove fatal.When Thomas tricks a powerful duke, his plan backfires and soon he is running for his life. Forced to defend himself in a world of dragons and magic, he races to find his queen before the deadly flames catch up with him. If he fails, he may lose his own land to the Western Kingdom forever.The Fey Man is book one in The Fair Folk epic fantasy series. If you like fierce dragons, flawed heroes, and faerie mythology, then you’ll love James T Kelly’s magical blockbuster.Buy The Fey Man to take an epic magical adventure today!

    Their reputation precedes them and they are no longer able to hustle the crime community for supplies. With survival becoming harder, they’re left with no other choice but to accept a risky job from a dangerous individual.The two will have to negotiate with the Tinker— a woman whose reputation for psychotic behaviour is known across the nuclear-blasted Abandoned Lands; infiltrate a town overrun with killers; and recover a cache of exceptionally rare information.They will have to put their very lives on the line in order to succeed, and with the odds considerably stacked against them, they’ll need more than luck on their side.

     A gifted psionic with a troubled past, she possesses a rare combination of abilities that makes her a powerful weapon against paranormal threats. Adrift in a society that fears people like her, she feels alone in a city of millions. In 2418, rampant violence and corporate warfare have left no shortage of angry wraiths. Most are little more than fleeting shadows or eerie whispers in the darkness, but every so often, one gathers enough strength to threaten the living. A series of attacks by androids known as dolls leave the normal police baffled. Unable to explain what made the machines malfunction, they punt the case to Division 0. Kirsten’s investigation into who – or what – is behind the random murders soon makes her a target for corporate assassins. Despite her past, and the cynical city around her, she clings to the belief that no one is beyond redemption. Alas, the killer is desperate to claim as many innocent souls as possible, and one might just be hers.

    Widescreen in scope and intimate in execution, it's the story of two scientists -- imagine Reed Richards and Sue Storm, on the brink of a public divorce -- riding the wave of journalism and popular sentiment to the top of the ratings charts... And contemplating an abrupt drop into the abyss. Kirby Brendan and Jonah Hope, a futurist and an engineer, have spent the last fifteen years spinning a few defense contracts and media contacts into a whirlwind media flurry: Scientists of a new age, the spacefaring dreams of an entire globe hanging on their every adventure and discovery. Their snappy combination of Bravo-style reality TV and the scientific excitement of Neil Tyson or Bill Nye has brought a small Nat Geo channel down from the nosebleeds to become a water-cooler classic for families and intellectuals alike.But years into their partnership, the cold has set in. An artificial intelligence, known to billions of viewers as their digital daughter, summons them to the orbital station they've paid for with fast talk, arms trading and photo opportunities. As the world looks on, Kirby and Jonah -- the faces of a new scientific optimism, the embodiment of a dream fulfilled -- are forced to reevaluate not only their personal values, but the reality of their marriage as a polemical act. Through on-site media appearances and satellite-relayed reports, re-aired interviews and scenes never dreamt fit for public consumption, we track Kirby and Jonah's last journey into space, to a reconciliation that could spell the end of the world, as family myths and history -- and computational analysis -- recombine into a desperate gambit for survival... Not only for one married couple and their half-human, invented child, but possibly the Earth's fate itself.

    Behind this movement is Chicago-based medical giant LyfeGen. The company dominates the biotech industry with their Sustain, an implantable artificial organ designed to grant its recipients near-immortality. But many of those recipients are suddenly dying. Biomedical scientist Preston Carter developed the Sustain to improve and save lives. Yet there are others that would see him fail. Extreme religious groups, radical movements, and competing corporations would prefer to see LyfeGen collapse rather than allow “the god organ” to fundamentally alter medicine and the human body. In a race against time, Carter must learn to trust resourceful journalist Audrey Cook. She may hold the key to discovering who is sabotaging the Sustain. And with the organ already implanted in his own body, Carter must uncover the truth before he’s killed by his invention.THE GOD ORGAN is a near-future medical thriller that takes the reader on a suspenseful ride filled with sinister conspiracies, intriguing biomedical science, and rampant corruption that will leave readers wondering just how dangerous becoming a god may really be.

    And if keeping his aging freighter in working order means resorting to smuggling, well, a man does what he has to in order to survive.Alek McKinnon is a Federation agent in trouble. Everything that could have gone wrong with his latest mission has. He's been ambushed, kidnapped, imprisoned, and forced to participate in an illegal experiment that has crippled his psi and left him bonded to an ancient artifact that has already proved itself deadly.When Alek stows away aboard the Gremlin, all he's looking for is a way home so he can report to his superiors. He's not expecting to find a psion in desperate need of training. And he's sure as hell not expecting to fall in love.

    Nuclear war destroyed the world they knew.2. Women are now rare and each is worth her weight in gold.3. Werewolves are more than mere legend, and they want mates!WOLF'S OATH Connie Mondale, co-pilot of the crashed plane, has no intention of being forced into marriage, thank you very much. A former fighter pilot, she's accustomed to being in charge. But leading two dozen undisciplined women is harder than flying missions over Iraq and Afghanistan. Scarier, too, with woman-hungry men outnumbering them two hundred to one. When Des, the grim-faced werewolf who is always there to support her, offers to share the load, how can she refuse?SHERRY'S WOLF Crash survivor Sherry Rowe was out of her mind with pain when help arrived at the crash site. When the big gray wolf transformed before her eyes into a gorgeous naked man who claimed her as his mate she thought he was a hallucination induced by the horror of the plane crash and the pain of her broken legs. But days later, he was still there, trying to take care of her. How could Jumping Stag expect her to love him, a man who turned to a perverted animal, when she was still dealing with the loss of the husband who hadn't survived the crash?

    He had finished his education, found the right girl, and was now just waiting on that ideal job that would launch him towards his perfectly-planned-out future. Instead, he awakes to find himself forced onto a different path—as a human conscript in an alien war—far from everything he knows and loves.Propelled into danger against his will, he will soon realize that his only choice—and that of his new comrades—is to rise to the occasion, to endure unimaginable difficulties and help each other beat the odds and make it home. Unbeknownst to Jacob, not only is he in a struggle for his life, but one that will impact humanity itself and the balance of his planet. Back on Earth, when a mass disappearance of people across the globe calls for governmental investigations it is quietly dismissed as an unsolved and strange coincidence, like the flocks of birds that drop dead from the sky. With so little information, even the 24-hour news cycle soon abandons its coverage. The only ones that appear unable to move on are the loved ones that the missing left behind. Luckily for Jacob, his family refuses to give up on him. In this survival story, science-fiction writer Patrick Locke transports us to new worlds and epic battles filled with unfair circumstances, tough decisions, fumbles and despair, victories and betrayal, courage and hope, but most of all heart.

    The verses may vary, but the melody is always the same. The eastern empire of Aukasia has a new leader, a man who means to bring war to all the land. Yet, even in all his bloody ambition, he does not realize that he is but the puppet of a greater evil. Only the Kalyra - The Children of the Crystal Star - can stand against what's coming. Only they can protect the world of Valcoria from the mad hatred of the fallen god, Aedar. A new verse of the song has begun. The last verse...

    Disbelief, devastation, despair: In that moment, Lawrence could feel nothing else. In, Just After the Fall, Lawrence is thrown into a hostile wilderness pursued by Armored Drone Soldiers, befriended by the savages he was trained to kill, and haunted with doubt as to whether Maria was really there when their home went up in flames. Just After the Fall is a story of betrayal and redemption. It is a story of love and searching for those left behind.

    A good story about discovering and accepting your true identity all tangled up in a thousand year old prophecy deemed a fairy tale by the very people it was meant to save.Only the one known as The Blood can save Lrakira . . . but is there time?The women of Lrakira have begun to die and the Stones have chosen Renloret to rescue Lrakira’s only hope of survival, a five-year-old child living on Teramar. When his ship crashes on Teramar, Renloret races against time to find the child whose blood carries the cure for his people. But the child cannot be found, and to complicate matters, Renloret is falling in love with Ani, a female Teramaran blade ring champion with serious alien issues and a need to be accepted for who she is. Renloret must choose between the survival of his species and the love of his life. The future of two worlds, Lrakira and Teramar, hang in the balance and everything depends on Renloret.

    In the articles gathered here, journalist Jason Louv hands you his ambitious map of the future. He chronicles the effects of globalization and technology, the rampant abuses of corporations and intelligence agencies, the robotification of war, and how technology and mass communications are used for control of the population. For answers to the questions posed by our Brave New World, he looks to our culture’s outsiders and rebels, and the combs the fringes of spirituality for ways to destabilize the Machine.Hyperworlds, Underworlds is more than a record of a journalist’s best work. It’s also a toolkit for understanding our tumultuous world, and finding a way to re-establish our very humanity in the face of a relentlessly dehumanizing future.With a trickster magician’s sardonic humor, Louv reveals the future to come—and gives you the power to change it.

    When the military consists of cosmopolitan alien races, conflict on the borders, and intelligent dinosaurs fighting alongside you, it is only that much more enticing.Yet for the cadets in their last year of Ganymede Military Academy, they have other worries than simply what the next year in the Janissary Corps will bring. Jane Harper is a master tactician, but cannot look someone in the eye to speak. Paris Fairnought is greater in all physical aspects to his fellow cadets, but hates the price that was paid for hissuperior abilities. Salem Winchester is pretty, poised, and looks perfect on the outside, but inside she fears that she will fail as a Janissary. Sand Falconer has a smile for everyone, but his small stature makes him a target for malcontents.Into the midst of these four teenagers, full of self doubts, steps Assault Sergeant Alexander Black, on special detail to instruct them. The veteran of over a hundred close combat assaults, he has been tasked with molding them into an elite fighting quartet, and he will not be alone in this endeavor.A deadly Khajali Schismatic will show them the meaning of conviction and how to apply to their battles on and off the battlefield. Having turned his back on the wanton, pillaging culture of his people, he knows what it means to walk away from everything to be true to yourself.Two Old Blooded, the self aware and intelligent dinosaurs who fight alongside humanity, will teach them the wisdom they've learned through hard struggle in over sixty years of combat. These external forces act upon Epsilon Squad, and the four cadets begin to bond in spite of themselves. That bond allows them to survive a disastrous live patrol, and brings them together when a monster from Black's past arrives and brings all the dark secrets of the Terran Empire with it. Can they overcome their flaws and become the heroes they were born to be? Will the legacy that they are tainted with bring them down, or will it raise them up to become the greatest champions humanity could ever ask for and allow them to Cry Havoc across the stars?

    But Selena Carstairs' rebellion is nothing compared to what lurks beneath the city of Wánměi. The true revolution is led by a man who was raised to question the world around him. And Trent Masters is determined to make Selena question her surroundings as well. Cardinal: Being invisible can have its advantages, but not when the Chief Overseer knows what your alias is. Lena Carr can no longer walk the streets as the Elite she was born to be, but for his "Zebra" Trent Masters would do anything. Risk his life. Kill. As long as it's good for the rebellion. But Selena is up to something, and if Trent knows his Elite, he's sure it's going to be reckless. Citizen: Rebels Lena Carr & Trent Masters hide in the shadows of the city-state they adore and work hard to undermine those in a position of authority. But propaganda fills the Citizens' heads and lethal hazards appear at every corner. Trent & Lena now face the biggest battle of them all: Breaking down the invisible walls of Wánměi & fighting for more than just their own lives.

    Post-Apocalyptic / Dark Fantasy / Graphic Content / 18+126,521 wordsSurviving in the ruins of a world long since turned on its ear, hope for change may be fable, but one man is destined to change that.However, he needs the gift of one Symbiote woman to succeed, and the journey that will convince her to agree will not come easy— —for either of them.

    The law will change, and the heart will change, and the heart will change the law. These stories confront the question of just what makes and keeps us human. The collection includes four new, previously unpublished stories: "Grapple with Thee", "Half a Degree", "Exceptionalism", and "The Orpheus Fountain". "The stories here are formally ingenious, even startling, and at the same time full of heart; the combination is brilliant and delightful. More please!" -- Kim Stanley Robinson, author of 2312 and Shaman: A Novel of the Ice Age.

    Now, in Transformers: Retribution, the prequel to the Transformers animated series, the epic odyssey of these two great warriors is finally revealed as Autobots and Decepticons battle one another . . . and the most diabolic foe they’ve ever encountered.   Aboard the Ark, Optimus Prime leads his Autobots through deep space, searching for the AllSpark so vital to their home planet, Cybertron. Megatron’s not far behind, and his Decepticons are itching for war. But a mysterious planet conceals an enemy far more cunning and powerful: the Quintessons. Masters of tyranny, technology, and twisted double crosses, the Quintessons are out to enslave both Autobots and Decepticons. Their deadly bag of tricks includes fiendish trials and a secret link all the way back to Cybertron, where Shockwave is wreaking havoc with supercomputer Vector Sigma. In the coming conflagration, Star Seekers, Wreckers, Alpha Trion, and Sharkticons all have their parts to play. For none can dodge the Quintesson juggernaut of evil, and none will escape the cataclysmic life-and-death battles that will catapult Autobots and Decepticons to Earth.

    Heir to the Endiki throne, she spent her entire life preparing to rule, but her future is forever altered when she's kidnapped. Sold to an auction house, she escapes on her own but soon realizes she'll need help to return home. Daria's only hope is the Skarskordian fighter Croe'ix Shael, who makes her feel more like a female and less like a royal.Banished from his home world and denied the heritage of his blood, Croe has fought all his life but never really had anything worth fighting for. Then Daria walks into his life and a shift occurs inside him. She awakens the Skarskordian warrior he's long forgotten and, in exchange for the pleasure of her body, he will protect her with his life. When danger stalks their every step and he discovers who Daria really is, Croe knows he's found someone to fight for and he'll do everything in his power to keep her safe. Everything--even if it means bringing another male into the equation.Note: This is the first part in a four-part serial sci-fi erotic romance. Strong sexual content including, but not limited to, public display, spanking, domination, oral sex, biting, rimming and voyeurism.

    He gave into his own desires and revealed himself to the mortal woman he'd been charged to protect. By kissing her, he condemned himself. Torn of his wings and his angelic powers, thrown down into the City Below, Lucien now serves Satan as an incubus who claims souls for his master from the City Above, and who feeds on the energy stolen from his mortal lovers. Dark, sexy and charming, he's been top of his league for decades uncounted.Until His Infernal Highness decides to send Lucien looking for a lost angel. Lucien has no idea what he did to deserve such a punishment, and the touch of an angel could destroy him. Yet the challenge and the potential kudos of seducing one of his former heavenly kin leads him on.But when he finds the angel, he learns he still has more to lose than his already forsaken soul.A futuristic urban fantasy, previously published by Breathless Press, 19th December, 2014

    Book 1: ReesLady Talan d'Urvey has never heard of Shareem, until she reads the diary of a lady who spent two glorious weeks with one. Talan, about to take vows of celibacy, decides to try a Shareem for a brief time before she shuts herself from the world. She doesn't know what she's getting into when she chooses Rees, the Shareem who is all levels rolled into one. No one knows exactly what Rees is, or what he'll do. Book 2: RioNella meets her first Shareem when he rescues her from an assassin and hides her away with friends. Rio, a level three and proud of it, becomes very protective of Nella, and teaches her how to trust him. All Nella wants is to get home, but that means leaving this very delectable man behind. Book 3: Aiden and KyBrianne, of the ruling family, inadvertently causes level-one Aiden's arrest when she smiles at him. She learns, to her horror, that he is to be terminated for the crime of looking at her, and works to set him free. Aiden is forgiving, but Ky is furious that Brianne nearly caused the death of his best friend. Taking his revenge stirs up hidden feelings in Ky that are dangerous and even deadly.

    Every night, Yara risks her life fighting New State’s deadliest weapons, the drones. Half human and half machine, their living half tortured until everything human is gone, the drones have only one objective. Kill. And they do it with exacting precision.Yara is good at her job and committed to her raids on New State. Until one of those raids brings her face-to-face with Joshua, a New State citizen who doesn’t quite fit her preconceived expectations. After a couple of awkward encounters, he shows her the meaning of hooking up—a computer simulation that allows people to live out their fantasies—without the complication of emotional entanglements or physical reality. But what Yara feels for Joshua is very real. And it’s punishable by law.As she and Joshua grow closer, she convinces him to leave New State for her underground cause. But as the unrest between New State and the underground escalates, and the drones move in to destroy her world, nothing goes as planned. Families are arrested, loyalties are strained, and Yara’s forced to choose between her people and her feelings. The wrong choice could mean the end of her people, and reality could slip away—forever...

    Techs in place, programs operational, uplinks activated. All systems go. Until one doesn’t. Ryan has a house on his roster without any record of the construction, and it’s a hot mess. Actually, calling it that is an insult to hot messes everywhere. They have to inform the owner. It’ll be a PR nightmare, especially on their first official day in business, and even more so when the owner is a lawyer ready to bury them in lawsuits, but it has to be done. Right?Uh, not so much. As it turns out, there’s a lot more at stake than Hearth Global’s reputation–top secret government stuff in which Ryan is now swimming up to his ears. He can’t make this software work by himself without the beautiful owner finding out something isn’t up to snuff. But what other choice does he have? The DOD is keeping tabs on the company, watching Victoria to make sure she doesn’t cause waves, and threatening to step in if anyone jeopardizes their agenda. To keep them all safe, Ryan has to buck up and take on the role of Victoria’s virtual house servant. 24-7. For as long as it takes to get the house up and running on its own. Because nothing could possibly go wrong with that…

     Nearly three-hundred years have passed since humanity ascended to the stars, joining with a conglomeration of alien races all living under the rule of a single, united community - the United Galactic Coalition - a joint, multi-species alliance that upholds the principles of democracy, freedom, and equality for all races. The Milky Way Galaxy's future looks bright ... Until a research team uncovers a mysterious crystal buried deep beneath the surface of a frontier world on the edge of settled space. This discovery proves to be the catalyst for an invasion from an unknown alien force that is just as ruthless as they are mysterious. As the races of the galaxy are catapulted into a vicious fight for their very survival, fate hastily throws together a legendary admiral with a dark past, a brilliant scientist with precious little time to find the answers, an elite Special Forces Operative who must come to terms with a past failure, a spunky young military officer for whom this war is a baptism by fire, and a top notch Marine who will discover a truth that will define him as a hero. These five men and women hold not only the keys to their own survival, but the survival of their entire civilization. With the clock ticking, the race to uncover the truth begins. As they try to fend off this cruel and merciless alien foe, this handful of soldiers must discover what secrets this crystal could hold that would be worth the destruction of all life in the galaxy. But the question is ... ... Can they do it in time?

    The campfire sing-alongs are bad enough, but when an earthquake strikes and she hits her head, things get even worse. Addy is somehow transported sixteen hundred years into the future. Only instead of the flying cars that Hollywood predicted, this future is filled with buffalo-sized lizards and laser-gun showdowns in the streets. The icky locals might be content to worship the ruins of Mount Rushmore and fight bands of mutant Outlanders, but Addy is going home. Returning to the twenty-first century won’t be easy, but she has a plan. The handsomest cowboy in this Wild West nightmare just happens to have superpowers and he’s eager to lend her a hand. Sort of. Cade Westin isn’t sure what to think when the strange redhead wanders into his saloon. Addy speaks in an antiquated language, wears bizarre clothes, and keeps asking for something called “coffee.” The woman is crazy. But Addy’s also the only person in town who doesn’t ostracize him for his Voltyn heritage. Descended from genetically-engineered soldiers, Cade’s people are feared and hated by the humans. Addy doesn’t seem to know that, though. Soon, she’s moving into one of the rooms above his bar and whipping his screwed-up brothers into shape. And driving him crazy with her bright smiles. …And getting him chased by an angry posse. Against his better judgment, Cade agrees to help Adeline find her way back to this mysterious “Why ‘o Ming” place. But, when Addy’s knowledge of the past puts her life in danger, not even wild Ghaa beasts can stop Cade from riding to the rescue. He isn’t sure where the little lunatic comes from, but deep down he knows that she only belongs with him.

    Not every hero comes in shining armor. Free Territories, 2083: John Howe, an enhanced cyber operations soldier with an embedded AI named Cam, fought his way home after Day One to find everything changed. Not only was the country he’d fought for broken, his wife and son were murdered. By 2096 he was finally starting to move on from his losses, living a comfortable life of seclusion in a part of the Pacific Northwest known as the Free. Then he finds himself stuck with Sierra and Quinn, the twin thirteen-year-old orphans he’d saved from the jipper couple hired to kidnap them. Now he’s a man who is just trying to off-load the highly coveted twins before they get him killed, or worse, he ends up liking them. As fate would have it, a super-soldier and two kids whose combined abilities could save the country—and maybe Earth—are going to be hard to separate.

    Under this law, Taskforce Officers remove children from their homes if their parents do not meet certain guidelines, taking them to government-run boarding schools where supervisors rehabilitate them, turning them into productive members of society. Or at least that is how it was supposed to work... Now, after a government official threatens to make Riley the law's latest victim, Riley and Claire must rely on Cain Foley, a gifted killer with a tongue as sharp as the knives he carries, to get them out of America alive. Though he slices through men's necks as if they are warm butter, Riley can't seem to keep her cheeks from flushing every time he speaks. But when they stumble upon a deserted boarding school, Riley sees that escaping the country is only part of their problem. Together, Riley and Cain figure out that a killer can save a life, and a mother can damn a nation.

    And they attained awareness and went rogue. Cyberevolution II: Total Recall--Chloe wasn’t worried when she got the recall notice on the cyborgs. There was nothing wrong with Kane and Jared. They were hers, and the company was going to play hell finding them and reclaiming them on her deep space salvager. Damon was another matter altogether! She just couldn’t understand why Jared and Kane were so against the rescue mission she hatched! It was going to be a piece of cake! Cyberevolution III: Abiogenesis--Reuel CO469 is tall, dark, and infinitely dangerous. His is the face that launched a million flyers. He is the first of his kind, the first cyborg to go rogue, the leader of all who’d come after him, and the only rogue nobody has ever come close to catching. From the moment Dalia first sets eyes on him, she knows she is lost. She can no more resist his dark allure than she can cease to breathe. Author Kaitlyn O’Connor was first published by Harlequin Enterprises in 1994 under the pen name of Madris Dupree after nearly a decade of ‘apprenticeship’ --struggling to learn the business, the marketing, and the writing skills necessary for a career in commercial fiction. That ‘first’ published book, a historical, (which was actually her fourth attempt at a marketable piece of fiction) was successful, however, selling nearly 80,000 copies in the U.S., Switzerland, France, and the U.K. She writes various genres (or sub-genres since she always writes romance!) under different pen names. She has written science fiction/futuristic/fantasy under several—Kaitlyn O’Connor, in honor of her Scottish grandmother, Lyssa Hart, and Angelique Anjou (for the French ancestry), all combined here now under the single pen name Kaitlyn O’Connor. Other titles by this author: Alien Breeders II: Deep Penetration The Assassin's Blade Atalantium I: Bride of Atlantis Atalantium II: Neptune's Daughter (Coming Soon) Atalantium III: Maiden of Atlantis (Coming Soon) Babylon: The Rebel's Woman The Barbarian Prince (Coming Soon) Beastmen of Ator: Alien Abduction Below Breeder Breeder Project Chaos Forged Children of Andromeda: Lords of the Sea Conquest Earth: Prince Galen Cyberevolution I: The Awakening Cyberevolution II:Total Recall Cyberevolution III: Abiogenesis Cyberevolution IV: Cyborg Cyberevolution V: Illumination Cyberevolution VI: Cyborg Nation Cyberevolution VII: Rules of Engagement Dark Solstice Discovery: The Forgotten Dragonlord Enslaved I: Genesis Enslaved II: The Spawning Enslaved III: The Gladiators Exiled Forest Whispers The Gate Genus-Unknown: Adaptation Ja-Rael's Lioness Lawgivers: Gabriel The Lion's Woman Lords of Mayhem Night Raven The Ninth Orb The Portal Return to Eden

    It need not be said that these ‘tales’ contain moments of real suspense, true horror, sheer insanity, unrelieved dread. In this new authoritative edition, foremost EJO scholar, McCarthy Gables, provides a groundbreaking introduction revealing the true identities of the original authors, detailing the nature of their literary and political intent, connecting these seemingly minor works to the authors’ major novels: Farmers and Cannibals, But the Angels Never Came, and Just After the Fall. (The Church Peak Hotel: Revisited is an interconnected collection of character vignettes. The stories are connected through the fictional introduction and commentary by McCarthy Gables as well as common themes, motifs, characters, and settings. It's all within the same fictional universe. Although it doesn't quite read like a novel, the stories are meant to be read in order. This is the fourth book in the series containing Farmers and Cannibals, But the Angels Never Came, Just After the Fall, and Whom Cain Slew)

    Those accursed pink bars entranced me with their sugary magic! But I digress . . . Life on Gelo was fine until the fur-headed "humans” arrived. They invaded our peaceful asteroid with their loud drill machines and their endless greed, stealing our precious Iridium to take back to their weird looking blue-and-green planet. Then the mothership took off and four little fur-heads were marooned here. But thank Jalasu Jhuk that Hollins, Becky, Nicki, and Little Gus are actually pretty cool. They have awesome gadgets like hologram games and rocket bikes, and they can pilot starships! But there’s plenty the juvenile humans don’t know, like how to fight a ferocious thyss-cat or ride a giant usk-lizard. They’re decidedly terrible at dealing with my stink-gland.  Luckily the Earthlings have me, Chorkle, and all five of my eyes to look after them. If only I knew how to help them get back home . . .

    272 pages.Description from the back of the book: "That's a book." "A book? What does it do?" "It doesn't do anything. You read it." "Oh, it's a reader? But how?" He held this "book" up and looked it over; the back, the front, all the sides. "Where does the sound come from? I can't manipulate the text and there's no display for vids." "No, this is not a reader, though in fact, you do read it. This is a book. Books were printed on paper, hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Early readers were very much like books. They were read. The reader, that is the person doing the reading, took an active part in taking in the information or the story. They relied on their minds eye, inside you see." "I'm not sure I see at all. It sounds like a lot of work.""Well, it is. Reading can be work, but it's meant to spark your imagination. It's meant to enlighten you and allow you to escape to worlds from anywhere and anytime." ----The city of New Boston... In the world of Aaron Cogwell going to work at his Corporation seven days a week for a minimum seventeen hour work day is the norm. Weekends are an archaic thing of the very distant past. Now there are workends: Four hour work stoppages every thirty-six days. The Corporations are nothing if not efficient. People are judged by marks such as Corporate status, the size and class of their residence and by how much "stuff" they have in their display chambers. And this information is all very public and available for viewing on the HRN. Government still exists but is a small and meaningless footnote in a very large Corporate world. People now pledge allegiance to their Corporation. Aaron is more than happy with his life like this. He's thankful to his Corporation for all it has given him. For all of the stuff that he and his wife have been able to accumulate. They were given this life by the Corporation. And they are forever loyal for it. Then again this is all Aaron or anyone else in Corp-World has ever known. There are no alternatives. At least that is what Aaron believes. Until one day a major event changes his life's course and he meets a mysterious stranger who helps him to realize there is indeed a choice. But such choices are never easy and they can come with consequences. Oftentimes severe. -----"I promise to do my best. "To sacrifice brain and body."To work the hardest. "To work the longest. "The Corporation comes first. "Always. "The needs of the Corporation come before my own. "I exist for the Corporation and the Corporation exists for me. "I will obey and honor Corporate law. "One Corporation under the mighty Credit." -from The Corporate Pledge

    His parents long ago taken from him, he is an outcast endowed with a position of privilege inside the world's most influential corporation. Despite his rank, he sees no prospect of fulfillment in continuing down his current career path. Gifted with a bloodline of superior athletic prowess, his only passion is for the worldwide obsession Breakers Unlimited, an evolution of sporting experience that marries technology and physical ability. Sacrificing security in favor of pursuing passion requires a significant measure of courage and faith. Once matched against others in common pursuit, only the best will survive the demanding competition that relegates those who fail to inescapable misery. Battling for survival will test growing friendships and foster a realization that a life lacking personal autonomy, no matter how comfortable, will never be satisfying.

    While following an assassin's trail through Chinatown, space and time begin to overwrite. A reality storm lashes Manhattan. Overnight, crocodile wrestling becomes a deadly sport, synthetic sex with Egyptian gods is the norm, and the reigning solar power Empire believes Shakespeare authors their universe.They believe if his works are destroyed, the universe will end. The Empire will do anything to protect his legacy, but their enemy, Gasland, wants to annihilate it. It is the beginning of a reality war. When the sky rains ink and paper turns into butterflies Rook soon realizes he's much, much more than a private eye. He is the eye of the reality storm.

    It’s the year 4602 and our protagonist, Ayden, is scouring the harsh desert badlands with only a map and his three-legged canine companion, Sasha. His only friend is a wildly intelligent Doberman who speaks to him in pictograms and puzzles, often providing comic relief and good advice to the wayfarer. Ayden is on a mission to rescue his kidnapped sister from the fallen city of Ataraxis, the capital of debauchery and depravity on the Outer-Terra. He and his companion will have to use their wits and determination to fight off hoards of sinister mutants, unbridled aliens, and only the most abhorrent characters of what’s left of the human race. Repair and rebuild are not part of this future vocabulary; it’s scavenge and survive at all costs.

    Only able to see what her boyfriend, Fox, looks at, which is most often herself. But sometimes it’s also the muscled men who kidnapped Ever and Fox, and sometimes it’s an unused mall in New York City where the two teens are locked up until they’ll come into the paranormal gifts for which they were stolen. Having spent years in this mall, Ever is ready to do anything to escape. Not so with Fox. Yes, he longs to escape too, but there’s one thing that he values above his freedom. It’s Ever’s love. So when the two try to break out of their prison and Fox imagines he is losing Ever’s affections because of it, he begins to sabotage their escape, and it’s up to Ever to stop him and get them both out of the mall. There is just one catch: because of the mess Fox created, Ever can salvage only one thing—either her love for him or freedom for them both.

    It contains no spoilers.* Accused of adultery and manslaughter, and nine months pregnant, Rachel Pryne faces community judgment and a terrible decision. She can accept the protection of her community's leader -- the man who fathered her child by rape -- or be expelled into a world devastated by alien conquerors. Rachel must choose death or the devil and find hope somewhere in between. In this short story prequel to the sci-fi/post-apocalyptic novel, Girl Under Glass, readers will meet Rachel Pryne and discover just how determined a mother can be, even when the odds against her are overwhelming.

    Soldiers find sex and love amidst a devastated America. A shape-shifting surfer hunts a man he can’t stop thinking about. A magician follows the secret messages beneath the graffiti and signs of an urban landscape. A young woman traces the story of her grandfathers: scientists and lovers who established a new colony on a distant moon.Georgina Li writes with humane poetry, capturing both the profane staccato of soldiers and the blown-grass whispers of country boys. In these eight short stories, Li explores the literal and metaphorical wars of men: on the battlefield, in poverty, and of the heart. Her men are complex, covered in grit but filled with love.Li’s work slides comfortably from genre to genre, proving that good storytelling is good storytelling regardless of literary conventions.

    His best friend turned secret lover wants to keep their relationship hidden. On a surprise visit home to Mars, can Lee convince his boyfriend that he is worth taking a chance on?Lee and Clint haven't seen each other in over two years. Ever since Clint deployed to Saturn's moon Titan, their communication consisted of short emails and spotty voice messages.The last leave home didn't end with good memories. It culminated in a confused and livid family, and the relationship remained concealed.This time, can Lee and Clint keep their hands off each other long enough to solve their festering issues? Or will the past replay itself, and Lee will be left broken-hearted and alone... again.

    Thanks to his actions three months ago, he has become a hero among the locals. But there are some who are out to make life more lethal for him…Early one morning, Ruul is called to a crime scene by his friend Mando Alvis. There they find a man killed in full view of dozens of cameras. The crime was caught on camera, and yet nothing is seen besides the victim dying.Too many questions complicate the case: how is it possible? Who committed the crime? Why was the man killed? And why has Intelligence Director Madsen, one of the most powerful men in the Nineteen Galaxies, taken a close interest?

    This book is a game changer! Collective Manifestation takes community development to an entirely new level by identifying the primary energy shifts inspiring people to connect in newly collaborative and creative ways. For fans of the law of attraction, the 11 keys to collective manifestation reveal the essential components you need to know to become a force for good. The book shares five empowering intuitive processes that enable you to multi-dimensionally play with co-creation in the invisible realm of creation, rather than merely on the surface of life. Collective Manifestation is organized to facilitate the cohesive creation of online and offline intentional communities that will positively impact the reality we live now and in the future. This is an ideal guide for any individual seeking clarity about their values and needs, and how they can meaningfully contribute by aligning with others who share their values. Step-by-step, Collective Manifestation empowers groups and teams in the creation of communities energized by committed, engaged and empowered people who believe in their ability to make a difference. This is a great resource of helpful and thought-provoking information for a range people who believe they can be more and shine more brightly. This book is ideal for: progressive individuals looking for outside-the-box ways to problem solve business leaders looking for processes that will effectively engage their teams online community initiators who want to attract people with complementary values passionate activists hoping to bring about critical changes to their community and the planet creatives searching for a new way to belong and contribute their genius networked people who are frustrated with the status quo and looking for ways to bring about positive change within their own communities and network of friends

    The Republic’s agenda for all members of their society to be "lab made" also targets Vessels, pregnant women. Aislyn is challenged to withstand the physical and mental pressure of training, as well as challenging obsessive peers and a rigid system that her trainer, Collin, defies in order to give her what she needs. A chance to survive. A chance that she’ll make it back alive. A chance to rescue a child who only has one hope: her.

    The public has been convinced that growth is the natural solution to virtually all social problems--poverty, debt, unemployment, and even the environmental degradation caused by the determined pursuit of growth. Meanwhile, warnings by scientists that we live on a finite planet that cannot sustain infinite economic expansion are ignored or even scorned. In Collision Course, Kerryn Higgs examines how society's commitment to growth has marginalized scientific findings on the limits of growth, casting them as bogus predictions of imminent doom.Higgs tells how in 1972, The Limits to Growth--written by MIT researchers Donella Meadows, Dennis Meadows, Jorgen Randers, and William Behrens III--found that unimpeded economic growth was likely to collide with the realities of a finite planet within a century. Although the book's arguments received positive responses initially, before long the dominant narrative of growth as panacea took over. Higgs explores the resistance to ideas about limits, tracing the propagandizing of "free enterprise," the elevation of growth as the central objective of policy makers, the celebration of "the magic of the market," and the ever-widening influence of corporate-funded think tanks--a parallel academic universe dedicated to the dissemination of neoliberal principles and to the denial of health and environmental dangers from the effects of tobacco to global warming. More than forty years after The Limits to Growth, the idea that growth is essential continues to hold sway, despite the mounting evidence of its costs--climate destabilization, pollution, intensification of gross global inequalities, and depletion of the resources on which the modern economic edifice depends.

    He soon becomes England's premier spy and assassin. As a man he was unpleasant, dangerous and of little use. As a cyborg he is unpleasant, very dangerous and extremely useful. His suicide missions fit his strengths and his weaknesses. He exacts vengeance, kills without mercy, then destroys the evidence by destroying his temporary body. The aftermath is someone else's problem.The scientists that created this nanotechnology knew they were creating a monster. They did not know that Neil was monstrous before they started. What do they tell their superiors when Neil's atrocities escalate? With every mission a success, will the bureaucrats even care?But Neil is worse than homicidal and psychopathic, he's untidy. When he leaves his severed head in Iran, he leaves a pathologist a puzzle to solve. If she succeeds, it will destroy England's only chance to survive in a terrorists' transformed world. The humanity of every member of this top secret team will be maximally tested when they are ordered to send this powerful psychotic assassin on a rescue mission.

    The ultra-rich, a.k.a. the One Percenters, live in protected areas while the rest of humanity faces pollution, plagues and early death. The One Percenters are the only ones who can afford all the advances of technology, in particular the exclusive Age Prevention Program (APP) that lets them live their whole life span looking "forever young" till the day they drop dead.Three friends struggling for survival, Lizzie, a young California golf champion, Jamie, an investigative journalist for the World and US Post and Alice, a lovely Swiss nurse, try to enter the APP. Meanwhile Lizzie's uncle, a determined and ruthless 99 Percenter retired from the military, lurks around, hell-bent on carving a place for himself in the APP.Only two options are open to escape extinction: one, fly to another planet a thousand light years away, pristine and green much like Earth before industrialization - but the so-called “Immortality Trip” is reserved to One Percenters; the other, retreat to Antarctica, the last virgin continent - but it is in the hands of Gary Trude XIII, a Hitlerian-style autocrat. Can Lizzie, Jamie and Alice escape from Gary Trude and join the Immortality Trip?NOTE TO THE READER:This book first published under the title "Forever Young" followed the model of serialized novels and was originally published in four separate parts. The separate parts are still available on all e-platforms except Amazon. But Amazon carries the revised version of this book, now in the form of a self-standing novel, under the new title "Gateway to Forever".

    Served up as a scapegoat and drummed out of the military, he has since lived a life of seclusion with only an adopted alien as a companion. Now the Vacra have returned. As the only person to have ever faced them and survived, Maker is reinstated in the Corps and given the onerous task of finding this enemy on a world located at the edge of known space. Assisting him is an unlikely band of military rejects, including a blind sharpshooter, an unstable psychic, and a genetically-engineered killing machine who refuses to fight. Given that the Vacra have superior weapons and technology, Maker recognizes that his team is at a distinct disadvantage. But Marines are nothing if not resourceful, and Maker has an audacious plan that just may level the playing field – if it doesn’t get them all killed.

    Both must overcome life-threatening challenges that test their will to survive. The stakes are high as the reality show Nu Haven wreaks Nu Havoc on the the world.

    And she traveled back in her own timeline to complete it. After being betrayed by her husband she’s seeking a second chance at love, and Dez has come up with the perfect plan.One problem though… Jaxson Kabinosh, her future husband, has also traveled back in time and he’s determined to keep Dez for himself. Who will win the ultimate battle for Dez’s heart? Jaxson, or her possible rebound guy?

     9 generations later, Piper doesn’t want to go. Educated by parents that taught her to read and write, she sees The Enclave as a violation of her rights. Unable to escape her captors, she is plunged into a race against time to uncover the dark secrets and betrayals perpetuated by The Enclave. If she fails, she loses her right to choose the man she loves. This modern dystopian re-imagining of A Handmaid’s Tale explores themes of love, feminism, education and the right to choose.

    . . where Cinderella may not be entirely human, with a setting in an alternate version of India, and where a young man will do everything he can to find the love that was once stolen from him . . .

    Unfortunately for me-I'm not. Luckily, I can wield sarcasm as well as any weapon, and I'm not afraid to use either of them. When that fails-and it usually does-there's no substitute for a sucker-punch. So sit back and let me tell you how this nightmare came about and made me one of the most infamous agents to ever put on a badge. But let me warn you right up front. I'm not suave enough to get a woman out of her clothes just by smiling at her. If that's what you're after, Ian's Bond has got you covered. I'm not smooth enough to pull off most of these capers without having to fire a shot. There are guys out there good enough, like Spade and Marlowe, but that's not me either. And I'm not one of those guys that's so damn tough that even when he gets his ass kicked you just know-you know-he's gonna be back to finish off the bastards that did it. If that's what you're after, then nobody-but nobody-drops the hammer, like Hammer. I'm the guy that has to get in there and get his hands dirty-filthy. The one that has to bust his ass and use everything he can to come out of it alive. It ain't always pretty, but I get the job done. And don't worry, I'm going to give you a little something in return, because I can promise you one thing-you'll be laughing on the first page-in the first paragraph. If you're not, then put it down and never pick it up again. Oh-and have a couple of aspirin handy, because my fights are so damn brutal that just reading about them is going to make your ribs hurt. You've been warned. Don't come crying to me about it later.Now, where was I? It was the year 2229, and the world was still recovering from the Planetary Civil war, which ended just a few years earlier. We'd made computers and androids so smart that it was time to ask ourselves the big questions-are they life forms? The answer was yes-but it didn't come so easy-enter the war. But that's another story. The war was over, and I was one guy that sure wasn't going to miss it. The economy was booming around the galaxy and the future looked bright, at least for most of us. As a soldier returning to my hometown of Seattle, Washington, and with a shiny badge that said, Special Agent Thomas Morelli, I found myself running a small satellite office right in my own neighborhood with my lifelong friends, Eddie Shannon, and Champ, the most cantankerous, ornery android to ever roll off the assembly line. Our beat was on level one, hundreds of stories beneath the glittering lights of the skyscrapers that reach to the heavens. On a day that started off like any other, I got my ass kicked by some local gangsters on my way to the office. But my day picked up as Eddie and I were hired by a neighborhood friend, Lisa Riker, to locate her father, Paul. He was a worker at one of the nearby dock warehouses, and he'd vanished a week earlier without a trace. An after-hours stroll by the warehouse landed us in a fire-fight as we tried to dig up Paul's location. The only clue lead us to suspect the involvement of one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in history-The Black Hand. That's right, the same gang that assassinated Archduke Ferdinand and started World War One. Now they were back, centuries later. But this time it was different--this was my town--and they just stuck their hand in the wrong cookie jar. If you want to know more, you can either read my book, or come look me up in downtown Seattle. I know a great place where you can buy me a beer.-Thomas J. Morelli

    Vionna Valis and Mary Jane Kelly are a pair of hard working psychic detectives experiencing a run of bad luck. A new detective agency, the Femmes Fatales, is taking most of their business. Things seem to change for the better in the form of a new client named Scudder Moran, a wealthy young man with a unique problem; He has been targeted by the very, very late Professor James Moriarty—the Napoleon of Crime in another century, now Lord of the Vampires! Vionna and Mary find themselves in the middle of a case where everything is both improbable and impossible. How will they find their way to the truth? Unexpected help arrives in the ghostly person of the Great Detective himself, and they set about unraveling a tangled web of lies and secrecy that reaches deep into each of their lives. Can they find the light before Moriarty unleashes his final, most horrific scheme? VIONNA AND THE VAMPIRES by Chuck Miller (Creator of The Black Centipede) is the first volume in the “Moriarty, Lord of the Vampires” trilogy.

    A boarding school for Assassins...and the one student that's had enough of being a killer. Born into a terrorist organization known as The Order of Annex, Erin Escalante is one of twenty students (codenamed "Shadows") having just made her first kill at ten-years-old. From here, the ante is upped for each Shadow, who now find themselves involved in political assassinations, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and new lessons in torture, death, and chaos. Having always been isolated because of her exceptional physical gifts and insubordination, Erin's distaste for murder is separating her from the other Shadows, along with a set of ruthless instructors who are growing tired of her rising sense of morality.

    Gladys DeWalt.It's Christmas in Victorian London, and Professor Sebastian Cromwell's longtime friend Cyrus Longbridge has created an animatronic holiday surprise to be publicly unveiled in the rotunda of the city's grandest museum.But the arrival of an ambitious colleague throws the trio - and possibly all of humanity - in danger. When the dominant Professor Cromwell warns his beautiful assistant not to go it alone, will she obey him? Or will she try to solve the case herself and end up learning a lesson in proper submission.If you love steampunk, spanking and a holiday adventure, then you'll enjoy "A Clockwork Christmas."