Soon no one can find her. But if she didn't jump, and she's not on board, where is she?Homicide Lieutenant Eve Dallas is called to the scene and is quickly faced with a shocking web of lies. With time running out and a deadly trail of intimidation and revenge emerging, Eve and her team must find out just what was seen on that ferry . . .

    Andrea Nash of the Order of Knights of Merciful Aid - with an assist from her friend, Kate Daniels - tries to figure out why the giant three-headed dog who guards the gates of Hades is sniffing around Atlanta.* Originally published in the anthology, Must Love Hellhounds.

    Sara and Deacon are Guild Hunters, their life's work is catching and capturing - or killing - rogue angels. It's dangerous work and sometimes life or death decisions must be made in a moment. And when a judgement has to be made, should love be allowed to get in the way . . . ?

    It features the guild hunter, Ashwini, and the vampire, Janvier.

    The last thing Alena Kornov wants to do is to go on the date with him. But when her family pressures her, she can’t say no. Now the ice-cream is absent, the pig is running for its life, and we won’t even mention the dead guy…

    The Wide, Wide Sea is set in the past, at a time before the Spackle War, and we get a first look at the fishing village on the sea where some very important things happen at the end of Monsters of Men.Best read after The Ask and the Answer but before Monsters.(again, hints of things to come) - Patrick Ness

    Hardly surprising, then, that Nico should want to fill the major offices of state with the only people he knew he could trust, his oldest and closest friends.But there's danger on the northern frontier, and Nico daren't send a regular general up there with an army, for fear of a military coup. He turns to his best friend Phormio, who reluctantly takes the job.Military dispatches, written in the purple ink reserved exclusively for official business, are a miserable way for friends to keep in touch, at a time when they need each other most. But there's space in the document-tube for another sheet of paper.Cover illustration by Vincent Chong

    That’s exactly why the Fates chose her for the job. She’s their secret weapon against the forces of evil. However after five years, Eve is tired of being the designated rebel of the angel corps, expected to break the rules, then penalized for it. When the leaderless djinn stage an uprising, Eve sees the perfect chance to get herself fired. As she plunges deeper into the demon world, though, she realizes she’s in danger of losing a lot more than her job.

    This new double volume from Subterranean Press stands squarely in that distinguished tradition, offering a pair of colorful, fast-paced stories from the reigning master of the intergalactic space opera: Alastair Reynolds. Thousandth Night, the genesis for the epic novel House of Suns, is quintessential Reynolds. A visionary account of intrigue, ambition, and technological marvels set within a beautifully realized far-future milieu, it combines world-class storytelling with a provocative meditation on the mystery, grandeur, and inconceivable immensity of the universe.The masterful novella Minla s Flowers features Merlin, a familiar figure to Reynolds s readers. Diverted by technical difficulties to a planet known as Lecythus, Merlin finds himself forced to play a part in the moral and military dilemmas of a world on the verge of extinction.

    There's no better gift than the thrill of a holiday romance...With snow falling over the redwood forests, secluded Virgin River is the ideal place to spend the holidays. Each year, the close-knit community gathers in the town square to decorate and light a massive tree. Carols are sung, hot chocolate is shared--and this time a surprise is left under the Christmas tree!When the folks of the town discover a box of adorable puppies abandoned under the tree, they call on local vet Nathaniel Jensen for help. The puppies are the talk of Virgin River, but it's Nate's budding romance with Annie McCarty that really has tongues--and tails--wagging.originally published as part of That Holiday Feeling

    A few years later, she still has to keep convincing people that they were never together! Then one day, she finds out he’s getting married—to someone she'd just met once! All of a sudden, things aren’t so clear-cut anymore. Can Jasmine sort out her feelings (sometimes, she can't even tell real from pretend when it comes to her and Zack) before it's too late?

    Ciara Rome doesn’t need God, and she doesn’t need a man. Her entire life is a proud testament to that declaration, and her master’s thesis is merely a culmination of what she has learned. So when she discovers her new neighbors include a single dad and his three rambunctious sons, she is delighted to have first-hand corroboration of her theory. Luke Weston is fascinated by his new neighbor. Ciara’s open admission that she intends to use his family in support of her wild theory is unsettling, but Luke decides to let his life speak for itself—and he turns the issue over to God. But he finds himself increasingly drawn to this lovely young woman whose goals and beliefs are so opposed to his own. Only God would bring these two together, and only His love can break through walls that have taken years to build.

    Plagued with constant black outs and a trail of dead bodies in his wake, Blake thinks vampire Elise is his best chance at ending the nightmare. It's just too bad he's fallen in love with the gorgeous vamp right before he has to die.

     A Victorian Englishman summons a strange puppet-like being to an old Colonial Inn. A doctor returns from the Great War and discovers a mysterious naked woman at the edge of the Atlantic. A contemporary collector of arcane books retraces the steps of these other men -- adventurers who sought out the mysteries of neighboring dimensions. In THE SEA OF ASH, Scott Thomas takes us along as three men from three different centuries experience the wonders and horrors of an unknown New England. "Never had the universe felt so vast, and I so small within it. I had, through circumstance, been made aware of something, but of what? Something either too horrible or too beautiful for humans to know." —From The Sea of Ash

    With a nervous energy and obsession to match his protagonists, Matt Bell’s prose burrows, forensically, into the layers of the brothers’ lives, employing a multilinear narrative structure and a frenetic plurality of perspectives to reach a core of despair that is both terrifyingly primal and distressingly familiar. Matt Bell's THE COLLECTORS was chosen by Brian Evenson as the runner-up manuscript in the 2008 Caketrain Chapbook Competition.

    But this time, her meddling Cajun charm will be put to the test... For five years Savannah Jones thought Special Forces Captain Matthew Carrington died in Afghanistan. For five years he thought she'd rejected him - thanks to his mother’s interception of the letter she wrote to him as he left on his tour of duty.Now she’s struggling to rebuild a life for herself and their daughter, Katie, despite the devastation Katrina wrought on New Orleans. Thanks to Tante Lulu and her police-officer great-nephew, Tee-John, Savannah and Matthew are about to be reunited. Will Tante Lulu’s bayou wisdom and sassy attitude be able to turn their broken relationship into a loving gumbo? Note: this story was made available on the author's website

    Ice Study tells a short story after Fire Study and another short story Power Study. After the events of Fire Study, Yelena and Valek's sabattical is cut short when they become entangled in a plot to prevent the Ice Moon from falling into the hands of a rogue magician.

    When his new roommate's brother dies tragically, the unnamed narrator of A JELLO HORSE offers to drive him home to the Midwest. Feeling anxious and displaced, he embarks on another roadtrip to visit the bizarre attractions and quirky museums in America's heartland. Matthew Simmons has found a beautiful and extraordinary way to tell a story about the sweetness of sadness and the aloneness of loneliness--Michael Kimball, author of Dear Everybody.

    Old love dies harder.On Meli Galdes' home planet, the struggle for power is a bloody, full-contact sport--in business and on the battlefield. For years her lethal skills have been a valuable asset in advancing her family's interests. She's more than earned her right to retire, but her kinsmen have one last favor to ask.Kill the man who ruined her life.Celino Carvanna's razor-sharp business acumen--and skills with a blade--won him the freedom to do as he pleases. There's only one thing he can't seem to control--his reaction to the mysterious woman who tantalizes his senses. Her eyes alone set his blood simmering, stirring ridiculous adolescent fantasies about breasts and honey. With a few words she dissects his soul. Who is she? And how does she slide so easily under his well-guarded skin?It's almost too easy to draw Celino within the kill zone. Meli plans to revel in him. Drink him in. Wring every drop of pleasure out of every moment.And when she's sure he belongs to her, she will finally repay a decade's worth of pain--in a single, brutal dose of reality.

    Too bad Ryan refuses to let her see anything but the club's tasteful bar. Sneaking off to explore, Ginny is busted by Ryan in the Voyeur Room. But instead of taking her home, Ryan intends to teach her a lesson-and immediately commands her to strip. Stunned, Ginny obeys and embarks on a night unlike any other. From shattering orgasms in front of strangers to light bondage, Ginny endures hours of sexual ecstasy, made to succumb again and again to her wildest urges-all by her best friend. After hiding from Ryan the rest of the weekend-resulting in delicious punishment in his office on Monday-Ginny discovers emotions in their lifelong friendship that may have been there all along. She doesn't know if she can convince Ryan of the same...but a bit of "sweet" bondage might help.

    The sports enthusiast loves any kind of adventure—especially with the opposite sex—and he’s determined never to let any woman change his bad boy image. It’s a feat he manages well, until Chayse Douglas asks him to pose for her charity "Outdoor Men" calendar. He agrees, but only if Chayse is willing to get those pictures at his cozy mountain cabin. It promises to be one provocative weekend, especially when Adrian discovers that Chayse wants him to teach her the seductive pleasures only a bad boy can know…and as the nights turn very steamy, Adrian finds that sweet, sensual Chayse is the only woman who can tame his wild heart…

    His only link to the outside world is a telephone that will not dial out. During the occasional calls he receives, usually wrong numbers, the narrator remembers his former life growing up in Injury, Alaska with his Mother, an often unemployed single parent, and his older brother, Charlie, a sometime boxer, sometime actor. Throughout the course of this extraordinary novel, the unwilling captive draws his life-story in stickfigures on the walls. From the difficulty of his birth, to his sickly childhood, to adventures with his brother, the narrator depicts his crazy life, which is at once fascinating and heartbreaking. The one memory that haunts him is that of watching a movie about slaves on television and how that one slave, the one for whom Kamby Bolongo Mean River meant freedom, would never relinquish the idea of returning home.

    Until one day I just realized that I love this person too much. --UnknownErica Parker lost her husband four years ago and was left devastated. She never thought she'd find love again, which was just fine with her. Falling in love could only lead to more heartbreak, and she wouldn't go through that again. Getting through each day as a single mother to a young son was her only focus. As long as she had Miles, she was fine. Right?Todd Atkins was a man who was happy with his life as a confirmed bachelor. In all his years, he'd never been in a long-term relationship. Marriage. Children. None of those things were in the cards for him, which was just the way he liked it.An unexpected meeting, in the most unlikely of places, will bring two people together. Both fighting their feelings. Neither able to walk away.

    This novel tells of a young woman who is forced to raise her husband's love child after he dies.

    Liu provides a companion novella to The Iron Hunt and Darkness Calls, the first two books in her gripping new urban fantasy series. Meet Maxine Kiss, the Earth’s last protector."This novella, a prequel to The Iron Hunt, was originally published as part of the Wild Thing anthology.

    Her magic wasn't what she thought it was and her assigned mentor Raffin was there to help her sort it out. Becoming a Love Talker had never been on her aptitude tests in school, but with Raffin coaching her, it comes naturally. Romancing an elf was not on her agenda, but as it started to happen Sophie had to decide, was the magic worth the risk? Or was the thought of losing Raffin so all consuming that it would become the reality?

    Traded from relative to relative, she suffers through hard labor, neglect, and abuse. What will become of her? No one cares until a kinsman redeemer reveals himself. Can Rebekah forgive the past? 108 pages

    His family is wealthy, hers - not so much! It's a change of world for Chloe Brannigan, learning to fit in with her step brothers and sisters: Jason, Melissa, Emily and Patrick. But sometimes she feels like the alien on Planet Wright. Torn between her upwardly mobile mum and laid back dad, she has to find a way to bring all her worlds together.This is a novella of 89 pages.

    The new creatures rampage throughout the neighbourhood and molest the quiet homes of Sargent in an effort to strip away their holiday magic. Abby and the others must stop the snowmen while keeping the magic hidden from the average populace. When Yeti arrive to help, Abby is more than willing to accept whatever they will offer to stop the holiday horror of a giant Snow Beast created for the purpose of world domination. All this, and she still has to shop for the holidays, what is a Nexus to do?

    His lover, Ntino, is furious because it's the day of his sister's wedding. Gaby insists he'll make it back in time and heads to Hanalei Bay.He wipes out badly in a gigantic wave. Fighting for his life, he almost drowns. When he makes it back to shore, he finds his beloved dog Ginger, his car keys, and his vintage Woody have all vanished.He's about to discover that's the least of his problems. Somehow, someway, he's also lost twelve years of his life. Ntino is now a straight, married man, and Gaby's business partner would prefer him to be dead since he's making a fortune marketing Gaby's untimely death. Can Gaby win back the love he desires? And what on earth happened to him under that Hanalei Moon?Reader Advisory: This book was previously released at another publisher. It has been revised and re-edited for release by Total-E-Bound.

    Over the years, he’s only spoon-fed her details of his private life. Despite their easy rapport, even with all their playful and thrilling banter, most of his true feelings remain beyond her grasp. She can’t quite tell if he's intrigued by her, or just mildly amused. Does her attention please him, or is he used to fawning female company, and so ambivalent to hers? Does he count her among his blessings or among his worries? Does he ever take her out of the context of their work relationship, or does he just take her for granted as both a colleague and a woman?They've been at arms' length for years. Now they're in a hotel elevator, filled with passionate curiosity and about to show each other their true selves. And in doing so, discover more than they thought possible.Why tonight? she wondered. What changed? What made it happen?

    And now, he’s even better. Each night he dreams, and his dreams tell him where to go to find the best possible photo opportunity. His dreams predict the future, showing him tragedy and death. And his fame grows with every snapshot.Somehow, the dream predictions are close to reality, but not perfect. That’s a good thing, when one night Charlie dreams that he’s going to kill his beloved wife.A new short novel by the Stoker nominated author of MIRANDA.

    Mapping a utopia on the brink, THE MOTHERING COVEN's rare blend of charisma and pyrotechnic wordplay makes for an utterly original act of storytelling. Bertrand has disappeared from the house she shared with seven women--artists, scientists, and of course, witches. As the women plan a party for Mrs. Borage's hundredth birthday, Bertrand's absence threatens to dissolve the world they've created. Deliriously imagined, THE MOTHERING COVEN is a work of wonder. Joanna Ruocco arrives: marvelous, and fully sprung!--Carole Maso. [A]n engagingly whimsical tale, graceful and inventive, with its own distinctive lexicon--Robert Coover.

    After months of catatonia Cryer awakens in a mental facility to find that his former life is almost completely forgotten. He knows his wife and daughter have been murdered - he saw them die moments before his own assault - but his shattered mind is incapable of retaining their names. Or even his own.Now Cryer is free again and trying to track down an elusive killer through his own unknown past. But how do you investigate the murders of your loved ones when you can't remember them? When you have no idea who your friends or enemies were? Where you lived and worked? And what secrets you might have once had and failed to keep?And how is he supposed to deal with the little man who keeps crawling in and out of his skull?Cryer is a nobody now, but that won't stop him from finding a vicious murderer and making him pay.Praise for The NobodyTHE NOBODY is a dangerous exploration into the mind and soul of man. Piccirilli’s beautiful prose allows us to take a peek into the abyss of our consciousness and shine a light into those places that warmth has long ago forgot. You cannot read this book and not be changed. --Larry Roberts - Bloodletting PressClichés: can't live with 'em but, as I discovered when I read this remarkable novella, you can't live without 'em. Part vigilante procedural part hard-boiled PI yarn and part examination-of-post-loss-survival weepie, THE NOBODY is Tom Piccirilli at his uncompromising best. The dialogue is so crisp it's like Leonard on speed, and the second and third pages are the literary equivalent of being hit in the face with a shovel. A roller-coaster ride? You bet. A page-turner, even? Yep, no question. A palpable atmosphere, larger-than-life characterisation and impeccable plotting? They're all there. Like I said - clichés: can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. --Peter Crowther - PS PublishingA revenge tale almost Mythic in its simplicity. Shocking, tragic, beautifully written, insightful and nuanced, mournful and uplifting - everything we've come to expect from Tom Piccirilli, done to perfection. From its brutal opening scene to its heartfelt final pages, The Nobody is Pic at his finest. --RJ Sevin - Creeping Hemlock Press