Book picks similar to
The Protagonist by Bella Bryce
suspense
time-travel
lit-uk
standalone-novels
Warming Emerald: The Red Petticoat Saloon
Maren Smith - 2016
She does not smile; she does not trust, but she will, for a few extra dollars, put her buckskins on before taking a man to bed. Called Emerald, she has bitten more customers than she has forgiven. It never once occurred to her that anyone would find that treatment enamoring… until the day of the Great Brawl when the eldest Drake brother stormed the Red Petticoat in his vengeful hunt for Gabe and the youngest, Garrett, tackled her to the floor. She’d lived up to her reputation that day, grinding her teeth into the palm of his hand until she tasted blood, and forever won herself the erstwhile affections of a man who refused to understand the concept of ‘get lost’. No one knew how to hide behind a smile like Garrett Drake. Haunted by a past he would never honor with words, he knew the soul-biting pain of incorporeal scars when he saw it. And from the moment he clapped eyes on Emerald—and she clamped her sharp little teeth on him, painting her lips with his blood—Garrett recognized his suffering soul’s long absent mate. She was prickly, temperamental, tense… afraid… what about that could draw him as intensely as it did, he had no idea, but the more she insisted he go away, the more impossible he found it to leave. And then soldiers came to Culpepper Cove with orders to remove Emerald’s very young son to a reservation in which she could not go. After that, leaving ceased to be an option. Armed with an off-kilter joke and a smile, Garrett allied himself to the woman he loved…whether she wanted him to or not. Because she was warming to him, by God, and that right there made everything he was about to do worth it. DISCLAIMER: This book contains the spanking of adult women and sexual scenes. If any of these offend you, please do not purchase this book. About The Red Petticoat series: The Red Petticoat Saloon series is a collection of books written by #1 and USA Today bestselling authors. Each book tells the unique story of a different woman, 'a gem', who comes to the saloon to find a safe haven and discovers they become part of a family. Recurring characters appear in each book to allow readers a continuity as they learn about the women who have learned to bend but have not broken under the harshness that life has to offer. It is a series where strong, loving men find not only entertainment at the saloon but the special women who reside under its roof.
Winterscroft
Anita Waller - 2017
And she is not happy.
From the bestselling author of 34 Days, Beautiful and Angel comes a tale of love, death and revenge.
Awake in the Dark Box Set
Tim McBain - 2015
A 27 year old slacker has seizures during which he may or may not be astral projecting. What he learns might have the power to change the world. One second JEFF GROBNAGGER is standing in line at the grocery store, and the next he's in an alley where a hooded figure strangles him to death. So that sucks. This happens over and over again, every time Grobnagger has a seizure. Alley. Choking. Death. Repeat. What for? Why would anyone want to kill him repeatedly? Is it just a recurring seizure dream? When a sniper's bullet shatters his apartment window, he realizes two things: he's in serious danger, and there's no way he's getting his security deposit back. Who is the hooded man? And who tried to kill Grobnagger in real life? His quest for answers leads to a missing girl, cults obsessed with astral projection, an arcane puzzle sphere, an evil book, a private detective named Louise and a mustached man named Glenn that makes the most delicious food he's ever tasted. No one he meets is who they seem, and every answer leads to more questions, more seizures and more horrific deaths that may or may not be transpiring on some mysterious plane beyond the physical world.
Scroll up and hit LOOK INSIDE to check out the first few chapters.
BLED WHITE (Book 2) All Jeff Grobnagger wanted was to be left alone. The events of Fade to Black (Awake in the Dark #1) shifted his goal from a life of solitude to figuring out what the hell is happening to him ASAP, so he can, you know, get back to the solitude. His journey takes another twist when a burned corpse sporting a League of Light robe turns up in a vacant lot. Working undercover to solve the murder reveals bigger and bigger clues about his seizures. Solve the murder, solve the seizures? Maybe. He meets new people and is shown new places on the other side. But who and what can he trust? Just as he realizes that someone close may be working against him, he gets blindsided by the biggest shock yet. RED ON THE INSIDE (Book 3) The events of the first two books leave Grobnagger drained, often struggling to stay awake. He shuffles through life half awake, half tethered to reality. He still has no idea what is happening to him, but he's not sure he even cares anymore. When those that mean him harm finally begin to assert themselves, however, Grobnagger finds himself and his friends under direct threat of death. Plans are made to cross over and rescue Amity once and for all from her vulnerable position in the other world. But his adversaries are one step ahead and a violent spectacle becomes inevitable. Praise for the Awake in the Dark series: "Fade to Black is the funniest book I've read in... I can't remember how long. Seriously funny. I think I laughed out loud roughly once every three pages. That's a lot of funny packed into one book! And not just an internal chuckle here and there, but an honest to goodness laugh out loud that made my significant other call, 'What?' from the next room repeatedly." - Lisbeth Ames "(FADE TO BLACK) weirdly resonates with me. It is sneaky in a way – it holds the things we fear up to the light – opening the reader up to honesty – to love and hope and the truths of our souls found in the darkest of nights.
The Hag
Erik Henry Vick - 2019
But the demons have a new leader, and Toby, Benny, Shannon, Mike, and Scott now face the collected might of the demons inhabiting Oneka Falls.They hunted the Demon King in the forest around the town and sparked a war with an enemy they barely understood. Worse yet, by attacking Herlequin and disrupting his plans, they painted a bright target on their own backs for the rest of the demons in the town. Led by Chaz Welsh and Lee LaBouche, the demons strike back, forcing the demon hunters to run for their lives.The Hag advances the horrifying series that will bring back your childhood fear of the dark. If you like your hair standing on end, if you like your pulse pounding with fear, then you'll love this terror-inducing, tense thriller from Erik Henry Vick.The Bloodletter Collections: Demon King--Book One The Hag--Book Two (release date: September 6, 2019) Our Lady Chaos--Book Three (release date: December 6, 2019)If you like your terror in smaller bites published more rapidly, the complete contents of the series is also available in The Bloodletter Saga..Please note: The complete contents of this collection also appear in Wrecker and Black Swan, books one and two of The Bloodletter Saga.
How can Toby, Benny, Shannon, Mike, and Scott hope to win a war against the demons entrenched in Oneka Falls? How can they even hope to survive?
Lungs Full of Noise
Tessa Mellas - 2013
Aghast at the failings of their bodies, this cast of misfit women and girls sets out to remedy the misdirection of their lives in bold and reckless ways. Figure skaters screw skate blades into the bones of their feet to master elusive jumps. A divorcee steals the severed arm of her ex to reclaim the fragments of a dissolved marriage. Following the advice of a fashion magazine, teenaged girls binge on grapes to dye their skin purple and attract prom dates. And a college freshman wages war on her roommate from Jupiter, who has inadvertently seduced all the boys in their dorm with her exotic hermaphroditic anatomy.But it isn’t just the characters who are in crisis. In Lungs Full of Noise, personal disasters mirror the dissolution of the natural world. Written in lyrical prose with imagination and humor, Tessa Mellas’s collection is an aviary of feathered stories that are rich, emotive, and imbued with the strength to suspend strange new worlds on delicate wings.
Wildlives
Monique Proulx - 2008
There's Lila, the landlady of the forest who shoulders a terrible guilt; the young, beautiful and carefree Violette, who bears deep childhood scars, and the boy Jeremy, who whispers his confessions to the frogs and ants in the forest. There's Claire, who writes murder scenes, and Simon, who cares for his brother's son while pining for various women.Each character has come to this forgiving Eden to escape some private trauma; forced to interact through loneliness and proximity, they learn each others� secrets, with stunning consequences.Told from the perspective of each character, shifting between the past and the present,
Wildlives
takes the reader on a fantasy ride of intrigue and character exploration. With its existential mystery, evocation of unspoiled nature and spectacular characters, the novel brings to mind Paul Auster, Henry David Thoreau and Isabelle Allende.
Magic Required
H.S. Paisley - 2018
So does fighting shoulder to shoulder with a God. But that was a long time ago - a past he's worked hard to bury.Now, in the Year 2047, Lochlan takes the public bus to his soul-sucking job answering phones. He lives to remain unnoticed.Then the visions started. Prophetic visions. That’s when he knew the Old World had found him again.These weren’t the fun kind of visions either. They were the watch-people-die kind, the try-to-stop-it-before-it-happened kind, the maybe-save-some-lives kind.These visions were powerful. And, as Lochlan had learned the hard way, power attracts enemies.MAGIC REQUIRED is the first in a planned series of five.
Counter Culture
J.L. Merrow - 2019
His boss is raising stress levels planning a Black Friday to end all Black Fridays, his family doesn’t understand him, and his best friend thinks his new crush is a hallucination brought on by watching too many episodes of Doctor Who.Archie Levine dresses in Victorian style and divides his time between caring for his young son and creating weird and wacky steampunk gadgets from bits of old junk—when he’s not looking after his mum and trying to keep on good terms with his ex. The last thing he’s got time for is a relationship, but the flustered young man he met while disembowelling a fridge is proving very tempting.When his mum’s social conscience is roused by a local store with a cavalier attitude to the homeless, former rough sleeper Archie shares her anger. Little does he know that Robin works for that same store. When Archie finds out he’s sleeping with the enemy, things could cut up very rough indeed.
High Flying
Kaylin McFarren - 2019
On a perpetual hunt for the next adrenaline hit, she discovers a passion for flying and becomes a hard-edged stunt pilot, verging on obsession. In the sky, following her most daring airshow, she encounters a mysterious storm and almost collides with another aircraft, sending her into a perilous dive. Guided by a mysterious voice, she manages a safe landing but finds herself transported to another time. Eight months before she was born. One week before her father was murdered. Though baffled by her circumstances, Skylar soon arrives at a single certainty: Before her lies a remarkable chance to change her family's destiny drastically for the better -- or possibly even worse -- depending on the choices she makes, before her window of opportunity closes.
A Second Chance Summer
Katharine E. Smith - 2018
How will he react to her return, and what changes have the intervening ten years meant for them both? Still recovering from a toxic relationship, Alice realises she has allowed life to become too predictable, while Julie has just ended things with the man she was due to marry. The two friends decide to throw caution to the wind; coming back to Cornwall, where they spent a long, happy summer before life got serious. As they return to the same small flat in the centre of town, and seasonal jobs at the Sail Loft Hotel, Alice harbours both hopes and fears of finding Sam, while Julie is determined to enjoy the freedom she’s been missing. A lot can change in ten years, though, as their friend Luke - now a handsome, successful businessman – proves. Back in Cornwall himself to spend time with his seriously ill mum, he and Julie form a close relationship. Alice is worried that her friend is making a huge mistake and, all-but-abandoned, starts to spend time with single mum Casey. Sam, meanwhile, proves elusive but slowly reveals that, although he appears not to have changed at all, the previous decade has been eventful for him, too. It's not all about the boys, though. Alice and Julie's strong, honest friendship will quickly draw you to them. Alice can be opinionated, Julie reckless, but both are quick-witted, funny, warm and ambitious. The county of Cornwall, famous for its rugged coastlines, glorious beaches and picturesque harbour towns, provides a vivid backdrop for the perfectly paced beginning of this cracking new series. Is it possible to relive the best time of your life? Alice and Julie are about to find out. Book Two of the series will be out in Spring 2018 with the final book scheduled for release later the same year.
Claiming Coral
Maddie Taylor - 2016
She travels to California to begin a quiet life on the western frontier as a mail-order-bride to a young man of her own choosing. But fate has never been kind to her and she arrives in Culpepper Cove to find her would-be husband dead from a freak accident, leaving her with little money, no job, and no place to live. With few options, Carissa ends up as Coral, the newest gem at the Red Petticoat Saloon. Bo Magnusson left his troubled past behind long ago and traveled west. Now that he’s established as a blacksmith who is also the owner of the town's busy livery stable, he's ready to settle down and begin a family. The down on her luck lovely redhead who arrives on the stage one day catches his eye and soon his heart. He can tell she is a lady and needs a man to protect her, especially when her dire straits force her to take a job dancing with lonely prospectors at the local saloon. This doesn't sit well with him and he pursues her only to be politely rejected. But Bo won’t give up trying until she is wearing his ring, even if convincing her means that she’s sporting a bright red bottom while he rekindles her wounded heart and keeps her safe. Their pasts come calling one day when her father's man arrives in town ready to drag Coral back to New York by whatever means possible. Tempers rise and secrets are revealed, but when the dust settles, will Bo at last claim the stubborn young woman’s hand, or will the treachery and vindictiveness of those who are dead set against their love tear them apart? DISCLAIMER: This book contains the spanking of adult women and explicit sexual scenes including anal play. If these offend you, please do not purchase this book.
Chasing Shadows
Annabelle Jacobs - 2016
The police are convinced Michael drowned, but Jamie knows better. No way would Michael swim to his death, especially on a beach with a wicked rip tide. Finding a stranger in his brother’s cottage only deepens his misgivings. Felix Bergstrom is recently discharged from the British Army. Unable to put the past behind him, he takes an unhealthy interest in old acquaintance and millionaire businessman Karl Weston, hoping to catch him up to no good. Michael’s disappearance adds fuel to Felix’s suspicions. Weston’s clifftop home overlooks the beach where Michael supposedly walked into the sea, but Weston has an alibi for that day. When Jamie and Felix meet, the physical attraction is instant. Mistrust keeps them from acting on it until finally all their secrets are laid bare. But time isn’t on their side. Before they’re able to work out whether they have a future, danger catches up with them and threatens to put an end to everything.approx 60,000 words
A Wild and Unremarkable Thing
Jen Castleberry - 2017
Now the time has come to leave her dragon-ravaged village behind, march into the Summer Alps, and reap the rewards of a Champion. But the road between poverty and prosperity is rife with beasts, betrayals, and baser temptations. Sensible Cayda soon discovers she’s not the only Champion with her eye on the prize, or the only one wearing a disguise. A Wild and Unremarkable Thing pits girl against dragon in a stunning blend of Greek mythology and medieval lore. Don’t miss the thrilling novella that readers are calling poetic, enchanting, and a must-read for fans of fantasy!
The Two Lords of Wealdhant Manor
Katherine Marlowe - 2015
Just when he thinks debtor’s prison is inevitable, he receives a visit from Mr. Sutton, railway solicitor, with paperwork to indicate that Algernon is the long-lost heir of Wealdhant Manor. The railway needs a portion of Wealdhant lands in order to lay their locomotive tracks, and Algernon is in no position to look a gift horse in the mouth. He accepts the inheritance at once, heading off to settle the railway’s affairs. The situation he finds in distant Lincolnshire is far more complex than he was led to believe, and Algernon is soon at odds with the gruffly handsome groundskeeper whom the village folk refer to as “Lord Jasper.” As the railway’s deadline approaches, Algernon struggles to forge an alliance with Jasper Waltham, to protect the people of the village, and to make peace with the restless ghosts of Wealdhant Manor. Clean romance, no cheating, standalone novel.
The Billion Dollar Plan
Thandiwe Mpofu - 2019
It brings the oddest of people together, regardless of any differences they might have between them"There is nothing more appealing than an amazingly confident, self-assured man.A man who knows exactly what he wants. Knows how he is going to get what he wants. But most importantly, knows how he will include you in the mix of things.It was my plan initially. Tirelessly and gruesomely orchestrated over a long period of time. It was just me alone against this crazy world. Then, unbeknownst to me, other plans were in play and circumstances happened.I thought we met on the dime of fate but I couldn't have been further from the truth. Fate doesn't bring you a green eyed Adonis out of nowhere. I'm too well versed with fate to understand that much. Men like Gideon Black don't just pop up in your life, unless of course, they planned to be in it. For their own selfish reasons.I can't believe I hadn't seen that.Honestly, he is simply a god within his own right. So, what couldn't he do?What did I think would happen when I bumped into him, literally? It sure wasn't this.The thing that I'm most furious about is that he knew.He knew all along who I was, what I carried within myself. And he also knew what I wanted, what I desperately needed. Revenge.And now he has the audacity to tell me something different.Blind siding me, making me feel the sting of betrayal. Lying to me when we made an oath to each other.He was the last person on earth that I expected would lie to me. But then again, was Gideon Black, with all his charisma and appeal; an ally or a foe?How else will this multi-billion dollar plan work without trust or at the very least, honesty?How will we both get revenge without burning each other?The Billion Dollar Plan is the first installment in the Incongruity Series.