But during a fateful nighttime stakeout in search of a prolific killer, Cal witnessed the darkest corner of his dreams come to life. A rogue vampire slaughtered his partner — to put it nicely — and introduced Cal to the supernatural world he never knew existed in the shadows.Now, Cal is a newly minted detective at the often mocked Department of Supernatural Investigations. By day, the agents of DSI are called “Kooks” by local law enforcement. By night, they’re known as “Crows,” reviled by the supernatural underworld.Mere weeks out of the academy, Cal catches his first real case, a vicious murder at a local college. An unknown sorcerer has summoned a powerful creature from the Eververse, a realm of magic and mayhem that borders Earth, and set it on a dangerous warpath through the city.Between butting heads with his grumpy team captain, stirring up ill will with the local wizards and witches, and repeatedly getting the crap beaten out of himself, Cal must find a way to stop the Eververse monster and send it back to the hell it came from……preferably before Aurora, Michigan runs out of coffins for the dead.

    Monsters, real and imagined, external and internal, are the subject. They are us and we are them and Ballingrud's intense focus makes these stories incredibly intense and irresistible.These are love stories. And also monster stories. Sometimes these are monsters in their traditional guises, sometimes they wear the faces of parents, lovers, or ourselves. The often working-class people in these stories are driven to extremes by love. Sometimes, they are ruined; sometimes redeemed. All are faced with the loneliest corners of themselves and strive to find an escape.Nathan Ballingrud was born in Massachusetts but has spent most of his life in the South. He worked as a bartender in New Orleans and New York City and a cook on offshore oil rigs. His story "The Monsters of Heaven" won the inaugural Shirley Jackson Award. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with his daughter.

    One stolen item.In the city of Wistal, a sorcerer is planning a holy war that will engulf kingdoms. But a theft at his manor has delayed his agenda, pitting him against the hidden rulers of Wistal, the criminal Syndicate.The likely suspect is a thief, the father of a family of robbers and prostitutes. The sorcerer sets a trap, only to find that the thief's extraordinary youngest son is a wildcard to upset the most ambitious plans of gods and men. (Content warning: Adult fiction. Graphic horror elements.) Bound in Stone: Volume One is the first novel in The Soulstone Chronicles, a fantasy adventure about an enigmatic deity reborn as a human being. The majority of the series has GLBTQ content.

    Remy is a wolf shifter who loves getting under the hood of a beauty with lots of horses and hates his mother nagging him to start having pups. When he is summoned to his asshole alpha's house, things go from bad to worse as he fails a test of loyalty by refusing to torture and kill a vampire. He's forced to challenge for the position as Alpha. No one is more surprised than he is when he actually wins. But what does he know about running a pack? Remy soon realizes the severely wounded male vampire is his mate. Skylar’s coven sent him to investigate rumors about a poison targeting vampires. Skylar is drop-dead gorgeous, with the brightest blue eyes Remy has ever seen. He's also blind. Will forces outside their control and the new responsibilities facing Remy put a stop to their mating and their life together before it begins?

    Christopher Barzak’s stunning debut tells of a teenage boy’s coming-of-age that begins with a shocking murder and ends with a reason to hope.Adam McCormick had just turned fifteen when the body was found in the woods. It is the beginning of an autumn that will change his life forever. Jamie Marks was a boy a lot like Adam, a boy no one paid much attention to—a boy almost no one would truly miss. And for the first time, Adam feels he has a purpose. Now, more than ever, Jamie needs a friend. But the longer Adam holds on to Jamie’s ghost, the longer he keeps his friend tethered to a world where he no longer belongs . . . and the weaker Adam’s own ties to the living become. Now, to find his way back, Adam must learn for himself what it truly means to be alive.

    Yet at forty-two, he’s stopped going into heat, which means he’s expired goods—no longer a fertile, young omega that alpha wolves drool over. So Lee uses Wet Heat, a synthetic pheromone, to reel in the alpha hookups.After losing his job at the bank, Lee can’t afford to keep up his Wet Heat habit. His solution: scam free samples by pretending to be a happily mated test subject at Wet Heat headquarters. There, Lee spends two years being interviewed by the reserved alpha scientist, Cain, who at thirty-two is unmated and—up until this point—content with that.Cain never really felt his alpha instincts, nor took part in the usual alpha/beta/omega social dynamics. But after discovering that Lee has been lying about his unmated status for two years, Cain finally admits that for the first time, he wants to court an omega. Unfortunately, he’s picked the one omega who doesn’t want to be courted.

    After all how was I supposed to know he was a mage shifter and I was to become his warrior to own.Photo Description: A bird, the size of an eagle with feathers the color of fire is about to land on the leather glove of a warrior. Flames drip from his tail and the bearded, brown-haired man stares straight ahead. His eyes show his amusement, or is it more? Dressed in the armor of his profession, the man is a professional soldier, or royal guard.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love’s Landscapes" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story. This story may contain sexually explicit content and is intended for adult readers. It may contain content that is disagreeable or distressing to some readers. The M/M Romance Group strongly recommends that each reader review the General Information section before each story for story tags as well as for content warnings.

    Even better than the promise of new knowledge is the unexpected connection he forges with Dr. Armin Savage-Hall, leader of the team brought down to study the thing.For Armin, the object is the find of a lifetime. It could prove his controversial theories and secure his scientific reputation. And Mo is a fascinating bonus.Then crew members start behaving strangely. Worse, they start to change: their eyes glow purple, their teeth sharpen. Then the violence begins, the brutal deaths. As BathyTech descends deeper into chaos, the surviving crew works desperately to find the cause of the horrors around them. What they uncover could annihilate the human race. And they can’t stop it.

    That’s not supposed to be possible. As a wolf shifter, he’s supposed to be able to heal. The omega gene he was born with means he’s capable of carrying shifter young and Liam is worried that whatever is wrong will mean his one-day hope of having pups will be dashed. But despite the fears keeping him away from the doctor until now, he knows he needs to go.It turns out the sickness is temporary, but the treatment causes a whole other problem.Mason’s alpha gene means he’s one of very few wolves who can impregnate an omega male. For two years, he’d been watching Liam, but things kept getting in the way. When Liam shows up in heat, Mason recognizes the opportunity he needs and doesn’t hesitate make to Liam his mate and the father of his pups.But Liam has old wounds and fears to work through which the pregnancy is only making worse, and Mason isn’t sure how to get past them to show he’s serious about making a life together as loving mates. It’s not until a female wolf decides Mason should be hers that Liam makes his biggest worry known—and Mason can finally put the fears to rest.

    In The Moonlit Earth, he delivers a compelling psychological thriller about a young woman who must act to save her brother’s reputation and life when he is accused of being involved in a terrorist event.When Megan and Cameron Reynolds’s father walked out on their mother, they forged an unbreakable bond. If their father could not be there to take care of them, they would always be there to take care of each other. But life intervenes, and siblings go separate ways . . . until something happens to reforge that bond.At thirty, faced with disappointments in career and romance, Megan Reynolds returns to the safety of Cathedral Beach, the home of her mother, who lives among the wealthy with no money of her own. Cameron worries that his sister will lose herself around their mother’s frivolous life, but Megan worries more about her brother. She worries that Cameron’s care- free charm, which makes him popular in both his work as a flight attendant on a luxury airline and the West Hollywood party scene he enjoys, could lead him into danger.When a bomb goes off in a high-end hotel in Hong Kong, security-camera footage appears on television showing two men escaping: one Middle Eastern and one American. Megan and her mother recognize the young American as Cameron—and find that he has become enmeshed with a mysterious family of wealthy Saudis.In her desperate journey to save her brother’s life, Megan uncovers a trail of secrets and intrigue that snakes from the decadent beaches of southern Thailand to the glass skyscrapers of Hong Kong— and finds herself part of a dark global conspiracy that involves a member of her own family.

    Until James died and left Dale all alone on a self-destructive path through alcoholism to an early grave. Then a killer begins ritualistically murdering young women in the small town of Solagrove, Louisiana and the deaths may or may not be paranormal, but Dale gets drawn into it anyway. There is something very familiar about the murders and someone has to stop them. Witnesses describe seeing a man in a long black coat who sounds a lot like James, and it doesn’t matter that it’s impossible. Dale knows it’s impossible because James is dead. There is absolutely no question about it. But in Dale’s world, corpses sometimes get up and walk away from their graves.

    More concerned with rescuing stray dogs from a cruel death at the hands of the local Sheriff, Gabe focuses on making a difference and standing up for what he believes is right. Mika Blackwell, a shape shifter who was banned from his pack, is new to the outcast status, and not adjusting very well.When Gabe heads out to rescue an injured wolf, he has no idea that his life is about to be eternally altered. As Mika watches the man approach him, he feels the universe tilt and realises that, while he may have lost his pack, he's just found what every shifter longs for - his destined mate.Together, Gabriel and Mika must find their way and fight for their love—from confronting Mika's former pack leader to stopping someone who tries to kill Gabe's best friend, Todd. When Todd's attacker comes after Gabe, Mika is determined to protect his mate at all costs.

    This collection of short stories was birthed because a sworn "I don't like historicals" reader fell in love with what have become some of her favorite books by most of her favorite writers. Surprisingly, they were all historicals. Determined to make others feel the love, these authors were asked to contribute small tastes of how amazing historical storytelling can be. Along with a foreword written by Alex Beecroft, enjoy these original short stories that make up "Another Place in Time". Office Romance by Tamara AllenThe post-war economy is at a standstill, much like Foster Wetherly’s life until he’s forced to do battle with irritatingly confident—and competent—fellow ex-doughboy Casey Gladwin for a position in their shrinking department at Manhattan Security Mutual.Introducing Mr. Winterbourne by Joanna ChambersLysander Winterbourne appears to lead a charmed life. Handsome, amiable, and a renowned sportsman, he is the darling of London society. As far as Adam Freeman is concerned though, Lysander is just another spoiled aristocrat.A wealthy mill owner, Adam has no time for the frivolous world of the ton, but when his younger brother becomes engaged to Althea Winterbourne, he reluctantly agrees to be introduced to society–with the Winterbourne clan’s golden boy as his guide.Resigning himself to a few days of boredom, Adam is surprised to learn that there is much more to Lysander than his perfect surface. But will Adam have the courage to introduce Lysander Winterbourne to his own secret self?The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh by KJ CharlesLord Gabriel Ashleigh is a ruined man. Last night he lost everything at the card tables to his brother’s worst enemy, notorious gambler Francis Webster. Tonight, he’s going back for one more game. Ash thinks he has nothing left to lose. But Francis sets the stakes, and they’re higher than Ash could have imagined… Two Regency bucks. One game of cards. Everything to play for.Unfair in Love and War by Kaje HarperMany men lost brothers overseas in the summer of 1944. Warren Burch was one of them. For months he still clung to his big city life in Philadelphia, but finally he's made the difficult choice to return to his home town. Warren's polio-stricken leg won't let him serve, so the least he can do is be there for his mother, when brother Charlie never again will. Arriving home means a whole new life, constrained by the rhythms and prejudices of a small town. Fortunately, it's made more interesting by the mysterious and attractive young man next door.Carousel by Jordan L. HawkWhen a child goes missing, is it a simple case of a young runaway, or are more sinister forces at work?“Carousel” is part of the Whyborne & Griffin series and takes place between the events of Stormhaven and Necropolis. It can be read as a standalone.Deliverance by Aleksandr VoinovThis is a re-vamped, re-edited, improved version of "Deliverance". It's about William Raven, a templar, who thought he'd escaped his past. (Same character as in "The Lion of Kent".)

    Be it by way of murder, magic, misunderstanding, mischief, or mayhem, we like to see them suffer. We want the struggle, the grief, the fight. We want to see them angry, confused, hurt, battered, and on the verge of giving up.But most of all we want to see all that toil and strife worth something. We want to see the characters we love finally reach that famous happy end.This anthology includes the following short stories:Quality Assurance by Sasha L. MillerPerfect Angel by Rachelle CochranThe Prince, the Thief, and the Shadow Emperor by M.J. WillowPas Comme Ca by Sophie HungMore Than A Hero by May RidgeThe Simple Method by Remington WardThe Games by Ashley ShawLooking for More by Megan DerrWord count: 169,000

    . . and turn on your darkest fantasies. Demon pacts. Ghostly possessions. Monsters lurking in the depths. The things that go bump in the night frighten us, but they also intrigue us. Fascinate us. Even turn us on.Join us as fan favorites Ally Blue and Kari Gregg bring over-amorous aquatic beasts to life with their mythic twists on the Siren and the monster in the lake. Erotic horror pros Heidi Belleau, Sam Schooler, and Brien Michaels show us just how sexy scary can be with a pair of demon deals destined to curl your toes and set your heart thrashing. And literary masters Laylah Hunter and Peter Hansen weave haunting worlds where ghosts and dead lovers can touch our hearts (and other, naughtier places too . . .) and teach us lessons from beyond the grave.By turns exciting, evocative, and exquisitely explicit, the stories in Bump in the Night are sure to scratch your sexy paranormal itch. Explore your wildest fantasies with us in this collection of dark erotic tales.