Elves, druids, fairies - who knows what you will find once you dare step into the forest?And now, New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison ventures into these mysterious, hidden lands of magic and mystery in her first short-story collection. Into the Woods brings together an enchanting mix of brand-new, never-before-published stories and tales from Harrison's beloved, bestselling Hollows series.The tales her include an original Hollows novella, Million-Dollar Baby, about Trent Kalamack's secret elven quest in Pale Demon; two original short stories, "Pet Shop Boys" and "Temson Woods," that explore just what happens when humanity and the supernatural collide; and two novelettes, "Spider Silk" and "Grace," set in new worlds of imagination and adventure. Into the Woods also contains all of the previously published Hollows short stories - together in one volume for the very first time.Step into the woods and discover the magic for yourself. Original.Including:The HollowsThe BespelledTwo Ghosts for Sister RachelUndead in the Garden of Good and EvilDirty MagicThe Bridges of Eden ParkLey Line DrifterMillion Dollar BabyBeyond the HollowsPet Shop BoysTemson EstatesSpider SilkGrace

    Unsure if she’s a spy or a pawn in someone else’s game, Ariq isn’t about to let her out of his sight until he finds out…After escaping her fourth kidnapping attempt in a year, Zenobia Fox has learned to vigilantly guard her identity. While her brother Archimedes is notorious for his exploits, Zenobia has had no adventures to call her own—besides the stories she writes. But when she jumps at the chance to escape to the wilds of Australia and acquire research for her next story, Zenobia quickly discovers that the voyage will be far more adventurous than any fiction she could put to paper…

    But her gaiety is interrupted by disturbing, dreamlike visions she has only at sunset—visions that offer glimpses of the future. Soon, friends and strangers alike call on Amelia to hear her prophecies. However, a forbidden romance with Nathaniel, an artist, threatens the new life Amelia is building in Baltimore. This enigmatic young man is keeping secrets of his own—still, Amelia finds herself irrepressibly drawn to him.When one of her darkest visions comes to pass, Amelia’s world is thrown into chaos. And those around her begin to wonder if she’s not the seer of dark portents, but the cause.

    They are going back to Russia to see Dimitri's family, something that both of them sorely need. Dimitri had finally been restored into a Dhampir, after being forcibly changed into Strigoi. His family needs to see him for themselves, and Rose needs to go back to Russia and face her trauma from the trip she made before.(Published in the Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy and Prediction collection)

    She may be the daughter of an MP and the sister of famed inventor Lord David Hart, but she is a spinster whose own father threatens to send her to the madhouse every fortnight. Because Society is correct-Verity Hart is no lady. If they suspected how quick with a quip she is, let alone the majority of her brother's ingenious machines were her design, the sale of fainting couches would double. Verity requires one herself when her beloved brother is kidnapped by vampyres in the dead of night. With the aid of an aggravating, rude American bounty hunter with a secret of his own, Verity takes to land, sea, and even air to rescue the only person who could ever love and truly accept her. Or is he? Part One of Five includes: Chapter One- The Notorious Count Orrlock Has A Ball Chapter Two- When Worlds Collide

    Hannah Smith just wishes she wasn't that girl. As a narcoleptic and the companion to an earl's daughter with a strange affliction of her own, Hannah knows she's lucky to have a roof over her head and food in her belly when so many orphans starve on the streets. Yet freedom is something Hannah longs for. She did not, however, want her freedom to arrive in the form of kidnapping.Taken by handsome Jack Langley to a place known as Freak House, she finds herself under the same roof as a mad scientist, his niece, a mute servant and Jack, a fire starter with a mysterious past. They assure Hannah she is not a prisoner and that they want to help her. The problem is, they think she's the earl's daughter. What will they do when they discover they took the wrong girl?

    I came home to find them all dead; their throats savagely cut. My sisters only five and eight were gone as well as my brother who was twelve. My mother too lay butchered in her marriage bed. The bed her children were born in...- After young Rose Baines discovers the savage murders of her family by her mad, incestuous father, she is plunged into a nightmare of hell and incarcerated in two madhouses. In time, she is helped to obtain a position as governess at Blackstone House. Nothing is as it seems for Blackstone House, and its inhabitants have numerous secrets. Amid the unimaginable horror there is love - which comes at a terrible price. The House on Blackstone Moor is the first novel in Carole Gill's Blackstone Vampires Series. It is both a tale of the eternal struggle between good and evil, and a story of love that strives to prevail, despite all odds. "Think Jane Eyre with demonic vampires and with sexual scenes." "I want to put the bite into gothic romance!" Carole Gill, Author Show less

     Lyra Seville is about to find out that little in her life is as she believed it to be. She's come home for the summer to St. Simon's island where she grew up. She plans on relaxing and coming to terms with the loss of someone close to her. But fate has other plans in mind for Lyra. Just as she has returned to the island, so has something old and evil. Something that once caused much blood to be spilled in the sandy soil and marsh. Lyra will discover that evil can present itself in a form that is too appealing - so attractive that it's hard to recognize its true nature. She'll face the biggest test of her life and make decisions that could cost her life. And if she's very lucky, she'll find the love she's dreamed of. And survive.

    By vampires, creatures that can’t exist. But Sara knows better and she’s on a mission to kill as many as she can…until she comes across a man from her past.This short story was originally published in the Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance.

    Ward. Available for the first time ever as a standalone ebook, get lost in the sinful pleasures of a vampire so obsessed with one woman, he will relinquish her blood, if only he can have her heart...Held captive by a dark, seductive vampire with an unworldly hunger, the beautiful Claire Stroughton fears her life as a lawyer has irrevocably taken a turn for the worse. But when this deeply sensual-and highly dangerous-vampire convinces Claire that his desire for her is stronger than his lust for blood, she is compelled to give everything up to him, body and soul...Please note: this is not part of the Black Dagger Brotherhood even though it's set in the same "world".

    To save his reputation, Ian enlists aspiring authoress Angelica Winthrop without realizing she has hidden plans of her own.Angelica Winthrop's life goal is to ruin her reputation, avoid marriage, and become a gothic authoress like her idol, Mary Shelley. To find inspiration for her new story, she breaks into the home of Ian Ashton, Duke of Burnrath, not knowing she will be coming up against the Lord Vampire of London. Romance sparks and reputations are at stake. But who knows the real difference between fact and fiction?

    Yet her decision is less a matter of faith than fear, for Joan is plagued by mysterious voices that speak of the future, and by visions that mark those about to die. The sanctuary of the nunnery promises respite from these unwanted visitations . . . or so she prays. Her chaperone is Michael Murray, a young widower who, though he still mourns the death of his wife, finds himself powerfully drawn to his charge. But when the time-traveling Comte St. Germain learns of Joan’s presence in Paris, and of her link to Claire Fraser—La Dame Blanche—Murray is drawn into a battle whose stakes are not merely the life but the very soul of the Scotswoman who, without even trying, has won his heart.

    Her crime—the gruesome murders of dozens of female servants, mostly young girls tortured to death for displeasing their ruthless mistress. Her opponents painted her as a bloodthirsty škrata—a witch—a portrayal that would expand to grotesque proportions through the centuries.In this riveting dramatization of Erzsébet Báthory’s life, the countess tells her story in her own words, writing to her only son—a final reckoning from his mother in an attempt to reveal the truth behind her downfall. Countess Báthory describes her upbringing in one of the most powerful noble houses in Hungary, recounting in loving detail her devotion to her parents and siblings as well as the heartbreak of losing her father at a young age. She soon discovers the price of being a woman in sixteenth-century Hungary as her mother arranges her marriage to Ferenc Nádasdy, a union made with the cold calculation of a financial transaction. Young Erzsébet knows she has no choice but to accept this marriage even as she laments its loveless nature and ultimately turns to the illicit affections of another man. Seemingly resigned to a marriage of convenience and a life of surreptitious pleasure, the countess surprises even herself as she ignites a marital spark with Ferenc through the most unromantic of acts: the violent punishment of an insolent female servant. The event shows Ferenc that his wife is no trophy but a strong, determined woman more than capable of managing their vast estates during Ferenc’s extensive military campaigns against the Turks. Her naked assertion of power accomplishes what her famed beauty could not: capturing the love of her husband. The countess embraces this new role of loving wife and mother, doing everything she can to expand her husband’s power and secure her family’s future. But a darker side surfaces as Countess Báthory’s demand for virtue, obedience, and, above all, respect from her servants takes a sinister turn. What emerges is not only a disturbing, unflinching portrait of the deeds that gave Báthory the moniker “Blood Countess,” but an intimate look at the woman who became a monster.

    Night. Four hundred years into the future, in a dystopian world inside a sphere city called VAMPIRE NATION, there are only three choices for humans: be turned into a vampire at the age of eighteen, become a breeder, or become a feeder slave. On the eve of her required turning ceremony, Ariana Waters has second thoughts about becoming a vampire. She won’t be able to bear natural daylight anymore...or have children. And she will not only be bound to obey their vampire creed, she might be expected to participate in genocide. She’s desperate to find an alternative to the legal agreement she’s made. However, her delay or departure from her agreement to turn could get her and her whole family executed for treason. Her best friend is a vampire. Her worst enemy is a vampire. And her allies are few and far between. Who can she trust? When the family’s feeder human becomes worn out and is replaced by a handsome young man with the kind of strength she’s never seen in anyone, her heart tries to rule her head. Complicating matters is a male friend whose romantic pursuit of her is one week from his own scheduled turning. She’s torn asunder by the strict laws where vampires rule humans, spies are everywhere, and punishment for lawbreakers is swift and final. As Ariana encounters dark secrets about vampire society, time is running out before her turning ceremony. Will she find a solution to her dilemma, will she turn, or will she destroy everyone she loves? It’s not just her own life at stake... **Acclaim for the novels of H.T. Night** “H.T. Night is a riveting storyteller, capturing the essence of the vampire genre.” —April M. Reign, author of Dividing Destiny “The Werewolf Whisperer is a wonderful story that incorporates friendship and love with a lot of great vampire action.” —Summer Lee, author of Angel Heart “A hip and timely vampire novel filled with real characters and some of the coolest vampires since The Lost Boys! You’re going to love Night’s completely original take on the supernatural.” —J.R. Rain, author of Moon Dance “Bad Blood is fast, hilarious and sexy. Rain, Nicholson and Night just might have created the coolest vampire since Kiefer Sutherland. The Mount Shasta setting is dreamy. The cult is deliciously creepy. And Spider is as sexy as they come. I was pressing the ereader’s ‘forward’ button so fast that I broke it. Let’s hope we hear more from Spider.” —H.P. Mallory, bestselling author of To Kill a Warlock

     The undead matriarch of a Britain where the Aristocracy is made up of werewolves and vampires, where goblins live underground and mothers know better than to let their children out after dark. A world where being nobility means being infected with the Plague (side-effects include undeath), Hysteria is the popular affliction of the day, and leeches are considered a delicacy. And a world where technology lives side by side with magic. The year is 2012 and Pax Britannia still reigns.Xandra Vardan is a member of the elite Royal Guard, and it is her duty to protect the Aristocracy. But when her sister goes missing, Xandra will set out on a path that undermines everything she believed in and uncover a conspiracy that threatens to topple the empire. And she is the key-the prize in a very dangerous struggle.