One waiter, one customer. The overnight fry cook rambles up to the pie case to take his nightly hit of dessert-topping propellant. It’s not a complete surprise when he falls to the floor; the stuff gives him the spins. That’s the point. It’s a bad moment for the boss to arrive, though. It’s worse when the cook turns out to be dead - from a bullet no one heard. For the waiter, it’s the start of the the worst few months of his life, and before it’s done he’ll be neck-deep in drug deals, romances with a faithless minx and an unintelligible Russian teacher - and a plot by campus radicals to blow something big. It’s 1980, after all. No shortage of things to deplore. They’re not too concerned with disco, though; that seems to be on the way out. “Graveyard Special” is another humorous mystery by the author of “Falling Up the Stairs,” and the first in a series of interconnected mysteries that span six decades.

    Tired, weak, and nearly broken under the weight of his guilt, he wanders the streets waiting for death to catch up to him. But when he is beset by bandits, he gains a new perspective. Maybe he doesn't have to feel guilty about feeding, after all.Theron - Theron travels by ship to his long ago home of Athens, Greece. He soon discovers the Council of Thirteen has put a price on his head so large every Bachiyr in the city will try to collect it, which leads to a very tense reunion with an old lover.The Ugliest Thing, by Daniel Arenson - Just what is it about the image in the telescope that makes people lose their sanity? Is it worth the risk to see for yourself?Also included is a preview of 61 A.D., the thrilling sequel to David's 2010 horror bestseller, 33 A.D.

    This bundle contains all three books in the series, along with new special bonus content.In His SightsMy intuition tells me Chris might not be as straight as he wants everyone to believe. It ain’t my job to get Chris out of the closet. But when he comes to me with one highly unusual request, it’s damn hard to remain professional. How can I turn down an offer to teach a “straight” guy a few gay tricks?Not His ManI don’t usually go for stuck-up nerdy guys, but Ford is full of surprises. He seems reserved at first, but that all changes once I have him on his knees. I don’t mind taking him home for another night or three, but anything more than that? No way. The problem is, the more I’m forced to see him, the more I realize he makes me feel alive in a way that nothing else does.Under His WatchI didn’t expect to run into Ryan at the gala.I didn’t expect he would try to hire me.And I definitely didn’t think I would say yes. But there’s no way I would let him go to one of the most dangerous places in South America without my protection. But now Ryan isn’t the only one who needs my help. We’ve found a little baby boy left alone in the jungle, and if we’re to get him out alive, Ryan and I are going to need to work together.

    Vienna is sick of her bloodthirsty, throne-stealing parents. So when she's Chosen by an advanced academy she's never heard of, she thanks the gods above. When she realizes the school isn't supposed to exist, and that it's in fae territory...Well... bring it on.--Tavi is oath-sworn to keep his powers secret. And for most of his life, he's done so.But once the Carthian Princess invades his world, the walls he's built so high begin to crumble.Vienna is reckless, and trouble clings to her like perfume. No sooner does she arrive at the Fae Academy than a cloud of darkness threatens to sweep them all away.If not for her stubborn spirit, battle skills, and a group of powerful new friends, she wouldn't stand a chance.--This is Book 1 of a complete series (trilogy). This story is full of friendship, epic adventure, and the trials of finding your true self - a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers academy fantasy for young adult & new adult readers. Includes some adult language and intimate scenes later on in the series.

     Faced with his parents’s divorce, eleven-year-old Lucas runs away from his house with the hope that his family will get back together to find him. On his way walking through the empty streets, he is picked up by a mysterious woman who offers to take care of him and provide him with a loving family. The boy then wakes up in shackles, confined to a bed in a decrepit house in the middle of nowhere and will have to face his deepest fears in order to survive in his new home. Join Lucas in a desperate attempt to get back to his family in Madhouse, the first published book from horror-thriller author Miguel Estrada.

    In “Shine,” the master storyteller and #1 New York Times bestselling author of Leaving Time and My Sister’s Keeper introduces readers to the unforgettable Ruth Brooks. Today is Ruth’s first day of third grade at Dalton. The prestigious institution on New York’s Upper East Side couldn’t be more different from her old school in Harlem. Despite being the smartest girl in her grade, Ruth suspects that her classmates and teachers only see her dark skin. She also notices that Christina, the daughter of her mother’s employer, treats Ruth very differently when they’re hanging out with the popular girls rather than playing together. Ruth must navigate between two worlds, never losing sight of the dreams she has for herself—in hopes that someday, someone will see her for who she really is.Includes a preview of Jodi Picoult’s highly anticipated new novel, Small Great Things!

    Ran away from my crazy religious parents, ran away from the judgment, and ran away from what I couldn't accept about myself. And all of that wouldn't be so bad... if I hadn't also run away from my best friend. But now I'm forced by circumstance to come back. And I'm terrified. Because I made a lot of mistakes in leaving, some of the worst mistakes of my life. I don't know if I've grown up enough to face them. I don't know if I can face Amy. Or, even worse, if she doesn't forgive me... I don't know if I can survive walking away again. Nobody has ever made me feel as good and as bad as she does.  I've never been as close to anyone as I was to Jessica. But she just left when I was at my most vulnerable. She did worse than that, in fact. There are things I don't know if I can forgive, things I never planned to forgive. And then she just waltzes back into my life unexpectedly I'm supposed to just forgive her? What if I don't want to forgive her? But that's the problem, I do want to forgive her. I want to have her as my best friend again... and so much more. But I'm terrified of what is going to happen if I allow myself to love her again. This is a standalone lesbian romance novel with HEA ending!

    Perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli, the movie Love, Simon, and the new Hulu series spin-off, Love, Victor!It’s been more than a year since Simon and Blue turned their anonymous online flirtation into an IRL relationship, and just a few months since Abby and Leah’s unforgettable night at senior prom.Now the Creekwood High crew are first years at different colleges, navigating friendship and romance the way their story began—on email.

    Having spent the summer working in LA, she’s back home in New York, and missing the three key elements in a girl’s life – a roommate, a job and a boyfriend. Jenny formulates a plan; surely someone must need a roommate and surely someone must need a girlfriend?By the end of the day, she has arranged a viewing for a potential roommate, the gay blond aka the Sex God,secured two dates, and work looking after a top supermodel. Things look like they are back on track; everything is going to work out great. If only life was so easy…

    When they returned the next year, they were met with sticks and stones, stripped naked and sent home with red cheeks.Mark Horrell and his two friends Mark and Ian shared a dream to climb an 8,000m peak, but it seemed the gods were against them too. They had made no fewer than eight attempts without success (though they had managed to return with their clothes on).With towering ice walls, monsoon rainstorms, arm-twisting crevasses and – most dangerous of all – welcoming teahouses ready to entrap them, would it be different this time?

    To focus on work, reading, and her tan. But then she meets up with her old high school nemesis, Isaiah Winters, on the way home, and he seems more interested in being friends than enemies. Can Kaliyah lower her walls and get over seven years of pushing Isaiah away and find out what it would be like to actually be with him? With her best friend going boy-crazy, a twenty-first birthday looming on the horizon, Isaiah continually showing up on her doorstep, and an ex that seems to want her back, Kaliyah’s summer promises to be anything but quiet.

    “I’ll be back soon, my darling,” her mother, Sage, said the day she left. “Don't you worry. I just need to go find myself.”Do you have to run away in order to find yourself? Maeve wondered. When, exactly, do you know when that self you were so desperately looking for is found?Now Maeve is sixteen-years-old and Sage still hasn’t returned.Fiercely independent and disillusioned, Maeve has grown up with her mother’s ex-boyfriend as her only companion. Giving up all hope of Sage’s return, she convinces herself that mothers—and people—are unnecessary. When she meets Ky and Levi, she is adamant about keeping them at arms length. But Ky, the only true friend Maeve knows, and Levi, the boy with the startling blue eyes, crash through Maeve’s walls.Then one of them is wrenched away—permanently. And Maeve is left dangling with the final words they left behind: go find Sage Parker.

    The problem is that Casper would very much like to get more than groped by those wonderful, big, hot hands. With a journal full of clues, he sets out to discover who his mystery groper is. He may, however, be in serious trouble once he discovers the ominous identity.Hot Hands is the first of five in a series of short stories, called ‘College Fun and Gays’. Each story is independent of the others and each covers a deep issue. Hot Hands focuses on the effects of high school bullying for being gay. Except for Hot Hands and its sequel, Cold Hands, they can be read in any order.This title was previously published with a different cover.

    . .Lila Summers just wants to know one thing for certain: that Ethan Gregory will be with her always. Once her friend, he's become so much more, melting the pain of her past away with each kiss. Now Lila is on a road trip with Ethan, in the wilderness under the stars, and she can't imagine her life without him. But when she talks about the future, something in Ethan changes . . .Ethan has no doubts about his feelings for Lila. His life with her gets better every day-and that's the scary part. How can he walk into a future where he has everything to lose? With Lila, his whole heart is on the line for the very first time. But if Ethan can't give her the promise she needs, his greatest fear might come true: he'll lose Lila for good.(30,000 words)

    For more of the story you can read its twin novella The Red Threads of FortuneMokoya and Akeha, the twin children of the Protector, were sold to the Grand Monastery as children. While Mokoya developed her strange prophetic gift, Akeha was always the one who could see the strings that moved adults to action. While his sister received visions of what would be, Akeha realized what could be. What's more, he saw the sickness at the heart of his mother's Protectorate.A rebellion is growing. The Machinists discover new levers to move the world every day, while the Tensors fight to put them down and preserve the power of the state. Unwilling to continue to play a pawn in his mother's twisted schemes, Akeha leaves the Tensorate behind and falls in with the rebels. But every step Akeha takes towards the Machinists is a step away from his sister Mokoya. Can Akeha find peace without shattering the bond he shares with his twin sister?