Not the modern, hippy kind… the real, wand-wielding, pixie dust kind. After a life devoted to retail and coffee drinks, Mathilda is thrown into the secret world of witches, warlocks, werewolves, vampires, faeries, headless horsemen, you name it, it exists… even whirling dervishes!As Mathilda discovers her magic, she also discovers she’s prophesied to save the world. Problem is, she’d rather spend her time on online auctions, bidding on cut-rate but fabulous designer shoes. Now, she’s got to save the world, run her coffee house, battle against her co-worker in “The War of the Wooden Spoons” and figure out what’s going on with the silent, watchful (but yummy) Sebastian Wilding, a member of a centuries old Secret Society who has vowed to keep her safe and brainy, sweet (and hot) Dr. Aidan Seymour, a maverick member of The Royal Institute of Psychical Research. Making matters worse, her nemesis is a powerful witch who doesn’t mind fighting dirty. Will Mathilda be able to save the world while still being perfectly accessorized? And how is she going to pick between Luscious Sebastian and Dreamy Aidan? And will she be able to talk The Witches Council into updating their uniform? And, lastly, will she ever get the hang of riding around on a broom?

    It is a place of contradictions—the bright lights mask the peeling paint; a carnie in greasy overalls slinks away from the direction of the Barker’s seductive call. It is a place of illusion—is that woman’s beard real? How can she live locked in that watery box?And while many are tricked by sleight of hand, there are hints of something truly magical going on. One must remain alert and learn quickly the unwritten rules of this dark show. To beat the carnival, one had better have either a whole lot of luck or a whole lot of guns—or maybe some magic of one’s own.Featuring stories grotesque and comical, outrageous and action-packed, Carniepunk is the first anthology to channel the energy and attitude of urban fantasy into the bizarre world of creaking machinery, twisted myths, and vivid new magic.RACHEL CAINE’s vampires aren’t child’s play, as a naïve teen discovers when her heart leads her far, far astray in “The Cold Girl.” With “Parlor Tricks,” JENNIFER ESTEP pits Gin Blanco, the Elemental Assassin, against the Wheel of Death and some dangerously creepy clowns. SEANAN McGUIRE narrates a poignant, ethereal tale of a mysterious carnival that returns to a dangerous town after twenty years in “Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea.” KEVIN HEARNE’s Iron Druid and his wisecracking Irish wolfhound discover in “The Demon Barker of Wheat Street” that the impossibly wholesome sounding Kansas Wheat Festival is actually not a healthy place to hang out. With an eerie, unpredictable twist, ROB THURMAN reveals the fate of a psychopath stalking two young carnies in “Painted Love.”

    NOTE: This story has been re-released in the Dark Bites anthology.Celebrity necromancer Jaime Vegas is headlining a sold-out séance tour, but behind the scenes, a disgruntled ghost has a bone to pick, in Kelley Armstrong's The Ungrateful Dead.Plus tales guaranteed to get under your skin - in a good way - from:* Janet Berliner* Don D'Ammassa* Nancy Holder* Nancy Kilpatrick* J. A. Konrath* F. Paul Wilson* Joe R. Lansdale* Will Ludwigsen* Sharyn McCrumb* Mark Onspaugh* Mike Resnick* Steven Savile* D. L. Snell* Eric James Stone* Jeff Strand* Lucien Soulban* Matt Venne* Christopher WelchSo let the blood flow and laughter reign - because when it comes to facing our deepest, darkest fears, a little humor goes a long way!

    He needs the blood of either his mate or a human virgin to maintain his strength, but hasn't enjoyed the ritual since he lost his wife centuries ago. Kael doesn't want a new companion, yet his resolve is tested when he meets his newest offering. She’s beautiful and poised, but her curious, mismatched eyes intrigue him more than they should, and when he hurts her, he can’t help wanting another chance...Shayla McKinnon knows the rules: Serve the needs of the Vampire Warrior King. Obey his commands. Don’t ask questions. But knowing the rules doesn’t always mean that Shayla follows them. She’s waited her whole life for this moment, for a chance to become part of another world—for the possibility of getting justice for those she’s lost. And Kael is her darkest fantasy come to life, even though he’s intimidating as hell, too.Now they’re locked in a red-hot battle of wills, and the only question is which one will end up on their knees…

    Elrod, Caitlin Kittredge, Marjorie M. Liu, Katie MacAlister, Lilith Saintcrow & Ronda Thompson.What newly married couple doesn't dream of a romantic retreat where they can escape the world for a while — but what happens when supernatural forces intrude on their wedded bliss? Nine of today’s hottest paranormal authors answer that question in this all-star collection of supernatural stories. Can a vampire-hunter enjoy her honeymoon after learning that her new hubby is a werewolf? How can newlyweds focus on their wedding night when their honeymoon suite is haunted by feuding ghosts? And what’s a wizard to do when a gruesome monster kidnaps the bride on her way home from the wedding? With so much otherworldly mayhem awaiting our newlyweds, will they ever get around to the honeymoon itself? Find out in...My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon.Contents:Stalked / Kelley Armstrong --Heorot / Jim Butcher --Roman holiday, or SPQ-arrrrrr / Rachel Caine --Her mother's daughter / P.N. Elrod --Newlydeads / Caitlin Kittredge --Where the heart lives / Marjorie M. Liu --Cat got your tongue? / Katie MacAlister --Half of being married / Lilith Saintcrow --A wulf in groom's clothing / Ronda Thompson.

     The strong alpha heroes in our anthology are determined to claim their mates—but their women are anything but submissive. They'll have to work twice as hard to get what they want. It'll be a power struggle as the alphas and their women learn that the volatile energy between them is the beginning of something wonderful. These nine hand-picked stories are hot enough to curl your toes. Get ready to fall in love with an alpha.

    After he rescues her from the unwanted attentions of another partygoer, she succumbs to his kisses and spends an evening engaged in wicked-sexy lovemaking. Sure she's just a one-night stand, she tries to exit gracefully, but soon find she needs Dylan's special skills when her world is turned upside down by a blood-drinking killer and his gang who target her for their next meal. Dylan O'Hara only wants a night of passion to slake his sexual needs, but finds Emmy is a full-bodied, red-blooded siren whose innocence and humor draws this Master vampire like a moth to a red-hot flame. When Emmy attracts the attention of a serial-killing vampire, Dylan vows to protect her, but he fears he'll lose Emmy once she discovers her "Dracula" has real fangs

    20,000 wordsThe vampires are a dying race, their females sterile. When it's discovered that human females of Druid ancestry can be viable breeders...the harvest begins.Rachel Collins is a young woman living in the frozen north of Alaska in a dead-end job with a circular life. She yearns for something more.When murders begin taking place in the city where she lives, she and her girlfriend try to be more cautious...only to be caught in the middle of a dangerous situation in which an unlikely savior emerges.Can Rachel escape her destiny while two different factions hunt her?

    Greetings. My name is Prince Bozhidar, and I am an eight-hundred-year-old vampire. Correction. I am an eight-hundred-year-old, virile, confident, and very sexy vampire—so I’m told. I have wealth, looks, and everything an immortal man could ever want. Well, except love. But no matter. I am not a one-neck sort of man.Yet the virginal woman across the road sets my senses afire. And she needs my help with her family’s failing winery. My own is quite successful. My honor demands I help this enchanting female, and when I do, my heart begins beating anew. She is my mate. Strangely, my gifts of seduction do not seem to work on her. Perhaps I need to fit in with modern dating customs to win this modern woman.And then there’s the small matter that she doesn’t believe in vampires. There is no fighting destiny, sweet Stella. You will be mine.

    Now, desperate for another chance to love her, he wants redemption for the mistake that cost her life.She’s haunted by dreams of her own death…After catching her fiance with another woman, Kate Bradley returns to San Diego to clear her head. The last thing she needs is romance, but after meeting Calisto she’s drawn to him in ways she doesn’t understand.They’ve waited in the shadows for centuries…Calisto has no doubt Kate is the reincarnation of his lost love, but the Fraternidad Del Fuego Santo has a new watcher with dark ambitions of his own. As old enemies reemerge and a new threat arises, the betrayal that enslaved Calisto to the night might destroy the only woman he’s ever loved again.

    In happy-ever-after endings, ghosts come to life so that lovers can be united in the flesh.Contains the following novellas/short stories:The Chinese Bed by Anna CampbellOld Salt by Carolyn CraneHaints and Hobwebs by Jennifer EstepHat-Trick by Gwen CreadyGhost of Blackstone Manor by Donna FletcherSeventeen Coppers by Jeannie HolmesYours in Eternity by C.T. AdamsThe Lovers by Julia LondonA Single Girl's Guide to Getting Ahead by Liz MaverickJonquils in the Snow by Annette BlairThe Heart Thief by Cindy MilesGhost in the Machine by Dru PagliassottiThree Little Words by Christie RidgwayGhost of a Chance by Caridad PineiroIn His Hands by Sara ReinkeCan You Hear Me Now? by Sharon ShinnThe Storm by Linda Wisdom>>>--4EVR---> by Holly Lisle

    though I did leave out some of the original "diary" entries that appeared on an earlier version of the Morganville website, simply because they were just scenes and not stories, and were generally really short snippets. This is all short fiction, and it's been carefully organized into the timeline, so you can read from the earliest adventures (some of which belong to vampires) all the way through some post-Daylighters goodies.MIDNIGHT BITES includes a total of more than 50,000 words of brand new content, which makes me very happy indeed (and I hope will also make you happy, too). From stories featuring our favorite bunny-slipper-wearing mad scientist to a mystery solved by police chief Hannah Moses, I think you'll find this is a diverse group of stories that will shine a little more light in the murkiest corners of Morganville.

    A pair of scorching shapeshifter romance novellas by two of the genre’s hottest New York Times bestselling authors:Shelly Laurenston's Miss CongenialityCynthia Eden's Wicked Ways*-*From Shelly Laurenston -- Miss Congeniality (Magnus Pack, #3.5; Pride, #0.75; Smith's Shifter World, #3.5) It's those damn stockings that get me every time. They have this sexy little line down the back and I can't help but stare at her legs -- constantly. And you'd think she'd be all over me like every other female in the Seattle area. I'm young, good looking, and one day I'll be Alpha Male of my family's Pack. But Professor Irene Conridge acts like I don't even exist. How is that possible? Now she's got enemies coming out of the woodwork and I have to protect her.Why? Because that's the kind of man I am. Yes, I am that amazing. Of course, it doesn't hurt that while I work to secure her safety, she'll be hanging out at my house. That's hours -- days even -- that I've got Professor Irene Conridge -- right where I want her.*-*From Cynthia Eden -- Wicked WaysI'm too dangerous for her. I know it -- but I can't get my sexy new neighbour out of my head. When I hear her scream one night, the absolute last thing I expect to see is Miranda Shaw -- star of my hottest fantasies -- being attacked by a vampire! Now the undead jerk is after her, and I am the only thing standing between the beautiful lady and a killer who just won't stop. Well, too bad for him, because that vamp has just made the worst mistake of his afterlife -- he's tangled with a former FBI agent, who is also a jaguar-shifter of considerable power ...Sparks fly between Miranda and me -- despite her reluctance -- but she's so busy watching out for the vamp, that she won't see me closing in on her -- not until it's too late -- and I'm about to show her just how wild I can get ... Is she ready for the feral intensity of my animal state?

     Suspenseful, surprising, sometimes dark, sometimes humorous-these all-new stories will ensure that readers never think of vampires (or birthdays) in quite the same way again. In New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris's "Dracula Night," Sookie Stackhouse is the only human at the annual commemoration of Dracula's birth. But this year, the Prince of Darkness actually shows up-and finds Sookie to be a tasty-looking present. New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher's crime-solving wizard Harry Dresden, of the Dresden Files novels, heads to a role-playing party to give his vampire brother a birthday present in "It's My Birthday Too," only to discover there are some bloodthirsty party crashers who don't share their brotherly love. In "Twilight," Cassandra DuCharme, who appeared in New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong's Dime Store Magic, knows she has to kill to live as a vampire another year-but finds herself disturbingly disinterested in the hunt. Plus ten more bloody good birthday stories that take the cake.Contents xi • Preface: A Few Words (Many Bloody Returns) • (2007) • essay by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner1 • Dracula Night • [Sookie Stackhouse 4.3] • shortstory by Charlaine Harris21 • The Mournful Cry of Owls • novelette by Christopher Golden50 • I Was a Teenage Vampire • novelette by Bill Crider73 • Twilight • [Women of the Otherworld Short Fiction 7.2] • novelette by Kelley Armstrong100 • It's My Birthday, Too • [The Dresden Files 9.2] • novella by Jim Butcher146 • Grave-Robbed • [Vampire Files] • novelette by P. N. Elrod176 • The First Day of the Rest of Your Life • [The Morganville Vampires: Extras 2.5] • novelette by Rachel Caine201 • The Witch and the Wicked • novelette by Jeanne C. Stein230 • Blood Wrapped • [Henry Fitzroy] • novelette by Tanya Huff254 • The Wish • shortstory by Carolyn Haines265 • Fire Ice and Linguini for Two • [Garnet Lacey 2.5] • novelette by Lyda Morehouse [as by Tate Hallaway ]290 • Vampire Hours • novelette by Elaine Viets318 • How Stella Got Her Grave Back • novelette by Toni L. P. Kelner

    vampires, shape-shifters, the Celtic Sidhe, demons, and other magical beings. Their battle to reign supreme is constant, but one force holds them in check, a race of powerful warriors known as the Immortals.In Wolf Hunt, (Immortals, book 5.5) by Jennifer Ashley, a lone werewolf defies his entire pack and everything he’s ever known to protect a demon woman.In Blood Debt, (Immortals, book 6.5) by Joy Nash, a vampire thirsts to claim vengeance from the two beings responsible for his eternal nightmare: the Old One who turned him ... and, the beautiful Sidhe muse ... who killed him.In Beyond the Mist, (Immortals, book 7.5) by Robin T. Popp, haunted by her past and reeling from her sister’s murder, one woman turns to a sexy spirit-walker on a ghostly cruise ship.