Will Not Attend: Lively Stories of Detachment and Isolation


Adam Resnick - 2014
    While courageously admitting to being "euphorically antisocial" and "sick in the head," he allows us to plunge even deeper into his troubled psyche in this unabashedly uproarious memoir-in-essays where we observe Resnick’s committed indifference to family, friends, strangers, and the world at large. His mind shaped by such touchstone events as a traumatic Easter egg hunt when he was six (which solidified his hatred of parties) and overwrought by obsessions, including one with a plastic shopping bag (which solidified his hatred for change), he refuses to be burdened by chores like basic social obligation and personal growth, living instead by his own steadfast rule: "I refuse to do anything I don’t want to do." Cut from a similar (if somewhat stranger) cloth as Albert Brooks or Louis C.K., Resnick is the crazy, miserable bastard you can’t help rooting for, and the brilliant Will Not Attend showcases this seasoned comedy writer at his brazenly hilarious best.

A Kiss for Christmas


Melody Grace - 2013
    In Unexpectedly Yours… Sophie has been dreaming of a magical winter holiday in New York City. Can a chance encounter with musician Austin bring her festive dreams to life?In Holiday Kisses… Writer Dash needs peace and quiet to finish his new script, but he wasn’t betting on inn-keeper Ellie and the local Starbright festival to give him a jolt of holiday inspiration.

Gentry Boys


Cora Brent - 2015
    A set of fraternal triplets born to a depraved family, they were rough, sexy and wild as wolves..." DRAW They called us ‘those white trash Gentry boys’ until we believed that’s what we were. Our people squatted at the edge of a hellhole prison town for generations. The childhood we endured was the stuff of nightmares. I’d learned early on that my brothers, Chase and Creed, were the only people on earth worth my time. They all told us we were bad, that we’d always be bad. The horrors of the past have scarred my soul. But now I need to be better. For her. RISK Violence had always found us Gentrys but this time I’d put the price on my own head. It was my cross to bear. No flinching allowed. There was only room for me, my brothers, and the resolve to survive. That’s all there ever had been. There was certainly no reason for more than than a quick and dirty time with any female, no matter how much this sassy southern girl with a killer body turned my head around. I shouldn’t hold on to Truly Lee for more than a few hours. I shouldn’t even think about it. This thing could finish us both. It doesn’t matter. She’s all I want. GAME Gentry men aren’t supposed to be very bright. We’re big. We’re brutal. Women can’t wait to invite us inside. I know I can have any one of them I want any time I want. It seems unlikely that some bad-tempered chick and her snotty attitude would keep my interest but here it is. Stephanie has no idea what she does to me. I want that girl in more ways than I can even talk about. It should have been enough to have her and be done with it. But no matter how volatile we are together, it’s never enough. To hell with anyone who objects. I’m not letting her go. FALL How many women have I ruined? Hell if there’s any point in counting. Only once did I ever do something unforgivable and the consequence crushed my soul. Maybe that’s why I remain here, in the barren desert wasteland occupied by the worst of my degenerate family. This is a prison I’ve inflicted on myself. Into my purgatory walks Jenny; feisty, beautiful, not much more than a girl herself. No one decent should want a thing to do with me. I told her that. She didn’t listen. **Also includes an excerpt from HOLD, Book #5 in the Gentry Boys series. This series is intended for mature audiences. It contains explicit language, sexual situations, and violence that may be upsetting to some.

Secret Lovers


Shelley Munro - 2010
    Maggie Drummond has one on her close friend Connor Grey. Unfortunately, he prefers leggy blondes -- and Maggie is stuck with her -- deep brown hair and -- determined curves.Then, there is her newfound pursuit of kinky -- no, more adventurous sex. Nothing too bad, you understand. It was reading the steamy romance that sent her on a jaunt down Spanking Avenue and now she has set up an anonymous blog to explore her interest. Perhaps it’s best if she sticks with Greg, her current boyfriend. She can ask him to spank her -- even if Connor pops into her fantasies like a seductive magical genie. The recent changes in Maggie don’t escape Connor’s notice. Now that her boyfriend has dropped her, and luck has gifted him with inside knowledge, he can finally -- carefully -- make his move. But, given his family history, laying a hand on any woman, even in fun, is a line he’s reluctant to cross. As Maggie gives in to the temptation to let Connor add spicy sin to her life, she finds herself juggling lies, half-truths, friendship and sensual delights. Her job is in jeopardy -- and she’s falling in love. Exploring her fantasy is one thing, but she’s beginning to question if indulging her own pleasure is worth the cost to everyone around her. *****--*****Warning: Contains a girl-next-door with spanking on her mind and a sexy rugby player who sees past her shyness and insecurities to the sensual possibilities beyond.

That Man 1


Nelle L'Amour - 2014
    Until he meets Jennifer McCoy, his outspoken new assistant and development executive.Newly engaged Jennifer has no idea that her devastating new boss is the man she kissed, blindfolded, in a game of Truth or Dare. That kiss, that man, that beautiful stranger she cannot forget.Blake hasn’t been able to stop thinking about that kiss either…and he’ll do anything to win Jennifer —even if it means being a beautiful bastard and breaking all the rules.

Seducing Jane Porter


Dominique Adair - 2008
    Thanks to her ex-boyfriend s stunning betrayal, she isn t looking for happily-ever-after, just a master who s willing to explore the depths of her passion and teach her what the BDSM lifestyle is all about. Antonio Villareal was a wanted man. Single, rich and good looking, he s on the hunt for a submissive to share his world. The moment he sees Jane on the arm of another man, he wants to possess her body and soul. The only problem is; Jane makes it clear she isn t a forever kind of girl. Can Antonio convince Jane to give him a chance?"

McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales


Michael ChabonNick Hornby - 2003
    Includes:Jim Shepard’s "Tedford and the Megalodon"Glen David Gold’s "The Tears of Squonk, and What Happened Thereafter"Dan Chaon’s "The Bees"Kelly Link’s "Catskin"Elmore Leonard’s "How Carlos Webster Changed His Name to Carl and Became a Famous Oklahoma Lawman"Carol Emshwiller’s "The General"Neil Gaiman’s "Closing Time"Nick Hornby’s "Otherwise Pandemonium"Stephen King’s "The Tale of Gray Dick"Michael Crichton’s "Blood Doesn’t Come Out"Laurie King’s "Weaving the Dark"Chris Offutt’s "Chuck’s Bucket"Dave Eggers’s "Up the Mountain Coming Down Slowly"Michael Moorcock’s "The Case of the Nazi Canary"Aimee Bender’s "The Case of the Salt and Pepper Shakers"Harlan Ellison’s "Goodbye to All That"Karen Joy Fowler’s "Private Grave 9"Rick Moody’s "The Albertine Notes"Michael Chabon’s "The Martian Agent, a Planetary Romance"Sherman Alexie’s "Ghost Dance"

Score


Gina Watson - 2013
    He knew it was Chloe but what he couldn’t figure out was why. He’d grown up next door to her, had teased her relentlessly. And she’d hated him for it. Memories from last night of the curves she’d grown into had his mouth going dry. He’d had no words with which to tease, all he could do was moan.Had Chloe actually had sex with a man she’d hated for a decade? A full percussion section was banging in Chloe’s head as the memories came to her in pieces—martinis, dancing, his hands, his hardness. God, he’d been solid male muscle. This can’t be happening. Hadn’t she made a commitment to herself to settle the score with Caleb if given the chance? Instead, she was right back where she was all those years ago, panting after him in all of his unobtainable glory.Will their obvious sexual attraction be enough to cut through years of hate?

Silver Birch, Blood Moon


Ellen DatlowIndia Edghill - 1999
    An embittered mother cares for her dying son who is trapped in a thicket that guards a sleeping beauty... In a bleak and desolate industrial wasteland, a group of violent outcasts lays the tattered myths of one Millenium to rest, and gives terrifying birth to those of the next.Erotic, compelling, witty, and altogether extraordinary, these stories lay bare our innermost demons and desires--imaginatively transforming our youthful fantasies into things darker, slyer, and more delightfully subversive. The "Snow White, Blood Red" Collection #1. Snow White, Blood Red #2. Black Thorn, White Rose #3. Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears #4. Black Swan, White Raven #5. Silver Birch, Blood Moon #6. Black Heart, Ivory Bones

The Complete Stories


Flannery O'Connor - 1971
    There are thirty-one stories here in all, including twelve that do not appear in the only two story collections O'Connor put together in her short lifetime - Everything That Rises Must Converge and A Good Man Is Hard to Find. O'Connor published her first story, "The Geranium," in 1946, while she was working on her master's degree at the University of Iowa. Arranged chronologically, this collection shows that her last story, "Judgement Day" - sent to her publisher shortly before her death - is a brilliantly rewritten and transfigured version of "The Geranium." Taken together, these stories reveal a lively, penetrating talent that has given us some of the most powerful and disturbing fiction of the twentieth century. Also included is an introduction by O'Connor's longtime editor and friend, Robert Giroux.Contents:The geranium -- The barber -- Wildcat -- The crop -- The turkey -- The train -- The peeler -- The heart of the park -- A stoke of good fortune -- Enoch and the gorilla -- A good man is hard to find -- A late encounter with the enemy -- The life you save may be your own -- The river -- A circle in the fire -- The displaced person -- A temple of the Holy Ghost -- The artificial nigger -- Good country people -- You can't be any poorer than dead -- Greenleaf -- A view of the woods -- The enduring chill -- The comforts of home -- Everything that rises must converge -- The partridge festival -- The lame shall enter first -- Why do the heathen rage? -- Revelation -- Parker's back -- Judgement Day.

Wild Instinct


Sarah McCarty - 2009
    And as the heat rises between them, so do the risks.Daire-He rejected the strict rules of werewolf society, only to fall in love with the one woman who's been taught to fear the beast within him.Curran-His job is to find a fugitive were-woman and bring her in. Trapping has never been a problem, but he's never fallen in love with his bounty before.

The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes


John Joseph AdamsTanith Lee - 2009
    This reprint anthology showcases the best Holmes short fiction from the last 25 years, featuring stories by such visionaries as Stephen King, Neil Gaimen, Laura King, and many others.

Valentine


Samantha Young - 2015
    Ellie & Adam. Jo & Cam. Olivia & Nate. Hannah & Marco. Shanon & Cole. And one Valentine’s Day they’ll never forget.It’s Valentine’s Day! How do Joss & Braden, Ellie & Adam, Jo & Cam, Olivia & Nate, Hannah & Marco and Shannon & Cole keep the fire burning in their relationships while trying to juggle busy careers and the joyful chaos of parenthood? Find out in Valentine, six sexy and emotional short stories, one for each couple in the On Dublin Street series so far, making up a short novella about one very special day.Valentine is a special gift to fans of the series in thanks for supporting Hero, her first standalone contemporary romance.The digital edition is free.Also part of the paperback edition, On Dublin Street: The Novellas.

Her Body and Other Parties: Stories


Carmen Maria Machado - 2017
    While her work has earned her comparisons to Karen Russell and Kelly Link, she has a voice that is all her own. In this electric and provocative debut, Machado bends genre to shape startling narratives that map the realities of women's lives and the violence visited upon their bodies.A wife refuses her husband's entreaties to remove the green ribbon from around her neck. A woman recounts her sexual encounters as a plague slowly consumes humanity. A salesclerk in a mall makes a horrifying discovery within the seams of the store's prom dresses. One woman's surgery-induced weight loss results in an unwanted houseguest. And in the bravura novella Especially Heinous, Machado reimagines every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a show we naively assumed had shown it all, generating a phantasmagoric police procedural full of doppelgangers, ghosts, and girls with bells for eyes.Earthy and otherworldly, antic and sexy, queer and caustic, comic and deadly serious, Her Body and Other Parties swings from horrific violence to the most exquisite sentiment. In their explosive originality, these stories enlarge the possibilities of contemporary fiction.The husband stitch --Inventory --Mothers --Especially heinous --Real women have bodies --Eight bites --The resident --Difficult at parties

Pleasure Bound: Ten Stories of Masterful Seduction


Skye CallahanSimone Leigh - 2019
    Deviant desires are ready to explode in blissful tomes of thrilling action, guaranteed to make the tops of your toes and fingers tingle (and everything else in between). Dare you embark on this wickedly naughty quest to uncover deliciously ripped alpha males and swooning females, ready to obey their every order?You do? Well let's get started then.Pleasure Bound is a collection of first-in-series novels and novellas: Adaline Raine, Daddy's Sassy Little Supermodel (Sassy Littles) C.P. Mandara, Sparks (A Special Agent Novel) Laci Paige, The Silken Edge (Silken Edge Series) Michele Zurlo, Drawing On Love (Mercenary Hearts) Nia Farrell, Find Her (Avenging Angels MC) Skye Callahan, Entrust (Club Obsidian) Deanndra Hall, Adventurous Me (Bliss) Claire Thompson, The Compound (The Compound Trilogy) Simone Leigh, Friends (Mastering the Virgin) Shannon Youngblood, Just a Man (The Porter Trilogy)