Jeaniene Frost's story, One for the Money, features vampires Cat and Bones trying to protect a spoiled heiress with a price on her head and an undead hitman on her trail. Previously published in Death's Excellent Vacation. Also includes the first three chapters from Jeaniene's story in The Bite Before Christmas anthology, as well as a sneak peek at ONCE BURNED, the first novel in the new Night Prince series. Ilona Andrews' story, A Questionable Client, is a prequel to her award-winning Kate Daniels series. In a world beset by magic waves, Kate Daniels works as a mercenary. She is tired, hungry, and there is foul-smelling blood on her boots. All she wants to do is to go home, but when Mercenary Guild offers her a job she can't refuse, she finds herself protecting a man against Russian wizards. Previously published in Dark and Stormy Knights. Also includes first two chapters of FATE'S EDGE, book 3 in the Edge series, and first two chapters of Magic Grieves, a Kate Daniels novella.

    From Bram Stoker to Stephenie Meyer and beyond, vampire stories are here to stay. For those fresh-blooded fans of paranormal romance or for those whose hunt and hunger never dies, these stories have what readers want!This collection of original tales comes from some of the hottest, most popular, and best-selling YA writers, including:• Holly Black (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Tithe)• Libba Bray (A Great and Terrible Beauty)• Melissa De La Cruz (Blue Blood)• Cassandra Clare (City of Bones)• Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampires)• Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie (Wicked)• Cecil Castellucci (Boy Proof, Queen of Cool)• Kelley Armstrong (Women of Otherworld)• Maria V. Snyder• Sarah Rees Brennan• Lili St. Crow• Karen Mahoney• Dina JamesThey will make everyone a sucker for eternal kisses.

    And she never expects to find herself tied to a mahogany bed frame, captive of a man who aches to fulfill her every desire and let loose the magick that dwells inside her.Heat emanates from elemental fire witch Jack McAllister. The Coven, a governing authority of witches, has sent him to protect Mira from a band of warlocks who drain witches of power...and life. Long ago, he saw Mira's parents murdered by this same dark magick. He'd like to quell his guilt and offer her everything she deserves. But she's the long-lost cousin of his boss—making seduction off-limits.With Jack's strong guidance, Mira is luring forth her inner magick. But his sense of duty is quickly swelling into insatiable hunger. He was warned about the natural attraction between air and fire. Now he risks being consumed by the woman he shouldn't want—but can't stay away from.

    It was a flash in the moonlight, a blur of motion like I'd never witnessed before. No human had the capacity to move like that. When I found myself face-to-face with him there in the meadow, I knew without a doubt that the journal was authentic. I knew that my grandfather hadn't been crazy at all. Because a foot away from me stood a vampire. What do you do when you find out the people you trust have been hiding a terrible secret? When Sarah Wood's father passes away and hands over to her the responsibility of running the family's inn, she finds put things are far more complicated than she first imagined. She's not just responsible for running the inn. She's become the Vampire's Warden. This is part one of a three-part series. It is 31,880 words long. It is a novella.

    But the city's magic is dying. The only person who can restore it? A beautiful woman from the mortal world...one who knows nothing of the power she wields.Quinn Lennox is searching for a missing friend when she stumbles into a dark otherworld that only she can see—and finds herself at the mercy of Arturo Mazza, a dangerously handsome vampire whose wicked kiss will save her, enslave her, bewitch her, and betray her. What Arturo can't do is forget about her—any more than Quinn can control her own feelings for him. Neither one can let desire get in the way of their mission—his to save his people, hers to save herself. But there is no escape from desire in a city built for seduction, where passion flows hot and blood-red.Welcome to Vamp City...

    What she never planned for was Quinn Donegan—the living, breathing advertisement for sinful behavior that waltzed into her life.

    But ailing finances have forced her to accept a lucrative case that could save her firm - if it doesn't kill her first. Shiarra has signed on to work for a high-level mage to recover an ancient artifact owned by one of New York's most powerful vampires. As soon as Shiarra meets sexy, mesmerizing vamp Alec Royce, she knows her assignment is even more complicated than she thought. With a clandestine anti-Other group trying to recruit her, and magi being eliminated, Shiarra needs back-up and enlists her ex-boyfriend - a werewolf whose non-furry form is disarmingly appealing - and a nerdy mage with surprising talents. But it may not be enough. In a city where the undead roam, magic rules, and even the Others aren't always what they seem, Shiarra has just become the secret weapon in a battle between good and evil - whether she likes it or not...

    Her ability to move things with her mind has made her an outcast, even in her own home. She hates the power that she has and wants nothing more than to be normal like everyone else. But when she is forced to run away from home or be sent to a hospital to be studied like some kind of science project, she has no choice but to rely on her telekinesis in order to survive on her own. She soon finds herself in more danger than she ever thought possible when she discovers that there are even stranger people than her in the world. Like Cole, a man with a deadly secret who has vowed to stop at nothing until he has her. And Jesse, who seems like the perfect man until she learns that he may not be who she thinks he is.The unbelievable becomes reality when seemingly normal people shed their human skin for that of fur and prowl the streets at night looking for their next victim. Will Lacey's power be her saving grace or her doom?

    Thirsting for vengeance against the enemy who made him something less than human, Sam returns to England and crosses paths with Cassandra Fielding. His best friend’s little sister has become a fearless woman on a dangerous mission of her own. And against all odds, she sees past what he’s become, and stirs a desire he thought he’d lost forever…“Simon Says” by Bianca D’ArcSpecial Forces soldier Simon Blackwell ended his affair with Mariana Daniels three years ago, but he hasn’t stopped protecting her. Mariana has no knowledge of the dark, deadly creatures that lurk in the forest surrounding her clinic, or of the mysterious powers that make Simon the only one who can defeat them. But soon he’ll have no choice but to reveal the truth, and urge her to trust in an explosive passion that never faded…

     Gingerbread houses, caroling carolers, brightly trimmed trees, big family dinners, pristine snowfalls-the familiar pleasures of the season. But what better pleasure is there than a good holiday story? So open this winter solstice sampler and indulge in fully festive fantasies, nightmares before Christmas, and stunning space-age celebrations. These stories will warm hearts and minds like a blazing Yule log. Fantastic Holiday Stories by Kevin J. Anderson, Mercedes Lackey, Mike Resnick, Kristine Rusch, Jonathan Maberry, Eric James Stone, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Quincy J. Allen, Ken Scholes, Sam Knight, David Boop, Heather Graham, Brad R. Torgersen, and Patricia Briggs.

    She awakens in the morning to find that her sketch, a rare glimpse into the future, has already become reality.Jasmine DeLaney leaves her life behind when an abusive boyfriend puts her in the hospital. She becomes Jaxon, an art consultant in a new town, always looking over her shoulder for the danger she knows will catch up to her eventually.As Caislyn scrambles for clues to her parents' whereabouts, she casts a spell that leads her to Jaxon. From the moment they meet, the girls are immersed in a world of chaos and secrets. Finding out they are part of a very dangerous prophecy not only has them on the run, but discovering their own hidden pasts as well.While trying to come to grips with who they are, how they fit into this prophecy, and where Caislyn's parents are the girls must also face the fact that the stalker vampire who appears to be helping them, may just be putting them in more danger.* The Bonus Edition includes three short stories about various characters in The Awakening Trilogy.

    Contained within these fortresses are some of the deadliest criminals from the five supernatural races: vampire, shifter, fey, magic users and demi-fey.Jessa Lebron, twenty-two, has spent her entire life in Stratford, Connecticut, one of the gateway towns adjoining these prisons which protect the fortified borders. She’s a wolf shifter, and her father leads the town council. She learns that much of her life has been hidden from her, secrets which threaten to tear apart the very fabric of her world. Especially the biggest secret of them all.She is dragon marked.Jessa only knows what she’s been told about the dragon marked, that they are dangerous and must be eliminated to prevent the rise of the dragon king, the powerful warmonger who had his head removed a thousand years ago. So now Jessa's on the biggest hit list of all. Dragon mark hunters are lethal and her only hope to evade detection is to keep the energy contained.As more secrets unfold she finds herself locked up in Vanguard, the notorious American supernatural prison. Thankfully she’s not alone. Braxton, the dragon-shifter has her back. Together they must survive long enough to free themselves and the other dragon marked.Because it’s time for the dragon marked to rise.

    A girl can be anything she wants, the wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything just for a touch. Granted, they often pay with their souls, but why get technical?But Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid's life is far less exotic. At least there's her day job at a local bookstore--free books; all the white chocolate mochas she can drink; and easy access to bestselling, sexy writer, Seth Mortensen, aka He Whom She Would Give Anything to Touch but Can't.But dreaming about Seth will have to wait. Something wicked is at work in Seattle's demon underground. And for once, all of her hot charms and drop-dead one-liners won't help because Georgina's about to discover there are some creatures out there that both heaven and hell want to deny. . .

    Truly, Madly, UndeadlyThis irresistible collection features stories of love amid vampires by five of today's hottest authors—Kristin Cast (Tempted), Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy), Alyson Noël (Evermore), Kelley Armstrong (The Summoning), and Francesca Lia Block (Pretty Dead).From a fugitive vampire forced to trust a boy who might work for the group bent on destroying her to the legendary romance of two immortals whose love compels them to risk everything, this heart-pounding collection brings new meaning to the words "love you forever." Whether you're into romances that are dark and moody or light and fun, these stories will quench that insatiable thirst for enchanting tales of the beautiful undead.Part of the Kisses from Hell Anthology

    But the walls she's carefully constructed to keep people out crack wide open once she meets the sexy and mysterious Kieron Ambrose, and he lights her cold world on fire. But it turns out Kieron has a few dark secrets of his own. Secrets that will either save or destroy her.