Book picks similar to
The Marked Heir by K.J. Backer


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Virgil's Pact


Maxwell Farmer - 2022
    A malevolent disease. The Doctor is in. Virgil's a veterinarian, a man dedicated to being a healer of animals. Despite the ups and downs of caring for sick and injured creatures, his career was more than a job. It was his calling. Then his dedication was noticed, and the world around him faded as he was yanked through the void. The great world tree, Yggdrasil, needed a group that could work together to stop a threat that could end reality. The world tree summoned a team of five champions into a world straight out of fantasy, and remade them into something more. Unfortunately for Virgil, he was granted almost no skills that cause damage, and his body was shifted into a reviled Dark Elf. Now hated by the locals, and of little use to the others that can already heal themselves as well as deal damage, Virgil was cast aside. Abandoned and alone, Virgil will take on the threat to this world… no matter what ally gets in his way.

The Last Pendragon


Aurora Dawn - 2018
    A kingdom that’s hers for the taking. And five warriors who will do anything to serve their queen. With a milestone birthday looming, newly single Carrie isn’t looking forward to the not so secret surprise party she has coming up, especially since her ex is going to be there with his brand new fiancé. But, when a strange chance encounter with the hottest man she’s ever seen sends her spiraling into a world she only thought existed in fables, Carrie soon finds that her life and identity is nothing like she imagined. Waking up in Camelot, Carrie finds herself surrounded by five-count ‘em five- smoking hot men, all sworn to stay by her side. They tell her that she’s the daughter of King Arthur and, as such, rightful queen of Camelot. But, with a dark queen already sitting on her throne, Carrie and her gaggle of supernatural protectors must embark on a journey that will bring them closer to death-and closer to her- then any of them ever imagined. With a loyal knight, a tattooed sorcerer, an immortal with a shocking connection to her, and a pair of twin dragon shifters who do everything together at her side, Carrie must find the strength to become the ruler she never thought she’d have to be…or lose everything in the process.A Reverse Harem Arthurian Fantasy

Dragon Mates Box Set


J.K. Harper - 2017
    HarperDark, dangerous dragon shifters who just need true love...Dazzled"I could NOT put it down. This is one sexy mesmerizing love story.""OH MY GOODNESS!!!! I absolutely loved it. Everything about it was amazing especially the chemistry between Sebastian and Lacey."Dark dragon shifter Sebastian must find his family's stolen legacies, or he will die. Curvy human Lacey is his fated mate--but only if she can unlock his shattered heart in time.Thrilled"A water dragon that can also fly, sign me up! Kai is my new book boyfriend!""The story was well-plotted out, superb and extremely entertaining." -Night Owl Reviews, 5-star Top PickDevastating loss destroyed the heart and powers of gorgeous water dragon shifter Kai. Sexy daredevil Gabi is his mate--but she has a dangerous secret that might mean his total destruction.Burned"The perfect level of heat with a nail biting ending, I couldn't put it down.""I love Teagan and Ash! ... They are each carrying scars, Teagan's on the inside and Ash's on the outside. ... I loved seeing them open up to each other."Beauty & the beast...with dragons! Fate brought scarred dragon shifter Ash and nerdy girl Teagan together, but their love may be a double-edged sword...

The Scarlett Smith Chronicles


Selene Charles - 2018
    Not too long ago she was just a regular Southern Belle in love with her soldier, dreaming of a life full of babies and white picket fences. Then she died. Now she's a vampire in a shifter's world trying to make sense of her sudden thirst for blood and her strange ability to read the emotions off of others. Especially as it pertains to death—she and death have a strange affinity for one another now, but best not to dwell on that subject too long. She's still totally just a normal girl, except now she solves murders and drinks a little type-O on the side. No big deal, she's certainly nothing special or amazing...right? Except every once in a while she senses something stirring inside of her. Something dark. Something ancient. And something very, very powerful. But for now it's just easier to pretend she's nothing more than a vampire with a badge and a gun who just so happens to have the hots for not one, but two different shifters one of whom is her step-brother. No one ever said being dead would be easy. Book 2 My name is Scarlett Smith. And I’m a vampire who was raised by a pack of wolves. Little crazy, I know. But let’s not get hung up on semantics here. Because I’ve got a story to tell. There’s something inside of me. A darkness. And she’s really starting to make herself known, think Harley Quinn on ’roids and you might get the picture. She’s powerful and definitely unhinged, but I don’t have time to focus on that right now because I’ve got bigger fish to fry. From the Alpha shifter on trial for breaking the unbreakable oath to a local vampire clan wanting me to party like it’s 1699, I’m in neck deep—pun intended. Have no fear though. I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeves and some unexpected allies in my corner. Sure, there are bound to be a few surprises along the way, and I’m guessing they aren’t all good. But, no one ever said being dead would be easy… Book 3, Scarlett Smith is back, but this time the stakes couldn’t get any higher… Mercer and I we shouldn’t have done what we did at the Infantes Castle, not killing the vampires, cuz…let’s face it, they totally deserved to die. No, the other thing. Binding ourselves to each other. Mating. The cost was too high. And now, our love might make us lose everything we hold dear. Now we've been summoned to Georgia to meet with the Alpha Council. Clarence is guilty of conspiracy to commit murder against his pack, but somehow he’s only gotten a slap on the wrist for it. Something’s just not right. I know it and so does Merc, but we’re helpless. We have to go to Georgia, we have to fight to save Silver Creek. But when we get there and I find out what the council really wants me to give up, I’m not sure I can. I’m not sure I will. But a betrayal is coming for me. A big one, one that will shatter all the things I’ve ever believed in or held sacred. And before three days are up, the world as I know it will never be the same again. Join me on the explosive finale that you are sure to never forget… (Included bonus short story content set in the Southern Detective universe!) COMPLETED SERIES! CLIFFHANGER FREE!

Blood Type Infected 1: No Future For Man


Matthew Marchon - 2018
    This is the epicenter of the outbreak, where your average novel doesn’t dare venture. This is Noah Britton fighting his way through the heart of the zombie freakin’ apocalypse. The high school is on lockdown but the infection has already invaded its borders. It’s too late. Screams echo through the halls, blood stains the lockers, the dead don’t die for long. Mutilated, half eaten corpses wander the halls in search of the living. These aren’t your normal slow moving corpses that trudge along hoping for victims. No. They run faster. Fight harder. Know no pain. Show no weakness. Offer no reprieve. Noah must make the ultimate sacrifice and decide who to save and who to leave behind. What ranks higher in these desperate times; friendship or strategy? Can old rivals put aside their differences and work together for the greater good or will human emotions lead to the end of the world as we know it? The edge of your seat intensity never dies as Noah, his neurotic bus driver, his best friends, his worst enemies, the girl he likes, the girl he hates or loves or who the hell even knows anymore and a power hungry rival desperate for control all try to co-inhabit a school bus in search of a safe haven that may no longer exist. Gruesome. Intense. Graphic and Brutally violent. Yet emotionally driven with enough heart to sustain a dying species taken off life support. The characters tear themselves from the pages, forcing their way into your heart, demanding you continue when it all gets to be too much. This is hope. This is strength. This is the end. And it’s only the beginning.

The Derby Man


Gary McCarthy - 1975
    From his round-toed shoes to his derby hat, he was a man of culture, a creature of comfort, who liked his gourmet restaurants and expensive cigars. The short, stocky New Yorker made a fortune writing dime novels about the old west. Now he was out west to do some research for his next novel, little suspecting that he would be joining sheriff Zeb Cather in a manhunt for the ruthless Raton Brothers, learning firsthand about frontier justice and frontier heroism.

Long Black Stockings: A turn-of-the-century memoir


Ethel Benson Soper - 2014
    The details are exquisite and take one back to beloved books of childhood such as Little House on the Prairie while at the same time providing full grown-up fare for history buffs. Wry humor and insights are deftly woven throughout, making the reader smile precisely because the author is not trying to do anything but authentically tell her story. And a wonderful story it is.” Kate Turpin

The Mage of Mages


Whiskey Flowers - 2016
    Sawyer had been training his whole life to make the cut to be considered a warrior when his plans go astray, Sawyer is found to have magic. While the talent is not unheard of in Haven it becomes clear Sawyer is much better than his well bred peers, when war starts looming many will find out why Sawyer is the Mage of Mages.

Apache Snow


William L. Casselman - 2015
     While the characters are fictional, the battle was very real and when it was over 70 Americans were killed in action, 420 were wounded and 633 North Vietnamese were confirmed dead. Matthew Kendal, a pastor’s youngest son from a white middle-class California background, enlists in the army and volunteers for service in Vietnam to avenge his brother’s death; a Green Beret sergeant killed in 1968. During training Matthew becomes close friends with John Adams, a tough-skinned Afro-American youth from the poorer neighborhoods right outside our nation’s capital, and Jose Martinez, a street wise Chicano from East Los Angeles. Together they experience the rigors of Airborne training and journey to Vietnam to become Screaming Eagles, of the 101st Airborne. Placed in 2nd Squad, the story follows the actual events surrounding D Company during the intense battle for Hill # 937, which would later be known as the “Battle for Hamburger Hill”.

Blamed


Dana Griffin - 2017
    His last memory is putting the landing gear down. The NTSB and news media blame him and the deceased first officer Ned Partin for the accident that killed thirty-eight, and burned or severely injured ten. Bill knows from experience flying with Ned that they would have prevented the accident. While recovering from his debilitating injuries, Bill investigates why data that would exonerate him has disappeared. Why hasn’t the NTSB figured out there was something wrong with the rudder? And why does his airline’s management thwart his attempts to prove he shouldn’t be blamed? Those who caused the accident will go to extreme lengths to assure Bill does not uncover their secret agenda.

The Never List: Free First Chapter


Koethi Zan - 2013
    And then, very suddenly and without warning, there were three. Even though the fourth person hadn't made any noise at all in several months, the room got very quiet when she was gone. For a long time after that, we sat in silence, in the dark, each of us wondering what this meant for her and for us, and which of us would be the next in the box.NEVER GET IN THE CARFor years, best friends Sarah and Jennifer kept what they called the 'Never List': a list of actions to be avoided, for safety's sake, at all costs. But one night, they failed to follow their own rules.NEVER GO OUT ALONE AFTER DARKSarah has spent ten years trying to forget her ordeal. But now the FBI has news that forces her to confront her worst fears.NEVER TAKE RISKSIf she is to uncover the truth about what really happened to Jennifer, Sarah needs to work with the other women who shared her nightmare. But they won't be happy to hear from her. Because down there in the dark, Sarah wasn't just a victim.NEVER TRUST ANYONE

Tame the Savage Heart


Michael Edwin Q. - 2019
    She was a young slave girl. He was an African warrior purchased at a slave auction with the intent he would father a new breed of stronger slave. Despite all odds, a language barrier and the disapproval of her family and friends, the two fight for a life together.

One Accidental Night With The Boss She Hates


Alicia Beckton - 2019
    She spends most of her job traveling from city to city, training staff members on how to use the company system. She’s great at her job, but she’s struggling to find a balance between work and home life. Determined to create a more stable environment, through email she asks her boss to cut down her traveling, but he refuses. She’s never met the man, but already she can’t stand him. It’s at a conference not long after that she ends up in bed with a handsome stranger, only to find out that it was her boss. What happens when you’ve slept with the enemy? Find out in this steamy employee, billionaire boss romance by Alicia Beckton of BWWM Love.

Real Dangerous Girl


K.W. Jeter - 2011
    It's been replaced by Real Dangerous Girl (Lincoln Square Books, 2018), which actually includes both this book and the original second series book, Real Dangerous Job. All of the series books now have Lincoln Square editions, but these mostly each combine two of the original books into one volume No easy answers. No big international spy secret bank accounts. No superheroes or magic. Just her wits, guts…And a very large gun.All Kim wants is the job she’s worked hard for. But when her boss McIntyre throws her out on her ear, she begins dreaming of revenge. She hires Cole, a psychotic hitman who’s also been dispensed with by the same boss. Left crippled by McIntyre’s security guards, Cole tells Kim that the only way they’ll be able to pull off this hit is if she’s there with a gun in her hand as well. Before she knows what’s happening, Kim is training to be a professional assassin, with everything – including her own life – at stake. Because she’s only going to get one chance to pull it off...Noted sf and fantasy author K. W. Jeter takes a new turn in the thriller genre, building on the dark, gritty moods of his previous science fiction and horror novels. Fans of mystery and suspense novels with smart, tough females taking the lead, from A IS FOR ALIBI to THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO, will find a lot to like in the new Kim Oh Thriller series.

The Written


Ben Galley - 2010
    Only they can wield the fiercest of magics, to protect the Arka, until either death or the madness takes them.Five scholars of Arfell have been assassinated. A spellbook has gone missing – a powerful summoning manual from the time of elves and fire-born daemons. The Arkmages are running out of time and options, and the world is once again on the brink of war with the Siren dragon-riders.It falls to Farden – one of the Arka's most powerful yet troubled Written mages – to keep Emaneska from falling into chaos. Entangled in a web of lies and politics, Farden is tasked with hunting down the assassin, and recovering the spellbook before it falls into the wrong hands, and the world is cast into shadow.It will mean fighting his way across savage Emaneska and back, a land infested with wyrms, marauders, and betrayal. It will take every fibre of his will, every scrap of magic in his bones, and if he falls, so shall the world.Welcome to Emaneska.The Written is the first volume in The Emaneska Series, a fast-paced, epic and norse-inspired fantasy saga perfect for fans of Joe Abercrombie, Steven Erikson, Will Wight, and George R.R. Martin. Join over 100,000 other readers and delve into the iron world of Emaneska.