Book picks similar to
Auld Lang Syne by J.A. Ironside
unlikely-heroines
urban-fantasy
folk-horror
folklore
The Twisted Ones
T. Kingfisher - 2019
After all, how bad could it be? Answer: pretty bad. Grandma was a hoarder, and her house is stuffed with useless rubbish. That would be horrific enough, but there’s more—Mouse stumbles across her step-grandfather’s journal, which at first seems to be filled with nonsensical rants…until Mouse encounters some of the terrifying things he described for herself. Alone in the woods with her dog, Mouse finds herself face to face with a series of impossible terrors—because sometimes the things that go bump in the night are real, and they’re looking for you. And if she doesn’t face them head on, she might not survive to tell the tale. From Hugo Award–winning author Ursula Vernon, writing as T. Kingfisher.
Some Kind of Fairy Tale
Graham Joyce - 2012
It pulls him away from his wife and children and into a bewildering mystery.He arrives at his parents house and discovers that they have a visitor. His sister Tara. Not so unusual you might think, this is Christmas after all, a time when families get together. But twenty years ago Tara took a walk into the woods and never came back and as the years have gone by with no word from her the family have, unspoken, assumed that she was dead. Now she's back, tired, dirty, disheveled, but happy and full of stories about twenty years spent traveling the world, an epic odyssey taken on a whim.But her stories don't quite hang together and once she has cleaned herself up and got some sleep it becomes apparent that the intervening years have been very kind to Tara. She really does look no different from the young woman who walked out the door twenty years ago. Peter's parents are just delighted to have their little girl back, but Peter and his best friend Richie, Tara's one time boyfriend, are not so sure. Tara seems happy enough but there is something about her. A haunted, otherworldly quality. Some would say it's as if she's off with the fairies. And as the months go by Peter begins to suspect that the woods around their homes are not finished with Tara and his family...
The Dragon and Mrs. Muir
Connie Suttle - 2021
Attack at Wedding Leaves at Least Fourteen Dead, Many More Injured, the headlines proclaimed.The wedding was an outdoor affair, on a beach with the Gulf of Mexico in the background. In all, seventy-two were injured, and the body count rose to seventeen. Local hospitals were filled with bleeding attendees, and, at one point, the bride, her bloodied white wedding dress cut away and spilling onto the emergency room floor, went into cardiac arrest.Her groom died at the scene.In the room next door, an elderly wedding guest also suffered cardiac arrest—not from a bullet wound but from shock, combined with advanced age and a weak heart. Both souls walked out of their respective rooms.One wanted to live.One did not.* * *Philomena Muir became a widow on her wedding day. Three years later, she found herself bumping into the strangest man she'd ever met--except he wasn't a man. More specifically, he wasn't human.That brief meeting became the catalyst for a brewing war, pitting one human witch against the might of a supernatural race.The cards are stacked, and Philomena needs a winning hand...
The Nyte Patrol
Alex P. Berg - 2019
Little does she know it’s about to get a whole lot weirder. When she answers an online help wanted ad, she never expects it to lead to the revelation that magic exists. She certainly never expects to experience it firsthand. But after teaming up with washed-up sorcerer Larry Stuttgart, sword master Dawn Blayde, werebear munitions expert Tank Johnson, and immortal zombie head-in-a-jar Bill, Lexie’s about to discover what life is like on the supernatural side. She’s about to join THE NYTE PATROL. *** This is the first novel of the snarky urban fantasy series, the Nyte Patrol. Look for book two, Nyte Terrors, coming soon!
Goddess King
Noah Layton - 2018
Gain powers. Unleash Goddesses. The locket that James got for his crush was supposed to be a present - but after opening it he accidentally unleashed a pair of ancient gods, reigniting a battle that has been centuries in the making. Now he's taken on their powers, and the only way to stop a terrible evil from laying waste to humanity is to team up with an ancient consortium of goddesses who have two things on their mind; stopping evil and satisfying James. Luckily for James, he's got time for both. Warning: This story involves violence, monsters, an enchanted axe, two goddesses that the main character gladly satisfies, cross-dimensional travel, roof-jumping, embarrassment, library shelves toppling like dominos, and security guards generally having a bad time.
Seal Team 13: Liberation
Evan Currie - 2021
A little work, a little luck, and a kid goes home to his parents and Ray moves on to the next job. When the job becomes bigger than he realized, and bigger than he can handle, Ray is faced with horrors he'd never imagined, a world that by rights should not exist... and only one number to call.Thirteen.
Bearly in Love
Terri Reid - 2014
Newly graduated, she arrived back in her home town to discover that if it wasn’t for bad, she wouldn’t have any luck at all. Her grandmother is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s and the financial nest egg her grandfather spent years building has disappeared. When he isn’t kissing her senselessly, the man of her dreams seems to be very much involved with someone else. The only job she can get involves large hairy animals. And, when it comes to fairy godmothers, she’s definitely scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Divine: The Complete Series Box Set
M.R. Forbes - 2021
Until now...My name is Landon Hamilton, and I’m what the Divine call a diuscrucis - a perfect balance of angel, demon, and human. It means I have a gift.And a destiny.Heaven and Hell have been at war for thousands of years, locked in a secret battle for the souls of humankind. And for thousands of years, humankind has had no one to fight for them. No one to maintain the equilibrium between good and evil. No one who remembers what it means to be human with the power to stand against the supernatural.Until now.So I’ve got to fight. To keep the balance. To prevent Armageddon. To do whatever it takes. My side is humanity’s side, Heaven be damned and Hell be blessed. I didn’t make the rules and I never asked for this job, but I’m the only one who can do it.Game on.Includes all seven books in the Divine series:1. Balance2. Betrayal3. Broken4. Bound5. Evolution6. Execution7. Extinction
Bestiary: Slice of Life Fantasy for Men
Kirk Mason - 2021
Save the world? Never gonna happen. Create a bestiary business with a group of beautiful yet contrasting women? Now that’s more like it!One minute I’m in a tree, pointing my camera at a tiger, the next I’m on my back in a medieval fantasy world, while a skittish blonde hovers over me, hoping I’m not dead.I’ve never felt more alive.Because although the dutiful smith’s assistant warns me away from the town’s sinful witch, I still have to go. The witch has the only bestiary book in town, and that’s my one hope of a comfortable life—I don’t feel like donning knight's armor.Turns out, the bestiary is terrible—it's just primitive drawings, annotated by the tall tales of drunken adventurers. I know an opportunity when I see one. It’s a good thing I’ve been transported here with my camera.If only I knew someone with magic powers, able to transfer film to parchment. Someone like the witch, currently scowling at me. How will she look when I turn her house into a walk-in bestiary?And how about a scribe to pen beautiful prose beside the photos? The shy smith’s assistant wrote some incredible weaponry advertisements. I can find a few better uses for her.It’s a shame the girls dislike each other. I’m gonna have to show them they’re more similar than they know. For starters, they’ve both taken a liking to me, and I don’t feel like choosing.Warning, this novel contains an unconventional relationship and adult situations, involving:A shy smith’s assistant with adorable blonde pigtails, who’s going to learn to speak up for herself.A snarky witch in a black dress, who’s going to learn to keep her mouth shut.A vicious goblin, who's going to... you’ll just have to wait and see.
Kill the Willing / Bury the Past But Shoot It First / Reload Faster / Dead In Plain Sight / Tomb Raiding PhD / Tomb Raider Emeritus
Martha Carr - 2020
Requires Life Insurance. Will be working with deadly magical artifacts and killers.
Kill The Willing:
Shay Carson had a wake up call when a hitman was sent after her. Her previous profession was getting a bit personal.
Then, life offered her a chance to disappear, and she did.
What's a girl to do with a very specific set of skills?
Take up Tomb Raiding!Behind every complicated woman is a story. For Shay, it happens to be a little complicated and she can't share with her new friends.
Better to lie to her friends, than have to kill more for knowing too much!
Bury The Past, But Shoot it First:
Magic is back on Earth and there’s money to be made.
It didn’t take long for Shay Carson to figure out that being a hitman isn’t good for a girl’s retirement plans. Time to fake her own death and get the hell out of town. Start over in L.A. with dream job number two – tomb raider in a world just coming to terms with magic. Just as dangerous a profession but the payoff’s bigger even if someone’s still shooting at her.
Good thing this girl has better aim and no problem pulling the trigger.
Reload Faster:
Killer for hire needs to retool her skill set. Find a new career with a little less risk.
Meet Shay Carson – Tomb Raider for hire. Good with weapons, works badly with others, can leave at a moment’s notice and not thrown by magic.
She’s already making a name for herself on the dark web. Rich people in search of treasure willing to pay to send someone else. Look out world…
Dead In Plain Sight:
Shay Carson's rep as a tomb raider grows, along with her list of new friends.
The former killer for hire has managed to figure out what a life looks like without killing off her inner circle. But a teenage elf may upend all of it.New adventures across France hunting for the lost scepter of Dagobert protected by dark magic or finding the answers to a broken piece of machinery that’s 300 million years old. Not your typical day job.
Shay is not your typical woman… just ask Brownstone.
Tomb Raiding PHD:
What do you do when someone threatens your man? If his name is Brownstone, you can take the easy way out and just tell him. He’ll take care of the rest.
But if you’re Shay Carson, archaeologist of magic and history, you take care of it, permanently. It’s her specialty.
In a surprising twist, Shay’s turned out to be teachable and is taking along Lily, a Gray Elf to help her settle the score, while Peyton, her IT specialist with a love of costumes and pizza has her back.
Tomb Raider Emeritus:
Shay Carson has a secret. Not all aliens are Oricerans.
The Bone Mother
David Demchuk - 2017
It is said that even the Czarina Anastasia Romanova had received one in her trousseau. The workers come from the three neighboring villages on the border of Romania and Ukraine. Nourished, dressed and educated, they are the envy of all at a time when a famine programmed by Stalin sweeps the countryside and cannibalism rages from city to town to farm. But what is the secret of this factory and why does the Grazyn family protect its employees so scrupulously?The Bone Mother revives the great figures of Slavic mythology on the eve of the Second World War, from rusalka and Baba Yaga--The Bone Mother herself--to the golem. The existence of mortals is intimately linked to that of witches and vampires, in a universe where strigois rub shoulders with mermaids, ghosts and seers...and all are in peril from the Nichni Politsiyi, the Night Police, which wish to eradicate them.
The Golden Claw
K.A. Faul - 2019
Disappointed with his creation, he disappeared, leaving humanity vulnerable to animals who could hide among them.
Some chose coexistence; others chose violence.
Thousands of years later, none of that matters to stubborn Mina. With her Rite of Passage coming up, she’s more concerned about convincing the skeptical wolves of her clan she’s worthy of respect than interspecies politics.
The world is not a place of peace, even for werewolves who don’t want to fight.
Some in her clan believe Mina is the culmination of a prophecy related to the First Shifter. Others worry she’s a dangerous element who might bring them back to the dark days of wolf-on-wolf bloodshed.
But Mina only wants to protect her friends and family.
When enemies threaten her Rite of Passage, Mina realizes that werewolves can’t hide from the rest of the world, and she can’t dodge her responsibilities.
The ultimate strength of the wolf is the pack.
But what happens when one wolf might be a risk to her pack?
Wolf's Destiny
Lynn Nodima - 2018
All Janelle wants is to graduate from college, get back to her pack, and find her mate, but werepanthers are hunting her. She escapes to San Antonio, where the werepanthers find her. Out of options, she jumps into vacationing SAPD Detective Nate Rollins’ car. Little does he know his old life is over.Now, he must protect them both from creatures he never knew existed.But things are not as they seem.Nate has a secret even he doesn’t know. A secret that throws them both into more danger.His old life is gone.Can he survive his new one?
Ghosts of Gods
Sydney Allen - 2019
After my time in the army and then finding myself in the mountains of Tibet, I was ready to lay low, to relax. It was time to go home. Or so I thought. No sooner had I set about returning to the normal life then I found myself swept up in a mission to kill the gods in order to save the life of someone very dear to me. The only problem with killing gods aside from, well, having to kill gods? First I had to be able to reach them through a ritual of intimacy and death. Yeah, you can see where that might be problematic. What follows is a tale of godly proportions with harem elements and downright dirty deeds.