In fact, she had just finished a case uncovering an affair that the victim was having.Did Connor's murder have something to do with his infidelity? Or was his death related to something else entirely?Melody is curious to find out.Is Melody prepared to discover the truth? Or will it shock her?Cake, Coincidences, and CasualtiesAs a private investigator, Melody Clue has worked on some unique cases in her life.Her latest case is more unique than ever, though.She is hired to tail a fellow investigator.What shocking details will she uncover?

    However, her husband Darius is too pigheaded to work on it, since—in his mind—he is not the problem. Tired of being kept under lock and key—and completely controlled by Darius, Safa makes a trip back to her old neighborhood to see her grandmother against Darius’s wishes, and everything changes. Safa meets Kordell, a sexy, street boxer who gives her what she's been missing out on. They begin an affair that pulls Safa even further away from her marriage. After some major flare ups, Safa finds herself questioning everything. Was her marriage a mistake? Is Kordell the one? Could she really give up everything for him? And what will happen if Darius finds out? So many things are shaken up when a woman gets fed up.

    But when a terrified woman falls through his bathroom ceiling, he's forced back into a life of gunfights, double agents and paranormal research. The secret he's been keeping for nearly four decades might reunite him with his lost love, or kill millions.This new short story by John August falls into the genre of paranoid "spy-fi" popularized by writers like Jorge Luis Borges and shows like The Prisoner and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.== What Others Say =="I really dug the story. Gave it a glance just to see, got totally hooked, and blazed on through to the end."-- Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, The Yiddish Policemen's Union) "The Variant" is both a good, fun, smart story and an interesting experiment in indie self-publishing for fiction."-- John Gruber, daringfireball.net== About the Author ==An excerpt of The Variant is available at johnaugust.com/variant About the AuthorJohn August is the screenwriter of eight feature films, including Go, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Corpse Bride. He wrote and directed the 2007 movie The Nines.He can be found on Twitter, @johnaugust

    Parties, booze, boys--you name it, she does it. Her parents don't care what she does, and when she is home they ignore her. Their attitude started over a year ago when Megan's older brother was tragically killed in a car accident. Then, when her parents die on the same road that took her brother, Megan decides to start over and move far away. She auctions off her parents' property, a country home in northwestern Minnesota, and heads down to the Twin Cities. Megan knows hitchhiking is dangerous, but lately has become a way of life. And this time is no different. She gets picked up by Bart Simms, an attorney from Minneapolis, who agrees to take her where she needs to go. But only after he conducts a bit of estate planning business. The Engels are a farming family who live not far from Megan's old place. They revel peacefully in their secluded backwoods sanctuary, and have a strong desire to keep as much of the government away from their family's farming legacy. Hence the reason they sought the impecable skills of Bart Simms, who has a deep reputation for saving many family farms from unwanted death and estate taxes. But Megan has a problem with the Engels. She has never heard of them, and she's lived in the area all of her life. When she explores their home, she finds more that is out of sorts. She discovers a picture of a teenage girl. A girl who resembles that of a recent murder victim from Minneapolis. Is there more to this backwoods family than meets the eye? This suspenseful story was inspired by the gruesome real-life tales of Ed Gein and the Master of Horror himself Stephen King. Also included in this are two bonus materials: a serial killer short story titled "Hatchet Harry" and an excerpt of Mark S. R. Peterson's thriller novel (published August 2013) titled BEHOLDER'S EYE.

    When everything goes wrong are you still meant for each other?After being dispatched to Blanchard Creek, Wyoming by her mother as a mail order bride, Christina Mills tumbles from one mishap to another. As if arriving in Wyoming with a fever, losing luggage and being accosted by the hotel owner isn’t already bad enough, her to be groom decides to back out of the marriage.Alexander Barrett Patterson is a man of honor. However, the scars from battle are more than skin deep. Rather than tying the beautiful woman to a cripple, he decides to give her up and suffer the consequences of a decision every ounce of his being protests. Now, if only half the town would stop trying to make him change his mind.A story of hurt, scars and the healing power of love.

    She’s so desperate for fun, she accepts a ticket to what she thinks is a rave. When she finds everyone at a mansion playing board games, she thinks she’s been had…until she doesn’t win and learns that Richard, her host, has very special consequences for losing. If only she hadn’t been too vain to wear glasses, she’d have read the rules in the foyer and have a clue about what the players expect her to do next. But with tall, dark, and sexy Richard in charge, Lauren can’t bring herself to leave before she learns exactly what he has in store for her.

    When in Egypt with Caesar's army, Silvanus accepted the invitation of Sekhmet's priests to become a vampire and, if he has a single regret all these centuries later, it is only that everything that once so fascinated him is beginning to bore.13-year-old Sarah, brimming with raw ability but completely ignorant of her capabilities, casts a summoning spell to bring Silvanus to her aid against the supernatural creature living in her home and devouring her essence. The young woman fully expects to die at the hands of the vampire but hopes to convince him to first destroy the creature, thereby saving her family.When the arrogant Silvanus realizes that he has been "whistled up like a dog" by a mere child, he fully intends to rip out Sarah's heart for the transgression. Instead, he finds himself captivated by her intelligence, curiosity, courage, and exuberance. Her brilliant aura, keen mind and complete lack of sophistication appeal to him like a breath of fresh air and he decides to help her.

     It was wrong. I knew it. She knew it. But that didn’t mean a goddamn thing. Jessica was my forbidden apple. And I wouldn’t have just one bite. Call me bad. Dirty. Depraved. For f@#king a girl half my age. So innocent. So pure. So… deliciously mine. It’d been years since I’d felt this alive. Years since I’d dared to imagine loving another woman. My wife died, but I didn’t. She would’ve wanted me to move on. Be happy. Find another mother-figure for our daughter, Cara. So maybe this was it. Maybe this was my second chance. A warped fairy tale. It was time to throw all caution, the rulebook, to the f@#king wind. Tell all our adversaries to go screw themselves. I was a grown man. She was a grown woman. Our choices were ours to make. That is until I found out my love was keeping a hell of a secret… Note: Accidental Baby for the Billionaire is 60k of steamy romance between a sexy billionaire and a hot, young nanny.

    He is one of the most celebrated writers from India. Born Dhanpat Rai, he began writing under the pen name "Nawab Rai", but subsequently switched to "Premchand". His works include more than a dozen novels, around 250 short stories, several essays and translations of a number of foreign literary works into Hindi. Do Bailon Ki Katha (दो बैलों की कथा) is a touching and humourus tale of two bullocks - Heera and Moti who had lived together for a very long time and are passed on from one owner to the other. (Note: This story is in Hindi language and is rendered for Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle for iPhone and Ipad and all Kindle devices released after Kindle DX).

    POST is a story about a group of friends, two of whom experience a collision two years apart.

    Ryan believes all good short stories should have unexpected twists and turns. Applying his thriller techniques he manages to achieve this end. Readers will find Ryan’s short story writing gripping and easy to read.In this first collection one of the short story’s ‘Ruth’ was included in an anthology recently published in the USA.Quoting a recent reviewer, ‘these are very intriguing, original stories, all well written and enjoyable. Ryan really gets inside his characters and makes their world our world, whatever its moral code or unwritten rules. These stories are powerful and stay with you once you've finished them.’Short Stories by Thomas Ryan are a must read.

    He certainly doesn’t see himself as lonely. He often uses one night stands as a coping mechanism to help him blot out the pain of losing the only woman he’s ever loved. She left him without a hint as to why and he has no desire to ever let his heart get destroyed like that again.Isabella Alfieri is beautiful, independent and successful in her own right. Her world is almost perfect, but she still can’t seem to forget the man she loved and left seven years ago. And she’ll never forget the reason she had to go. She’s kept her secret all this time. There are only two other people that know what she’s hiding and they would never tell a soul.What will happen when fate intervenes and puts her on the flight he’s co-piloting? The flight that sets them on course for their worlds to come crashing back together after all this time.WARNING: The following story contains mature themes, strong language and graphic sexual situations. It is intended for mature readers. All characters are 18+ years of age and all sexual acts are consensual. If you DO NOT like explicit, this book is not for you. Otherwise, happy reading!

    Rather than enjoy some drinks in front of a warm fire with her friends, contracted Slayer Clementine Johanssen has her horse saddled and weapons packed to head out into the hills and hunt down some deadly scallywags—alone. When her friends catch wind of her intentions, they set out to waylay her long enough to change her way of thinking … in spite of her mule-headedness.Reminiscent of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, this catawampus tale will add a heartening dose of fun and camaraderie to your holiday!Note: This is book 3.5 of the Deadwood Undertaker Series*(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

    Mythology expert Caroline Capello agreed to marry Loki, the Norse god of fire and lies.She didn’t realize the most dangerous part of their marriage might be the honeymoon.

    However, though I think some of them are great, some aren’t, and some are profoundly dated. I am aware that there are those out there, who will just buy these without a second thought, so I have to edit, be selective, and I damned well have to show some respect for my readers. Kindle in this respect can be a danger for a known writer, because you can publish any old twaddle and someone will buy it. Time and again, I’ve had fans, upon hearing that I have this and that unpublished in my files, demanding that I publish it at once because surely they’ll love it. No they won’t. A reputation like trust: difficult to build and easy to destroy. I’ve therefore chosen stories other people have published here and there, and filled in with those I really think someone should have published. Here you’ll find some Polity tales, some that could have been set in the Polity (at a stretch) and some from the bleak Owner universe. Enjoy! Neal Asher 04/06/18