It is a place of contradictions—the bright lights mask the peeling paint; a carnie in greasy overalls slinks away from the direction of the Barker’s seductive call. It is a place of illusion—is that woman’s beard real? How can she live locked in that watery box?And while many are tricked by sleight of hand, there are hints of something truly magical going on. One must remain alert and learn quickly the unwritten rules of this dark show. To beat the carnival, one had better have either a whole lot of luck or a whole lot of guns—or maybe some magic of one’s own.Featuring stories grotesque and comical, outrageous and action-packed, Carniepunk is the first anthology to channel the energy and attitude of urban fantasy into the bizarre world of creaking machinery, twisted myths, and vivid new magic.RACHEL CAINE’s vampires aren’t child’s play, as a naïve teen discovers when her heart leads her far, far astray in “The Cold Girl.” With “Parlor Tricks,” JENNIFER ESTEP pits Gin Blanco, the Elemental Assassin, against the Wheel of Death and some dangerously creepy clowns. SEANAN McGUIRE narrates a poignant, ethereal tale of a mysterious carnival that returns to a dangerous town after twenty years in “Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea.” KEVIN HEARNE’s Iron Druid and his wisecracking Irish wolfhound discover in “The Demon Barker of Wheat Street” that the impossibly wholesome sounding Kansas Wheat Festival is actually not a healthy place to hang out. With an eerie, unpredictable twist, ROB THURMAN reveals the fate of a psychopath stalking two young carnies in “Painted Love.”

    But before Odd’s destiny is revealed, this exclusive eBook short story looks back — way back — to where it all began for Odd Thomas and Stormy Llewellyn, two souls who are destined to be together forever. Amid the dizzying rides, tantalizing games of chance, and fanciful attractions of a state fair, two teenage sweethearts on the cusp of life and love’s pleasures find their way to a shadowy carnival tent brimming with curiosities. There, from the bizarre and enthralling Gypsy Mummy, a mechanized merchant of dreams and prognosticator of tomorrows, the young couple learns what fate promises for them. But fate, for Odd Thomas and Stormy Llewellyn, is something altogether different: full of dark corners, sharp edges, and things no seer or soothsayer could ever anticipate. And for Odd Thomas, a gallant fry cook from a sleepy California desert town, the future beckons—to listen to unquiet spirits, pursue unsettling mysteries, and learn shocking truths . . . for a purpose far greater than himself.

    series) War was cruelty, cruelty was war. Sacrifices must be made by both sides. Rydere Dardanos was king of the Dardaptos people—the race of beings responsible for the ancient vampire legends. He’d do anything to protect his people in the war between the Dardaptoans and all those named Taniss. Emily Taniss was the new CEO of Taniss Industries, the company her grandfather started sixty years ago. The company responsible for so many horrific acts against the Dardaptoan people. Her grandfather’s actions held many repercussions for Emily and her cousins. It would take them years to straighten it all out. But Emily didn’t have years, she had only moments. Rydere saw the young woman’s death as a necessary sacrifice for his people. So many of his people had been lost at Taniss hands, her death was only fitting. Owed to his people. He didn’t have to like killing her, but he would do it. He held her small body clutched against him as he lowered his fangs toward her neck. He would make it easy on her, he would make it quick. Until his first taste of her blood made it clear to him she wasn’t just a sacrifice. She was his destined mate...and queen of his people. Now he would have to convince her of that...

    What he craves is red gold—human blood. After being held captive as a blood slave to a female vampire for years, he has finally escaped. Unchained at last, he follows his nose to the nearest blood bank to sate his hunger. ER nurse Erin Hamilton expects just another busy night shift…until she finds a gorgeous stranger vandalizing the hospital blood bank. Though her logic tells her to turn him in, she’s pulled by stronger and unfamiliar emotions to protect the man who seems oddly infatuated with her scent. Chemistry sizzles between them, but Dante, plagued by nightmares of his time in captivity, fears he won’t be able to control himself…especially when he discovers a secret she doesn’t even know she’s hiding.

    She wakes up and finds she’s in the middle of a storm. Now that she’s become the only female full-blooded werewolf in town, the supernatural world is already clamoring to take a bite out of her and her new Pack must rise up and protect her.But not everyone is on board. The werewolf Rights of Laws is missing text and the superstitious werewolves think that Jessica means an end to their race. It doesn’t help when Jessica begins to realize she’s more. She can change partway and hold her form, and speak directly to her wolf. But the biggest complication by far is that her alpha father can't control her like he can the rest of his wolves.When a mercenary who’s been hired by the vampires shows up to extract information about the newly turned werewolf only days after her change, they find themselves smack in the middle of a war and there's no choice but to run together. When it’s up to Jessica to negotiate her release against her father’s direct orders, she chooses to take an offer for help instead. In exchange, Jessica must now swear an oath she may end up repaying with her life.

    Get ready for a twist on the holiday season with paranormal tales from six fantasy authors: "The Grandfather Paradox: An UltraSecurity Christmas Story" by J. T. Bock A Billionaire, a Christmas Dinner, and the Grandfather Paradox Nobody has time for this, especially UltraAgent TimeTrap. Between holiday drinks with friends, visiting long-lost family, and her mother's reality show special, TimeTrap's time is limited—even for an alt-jumper like her who can travel through space and time. Another alt-jumper is messing with her mojo and her timeline. UltraAgents are missing. Her bosses have disappeared. Now she has to protect the next target, a hot CEO of a large defense company. Is there enough time to save the day and Christmas and enjoy a holiday cocktail with a special someone? "The Naughty List" by Debra Dunbar Samantha Martin is an Imp, on holiday with her angelic main-squeeze, Gregory. What better place to show an angel the true meaning of Christmas than a small Alpine resort town? But it’s hard to keep up the impish good cheer when people are being murdered for their sinful ways. Could the killer be. . . Santa? "The Biting Cold" by Mark Henwick Detroit. A bitter winter. A city coming apart and a woman holding on to her rapidly ebbing life. Psychiatrist Dr. Amanda Lloyd is focused only on living long enough to give her testimony in court and put a vicious criminal away. The defense lawyers are fighting for a postponement she can’t afford and digging into her own mental problems in an attempt to discredit her. She can’t spare time for the patient who claims to be a vampire. Unless what he offers her is exactly what she needs. "Facing the Darkness" by Susan Illene Kerbasi, a former guardian of Purgatory, has resisted every effort to help him find his humanity. After forty-five hundred years of tending to his prisoners in the cruelest of ways he feels he's above the petty concerns of mankind. But what's he to do when he's charged with bringing comfort to a boy sick with cancer during the holiday season? This is one child who just might break through that impervious wall he's wrapped around his heart. "Cat and Moused" by J.C. Mells Moused Thurman was sure there had to be better ways to spend Christmas Eve than being held hostage in an elevator by a sexy, sassy, vampire-assassin. But for the life of him, he couldn't think of one. "A Christmas Feral" by Connie Suttle Cassie is running from the man who forced her to become his fiancée. Parke is stepping into his father's shoes as Chancellor of everything paranormal. The two are on a collision course with unpredictable results. What should you do when a Truth Demon marries a Fire Demon? Get the hell out of Seattle.

    Though of course, Venus is in my chart and Lady Petunia has caught sight of the bothersome barracuda once more.Max Rigel is my most sinful of temptations, the shark in the dark who wishes to lure me to his sea cave and I don’t know if I’m Fae enough to resist him for long.But one thing is for sure, I will make certain the Vegas get the big A.S.S. party they deserve for their birthday or I’ll die trying. Succulent squids be damned!This is a 25k novella set in the world of Solaria during Book 5 of the Zodiac Academy series, Cursed Fates, featuring Geraldine and Max as they attend the party of the century and try to resist the lure of the moon as it pushes them together once more. It’s full of slippery salmons and more buttery bagels than you can shake a stick at and is best read after Cursed Fates.

    The alternate cover edition is here.Maggie is a wolf shifter who was captured and experimented on by the Kurjans. Now that a cure has finally been found for shifters (although not for vampire mates or witches), she can concentrate on creating a new life for herself and finally accepting that her memories are gone forever. Most memories, that is. Sometimes in the hazy world between dreams and dawn, she hears a Scottish voice, dark and deep, that sounds suspiciously like wolf-shifter Terrent Vilks. A man she happened to anger by kidnapping a few years back. Hey, it was for a good cause.Terrent Vilks knows more than he’s let on for the past several years. After digging for answers, he knows exactly why the demons want Maggie dead. And he remembers his past with Maggie…very well. She is finally where he wants her. Now all he has to do is discover what exactly the Kurjans did to her, beat the demons into so much submission they leave her alone, and get her to fall in love with him. Again. Good thing he’s used to wrangling monsters.31,000 Word Count

    To take her chances and risk being snatched by the alpha wolf or to allow her vampire kings to try and impregnate her making her undesirable to the shifters. The last thing she wants is to be mated…against her will…to the alpha. If he somehow manages to get his claws into her, she'll be used as a pawn against the vampire species and the two males she has come to care for greatly. The lesser of two evils must be the right choice then…If only it was so freaking easy.Brant and Zane have - sort of - agreed to both mate with her come new moon but there is still no love lost between the two males. A tug of war ensues with her trapped firmly in the middle.What is a girl to do? Wild Heat is Part 4 of a 6 part serial and is approximately 20,000 words/79 pages. The story contains strong sexual themes/language and is not intended for readers under the age of 18. (M/F/M)

    I know vampires are real. I watched one murder my father eight months ago, and even though they tried to convince me it didn’t happen—that I’d lost touch with reality due to the trauma, I know what I saw was real.Hollow Hills is now the place I call home. It was supposed to be my chance at a normal life. My chance to bury my secret and start over. But everyone around me is keeping their own secrets, whispering lies into my ears like promises, and one of them is about to turn my entire world upside down.I thought I had it all figured out. I thought I had the answers. I thought I knew who I was. The truth is, I didn’t even know the half of it. There's a reason these vampires are still after me. There's a reason they will always hunt me. Because I'm not human.I'm the devil they fear and the angel they crave.Only problem is, I don't know it yet.INCEPTION is the enthralling first installment in The Marked series. A YA paranormal romance full of atmosphere, supernatural adventure, and jaw-dropping twists that will keep you guessing until the very last page.