Book picks similar to
Willoughby's World of Wonder by Stephen Barnwell
fantasy
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contemporary
Immortal Merlin, Books 1-4: Ignition, Winded, Floodgates, Buried
Emma Shelford - 2020
Read the first four Musings of Merlin books here! "A marvelous modern take on the legendary Merlin... A definite must-read!" - Readers' Favorite "Ignition is... a unique take on [Merlin's] life without Arthur." - Bibliophilic Book Blog "Highly recommended for lovers of fantasy and the Merlin legends." - Amazon Reviewer Ignition, Book 1: Merlin, the legendary King Arthur’s mysterious magician, is immortal. As Arthur lay dying he promised to return. Merlin is holding him to his word. Forever young, forever waiting, Merlin lives an unassuming life in the city, keeping his identity and abilities secret from his friends. It's a long and lonely road, but Merlin is a patient man. It's now the 21st century and when the earth begins to groan with earthquakes, Merlin knows the situation is anything but natural. An eruption is imminent, but something—or someone—is forcing this volcano to erupt. Merlin must use his concealed talents and practiced charisma to save a town of innocent people before disaster strikes. He has the power to thwart a catastrophe—if time doesn’t run out first. Winded, Book 2: Merry Lytton, or Merlin as he was once known, has been waiting for the return of his friend King Arthur for centuries. It's an eventful wait: only weeks ago, he stopped a wicked plot to magically erupt a nearby volcano. Merry's latest worry is the revelation of his immortality—his modern-day friends are a little too curious. They do not need to know he has a history that could fill a library. Unknown to Merlin, the organization Potestas is furious at his geologic meddling, and an enraged member of the group is determined to wreak vengeance. For the first time in Merlin's ancient life, he must confront an enemy vastly more powerful than himself. Battling high in the skies and over mountain peaks, will Merlin's foe leave him breathless—forever? Floodgates, Book 3: Merlin the magician from centuries past now lives in Vancouver as an unremarkable young professor known as Merry Lytton. Merry keeps his secrets from friends and foes alike while infiltrating the nefarious organization known as Potestas, whose goal is to gain unimaginable power. Potestas' charismatic leader has welcomed Merry into the group, but for what purpose? Merry soon discovers that Potestas must recover King Arthur's holy grail to complete its plans, but the grail is firmly fused to the seafloor by magical means. As Merry is threatened by hostile spirits and hallucinations, will he succeed in stopping Potestas before they unleash the full fury of the ocean's power? Buried, Book 4: Immortal Merlin, known as Merry Lytton to his twenty-first century friends, is in a battle of wits with the powerful Potestas organization. Potestas is determined to gain unimaginable powers for its members, and Merry holds the key to unlocking this ambition. In exchange, Potestas promises to reveal crucial information on Merry’s heritage and answer questions he’s had for centuries. But when Merry learns that Potestas plans a human sacrifice, he is in a race against evil. Can he save an innocent life before a destructive new reality is thrust upon an unsuspecting world?
The Lady on the Road: An Urban Legend Short Story
Nick Herntier - 2019
After leaving her friend's house, she decides she's going to prove to her brother that "The Lady on the Road " urban legend is just that...
Final Balance
Stephen Black - 2015
What lies on the other side and what will it be like? This mind expanding story takes you on a supernatural journey through the Afterworld in a quest for truth and understanding about what resides in our own soul and in the souls of others. Even more importantly - What is our ultimate destiny?While FINAL BALANCE can easily be read as a standalone work, it's actually follow-on from my first book, THE ZOO: An Allegorical Adventure. In the first book, a major metropolitan city was utterly destroyed and reduced to an uninhabited state of rubble, abandoned and desolate for all eternity. That book explored the behaviors seen by a society and its leadership and the extreme consequences of the actions the characters took. FINAL BALANCE goes well beyond the original work with an entirely different setting and experience for the reader. In the new book, Dan Alexander, the central character from THE ZOO, travels on a supernatural journey through the Afterworld exploring the ultimate consequences of his earthly existence. Both books, FINAL BALANCE and THE ZOO, go beyond conventional boundaries. In a fictional and entertaining way, they provide a social commentary that resonates with our times. At the core, both books aim to enlighten others about the personal and material consequences associated with the decisions taken by society and its leadership.
The Seasoning
Manon Steffan Ros - 2012
Hard-backed with brown and pale yellow marbling on the cover, like chocolate in cream.'I want you to write something for me,' said Jonathan, his dark eyes locking onto mine. 'I want you to write your story, Mam.'Peggy's story is the story of her Snowdonia village – of a community that that shares its joys and its woes across floured kitchen tables and scrubbed shop counters.Throughout Peggy's life food looms large – the lack of it, the sharing of it, the eating of it – from gingerbread to cawl, ce-cream to bara-brith. Her recipes are well-used and much ppreciated, but no one is quite sure where her inspiration comes from, why she is the way she is.Not until everyone's tale is told does Peggy's story unfold... as thick, dark and sticky as treacle.
Edgewood
Kristen Ciccarelli - 2022
The scent of damp earth curls into her nose when she sings and moss creeps across the stage. It’s as if the woods of her childhood, shrouded in folklore and tall tales, are trying to reclaim her. But Emeline has no patience for silly superstitions.When her grandfather disappears, leaving only a mysterious orb in his wake, the stories Emeline has always scoffed at suddenly seem less foolish. She enters the forest she has spent years trying to escape, only to have Hawthorne Fell, a handsome and brooding tithe collector, try to dissuade her from searching.Refusing to be deterred, Emeline finds herself drawn to the court of the fabled Wood King himself. She makes a deal—her voice for her grandfather’s freedom. Little does she know, she’s stumbled into the middle of a curse much bigger than herself, one that threatens the existence of this eerie world she’s trapped in, along with the devastating boy who feels so familiar.With the help of Hawthorne—an enemy turned reluctant ally who she grows closer to each day—Emeline sets out to not only save her grandfather’s life, but to right past wrongs, and in the process, discover her true voice.Haunting and romantic, Kristen Ciccarelli's Edgewood is an exciting novel from a bold, unforgettable voice in fantasy.
Leftover Girl
C.C. Bolick - 2016
At fifteen, she has adjusted to moving without notice and never fitting in, but everything changes with her adopted mom's hometown. There Jes falls for her mom's nephew, a love she hides when his betrayal leaves her isolated and driven to unravel the past.After Jes befriends a strange new student, she discovers an amazing secret: he's from another planet and searching for a missing girl who might be her. As Jes will learn, truth comes at a cost, but will she give up love to find out?
The Last Windwitch
Jennifer Adam - 2021
But then a dark magic drove her from the realm, and the world fell into chaos.Brida is content in her small village of Oak Hollow. There, she’s plenty occupied trying to convince her fickle magic to actually do what it’s meant to in her work as a hedgewitch’s apprentice—until she accidentally catches the attention of the wicked queen.On the run from the queen’s huntsman and her all-seeing Crow spies, Brida discovers the truth about her family, her magic, and who she is destined to be—and that she may hold the power to defeating the wicked queen and setting the kingdom right again.
Willow Woods Academy for Witches
R.L. Weeks - 2018
Fans of Harry Potter and Beautiful Creatures will love this series. Kat and Angie have just enrolled at Willow Woods Academy for Witches against their parent's wishes. They're thrown into a magical, mysterious world that is everything they dreamt it to be. However, when an ancient book falls into their laps, their worlds are turned upside down. 10 years ago, a rivalry between the covens of Willow Woods Academy and Morwood's School cost many their lives and cast a dark shadow over the academy. Now, Morwood's has opened again for the first time since the incident, and mysterious happenings are occurring - and they all seem to be surrounding Kat. School's never easy, and with her exams coming up, a stalker in the trees, and her family name shadowing doubt over what side she's on, the first year of school is more of an adventure than she had ever anticipated.
Trick or Treat Free For All!: A Halloween Kids Book
M.K. RadicanScott Peters - 2020
BowmanA GOOD TRICKA Haunted Library StoryBy Dori Hillestad ButlerHALLOWEENINGA Tales of the Spooky Folk StoryBy J.K. CampbellSTICKY FINGERSFeaturing characters from The Boy Who Cried GhostBy Richard ClarkA KANDY BRAINZ HALLOWEENFeaturing characters from Books Make Brainz Taste BadBy Eli CranorSIDE QUESTA Magic Eaters StoryBy Connor GraysonA TRICKSTER HALLOWEENA Prentiss Twins StoryBy Deb LoganTHE MYSTERY OF THE HAUNTED EGYPTIAN KITCHENA Kid Detective Zet StoryBy Scott PetersFLYING SOLOBy D.M. PotterAuthor of the You Say Which Way SeriesTRICKING THE TREAT WITCHA Zombie Reconstruction Squad StoryBy M.K. Radican
Of Wicked Blood
Olivia Wildenstein - 2021
or the cursed.SLATEI didn’t mean to steal the Bloodstone from the De Morel’s crypt. Scratch that, I did mean to steal it. Until I realized it was a curse-magnet that only comes off if I, along with a jolly trio, successfully defeat four curses.If any of us fail, I’m dead.I’ve never been a glass half-empty sort of person, but my glass looks in dire need of a refill right about now.The only highlight of this wicked treasure hunt: feisty, entitled Cadence de Morel.CADENCEI was raised on tales of magic, in a small town reputed to be the birthplace of French witchcraft.Did I believe all the stories I heard? Absolutely not. I mean, if magic existed, Maman wouldn’t have died, and Papa wouldn’t be stuck in a wheelchair, right?Wrong.The night Slate Ardoin waltzes into my life, wearing a ring he stole from my mother’s grave, I call him a monster.But then I meet real ones, and Slate, well . . . he becomes something else to me.Something frustrating to live with but impossible to live without.Something I will fight for, no matter the cost.*Warning: profuse cursing (and not just the magical kind).
Seal of Confession
Michele Pace - 2021
A young priest on the other side of the screen is shaken by what he learns. A former college athlete with an MBA from a prestigious university, Father Joe Russo is not your typical man of God. Nine years earlier, his own life took a tragic turn and he gave everything up, committing his life to the church. Now his peaceful existence is being tested, and he finds himself questioning the God he serves, the vows he made, and someone he left behind.In this gripping thriller, a priest and an FBI agent work to uncover secrets and expose hidden crimes, but when it seems they have it all figured out, everything they think they know will be questioned.
The Babysitters Coven
Kate Williams - 2019
Seventeen-year-old Esme Pearl has a babysitters club. She knows it's kinda lame, but what else is she supposed to do? Get a job? Gross. Besides, Esme likes babysitting, and she's good at it.And lately Esme needs all the cash she can get, because it seems like destruction follows her wherever she goes. Let's just say she owes some people a new tree.Enter Cassandra Heaven. She's Instagram-model hot, dresses like she found her clothes in a dumpster, and has a rebellious streak as gnarly as the cafeteria food. So why is Cassandra willing to do anything, even take on a potty-training two-year-old, to join Esme's babysitters club?The answer lies in a mysterious note Cassandra's mother left her: "Find the babysitters. Love, Mom."Turns out, Esme and Cassandra have more in common than they think, and they're about to discover what being a babysitter really means: a heroic lineage of superpowers, magic rituals, and saving the innocent from seriously terrifying evil. And all before the parents get home.
Where They Wait
Scott Carson - 2021
It’s easy money, and a chance to return to his hometown for his first visit in years. The app itself seems like a retread of old ideas—relaxing white noise and guided meditations. But then there are the “Sleep Songs.” A woman’s hauntingly beautiful voice sings a ballad that is anything but soothing—it’s disturbing, really, more of a warning than a relaxation—but it works. Deep, refreshing sleep follows. So do nightmares. Vivid and chilling, they feature a dead woman who calls Nick by name and whispers guidance—or are they threats? And soon her voice follows him long after the song is done. As the effects of the nightmares begin to permeate his waking life, Nick makes a terrifying discovery: no one involved with Clarity has any interest in his article. Their interest is in him. Because while he might not have any memory of it, he’s one of twenty people who have heard this sinister song before and the only one who is still alive.
From a Distant Star
Karen McQuestion - 2015
Everyone else—his family, his friends, his doctors—was convinced that any moment could be his last. So when Lucas miraculously returns from the brink of death, Emma thinks her prayers have been answered.As the surprised town rejoices, Emma begins to question whether Lucas is the same boy she’s always known. When she finds an unidentifiable object on his family’s farm—and government agents come to claim it—she begins to suspect that nothing is what it seems. Emma’s out-of-this-world discovery may be the key to setting things right, but only if she and Lucas can evade the agents who are after what they have. With all her hopes and dreams on the line, Emma sets out to save the boy she loves. And with a little help from a distant star, she might just have a chance at making those dreams come true.
The Darkness: A Short Tale of Uncommon Daring & Ultimate Defiance
Justine Avery - 2015
Now, there's a reason to be.
Lux and his younger brother Lunam enjoy the full freedom of the simple life and all the childhood adventures offered by growing up in a small village in a picturesque glen. Life is tranquil, peaceful, and just about perfect—except for one formidable fact... Every day is followed by night. And, with the night, comes the DARKNESS. Slowly shrouding the valley and relentlessly seeping into every nook and cranny on its nightly rampage, the darkness returns to feast on its victims. No man, woman, child, animal—or even, insect—is safe. The darkness consumes all; the darkness's hunger is never satisfied. When the sun falls from the sky, the villagers, young and old, must take to arms, guarding their homes, loved ones, and livestock with every ray of light they can muster. Even young Lux and Lunam are well-soldiered in their responsibilities to safeguard themselves and their parents during the nightly vigil, the nightly fight to live to see another day. It's always been this way—the truths and ritual passed down from generation to generation since ancient times. No one dares question why. Nothing can change the frightening fact of the lives of the villagers or emancipate them from their singular foe—nothing, except a child's imagination and a curiosity as immutable as the darkness's own appetite.
There's just one truth guiding every man, woman, and child to strive to see another day: "Darkness Comes but Once a Night."