But what does it take to tempt today's savvy girls?Spicy Little Curses A demon and the ambassador to Hell tussle over the soul of a beautiful English girl in India. Matters become complicated when she falls in love and decides to test her curse.HatchlingSix days before Esme's fourteenth birthday, her left eye turns from brown to blue. She little suspects what the change heralds, but her small safe life begins to unravel at once. What does the beautiful, fanged man want with her, and how is her fate connected to a mysterious race of demons?

    In Unexpectedly Yours… Sophie has been dreaming of a magical winter holiday in New York City. Can a chance encounter with musician Austin bring her festive dreams to life?In Holiday Kisses… Writer Dash needs peace and quiet to finish his new script, but he wasn’t betting on inn-keeper Ellie and the local Starbright festival to give him a jolt of holiday inspiration.

    Only his second collection (the first was Dark Carnival, later reworked into The October Country), it is a marvelous, if mostly dark, quilt of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. In an ingenious framework to open and close the book, Bradbury presents himself as a nameless narrator who meets the Illustrated Man--a wanderer whose entire body is a living canvas of exotic tattoos. What's even more remarkable, and increasingly disturbing, is that the illustrations are themselves magically alive, and each proceeds to unfold its own story, such as "The Veldt," wherein rowdy children take a game of virtual reality way over the edge. Or "Kaleidoscope," a heartbreaking portrait of stranded astronauts about to reenter our atmosphere--without the benefit of a spaceship. Or "Zero Hour," in which invading aliens have discovered a most logical ally--our own children. Even though most were written in the 1940s and 1950s, these 18 classic stories will be just as chillingly effective 50 years from now. --Stanley WiaterContents:· Prologue: The Illustrated Man · ss * · The Veldt [“The World the Children Made”] · ss The Saturday Evening Post Sep 23 ’50 · Kaleidoscope · ss Thrilling Wonder Stories Oct ’49 · The Other Foot · ss New Story Magazine Mar ’51 · The Highway [as by Leonard Spalding] · ss Copy Spr ’50 · The Man · ss Thrilling Wonder Stories Feb ’49 · The Long Rain [“Death-by-Rain”] · ss Planet Stories Sum ’50 · The Rocket Man · ss Maclean’s Mar 1 ’51 · The Fire Balloons [“‘In This Sign...’”] · ss Imagination Apr ’51 · The Last Night of the World · ss Esquire Feb ’51 · The Exiles [“The Mad Wizards of Mars”] · ss Maclean’s Sep 15 ’49; F&SF Win ’50 · No Particular Night or Morning · ss * · The Fox and the Forest [“To the Future”] · ss Colliers May 13 ’50 · The Visitor · ss Startling Stories Nov ’48 · The Concrete Mixer · ss Thrilling Wonder Stories Apr ’49 · Marionettes, Inc. [Marionettes, Inc.] · ss Startling Stories Mar ’49 · The City [“Purpose”] · ss Startling Stories Jul ’50 · Zero Hour · ss Planet Stories Fll ’47 · The Rocket [“Outcast of the Stars”] · ss Super Science Stories Mar ’50 · Epilogue · aw *

    Spanning four decades and three prize-winning collections, these twenty-one vintage selected stories and thirteen scintillating new ones take us around the world, from Jerusalem to Central America, from tsarist Russia to London during the Blitz, from central Europe to Manhattan, and from the Maine coast to Godolphin, Massachusetts, a fictional suburb of Boston. These charged locales, and the lives of the endlessly varied characters within them, are evoked with a tenderness and incisiveness found in only our most observant seers.No matter the situation in which her characters find themselves--an unforeseen love affair between adolescent cousins, a lifetime of memories unearthed by an elderly couple's decision to shoplift, the deathbed secret of a young girl's forbidden forest tryst with the tsar, the danger that befalls a wealthy couple's child in a European inn of misfits--Edith Pearlman conveys their experience with wit and aplomb, with relentless but clear-eyed optimism, and with a supple prose that reminds us, sentence by sentence, page by page, of the gifts our greatest verbal innovators can bestow.Binocular Vision reveals a true American original, a master of the story, showing us, with her classic sensibility and lasting artistry, the cruelties, the longings, and the rituals that connect human beings across space and time.

    Each volume’s series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. A special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected — and most popular — of its kind.The Best American Short Stories 2012 includesThe last speaker of the language / Carol Anshaw --Pilgrim life / Taylor Antrim --What we talk about when we talk about Anne Frank / Nathan Englander --The other place / Mary Gaitskill --North Country / Roxane Gay --Paramour / Jennifer Haigh --Navigators / Mike Meginnis --Miracle polish / Steven Millhauser --Axis / Alice Munro --Volcano / Lawrence Osborne --Diem Perdidi / Julie Otsuka --Honeydew / Edith Pearlman --Occupational hazard / Angela Pneuman --Beautiful monsters / Eric Puchner --Tenth of December / George Saunders --The sex lives of African girls / Taiye Selasi --Alive / Sharon Solwitz --M&M world / Kate Walbert --Anything helps / Jess Walter --What's important is feeling / Adam Wilson

    He needs her to see how he’s changed. Can time really heal everything and make a second chance at love possible? Reeling from a painful divorce, and with a teenager in town, Cam’s returned to her hometown to heal. Not only is Timber Creek the only place that’s ever felt like home, her best friends are there...and the first boy she ever really loved. Evan has only ever loved one woman. Sixteen years ago he knew he wasn’t good enough for her, but now she’s back, and time has a way of changing things.Cam’s got her hands full trying to come to grips with her new life. The last thing she needs is to get involved with Evan again. But their attraction is impossible to ignore, and the connection that existed between them so many years ago is still very much alive.This could be the second chance they’ve always wanted, but there are years of hurt and misunderstandings between them. Never mind the truth of the past and the reality of the present that could once again threaten to pull them apart. This time for good.

    Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.Virtually unknown during his lifetime, Franz Kafka is now one of the world’s most widely read and discussed authors. His nightmarish novels and short stories have come to symbolize modern man’s anxiety and alienation in a bizarre, hostile, and dehumanized world. This vision is most fully realized in Kafka’s masterpiece, “The Metamorphosis,” a story that is both harrowing and amusing, and a landmark of modern literature. Bringing together some of Kafka’s finest work, this collection demonstrates the richness and variety of the author’s artistry. “The Judgment,” which Kafka considered to be his decisive breakthrough, and “The Stoker,” which became the first chapter of his novel Amerika, are here included. These two, along with “The Metamorphosis,” form a suite of stories Kafka referred to as “The Sons,” and they collectively present a devastating portrait of the modern family.Also included are “In the Penal Colony,” a story of a torture machine and its operators and victims, and “A Hunger Artist,” about the absurdity of an artist trying to communicate with a misunderstanding public. Kafka’s lucid, succinct writing chronicles the labyrinthine complexities, the futility-laden horror, and the stifling oppressiveness that permeate his vision of modern life.Jason Baker is a writer of short stories living in Brooklyn, New York.

    . .But after a scandalous Hollywood divorce, Blythe Stowe considered it damage control for body and soul. The pain, the humiliation, the daily tabloids shouting details as her famous husband dumped her for her own sister demanded a serious getaway: to the wild coast of Cornwall and a cottage by the sea that her Wyoming grandmother claimed had been home to her ancestors.Some might call it chance . . .But Blythe encountered more than just a quaint retreat nestled amid vivid skies and gorgeous ocean. And she had the odd sensation that her wickedly handsome neighbor Lucas Teague was more than a British gentleman going broke. He might be her destiny . . .

    He hurts no one. He helps no one. But his very refusal to join a clan puts him in danger from the often vicious blood families. When a nearby clan sends a hunting party to convert or kill him, he encounters the deadly and beautiful Tahlia. The sparks immediately fly between the two vampires, leading to a final confrontation that could put them both at risk.- Falling for an Angel (Angel at Large, Book 1)Adrian is a messenger angel. He loves nothing better than zipping through the realms, dodging the enemies who try to keep him from doing his duty. He is fast and swift and as dedicated as they come. But he’s a fun loving individual. Even though he likes being an angel, he is lonely and can’t help wondering what it would be like to have someone that belongs to him, and that he belongs to. So when his best friend, the guardian angel Cassel falls in love with his mortal and he finds out that the only hope is for him to also find love, he embraces the challenge in his usual fun loving way. How hard can it be to find a mortal who will love him? He’s good looking, smart and can show her a good time. Unfortunately, he meets and is instantly attracted to Melissa, the only mortal woman in the world who is not impressed either by his good looks, his wit or his charm. To win her heart, he will have to reach deep into himself to discover what she really wants.- Christmas Choices (When Naughty Becomes so Nice, Book 1)When Andie Nichols breaks up with her controlling boyfriend Evan Harrington just before the big Christmas party, she dreads going and having to see him there. Still, she doesn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she didn’t go just to avoid him, so she takes up residence at the free bar, just hoping to avoid him That’s when she meets Ryan Miller and kisses him to show off to Evan. Ryan is shocked, but likes it. They leave the party together, and Ryan reveals a shocking secret of his own. He likes a woman who isn’t afraid to demand what she wants and offers to be her sex slave. The choice is all hers, but if she is willing to be a little naughty, he promises to make her feel oh so very nice.- It's Not Enough (The Clover Leaf Café, Book 1)Jeff Masterson is a cynical businessman. He has no time for love and no time for women except in the bedroom. Lisa Smith is vulnerable when her long term boyfriend dumps her for a man. She felt an instant attraction to Jeff but working in The Clover Leaf Café, she had heard of his reputation as a one night stand man and agrees to go off with Jeff but it will only be one night. What she does not count on though is the flood of feelings that night releases in her. She can’t seem to get Jeff out of her mind. She knows she is just another one night stand but the way Jeff keeps coming at her, she is beginning to think he might see her as more. But she’s not sure she is ready to trust again so soon.

    In exquisite prose, Hoffman offers a transforming glimpse of small-town America, presenting us with some three hundred years of passion, dark secrets, loyalty, and redemption in a web of tales where characters' lives are intertwined by fate and by their own actions.From the town's founder, a brave young woman from England who has no fear of blizzards or bears, to the young man who runs away to New York City with only his dog for company, the characters in The Red Garden are extraordinary and vivid: a young wounded Civil War soldier who is saved by a passionate neighbor, a woman who meets a fiercely human historical character, a poet who falls in love with a blind man, a mysterious traveler who comes to town in the year when summer never arrives.At the center of everyone's life is a mysterious garden where only red plants can grow, and where the truth can be found by those who dare to look.Beautifully crafted, shimmering with magic, The Red Garden is as unforgettable as it is moving.

    But what the best of these stories do is the same across the genres—they illuminate the whole gamut of the human experience, interrogating our hopes and our fears. With a diverse selection of stories chosen by series editor John Joseph Adams and guest editor Charles Yu, The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2017 continues to explore the ever-expanding and changing world of SFF today, with Yu bringing his unique view—literary, meta, and adventurous—to the series’ third edition.

    Sit back as your favorite authors of zombie lit take you on a wild, horrifying ride that will leave you breathless! Come and meet the women who love to entertain you with their own unique versions of the zombie apocalypse.Featuring:Tamara Rose BlodgettV. BookeChantal BoudreauLaura BretzTonia BrownCatt DahmanMia DarienCM DoportoJacqueline DrugaDana FredstiBelinda FrischApril GreyMichelle KilmerRebecca HansenLori R. LopezSuzi MShannon MayerTara MayaLyra McKenCynthia MeltonKristen MiddletonChrissy PeeblesJeannie RaeSuzanne RobbJulianne SnowRebecca SnowAnna TaborskaAlly ThomasChristine VerstraeteAR VonAnnie Walls (Blackballing the Dead)Jen Wilde

    In two sketches, he experiments with tales transplanted from Europe, thereby creating the first classic American short stories, Rip Van Winkle, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Based on Irving's final revision of his most popular work, this new edition includes comprehensive explanatory notes of The Sketch-Book's sources for the modern reader.

    But which one broke the timeline?In 2136 Madison Grace uncovers a key to the origins of CHRONOS, a time-travel agency with ties to her family’s mysterious past. Just as she is starting to jump through history, she returns to her timeline to find millions of lives erased—and only the people inside her house realize anything has changed.In 2304 CHRONOS historian Tyson Reyes is assigned to observe the crucial events that played out in America’s civil rights movement. But a massive time shift occurs while he’s in 1965, and suddenly the history he sees isn’t the history he knows.As Madi’s and Tyson’s journeys collide, they must prevent the past from being erased forever. But strange forces are at work. Are Madi and Tyson in control or merely pawns in someone else’s game?

    And ghosts.All the logic and reason in the world can’t protect her from the truth—she can see and communicate with spirits. But Akira is sure that her ability is just a genetic quirk and the ghosts she encounters simply leftover electromagnetic energy. Dangerous electromagnetic energy.Zane Latimer believes in telepathy, precognition, auras, and that playing Halo with your employees is an excellent management technique. He also thinks that maybe, just maybe, Akira Malone can help his family get in touch with their lost loved ones.But will Akira ever be able to face her fears and accept her gift? Or will Zane’s relatives be trapped between life and death forever?