We all have. A curse put upon us by the mad king.We are a kingdom locked in time. Shifters unable to feel our animals. Stuck here by a deal between the late king and a demon who seeks our destruction.The only one keeping this kingdom alive is Nyfain, the golden prince to a stolen throne. The last dragon shifter.He’s our hope.He’s my nightmare.When he catches me trespassing in the forbidden wood, he doesn’t punish me with death, as he’s entitled.He takes me, instead. Forces me back to the castle as his prisoner. Seeks to use me.Apparently, I can save him. I can save the whole forgotten kingdom, locked away by the demon king’s power.But it would mean taming the monster beneath his skin. It would mean giving myself to him.It would mean my ruin._ _ _ _ _ _This is a dark and sexy Beauty and the Beast retelling, featuring a strong heroine, a dangerous anti-hero, and a humorous supporting cast. It is a full-length novel at 80k words and suitable for 18+. This is the beginning of a trilogy and ends on a cliffhanger. Buckle up. The author was let off her leash.

     During a chance summer shower, an English country parson takes refuge in a country house. The house seems deserted, yet the table is laid with a sumptuous banquet such as the parson has not seen since before war rationing. Unnerved by the uncanny house, he flees, but stops to pluck a single perfect rose from the garden for his daughter - only for the master of the house to appear, breathing fire with rage. Literally. At first, the parson can't stand this dragon-man. But slowly, he begins to feel the injustice of the curse that holds the dragon captive. What can break this vengeful curse?

    Instead, there are herbal remedies and traditional techniques that have been painstakingly recorded in lieu of using the mystical arts. Fee knows this, so she keeps her magic a secret.Except her best friend, Xavi, is deathly ill. He’s also the crown prince. Saving him is important, not only for her, but for the entire kingdom.Fee’s desperation to save her friend means she can barely contain the magic inside her. And after the tiniest of slips, Fee is thrust into a dark and secretive world that is as alluring as it is dangerous.If she gives in, it could mean she can save Xavi. But it also means that those who wish to snuff out magic might just snuff her out in the process.

    But not all legends are true, and the Wolf isn't the only danger lurking in the Wilderwood.As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose-to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he'll return the world's captured gods.Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can't control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can't hurt those she loves. Again.But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn't learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood-and her world-whole. The author has provided a list of content warnings here.

    Deep in the remote expanse where anything can happen, it pays to be on a pathfinder’s good side.Nobody ventures beyond their village. Nobody sane that is. Monstrous creatures and deadly mysteries wait out here. Lucky for the people she serves, Shea’s not exactly sane. As a pathfinder, it’s her job to face what others fear and find the safest route through the wilderness. It’s not an easy job, but she’s the best at what she does.When the people she serves betray her into servitude to the Trateri, a barbarian horde sweeping through the Lowlands intent on conquest, Shea relies on her wits and skill to escape, disguising herself as a boy to hide from the Warlord, a man as dangerous as he is compelling.After being mistaken as a Trateri scout during her escape, Shea finds herself forced to choose between the life she led and the possibilities of a new one. Her decision might mean the difference between life or death. For danger looms on the horizon and a partnership with the Warlord may be the only thing preventing the destruction of everything she holds dear.

    Stones were tied to their ankles and they were drowned in the deep waters surrounding the town.Now, for a brief time each summer, the sisters return, stealing the bodies of three weak-hearted girls so that they may seek their revenge, luring boys into the harbor and pulling them under.Like many locals, seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot has accepted the fate of the town. But this year, on the eve of the sisters’ return, a boy named Bo Carter arrives; unaware of the danger he has just stumbled into.Mistrust and lies spread quickly through the salty, rain-soaked streets. The townspeople turn against one another. Penny and Bo suspect each other of hiding secrets. And death comes swiftly to those who cannot resist the call of the sisters.But only Penny sees what others cannot. And she will be forced to choose: save Bo, or save herself.

    King Cador knew this once, but now the land has turned from him, calling instead to his three children. Riva can cure others, but can’t seem to heal her own deep scars. Keyne battles to be accepted for who he truly is—the king’s son. And Sinne dreams of seeing the world, of finding adventure.All three fear a life of confinement within the walls of the hold, their people’s last bastion of strength against the invading Saxons. However, change comes on the day ash falls from the sky. It brings with it Myrdhin, meddler and magician. And Tristan, a warrior whose secrets will tear them apart.Riva, Keyne and Sinne—three siblings entangled in a web of treachery and heartbreak, who must fight to forge their own paths. Their story will shape the destiny of Britain.

    He is seven and a half feet of ugly, and of disreputable descent. No one, including Brute, expects him to be more than a laborer. But heroes come in all shapes and sizes, and when he is maimed while rescuing a prince, Brute’s life changes abruptly. He is summoned to serve at the palace in Tellomer as a guard for a single prisoner. It sounds easy but turns out to be the challenge of his life. Rumors say the prisoner, Gray Leynham, is a witch and a traitor. What is certain is that he has spent years in misery: blind, chained, and rendered nearly mute by an extreme stutter. And he dreams of people’s deaths—dreams that come true. As Brute becomes accustomed to palace life and gets to know Gray, he discovers his own worth, first as a friend and a man and then as a lover. But Brute also learns heroes sometimes face difficult choices and that doing what is right can bring danger of its own.

    And she learns this lesson the hard way when they perish in a plane crash. But she never forgets and when she discovers there is a parallel universe where every person has a twin, she finds a witch who can send her there so she can have the adventure of a lifetime. But upon arrival in the Winter Wonderland of Lunwyn, she realizes she’s been played by her twin and finds herself walking down the aisle to be wed to The Drakkar. Thrown into inauspicious circumstances, with years of practice, Finnie bests the challenges and digs into her adventure. But as Frey Drakkar discovers the woman who is his new wife is not Princess Sjofn, a woman he dislikes but instead, his Finnie, a free-spirit with a thirst for venture just like him, without her knowledge he orders his new bride bound to his frozen world, everlasting. But at the same time Frey plunges Finnie into a web of political intrigue that includes assassination plots, poison, magic, mystery and… dragons.

    That is my life--and I love it.At least I did until I found myself staring into the angelic, innocent face of Lady Mina of Stone Crest. In all the time I have led The Shields I have trusted my instinct to keep us alive, yet now I don't know what to believe. Everything points to Mina as the evil summoning the creatures, but she proclaims her innocence.I should be able to see through her lies, if she is indeed lying, but my attraction to her blinds me to even that. The last time I found myself so attracted to a woman, it nearly cost me the lives of my men. I cannot allow that to happen again. I won't allow that to happen again.Yet every time she looks at me, begging me with those blue-green eyes to believe her, I find myself sinking farther under her spell. Her mouth is a temptation mortal men will never know and her love will either bring me the peace I thought I'd never find--or the death I've managed, thus far, to avoid.Hugh the Righteous

    Maybe get a cat, expand my spice farm. Really anything that doesn’t involve going on a quest where an orc might rip my face off. But they say the Goddess has favorites. If so, I’m clearly not one of them.After saving the demon Fallon in a wine-drunk stupor, all he wanted to do was kill an evil witch enslaving his people.I mean, I get it. Don't get me wrong. But he's dragging me along for the ride, and I'm kind of peeved about it. On the bright side, he keeps burning off his shirt.

    Under the terms of her bargain, she can’t go home to the mortal world until Prince Brannick becomes the next High King.Or until he’s taken out of the running…Sabotaging Brannick’s chance at the crown will be much faster than helping him win. The fae prince may be charming, powerful, and wickedly handsome, but that won’t stop Elora from selling his secrets to the highest bidder.By day, she uses her master sword skills to train the prince, while ignoring her growing attraction to him. By night, she conspires with a rival king in a nearby court whose plans could destroy half of Faerie.If she gets caught, Brannick will kill her. But what’s life without a little bit of danger?

    At least it feels that way. I might have given up on my title. Told my father he was useless, king of Gods or no, and left Asgard. Made a life somewhere else.Maybe I would never have let Loki cross my path. Never have fallen in love.But there’s no going back.We were happy once.And the price for that happiness was the end of everything.

    A destiny they didn't expect.The Shadow demon nearly took everything from Dynalya Astron, and it would soon return for more. When she discovers a way to fight back, she must go on a perilous journey and risk it all for those she holds dear.Along the way, she meets Cassiel, a Celestial Prince with magic blood and wings as black as his heart. He wants nothing to do with Dyna until he learns she could lead him to a place he has been searching for all his life. But reaching their destination is not as easy as they thought, nor are they the only ones who search for it. With danger at every turn and harrowing secrets between them, the quest will require much more than determination. They must fight for what they desire—or die trying.For fans of Throne of Glass, The Cruel Prince, and The Lord of the Rings comes Beck Michael's debut novel with remarkable characters, a budding romance, and gripping action. Divine Blood is the first book of an Epic Dark Fantasy series that explores the depths of loss, acceptance, and the true meaning of courage.

    She’s a guard desperate to prove herself. Together, they will enter the legendary Demon Forest. Vethe Scarvian is a direct descendant of the man who almost destroyed humanity. And that plus a couple of coppers will buy him another beer. When his aunt reveals the existence of a long-lost betrothal agreement hidden somewhere in the ruins of the Demon Forest, Vethe is only interested in how much money the noblewoman betrothed to him would be willing to pay to escape that contract. He just has to find the contract first. Lyria Guardia let her family down and got her heart broken. Gods help her, that will never happen again. After a crushing betrayal by the man she’d built her life around, Lyria abandons her promising career with the Adventurer’s Guild and returns, humiliated and heartbroken, to the Guard’s Guild that her family has run for hundreds of years. Determined to regain her position and prove herself to her five brothers, Lyria is willing to accept any assignment. Even if that means she has to drag some spoiled noble brat through the Demon Forest in search of a mysterious missing contract. The Flame and The Blade is the first book in a new romantic fantasy adventure series. Fans of Miranda Honfleur and Sarah J. Maas will love this story of forbidden magic, dangerous adventure, and sizzling enemies-to-lovers romance.