UnBound


Neal Shusterman - 2015
    These short stories examine the world of unwinding in a way we haven’t seen before, providing a fresh framework, new characters, and a different take on some events.With UnBound, Shusterman’s fans can continue to get caught up in the world he has created in this “gripping, brilliantly imagined futuristic thriller” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Small Favors


Erin A. Craig - 2021
    To this day, visitors are few and rare. But when a supply party goes missing, some worry that the monsters that once stalked the region have returned.As fall turns to winter, more strange activities plague the town. They point to a tribe of devilish and mystical creatures who promise to fulfill the residents' deepest desires, however grand and impossible, for just a small favor. But their true intentions are much more sinister, and Ellerie finds herself in a race against time before all of Amity Falls, her family, and the boy she loves go up in flames.

Glitter & Doom


Bethany Griffin - 2013
    When a rich teenage girl who spends her nights in the most desirable club and a smart, young inventor meet, they might have more in common than they know.April, niece to the dying city's cruel dictator, is Araby Worth's glittery and frivolous best friend. But she's more than she appears. And when she disappeared in Masque of the Red Death, where did she go? This short novella answers that question, taking us deep underneath the crumbling city, where April crosses paths with Kent, the serious young inventor who is key to rebellion. Glitter & Doom is a story of chilling action, of spies, and of surprising love. Can love be anything but doomed is a city that's burning down around its survivors?A dark, unnerving story about two of the most fascinating characters from Masque of the Red Death.

The Man Who Fell In Love With His Wife


Paul Burke - 2005
    Or to inspire people to flock to the dancefloor as a DJ.Frank soon discovers that the tempting sins of the flesh have consequences; when Frank becomes a real father, he realises he is going to need a miracle to feed the five thousand...

Scars Do Heal


Shilpa Menon - 2015
    She fights a paradoxical battle between her responsibilities at work and her only family there - her mother. And caught in between these is a story of Sonal's past - a terrible event that got her to flee India. Scars from her troubled past continues to manifest in multitude of ways, reminding her constantly about that horrific event. Serendipity happens when Dr. Ryan Percy enters her life and Sonal is challenged in ways she had never imagined. Ryan turns out as everything from Sonal's quintessential definition of the man of her dreams - BUT, Ryan too comes to the party with his own baggage from the past. A pivotal piece in the jigsaw of their lives appears to be missing. Could their puzzling lives be ever completed by each other? Do they complete or destroy each other?

Of Metal and Wishes


Sarah Fine - 2014
    When one of the Noor, men hired as cheap factory labor, humiliates Wen, she makes an impulsive wish of her own, and the Ghost grants it. Brutally.Guilt-ridden, Wen befriends the Noor, including their outspoken leader, a young man named Melik. At the same time, she is lured by the mystery of the Ghost and learns he has been watching her... for a very long time. As deadly accidents fuel tensions within the factory, Wen must confront her growing feelings for Melik, who is enraged at the sadistic factory bosses and the prejudice faced by his people at the hand of Wen’s, and her need to appease the Ghost, who is determined to protect her against any threat—real or imagined. She must decide whom she can trust, because as her heart is torn, the factory is exploding around her... and she might go down with it.

The Deathless Girls


Kiran Millwood Hargrave - 2019
    Even with their own kin.On the eve of her divining, the day she'll discover her fate, seventeen-year-old Lil and her twin sister Kizzy are captured and enslaved by the cruel Boyar Valcar, taken far away from their beloved traveller community.Forced to work in the harsh and unwelcoming castle kitchens, Lil is comforted when she meets Mira, a fellow slave who she feels drawn to in a way she doesn't understand. But she also learns about the Dragon, a mysterious and terrifying figure of myth and legend who takes girls as gifts.They may not have had their divining day, but the girls will still discover their fate...

The Trap of Ace


Eva Zahan
    

Nameless


Lili St. Crow - 2013
    Papa Vultusino adopted the mute, scarred child, naming her after his dead wife and raising her in luxury on Haven Hill alongside his own son, Nico.Now Cami is turning sixteen. She’s no longer mute, though she keeps her faded scars hidden under her school uniform, and though she opens up only to her two best friends, Ruby and Ellie, and to Nico, who has become more than a brother to her. But even though Cami is a pampered Vultusino heiress, she knows that she is not really Family. Unlike them, she is a mortal with a past that lies buried in trauma. And it’s not until she meets the mysterious Tor, who reveals scars of his own, that Cami begins to uncover the secrets of her birth... to find out where she comes from and why her past is threatening her now.

Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 160 (January 2020)


Neil Clarke - 2020
    This was published as a Clarkesworld audiobook podcast in 2020.

Snowed In at the Cottage


Catelyn Meadows - 2020
    But the jolly strains of Jingle Bells drift through her door and soon she finds herself on a last-minute, snowy excursion with the inn’s surly sleigh driver.She doesn’t know much about driving sleighs, but oh what fun it is to ride with a man who does. Boone is attractive. Just being around him ties Grace into brighter knots than those on the presents surrounding the inn’s Christmas tree. But he’s also cold, uninterested, and because of his painful past he’s determined to keep his distance from the perky, blonde writer.During their ride, in the middle of a perfectly sunny day, music plays and snow begins falling and shows no signs of stopping. Boone and Grace have no choice but to wait out the storm at his nearby cottage.Romance is the last thing Grace and Boone have in mind. Santa and his magic radio have other ideas…If you like to snuggle inside with a book on a snowy day and sizzle inside with all the feels, this book is for you.

Just In Case


Chrissie Manby - 2014
    Though they were born within three minutes of each other and spent their childhoods dressed in matching outfits, they’ve grown up to have less in common than Kim Kardashian and the Duchess of Cambridge. So both women are horrified when a luggage mix-up means that sensible Clare must attend a company conference in the United States with Rosie’s suitcase full of pink, frills and stripper heels, while flamboyant Rosie heads for a friend’s destination wedding in Italy's Tuscany with Clare’s case full of suiting and sensible courts. Both believe wearing the other’s clothes is going to ruin their chances: Clare’s of getting a promotion and Rosie’s of getting a snog. But as three days of literally having to walk in each other’s shoes unfold, will the sisters discover they should try to be more like each other after all? This exclusive new novella (short novel at around 100 pages) by Chrissie Manby explores sisterhood, identity and love in a thoroughly summery way.

Helter Skelter


Della Galton - 2007
    Tragedy forces her to flee but when she discovers that her husband, a property developer, is cheating on her she returns. But the fair has gone, the land, brought by her husband, is now covered by luxury flats. Going back can be painful but this is just the start of the Helter Skelter for Vanessa. While she feels her life is spiralling ever downwards, there are the strong arms of a passion from her past to catch her at the end.

I Am Not a Number


Lisa Heathfield - 2019
    Perfect for fans of Sarah Crossan, Louise O'Neill and Lisa Williamson.The Traditionals have been voted to lead the country, winning people over with talks of healing a broken society, of stronger families and safer streets. They promised a happier future for everyone. They didn't promise this.When Ruby is swept up with protesters from the opposition, her life is changed forever. Locked in a prison camp far from home and with her belongings taken from her, she's now known by the number 276. With horror escalating in the camp, Ruby knows that she has to get her family out - and let the world know what's happening.Set in the present day, I Am Not A Number is a powerful and timely book for both young adults and adults alike.

Macbeth: A Novel


A.J. Hartley - 2011
    In this full-length novel written exclusively for audio, authors A. J. Hartley and David Hewson rethink literature’s most infamous married couple, grounding them in a medieval Scotland whose military and political upheavals are as stark and dramatic as the landscape on which they are played.Macbeth is a war hero and a patriot, doing everything in his power to hold together Duncan’s crumbling kingdom, which is beset by sedition from within and with threats from overseas. But when Duncan, contrary to ancient Scottish tradition, turns to building a family dynasty instead of rewarding those who have borne the brunt of the fighting, Macbeth and his powerful wife, Skena, make plans of their own, plans designed to hold both the nation and their strained relationship together. Sinister figures who claim supernatural knowledge spur them on, but the terrible outcome is as much about accident and failure as it is malevolence. Soon Macbeth and his wife find themselves preeminent in all the land, but struggling to hold themselves and their country together as former friends turn into bitter and deadly enemies.This is Macbeth as you have not heard it before: fresh, edgy, and vital. It is a story of valor in battle, whispering in shadows, witchcraft in the hollows of an ancient landscape, and the desperate struggle of flawed people to do what they think is right.ABOUT THE AUTHORSA. J. Hartley, a professor of Shakespeare at the Univ. of North Carolina-Charlotte, is the author of the “Will Hawthorne” fantasy series as well as several thrillers. David Hewson is the best-selling author of 16 novels, including the Rome-based “Nic Costa” crime series.ABOUT THE NARRATORAlan Cumming stars in CBS's The Good Wife, for which he received an Emmy nomination, and is the host of PBS’s Masterpiece Mystery. He was honored with the 2011 Audie Award for Best Male Narrator.The Irish folk song “She Moved Through the Fair” is performed by Heather O'Neil of the Irish Repertory Theater.