The interlinked stories are set in the late twentieth century, before a wave of anticolonialism crested across India and resulted in Bombay's rechristening. The stories feature everyday characters who face challenges unique to Bombay life, from the schoolboy who forms an unlikely friendship with a street vendor to the retired serviceman whose livelihood is threatened by the city's notorious bureaucracy. Readers familiar with Bombay will reawaken their memories, while those new to the city will experience a taste of its varied flavors.

    Now if only she weren't so distracted by the sexy vampire fighting by her side . . .A Forever Love by Pamela PalmerTrapped in Vamp City, Lukas has been unable to return to the beauty who stole his heart. But now that she's stumbled into his world, it will take every ounce of cunning he possesses to keep her alive.First Dates Are Hell by Amanda AristaValiance's first date in a hundred years is going great . . . until they're attacked in the parking lot and quiet, unassuming Esme turns out to be way more than she appears.Blood and Water by Kim FalconerBeneath the waves of San Francisco Bay lives a vampire race that wants nothing to do with the "landers" except to feed on them. But when Stellan sets eyes on Angelina, everything changes.

    Raahosh wants to prove to Liz that he can be a good mate, even if he’s ugly. On a honeymoon, they can get to know each other better. Perfect, right? This story is an extended epilogue for book 2 of Ice Planet Barbarians – Barbarian Alien – and is for readers who want a little more of their favorite couple. Don’t start here! Start with book 1, Ice Planet Barbarians.

    But no matter how much their jobs require them to lay aside their personal lives, they can't deny that they have burning needs like any other man...In Sherrilyn Kenyon's "BAD to the Bone," teacher Marianne Webernec wins the "Hideaway Heroine Sweepstakes." Whisked away to a remote tropical island, Marianne's fantasies become real when Bureau of American Defense agent Kyle Foster kidnaps her and uncovers her every desire.In Liz Carlyle's "Let's Talk About Sex," Dr. Delia Sydney dishes out perfectly sound sex advice on the radio but is easily seduced by her bad-boy neighbor. Just what is it about Nick Woodruff, a smooth-talking sergeant, that makes Delia do anything when she's with him?Things get even hotter in Nicole Camden's "The Nekkid Truth" when crime scene photographer Debbie Valley loses the ability to recognize faces and must identify people by their bodies. Soon she finds that the wonders of Detective Marshall Scott' s body never cease...and that he needs her to help catch a killer.

     Lara Adrian's "Merciless: House of Gravori" -- Seeking vengeance for the murder of his brother, Incubus Master Devlin Gravori demands justice from the high court of the Nephilim. Donna Grant's "Soulless: House of Romerac" -- Incubus Master Canaan Romerac is focused on revenge against those who betrayed him. That is until he sets eyes on Rayna. Laura Wright's "Shameless: House of Vipera" -- Incubus Master Scarus Vipera has grown weak, and the only thing that will strengthen him again is Rosamund, the power-rich female of the Harem. Alexandra Ivy's "Ruthless: House of Xanthe" -- Jian, Master of the House Xanthe, has devoted his life to his family. The last thing he expects is to encounter an angel who stirs more than his lust. Contains mature themes.

    Blood will be his redemption.Forced to slay his father to prevent a massacre, Masolon and his name will be cursed until the end of days. To escape the shame of kinslaying and the justice of his clansmen, the young warrior braves the haunted desert to reach the fabled lands of Gorania. A journey he survives with his body, but not with his mind.Tormented by the guilt of his sin, Masolon seeks redemption through the war he wages against the armed gangs that infest every corner of his new home. But Masolon has to be careful; the war he has started might grow bigger than he can handle. The lords of Gorania do not take vigilantes so lightly.Now enemies and false friends close in from all sides. And Masolon, betrayed and outnumbered, must win one decisive battle to earn the peace he has been pursuing. But in the brutal world of Gorania, peace could just be a delusion. Masolon's path to redemption could be a lie after all.THE WARRIOR'S PATH is the first book in Tales of Gorania: a series for epic fantasy fans who are ready to immerse themselves in a world of flawed heroes and false legends, a world of political games and battles to the death.

    An outstanding array—52 pieces in all—of selected fiction from the multiple-award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman, curated by his readers around the world, and introduced with a foreword by Booker Prize-winning author Marlon JamesSpanning Gaiman’s career to date, The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction is a captivating collection from one of the world’s most beloved writers, chosen by those who know his work best: his devoted readers. A brilliant representation of Gaiman's groundbreaking, entrancing, endlessly imaginative fiction, this captivating volume includes excerpts from each of his five novels for adults —Neverwhere, Stardust, American Gods, Anansi Boys, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane—and nearly fifty of his short stories. Impressive in its depth and range, The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction is both an entryway to Gaiman’s oeuvre and a literary trove Gaiman fans old and new will return to many times over.

    Here for the first time are his short stories and other short form fiction collected into one volume. A Blink of the Screen charts the course of Pratchett's long writing career: from his schooldays through to his first writing job on the Bucks Free Press,; to the origins of his debut novel, The Carpet People; and on again to the dizzy mastery of the phenomenally successful Discworld series.Here are characters both familiar and yet to be discovered; abandoned worlds and others still expanding; adventure, chickens, death, disco and, actually, some quite disturbing ideas about Christmas,all of it shot through with his inimitable brand of humour.With an introduction by Booker Prize-winning author A.S. Byatt, illustrations by the late Josh Kirby and drawings by the author himself, this is a book to treasure.

    ‘We’re going to be fine.’ He looks around, but there’s nothing out here: nothing but the bottomless black universe on their left, the Earth suspended in glorious technicolour to their right.Carys and Max have ninety minutes of air left.None of this was supposed to happen.But, perhaps this doesn’t need to be the end…Adrift in space with nothing to hold on to but each other, Carys and Max can’t help but look back at the well-ordered world they have left behind – at the rules they couldn’t reconcile themselves to, and a life to which they might now never return.For in a world where love is banned, what happens when you find it?Hold Back the Stars is a love story like no other.

    She and her husband Liviu are teachers in their twenties, living under the repressive regime of Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in the Socialist Republic of Romania in the 1970s. But after her brother-in-law defects, Alina and Liviu fall under suspicion and surveillance, and their lives are suddenly turned upside down--just like the glasses in her superstitious Aunt Theresa's house that are used to ward off evil spirits.But Alina's evil spirits are more corporeal: a suffocating, manipulative mother; a student who accuses her; and a menacing Secret Services agent who makes one-too-many visits. As the couple continues to be harassed, their marriage soon deteriorates. With the government watching--and most likely listening--escape seems impossible . . . until Alina's mystical aunt proposes a surprising solution to reduce her problems to a manageable size.Weaving elements of magic realism, Romanian folklore, and Kafkaesque paranoia into a gritty and moving depiction of one woman's struggle for personal and political freedom, Bottled Goods is written in short bursts of "flash fiction" and explores universal themes of empowerment, liberty, family, and loyalty.

     In death, Jeanie has saved Jack’s life… What at first seems to be a gift beyond comprehension, soon becomes a dark obsession for Jack. As long as Jack is alive, Jeanie won’t be dead. With every thump-thump of Jeanie’s heart, Jack is forever reminded that he owes his life to his dead lover. Unable to find closure, Jack decides to stop his borrowed beating heart… Until Jeanie’s best friend and Jack’s arch-enemy, Ruthy, tells Jack an old fairy-tale which changes his life forever. Jack finds himself living a fairy-tale in a fairy-tale, where matters of the heart and time know no bounds.

    While workaholic Casey rubs elbows with celebrities daily as the host of Gossip TV and comes home nightly to an empty apartment, stay-at-home mom Rachel juggles an “oops” baby, two fiery teenagers, and a husband who barely seems the man she fell in love with two decades before. After an argument at their twentieth high school reunion, Casey and Rachel throw back shots to get the night back on track. Instead, they get a life-changing hangover.Waking up in each other’s bodies the next morning, they must figure out how to navigate their altered realities. Rachel is forced to confront the reason she gave up her broadcasting dreams when she got pregnant in college, and Casey finally steps out of the spotlight to face the truth about why she’s alone. And they soon discover that they don’t know themselves—or their best friend—nearly as well as they thought they did.Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke bring humor and heart to every page of this novel that is sure to please fans of In Her Shoes and The Opposite of Me. Your Perfect Life is a story about two very different women, what they didn’t know about each other, and how, by switching lives, they each learn to appreciate their own.

    A promising career. Good health. A beautiful house. A promising relationship. Most importantly, she was a proud member of the largest and most popular megachurch in all of Seattle—the Blessed and Highly Favored Full Gospel Church.Everything started changing in her seemingly perfect life after a pastor visiting from China created such an uproar at her church, with messages most members found both mean spirited and judgmentally offensive, that Mark Lau was asked to leave and told never to come back.It took traveling all the way to Shanghai, China, with her best friend, Meredith Geiger, for Charmaine to discover the many differences between her church, which was opulent in every sense of the word, and Pastor Lau’s church, which was located beneath a dry cleaners, of all places.Even more telling were the messages both pastors preached. Despite that they taught from the very same Book, their messages couldn’t have been anymore polarizing. While Charmaine was instantly intrigued by the whole “underground” experience, Meredith was so traumatized that she cut short what had been the best vacation of her life, to go back to the States.But not before alarming Charmaine’s boyfriend of the grave danger they faced. Rodney Williams then told lead pastors, Julian and Imogen Martín, who flew 5,700 miles from Seattle to China, to rescue her from the so-called pastor who’d already caused some to leave their megachurch.Upon arriving, they learned their suspicions were quickly confirmed. Mark Lau had used his subterranean gathering place to radically change Charmaine’s way of thinking. Despite her strongest protests, they flat-out refused to believe that God had used him to transform her life and deepen her faith, to the extent that she finally had eternal assurance.Tragically for the Martíns, by the time they discovered the prosperity Gospel they’d been preaching was a false one, it would be too late…

    When she finally met her fiance, it was less a romantic event than a satisfying check mark next to the last item on a long list of tasks. Now Celia's big night has arrived, and nothing can stop her from fulfilling a lifetime's worth of dreams. Nothing, that is, except her hated housemates, each planning a party for this same evening. Suddenly careening between future in-laws, radical feminists, and an Alice in Wonderland costume party, Celia veers off the path to married bliss, and along a path of suspicious raspberry tarts that lead her into very strange places.

    Suave and charismatic Jay is fighting for survival. An invitation to visit Jay's resort in the hills of Tuscany sparks Isobel to imagine a life of freedom and excitement.Dismissing her husband’s objections, Isobel pursues Jay to Tuscany on the pretext of searching for a holiday home. After fighting anguished guilt, she abandons herself in a passionate affair, with her controlling lover encouraging Isobel to push beyond her sexual boundaries.But all is not as it seems in the idyllic Tuscan retreat, and Isobel finds herself trapped in a web of intrigue, deception, and betrayal. She is one player in a dangerous love triangle, unsure whether Jay is her saviour, or her nemesis. As her world falls apart, she must choose between the woman she thought she was, and the woman she has become.