Book picks similar to
The House of Counted Hatreds by Grace Corren
gothic
vintage-gothic-romance
horror
nightcore
Sweet Days by the Bay: Kay Correll's Complete Indigo Bay Collection
Kay Correll - 2019
The three stories are all interconnected. SWEET SUNRISE:
Sometimes life has a way of teaching lessons whether you’re ready to learn them or not…
The last place on earth Will Layton wants to be is Indigo Bay, but his younger sister, Whitney, needs him. He’s never been able to say no to her. But she left out a few details… like their father staying with her and the girl who dumped him years ago is living right next door. The last person Dr. Ashley Harden thought she’d see in Indigo Bay is Will Layton, but he’s back in town and just as irresistible as when they were young. Seeing Will again is a complication that isn’t on her carefully mapped out life plan. In spite of Ashley’s best intentions, she starts falling for Will again, but nothing has changed. She’s still focused on getting the townspeople to accept her and see her as more than the girl from the wrong side of town, while Will is determined to guard his heart at any cost. Not the easiest road to true love… especially when secrets from the past are revealed and history threatens to repeat itself. SWEET HOLIDAY MEMORIES: (a short holiday story)
Sometimes a surprise from the past changes the future forever…
Meredith Snowden — who by some strange twist of fate has the nickname Merry — avoids everything to do with the holidays. Everything. Her best friend, Whitney, has given up trying to change Merry's ways. Except… This year Merry’s in charge of the holiday bake sale. Not the best way to avoid Christmas. Then Austin Sullivan returns to town and literally runs into Merry sprawled on the sidewalk among boxes of smashed cookies. Austin is all about Christmas and offers help with the baking and the sale. Merry’s carefully hidden memories of Christmas past begin to resurface. Will Austin’s love of the holidays and a single lost ornament bring the magic of Christmas back into Merry’s life? SWEET STARLIGHT:
Sometimes worlds collide and sparks fly and things don’t turn out as planned...
Whitney Layton doesn’t recognize the actor who comes into her shop and commissions a custom jewelry piece for his grandmother’s birthday gala. Rick Nichols doesn’t know if he’s upset or thankful that Whitney doesn’t recognize him. While he longs to become more well known so his family will finally think he’s made a success of himself, he enjoys hiding out anonymously and being just an everyday normal guy. As Rick’s best-laid plans for his grandmother’s party fall apart, Whitney steps in to help him. But as things heat up between them and the press catches wind of their relationship, their photo is splashed all over social media. Whitney wants nothing of the limelight nor does she believe Rick will ever be happy with a small-town businesswoman who wants nothing more than to live out her life in Indigo Bay. She doesn’t need to add one more name to the list of people she’s cared about who have left her.
The Sweetman Curve
Graham Masterton - 1979
Investigations into brutal random murders on the California freeways dramatically touch the lives of a presidential aspirant, an aging movie star, and a brilliant scientist with a deadly secret.
Snare
Dee Garcia - 2019
Until the world we knew went up in sweltering, viral flames. Despite our differences, I couldn’t leave Loren for dead after hearing her petrified screams, and with no one else to turn to, that left us tied to one another as the apocalypse continued to unfold. Fast forward one year later, and there’s only thing I now desire more than our survival... Her. Getting her beneath me has become an obsession, an infection rooted deep within me like the very virus meant to kill us. I’m falling for her at the worst time possible, I know this, but she is, too. It was inevitable, really. Whether we supersede the Z’s or not, one thing’s for certain—in the end, Loren will be mine. *NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Snare is a 20k novella originally part of the Black Hearts anthology. It is SHORT, steamy, and straight to the point.
Dragon Guard
Eric J. Krause - 2013
Sophomore Ben Phillips thought his biggest problems were homework and his bickering parents, but when he runs into a couple of wandering zombies on his way to school, he realizes there is a whole multiverse of worse things out there. His life gets even weirder when he falls for the new girl at school, Andi Thomas, who is a 758 year-old dragon in a fifteen year-old girl's body. If all of that isn't enough, fate has decided that Ben should be Andi's Dragon Guard, her soul-bound mate with superpowers straight out of comic books and video games. When a demon-infused necromancer kidnaps first Ben's parents, and then Andi's, those powers are the only thing that could save them. Unfortunately, Ben and Andi are only partially bound, meaning their powers aren't anywhere near full strength. Will they be strong enough to save the day? Oh, and there's also the matter of a mysterious prophecy that Ben and Andi are at the center of … NOTE: This book was originally published in 2013 by Hunt Press with a different cover. This is no longer a Hunt Press publication. I've made a few minor changes in the text, but nothing changed plot or structure-wise. If you already own Dragon Guard, there is no need to purchase this edition.
In the Shadow of Lakecrest
Elizabeth Blackwell - 2017
Kate Moore is looking for a way out of the poverty and violence of her childhood. When a chance encounter on a transatlantic ocean liner brings her face-to-face with the handsome heir to a Chicago fortune, she thinks she may have found her escape—as long as she can keep her past concealed.After exchanging wedding vows, Kate quickly discovers that something isn’t quite right with her husband—or her new family. As Mrs. Matthew Lemont, she must contend with her husband’s disturbing past, his domineering mother, and his overly close sister. Isolated at Lakecrest, the sprawling, secluded Lemont estate, she searches desperately for clues to Matthew’s terrors, which she suspects stem from the mysterious disappearance of his aunt years before. As Kate stumbles deeper into a maze of family secrets, she begins to question everyone’s sanity—especially her own. But just how far will she go to break free of this family’s twisted past?
Spirit Lost
Nancy Thayer - 1988
Now available for the first time as an eBook! John and Wilhelmina Constable uproot their lives in Boston so John can pursue his lifelong dream of becoming an artist. After settling into a beautiful Victorian home on Nantucket, John finds inspiration in the island light that illuminates his attic studio and Willy relaxes happily into the slower pace of seaside life. Painting alone one stormy night, John is startled by the sight of a beautiful ghost. When he admits to his wife what he thinks he’s seen, Willy tries to remain rational and understanding. But all reason disappears as her husband grows steadily more obsessed with the striking, troubled specter who reveals herself only to John—and who seems determined to claim him as her own. Now Willy must draw on the strength of her love to save their marriage . . . and perhaps their lives. Includes a captivating preview of Nancy Thayer’s upcoming novel Nantucket Sisters! Praise for the novels of Nancy Thayer “The queen of beach books.”
—The Star-Ledger
“Thayer has a deep and masterly understanding of love and friendship, of where the two complement and where they collide.”—Elin Hilderbrand “Thayer’s gift for reaching the emotional core of her characters [is] captivating.”—Houston Chronicle “One of my favorite writers.”—Susan Wiggs “Thayer portrays beautifully the small moments, inside stories and shared histories that build families.”—The Miami Herald “Thayer’s sense of place is powerful, and her words are hung together the way my grandmother used to tat lace.”—Dorothea Benton Frank
The Witches
Peter Curtis - 1960
But dreams can change into nightmares...When one of her students accuses his friend Ethel's grandmother of abusing her, Miss Mayfield cannot let it go. But Ethel won't say anything, despite the evidence of Miss Mayfield's own eyes. But as she attempts to get to the truth of the matter, she stumbles on something far more sinister. Walwyk seems to be in the grip of a centuries-old evil, and anybody who questions events in the village does not last long.Death stalks more than one victim, and Miss Mayfield begins to realise that if she's not careful, she will be the next to die...
Rangers of the Lone Star
Zane Grey - 1997
Readers were thrilled and greeted it as another masterpiece from one of the West's greatest storytellers. The manuscript would suffer at the hands of Grey's book publishers, however. They took the second half of the novel, deleted characters, changed the hero's name, and pasted it with the first half of another Grey manuscript to produce the awkward hybrid published as The Lone Star Ranger. Now, decades after its creation, the complete novel finally appears in paperback as the author wrote it, restored to its original glory.The Law of the RangersDeputy Marshal Russ Sittell is on special assignment from the Texas Rangers to work with Vaughan Steel in putting a stop to the rampant rustling in Pecos County. But everyone knows that local rancher - and mayor - Granger Longstreth doesn't want any Ranger interference in his town. When Russ takes a job on Longstreth's ranch, he's able to learn exactly how the rancher operates - and he witnesses the growing tension between Longstreth and Steele. A tension that can only lead to trouble.
Wings of the Seraph
Sarah Hawke - 2018
Welcome to the Far Rim.” I spent my entire childhood dreaming about flying starships, and a few years ago that fantasy finally became a reality. I have a fast ship, a reliable partner, and a cute alien girl in almost every port in the sector. Life is good. Or was, until I met her. My heart nearly stopped the first time I laid eyes on her. She is a Velothi Succubus, a genetically engineered concubine whose body and personality are attuned to the needs of a specific person—in this case, a human male who isn’t me. Her long legs, her silky blue skin, her faintly-glowing eyes…I’ve never seen anything like her before. And if I want to score the biggest payday of my life, all I need to do is deliver her into the harem of a scumbag pirate on the other side the sector. Oh, and of course I’ll forfeit my payment if I so much as lay a finger on her during the trip, even though she clearly wants me every bit as much as I want her. What could possibly go wrong? WINGS OF THE SERAPH is an action-packed erotic sci-fi adventure filled with daring chases, heart-pounding space battles, and plenty of explicit sex (31,000 words).Publisher's Note: this book is part of the anthology Wings of the Seraph: The Complete Series . The second edition (released 10/2020) includes many editorial improvements.
Haunted
Tamara Thorne - 1995
Its shrouded history of madness and murder is just the inspiration he needs to wriote his ultimate masterpiece of horror. But what waits for David and his sixteen-year-old daughter, Amber, at Baudey House, is more terrifying than any legend...First comes the sultry hint of jasmine...followed by the foul stench of decay. It is the dead, seducing the living, in an age-old ritual of perverted desire and unholy blood lust. For David and Amber, an unspeakable possession has begun...
Seven Sisters
M.L. Bullock - 2014
The handsome and wealthy Ashland Stuart has hired her to uncover the history and the secrets of Seven Sisters, an aging antebellum mansion in sultry downtown Mobile, Alabama. A series of dreams, an untimely death and the betrayal of someone she loves lead her back in time to uncover the truth about a missing young heiress and a web of secrets.Will Carrie Jo slip into the shadows of Seven Sisters, following in the ghostly footsteps of the lost young woman, or can she solve this tragic mystery and find her own happiness?
Empire of the Vampire
Jay Kristoff - 2021
For nearly three decades, vampires have waged war against humanity; building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own. Now, only a few tiny sparks of light endure in a sea of darkness.Gabriel de León is a silversaint: a member of a holy brotherhood dedicated to defending realm and church from the creatures of the night. But even the Silver Order could not stem the tide once daylight failed us, and now, only Gabriel remains.Imprisoned by the very monsters he vowed to destroy, the last silversaint is forced to tell his story. A story of legendary battles and forbidden love, of faith lost and friendships won, of the Wars of the Blood and the Forever King and the quest for humanity’s last remaining hope: The Holy Grail.Fromauthor Jay Kristoff comes Empire of the Vampire, the first illustrated volume of an astonishing new dark fantasy saga.
Ghosts In Our Backyard - The Ramsays' real-life encounters with the supernatural
Alisha 'Priti' Kirpalani - 2021
Through their films and series they introduced India to churails that floated across the screen, ghouls that woke up from eerie graveyards, and houses that buzzed with ghosts.But few knew that behind the production drama, elaborate sets, and haunting showtunes, there was a more sinister story. For the Ramsays, the supernatural wasn't just stuck to the screens and camera - it creeped into their lives, too.Alisha Kirpalani, the granddaughter of FU Ramsay, has grown up on stories that question reality and bring a chill to the bone. In time, she, too, followed her family's footsteps and saw through the veil that separates this world and the Other.From the woman on the highway that Shyam Ramsay met to an eerie and persistent knocking that came from every house that Tanuja Ramsay lived in to Amit Ramsay's unwelcome dead visitor at Lamington House, the original home of the Ramsays, this book has the improbable, bizarre and spine-chilling all parading through its chapters.
The Haunting of Alcott Manor
Alyssa Richards - 2017
His family has a past. Can they solve a century-old mystery… together? Gemma doesn't miss working for the family business. She has a knack for restoring older properties, but after a vicious haunting nearly killed her, she was more than ready to move on. Gemma agrees to one last job to save her parents’ business, but the 1880s historical estate has its fair share of dark secrets…Henry Alcott wants nothing more than to free the spirit from his family’s property. Ever since the original owner was wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death, the ghost has made sure every restoration effort was a miserable failure. But there’s something about Gemma that makes Henry believe in a much brighter future…Gemma and Henry must solve a hundred-year mystery to complete the restoration in time. Failure to do so could cost Gemma’s parents their business, but staying in the house could cost them much, much more…The Haunting of Alcott Manor is a contemporary gothic romance mystery. If you like fateful chemistry, engaging characters, and mysteries that keep you guessing until the very end, then you’ll love the first book in USA TODAY BESTSELLING Author Alyssa Richards’ chilling new series.
Buy The Haunting of Alcott Manor to step inside the house today!
The Infernal
Kim Wilkins - 1997
Can these 20th-century murders be linked to events in Elizabethan England?