Wandering the fringes of space as a salvager, he comes across a planet beyond the boundaries of the federation, rich in metals remnant of a dead civilization. Or so he thought. Confronted by cannibalistic mutations of the indigenous species, his salvage has suddenly become a lot more complicated. Even more so when he encounters a female surviving on her own. She is strong and fearless, begrudgingly earning his admiration. Terri is hardened by a life of hunger and watchfulness, and yet is moved by a compassion that he’s never possessed. When his admiration turns into the first signs of a forming mate-bond, he knows his fate is sealed. Unlicensed mating is forbidden—if his malfunctioning wasn’t already a death sentencing, taking her for her mate would be. Yet, he finds that letting her go is no longer an option. Please be advised that this book has graphic sex and violence that may not be appropriate for all audiences.

    The stunning, silver-clad beauty who strides into his club one night radiates a sensual magnetism unlike any he's encountered, and Julian realizes that Asia Callahan is not just Chosen, she is his kindra: his one true mate.For months, Asia has tracked the beautiful and mysterious Julian across the country, convinced that he's behind the disappearance of her sister and a dozen other women. She's prepared to believe he's a ruthless killer, but when she presents herself as bait, she discovers that the truth is far more shocking. Taken to a strange, hazardous realm she never knew existed, Asia will face the ultimate choice--between abandoning the life she's always known and forsaking a passion as dangerous as it is powerful.

    When an old man comes seeking vengeance for his murdered granddaughter, what looks like a simple job quickly spirals out of control. Soon Daniel stands in the crossfire between a murderous porn director; a corrupt cop with a quick trigger finger; and his own former employer, a racket boss who isn't entirely human. Then there's Caitlin: brilliant, beautiful, and the lethal right hand of a demon prince. A man named Faust should know what happens when you rub shoulders with demons. Still Daniel can't resist being drawn to Caitlin's flame as they race to unlock the secret of the Etruscan Box, a relic that people all over town are dying -- and killing -- to get their hands on. As the bodies drop and the double-crosses pile up, Daniel will need every shred of his wits, courage and sheer ruthlessness just to survive. Daniel Faust knew he was standing with one foot over the brink of hell. He's about to find out just how far he can fall.

    That was hard to accomplish being a vampire. Just going into college in 1944 as a young adult, she met Lord Simon Baldevar who entranced her into his bloodlust life. Lord Baldevar, Simon, then becoming her Master, took Meghann into his dark realms of lust and destruction. For 13 years her pride could not adjust to this torture and possession. She leaves her Master on the roof, impaled and forced to meet his death with the sunlight.Decades later, Alcuin, Meghann's mentor and a different bloodline of vampires from the Black Plague Age, tells her that Baldevar has survived. Simon Baldevar was not expecting his estranged consort to be so strong; to have learned from Alcuin more than Simon ever meant to teach her. Along with Jimmy, Meghann's companion of six years, and Charles, her dearest blood friend, Meghann and Alcuin vow and plan to hunt down and kill the Master of her past and life blood of her being.The second book in this trilogy is Crimson Night and the third book is Crimson Shadows.

    He’d cast a spell for her, but when she’s transported right to him, she’s not so sure she’s ready to be under the spell of another man. (It didn’t go so well last time with controlling, abusive, domineering Jeff.) If only Criminy wasn’t so deliciously rakish….Half the inhabitants of Sang are Pinkies—human—and the other half are Bludmen, who in Tish’s world would be called vampires. But they don’t mess with any of the bat/coffin/no sunlight nonsense. They’re rather like you and me, just more fabulous, long living, and mostly indestructible. (They're also very good kissers.) But when the evil Mayor of Manchester (formerly Bludchester) redoubles his efforts to rid Sang of the Bludmen once and for all, stealing Tish’s locket in hopes of traveling back to her world himself for reinforcements, Criminy and Tish must battle ghosts, sea monsters, wayward submarines, a secret cabal, and thundering Bludmares to get the locket back and allow Tish to return home…but has she found love with Criminy? Could she stay in Sang forever?

     Suspenseful, surprising, sometimes dark, sometimes humorous-these all-new stories will ensure that readers never think of vampires (or birthdays) in quite the same way again. In New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris's "Dracula Night," Sookie Stackhouse is the only human at the annual commemoration of Dracula's birth. But this year, the Prince of Darkness actually shows up-and finds Sookie to be a tasty-looking present. New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher's crime-solving wizard Harry Dresden, of the Dresden Files novels, heads to a role-playing party to give his vampire brother a birthday present in "It's My Birthday Too," only to discover there are some bloodthirsty party crashers who don't share their brotherly love. In "Twilight," Cassandra DuCharme, who appeared in New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong's Dime Store Magic, knows she has to kill to live as a vampire another year-but finds herself disturbingly disinterested in the hunt. Plus ten more bloody good birthday stories that take the cake.Contents xi • Preface: A Few Words (Many Bloody Returns) • (2007) • essay by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner1 • Dracula Night • [Sookie Stackhouse 4.3] • shortstory by Charlaine Harris21 • The Mournful Cry of Owls • novelette by Christopher Golden50 • I Was a Teenage Vampire • novelette by Bill Crider73 • Twilight • [Women of the Otherworld Short Fiction 7.2] • novelette by Kelley Armstrong100 • It's My Birthday, Too • [The Dresden Files 9.2] • novella by Jim Butcher146 • Grave-Robbed • [Vampire Files] • novelette by P. N. Elrod176 • The First Day of the Rest of Your Life • [The Morganville Vampires: Extras 2.5] • novelette by Rachel Caine201 • The Witch and the Wicked • novelette by Jeanne C. Stein230 • Blood Wrapped • [Henry Fitzroy] • novelette by Tanya Huff254 • The Wish • shortstory by Carolyn Haines265 • Fire Ice and Linguini for Two • [Garnet Lacey 2.5] • novelette by Lyda Morehouse [as by Tate Hallaway ]290 • Vampire Hours • novelette by Elaine Viets318 • How Stella Got Her Grave Back • novelette by Toni L. P. Kelner

    When his all-too-human lover is found murdered on the eve of the coven's annual Four Hundred Ball--a celebration meant to usher in a new era in vampire society, and to mark the re-unification of the Coven after decades of unrest and decay--Oliver is devastated.Now, not only is he trying to create a new world order for the immortal elite, he's the prime suspect and is stalked by the newly installed head of the vampire secret police. Because according to the new rules, vampires who take human life can now be executed. Burned.How can an immortal sentenced to die fight back? He has to find the killer--and the answers lie deep in vampire lore.

    Cursing at and writing off love after the only woman he let himself fall for wound up marrying his older brother, Patrick enrolls himself at Stanford hoping college life, the California girls, and the epic surf will get him back to his free-spirited, ladies-man-extraordinaire self. Just when Patrick feels the shadow of himself returning, Emma Scarlett enters his life, seeing through his shenanigans and calling him on his crap. Intrigued by this fascinating creature who is ignorant to his charm, surrounded by four older brothers that look at Patrick like he's a bug to squish, and dating the same guy for the past six years who gives new meaning to the term territorial boyfriend, Patrick gravitates to Emma, knowing she's everything he shouldn't fall for.So, of course, he can't help himself.It doesn't take long for Patrick to discover Emma has as many secrets as he does. And hers may be just as dark as his.This time, falling for the girl could not only break his heart, but his spirit. FISSURE is the first installment in the two part series, THE PATRICK CHRONICLES, and is a side story to the best-selling YA series, THE EDEN TRILOGY. The final installment, FUSION, will be released in the summer of 2012.

    For Reyna Carpenter, giving up her body isn’t a choice. It’s survival. In a civilization laid waste by poverty and desperation, Reyna accepts a high-paying position with the wealthy and hungry vampire elite. Her new job is as the live-in blood escort for the intimidating, demanding, and devilishly handsome Beckham Anderson. He’s everything she expected from a vampire, except for one thing—he won’t feed off her. Reyna soon discovers that behind Beckham’s brooding, wicked façade lies a unique and complex man. And that, in a dark and divided world, she is more valuable than she ever would have believed. For with each passing night, Reyna can’t shake the sensation that it’s Beckham who’s afraid of her. Note: Reyna and Beckham’s story continues in Blood Match.This ebook includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title.

    But with all good intentions, evil will fatefully intercede. After a jealous foe unleashes a hailstorm of mischief onto an unsuspecting small-town, Anika finds herself battling a volatile spell; where all bets are off, and magic will fly.

    Life is perfect until her sixteenth birthday when her world is turned upside down. Her beloved Jack and Devin have turned into monsters that haunt only the darkest of nightmares; nightmares that soon become her reality. The Life of Anna follows the naive and innocent Anna as she enters a dark world of greed, politics, and an evil puppet master who pulls the strings to her world. And beyond. Readers be warned, for this journey is not for the faint of heart. You are about to venture into a world of dark plots, sinister villains, and deeply erotic taboo encounters. Are you brave enough to enter the Life of Anna? ***WARNING*** This book is for grownups. This book is not for people who are easily offended, get nightmares easily, or have difficulty reading books about tough subjects. I do not glorify bad things, but bad things do happen to my poor characters. This is not your typical love story. My heroine does not fall in love and live happily ever after... at least not like the typical heroine. There is a happily ever after, but it is a long, painful journey to that end. This book will likely offend you. This book might make you cry; it might make you throw up. It is a dark book. As my friend, Heidi, said, “It’s dark. It gets darker. It gets even darker, and then it gets even more darker. And then, just when you think it can’t get any darker, it does.” But, don’t worry. I take you to the deep end gradually. ;) There are many sexual situations in this series of books. People die. People get hurt. Things aren’t always truly the way they appear. The antagonist isn’t just a bad guy; he’s EVIL. My heroine’s worldview is skewed; things that may appall you are perfectly normal to her. Any violence in this book is non-gratuitous and crucial to the plot and character development. Do not read this if you are under the age of consent in your country. Do not get angry if the subject or actual book upsets you. If you're reading this, you've been warned.

    However, this new life she craves so badly isn’t the one she is expecting. Not after Draven gets one look at her and quickly decides her fate.But which fate will Keira choose, a willing slave to the darkness inside him or a prisoner in his arms for all eternity?After all, Dominic Draven, isn’t what he seems and Afterlife isn’t just a nightclub…No, for Draven, it’s a castle he rules from.Warning: This book is amazingly addictive, with its dark mystery, haunting horror, seductive twists and one sexy dark lord that has the reader drooling every time the name Draven appears on the page!

    Here together for the first time in a stunning eBook bundle are the first three novels in the New York Times bestselling paranormal series:First Grave on the RightCharley sees dead people. And it's her job to convince them to "go into the light." But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e., murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she's been having about an Entity who has been following her all her life...and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely. Second Grave on the LeftWhen Charley and Cookie, her best friend slash receptionist, have to track down a missing woman, the case is not quite as open and shut as they anticipate. Meanwhile, Reyes Alexander Farrow (otherwise known as the Son of Satan. Yes. Literally.) has left his corporeal body because he's being tortured by demons who want to lure Charley closer. But Reyes can't let that happen. Because if the demons get to Charley, they'll have a portal to heaven. And if they have a portal to heaven...well, let's just say it wouldn't be pretty.Third Grave Dead AheadEvery time Charley closes her eyes, she sees him: Reyes Farrow, the part-human, part-supermodel son of Satan. Yes, she did imprison him for all eternity, but come on. How is she supposed to solve a missing persons case, deal with an ego-driven doctor, calm her curmudgeonly dad, and take on a motorcycle gang hell-bent on murder when the devil's son just won't give up?

    Vampires and hybrids have overrun my world, once vibrant with life, but now a graveyard of death shrouded in shadows. I fight to survive; I fight for my mother and brother. The journey is full of turns that I am quite unprepared for. And I'm just hoping to make it to the next Vegas sunrise..."In a post-apocalyptic world, a viral epidemic has wiped out most of the earth’s population, leaving behind few humans but untold numbers of mutated vampires. April is a seventeen-year-old girl who lives in the remains of Las Vegas one year after the outbreak. She has become a ferocious vampire killer and after her family is abducted, she goes searching for them. What she finds is a new breed of vampire, unlike any she has seen before. Unsure of whom she can trust, she discovers that her view of the world is not as black and white as she once thought, and she's willing to bend the rules to rescue her family. But in trying to save them, she may only succeed in bringing her fragile world crashing down around her.

    I should have let them win. Now the kings of the school are out for my blood, ... and they’re not the only ones. The fire took everything. My parents. My best friend. My life. Now I have a second chance. I only have to endure one year at this prestigious academy for rich snobs. One year of being the charity case no one wanted. One year of taunts and insults and bullying. Then I’m free. But I didn’t count on Trey, Ayaz, and Quinn. Arrogant, privileged, dangerous. Drop-dead fucking gorgeous. They want me gone. They want me to suffer. They’re determined to make my nightmares real. Tough luck, bully boys – I won’t hide away. I’m not afraid. But maybe… I should be. HP Lovecraft meets Cruel Intentions in this dark paranormal reverse harem bully romance. Warning: Not for the faint of heart – this story of three broken bad boys and the girl who stood her ground contains dark themes, crazed cultists, books bound in human skin, high-school drama, swoon-worthy sex, and potential triggers.