Plain Bad Heroines


Emily M. Danforth - 2020
    Flo and Clara, two impressionable students, are obsessed with each other and with a daring young writer named Mary MacLane, the author of a scandalous bestselling memoir. To show their devotion to Mary, the girls establish their own private club and call it The Plain Bad Heroine Society. They meet in secret in a nearby apple orchard, the setting of their wildest happiness and, ultimately, of their macabre deaths. This is where their bodies are later discovered with a copy of Mary’s book splayed beside them, the victims of a swarm of stinging, angry yellow jackets. Less than five years later, The Brookhants School for Girls closes its doors forever—but not before three more people mysteriously die on the property, each in a most troubling way. Over a century later, the now abandoned and crumbling Brookhants is back in the news when wunderkind writer, Merritt Emmons, publishes a breakout book celebrating the queer, feminist history surrounding the “haunted and cursed” Gilded-Age institution. Her bestselling book inspires a controversial horror film adaptation starring celebrity actor and lesbian it girl Harper Harper playing the ill-fated heroine Flo, opposite B-list actress and former child star Audrey Wells as Clara. But as Brookhants opens its gates once again, and our three modern heroines arrive on set to begin filming, past and present become grimly entangled—or perhaps just grimly exploited—and soon it’s impossible to tell where the curse leaves off and Hollywood begins. A story within a story within a story and featuring black-and-white period illustrations.

Ink


Alice Broadway - 2017
    There are honorable marks that let people know you're trustworthy. And shameful tattoos that announce you as a traitor. After her father dies, Leora finds solace in the fact that his skin tells a wonderful story. That is, until she glimpses a mark on the back of his neck...the symbol of the worst crime a person can commit in Saintstone. Leora knows it has to be a mistake, but before she can do anything about it, the horrifying secret gets out, jeopardizing her father's legacy...and Leora's life.In her startlingly prescient debut, Alice Broadway shines a light on the dangerous lengths we go to make our world feel orderly--even when the truth refuses to stay within the lines. This rich, lyrical fantasy with echoes of Orwell is unlike anything you've ever read, a tale guaranteed to get under your skin...

The White Aura


Felicia Tatum - 2012
    Shocked by a discovery about herself, Olivia struggles with her new reality and the secrets her parents have hidden from her. When the two are forced to meet, the countdown begins. Will Scott and Olivia find a way to break the curse or will it lead to Olivia’s death?

Moonshade


S.J. West - 2016
     For two weeks straight, Sarah’s been unable to eat, sleep, or even form a coherent thought properly. She fears she’s losing her mind until a chance encounter brings a man into her life who seems to hold the key to solving her problems. With a single touch, he’s able to ease her troubled soul and bring her some much-needed peace. Yet, just as Sarah believes she’s found the solution to her dilemma, he disappears. As Sarah begins to unravel a mystery surrounding her family’s past, she quickly discovers her role in a world that’s hidden from most humans. Being a Marcel comes with certain responsibilities, and there are some things that you can’t hide from forever. This series is meant for ages 17+.

The Iron Butterfly


Chanda Hahn - 2012
    Their leader has chosen Thalia as the test subject for a torture device of untold power, designed to change and twist her into something that is neither human nor Denai.Escaping, Thalia finds an unwilling warrior to protect her and an unlikely Denai to befriend her. After finding a home at the Citadel as a servant, Thalia’s worst nightmare comes to life and she begins to show signs of power. Scared and unable to control her gifts, she tries to hide her past to fit in among the Denai. But the Septori want their latest test subject back and will stop at nothing to retrieve her, dead or alive.

Ghosts of the Shadow Market


Cassandra Clare - 2019
    There the Downworlders buy and sell magical objects, make dark bargains, and whisper secrets they do not want the Nephilim to know. Through two centuries, however, there has been a frequent visitor to the Shadow Market from the City of Bones, the very heart of the Shadowhunters. As a Silent Brother, Brother Zachariah is sworn keeper of the laws and lore of the Nephilim. But once he was a Shadowhunter called Jem Carstairs, and his love, then and always, is the warlock Tessa Gray.Follow Brother Zachariah and see, against the backdrop of the Shadow Market’s dark dealings and festive celebrations, Anna Lightwood’s first romance, Matthew Fairchild’s great sin and Tessa Gray plunged into a world war. Valentine Morgenstern buys a soul at the Market and a young Jace Wayland’s soul finds safe harbor. In the Market is hidden a lost heir and a beloved ghost, and no one can save you once you have traded away your heart. Not even Brother Zachariah...Ghosts of the Shadow Market will be co-written with Maureen Johnson, Robin Wasserman, Sarah Rees Brennan and Pulitzer finalist Kelly Link and will initially be available digitally.The first eight stories will be published as e-books from around March 2018 monthly, with the final two available in a print bind-up of all the stories, to be published in 2019.

The Red Tree


Caitlín R. Kiernan - 2009
    Within its walls she discovers an unfinished manuscript written by the house's former tenant--an anthropologist obsessed with the ancient oak growing on a desolate corner of the property.Tied to local legends of supernatural magic, as well as documented accidents and murders, the gnarled tree takes root in Sarah's imagination, prompting her to write her own account of its unsavory history.And as the oak continues to possess her dreams and nearly almost all her waking thoughts, Sarah risks her health and her sanity to unearth a revelation planted centuries ago...

The Dark Beneath the Ice


Amelinda Bérubé - 2018
    Or that life hasn't been the same since she quit dancing. Or even that her mother has checked herself into the hospital.She's losing time. Doing things she would never do. And objects around her seem to break whenever she comes close. Something is after her. And the only one who seems to believe her is the daughter of a local psychic.But their first attempt at an exorcism calls down the full force of the thing's rage. It demands Marianne give back what she stole. Whatever is haunting her, it wants everything she has--everything it's convinced she stole. Marianne must uncover the truth that lies beneath it all before the nightmare can take what it thinks it's owed, leaving Marianne trapped in the darkness of the other side.

Evie's Knight


Kimberly Krey - 2012
    When Evie falls in love with Calvin Knight, their young, virtuous romance conjures a truly wicked spell. Evie always thought her eighteenth year would be magical, but so far it's not what she hoped for. Her best friend has gone wild, her love life is void, and she misses her mom more than ever. But life for Evie is about to change. Calvin Knight, the object of her fascination, is about to fall madly in love with her. Just one problem: Their love conjures a murderous woman from beyond the grave who wants Evie dead. The same demon who has haunted the Knight men for over four generations. Soon Calvin is forced to make a choice: Set Evie free and hope to evade the wrath of The Raven- haired Ghost, or use his newly gifted strengths to fight against her. If he chooses to fight and wins, Calvin will free the Knight men of this demonic witch. If he loses, Evie will become her next victim.

Awaken


Rachel M. Humphrey-D'aigle - 2011
    In the process, they have a dark awakening when their own simple, normal world, begins to collide with the complexities of the magical world. The twins face unimaginable dangers, which thrust them into an unexpected choice: to live as they always have or to learn the truth about their past and enter a world that is equally thrilling and terrifying. More importantly, however, is whether they even have a choice, or will destiny not only force this new magical reality upon them, but require them to sacrifice everyone they love in doing so? ...

Brightest Kind of Darkness


P.T. Michelle - 2011
    Due to an incident in her past, Nara avoids using her special gift to change fate...until she dreams a future she can't ignore.After Nara prevents a bombing at Blue Ridge High, her ability to see the future starts to fade, while people at school are suddenly being injured at an unusually high rate.Grappling with her diminishing powers and the need to prevent another disaster, Nara meets Ethan Harris, a mysterious loner who seems to understand her better than anyone. Ethan and Nara forge an irresistible connection, but as their relationship heats up, so do her questions about his dark past.

Isle of Night


Veronica Wolff - 2011
    When Annelise meets dark and seductive Ronan, he promises her a new life-if she has the courage to chance the unknown. Now, she's whisked away to a mysterious island and pitted against other female recruits to become a Watcher-girls who are partnered with vampires and assist them in their missions. To survive and become a Watcher, Annelise has to beat out every other girl, but she's determined to do so, because to fail doesn't mean dishonor-it means death.

Cursed


R.K. Ryals - 2013
    A witch. A Demon.Ellie Elizabeth Jacobs, often known as Monroe due to her fascination with vintage attire and old movies, is an 18 year-old witch and a darned good one! But there is also something very wrong with her. Demonic energy makes her powers stronger, she has the ability to ward off Demons, and Lucifer wants her. Sometimes being bad is better. Or at least that's how Luther "Thorne" Craig feels. The hybrid Demon son of the cursed Cain and the Demon Lilith, Luther is reluctantly sent to New Orleans, Louisiana by his brother, the hybrid Demon ruler of the Outer Levels of Hell, to protect Monroe from Lucifer's searching Hellhounds. But what happens when things go wrong?In this riveting spin off from R.K. Ryals' Redemption series, Monroe is faced with an old grimoire, an ancient curse, and a journey to discover a family secret that may surprise them all.

Faelorehn


Jenna Elizabeth Johnson - 2012
    It was like the day the gnomes chased me all over again, but this time I was not escaping some horrible little creatures, I was fleeing from an incredibly good-looking guy who could very well understand me completely. I was either saving myself from that serial killer I always imagined lived down in the swamp, or I had finally gone over the deep end . . .Meghan Elam has been strange her entire life: her eyes have this odd habit of changing color and she sees and hears things no one else does. When the visions and voices in her head start to get worse, she is convinced that her parents will want to drag her off to another psychiatrist. That is, until the mysterious Cade MacRoich shows up out of nowhere with an explanation of his own.Cade brings her news of another realm where goblins and gnomes are the norm, a place where whispering spirits exist in the very earth, and a world where Meghan just might find the answers she has always sought.

Ethereal


Addison Moore - 2011
    When her newly remarried mother moves the family to Paragon Island, to a house that is rumored to be haunted, Skyla finds refuge in Logan Oliver, a boy who shares her unique ability to read minds. Skyla discovers Logan holds the answers to the questions she’s been looking for, but Logan’s reluctance to give her the knowledge she desires leaves her believing Logan has a few secrets of his own. Skyla’s bloodlines may just be connected to the most powerful angelic beings that roam the earth, and the more she knows, the more danger she seems to be in. Suddenly an entire faction of earthbound angels wants her dead, at least she still has Logan, or does she?