She is happy to be an anonymous drudge, so long as it keeps anyone from guessing the dangerous secret she hides.But when Malini accidentally bears witness to Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a vengeful princess seeking to depose her brother from his throne. The other is a priestess seeking to find her family. Together, they will change the fate of an empire.

    Almost.A deadly hunter.Hraban has dedicated his life to taking down creatures like Drakjan, protecting those who cannot protect themselves.An uneasy truce.When fate forces them together, the nix and the hunter discover a dangerous attraction… and a threat that can destroy everything Drakjan has come to love.~~~~~~This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love is an Open Road" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story. "Still Waters" contains sexually explicit content and is intended for adult readers. ~~~~~~This story prompt and photo inspired "Still Waters":Dear Author,I only have two words for you: ginger merman! Everything else is up to you.Photo Description: A redheaded, muscular young man with a short beard stands in a lake, a scraggly stand of seaweed-draped deadwood behind him and mountains in the distance. He looks directly at the viewer, wearing a neutral expression. The water comes up to just above his waist, and he is lifting a sturdy white net from the water with both hands.

    She saw the magic in his darkness.Wren Southerland’s reckless use of magic has cost her everything: she’s been dismissed from the Queen’s Guard and separated from her best friend—the girl she loves. So when a letter arrives from a reclusive lord, asking Wren to come to his estate, Colwick Hall, to cure his servant from a mysterious illness, she seizes her chance to redeem herself.The mansion is crumbling, icy winds haunt the caved-in halls, and her eccentric host forbids her from leaving her room after dark. Worse, Wren’s patient isn’t a servant at all but Hal Cavendish, the infamous Reaper of Vesria and her kingdom’s sworn enemy. Hal also came to Colwick Hall for redemption, but the secrets in the estate may lead to both of their deaths.With sinister forces at work, Wren and Hal realize they’ll have to join together if they have any hope of saving their kingdoms. But as Wren circles closer to the nefarious truth behind Hal’s illness, they realize they have no escape from the monsters within the mansion. All they have is each other, and a startling desire that could be their downfall.Allison Saft’s Down Comes the Night is a snow-drenched romantic fantasy that keeps you racing through the pages long into the night.Love makes monsters of us all.

     A noted scholar of ancient literature and spellcraft, Lord Ashcroft "Andrea" de Bourbon, finds his world shaken when the new science of mechanical animation becomes the talk of high society. In response, Andrea takes to the presses gaining notoriety for his scathing critiques of mechanical animation and its founder the Marquis de la Marche. Then one night Andrea comes face to face with the Marquis de la Marche and discovers he is nothing like Andrea expected. Leon Gregory de la Marche VI, Marquis de la Marche is handsome, brilliant, and charming. While their clashes on paper have become legendary in person they are even more explosive. As passions rise Andrea knows there is no backing down ...

    Now a talented blacksmith and a betrayed prince must find a way to save them...while saving each other. Bren, a blacksmith in a small town, longs to escape his drunken, abusive father. His world is turned upside down when legendary dragon riders arrive and discover Bren is a chosen one. He's taken to the great mountain fortress to imprint one of the new hatchlings by none other than Kyralian, the dragon prince. After the hatching goes terribly wrong, Bren struggles to recover by losing himself in his metalwork, taking on apprentices, and ignoring all dragons. But he soon realizes that Kyralian, seemingly so powerful, is in real trouble. The prince and his male dragon are treated like property, mated as a prize at the end of a yearly chase. Bren will do anything to keep the prince and his dragon safe...even if it costs him everything. Kyralian is desperate to save the dragons of his colony. He's searching for answers to the failing dragon lines, but the ruling council only wants to use his dragon for breeding. He can't defy them because he's bound by duty and his love for his people. Yet he's never felt more alone, more caged by his obligations to the colony. Now his growing feelings for the blacksmith have endangered both their freedom and their lives. The prince's dragon is the last male in the fortress, his value beyond price, and there are enemies who will do anything to make the prince submit... Reader Note: Contains intense emotional elements

    Now, the Red King has found him. To live, to love, they seek the dark side of the sun… A thousand years ago, Milesian invaders gained ownership of Ireland from Summer’s Queen through trickery. Since that day, the green isle’s native sidhe have been imprisoned in their hidden kingdom, bound by their ancient pact with the Milesians. Now, the treaty has been violated. The Milesians have stolen Bran Fionnan, the son of Summer’s queen. Trapped in the human world with no way of returning home, Bran is held under a death threat that forces him to work for his captors. He must forge weapons the Milesian huntresses can use to slay their new foe—the Red King. The Red King is Macsen Cadoc, a vampire—a hunter who cannot stand being hunted. He seeks vengeance for the Milesian attacks in spilled blood—Milesian blood, and the blood of the sidhe traitor who has forged their weapons. When the one he finds is a victim, not a traitor, everything changes. Bran Fionnan is the Milesians’ most valuable prize, but from the moment Macsen sees him, he wants him…and the Red King is not accustomed to being denied—by anyone. What begins with desire may end in extraordinary ways, but first, there are questions that must be answered. What is love? Can it help Bran overcome lost ties and a lifetime’s worth of anger? Can it help the Red King gain more than the satisfaction of his lusts?

    The usual suspects are all present: cowboys, outlaws, and sheriffs. There’s plenty of dust, tumbleweeds, horses, and cattle on the range, but there are also magical gems, automatons, elementals, airships… even dinosaurs and genetically modified insects. Roaming among the buffalo and coyotes, you’ll encounter skinwalkers, mad engineers, mythical beings cloaked in darkness, and lovers who stay true to their oaths… even beyond the grave. On this frontier are those at the mercy of their own elaborate devices as well as men whose control of time and space provides a present-day vision of the West. There might even be a dragon hidden amongst the ghost towns and wagon trains.If you like your Westerns with a splash of magic, a touch of steampunk, and plenty of passionate romance between men, these genre-bending tales will exceed expectations. Hold on to your hats, cowboys and cowgirls. The West is about to get weird, and you’re in for a hell of a ride.

    This story includes graphic depictions of rape and torture. Definitely not for the faint-hearted. Reincarnate is the sequel to The Surrogate.Words: 124743 (approximate)

    While some hold such abilities as shape-shifting and controlling the elements, the rarest are the kings and queens who can bond through blood with keepers and amplify their power… and their own. Titos has been seen as useless and weak his entire life. He’s never been able to bond with another edoli and has nothing of value to offer his queen. Exiled and alone, he’s spent years living amongst humans and away from other edoli in the hope of avoiding execution. When a stranger saves him from certain death, Titos’s life will never be the same. Seth isn’t just some random stranger: he’s absolutely gorgeous and claims to have been drawn to Titos to serve him as his keeper. He assures Titos he is a king, and a powerful one at that. Never in his wildest dreams could Titos have imagined he was someone special. But a king isn’t all Titos is… After nearly killing Seth during their bonding, Titos is terrified of his abilities. Luckily, Seth isn’t the only keeper drawn to Titos’s call, and Mazki knows what to do to save Seth’s life. The connection between Titos, Seth, and Mazki is immediate and strong, and it isn’t long before Adom and Kail are drawn to Titos as well. But now that Titos has accepted his birthright, they all know that it won’t be long before the edoli council comes for him. Running from homicidal hunters and trying to stay hidden from the council, Titos knows he doesn’t have long to prepare. Sooner than he’d like, he’ll have to fight to defend what he and his keepers are building. And his very life. A King to Be Claimed contains a HFN ending, scenes with multiple partners, poly-style harem mild blood play, and a king who just wants to be loved.

    Now she’s returned to her mother’s imperial court, haunted not only by memories of her first romance, but by worrying magical echoes of a fire that devastated Ephteria’s royal palace.Thanh’s new role as a diplomat places her once again in the path of her first love, the powerful and magnetic Eldris of Ephteria, who knows exactly what she wants: romance from Thanh and much more from Thanh’s home. Eldris won’t take no for an answer, on either front. But the fire that burned down one palace is tempting Thanh with the possibility of making her own dangerous decisions.Can Thanh find the freedom to shape her country’s fate—and her own?

    Perfect for fans of Laini Taylor and Brandon Sanderson.Prince North’s home is in the sky, in a gleaming city held aloft by intricate engines, powered by technology. Nimh is the living goddess of her people on the Surface, responsible for providing answers, direction—hope.North’s and Nimh’s lives are entwined—though their hearts can never be. Linked by a terrifying prophecy and caught between duty and fate, they must choose between saving their people or succumbing to the bond that is forbidden between them.

    Herewiss does have a talent for more mundane sorcery, and (aided by the unearthly creature Sunspark) he uses it to rout the armies besieging Freelorn. But now Herewiss faces a devastating choice.His time to master the blue Fire is running out. Should he join Freelorn in his fight to regain his kingdom? Or should he seek out the ancient keep in the Waste where doors lead into other worlds -- perhaps even the door whose use will teach him to control the Power that he must master or die?...

    When a murderous spirit possesses Bobby’s wife and disrupts the perfect life he’s built away from Oklahoma, he’s forced to ask for his little brother’s help. Adam is happy to escape the trailer park and get the chance to say I told you so, but he arrives in Denver to find the local magicians dead.It isn’t long before Adam is the spirit’s next target. To survive the confrontation, he’ll have to risk bargaining with powers he’d rather avoid, including his first love, the elf who broke his heart.The Binder brothers don’t realize that they’re unwitting pawns in a game played by immortals. Death herself wants the spirit’s head, and she’s willing to destroy their family to reap it.

    Despite his better judgment, he agreed to let the young mercenary travel with him to the battle at Foray. Their travels become a journey of sexual discovery, love, and, ultimately, on the battlefield at Foray, loss.Two years later, Drake is called to be Master of Arms at Marden Castle. Drake can handle that, but he can't handle Logan, the Duke of Marden.Logan's green eyes, long blond hair, and boyish charm make Drake feel things he'd rather keep buried. But if Drake can open his heart again, he'll find everything he's never wanted and always needed: a home, a son, and a man to love and who loves him. Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Male/male sexual practices, ménage (m/f/m, m/m/m), violence.

    Little did he know he’d find the man who would become his world.As soon as he spotted the dragon groomer Tyron knew he’d found his match. Never before had he felt such an instantaneous attraction.Derlin has secrets he can’t share, secrets that aren’t only his. When Tyron’s life depends on Derlin’s abilities does he dare to take a chance or does he let Tyron die to protect his family?