Book picks similar to
Liar: Memoir of a Haunting by E.F. Schraeder
contemporary
gothic
horror
lgbt
Missing Christopher: A mother's story of tragedy, grief and love
Jayne Newling - 2014
Powerfully written, it's an eloquent reminder that our hold on life is tenuous, and communication, love and togetherness are the key to surviving such a tragedy.Christopher was 17 and he had everything to live for. He was smart, charismatic, loving and deeply loved, and a champion rugby player. Yet behind the veneer of a popular and confident athlete he was struggling. Diagnosed a year earlier with depression and severe anxiety, he hid his fears from family and friends. Finally, Christopher chose to stop fighting. This is the story of Christopher's shocking death and its tragic aftermath for the family. It is also the story of a mother and father's love, and their determination not to lose another son to the temptation of taking his own life. Honest, raw, and deeply moving, Jayne's account brings to life the visceral experience of grief and the long, painful journey towards finding meaning in life again. This is compelling and inspirational reading for anyone affected by the death of a young person.
Transitions: The Heirs Prequel
D. Camille - 2018
~ African Proverb Time waits for no man…or woman. Life moves on, old things fade away to make way for new beginnings. From Black Diamonds, to Uncut Diamonds…to Heirs. A new generation is forming, designed to be more advanced, more dangerous and more intriguing than their predecessors. In this prequel, The Diamond family is transitioning to usher in a new regime. The Diamonds are back, and the family is growing in unexpected ways...
Live at Five
Té Russ - 2019
A decade later, a bit of fate has brought them back into each other’s lives. ** This is a short story. If you prefer longer stories, please check out another Té Russ title
Boys of Alabama
Genevieve Hudson - 2020
While his German parents don’t know what to make of a South pining for the past, shy Max thrives in the thick heat. Taken in by the football team, he learns how to catch a spiraling ball, how to point a gun, and how to hide his innermost secrets.Max already expects some of the raucous behavior of his new, American friends—like their insatiable hunger for the fried and cheesy, and their locker room talk about girls. But he doesn’t expect the comradery—or how quickly he would be welcomed into their world of basement beer drinking. In his new canvas pants and thickening muscles, Max feels like he’s “playing dress-up.” That is until he meets Pan, the school “witch,” in Physics class: “Pan in his all black. Pan with his goth choker and the gel that made his hair go straight up.” Suddenly, Max feels seen, and the pair embarks on a consuming relationship: Max tells Pan about his supernatural powers, and Pan tells Max about the snake poison initiations of the local church. The boys, however, aren’t sure whose past is darker, and what is more frightening—their true selves, or staying true in Alabama.Writing in verdant and visceral prose that builds to a shocking conclusion, Genevieve Hudson “brilliantly reinvents the Southern Gothic, mapping queer love in a land where God, guns, and football are king” (Leni Zumas, author of Red Clocks). Boys of Alabama becomes a nuanced portrait of masculinity, religion, immigration, and the adolescent pressures that require total conformity.
Beach Traffic: The Ocean Can Be Deadly
Judith Lucci - 2019
Kat’s childhood friend, Heidi is looking for great sex and a fantastic weekend hookup. But, things turned bad quickly when they learn a friend of theirs had been brutally attacked. Federal and local law enforcement officials are concerned about a vicious murder on the beach and the disappearance of five women.
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Falling on Main Street
Tara Grace Ericson - 2018
Endless thoughts of her best friend's betrayal and her tattered reputation follow her to the small town where she takes refuge. Luke Brand has a good life, though not a perfect one. A widower while he was still young, he chases off any threat to the memory of his young bride and the house they lived in together. Can Luke get over his stubbornness and follow his mother-in-law’s desire and God’s instruction to help the town’s newest resident? Between the infuriating hot and cold signals of her landlord's son and the sincere faith of those in her new circle, Charlotte is left questioning a lot more than how to take back her career. Can Luke let go of a bride viewed through the skewed lens of memory? Will Charlotte’s pride and ambition thwart her efforts to find happiness again? Or, can this time in the charming Indiana town of Minden spur healing for both Charlotte and Luke and help them find the way to a new life, together? Tara Grace Ericson's debut novel is a sweet inspirational romance that introduces readers to the idyllic Midwestern town of Minden. Themes include forgiveness, purpose, and community - presented throughout the story of friendship and romance that hints at the passion of true love.
The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion
Margaret Killjoy - 2017
Searching for clues about her best friend’s mysterious and sudden suicide, she ventures to the squatter, utopian town of Freedom, Iowa. All is not well in Freedom, however: things went awry after the town’s residents summoned a protector spirit to serve as their judge and executioner.Danielle shows up in time to witness the spirit—a blood-red, three-antlered deer—begin to turn on its summoners. Danielle and her new friends have to act fast if they’re going to save the town—or get out alive.
Ghosts of a Beach Town in Winter (Halcyon Beach Chronicles, #1)
Kathleen Valentine - 2011
The arcades, food stands, souvenir shops and tattoo parlors are boarded over for the winter but the bungalows tucked in the dunes are occupied by artists and transients looking for cheap rentals. She faces a long, cold, lonely winter but a bunch of old guys, that she calls The Geezers, begin regaling her with stories about the "old days" and about an ill-fated romance between the beautiful wife of a Boston mob boss and The Great Hercules, a sideshow strongman. She is also increasingly fascinated by an elusive roustabout who flirts with her and shows her the secret spaces in an old beachfront ballroom. As winter gets darker and deeper Layla's husband is both struggling with his writing and becoming suspicious of her behavior. What Layla doesn't know is that nothing is what it seems and her options are growing fewer every day. (Volume One of the Halcyon Beach Chronicles. Volume Two is Ghosts of a Lighthouse in Autumn.)
The Girls Are Never Gone
Sarah Glenn Marsh - 2021
But publicly, she’s keeping her doubts to herself—because she’s the voice of Attachments, her brand-new paranormal investigation podcast, and she needs her ghost-loving listeners to tune in. That’s what brings her to Arrington Estate. Thirty years ago, teenager Atheleen Bell drowned in Arrington’s lake, and legend says her spirit haunts the estate. Dare’s more interested in the suspicious circumstances surrounding her death—circumstances that she believes point to a living culprit, not the supernatural. Still, she’s vowed to keep an open mind as she investigates, even if she’s pretty sure what she’ll find. But Arrington is full of surprises. Good ones like Quinn, the cute daughter of the house’s new owner. And baffling ones like the threatening messages left scrawled in paint on Quinn’s walls, the ghastly face that appears behind Dare’s own in the mirror, and the unnatural current that nearly drowns their friend Holly in the lake. As Dare is drawn deeper into the mysteries of Arrington, she’ll have to rethink the boundaries of what is possible. Because if something is lurking in the lake…it might not be willing to let her go.
Going Rate for Mr. Right
Jessie Evans - 2016
That’s why she’s moving forward with her Happily Ever After solo, with the help of a sperm sample from a double PhD holder. At least that was her plan until the sperm bank sold her the wrong sample and she ended up deep in let-me-have-your-baby-batter negotiations with her unnamed donor. Her homecoming to Sapphire Falls is taking a hard turn for the sour, and that’s before her mother’s prize-winning rooster, Sampson the Third, makes it clear he’s out for blood—Yasmin’s blood.The first time Noah Riley visited his cousin, Mason, he fell hard for Sapphire Falls. So he’s not really surprised to find himself falling hard for a Sapphire Falls girl. The moment Yasmin races past him, chased by a demon rooster, his gut utters two words—yes and mine. He and Yasmin share an instant connection, but convincing this wounded woman to let him be her knight in faded blue jeans is harder than he ever imagined. Especially when he discovers she’s the woman who was accidentally given his sperm sample!Can Yasmin and Noah survive the attack of the killer poultry and find their way to you and me and baby makes three the old-fashioned way? Or will the scars from the past keep two destined lovers from their Meant To Be?
The Spy Prince (Princes of Valdoria Book 4)
Julia Keanini - 2019
He's never needed anyone...except for her.Prince Elliot Kane is known throughout the world for his charm, his title, and his boyish good looks. He plays the part so well he's known as the "playboy" prince. But Elliot doesn't mind the moniker because it not only keeps him from having to maintain a serious relationship and it keeps his biggest secret under wraps. He's a covert agent.Give Lauren a Glock, a ten-mile run through the desert, or having to face down the most dangerous criminals in the world, and she rises to the challenge. But being partnered with the most eligible bachelor in the world, a man she's secretly had a crush on for years, reduces her to a heap of quivering jelly.
When Elliot discovers Prince Joquen, a man with diplomatic immunity, is committing unthinkable crimes against humanity, Elliot is forced to take the man down. But he can't do it alone. Infiltrating Joquen's inner circle requires faking a relationship with Lauren.
But when the lines between personal feelings and professional conduct blur, will Lauren succeed in keeping her secret? Or will the spy prince finally find love?The fourth book in the sweet and wholesome Princes of Valdoria series.Read all of the Princes of Valdoria romances by Julia Keanini:1. The Noble Heir2. The Captivating Prince3. The Charming Prince4. The Spy PrinceRead all of Julia Keanini's Sweet Romances!Heathcliff Family Romances1. His to Save: Her Secret Billionaire2. His to Marry: Her Billionaire Boss3. His to Protect: Her Bodyguard EnemySecond Chance Fairy Tale:1. Merrily Ever After2. Snow and the Seven Teenagers3. A Royal (Fake) Engagement4. Bella and the Billionaire BeastPrinces of Valdoria:1. The Noble Heir2. The Captivating Prince3. The Charming Prince4. The Spy Prince
The Book Collector
Alice Thompson - 2015
Violet is obsessed with the books of fairy tales her husband acquires, but her growing delusions see her confined in an asylum. As she recovers and is released a terrifying series of events is unleashed.
His Undercover Maid
Flora Ferrari - 2020
The only thing missing in my life is a woman, but I’m better off not trusting anyone. Until a sexy new maid turns up to clean my office and I find himself head over heels in lust and determined to have her. But the question is, can I trust her?RoseI’ve always wanted to be a reporter. But I never imagined it would entail dressing up as a maid in order to get a story on the hottest billionaire bachelor in town... this is hardly the career I dreamed of. And with a blackmailing boss and a sleazy manager on my hands, the stakes are high. But then I meet Sebastian and realize there is something I want more than a good story.Him.*His Undercover Maid is an insta-everything standalone instalove romance with a HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.
Patience and Not-Forsaken
Alix E. Harrow - 2017
But when she discovers a girl living inside her bedroom mirror, the past comes back to haunt, in more ways than one.