Book picks similar to
The Blue Box by Ron Carlson
short-stories
bedside-stack
tbr-short-stories
natural-history
Soft
Rupert Thomson - 1998
Air & Fire is about a group of French people sent to California at the end of the 19th century to build a church. The Insult is about a man blinded by a robber in a supermarket parking lot who discovers one night that--because of a bizarre experiment--he can see again. Thomson's latest finds three very different characters--an aimless waitress, a reluctant hit man, and an ambitious young marketing executive--linked by the sudden success of a new soft drink. But a closer look confirms the feeling that Soft! continues the author's fascination with the way science can bend and shape the destinies of all sorts of nonscientific people. Certainly Glade Spencer, the flaky young woman who flies off periodically for unpleasant encounters with her American lawyer boyfriend, has no idea when she signs up for a sleep clinic to earn some extra cash that the soda slogans planted in her brain could cause her death. Barker Dodds, the nightclub bouncer from Plymouth, doesn't know why he's being paid to kill Glade. And James Lyle, the striving marketer who thought up the brainwashing scheme in the first place, is deliberately out of the loop about its consequences. All three are so perfectly drawn that you'd recognize them on the street, and the way Thomson describes their quirky, weirdly decorated flats and lifestyles captures the flickering pulse of London with uncanny accuracy. --Dick Adler
Intuition
Jen Meyers - 2011
An enthralling glimpse into the Intangible world by an "author [who] has a way with words that just pulls you into the story and holds you there until the very last word, and even then you just do not want to be let go" (Shelly Hammond).Luke and his twin sister Sera have unusual abilities. Hers is a gift--she can heal with a touch of her hand. His is a curse--he can see the future but he can't do anything about it.On a hike up the mountain, Luke has a vision unlike any other--one that leaves him terrified. Knowing that it will come true--and that he must do everything in his power to stop it--leaves his own future uncertain.(This is a short story, and approximately 16 pages long.)Intangible (Book One), Imaginable (Book Two), and Indomitable (an Intangible novella) are available now. Book Three coming late 2015.
The Tailor
Leigh Bardugo - 2013
New scene from Shadow and Bone told from Genya's point of view.
Falling Series Books #6-9 (Falling Series Collection Book 2)
Tracy Lorraine - 2020
Everything you need to heat up your Kindle is right here. From an emotional office romance, to sexy bad boys, enemies to lovers, brother's best friends, explosive second chances, and a little m/m to mix things up. One-click and start binge-reading now. Falling for Lucas Sleeping with the boss wasn't meant to be part of the promotion.
People think I’m a suave businessman but they couldn’t be more wrong. The expensive suit is just covering the ugly scars of my past. I have no interest in love or making promises that I can’t keep. Until I find her in my hotel suite. She’s a broken mess and everything in me wants to protect her. To make her mine. I’m falling for my employee and she should be running far away from me. Will I let her? No chance. Falling for Caleb Never stop fighting if you think you’ve found the one. I’m not fussy about the men I share my bed with, but my heart is another matter. Loving someone too much goes hand in hand with pain and suffering. It’s not something I want in my life. Then I meet him. Just one kiss and he finds his way in. It’s just a shame I don’t have the same effect on him. Can I convince him that he’s the only one for me despite what my reputation says? I’m falling for a man whose sole intention is run as far away from me as he can. Falling for Declan Hate is easy. Love takes courage. My life is sweet. I work hard, party harder, surf whenever the hell I want and get any woman I desire. It can’t get any better. Then my worst enemy moves to town. I’ve hated her from as early as I can remember, and now she’s taunting me once again. Or tempting me? It seems the girl who plagued my younger years is now a woman I can’t get out of my head. I’m falling for my childhood enemy. Nothing good can come of this, or can it? Falling for Liam She's mine, every last broken, beautiful bit of her. I’ve always been different. Always been the nice one. The misunderstood one. Everything changed when I found her, the woman I've been waiting for. Hoping for. The one. Then, she left. Now she's back, and she's nothing like I remember. She’s broken. Harboring dark secrets that beg to be exposed. And that's fine, because I've got some sordid secrets of my own. I’m going to prove I'm the one she needs. Because she’s mine. Mine to protect. Mine to love. It’s time for her to submit to the one thing she truly desires. Me. All of me.
The Kiss: An Anthology of Love and Other Close Encounters
C.A. NewsomeBen Cassidy - 2014
It can also be an exchange, a betrayal, an assault, a promise, a hope...or it could be a goodbye. The intimacy of a kiss cannot be denied. Whether shared, stolen or simply dreamed of, its recipient will be affected. Thirty-one stories by authors from around the world will tease your imagination as you anticipate ‘The Kiss’ in each weird or wonderful tale. This cross-genre anthology contains stories by Kate Aaron, Saxon Andrew, Jacques Antoine, Alison Blake, E. B. Boggs, Shirley Bourget, Ben Cassidy, Jason Deas, Sharon Delarose, Meghan Ciana Doidge, Suzy Stewart Dubot, Corrie Fischer, Brandon Hale, Traci Tyne Hilton, Colleen Hoover, Mona Ingram, J. L. Jarvis, Elizabeth Jasper, Anna J. McIntyre, Jess Mountifield, C. A. Newsome, S. Patrick O'Connell, Suzie O'Connell, Jeanette Raleigh, J. R. C. Salter, Molly Snow, Holli Marie Spaulding, Cleve Sylcox, Robert Thomas, Chris Ward and George Wier. 130,000 words
Stay With Me Tonight (A Drake Brothers #1)
Whitney D. - 2015
This book contains graphic sexual language and explicit sex scenes. Intended for mature audiences ONLY.Kate Conrad is an ivy league graduate who is looking for her first real job after graduation. She had one serious relationship during college that she thought was bound for an engagement. When her boyfriend tells her he's no longer in love with her and he's met someone else, she feels as if her heart has been ripped from her chest. From that moment on, she steers clear of all men in an attempt to guard her damaged sense of self worth. Until one night while out with her friends she meets the dark and mysterious Bellamy Drake.Bellamy Drake is the most attractive man that Kate has ever laid eyes on. When he approaches her while out with friends, she brushes him off and tells him that she's not the girl he's looking for. When he reiterates that she is exactly the kind of girl he is looking for, she gives in and on a whim goes home with him. In the middle of the night she sneaks out because sleeping over is strictly against her rules.Days later she lands a job interview at a huge marketing and advertising firm. There is something very familiar about the Vice President who interviews her. When she lands the job and shakes the VP's hand before leaving, she notices his hands look just like Bellamy's. By the time she realizes it, it's too late. Stay With Me Tonight is a whirlwind romance between a girl trying desperately not to fall in love and a man who knows exactly what he wants. Who is Bellamy Drake and what about his dark past is he hiding from Kate?
The Bet
Anton Chekhov - 1889
A banker and a young lawyer make a bet with each other about whether the death penalty is better or worse than life in prison.
New Fears 2: More New Horror Stories by Masters of the Macabre
Mark MorrisBenjamin Percy - 2018
In ‘The Dead Thing’ Paul Tremblay draws us into the world of a neglected teenage girl and her younger brother and the evil that lurks at the heart of their family. In Gemma Files’ ‘Bulb’ a woman calls in to a podcast to tell the terrifying story of why she has escaped off-grid. And Rio Youers’ ‘The Typewriter’ tells in diary form of the havoc wreaked by a malevolent machine. Infinitely varied and beautifully told, New Fears 2 is an unmissable collection of horror fiction.
The Visitor
Mark Lawrence - 2018
The only thing you need to know is that Wild Cards is set in our world, and an alien virus has been infecting people in rare outbreaks. It kills 90% of victims, makes ugly monsters of 9% (Jokers) and gives 1% random superpowers (Aces).A very personal short story that I'm proud of and want to find a wider audience for.There is a sequel story free on the Tor website, The Visitor: Kill or Cure.
Fort Starlight
Claudia Zuluaga - 2013
Ida clings to her dream of returning to New York while weathering storms both meteorological and emotional, and comes to understand that nobody's luck—even hers—is all bad.Claudia Zuluaga's fiction has appeared in Narrative Magazine, Lost Magazine, JMWW, Linnaean Street, and the Best of the Web series. Zuluaga is a lecturer in the English department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY) in New York City.
Last Days in Hunting Camp
Eowyn Ivey - 2014
Their letters, picked up and delivered by a bush pilot each week, keep them close. Now in his seventy-sixth year, Walt realises his hunting days may soon be over, and there is a black bear prowling around his camp. Will Millie ever receive the crumpled letter Walt keeps in his pocket?
Squandering the Blue: Stories
Kate Braverman - 1990
Long a celebrated West Coast cult figure, Kate Braverman now gives voice to Squandering the Blues, a distinctive and uncompromising collection of characters living out urban fairy tales and nightmares in the highly atmospheric landscape of Los Angeles.
Cooper
Kate Tilney - 2020
A curvy first aid instructor having a bad day. When their paths collide, could it be true love or a fluke?LucyToday isn’t off to a great start. I broke my favorite mug, spilled coffee all over my shirt, and I’m late for work. I figure things can’t get worse until I’m in a fender bender. The other driver is so good looking, I can barely think straight. It takes all my focus just to exchange information with him.And as if my day couldn’t get any better, who do you think I find sitting in the front row of my training class? It’s Mr. Sexy Driver himself, looking smug and way too appealing.Cooper I’m already running late to my first day of training when I get rear-ended.I’m ready to tell off the other driver until I get a look at her. She’s the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen. When Lucy ends up being one of my instructors, it seems like a sign. This wasn’t just a coincidence.She’s my destiny and I’m hers. But what will it take to make her see that?The new class of firefighters at Sunset Canyon Fire & Rescue are hotter than ever. The Sunset Canyon Fire & Rescue: Rookies is a series of short, sweet, and steamy standalone instalove romances. Check out the Rookies if you love heroic firefighters, confident and curvy women, and a guaranteed happily ever after. No cliffhangers. No cheating.
Sun of a Beach: Curvy Girl Summer
Claire Ashlynn - 2021
. . until him.A one-night stand with a tourist that she'll never see again can help her shake off her break-up blues, but it gives her the baby blues.Until. . . she finds out he's not a tourist but her brother's friend.Can she let the past go to find her forever?This is a short, sassy, and steamy novella. The place is real but the events are fiction. Instalove and HEA!