She is careful to avoid intimacy and does not allow anyone to get close to her. Taylor has convinced herself, against the wishes of her friends, that being unattached will save her from inevitable heartache. However, this all changes when Zoey, a representation of everything that Taylor is not, moves in with her. The more Zoey accepts Taylor for who she really is, the more Taylor worries that Zoey could fulfill her secret desire for true human connection. Now, a frightened Taylor must decide whether she is willing to reevaluate her sense of happiness and redefine it with Zoey, even if it means running the risk of being broken in the end. Something in Return is a story about learning to let people into our lives, as oftentimes getting to know the stranger among us requires getting to know the stranger within us. It is a tale of self-preservation and self-definition. It is about breaking down the confines in which we live that we typically have built ourselves, because it is only then that we are free and able to love truly.

    If she could only convince her mother to stop setting her up on increasingly awkward blind dates, life would be perfect.Professional photographer Madison Scott isn’t going to settle for less than the happily ever after she reads about in romance novels. But her new next-door neighbor is sexy as hell, so when Savannah suggests a fake relationship in hopes of getting her mother to stop interfering in her private life, Maddie’s all in.When fake dating, fake kissing, and forced proximity start to feel a lot like falling in love, Savannah and Madison will need to face off and decide if exchanging pretend for reality is really possible.

    One of the extras, who claims to be a dwarf, offers to help. And that’s when things start to get weird. Could the sword really be magic, as the "dwarf" claims? Are dragons really living among us as shapeshifters? And as if things weren’t surreal enough, Sarah’s girlfriend Katie breaks out the dreaded phrase… “I love you.” As her life begins to fall apart, first her relationship with Katie, then her job at the movie studio, and finally her blacksmithing career, Sarah hits rock bottom. It is at this moment, when she has lost everything she has prized, that one of the dragons makes their move.And suddenly what was unthinkable becomes all too real…and Sarah will have to decide if she can reject what is safe and become the heroine who is needed to save her world.

    She must now live a life of duty to her mother and sisters, helping them to cope in their altered circumstances. But where her mother would have her wed a childhood friend to secure their future, Lise knows that is not what she longs for.When she meets a mysterious woman in the forest, Lise feels the stirrings of emotions she cannot give voice to, but with this woman, she doesn’t have to say anything—Senna knows.Cursed, hunted, and feared, Senna has been forced to wander from place to place for more years than she cares to remember. She gave up hope long ago that there could ever be an end to her isolation.Odd sightings in the forest—monsters of legend come to life, old enemies back from the past, fearsome beasts on the prowl—begin to frighten the people of Lise’s village. Somehow, all of these things are connected to Senna. As the villagers’ fear grows, so does their hatred.Senna prepares to flee, accepting what has become her fate, but Lise isn’t ready to give up her one chance for happiness. Soon, only Lise stands between the villagers and the woman she has grown to love.

    But when the festival lights go down and the palace slumbers, Katya chases traitors to the crown and protects the kingdom’s greatest secret: the royal Umbriels are part Fiend. When Katya thwarts an attempt to expose the king’s monstrous side, she uncovers a plot to let the Fiends out to play.Starbride has no interest in being a courtier. Ignoring her mother’s order to snare an influential spouse, she comes to court only to study law. But a flirtatious rake of a princess proves hard to resist, and Starbride is pulled into a world of secrets that leaves little room for honesty or love, a world neither woman may survive.

    Passing on an invite from Jill, her flirtatious coworker, Mae just wants a quiet night in. Leaving the office late, she's surprised to find the Heritage Line streetcars up and running and hops aboard, eager for a quick trip home.But this is no ordinary streetcar. Death is one of its riders, and Mae is thrust into Annwn, a realm of magic and danger. "Your transfer, miss. You'll need that." Mae's life is turned upside down as human and fae worlds collide. Her budding relationship with Jill takes a perilous turn when they are hunted by mythical beasts, and Mae is drawn into a deadly power struggle. With Jill at her side, Mae must straddle both worlds and fight a war she barely comprehends, for not only does the fate of Annwn rest in her hands, but the lives of both a human and fae child...81,000 words

    and it’s not that she likes girls. She has a rare and special gift: she can see how old other people will be when they pass away. Nothing she does changes this number, and that becomes especially clear when her mother dies in a car crash. With only one other person in the world who knows about and shares her gift, Harper is determined to keep her distance from everyone. Then she falls for Chloe… whose number is 16.That means that Chloe doesn’t have twelve months to live. She doesn’t even have six.She is going to be dead by the end of the summer, unless Harper can find a way to stop it.

    A veteran witch of the British Empire who isn't afraid to use her magical skills to crack a case. But Sully might need more than a good education and raw power to stop the string of grisly murders that have been springing up across the American Colonies. Every one of them marked by the same chilling calling card, a warning in the form of a legion of voices screaming out through the killers' mouths: -It IS tHe YEAr oF the KNife.-Sully's investigation will drag her away from the comforts of home in New Amsterdam, the beautiful but useless hyacinth macaw that used to be her boss, and the loving arms of her undead girlfriend, in a thrilling race against time, demonic forces and a shadowy conspiracy that will do anything to keep its hold on power and ensure that Sully takes their secrets to her grave, as soon as possible.G.D. Penman's imaginative The Year of the Knife is a fun, fast-paced urban fantasy mystery with an engaging set of characters, most notably Agent Sully of the Imperial Bureau of Investigation.

    Leave it to her sister Leigh to interrupt.Coming to Dinner: Jorie and Griffin are having second thoughts about their decision to invite Griffin’s shape-shifter relatives and Jorie’s mother for dinner on Christmas Day. What could be more nerve-racking than eight cat-shifters who don’t believe in Christmas celebrating with a human woman, allergic to cats, who doesn’t believe in the existence of shape-shifters? Will it end with peace on earth, or will fur fly?Babysitter Material: It’s Rufus and Kylin’s anniversary—and no babysitter for the triplets in sight. Kylin has a desperate idea, but is her gruff father Brian, ruler of the pride, really babysitter material?When the Cat’s Away: When a mouse takes up residence in Griffin and Jorie’s house, Griffin calls her fathers over. With three cat-shifters on the hunt, the house will be a rodent-free zone in no time. Or so she thinks.Plus One: Griffin accepts Jorie’s invitation to be her “plus one” at Jorie’s high school reunion, eager to find out more about her lover’s past. But the food at the buffet has an unexpected effect on Griffin.

    Her rest is cut short by a mysterious storm of divine origin, an attempted horse theft of her beloved mount, and the sudden appearance of a beautiful southerner who seems determined to capture Harper's heart. As the snows begin to fall, intrigue and romance heats up. The object of Harper's desire, the mysterious rogue Calista, appears destined to get everyone into fresh trouble with a mystical stew-brewing ogre, a greedy guild of Dwarven thieves, and finally an exalted march out of the snowy north bent on divine retribution. Harper must decide if her growing love for Calista is real or a product of the lies she's been told. Before the spring thaw, Harper will choose between the woman she loves and the Goddess that is the source of her magic.

    But those wonders have a dark side--one that will soon force a reckoning few could have anticipated.Half-demon Briar is content with her structured life as an archivist, a far cry from the chaos of her background and upbringing. Briar's simple and predictable existence is rocked when she discovers something sinister powers one of the grand, new inventions of her era.Isabella Castel, the only daughter of Viscount Sherard, is far from the brainless socialite she pretends to be. Isabella is everything Briar is not: passionate, creative and impulsive, but with secrets to rival even Briar's own. Two more unlikely partners should not exist, yet if the women cannot find a way to work together, they will lose far more than their reputations.Can a half-demon and a debutante work past their secrets before all hell breaks loose?Genre: Fantasy, SteampunkEditor: Medora MacDougallCover Designer: Sandy Knowles

    Every year, the island sends its warriors to battle these hostile sea demons. Every year, the warriors fail to return. Desperate for survival, the island must decide on a new strategy. Now, the fate of Eriana Kwai lies in the hands of twenty battle-trained girls and their resistance to a mermaid’s allure.Eighteen-year-old Meela has already lost her brother to the Massacre, and she has lived with a secret that’s haunted her since childhood. For any hope of survival, she must overcome the demons of her past and become a ruthless mermaid killer.For the first time, Eriana Kwai’s Massacre warriors are female, and Meela must fight for her people’s freedom on the Pacific Ocean’s deadliest battleground.

    The pay’s not great, there’s a decided lack of decent coffee and available women in town, but those are sacrifices she’s willing to make to in order to be closer to her aging and increasingly eccentric grandmother. When the discovery of a dead body in the county coincides with the arrival of attractive but irritating tv personality Cameron Reinhart, Avery has to put aside her feelings of skepticism and disbelief when Cam claims to have seen Avery's murder victim -- after she was murdered.

     Now in her adult years and a sought-after scientist herself, Diana learns that Nora is dying. She hires private-duty nurse Brooke Sheldon to care for Nora. Over the days and weeks spent in Nora’s company, Diana and Brooke are privy to Nora’s long-held secrets, along with her deep-seated regrets. Trapped in a failing body, but with a keen mind, Nora Lindstrom watches as the spark of attraction between her great-niece and her caregiver grows into a flame. Determined to help the two younger women find the kind of deep love they so richly deserve, Nora makes a fateful decision that brings the past and the present directly onto a collision course. After all this time, it’s still about chain reactions.

    Trying not to get lost in translation is quite the culture shock for this born-and-bred Midwesterner.She’s surprised when her boss asks her to beta test the new dolls—an assignment that requires having her brain scanned so the company can fashion a personalized doll based on her innermost desires. But most surprising of all: her test PLC turns out to be a woman—one who looks and acts remarkably like her neighbor and coworker, Yuriko Vellucci. American-born Yuriko is a former transplant herself and is sympathetic to the difficulties of adjustment—to a point. Kathleen is about the most pathetic foreigner this engineer’s ever met. She clearly needs Yuriko’s help and expertise if this transition—and the PLC project—is to be a success. With Yuriko to show her the way, Kathleen will learn to socialize at an izakaya, find the best onsen in Nikko, party at a matsuri, buy doujinshii in Akihabara, and fall in love with a country so very different from her own. But can she also learn how to confess her love for the person who showed it to her?