Things no man has seen before haunt the woods. Strange animal species creep behind pine trees, some of them with flashing red tags that blink faster and faster. Giant birds mimic the sound of humans and lord over the sky. Leaf-shaped creatures attack anything that moves and flash vivid colors across their glistening backs. As Bishop and his companions scramble across the Montana wilderness, they find human remains and animal carcasses littering the woods. The small town of Elmore is empty, the windows broken and streaked with blood. Trout Bridge-their only way out-is blocked by abandoned cars, none that were inbound. With the strange animals species closing in, Bishop realizes his group must take a stand. He's got a plan, and maybe they've got one last shot before the invasive species spread to the rest of the U.S.

    These stories feature clockwork hearts, lascivious queens, paper men, island circuses, and a flooded world.• On the island of Skye, an antlered girl and a tiger-tailed boy resolve never to be friends – but can they resist their unique connection?• In an alternative 19th-century Paris, a love triangle emerges between a man, a woman, and a coin-operated boy.• A teenager deals with his sister’s death by escaping from their tiny Scottish island – but will she let him leave?• In 1920s New Orleans, a young girl comes of age in her mother’s brothel.Some of these stories are radical retellings of classic tales, some are modern-day fables, but all explore substitutions for love.

    You've read the Brothers Grimm, you've watched the Disney cartoons, and you cheered as these virtuous women lived happily ever after. But real princesses didn't always get happy endings. Sure, plenty were graceful and benevolent leaders, but just as many were ruthless in their quest for power and all of them had skeletons rattling in their royal closets. Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe was a Nazi spy. Empress Elisabeth of the Austro-Hungarian empire slept wearing a mask of raw veal. Princess Olga of Kiev slaughtered her way to sainthood while Princess Lakshmibai waged war on the battlefield, charging into combat with her toddler son strapped to her back. Princesses Behaving Badly offers true tales of all these princesses and dozens more in a fascinating read that's perfect for history buffs, feminists, and anyone seeking a different kind of bedtime story.

    Uncanny and unexpected creatures appear from behind bushes, rise from beneath the seas, or manifest from seasonal storms to pursue the objects of their attention—with amorous or sinister intent—relentlessly.From the gentle tones of a storyteller’s cadences to the terror of a blood sacrifice, tales of favorite characters from Marr’s Wicked Lovely novels mix with accounts of new characters for readers to fall in love with...or to fear.Lush, seductive, and chilling, Melissa Marr’s stories revel in the unseen magic that infuses the world as we know it.Table of Contents:"Where Nightmares Walk""Winter's Kiss" (Fairy Tales)"Transition" (Vampires)"Love Struck" (Selchies)"Old Habits" (WL World)"Stopping Time" (WL World)"The Art of Waiting""Flesh for Comfort""The Sleeping Girl and the Summer King" (WL World-ish, the short story that started the series)"Cotton Candy Skies" (WL World)"Unexpected Family" (WL World)"Merely Mortal" (WL World)

    Things change when a close encounter of the third kind leaves a glowing mark on her shoulder, and a new boy shows up at school. A peculiar green glimmering in his eyes reminds her of fireflies, both captivating and scaring her right out of her boots. When he reveals that he's a host for alien symbiotes, it sends her running in the opposite direction…that is, until he catches her.Meanwhile…Will is entering yet another school midyear. He has all his usual problems: acclimate to a new school, deal with his assigned FBI agent, track a compatible human, all the while appearing the normal teenage boy. He can’t believe his luck when his search leads him to Marley, a girl more agile in the woods than in a mall. He reminds himself that he can’t let what happened to his last assignment happen in Pine Grove, not to her…

    A place beyond time and space as we know it where psychopaths compete for perverse honour and status as they carry out their deathly duties. As Grim struggles to hold onto the memories of the life he’s lost, he discovers that the insane being who shaped him (and the course of existence itself) may have sinister plans for the one thing he values most.In Limbo, the end is only the beginning.

    She resolves to leave, determined to follow her own path and be a normal teenager. Whatever normal is in a place like Brugel.On the way home Ondine is shocked when her pet ferret Shambles starts talking - in a cheeky Scottish accent no less! He is in fact a young man trapped in a witch's curse. When he briefly transforms into his human self, Ondine is smitten. If only she can break the spell for good, Shambles can be handsomely human on a full-time basis.During the summer, these two misfits uncover a plot to assassinate a member of the royal family and discover a secret treasure that has remained hidden for decades. This attracts the attention of the arrogant Lord Vincent, and Ondine can't help being drawn in by his bad-boy charm.With so many demands on Ondine's attentions - and affections - normal has never seemed so far away.The Summer of Shambles is the first in the four-part ONDINE series. Fans of The Princess Bride or the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series will love this delightfully quirky fairytale.

    A Struggle Engaged. A Sacrifice Required.When Mara, a trained Oathtaker, is drawn by the scent of the Select to battle underworld beasts summoned by the powers of evil to destroy the guardians of life, she swears a life oath for the protection of her charge.Armed with a unique weapon and her attendant magic, and with the assistance of her Oathtaker cohorts, two ancients, and a spymaster, Mara seeks safety for her charge from one who would end Oosa's rightful line of rule, and from assassins who endeavor to bring ruin to the land.As Mara puzzles to decipher ancient prophecy concerning her charge, as she is haunted with memories of her own past failings, she discovers the price her oath will exact.To renounce her word would be treasonous; to fail, ruinous; to persevere, tortuous.Abiding by an oath requires sacrifice.

    In eight tragi-comic stories, Einstein's Beach House: Stories features ordinary men and women rising to life's extraordinary challenges.

    The tasks assigned a bookish boy lead him to fateful encounters with lizards, owls, trolls and a feisty, sarcastic cat. A bear wedding is cause for celebration, the spinning wheel and the tower in the briar hedge get to tell their own stories, and a kitchenmaid finds out that a lost princess is more than she seems. The sea witch reveals what she hoped to gain when she took the mermaid’s voice. A wiser Snow White sets out to craft herself a new tale. In these eight stories and twenty-three poems, World Fantasy Award winner Theodora Goss retells and recasts fairy tales by Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and Oscar Wilde. Sometimes harrowing, sometimes hilarious, always lyrical, the works gathered in SNOW WHITE LEARNS WITCHCRAFT re-center and empower the women at the heart of these timeless narratives.

    We prefer the charade that we are in control. Lillian Dove, however, is constantly reminded she has very little control over her life and only has the ability to move to the choices that come her way. The Lillian Dove Series is a journey in recovery. While Lillian is a recovering alcoholic, like many who struggle with addictions come to understand, stopping drinking does not mean life returns to normal. However, as this series begins, Lillian does realize she has compulsions and addictions to many things, not just Absolut. How we handle dependency and denial is what allows for choice. In Admit to Mayhem, Lillian needs to admit her life has become unraveled again when she becomes an eyewitness to arson. Probing into a cold case of arson sixty years ago and the arson she witnessed at the beginning of this novel helps her admit to some of her own life’s challenges and successes. Admit to Mayhem, offering comedic dysfunction, is not only a suspenseful mystery but an important step for Lillian’s self-identity--and possibly for the reader’s.Admit: I admit that my life has become unmanageable.

    Tasked with quietly eliminating a lecherous merchant with a penchant for young children, Rothar's blade strikes without hesitation. But when more children go missing, Rothar digs deeper and discovers an insidious network that reaches high up into the echelons of nobility. What started as a simple mission has become a dangerous quest for justice. Rothar must call upon all his skill to punish those responsible, and rescue the innocent before it's too late. A fast-paced, full length, heroic fantasy novel.

    Queen Ruby & Princess Snow: This mixed-up fairytale is an original short story. It has no ties to any of my fairy tale adaptations; however, for a similar tale, check ouy "The Unicorn Procession" in the freebies section of my website.Before the Bond: This short story is set centuries before the events of Red Rope of Fate and gives you a glimpse of how the humans of Calnor and the Lesser Elves of Lessa became allies.

    Kingfisher comes a collection of short stories, including "Jackalope Wives," "The Tomato Thief," "Pocosin," and many others. By turns funny, lyrical, angry and beautiful, this anthology includes two all-new stories, "Origin Story" and "Let Pass The Horses Black," appearing for the first time in print.

    Self-Sacrifice. Unconditional Love. These are the qualities of the heroic animals in this collection.The Walking Dead meets The Incredible Journey in 14 amazing tales by today’s most talented independent authors. Seven stories set in all-new dystopian landscapes. Seven stories set in the bestselling post-apocalyptic worlds of David Adams’s Symphony of War, Michael Bunker’s Pennsylvania, Nick Cole’s Wasteland Saga, Hank Garner’s Weston Files, E.E. Giorgi’s Mayake Chronicles, Deirdre Gould’s After the Cure, and Edward W. Robertson’s Breakers.When the world ends, the humans who survive will learn an old lesson anew—that friendship with animals can make the difference between a lonely death among the debris and a life well lived, with hope for the future.