Following the fractured origins and destines of two brothers named after demigods from the ancient epic the Mahabharata, we meet a family struggling with the reverberations of the past in their lives. These ten interlinked stories redraw the map of our world in surprising ways: following an act of violence, a baby girl is renamed after a Hindu goddess but raised as a Muslim; a lonely butcher from Angola finds solace in a family of refugees in New Jersey; a gentle entomologist, in Sri Lanka, discovers unexpected reserves of courage while searching for his missing son.By turns heartbreaking and fiercely inventive, Half Gods reveals with sharp clarity the ways that parents, children, and friends act as unknowing mirrors to each other, revealing in their all-too human weaknesses, hopes, and sorrows a connection to the divine.

    Truly, Madly, UndeadlyThis irresistible collection features stories of love amid vampires by five of today's hottest authors—Kristin Cast (Tempted), Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy), Alyson Noël (Evermore), Kelley Armstrong (The Summoning), and Francesca Lia Block (Pretty Dead).From a fugitive vampire forced to trust a boy who might work for the group bent on destroying her to the legendary romance of two immortals whose love compels them to risk everything, this heart-pounding collection brings new meaning to the words "love you forever." Whether you're into romances that are dark and moody or light and fun, these stories will quench that insatiable thirst for enchanting tales of the beautiful undead.Part of the Kisses from Hell Anthology

    A preacher bathes his ill and elderly mother, not knowing that she has mistaken him for the long-lost cousin she watched murder his brother in her father’s tobacco field. In six stories that read like novels in miniature, Kyle Minor plumbs the depths of human mystery, where they meet our kindnesses and our cruelties, our generosities and our pettiness.Kyle Minor’s work has appeared widely in magazines and anthologies, among them Best American Mystery Stories 2008, The Southern Review, The Gettysburg Review, Surreal South, and Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers: The Best New Voices of 2006. His work has been twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Kyle received his MFA from Ohio State University and is currently a visiting professor at the University of Toledo.

    LIZARDMAN by Robert McCammon The lizardman thinks he knows about all the mysterious dangers of the Florida swamps, but there are things lurking in the bayou that are older and deadlier than his wildest dreams. A MONSTER COMES TO ASHDOWN FOREST (IN WHICH CHRISTOPHER ROBIN SAYS GOODBYE) by James Renner Although every child dreams of visiting Hundred Acre Wood, only one has ever actually frolicked in that fabled forest—and survived. FURTHEREST by Kaaron Warren She’s been going to the beach since she was a child, daring the other kids to go out past the dunes where those boys died all those years ago. Now she realizes that the farther out you go, the harder it is to come back. WEST OF MATAMOROS, NORTH OF HELL by Brian Hodge After the success of their latest album, Sebastián, Sofia, and Enrique head to Mexico for a shoot under the statue of Santa Muerte. But they have fans south of the border who’d kill to know where they get their inspiration. THE EXPEDITION by Bill Schweigart On a quest to bring glory to the Führer, Lieutenant Dietrich Drexler leads his team into the ruins of the Carpathian Mountains. But the wolf that’s stalking them is no ordinary predator.SNOW SHADOWS by Mick Garris A schoolteacher’s impulsive tryst with a colleague becomes a haunting lesson in tragedy and terror when he’s targeted for revenge by an unlikely, unhinged rival.

    It is a riveting commentary on the way we live now by a spectacular prose artist.Ann Beattie published her first short story in The New Yorker in 1972. Twenty-eight years later, she received the 2000 PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction. She is, as the Washington Post Book World said, "one of our era's most vital masters of the short form." The eleven stories in her new work are peopled by characters coming to terms with the legacies of long-held family myths or confronting altered circumstances -- new frailty or sudden, unlikely success. Beattie's ear for language, her complex and subtle wit, and her profound compassion are unparalleled. From the elegiac story "The Famous Poet, Amid Bougainvillea," in which two men trade ruminations on illness, art, and servitude, to "The Big-Breasted Pilgrim," wherein a famous chef gets a series of bewildering phone calls from George Stephanopoulos, Perfect Recall comprises Beattie's strongest work in years. It is a riveting commentary on the way we live now by a spectacular prose artist.

    In her long-awaited debut story collection, dark, lush, and spellbinding short fiction you will find unexpected detours, dangerous magic, and even more dangerous women.Briar, bodyguard for a body-stealing sorceress, discovers her love for Rose, whose true soul emerges only once a week. An apprentice witch seeks her freedom through betrayal, the bones of the innocent, and a meticulously-plotted spell. In a world powered by crystal skulls, a warrior returns to save China from invasion by her jealous ex. A princess runs away from an arranged marriage, finding family in a strange troupe of traveling actors at the border of the kingdom’s deep, dark woods.Concluding with a gorgeous full-length novella, Marjorie Liu’s first short fiction collection is an unflinching sojourn into her thorny tales of love, revenge, and new beginnings.Sympathy for the bones --The briar and the rose --The light and the fury --The last dignity of man --Where the heart lives --After the blood --Tangleroot palace

    The stories range in style from the gritty noir of David Means' "Sault Ste. Marie" to the mesmerizing mythmaking of Louise Erdrich's "The Plague of Doves," while the settings include a village perched on top of an enormous whale (David Lawrence Morse's "Conceived") as well as a swank suite at the Plaza Hotel (Xu Xi's "Famine"). The three most powerful stories seem to have in common the ability to immerse readers in a character's sudden, searing moment of self-knowledge and the way that insight impacts the course of a life. In Edward P. Jones' elegiac, masterful "Old Boys, Old Girls," a hard-bitten con comes to see that redemption is within his reach. Deborah Eisenberg delicately deconstructs a young girl's attraction to an abusive man in the haunting "Windows." And, finally, the storied Alice Munro, in "Passion," conveys the complex inner world of a teenager who discovers she values risk over security.

    Springtime is about renewal, second chances and getting a new lease on life - which is what these stories are all about! Be swept away by love! Falling for the Earl - by Arietta Richmond. A grieving Earl with a lost heir, a lonely woman, unsure of her place in life, an accidental meeting amongst the spring flowers, a secret in the woods, a love that transforms everything. Shopping for a Gentleman - by Isabella Thorne. An accidental meeting while shopping brings widow, Mrs Mildred Stelter and Mr Leighton together. They discover that they have very different views on life. Can disagreement lead to love, and a new view of the world? A Duke for the Dowager - by Catherine Windsor. Widow Lady Elizabeth has finished mourning. Still young, she hopes to love again. Her friend’s suggestion seems good until she sees the obnoxious Duke mentioned. Can she find another love? And what of the handsome Earl she met on the road? The New Governess of Chiswick - By Grace Austen. Letitia takes a role as a governess, when her family is impoverished. The Earl is cold at first, but Letitia comes to love his daughter, and him. Dark secrets from the past threaten them. Can love win out? The Earl’s True Love - by Katherine Keats. Lord Worthington faces the scandal of divorce, blames himself, remembers the girl he once loved. Joanna, a village girl is scorned as a spinster, because only one man ever held her heart, and he left. Can they find love? The Unforgettable Duchess by Charlotte Darcy. Lady Daphne Kenswick gave her heart to Lord Stephen Graves but they are torn apart by an obsessed Duke, a manipulative family, and duty to country. Will fate give them a second chance to find true love? The Earl’s Healing Heart – by Eleanor St Clair. Sarah Lyons is a widow. Many men only want her for her money. But Lord Davenport seems different. Can she bring herself to love again, or will her suspicious mind ruin any chance of finding a lasting love? The Duke’s Obsession - by Regina Darcy. Lady Desdemona’s husband died leaving her penniless. She flees to her brother-in-law, the Duke of Danberry who once courted her and still cares for her. When a debt goes unpaid the Marquis de Chambray threatens her son - can the Duke prevent the disaster? And what of love? The Reclusive Duke’s Second Chance - by Lydia Pembroke. A Duke deeply hurt in the past, and suspicious of all women, a woman who needs to marry money, to save her family, a house party, a spiteful meddler. Is love possible, or will they be forced apart? A Daughter for the Duke - by Kelly Anne Bruce. Widow Hannah Winters has only her daughter, Miriam. Things improve when they meet Lord Dearly but he has a title and nothing else to offer them. When duty takes him away, their friendship seems over. Will the unexpected allow love to flourish? Claiming the Duke’s Heart - by Sophia Wilson. A bereaved Duke, a motherless baby, a grieving young woman. A position caring for the child exposes Emily to the Duke, and attraction stirs – but will the secrets of the past force them apart? Or can love win? The Earl’s Treachery - by Sophia Ansley. A charming Lord, a merchant’s daughter who struggles to be ladylike, an unpleasant Earl, a conspiracy to defraud.