Jessie Devlin, a daughter of Irish immigrants and a survivor of the Great Chicago Fire, is descended from the "Old Ones," her mother's name for their ancient Druid ancestors. Gifted with second sight, Jessie suffers nightmares in which an unknown man saves her from burning to death. A prophetic vision convinces her the man truly exists and to find him she must look west. But will her quest lead her to love or into a deadly trap?Captain David Taylor is a Texan who sided with the North in the Civil War, earning his father's abiding wrath. Now serving on the frontier, David longs for home and a family of his own. After a trip east, he encounters Jessie in the Omaha train depot. He's entranced by her beauty but has no taste for her firecracker temper. She brings to mind a ghost from his past who he'd rather forget. As the two journey westward, their clashing personalities war with fiery passion that threatens to overwhelm common sense. Violence dogs them along the rails and explodes amid the unexpected beauty of Mormon Utah and in an isolated mountain mining camp. Whether love will win the day or be lost forever is a question that hangs in the balance until the terrifying conclusion on the broad Texas plains.note: this book was renamed Darlin' Irish: Texas Devlins, Book Two in 2013

    She’s a human. Or so she thinks...Catherine’s nightmare of massive wolf-like beasts hunting her breaks through again and again. And long after she wakes, pain and heartbreak linger. Tormented by night and restless by day, she decides to blow off some steam with an old friend. Little does she know that such a simple outing will forever change her life. She discovers that witches and wizards exist, and the Cornish myths and legends of her childhood actually have a grain of truth.Trent is a guardian of humans and peacekeeper of all the supernatural species. For almost 200 years he has waited for his Soul Pair. Finally, she is within his grasp. But a traitor in their midst threatens her safety and causes Trent to question himself. He has two choices. Put his duty as a Nephilim first or follow his instincts.Bewitched by the Nephilim is the first instalment in a paranormal fantasy series. If you’re a fan of English banter and realistic characters, and like a little tension woven into your love stories, then you’ll love S.J Hosken’s Soul Pair series.This book contains mild violence and adult language.

    She's taken on an unexpected detour back to her life shortly before she died. But she's seeing the world from a different point of view. This is the first time she has ever experienced a detour being the best part of a journey. 'A wonderful, warm read that's guaranteed to tug at the heartstrings,' author Colette Caddle. Checkout Girl was published as part of the short story compilation, Moments, in aid of the tsunami. It was also part of a short story collection published in Germany. Aimee Alexander is the pen name of bestselling Irish author Denise Deegan Checkout Girl includes a short excerpt from Pause to Rewind, a contemporary novel by Aimee Alexander.

    Her own survival soon becomes doubtful when the band’s leader threatens to cast her out onto the steppe for what he sees as dangerous willfulness. Raven feels an unexpected empathy for the mysterious Neanderthal. But while trying to preserve his life and health, will she go so far as to commit what could be the worst error of her own life? Mark Hayek will never find out that Raven faced a frightening dilemma. But if he did know, he would understand that the present reality exists because of choices made in the past. As meticulously researched as Jean Auel’s Earth Children series but with the benefit of recent discoveries, this novella is an updated story revealing how contact between Neanderthals and Early Humans had surprising results.

    

    What he craves is red gold—human blood. After being held captive as a blood slave to a female vampire for years, he has finally escaped. Unchained at last, he follows his nose to the nearest blood bank to sate his hunger. ER nurse Erin Hamilton expects just another busy night shift…until she finds a gorgeous stranger vandalizing the hospital blood bank. Though her logic tells her to turn him in, she’s pulled by stronger and unfamiliar emotions to protect the man who seems oddly infatuated with her scent. Chemistry sizzles between them, but Dante, plagued by nightmares of his time in captivity, fears he won’t be able to control himself…especially when he discovers a secret she doesn’t even know she’s hiding.

    New friends introduce him to legends and rumors that have swirled around the inn since time-immemorial, and he finds plenty of proof to believe them as strange noises and twisted shadows stalk the halls.Worst of all, his estranged grandfather has invited himself to join them at the inn. Creepy doesn't begin to describe that black-cloaked gentleman with the pale skin and weird, ever-constant glasses. Old secrets, mysterious sealed-up rooms and creeping shadows abound as Jack tries to manage his new life at Hawthorn Inn.

    While its citizens have fallen on hard times, they've managed to survive decades of harsh, northern winters. But when drifter Sarah Pembrooke rolls into town looking for work, the frigid cold will be the least of their worries.

    Appraisal is supposed to be a routine right of passage. But no scenario he's ever heard of has prepared Alex for his own experience - abducted, imprisoned, and subjected to brutal medical experiments in a high-tech lab.He escapes and goes on the run, a heartbeat ahead of a ruthless army led by the most powerful man in the world. When he finally pieces together the clues behind his kidnapping, they lead to a treacherous plot that only he can derail.But to succeed, he must penetrate the First Circle, the forbidden abode of the ruling class.

    Or in the state of Kirby Lawrence, a woman who is NOT attracted to her best friend, bad boy rock star, Colin Donovan. Not even a little bit!No matter how good his butt looks in those jeans... Crap, I'm looking at his butt. Colin's butt!And the butterflies in my stomach are discoing now. Discoing!I avert my eyes, but it's too late. I have already had thoughts I shouldn't have had, and flutters that shouldn't have fluttered.And I have a horrible feeling there's no coming back from this.No going back to the way things were before I realized that a part of me wants to climb my best buddy like a tree and make out with his sexy face...Meet Colin and Kirby in this fun, flirty Standalone prequel to THE BANGOVER!

    When he sees strange individuals coming, but never leaving his neighbor’s house, he begins to suspect that something nefarious is going on. Now that he saw a small child walk in but never walk out, he and his wife Clara need to figure out what is going on. They will stop at nothing to rescue the innocent boy that is trapped inside before it’s too late. Short story: 10,000 words

    Imagine a drug that flips the valleys and makes them peaks, too. You react now to an event based not on the pleasure or pain that it brings, but solely on the intensity of the emotion created. Pain brings pleasure, grief gives joy, horror renders ecstasy.Now give this drug to a soldier. Tell them to kill. Not in the historically acceptable murder of war, but in a systematic corporate strategy--of xenocide.They will kill. And they will revel in it.Welcome to the world of Scream.Jason Trelayne is a Screamer, a soldier forced to take part in the destruction of entire races. But when Trelayne falls in love with a beautiful Scream Angel, an alien who produces the addictive drug, he sets off a chain of events that pits him and a small group of followers against an empire.An award winning novelette of rebellion, love, and an unlikely hero."A dark and powerful story with a first line that sets the tone for what is to come: 'They stopped beating Trelayne when they saw that he enjoyed it.' (A++)" --Fantasy Book Critic"A visceral work. A true pearl of the fantastic literature. Breath-taking." --Café de Ontem"...the book's most skillfully crafted story...quickly becomes one that holds the reader's attention until the very end." --SpecFicWorld"...remind me of the reasons I love the author's writing: his characterization, attention to detail and recurring themes of love, faith and redemption." --SF Crowsnest Reviews"The story has so many layers that I'm still sorting them out. And like an onion, I'm not sure if I'll ever find the final layer." --Tangent Online"One of those rare ideas that seems at once so perfect and so natural that someone must have come up with it before; but if someone has, I haven't heard about it, and regardless Smith exploits the potential of the idea extraordinarily well here." --Strange Horizons

    But all is not as it seems…

    Where they took that first sentence was completely up to them.Every story is different.No story is related.The only thing these stories have in common is their starting point.All of the authors showcased in this anthology were featured in The Bookworm Box charity during 2019.Each author has graciously donated their story so that 100% of profits from this anthology will be going to the various charities The Bookworm Box is able to support because of you, the readers.

    Truly. Honestly. All right... maybe she does want to get nailed, but that's just because her hottie landlord and local diner owner Mack Ryan is confusing her. Can friends become lovers? Especially friends who might not even be friends in the first place? Book 2: Man Candy: Raine Harper is in love with Wade Gates. But Wade likes women who are model thin, and Raine is model thin plus a whole lot of pounds. Desperate to make him love her, she trains just a little too hard and passes out in the arms of superstar movie star Dirk Adams. Dirk thinks Raine’s junk in the trunk is perfect and proposes to make Wade jealous by becoming her pretend boyfriend. Pretend soon seems very real. Is Dirk a great actor, or is something really developing between Raine and the movie star?