collection—features twelve of the World Fantasy and British Fantasy Award-winning Australian author’s finest, darkest fairy tales, and adds two new novellas to her marvelous cauldron of fiction. Stories peopled by women and girls—fearless, frightened, brave, bold, frail, and fantastical—who take the paths less traveled by, accept (and offer) poisoned apples, and embrace transformation in all its forms. Reminiscent of Angela Carter at her best, Slatter’s work is both timeless and fresh: fascinating new reflections from the enchanted mirrors of fairy tales and folklore.

    Shamed by his deserter past and seeking to make amends for his many misdeeds, a chance encounter with Tarryn Leersac – a skilled young would-be-assassin fallen from the graces of high society – leads Vanguard to become an unlikely mentor.Charged with hunting down the killer of two guards left washed up on the banks of the canal, the further Vanguard delves into the underbelly of the city the more he finds himself entangled in a web of secrets and lies. A prominent aristocrat is missing. Crime lords, con men and harlots run amok and the city teeters on the brink of another revolution.With his already precarious reputation hanging by a thread, Vanguard must piece together how and why the last war came to pass, find a way to earn redemption for his mistakes and come to terms with the past in a city where few survive, and even fewer can be trusted.A Grimdark novel with elements of adventure and gaslight fantasy, ‘We Men of Ash and Shadow’ explores themes of redemption, loyalty, and betrayal against the backdrop of a world where survival often means compromising your values.‘We Men of Ash and Shadow’ is an adult fantasy novel and as such, contains adult themes and language.

    Suddenly humanity is no longer at the top of the food chain.Jack "Pagan" Henderson is England's top vampire hunter, fighting on the front lines in the war on the ground, and co-opted into the media as a propaganda tool. He and his fellow hunters are fighting against an ancient and powerful foe, as well as a population less and less interested in supporting their efforts.He's tired, jaded and dejected, but now he has the chance to take the fight to the vampires and challenge them in the very seat of their power.Parental warning: This book contains strong language, violence and adult themes.

    The pale and secretive Lavinia wanders through the woods, Asenath is a precocious teenager with an attitude, and the Ancient Egyptian pharaoh Nitocris has found a new body in distant America. And do you have time to hear a word from our beloved mother Shub-Niggurath?Defiant, destructive, terrifying, and harrowing, the women in She Walks in Shadows are monsters and mothers, heroes and devourers. Observe them in all their glory. Iä! Iä!TABLE OF CONTENTS“Bitter Perfume” Laura Blackwell“Violet is the Color of Your Energy” Nadia Bulkin“Body to Body to Body” Selena Chambers“Magna Mater” Arinn Dembo“De Deabus Minoribus Exterioris Theomagicae” Jilly Dreadful“Hairwork” Gemma Files“The Head of T’la-yub” Nelly Geraldine García-Rosas (translated by Silvia Moreno-Garcia)“Bring the Moon to Me” Amelia Gorman“Chosen” Lyndsey Holder“Eight Seconds” Pandora Hope“Cthulhu of the Dead Sea” Inkeri Kontro“Turn out the Lights” Penelope Love“The Adventurer’s Wife” Premee Mohamed“Notes Found in a Decommissioned Asylum, December 1961″ Sharon Mock“The Eye of Juno” Eugenie Mora“Ammutseba Rising” Ann K. Schwader“Cypress God” Rodopi Sisamis“Lavinia’s Wood” Angela Slatter“The Opera Singer” Priya Sridhar“Provenance” Benjanun Sriduangkaew“The Thing in The Cheerleading Squad” Molly Tanzer“Lockbox” E. Catherine Tobler“When She Quickens” Mary Turzillo“Shub-Niggurath’s Witnesses” Valerie Valdes“Queen of a New America” Wendy N. Wagner

    An unexpected love warms a woman's heart in this enchanting Christmas romance from "masterful storyteller"* Jodi Thomas...Holly, a beautiful Texas tomboy, gets more than she bargained for under the mistletoe after her godfathers decide to find her a husband.Praise for Jodi Thomas and her novels:"[Thomas] grabs your attention on the first page [and] captures your heart." -*Catherine Anderson"Exactly the kind of heart-wrenching, emotional story one has come to expect from Jodi Thomas." -Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestselling author"Thomas sketches a slow, sweet surrender." -Publishers WeeklyIncludes a preview of Jodi's heartwarming new novel, Just Down the Road, available April 2012!Previously published in A Country Christmas.

    But could she come to love a beast?Gwendolyn Sinclair needs help. And the one person who can give her the aid she urgently requires is exacting a high price.Desperate to keep the neighborhood community center open, Gwendolyn seeks out Xavier St. James, her childhood friend and the brother of her dead fiance. Xavier's family foundation possesses the funds necessary to keep the center open, but instead he offers a bargain - a devil's bargain: submit her body for his pleasure for seven days, and the building doesn't close its doors.Left scarred from an accident, Xavier is bitter, resentful, and alone. When Gwendolyn reappears in his life, need and loneliness override conscience, and he proposes an arrangement she can't afford to refuse. With the woman he has always wanted but could never have finally in his bed, he hungers for more. Her heart. But could she come to love a beast?Also under the title "Bargain with the Beast ".

    But Hesk Atterley has. Accompanied by seedy companions and a hunger for riches, what he finds may change his life forever...if it doesn't kill him first

    What?A receptionist at a straw supply company, Megan Landay is content with her ordinary life. Sure she still has some resentment toward her awful ex, but that's normal. What's not normal is the sudden appearance of the skilled alien warrior, Mikaal Ahrisi. Even worse is his arrogant demand she stay on his planet long enough to give birth to his child.-The petite human female isn't Mikaal’s ideal choice as a mother to his offspring, but he no longer has a choice in the matter. Feisty and stubborn beyond reason, she's not like any of the women on his planet. Her presence in his life should be temporary, but as time passes he becomes uncertain if he should ever let her go.The Alien King's Baby is a steamy sci-fi alien romance. It features a handsome, powerful alien king who knows what he wants: the sassy, beautiful human destined to carry his baby!

    She has seen the noblemen coming to her home, sneaking off to the parlor with her father for hushed conversations. They were suitors, she knew, but it didn't matter. Her father had long ago decided to whom she would be betrothed. These meetings were nothing more than his pitiful attempt to increase the price for her hand in marriage. Kyra pretended not to notice them, turning instead to her book of spells that her mother had given her to practice before her inaugural year at Kuldiga Academy. She knew magic was the only way to take control of her life. Upon her birthday, Kyra's father would announce the chosen groom, and then she would have only four years at Kuldiga Academy before she would be delivered to the altar. Such was the way of noble-born girls. When she arrives at Kuldiga Academy, Kyra's world collapses when she discovers that her betrothed works there as an instructor. As if his presence wasn't suffocating enough, rumors abound and the other apprentices soon ostracize her. There were other girls in similar circumstances, but Kyra was different. She was the only one betrothed to an instructor at the Academy. At least the others were betrothed to young men closer to their own age. She would have to use her wits, in addition to her budding magic skills, in order to escape and create some semblance of freedom in a world ruled by noblemen. On one such adventure Kyra finds a dragon egg, something not seen for centuries in the Middle Kingdom. She knows to hide it is an offense against the crown. There is a dark danger with all dragons, and they are to be exterminated upon sight. Kyra, however, cannot bring herself to destroy it. In that oblong egg she sees not the monster others did, but a creature deserving of freedom and a life of its own making. She seeks advice from an outlawed wizard and enlists his help to care for the egg. As the dragon hatches and grows, Kyra fights to hide and protect the fledgling dragon, all the while dodging her betrothed and the others at the academy who would surely condemn the dragon to death. The bond between lady and dragon grows fierce and strong, but will it survive, or is the dark curse destined to conquer the beast?

    Against all odds, he escapes with his life and heads out into the turbulence of the wider world, recreating himself, step by step, as he goes along. That wider world is dominated by an empire that has existed for decades in a state of near perpetual war. A host of colorful characters will help to shape the destiny of the empire, and its constantly shifting array of allies and adversaries; among them, a master military strategist, a former pacifist who inherits his father’s moribund arms business, a beautiful forger and a very lucky counterfeiter. Each of them, together with corrupt bureaucrats and the nomadic 'savages' of the title, plays a part in a gradually unfolding drama of conflict and conquest played for the highest of stakes.A story of war, politics, intrigue, deception, and survival, Savages is a hugely ambitious, convincingly detailed novel that is impossible to set aside. Filled with schemes, counter-schemes, sudden reversals of fortune, and brilliantly described accounts of complex military encounters, it is, by any measure, an extraordinary entertainment, the work of a writer whose ambition, range, and sheer narrative power have never been more thoroughly on display.

     Aurora Middleton loses her best friend and a chance of love at the same time. When confronted with how horrible her life will become, she makes a decision that brings a monumental change. Moving west, leaving all she’s ever known will either be a fresh start or the beginning of something worse. Evan Jones left his life of high society firmly back east. Now the small town doctor has a comfortable life in the Laurel, Montana. When a storm hits, he offers Aurora Middleton and her friend a place to stay all the time resenting the attraction he feels to a woman that reminds him of things purposely left in the past.

    Camry is a woman who knows too much. Down on her luck, she asks for Knighthorse’s protection from her biker ex-boyfriend, Steel Eye, whom she says has murdered someone. She’s a witness on the run and she also has problems of her own making. She wants to leave the biker gang, but no one ever leaves this one alive. The investigation turns dangerous as Jim digs for the truth about what really happened that night. There is action and danger as the witness spills her secrets and Jim spills some blood. And not necessarily his own.

    In reality Kormak is a Guardian, one of a dying order sworn to protect humanity from the servants of the gathering darkness.In this chilling tale, Kormak seeks refuge for the night in an isolated peasant home only to find himself thrown into a terrifying confrontation with an ancient evil. A thrilling sword and sorcery short story in the proud tradition of Robert E Howard from the bestselling creator of Gotrek and Felix. "The King of High Adventure," Starlog.

    Flip-flops are optional. All of your favorite hilarious Fun Stories gathered together in one place! Plus, extended versions of many of your laugh out loud favorites. PRAISE FOR FUN STORIES: “The offbeat & heartwarming humor kept me turning pages due to its rollicking adventures in every chapter. Your friends, loved ones, and co-workers will enjoy it too." "It's very funny and on point observational humor” “Has me laughing from beginning to end” "Similar to Dave Barry, Eric Idle, and Stephen Colbert's humor" “This guy's funny and charmingly off the wall” "Always thought coffee could get me through the midweek blues, but this blows it out of the water" "I love Fun Stories. Fantastic!" "Awesome stuff, really enjoyed the horse names. Great read." "Excellent and hilarious material here" INCLUDES ALL OF THESE AND MANY MORE: "Chick-fil-A Makes Me Feel Like Leonardo DiCaprio" "The Least Amount of Fame Possible (Old MacDonald)" "Cub Scout Dropout" "Not the Next Carrie Underwood" "Bigfoot Popcorn" "Gatorade For Your Soul" "Shamelessly Suggestive City Names" "I'm the Freakin' Michael Phelps of Googling" "Alright, Alright, Alright!" "Mind Game of Thrones" "Happy Friday (Mr. Pee Man)" "Clown Commuter Award" "How NASA Thins The Herd" "Crunchy Roads, Take Me Home" "Good Folks, Bad Coaching" "Ultimate Waitress Revenge" "Battle of the Bands" You'll be smiling for hours as the pages turn themselves. Three Fun Stories books have hit #1 on Amazon Humor. Five audio tracks from this book have hit the top 10 on the iTunes comedy chart. Click to download the book and start the fun! Need more info? If you enjoy the humor of these folks, you'll love reading Fun Stories Greatest Hits: Dave Barry, Dilbert, David Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, Carl Hiaasen, Christopher Moore, Jim Gaffigan, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Jerry Seinfeld, Eric Idle, Erma Bombeck, Sebastian Maniscalco, Mindy Kaling, Jen Lancaster, Amy Lyle, The Far Side, Kevin Allison, Rainn Wilson, B.J. Novak, Sloane Crosley, Jimmy Fallon, Steve Martin, Judd Apatow, Adam Mansbach, Justin Halpern, Reader’s Digest, Dad Jokes, Garfield, Saturday Night Live, Friends, and The Office. Download Fun Stories Greatest Hits to start your next comedy adventure! Enjoy Fun Stories video posts at www.facebook.com/FunStoriesSeries. Get a free Fun Pack at www.mentalkickball.com. HUMOR, HUMOR & ENTERTAINMENT, PARENTING & FAMILIES, PARODIES, SATIRE, ESSAYS, SHORT STORIES, CELEBRITY & POPULAR CULTURE, COMEDY, CULTURAL, ETHNIC & REGIONAL, CARTOONS, JOKES & RIDDLES, MEN, WOMEN & RELATIONSHIPS, TRAVEL, POP CULTURE, RADIO, TELEVISION, PERFORMING ARTS, FUNNY BOOKS, HUMOR ESSAYS, FUNNY SHORT STORIES, FUNNY MEMOIR, HUMOR MEMOIR, FUNNY BOOK CLUB BOOKS, FUNNY ESSAYS, HUMOR BOOKS, HUMOROUS BOOKS, GIFTS FOR DAD, FUNNY GIFTS, LAUGH, LAUGH OUT LOUD, FUN, FUN, FUN, MORE COWBELL COWBELL

    "Fire Above, Fire Below" is about the crisis that the dying of a dragon living below a major city causes, and the pact made many years earlier to deal with such a situation.