This groundbreaking anthology inaugurates an exciting new annual tradition—a giant collection of the greatest fantasy and supernatural stories published in 1987.

    When visiting her brother in prison, she catches the eyes of Zak Michaels. Top dog at the maximum security prison. One not to be messed with. Zak's attention focused on Mariyah, he gives her the option to visit him once a week or he would make her brother's life a living hell. To Mariyah's dismay this was no ordinary visit...Zak had visitation privileges where he had access to a room for an hour a week....Needless to say that Mariyah finds herself falling for a criminal who thinks he has every right under the sun to control her. Warning: This book contains material of forced sex and submission. It contains violence and abuse, recommended for mature readers aged 18 years and over. If this material offends please refrain from reading it.

    E. Lendon surveys a millennium of warfare to discover how militaries change—and don’t change—and how an army’s greatness depends on its use of the past. Noting this was an age that witnessed few technological advances, J. E. Lendon shows us that the most successful armies were those that made the most effective use of cultural tradition. Ancient combat moved forward by looking backward for inspiration—the Greeks, to Homer; the Romans, to the Greeks and to their own heroic past. The best ancient armies recruited soldiers from societies with strong competitive traditions; and the best ancient leaders, from Alexander to Julius Caesar, called upon those traditions to encourage ferocious competition at every rank.Ranging from the Battle of Champions between Sparta and Argos in 550 B.C. through Julian’s invasion of Persia in A.D. 363, Soldiers and Ghosts brings to life the most decisive military contests of ancient Greece and Rome. Lendon places these battles, and the methods by which they were fought, in a sweeping narrative of ancient military history. On every battlefield, living soldiers fought alongside the ghosts of tradition—ghosts that would inspire greatness for almost a millennium before ultimately coming to stifle it.

    Bromberg’s Everyday Heroes Worlds project. After spending the last few years globetrotting for her travel vlog, Gwen Malone has finally decided to come home to Sunnyville, California. Her plan was to spend time with her family and friends, and decide where to go next. The last thing she expected was to be attracted to the tattooed police officer, Maverick Graves. At her welcome home party, her sister and best friend warn her to stay away, that he’s a player and commitmentphobic. That was the plan except she saw him everywhere — sometimes with other women. That only solidified that Gwen needed to avoid him. To Maverick, Gwen was untouchable. Yes, she was gorgeous, he was very interested, but she was his boss’s daughter and he wasn’t going to go there no matter how much he wanted to. A simple favor for her dad and she was in a van with him driving along the coast. When an accident traps them together things get real, quick. When they’re finally rescued they can’t seem to stay apart, no matter how hard they try. Things can change in an instant — will they both give in to what they really want? Or deny their true feelings, losing the other forever.

    Howard Phillips Lovecraft may have been a writer for only a short time, but the creations he left behind after his death in 1937 have shaped modern horror more than any other author in the last two centuries: the shambling god Cthulhu, and the other deities of the Elder Things, the Outer Gods, and the Great Old Ones, and Herbert West, Reanimator, a doctor who unlocked the secrets of life and death at a terrible cost. In Lovecraft Unbound, more than twenty of today's most prominent writers of literature and dark fantasy tell stories set in or inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft. 9 • Introduction (Lovecraft Unbound) • essay by Ellen Datlow 11 • The Crevasse • short story by Dale Bailey and Nathan Ballingrud 31 • The Office of Doom • [Dust Devil] • short story by Richard Bowes 43 • Sincerely, Petrified • short fiction by Anna Tambour 73 • The Din of Celestial Birds • (1997) • short story by Brian Evenson 85 • The Tenderness of Jackals • short fiction by Amanda Downum 99 • Sight Unseen • short fiction by Joel Lane 113 • Cold Water Survival • short story by Holly Phillips 139 • Come Lurk With Me and Be My Love • short fiction by William Browning Spencer 161 • Houses Under the Sea • (2006) • novelette by Caitlín R. Kiernan 195 • Machines of Concrete Light and Dark • short story by Michael Cisco 213 • Leng • short fiction by Marc Laidlaw 239 • In the Black Mill • (1997) • short story by Michael Chabon 267 • One Day, Soon • short fiction by Lavie Tidhar 277 • Commencement • (2001) • novelette by Joyce Carol Oates 305 • Vernon, Driving • short fiction by Simon Kurt Unsworth 315 • The Recruiter • short fiction by Michael Shea 331 • Marya Nox • short fiction by Gemma Files 347 • Mongoose • [Boojum] • novelette by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette 375 • Catch Hell • short fiction by Laird Barron 413 • That of Which We Speak When We Speak of the Unspeakable • short fiction by Nick Mamatas

    This new planet called Earth is strange and the people even stranger. He was there for one reason, to find more of his people and to protect them from enemies old and new. What he didn’t expect was to find a mate that both he and his dragon wanted to bond with. Things just got more complicated but he was a dragon shifting warrior, he could handle anything.

    I was a fool! Austin was no Prince Charming. Rather than sweeping me off my feet, he broke my heart.That was fourteen years ago, and I am completely over Austin. He is in my past, and that’s where he’s going to stay. At least, that’s what I thought until he moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area. Now, he’s determined to win me over. It won’t work. I will not think about how good Austin looks playing the drums shirtless, or what an incredible kisser he is. All right, I might think about those things a little, but I’m definitely not going to fall for him again.AustinI’ve never been the guy who rides off into the sunset with the girl and makes all her dreams come true. I’ve always been the rebound guy, the one who helps rebuild a woman’s confidence after a breakup. It hasn’t been a bad gig. I got all the benefits with none of the drama. It was all I wanted until Piper walked back into my life.She’s not ready to forgive me, and I don’t deserve a second chance. I should just leave her alone, but after seeing her smile, I can’t do that. I’m done being the rebound guy. Piper doesn’t know it yet, but I’m going to do everything in my power to make her love me again. This time, I’m not letting her go.

    It has, in contemporary society, been reduced to the simple answers of the self-help industry, consumerist trends and the polluted rhetoric of the politician. In this major intervention into both contemporary philosophy and how we live now, Alain Badiou attempts to rehabilitate the notion of 'being happy'. He claims, 'the category of happiness, such as it is promoted today, has largely been reduced to what I would call satisfaction' and satisfaction for Badiou simply isn't good enough. Risk, adventure, peril are what true happiness is all about. Putting oneself in the position to feel and experience things that go beyond simply feeling calm and at peace, deliberating disturbing our equilibrium and asking questions of ourselves is where true happiness lies.Badiou is also asking a serious political question in his interrogation of happiness: what does it mean, socially and politically, to simply accept one's place in the world? It's each individual's political responsibility to disrupt our allotted places in the universe, up-end the social order, bring about something new.This is a crucially important piece of lively, life-giving philosophy from one of the world's greatest living philosophers.

    

    But who’s the girl behind the posts? For the first time ever, Charli is ready to share the intimate details of her life: how she navigated challenges and stayed positive in the face of cyberbullying, who she was as a little girl, what family means to her, and how you too can navigate your social media presence and IRL friendships in order to develop a strong and confident identity. Packed with Charli trivia, exclusive photos, real talk from Charli, and writing prompts, this book is your new go-to resource and is the only official book by your favorite teen role model and icon: Charli D’Amelio.

    But with war looming and an accident that could cost him his freedom, Elwin finds himself fleeing for his life and evading the Guardians of Life. The Guardians think Elwin guilty of the most grievous of crimes, and as he trains the gifts of his bloodline, he will discover a secret from long in his past.

    A communalist novel which describes about an assassination occurred during a major tractor production company strike, and briefing through the life and response of labors, union leaders, and external political supporters.

    

    She’s tortured by her history. Will their timid bond flourish into a lifelong love? Dean Morgan is an everyday hero. A well-respected firefighter in a small community, he believes everyone deserves compassion. So when he daringly rescues an unconscious teen from a burning building, the boy’s troubled mother immediately sets his heart ablaze. Joanne Hamilton fears she’ll never escape her imprisoned husband’s abuse. But when the handsome ladder-man plucks her son from the jaws of death, she’s surprised when his presence stirs more than gratitude. And when she witnesses the gorgeous guy’s kind soul in action, she feels her shattered spirit might just have a chance to mend. As Dean forms a fatherly connection with the boy, his protective instincts naturally pull them all closer. But when Joanne’s toxic baggage rears its ugly head, she’s terrified her budding attraction isn’t the only thing in danger. Can they survive a dark past and fan the flames of happiness? Dean is the touching first tale in The Morgan Brothers contemporary romance series. If you like healing hearts, tender embraces, and relearning trust, then you’ll adore Margaret McHeyzer’s uplifting story.

    And she isn't going to let anything get in her way. Until she repeatedly crosses paths with poster-child frat boy, Isaac Johnson. She hesitates when all he wants is a hook up. She pushes him away when he shows signs of wanting more. Then she's torn, when she finds him all alone and sick as a dog after his frat brothers abandon him for spring break. Katie should leave. Stick to her plan. Finish the project that could make or break her college career. But she can't leave him like this--to fend for himself when he can barely breathe--or ignore the connection building between them. The one she's not sure she can fight anymore.Fun and fluffy standalone with a happily ever after.Tropes you have to look forward to:*Injury (Our boy has the flu, poor thing)*Afraid to commit*FlingThis is a sweet and spicy novella intended for an adult audience.