Book picks similar to
Beyond the Beast by Amara Luciano
diverse-reads
fairy-tale-retellings
indie
short-reads
The Wizard Killer - Season One
Adam Dreece - 2016
How and why are the least of the wizard killer’s worries.Leaning my bloody head against the back of the crashed levitating carriage, I flex my cramped fingers. With a renewed grip on the mana-pistol, I steal a quick breath. The others better wake up fast, otherwise we’re all going to burn.Enjoy all 20 pulse-pounding episodes, and an all new side to best-selling YA author, Adam Dreece.Recommended for adults, appropriate for most 12+ .Note: This is written in an episodic, serialized style.
Puppet Skin
Danger Slater - 2016
That's the day she transforms into a living puppet, like her parents and teachers before her. No longer a human girl made of flesh and feelings, but a perfect wooden new self, whose strings lead up from her limbs into an endless black void above. With no pain. No sorrow. No sickness. No fear.But Hannah has begun to suspect that something is very, very wrong. And in a world where emotion is treated like a disease, and unknown terrors lurk inside everyone, just keeping your soul alive past childhood might be the greatest challenge of all."PUPPET SKIN is a dark, grotesquely-beautiful Bizarro nightmare fable for alienated teens of all ages. If you've ever felt lost in this deranged universe, Danger's book knows exactly what you mean." - John Skipp, author of THE LIGHT AT THE END and THE ART OF HORRIBLE PEOPLE
Everybody Lies
B.M. Hardin - 2019
Twenty. Twenty-one. Twenty-two. What really happened? No one has a clue. Twenty-two people are questioned, but nothing is found. So one by one, Pepper narrows the suspects down. It becomes clear that everybody has something to hide. The closer Pepper gets to truth, the more everyone lies. Somebody saw something. Someone knows the truth. Someone is a murderer. The question is…who?
In the Shadow of El Paso
Frank Zafiro - 2012
Isabella is a beautiful Mexican woman that everyone in town loves, including the hapless Pete and the wealthy, powerful Jack...but most of all, Carl.Part romance, part police procedural, IN THE SHADOW OF EL PASO contains two short stories by Frank Zafiro. Both stories explore love, race, class and the ambiguity that exists on the southern border.
Doctrine of Indecency: 18 Coveted Tales of Lust
Kat MizeraMia Sparks - 2016
Get lost in the pages composed by minds trained to tempt and tease the senses to satisfaction while leaving you wanting so much more…
Summoned by the CEO
Annabelle Winters - 2020
. .I'm in love with my job, married to my career, focused on my goals.But when the mysterious CEO summons me to his office and says something that makes me shake, makes me shiver, makes me sweat . . . . . . that's when I know my life changed the moment I walked through his dark door.If you've read my other novella series, you know how wild my stuff can get. It's not for everyone, but maybe it's for you ;)Drama and madness. Twists and turns. Chaos and crazy.Sweetness with a touch of darkness.No cheating. No cliffhangers. Always a happy ending.This is insta-love, Annabelle Winters style.
The List
Buck Storm - 2019
And for centuries the people watched, waited and hoped. He was to be the redeemer of Israel. The all-powerful King of Kings who would finally and decisively deliver the nation from the iron fist of Rome. Joseph of Arimathea is a wealthy man, but wealth can't buy peace. Nor the affection of the wife he loves. Nicodemus is a leader of Israel who will stop at nothing to find truth. Sadducee and Pharisee--two men, worlds apart, thrown together at the most critical moment in the history of the world. Set against the spectacle and grandeur of ancient Israel and the brutal violence of the Roman Empire, here is a tale not to be missed. Step into THE LIST and experience the Christ story as you never have before.
The Games Men Play
Joe Schwartz - 2011
In ‘The Games Men Play’ he has combined twenty-one short stories that will take the reader on a haunting journey through the darkest St. Louis streets to its most rural counties. A terrific, fast paced storytelling style that never wastes a word, his work constantly entertains and demands to be read.
The Yorkshire Dipper
Maria Frankland - 2021
The local police are over-stretched and under-resourced.With each life that is pulled into the river’s depths, journalist Lauren Holmes becomes more suspicious and more determined to bring the truth to the surface.Her police sergeant fiancé is well-placed to help her. Yet he is committed to maintaining police reputation and is happy to accept each death recorded as ‘drunken misadventure.’Can Lauren get to the bottom of the deaths without risking her own ‘accident?’
Scarlette: A Gothic Folktale
Davonna Juroe - 2012
Starting in 1764, an unidentified wolf-like animal ferociously mauled dozens of peasants in the Gévaudan region of France. Whispered rumors of unnatural creatures blended with age-old superstition to cause mass hysteria. Alarmed, King Louis XV sent his best huntsmen to rid the province of the beastly scourge, but this legendary massacre had only just begun. Scarlette, a 19-year-old seamstress who is laboring to make ends meet, lives under this dark threat. Although fearful of the nightmarish monster lurking in the surrounding forest, she remains naive and skeptical of the supernatural gossip. Until her grandmother is attacked.Scarlette learns her grandmother has been infected by the animal's bite. Desperate to save her, Scarlette begins to uncover the dark secrets of her village and finds there are those who wish to keep their pasts hidden. As time grows short, Scarlette is befriended by a local nobleman and a woodcutter who both share an eerie history with the wolf. Scarlette must unravel the men's connection and solve a long-forgotten crime before her grandmother's infection spreads. Based on both the traditional Grimm fairy-tale and older known French versions of "Little Red Riding Hood", this Gothic novel is set against the historic 18th century Beast of Gévaudan attacks in a modern, accessible prose style. Unique to the genre, the novel revives the fable of the girl-in-the-red-cloak with a new historical angle.
Anything can be Dangerous
Matt Hults - 2011
The stories include:Anything can be Dangerous ~ the simple things in life can kill.Through the Valley of Death ~ a dark vampire story that will make you remember fear. The Finger ~ zombie literature has never been so extraordinary.Feeding Frenzy ~ lunchtime in a place called Hell. Husk ~ this is what people are saying about Husk:“Matt Hults delivers a crackling, creepy tale. A fast-paced read with a generous body count, ‘Husk’ will make your skin crawl.”—Scott Nicholson, Bestselling author of They Hunger“Remember the first time you read Joe Lansdale’s The Drive-In, or Freezer Burn? Remember how exhilarated you felt as you tore through the pages as Lansdale kept knocking your jaw to the floor with his endless inventiveness, unexpected belly-laughs, and those even more unexpected moments of terror and pathos? Miss that feeling of being completely at the mercy of a writer’s imagination and boundless energy for his subject? Fret no more, friends—you now have Matt Hults’s Husk. This sucker is the real thing, an in-your-face, rollicking, scary, funny, and unexpectedly poignant potpourri of a horror story, an unabashed and unapologetic throwback to the early pulps infused with a vindictive modern-day sensibility that will have your head spinning and your mouth hanging open. It doesn’t get any more fun than this.”—Gary A. Braunbeck, winner of the Bram Stoker Award and International Horror Guild Award, author of Coffin County and Destinations Unknown“Suspenseful and gruesome, with just the right leavening of hopefulness and nod-wink humor.”—Dr. Kim Paffenroth, Bram Stoker Award Winner for Dying to Live.“Husk is wild, bloody, scary, action-packed, and entertaining as hell. Matt Hults seems to be having a blast telling his tale, and I had a blast going along for the ride. Great fun!”—Jeff Strand, Bram Stoker Nominated Author of PRESSURE"'Husk' is a chilling and relentless tale that will make you want to check your closets, lock your windows and keep an eye in your review mirror...but don't think that'll save you!"––Fran Friel, Bram Stoker Nominated Author of Mama's Boy“Husk is violent, intense and terrifying. The characters are as real as you and I, and every triumph is rapturous while every death is harrowing. Matt Hults proves himself as a master of the genre with his striking debut novel. It will leave you feeling skinned alive and dying for more.”—Joel A. Sutherland, Bram Stoker Nominated Author of Frozen Blood“I have come across some pretty mind-blowing demons on paper, on the big screen, and especially in my mind. But the ‘Husk’ Matt Hults created in this his first novel breaks all my thresholds for fear, and believe me I have built some pretty sound barriers in my time.”—Giovanna Lagana, author of With Black & White Comes the Grey
Refuting the External World
Göran Backlund - 2014
It will effectively reveal and dispel any wrong-thinking surrounding this idea upon which all else stands. The purpose? To unburden you from all notions of ‘self’, allowing you to directly discover the raw, non-dual truth of Being.This isn't the first work that tackles this subject. But others have left it at “we can’t really know whether there’s anything beyond our experience”, while I go all the way and say that we can know – and in this book I’ll show you exactly how and why this idea of an objective, physical universe of time and space beyond our perceptions is nothing but a figment of our imagination.But it’s a book unlike all others on the contemporary non-dual awakening scene. You won’t find any ‘pointers’ in it. What you’ll find is stone cold logic hacking away at the very foundation of existence itself. And in its wake; when the dust finally settles; you’ll recognize that, not only were the words of the sages true all along, but they've gone from being a remote possibility to being the light and guiding principle of your life. What words?"Consciousness is all."
Take Me to Bed: A Collection of Naughty Bedtime Stories
Lydia Michaels - 2020
The last thing he expected was to fall in love with a sub for hire.
Almost Priest
: Lydia MichaelsColin is making his Holy Orders at the end of summer. But when his brother brings home a woman, he’s suddenly rethinking his devotion to the church and his loyalty to his family. Big drama in a small town leads to one scandalous, taboo summer…
The Boss
: Melanie MorelandTerrified and on the run, I was lost. He found me. I witnessed his crime and he gave me a choice. Marriage or death. I never expected to love him. But the choices were never really mine.
Personal Delivery
: Ainsley BoothJana’s got a crush on the new SwiftEx delivery guy, Jake. What they don’t know--what nobody knows--is that Jake Aston is not a regular delivery driver. When the billionaire goes undercover on the front lines to better understand his new company, the last thing expects is to fall for the cute illustrator on his new route.
Runaway Billionaire
: Desiree HoltWhen Kyle is sent to scope out a tiny B&B on the beach, he’s hardly prepared for Pepper, who launches herself at him with a hot kiss and introduces him as her intended. Maybe she can save him from his matchmaking parents before reality rears its ugly head and nearly destroys it all.
Sweetest Sin
: Sienna SnowShe's the woman of my dreams. The one I never should have touched. The one who owns my soul. There is nothing I wouldn't do to keep her. Even play a game, where the winner takes all.
Taming the Girl Dad
Khloe Summers - 2021
She’s young but determined. Can a surprise baby bring the two of them together?RykerAngel is everything I should stay away from.She’s young, sweet, and she’s my ex-best friend’s little sister.But when a baby is left on my doorstep, I’m a lost man, and running into her at the market is the best thing that could’ve happened.Trouble is, she’s curvy as hell, and tempting every sense of reasoning I have.I should say no, but I have a feeling I’ll only be growling yes.This title comes with Khloe's 'Easy Escape Seal', a no cliffhanger, no cheating, HEA guarantee.
Georgette Heyer's Greatest Hits
Georgette Heyer - 2019
Now, get three full-length novels featuring some of Heyer's most beloved heroines, plus a delightful bonus novella from the Queen of Regency Romance's little known short story collection.About the books in this bundle:The Grand Sophy: When Sophy sweeps in, life will never be the same for the Ombersleys. Sophy discovers that her aunt's family is in desperate need of her talent for setting everything right: Cecelia is in love with a poet, Charles has tyrannical tendencies that are being aggravated by his grim fiancee, her uncle is of no use at all, and the younger children are in desperate need of some fun and freedom. By the time she's done, Sophy has commandeered Charles's horses, his household-and maybe even his heart.Arabella: Arabella never would have pretended to be rich if that odious Robert Beaumaris hadn't insulted her, practically to her face. Now she has to keep up the subterfuge, even when it gets her into more trouble than she bargained for. How is she ever going to tell Robert the truth? Or does he already know her shocking secret?Frederica: The lovely, competent, and refreshingly straightforward Frederica is determined to secure a brilliant marriage for her beautiful sister and seeks out their distant cousin, the Marquis of Alverstoke, for his society connections. Frederica makes such a strong impression that to his own amazement, the Marquis agrees to help. Normally wary of his family, Lord Alverstoke does his best to keep his word while keeping his distance. But with his enterprising – and altogether entertaining – country cousins getting into one scrape after another, before he knows it the Marquis finds himself dangerously embroiled.To Have the Honor (novella): Young Lord Allerton returns home from the Napoleonic Wars to find his father has left the family bankrupt. His mother's solution: marry his wealthy cousin. But the Viscount would sooner have his beloved Harriet marry whom she chooses than be reduced to accepting a proposal from his financially compromised position.