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When Light Left Us
Leah Thomas - 2018
. . until a shimmering figure named Luz appeared in the canyon behind their house.Luz filled the void. He shot hoops with seventeen-year-old Hank’s hands. He showed fourteen-year-old Ana cinematic beauty behind her eyelids. He spoke kindly to eight-year-old Milo. But then Luz left, too, and he took something from each of them. As a new school year begins, Ana, Hank, and Milo must carry on as if an alien presence never altered them. But how can they ever feel close to other people again when Luz changed everything about how they see the world and themselves? In an imaginative and heartfelt exploration of human—and non-human—nature, Leah Thomas champions the unyielding bonds between family and true friends.
Black Wave
Michelle Tea - 2016
. . [and] unapologetically raw."—New York TimesIt's 1999 in San Francisco, and as shockwaves of gentrification sweep through Michelle's formerly scruffy neighborhood, money troubles, drug-fueled mishaps, and a string of disastrous affairs send her into a tailspin. Desperate to save herself, Michelle sets out to seek a fresh start in Los Angeles.Meanwhile, climate-related disruptions and a string of extinctions are the background noise of impending doom. One day, Michelle wakes up to an official announcement: the world will be ending in exactly one year. Daily life in Los Angeles quickly becomes intensely surreal.Humans begin to collectively dream of the lives and loves they would have had, if not for the end of the world, and the lines between fantasy and reality become increasingly blurred. As the planet nears its expiration date, Michelle holes up in an abandoned bookstore and calmly begins to write—convinced she's finally stumbled upon the elusive "universal story"—a novel about a struggling writer facing the end of the world.Funny, gritty, improbable, and endearing, Black Wave muses on the hallucinatory confusions of addiction, the hope and despair of a barely published writer, notions of destiny, and the porous boundaries between memoir and fiction.Michelle Tea has published four memoirs, including the award-winning Valencia; the novel Rose of No Man's Land; and the poetry collection The Beautiful. Her latest book How to Grow Up: A Memoir, was recently published by Plume.
Blood on the Bighorns
Carson McCloud - 2019
First it took his mother, then his father, and now it threatens to end his own life as well. Merciless killer Kip Lane found Brett and his sweetheart, Allie, while they were out for an afternoon ride. Now Allie is missing and Brett lies at the bottom of a deep hole carrying three bullet holes. He’s got to escape and then rescue Allie from Kip’s clutches, but first he’s got to survive the cold lonesome night. Kip Lane isn’t Brett’s only concern though. There’s another man lurking behind the dashing outlaw. A dangerous man with money, powerful friends, and more than one gunfighter on his payroll. He aims to be the territory’s biggest rancher and Brett’s ranch is the key. Brett has a few allies he can count on. Gideon Sweeney and his daughter Lisa at the local Mormon settlement along with Red Elk, an old Crow medicine man, and Mourning Song, a beautiful Cheyenne woman with her own tragic history. Will it be enough to take back Brett’s heritage or will young Rawlins find his end beneath the guns of his enemies? Either way there will be Blood on the Bighorns.
Shenandoah Nights
Lisa Belcastro - 2013
But after a desperate phone call from her school principal, she doesn't have a choice. Worse, the ship is rumoured to be "haunted." Five years ago, during the Holmes Hole student cruise, teacher Melissa Smith complained about hearing voices and seeing visions, then disappeared without a trace--from the very same cabin where Rebecca will be staying. Everything seems normal on Sunday afternoon as Rebecca boards the impressive Shenandoah. But as she sits in Cabin 8, she hears hushed voices whispering about a cannon. Mike, a crewmember, insists he believes the crazy Island story that Melissa time-traveled to Colonial Boston. His eerie interest and constant tracking Rebecca's whereabouts rattles her nerves. Her first night onboard, Rebecca drifts off to sleep...and wakes the following morning with memories of a dream about secretive conversation concerning a battle with Britain. Monday night Rebecca crawls into her bunk after an adventurous day of sailing, swimming, and overseeing students. She's startled awake when a man grabs her and yells, "Stowaway!" Dragged in front of Captain Benjamin Reed, she looks up into the most gorgeous brown eyes she's ever seen....
A Rebel Rises
R.J. Castiglione - 2017
During the day he was Michael Semione. He worked, spent time with his family, and did everything young professionals were meant to do. At night, he became Creighton Dian-Cecht, a druid healer in Fjorgyn Online. He was head of a company of crafters and adventurers known throughout the game. Things changed, however, when Michael was killed in real life while playing the game. He was reincarnated in a world based on Fjorgyn a level one, alone and naked in the woods. When he played the game, all he wanted to do was craft and heal. Follow his new life and his new adventures and challenges. See how he reconciles his desire to only heal in this dangerous, new world.
Tales From Alternate Earths
Jessica HolmesRob Edwards - 2016
What if the nukes had flown that day over Cuba? What if Caesar had survived? Imagine the Tunguska meteor with a different outcome. What if there was a true story behind HG Wells' most famous tale? See the world as it might have been if China discovered the New World first. And what if all of this was never meant to be and dinosaurs ruled the Earth?Authors Jessica Holmes, Daniel M. Bensen, Terri Pray, Rob Edwards, Maria Haskins, Cathbad Maponus, Leo McBride, and collaborators Brent A. Harris and Ricardo Victoria show us the world that might have been - if the butterfly's wings had fluttered a different way, if the world changed between heartbeats, if a moment of decision saw another choice.This is the fourth anthology from Inklings Press, aiming to provide a platform for new and upcoming authors and to open the door onto different worlds.
The Unintentional Time Traveler
Everett Maroon - 2014
Agreeing to participate in an experimental clinical trial to find new treatments for his disease, he finds himself in a completely different body—that of a girl his age, Jacqueline, who defies the expectations of her era. Since his seizures usually give him spazzed out visions, Jack presumes this is a hallucination. Feeling fearless, he steals a horse, expecting that at any moment he’ll wake back up in the clinical trial lab. When that doesn't happen, Jacqueline falls unexpectedly in love, even as the town in the past becomes swallowed in a fight for its survival. Jack/Jacqueline is caught between two lives and epochs, and must find a way to save everyone around him as well as himself. And all the while, he is losing time, even if he is getting out of algebra class.
Beyond the Narrows
M.R. Durbin - 2016
Facing gunfights and car chases, the treasure hunters locate a 500-year-old Mayan codex, the next clue on their adventure. Peter’s grandson, Charley, and Obie’s granddaughter, Mac, come along for the quest, but they may find themselves drawn to a different kind of treasure.Constantly one tiny step ahead of their enemies as they scour the caves, cliffs, and canyons of Southern Utah, Obie’s team will have to rely on each other if they want to reach the treasure before their pursuers. But what will they do if not all in their numbers can be trusted?
Seconds to Act
Stephanie Flynn - 2020
Promised a distraction, April accepts her quirky roommate's dream experiment, but as she's drifting off, she's given a surprising mission: Prevent Sam Hartley's arrest in 1852, otherwise he will be murdered.In 1852 Wisconsin, Sam Hartley wishes to return to blacksmithing, where he could use his hands to create, but until something is done about his tyrannical boss, he's trapped. When an extraordinary woman comes asking for him, escalating threats and her suspicious knowledge force him to keep her close. But too soon he must decide if risking her safety is worth mending his heart.Time's running out, and April must choose between her mediocre boyfriend and 1852, risking her life to save the man who stole her heart.If you love sizzling romance, edge-of-your-seat action, time travel, swoon-worthy heroes, and sassy ladies in a small town setting, you'll love Stephanie Flynn's dramatic historical adventure books. Each is a standalone with guaranteed HEA, but an overarching narrative. Best if read in order.
Blue Skies
Tamara Allen - 2014
Her long-standing battle with developer Joe McGowan brings a fragile Bowery rowhouse to her attention, and she’s as determined to protect it as he is to tear it down. During an inspection, Susan discovers just how unique the property is when she comes across a frightened and apparently homeless man bearing a tale of time travel neither she nor her brother Neil believes—until they find they themselves have traveled three days into the future.Professor Robin Winfield learns too late the mistake he made in agreeing to help Joe’s great-great-grandfather Victor McGowan decode a family journal connected to the rowhouse, a place once used as a laboratory for electrical experiments. When Robin is inadvertently transported one hundred and twenty-six years from home, Neil and Susan take him in, hoping to get him back where he belongs before anyone else learns of his presence. But Victor’s will has already spilled those beans and Joe thwarts the attempt to send Robin back—only to end up trapped with Susan in 1887.Broke and homeless in the not-so-ideal past, Joe and Susan struggle to find common ground—and they aren’t the only ones, as Neil and Robin join forces in a desperate search to rescue Susan before Victor figures out the secret to time travel. But a secret Victor’s keeping is the one destined to change the future—Neil and Susan’s—for all time to come.
Spin Me Right Round
David Valdes - 2022
Not after what happened with Chaz Wilson. But that was ages ago, when Luis's parents were in high school; it would never happen today, right? He's determined to find a way to give his LGBTQ friends the respect they deserve (while also not risking his chance to be prom king, just saying…).When a hit on the head knocks him back in time to 1985 and he meets the doomed young Chaz himself, Luis concocts a new plan-he's going to give this guy his first real kiss. Though it turns out a conservative school in the '80s isn't the safest place to be a gay kid. Especially with homophobes running the campus, including Gordo (aka Luis's estranged father). Luis is in over his head, trying not to make things worse-and hoping he makes it back to present day at all.In a story that's fresh, intersectional, and wickedly funny, David Valdes introduces a big-mouthed, big-hearted queer character that readers won't soon forget.
Romancing the Inventor
Gail Carriger - 2016
Imogene wants to seduce her.
Imogene Hale is a lowly parlourmaid with a soul-crushing secret. Seeking solace, she takes work at a local vampire hive, only to fall desperately in love with the amazing lady inventor imprisoned there.Genevieve Lefoux is heartsick, lonely, and French.With culture, class, and the lady herself set against the match, can Imogene and her duster overcome all odds and win Genevieve’s heart, or will the vampires suck both of them dry?New York Times bestselling author Gail Carriger presents this stand-alone lesbian romance is set in her popular steampunk Parasolverse, full of class prejudice, elusive equations, and paranormal creatures taking tea.Supernatural Society stories can be read in any order. Look for surprise appearances from popular Parasol Protectorate characters and the occasional strategic application of cognac.Delicate Sensibilities?This story contains women pleasing women and ladies who know what they want and pursue it, sometimes in exquisite detail.
Vietnam Black
Brad Harmer-Barnes - 2018
They find Viet Cong corpses along the path, strangely mummified or desiccated, and the village of Hai Trang itself turns out to be a ghost town. There, they find just one survivor - a young girl named Lai Anh - who tells them that everyone in the village has been destroyed by the "Vietnam Black". Heading back to base, they stumble across a Viet Cong tunnel system, which they feel compelled to investigate. Crawling into the darkness, the squad discovers that a nightmarish creature has made the tunnels its home. The Vietnam Black, a colossal centipede, covered in impenetrable black armour, loaded with a highly poisonous venom, and armed with scythe-like mandibles has awoken. Now, Reese has to lead his squad back home, avoiding the North Vietnamese Army, the Viet Cong, the dangers of the jungle, and the Vietnam Black.
Keys
Amber Kell - 2015
I live in the City of Keys, a town of gears, keys, locks, and wonder. Our forefathers banished magic long ago, bolted the doors and locked everything up tight to keep people out and the town’s secrets in. Four Lock Lords control what information is left, and everyone else is left struggling to survive.Despite what Thorne, my naïve lover, thinks, I was an orphan, but not a victim. When I walked the streets at the age of twelve, I learned fast where to steal the best food, how to use my daggers, and where to hide my would-be attackers’ bodies. No one suspected me of such violence. No one knew then or now that I have magic inside me.Now, power hungry men intend to release the magic for their own benefit—at the expense of the rest of the city. We will stop them, even if Thorne must battle his own kin, even if I must reveal my hidden talents and the role I seem destined to play.
The Whitechapel Girl
Gilda O'Neill - 1994
As her mother sinks deeper into alcoholism, the violent lodger with whom they share their one-room slum has been turning his attentions to Ettie, and she can’t stand it any longer.
So when debonair Professor Jacob Protsky picks Ettie out of the crowd at a penny gaff, she is determined to seize her chance. Despite the warnings of her friends, Ettie goes to live with Protsky in Bow, assisting him with his skilful brand of spiritual clairvoyance.
But when Ettie befriends Celia Tressing, she soon finds herself increasingly worried by events down the road in Whitechapel. A series of gruesome murders and whispers of a man called ‘Jack the Ripper’ have shaken even that resilient community, and outsiders like Protsky are prime suspects…
An East End drama perfect for fans of Rosie Goodwin and Sheila Newberry.
