Book picks similar to
The Balance by Kev Harrison


horror
folk-horror
5-star
horror-recommendations

The Businessman's Tie


Deena Ward - 2013
    He seduces her with a sizzling introduction to the thrill of submission. As the days pass, she can't forget him or the way he made her feel, so she seeks him out and soon finds herself at a BDSM club. There, she meets Michael Weston, a handsome, charming playboy who's keen to seize the reins left dangling by the absent Businessman.Nonnie's ready to take chances ... perhaps too ready.*Warning: adult material. Only purchase if it is legal for you to do so. This book contains explicit language and scenes of a sexual nature, including exhibitionism, S&M by secondary characters, and consensual domination and submission, which some readers may find objectionable.*Approximately 42,000 words, 150 print pages~~~~~~~~~~~~"The Power to Please," a four-part, BDSM erotic romance seriesNonnie Crawford journeys into the alluring but sometimes dangerous realm of BDSM. She yearns to submit herself to a powerful, dominant man and two Doms vie for that submission, the enigmatic Businessman and the charming Playboy.Knowing who to trust is always a challenge, and the odds of making a mistake are multiplied when gripped by new, intoxicating desires. Nonnie's choices prove the difference between perfect bliss and devastating ruin. Truth and trust. She'll need both as she struggles to move past her mistakes, earn indestructible love, and to claim the ultimate power to please.Warning: adult material. Contains explicit language and scenes of a sexual nature, including exhibitionism, multiple-partner scenes, S&M, bondage, consensual domination and submission, and other activities which some readers may find objectionable.Titles in the series should be read in order:1 - The Businessman's Tie2 - The Playboy's Proposition3 - His Name Is Sir4 - The Submissive's Last Word

The Kiss: An Anthology of Love and Other Close Encounters


C.A. NewsomeBen Cassidy - 2014
    It can also be an exchange, a betrayal, an assault, a promise, a hope...or it could be a goodbye. The intimacy of a kiss cannot be denied. Whether shared, stolen or simply dreamed of, its recipient will be affected. Thirty-one stories by authors from around the world will tease your imagination as you anticipate ‘The Kiss’ in each weird or wonderful tale. This cross-genre anthology contains stories by Kate Aaron, Saxon Andrew, Jacques Antoine, Alison Blake, E. B. Boggs, Shirley Bourget, Ben Cassidy, Jason Deas, Sharon Delarose, Meghan Ciana Doidge, Suzy Stewart Dubot, Corrie Fischer, Brandon Hale, Traci Tyne Hilton, Colleen Hoover, Mona Ingram, J. L. Jarvis, Elizabeth Jasper, Anna J. McIntyre, Jess Mountifield, C. A. Newsome, S. Patrick O'Connell, Suzie O'Connell, Jeanette Raleigh, J. R. C. Salter, Molly Snow, Holli Marie Spaulding, Cleve Sylcox, Robert Thomas, Chris Ward and George Wier. 130,000 words

Crossed


Lacey Silks - 2015
    Dating has proven tiresome and worthless, so she’s decided to put her efforts into her work at the salon she owns.In search for evidence against a crime family, Hunter Reeve stumbles upon a woman who may be the key to solving the case. Except she’s unaware of the lurking danger. His growing attraction to the spunky hairdresser complicates the relationship further.As enemies weasel into Grace’s life, Hunter is forced to make a choice between his work and Grace. And the wrong choice could have consequences neither one is ready for.Warning: Intended for mature audiences

Marrying Caroline


Susan Stoker - 2015
    Now things have calmed down and a wedding is in the works for the couple. By enlisting the help of Wolf’s teammate, Cookie, Caroline is immersed in plans for her dream wedding.Of course, with their luck, things can never go off without a hitch.Join Alabama and Abe, Cookie and Fiona, as well as the rest of the SEAL team, as Caroline and Wolf start the rest of their life together.**Marrying Caroline is book 3.5 in the SEAL of Protection Series. It can be read as a stand-alone, but it’s recommended you read the books in order.**

Until Fountain Bridge


Samantha Young - 2013
    Over the years, as Ellie’s crush develops into love, her romantic idealism makes it difficult for her to move on. To make matters worse, as she’s gotten older, Adam’s attitude has changed toward her. His affection for her is now joined by attraction, but his loyalty to Braden, and his fear of losing the only family he has, stops him from claiming Ellie the way she wishes he would. But one night his attraction is put to the test, and as much as Adam would like things to remain the same everything changes between them in a simple brush of the lips. Soon lust, love, jealousy and heartbreak combine to force change upon their relationship… and Adam discovers the hard way that life is too damn short to spend it on regret.

Among Monsters


Jamie McGuire - 2014
    Jenna had promised her mother that if the worst happened during her dad’s weekend, they would meet at Red Hill Ranch. When she finds seven words spray-painted on her dad’s wall the morning after a deadly outbreak, she makes a promise to herself: to get to the ranch with her seven-year-old sister, Halle, and to get them both there alive. Among Monsters is the companion novella to Red Hill, both exploring from different perspectives what many broken families experience every other weekend: What if your children aren't with you when the world ends? What would you do to get to them? What would they go through to get to you? For Jenna, seeing her mother again is worth everything. Determined to keep her promise, she is faced with experiences and decisions that force her to leave her childhood behind.

Hearts and Llamas


Tara Sivec - 2013
    A Valentine's Day short story from the Chocolate Lover's gang.

Mission Pack 2: Missions 5-8


J.S. Morin - 2015
     Captain Carl Ramsey and the crew of the Mobius are constantly on the run from one bad decision to the next. Every time it looks like they might score big, something goes wrong. But no one ever got ahead by quitting, and the only alternative is honest work. There are always more jobs to pull, more schemes to hatch, and more authorities to evade. Mission 5: Alien Racer A race contest turns into a heist when Carl can’t keep his greed in check. But will he be able to pull it off with billions of holovid viewers watching? Mission 6: Retro Version A relaxing getaway on a nostalgic colony sounds like a nice break for the Mobius crew. But easy living and keeping a low profile aren’t in their DNA. Mission 7: Siege of Mortania Mort’s past catches up with him, and the crew of the Mobius are caught in the wizardly crossfire. Mission 8: Moon of Odysseus One of Carl’s old squadron mates has stumbled onto the location of a salvage prize unlike any the Mobius crew has ever seen: a lost Earth Navy battleship. The only problem is the survivors of the crash aren’t too welcoming of visitors. Bonus Short Story: Pinball Wizardry For Esper Theresa Richelieu, it’s time to graduate from apprentice to wizard. But the final exam isn’t exactly what she had in mind.

The Coming of the Old Ones


Jeffrey Thomas - 2019
    P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. AROUND THE CORNER - A man whose parents raised him in a cult suspects the new tenants in his apartment complex belong to a similar cult, and are summoning up powers that will change the world...and not for the betterment of humankind. AFTER THE FALL - Around the world, after a great storm the sky becomes filled with the fossilized remains of vast monsters locked in an ancient conflict, leaving humans to interpret this vision and to consider their own humble existence. SCRIMSHAW - In this alternate history story set in 1851, men in seafaring ships do not harvest whale blubber, but seek strange treasures in the bodies of immense alien creatures. From Jeffrey Thomas -- the author of Punktown.

Amish Baby: Hannah and Jakob's Book


Kristina Ludwig - 2014
    Between her demanding job at Stoltzfus Bakery, bridesmaid duties in Amish bridezilla Mercy’s wedding, and her unwanted position as mediator during Jakob and Mercy’s many quarrels, Hannah is ready for a break! However, Hannah receives more rest time than she’d bargained for when an accident causes her to nearly lose her baby, and lands her on bed rest. Can her marriage really survive in sickness and in health? Will Hannah recover in time to stand in Mercy’s wedding? And can Hannah regain her strength and give birth to a healthy baby?

Killchain


Adam Baker - 2015
    She has tactical command of a US kill-team, CIA operatives, rookies and veterans of a dozen war zones. It should be a straightforward hit but her luck is about to run out. She will soon find herself trapped in a city gone to hell, struggling to complete her mission in the face of betrayal, a spreading pandemic and a population hungry for flesh…

Spalding's Scary Shorts


Nick Spalding - 2010
    Keating the vampire used to love the stories that humans would write about his species. They had endlessly amused him.Madeline De Martine had changed all that though. From terrifying, bloodthirsty creatures of the night... to maudlin, effeminate idiots obsessed with adolescent American girls, De Martine's blockbuster romances had irrevocably ruined the image of the vampire as far as Keating was concerned.So tonight he's paying the multi-millionaire writer a visit to offer some constructive feedback, and show her the error of her ways... Dogs Of War Giving interactive gameplay a whole new meaning. Disaster... Epic. Huge. Unmitigated. Disaster. Zack Hampton's beloved Gamestation console has just committed electronic suicide - right in the middle of a hectic multiplayer Dogs Of War game.Where the hell is he supposed to find another one the week before Christmas? All the shops have sold out! Imagine Zack's delight when he stumbles on a quaint Christmas shop, run by the enigmatic Mister Fix... and discovers a unique 'special edition' Gamestation on sale for a bargain price. Following a very strange conversation with the old shopkeeper, Zack buys the console and rushes home to rejoin the online mayhem as quickly as possible. This Gamestation is very special though, and Zack is about to take part in a game of Dogs Of War he is never going to forget. I, Zombie A story of the thinking dead. 'My name is Jim Monroe and I am a zombie. My natural life on this planet has ceased and I've been re-animated to stalk the world as a pale, grotesque imitation of my former self. I'm different from my undead brethren though... I'm a zombie with a brain. This is the short, shocking story of how I came to be this way.'Spine Slaughter When hedgehogs attack! On a warm summer's day, the village of Wincing On Thames is attacked by the most unlikely of blood thirsty monsters.Hoards of deadly hedgehogs are on the loose, with a taste for human flesh. Can hockey stick wielding Jason, Scab the punk and their friends survive the onslaught? And what turned these normally placid little animals into creatures from the darkest of nightmares?

Broken Shells


Michael Patrick Hicks - 2018
    Broke and recently fired, he knows the winning Money Carlo ticket that has landed in his mailbox from a car dealership is nothing more than a scam. The promise of five thousand dollars, though, is too tantalizing to ignore.Jon Dangle is a keeper of secrets, many of which are buried deep beneath his dealership. He works hard to keep them hidden, but occasionally sacrifices are required, sacrifices who are penniless, desperate, and who will not be missed. Sacrifices exactly like DeWitt.When Antoine steps foot on Dangle’s car lot, it is with the hope of easy money. Instead, he finds himself trapped in a deep, dark hole, buried alive. If he is going to survive the nightmare ahead of him, if he has any chance of seeing his wife and child again, Antoine will have to do more than merely hope. He will have to fight his way back to the surface, and pray that Jon Dangle’s secrets do not kill him first.

The Possession of Natalie Glasgow


Hailey Piper - 2018
    Natalie spends her days comatose, but at night she prowls her mother’s home, unnaturally strong and insatiably carnivorous. With doctors baffled, Natalie’s mother reaches out to Margaret, an expert in the supernatural. But even Margaret is mystified and terrified by Natalie’s condition. She’s dying, and before she dies, she might kill someone. Has a demon clawed its way inside an eleven-year-old girl? Or does the source of this nightmare lie with Natalie’s dead father?A tight, tense novella, The Possession of Natalie Glasgow twists the exorcism tale at every turn down to its final grave confrontation.

Helltown: A Horror Novel


Stephen Bentley - 2015
    It's nothing like the suburb you might live in . . . Unless, that is, an insane, Listerine-guzzling Realtor sold you your house? Or perhaps your postman happens to have a disturbing relationship with his claw hammer? A grieving Dan LaBarbara knows something is different in Helltown as soon as he comes back home. Yeah, sure, the town always been a little off. You can feel that about the place, like if you stepped into a house whose only occupants were freshly murdered corpses in an upstairs bedroom. But this is something else entirely. Standing in his little brother Barbie's basement workshop, holding one of those dioramas Barbie's been building since the accident, the ones that seem to move when you hold them, Dan can feel Barbie's terror. Barbie must know something is coming, something big, something evil. He's trying to warn Dan in the only way he knows. Why else would Barbie build a diorama depicting a man-sized version of a cartoon rabbit with bloody teeth about to devour a trembling teenager? Why else would he spend so much time crafting an intricate model of Death standing over a pimply teenager in the school library? And let's not even talk about that little model of the mob of undead surrounding the massive tower of vicious black spines behind the high school. Hilltown has a story to tell, and the lonely brain-damaged man who builds magical dioramas in his basement workshop has been telling it all along. As the evil closes in around them, Dan and his new love interest Jessica must do the impossible: save everyone one in Hilltown before it's too late.