Book picks similar to
Michael Hanson and the Desolate Woods by E.L. Ervin
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Bodega: Tales from the Bodegaverse
Edward Forsyth - 2019
Lover. Sniper. Thief. Scourge of the wicked. In fact, scourge of anyone if there's money to be made. A lawless man in a galaxy overrun by villains, Mork beasts, Dildonians and the dreaded imperial forces of Crem Slumdump. Aided by his otherwise unemployable crew of drunks, criminals, assassins and broken down combat droids, Bodega seeks fortune, and trouble seeks him. Armed with his array of hi-tech gadgets, and of course his famous las-gun, Bodega careens around the corners of the known Universe in his ship, the Disco Volante, guided by his unique sense of justice, and his love for the psychic entity known only as Majesta.Bodega: Tales from the Bodegaverse contains all the episodes of Bodega previously transmitted via the Triforce Podcast, and heaps more Bodega action besides. What're ya waiting for, pard?
Life on Hold
Karen McQuestion - 2009
New apartment, new town, new job--it's all an adventure to Gina, but for Rae, each move is just one more friend lost, one more chance to feel like an outsider. When they arrive in Wisconsin, Gina promises to stay put until Rae graduates. Cautiously optimistic, she wades into the social whirl at Whitman High School, making a few friends and even earning a chance at love. But when the vice principal pairs her with a new student, Allison Daly, things go bad in a big way. It seems Allison was orphaned after her parents died in a suspicious house fire, leaving their daughter to bounce between relatives' homes. When a sleepover at Rae's house goes terribly wrong, Rae sees a troubling side of Allison--and learns a few secrets about her own mother in the process. Suddenly Rae is at risk of losing everything and everyone she cares about--unless she steps up and takes charge of her life once and for all.
In 27 Days
Alison Gervais - 2012
She didn’t know the quiet, reserved guy very well, but that doesn’t stop her from feeling there was something she could have done to help him. Hoping to find some sense of closure, Hadley attends Archer’s funeral. There, Hadley is approached by a man who calls himself Death and offers her a deal. If Hadley accepts, she will be sent back 27 days in time to prevent Archer from killing himself. But when Hadley agrees to Death’s terms and goes back to right the past, she quickly learns her mission is harder than she ever could have known.Hadley soon discovers Archer’s reasons for being alone, and Archer realizes that having someone to confide in isn’t as bad as he’d always thought. But when a series of dangerous accidents starts pushing them apart, Hadley must decide whether she is ready to risk everything—including her life—to keep Archer safe.From award-winning Wattpad author Alison Gervais (HonorInTheRain) comes In 27 Days, a story of redemption, first love, and the strength it takes to change the future.
The Choice of Magic
Michael G. Manning - 2019
It was the enlightenment that lifted humanity from the squalor of superstition, and the worship of fell spirits and capricious gods, but those days are gone. The shining glory of the sorcerers burned away the subtlety of wisdom, replacing it with easy power, held only in the hands of the elite—a new age built upon the elemental supremacy of aristocrats and the ignorance of the masses.But this will change, for the greatest power comes with knowledge, and the deeper teachings of wizardry have not been utterly lost. The last wizard of the old tradition still survives in solitude, nursing tired grudges and waiting for death.His passing might have gone unnoticed, but for the imposition of a youth too stubborn to accept his refusal to take an apprentice. With a new student comes new hope, and that hope has caused old powers to stir again. That the world will change is inevitable, but the shape of the future is anything but certain.
Born of Lies
Sara Dailey - 2013
Gorgeous, strong fierce…and soon he would be alpha of her werewolf pack. But then the marriage was set. No choice. No looking back. Except, she did. Lillian started looking forward, too, and wondering if eighteen was too young to give away her life.Certainly, it is tonight. A rock concert. She and her friend, intoxicating music, sweat, bodies, freedom…and him: Paul. The human bassist’s touch makes her soul sing like the strings of his axe, and everything is possible. Yet, Lillian’s parents, her secrets, her entire world lies elsewhere. Paul doesn’t even see what she is, what she can do. What she must do. This to-die-for human is not of her kind. And yet, something special, something terrifyingly perfect, something eternally true has been…born of lies.
Sea Change
S.M. Wheeler - 2013
In Octavius’s many arms, Lilly learns of friendship, loyalty, and family. When Octavius, forbidden by Lilly to harm humans, is captured by seafaring traders and sold to a circus, Lilly becomes his only hope for salvation. Desperate to find him, she strikes a bargain with a witch that carries a shocking price. Her journey to win Octavius’s freedom is difficult. The circus master wants a Coat of Illusions; the Coat tailor wants her undead husband back from a witch; the witch wants her skin back from two bandits; the bandits just want some company, but they might kill her first. Lilly's quest tests her resolve, tries her patience, and leaves her transformed in every way.
Atlas Rising
Blake Severson - 2021
Picking a druid, he charges forward into an unknown land as he tries to master an odd combat system. Luckily for him, the crafting system is ripe to make money and the game’s currency is tied to the real-world market.But a strange dungeon forces him to reevaluate everything he thought he knew. Is the company behind this game truly what it seems to be, or is there a nefarious purpose hidden below the surface?
We Hunt Monsters 1
Aaron Oster - 2022
After making a deal with a mysterious immortal, he was sent to a new world in hopes of gaining the offered reward - a chance at a better life with his family. However, Keith failed to realize that this deal did not come with an expiration date, no matter how many times he died. After dying for the dozenth time, Keith renegotiates with the immortal. This new deal will see him sent to the world of Raiah - a world filled with monsters, cowardly monkeys, and a system of magic very similar to the fantasy roleplaying games his brother used to enjoy. Completing a quest to hunt the most dangerous monsters on the planet, is the price Keith will need to pay to regain his old life. It’s a good thing that all of his experiences in his previous lives translate to Skills in this new one because if Keith fails this time, the price he will need to pay will be far steeper. We Hunt Monsters is a crunchy LitRPG in an epic fantasy setting. Fans of Dakota Krout, Will Wight, and the Monster Hunter games will enjoy this new series by the bestselling author of the Rise to Omniscience and Buryoku series.
The Grey Woods
J. Carson Rose - 2016
Here, the powerful Lady Atya of the Majae draws Fin Goldvale into this spiritual realm to witness past events that hold the key to his future. But Fin is caught between his cousin Madros’ present turmoil and his past love for the enchanting Eamìn of the Majae. In order to ensure their very survival, Fin must navigate Lord Madros’ growing madness by understanding the heroic deeds of his past.Madros was forced to send his beloved Eamìn to a remote city where his cousin Gareth is king. Fin was sent with her to protect her from the dark forces ever searching for her power, but more importantly, from Gareth himself. But Fin is accused of an affair with Eamìn, who has been forced to marry Gareth while in hiding, and he escapes to Madros’ city with the heartbreaking news that she is no longer safe there. But pulling her out of the hidden city will expose her again to the Lord of the Dream Realm, who Madros is ultimately protecting her from.Madros must decide if leaving Eamìn in Gareth’s clutches is the lesser of two evils, or will the guilt of how she suffers in Gareth’s hands drive him to choose another option so deadly, in an attempt to rid both threats to her.Time is an infinite loop, expanding, contracting and repeating again, and this tale weaves itself through a series of parallel events happening three years apart. In the end Fin finds himself standing between Madros and Eamìn, two people he’s sworn to love and protect, and deciding which to serve.
The False Prince
Jennifer A. Nielsen - 2012
To unify the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to find an impersonator of the king's long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner's motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword's point—he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. But Sage's rivals have their own agendas as well.As Sage moves from a rundown orphanage to Conner's sumptuous palace, layer upon layer of treachery and deceit unfold, until finally, a truth is revealed that, in the end, may very well prove more dangerous than all of the lies taken together.
Tell-Tale
Danielle Allen - 2019
I knew he was going to think I sounded crazy. I knew he was going to think I was crazy. But I’d nervously fretted about my feelings for him for years. My nerves had sharpened my senses—not destroyed or dulled them. And above all was my ability to listen. I’d heard all the reasons why we shouldn’t be together. I know I’d given every excuse in the world, every excuse from heaven to hell as to why we couldn’t be together. But my feelings wouldn’t go away, so… how does that make me crazy? Listen! Sanely and calmly, I’ll tell you the whole story. ** Tell-Tale is a contemporary romance inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart **
The Wasp Factory
Iain Banks - 1984
Their life is, to say the least, unconventional. Frank's mother abandoned them years ago: his elder brother Eric is confined to a psychiatric hospital; and his father measures out his eccentricities on an imperial scale. Frank has turned to strange acts of violence to vent his frustrations. In the bizarre daily rituals there is some solace. But when news comes of Eric's escape from the hospital Frank has to prepare the ground for his brother's inevitable return - an event that explodes the mysteries of the past and changes Frank utterly.The Wasp Factory is a work of horrifying compulsion: horrifying, because it enters a mind whose realities are not our own, whose values of life and death are alien to our society; compulsive, because the humour and compassion of that mind reach out to us all. A novel of extraordinary originality, imagination and comic ferocity.
Brayden
Kathi S. Barton - 2017
She’d been shot and couldn’t even remember who she was hiding from. All she did know was she needed help, and when Julian Stanton found her, he took her to his family.Brayden Stanton was just tired of everything. It was time to leave Africa and go home to family. He called his dad to tell him that he was fed up with the job and he was on his way home, and he was bringing a fiancée with him. She wasn’t his mate, but he was going to make it work. He realized his mistake the moment he proposed.Danger comes at every turn. The women in Brayden’s life are surrounded with it. Both are lethal, but one has Braden's heart from the beginning. The question is, can the family survive it?
Proven
H.M. Clarke - 2019
And it is up to the Blackwatch to root it out.
All Ryn Weaver ever wanted was to be a warrior. To protect others unable to protect themselves. But on her Proving to join the prestigious Blackwatch Order she finds herself accidentally Paired with Dagan Drake, a Tribunal Mage. Theirs is a reluctant partnership. Given no choice in the matter, Ryn must now work with Dagan to complete his mission to capture a traitor to the realm. With rogue mages and brutish blades coming at her from every turn, will Ryn be able to gain the respect of her new partner and prove herself worthy of her blade? Or will Ryn and her Order fall to the machinations of the evil set against them? Proven is the first installment in a new epic fantasy romance series. If you like electrifying action, rich characters, and magical battles, then you'll love H.M. Clarke's series starter. Click to read Proven now.
Waiting for Wyatt
S.D. Hendrickson - 2016
It was unexpected, leaving a feeling in the pit of my stomach like the time I drove too fast over Beckett Hill. The moment happened out of nowhere, all fast and quick and a little strange. Or maybe that was just Wyatt’s personality.It was Charlie that brought us together. Little Charlie with those ridiculous ears. I found the dog, waiting in a pool of his own blood. Waiting for someone. Waiting for me.Now Wyatt, he wasn’t waiting for anyone. At least that’s what he said, except I saw something different in the broken guy all alone out in the woods. I knew he needed me before he knew it himself.Wyatt with his hidden dimples. Wyatt with his warnings to stay away. He was a hard lump of coal, ready to burn everything around him. The more he burned, the more it pulled me into the pain I saw etched on his troubled face.I wanted to help Wyatt. I wanted to save him like he had saved all the Charlies in the world. He told me not to fall for him, but I did anyway. I fell hard and fast and deeply in love with Wyatt Caulfield.
But that was before I knew his secret.
Author Note: Waiting for Wyatt is the love story of Wyatt Caulfield and Emma Sawyer, which also features rescue animals. It's a 112,000 word Standalone Novel. Contemporary Romance / Coming of Age/ New Adult & College