The People We Keep


Allison Larkin - 2021
    Failing out of school, picking up shifts at Margo’s diner, she’s left fending for herself in a town where she’s never quite felt at home. When she “borrows” her neighbor’s car to perform at an open mic night, she realizes her life could be much bigger than where she came from. After a fight with her dad, April packs her stuff and leaves for good, setting off on a journey to find a life that’s all hers.As April moves through the world, meeting people who feel like home, she chronicles her life in the songs she writes and discovers that where she came from doesn’t dictate who she has to be. This lyrical, unflinching tale is for anyone who has ever yearned for the fierce power of found family or to grasp the profound beauty of choosing to belong.

The 1,000-year-old Boy


Ross Welford - 2018
    The astonishing, beautiful new story for all readers of 10 and over from the bestselling and Costa-shortlisted author of TIME TRAVELLING WITH A HAMSTER.There are stories about people who want to live forever.This is not one of those stories.This is a story about someone who wants to stop…Alfie Monk is like any other nearly teenage boy – except he’s 1,000 years old and can remember the last Viking invasion of England.Obviously no one believes him.So when everything Alfie knows and loves is destroyed in a fire, and the modern world comes crashing in, Alfie embarks on a mission to find friendship, acceptance, and a different way to live…… which means finding a way to make sure he will eventually die.Obviously no one believes him.

Judgement of the Six Series Bundle Books 1-3


Melissa Haag - 2020
    While humans think they are alone, the werewolves are barely surviving, and a third race responsible for culling their numbers remains hidden from all.This bundle contains three books:Hope(less) - As a human, Gabby is determined to leave the supernatural world behind. However, she doesn't count on meeting a silent, ruggedly-handsome werewolf with a single-minded determination to make her his mate.  When she tries to run, he's not the only one to follow.  Something truly dangerous is after her, and Gabby must turn to Clay for help if she ever hopes to discover who is hunting her for the secrets she's spent her whole life protecting.(Mis)fortune - Kept prisoner by a man who changes into a wolf and used for the predictions that tormented her, Michelle meekly follows orders to keep her brothers safe. She knows she needs to escape but there's nowhere she can hide forever, and no one who can protect her. Unless she can find someone stronger than her captor.(Un)wise - When the dreams start, Bethi's very normal life goes down the toilet. Every past life she relives has Dog-men and her eventual tormented death at their hands. This time she's determined to find a way to live. While the dreams hint at an answer, they're also clear about the risk, and it's not only her life that hangs in the balance. She, and the other five women like her, need to figure out how to live...or everyone will die.

Into a Dark Adventure


Belart Wright - 2016
    Inspired by a dark masterpiece. Twenty years into the future, an independent virtual reality developer named Fulton Milner creates a VR program that is so immersive that it truly fools the mind. His program, a virtual resort, created such pleasurable immersion that he is soon recruited by a renown games studio. Here, one of Milner's projects, a virtual fantasy game, catches the eye of some investors and he is finally given the approval he needs to begin the project that would define his career. It's a dark fantasy adventure simulator known only as Project DH. Sam Nagai thought testing videogames would be a dream job until he got saddled with a ton of barely playable mobile games that used very wonky holographic gimmicks. The lack of fun in these games and small pay makes Sam typically reluctant whenever he gets a call for a new gig, but customers for his art commissions have been scarce and Sam needs all the money he can get. He finally gets a call for a new gig with potential bonus pay, but not much else is known about the game itself. From what he does know, it sounds sort of interesting. Virtual reality, dark gothic fantasy world, role playing game mechanics, and uber hard difficulty? Sam's all in for that. After all, even if he gets in over his head, the simulation isn't truly real so there's not really any danger. Join Sam in a virtual sword and sorcery role playing adventure where the main goal is survival at all costs. It's an adventure that's filled with diverse starting classes, customizable combat options, upgradeable weapons and armor, upgradeable statistics, open ended questlines, realistic NPCs with classically trained voice actors, a dark and atmospheric immersive game world, multiplayer content, eye popping creature designs, and so much more. Players say its the perfect blend of simulation and fantasy, where their imaginations can truly run wild. **Note to readers: If any of you are sensitive to swearing, then this book isn't for you. There is copious swearing from the main character, Sam, that's mainly played as a character flaw/trait for laughs and dramatic effect.

Left Out By The System


Constantin Step - 2021
    

Becoming Moon


Craig A. Hart - 2015
    Following his dream of becoming a writer, he turns away from everything he knows, and enters adulthood embittered, angry, and resentful.As he struggles to make a name for himself, he is presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. Although it requires a betrayal of his principles as an artist, he resigns himself to what appears to be fate. The writer’s compromise brings money and recognition, but these are fleeting and he soon finds himself caught in a web of depression and financial hardship. Desperate and sinking quickly, the writer begins taking trips to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where he hopes to reconnect with his muse. During one of these excursions, he meets Nigel Moon, a grizzled fellow author nearing the end of his career. Moon gives the writer a second golden opportunity and the chance to prove himself in the face of personal doubts—but only if the writer is able to set his past aside.Equal parts witty and dark and wry and tragic, the text uses simplicity as its focus. Raw and honest, Becoming Moon is an unforgettable book about exorcising past demons and finding personal redemption.

Rend the Dark


Mark Gelineau - 2015
    The titans. The behemoths. All banished to the Dark and nearly forgotten. But the cunning ones, the patient ones remain. They hide not in the cracks of the earth or in the shadows of the world. But inside us. Wearing our skin. Waiting. Watching. Once haunted by visions of the world beyond, Ferran now wields that power to hunt the very monsters that he once feared. He is not alone. Others bear the same terrible burden. But Hunter or hunted, it makes no difference. Eventually, everything returns to the Dark.

Fire Country


David Estes - 2013
    Due to toxic air, life expectancies are so low the only way the tribe can survive is by forcing women to procreate when they turn sixteen and every three years thereafter. It is their duty as Bearers.Fifteen-year-old Siena is a Youngling, soon to be a Bearer, when she starts hearing rumors of another tribe of all women, called the Wild Ones. They are known to kidnap Youngling girls before the Call, the ceremony in which Bearers are given a husband with whom to bear children with. As the desert sands run out on her life's hourglass, Siena must uncover the truth about the Wild Ones while untangling the web of lies and deceit her father has masterfully spun.

Fear the Light


William Massa - 2013
    All had failed. Until now...Eight vampires gather at their maker's castle to solve the mystery of who killed Dracula. But as the sun rises outside the chateau, a voice cries out and another vampire is slain. Trapped inside their master's lair, the sun burning bright outside, Dracula's children realize that they have met their match - a formidable killer who plans on picking them off one by one! As the daylight reigns and their numbers dwindle, a dark suspicion grows - could the killer be hiding in plain sight?

Every Day


David Levithan - 2012
    Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone A wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

Branded


Abi Ketner - 2013
    In his warped mind, the seven deadly sins were the downfall of society. To punish the guilty, he created the Hole, a place where sinners are branded according to their sins. Sinners are forced to live a less than human existence in deplorable conditions, under the watchful eye of guards who are ready to kill anyone who steps out of line.Now, LUST wraps around my neck like thick, blue fingers, threatening to choke the life out of me. I’ve been accused of a crime I didn’t commit, and the Hole is my new home. Constant darkness. Brutal and savage violence. Excruciating pain. Every day is a fight for survival. But I won’t let them win. I will not die in the Hole. I am more than my brand. I’m a fighter. My name is Lexi Hamilton, and this is my story.

Calabash


Christopher Fowler - 2000
    Marooned in the run-down seaside resort of Cole Bay, his life is a horrible comedy of errors that has trapped him in the country's most dismal place at the worst possible time - the early '70s. He dreams of escaping the crumbling pier and the grumbling pensioners, of finding a place where he is appreciated, but it's the one thing he can't do. Until he discovers a faraway land with characters who are impossibly exotic, but strangely familiar. In the kingdom of Calabash he can have everything he's ever wanted from life. There's only one small problem. Calabash doesn't actually exist. In an England that's still hungover from the 60s, Kay finds it all too easy to retreat from reality. Everyone in Cole Bay expects him to conform, but Kay is prepared to risk everything to find out what makes him different, what his life really holds, and what will happen if he believes in the impossible.

Psychic Whispers


Arial Burnz - 2020
    The stray he took in dragged it back to his kennel. Too bad he can't ask the dog where he dug up the clue to a 20-year-old cold case.Or can he?Enter Inara Woodward—veterinarian, pet psychic and a member of the town's founding family. Nik might be able to ignore the fact she's a Woodweird...if her animal whisperer gifts can help him. Uncovering the truth may be the only thing that will stop the rumors about his family's involvement in the case. What he can't ignore is how badly he wants the leggy blonde vet in his bed.Unfortunately, someone doesn't want them digging up trouble. A stalker, a ghost, Woodward Hill's nosy reporter...they'll use the dark secrets hidden in Nik's past to bring the couple down.Even if it means burying them six feet under.---------------The Gothic mansion of the Woodward family casts a mysterious shadow over the quaint resort town of Woodward Hill. Amidst the storybook homes dotting the California mountainside surrounding the lake, whispers of the founding family’s sordid history color the atmosphere with danger…and create the perfect setting for intrigue, romance and suspense.The Woodward Hill Mystery Romance series—paranormal romance meets small-town mysteries, so expect some hot steam between the sheets with intriguing mysteries to be unraveled.

Challenger Deep


Neal Shusterman - 2015
    Alternate Cover Edition for ASIN B00M70ESPOCaden Bosch is on a ship that's headed for the deepest point on Earth: Challenger Deep, the southern part of the Marianas Trench.Caden Bosch is a brilliant high school student whose friends are starting to notice his odd behaviour.Caden Bosch is designated the ship's artist in residence to document the journey with images.Caden Bosch pretends to join the school track team but spends his days walking for miles, absorbed by the thoughts in his head.Caden Bosch is split between his allegiance to the captain and the allure of mutiny.Caden Bosch is torn.

Faithful


Alice Hoffman - 2016
    Her best friend’s future is destroyed in an accident, while Shelby walks away with the burden of guilt.What happens when a life is turned inside out? When love is something so distant it may as well be a star in the sky? Faithful is the story of a survivor, filled with emotion—from dark suffering to true happiness—a moving portrait of a young woman finding her way in the modern world. A fan of Chinese food, dogs, bookstores, and men she should stay away from, Shelby has to fight her way back to her own future. In New York City she finds a circle of lost and found souls—including an angel who’s been watching over her ever since that fateful icy night.Here is a character you will fall in love with, so believable and real and endearing, that she captures both the ache of loneliness and the joy of finding yourself at last. For anyone who’s ever been a hurt teenager, for every mother of a daughter who has lost her way, Faithful is a roadmap.