He was never quite sure what happened that night. He intended to get all of her lands, but he walked away with a contract in blood for only some of her lands, an agreement to deliver her anything she wanted, a promise of eternal life and glory, and a warning to never enter Hollow Woods again. The Crone’s demands were always odd and started becoming oddly specific. Four freshmen from the Alpha House Fraternity she established at the entrance of Hollow Woods were to be sent to her every Halloween night.The four new Alpha House recruits, Davarius, the football player, Nakata, the basketball player, Vincent, who is there on merit scholarship, and Ashton, who was given a special scholarship for being an orphan are all sent into Hollow Woods on Halloween night with only flashlights and stories of the crone that haunts Hollow Woods. They are all sure this is just another hazing ritual the fraternity has thought up.None of them know what to think when they find a bonfire in the middle of Hollow Woods with the president of Alpha House and three senior members around the fire with a beautiful naked woman they introduce as the Crone of Hollow Woods. She certainly doesn’t look like a Crone and she has other things on her mind Halloween night besides stealing souls and witch curses.The Witch of Hollow Woods is an 11,340 word reverse harem short story with a few wicked twists inside.

    Boy must put his best face forward. Brady Jones doesn’t know where he came from. He knows nothing about his family. He doesn’t know what he is, or how it’s possible to do the amazing things he can do. He does know loneliness and survival, both from a life in the foster care system. He knows that he’s comfortable being alone on a Friday night. Despite the fact they’re so very different, he’d like to get to know Lily Ferguson better. Maybe even call her a friend. Brady knows he’s a shapeshifter. He can change his body to look like nearly anything he can imagine. An object, an animal, even other people. What he doesn’t know is how far the powers-that-be in the world will go to meet him, control him. He’s about to find out.

    

    To date, this content has been curated from Wikipedia articles and images under Creative Commons licensing, although as Hephaestus Books continues to increase in scope and dimension, more licensed and public domain content is being added. We believe books such as this represent a new and exciting lexicon in the sharing of human knowledge. This particular book is a collaboration focused on The Hunger Games.More info: The Hunger Games (2008) is a young-adult science fiction novel written by Suzanne Collins. It was originally published in hardcover on September 14, 2008 by Scholastic. It is the first book of the Hunger Games trilogy. It introduces sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world in the country of Panem where North America once stood. This is where a powerful government working in a central city called the Capitol holds power. In the book, the Hunger Games are an annual televised event where the Capitol chooses one boy and one girl from each district to fight to the death. The Hunger Games exist to demonstrate not even children are above the Capitol's power.

    Her life is all about high heels, high speeds, and high stakes, and heaven help any guy who gets in her way. After years of living from one thrill to the next, no one takes her seriously, and she’s careful to keep it that way.Callista has big plans for the corporation her mother and grandfather have nearly destroyed, but to gain control, she’ll have to play—and win—a dangerous game that already claimed the life of her older brother. Which makes it even more of a shock when that brother, Phillip Linden, turns out to be less dead than everyone was led to believe.Killian Avalar is a pirate, a liar, and a fraud. He’s also ruthless when it comes to getting what he wants, and he’s not above impersonating a dead man to gain control of the largest corporation on Earth. But standing in his way is a powerful woman more than willing to fight for what’s hers, even if it means taking on family.Their collision is inevitable, but if they can’t work out a compromise, it may end in the destruction of everything they’re fighting to save. Not just a family or a corporation, but all life on Earth. An invasion is coming, and if the humans can’t stop fighting each other, they won’t have a prayer of stopping it in time.

    In time they're joined by rugged farmhand Tom, come to lend some muscle to Ellen's ageing father, who has begun to find sheep farming hard to manage alone. Almost inevitably romance grows between Ellen and the new arrival but once married however, Ellen discovers that Tom has a brutish side to his character. As war in Europe spreads, she begins to dream of him leaving for the trenches as a way for her to escape.Even with Tom fighting abroad however, the family can not hide from the realities of war as a group of POWs are brought to their valley to build a reservoir. And amongst the men, sworn enemies and shunned by all the locals, Ellen finds a gentler heart that she finds difficult to resist...

    Having spent six years in Africa with her English missionary husband, she knows that the desert is not as empty of water as most suppose, if one knows where to look. Thus she leads her party on an epic two hundred mile walk to gain the fertile grassland to the south. To achieve this, she must drive them ever onwards, quell two mutinies and watch some of her party die. Their lives are saved when they reach an oasis, but to gain true safety they must now face Arab slaver traders, bloodthirsty Ashanti warriors, and the all-consuming forest. Victoria's walk has hardly begun. Set at the turn of the 20th Century, when the British Empire was approaching its zenith, with a handful of administrators and soldiers endeavoring to rule vast areas and dominate peoples they did not understand, VICTORIA'S WALK is a tale of the human spirit at its highest and lowest, its most courageous and its most bestial, of one woman's unceasing fortitude, of the men who loved her, and the women who hated her.

    When her friend Doris proposed sending for a mail order husband for Gretchen, who was seven months pregnant and unwed, she hoped for the best for her friend, but still felt badly for herself. Darryl Miller has always been known as one of the demon horde. If he stays in Beckham, Massachusetts, he will never rise above the reputation, but he has nowhere to go! When he receives a letter from his sister asking him to marry her pregnant friend, he only hesitates for a moment. Two weeks later, he arrives in Salmon to marry a stranger. The only trouble is the stranger refuses to marry him. Within an hour, he finds himself married to another friend of his sister’s. Will he be able to make a go of life with the beautiful straight-laced schoolteacher? Or has he made a huge mistake leaving everything to travel across country? A Distant Shore: a Kansas Crossroads novelette by Amelia C. Adams Collette Barnard has traveled from England to America to work as a ladies’ maid for a spoiled socialite who doesn’t want the California life her husband is seeking. When her employer leaves her husband in the middle of the night, Collette is discharged and abandoned in the town of Creede, Colorado, with little money and no idea what to do next. When the kind hand of fate lands her at the Brody Hotel in Topeka, Kansas, she meets a handsome young man named Gabriel Brody, who is also struggling to choose the right path for his life. Perhaps together, they can piece together a future from the bits that have been left them. Mail Order M’Lady by Carra Copelin Lady Anne Medvale, the daughter of the Marquess of Thamesford, has created a scandal by running away with a prominent politician. In America, alone and penniless, she answers an ad in the Grooms’ Gazette and travels to Beaumont, Texas as a mail order bride. Morgan Grant, a dedicated cattleman/lawman isn’t looking for a wife, but circumstances present themselves and he marries an unlikely mail order bride. Can the two of them overcome their differences to live happily ever after? Mail Order Millennium by Peggy L Henderson Growing up in a privileged society may seem glamorous, but having every material possession has left Sherri Stucki feeling empty, exploited by her friends, and abandoned. A world where people see past her money seems like a far off dream, until a mysterious stranger offers her a second chance at the life she seeks. Alexander Walker learned the hard way that city life – and its women – were not meant for him. He must complete one final job before returning to a life of solitude in his beloved mountains. The last thing he needs is a distraction from a spunky socialite who seems like a fish out of water. As they travel together toward new destinies, Alexander and Sherri discover that the life they desire can only be found in each other. Mail-Order Brides of Coldwater Creek Josie by Margery Scott Josephine (Josie) Parker’s birthday is coming up, which means she’ll have to leave the Chicago orphanage where she’s lived her entire life. With nowhere to go and no future to look forward to, she agrees to become a mail-order bride to Cooper Thompson, a rancher in Coldwater Creek, Montana. Cooper Thompson is happy with his life. He has his work, his family, and enough money to get by. He doesn’t need – or want – anything more, especially a wife. When Josie arrives in Montana, she’s shocked to learn that Cooper’s sister actually wrote the letter, and that he knows nothing about it.

     The White Tiger Shifter Series is full of magic and dangers as women with magical abilities pair up with white tiger shifter guardians. The code of mystics and the Order of Guardians forbids romantic entanglements, but nature doesn’t follow their rules. As different pairs risk their lives to protect loved ones, each other, and a nation, romance is almost inevitable. Book 1 – Callie’s Guardian Book 2 – Iris’s Guardian Book 3 – Alexis’s Guardian Book 4 – Freya’s Guardian With over 30k per story, you will be rooting for the characters to overcome the danger to find their HEA. AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is a stand alone paranormal romance with an HEA. This ebook contains mature themes and language, intended for 18+ readers only.

    But despite his intent to return Ryia to her world to avoid the risk of war, her wanton disregard for propriety soon forces Barrick's hand, and he takes her over his knee and spanks her soundly.The shameful chastisement merely leaves her need for him burning even hotter, however, and before long Barrick has cast aside diplomatic protocol and claimed Ryia savagely. But taming his mate will require more than just ravaging her thoroughly, and by the time he is done she will be begging for mercy as climax after painfully intense climax is ripped from her helpless body.Publisher's Note: His Caged Mate is a stand-alone sequel to The Hunter's Mate. It includes spankings and sexual scenes. If such material offends you, please don't buy this book.

     After being betrayed by the very kingdom he saved, Jacob Stone forsook his title of Hero. Now he lives the simple life of a barkeep. Yet even that life is irrevocably erased when a young woman named Enyo appears before him. She claims to be the daughter of the former Dark Lord and has come seeking his aid. He’d normally never consider lending her a hand, but when she tells him that she knows of a way for him to return home, he’s left with little recourse. His journey will take him across the kingdom of Terrasole, toward the place where it all began. If he succeeds, he’ll return to the home he’d been stolen from. If he fails… well, he won’t live long enough to regret failing. Scroll up and click to READ this isekai adventure now!

    . .First, Denland's revolutionaries assassinated their king, launching a wave of bloodshed after generations of peace. Next they clashed with Lascanne, their royalist neighbour, pitching war-machines against warlocks in a fiercely fought conflict. Genteel Emily Marshwic watched as the hostilities stole her family's young men. But then came the call for yet more Lascanne soldiers in a ravaged kingdom with none left to give. Emily must join the ranks of conscripted women and march toward the front lines. With barely enough training to hold a musket, Emily braves the savage reality of warfare. But she begins to doubt her country's cause, and those doubts become critical. For her choices will determine her own future and that of two nations locked in battle.

    Permanently.1861. Cara has a simple mission in London - finalise her father's estate and sell off his damned collection of priceless artifacts. Her plan goes awry when a killer stalks the nobility, searching for an ancient Egyptian relic rumoured to hold the key to immortality.Nathaniel Trent, known as the villainous viscount, is relentless in his desire to lay his hands on both Cara and the priceless artifacts. His icy exterior and fiery touch stirs Cara's demons, or could he lay them to rest?Self-preservation fuels Cara's search for the gem known as Nefertiti's Heart. In a society where everyone wears a mask to hide their true intent, she needs to figure out who to trust, before she sacrifices her own heart and life.

    But despite her incredible abilities, she’s denied a place at the nation’s premier arcane academy. Undaunted, she sails to the bustling city-state of Hexos, hoping to find a place at a university where they don’t think there’s anything untoward about providing a woman with a magical education. But as soon as Onna arrives, she’s drawn into the mysterious murder of four trolls. Tsira is a troll who never quite fit into her clan, despite being the leader’s daughter. She decides to strike out on her own and look for work in a human city, but on her way she stumbles upon the body of a half-dead human soldier in the snow. As she slowly nurses him back to health, an unlikely bond forms between them, one that is tested when an unknown mage makes an attempt on Tsira’s life. Soon, unbeknownst to each other, Onna and Tsira both begin devoting their considerable talents to finding out who is targeting trolls, before their homeland is torn apart…

    There will be 5 books in total for the Healers of Meligna series. Concealed Power Adenine is blind and isolated in her small attic bedroom. Haunted by the recent deaths of her uncle and father, she is alone and afraid. Believing she is a carrier of the incurable Death Plague that ravished the lands twenty-five years ago, she never goes outside. When her mother falls ill, Adenine begins to starve. Despite her terror of infecting others, she goes in search of the town's doctor. Friends are made, enemies are discovered and every secret unravels. Pursued by the country's exiled healers, Adenine's life now depends on who she trusts. Blood Healing Banished to the healer city of Meligna, fourteen year old Adenine must adapt to the strange customs and fickle personalities of its citizens. The Queens have but one goal: to create a perfect city. But when Adenine pulls at the loose threads that bind the city together, what she unravels shocks and angers her. The populace is brainwashed and delusional. When Jemely, her loyal friend, becomes a victim, Adenine takes a stand against the Queens. But Adenine has no power, and her strong ideals injure the few friends she has. When she stumbles upon the Queens' most shocking secret, she risks everything to save the lives of those she loves. Blood Sacrifice With the threat of the Queens' army increasing, only blood healing can save South Senya. Adenine continues her journey alone, encountering constant danger and tragic loss. Clutching at the strands of her sanity, Adenine barely makes it to Juxon City where the king proves untrustworthy and hostile. The Queens quickly destroy all Adenine's hope for the kingdom of Senya. Under their rule, the people are doomed. She has allies, but they are too few to take back the city. The only one who can challenge the Queens is the emperor of Bivinia: a monster responsible for the deaths of hundreds of healers. She must convince him to invade Senya, replacing one evil for another.