Book picks similar to
The Eleventh Ring by Tom Hoffman


fantasy
young-adult
ebook
thought-provoking

The Problem with Black Magic


Karen Mead - 2012
    Sam, a mysterious co-worker at The Daily Grind, seems to have taken an instant dislike to her, but for Cassie, the looming specter of the SAT Verbal section is a much bigger concern.After a freak accident nearly leaves Cassie and her co-workers dead, a spell cast in desperation transforms her from a regular teen to a valuable familiar: a magical well a demon can tap. As if she didn't have enough problems, now every demon (and their monstrous minions) seems to be after Cassie's latent magic, and will stop at nothing to possess her.Blending a hint of gothic romance with wry humor, The Problem With Black Magic is a tale of one young woman's struggle for independence in a brand new world of sorcery, intrigue, and wonder.

Restore


Susan Kaye Quinn - 2015
    But Unit 7435 finds there is a price to be paid for love… and for failing in its primary mission. Restore  is a standalone short story that takes place in the world of the Singularity novels. Start the novel series with The Legacy Human (Singularity 1).A NOTE FROM THE AUTHORThe future is… unsettling.Technology isn’t just racing forward, it’s accelerating. This isn’t just our imagination, it’s a natural consequence of innovation building upon innovation. The gap between what we can imagine and reality shrinks every day. Our relationship with technology is already one of the defining issues of the 21st century. As we integrate it ever-more-intimately into our lives and bodies and brains—as we mold our creations in our own image, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally—our tech will shape us in ways we will barely understand.The 21st century will challenge us to remember what it means to be only human.But creating a truly sentient Artificial Intelligence is far more complicated than first dreamed in Asimov’s Bicentennial Man. As we learn more about the three pounds of meat and electricity between our ears, as well as consciousness itself, we are realizing how difficult the job is. In a sense, creating an AI will force us to answer some of the deepest questions humanity has ever asked… about ourselves and our place in the universe.What does it mean to create intelligence if you intentionally limit it? Is it cruel or compassionate to keep your tech from evolving above a certain sentience level?I hope Restore will provoke a bit of thought in your own personal set of three pounds of meat and electricity.

The Wishing Well


Holly Zitting - 2013
    A place where fairies, trolls, dwarfs, and giants live hand in hand until King Tommit seizes control of the throne. She is then forced into a marriage with the fiendish king to cement his hold on the kingdom. Cassius, the stable boy, rallies the kingdom in order to battle for their freedom. While he continues to fight to rescue the girl he has fallen for.Aurora accepts her new future to protect Evver, the fairy that has become her lifeline, and Cassius the boy she longs for. Will they be able to stop King Tommit before the vows have been said? Or will Aurora be forced to live her happily ever after with a monster?

Demon I


Bernard Lee DeLeo - 2012
    Roped into a Halloween antic at a haunted house he had a bad experience at once, Mike only agrees to go if they get salt and holy water as a precaution. The night ends with a ghastly apparition penning the teens into Rawlins' protective circle. Running out of time and options, the group owes their rescue to a mangy looking cur that dives into the haunted house and easily drives away the poltergeist. Mike names the dog Demon, and insists on walking him back home to keep him. One of the teen girls, Laura, joins him as the others leave them with beer and sandwiches for the happy Demon.Demon's instincts, perceptive behavior, and continuing surprises make him into an indispensible part of the Rawlins' family. He loves watching Brian on 'Family Guy', eats ghosts like Rice Krispies, and is a holy terror when his friends are in danger.

Steel Lily


Megan Curd - 2013
    No, more than a commodity. Her existence is guarded at all costs.She’s a water Elementalist, the strongest of her dwindling kind. She creates steam to provide energy to fuel Dome Four: the only thing standing between humanity and an earth ravaged by World War III. No steam, no Dome. No Dome, no life.Or so she thinks.That is, until a mysterious man offers her a way out of having to donate steam. A way to escape the corrupt government of Dome Four. While the offer seems too good to be true, Avery is intrigued. But when she arrives to her new home, she realizes the grass isn’t any less dead on this side of the fence. Instead, the lies are just hidden better.…Which means digging deeper.When Avery enlists the help of her friends to uncover the truth, she learns that while some secrets are better left concealed, humankind was never meant to live in a cage. And when you can control the most sought after resource, you can learn to control anything…including the fate of your world.

Midnight Rose


Dani Hart - 2017
    Vampires. Supernaturals. And love. It’s my world, and I have to save it, but not from the monsters. Abigail Rose’s life was as predictable as the tides rising and falling, until Wes Hunter returned to Sandpoint. Then, the impossible became possible, the predictable became unpredictable, and those monsters became more than friends. Wes would do anything to keep Abigail safe, and Abigail would leave everything behind to save everyone she loves. A suspenseful romance, blurring the lines between fantasy and reality.

Wisconsin Vamp


Scott Burtness - 2014
    He's not one of them.When truckstop diner cook and mediocre bowler Herb Knudsen becomes a vampire, his once simple life gets a bit more complicated.Herb’s not even sure how it happened. He wasn’t bitten by a vampire, which means there’s no one around to help him learn the ropes. With no one to guide him, Herb fumbles into his newfound abilities, courting disaster with every step.Despite learning each new lesson the hard way, being a vampire isn’t all bad. He’s stronger, a little sexier, and a heck of a lot better at bowling. Even Lois, the girl of his dreams, is starting to notice him. But he can’t drink beer, the bodies are piling up, and his best friend Dallas isn’t just getting suspicious – he’s getting jealous.When Lois is caught in the middle of the two friends' escalating rivalry, keeping his dark secret becomes the least of Herb's concerns.Booze, bowling, bake sales, bar fights, babes, blood and karaoke... Who would have thought that being undead would make life so exciting?

Legon Awakening


Nicholas Taylor - 2010
    All he wishes to do is to start his own butcher shop and take care of his adopted sister and family. Legon is not from Salmont and echoes from his parents past are coming up to haunt him. Legon finds himself being caught in the war that claimed his biological parents lives and now threatens everything he has. He must flee from everything he knows and journey to land of his ancestors to keep all that he loves safe.

Captive


Leigh Talbert Moore - 2014
    Red Dawn meets LOST in this New Adult action-adventure romance.Prentiss Puckett is certain of three things:-Graduation is two weeks away.-Summer only gets hotter in south Mississippi.-She's getting a job with air-conditioning.  She did not expect to be kidnapped walking to work.And she never expected to become a hero.

Crossroads


Mary Ting - 2011
     Claudia Emerson's life is about to change when her good friend, who coincidentally shares the same first and last name, dies in a tragic accident. Distraught at the loss of her friend, Claudia's dreams become tumultuous, and through them she mysteriously travels to another world called Crossroads. There, she unexpectedly meets Michael, a nephilim--half angel, half human. Now that she's been there, fallen and demons are after her, suspecting she must be special, and it is up to Michael and the other nephilim to protect her. Her dream becomes a nightmare as more secrets are revealed about who she really is, and the true identities of the people she loves most.

Life is a Cabernet: A Companion Wine Novella to The Winemakers


Jan Moran - 2020
     Napa Valley, 1956: Years ago, after Juliana Cardona’s fiancé was killed in an army ambush, she didn’t know if she could ever find the strength to risk love again. Now Juliana, who has a passion for winemaking, is determined to build her own business as a wine publicist and create an independent life. But when Juliana holds a press event in San Francisco, she meets a mysterious winemaker, Henri Laurent, who is everything she never thought she’d find again. However, Juliana is shocked to discover that Henri is hiding a long-buried secret that threatens to devastate their budding relationship. In order to find happiness and the life she’d once thought was gone forever, she must find the strength to uncover tragedies and face the troubled past with the man she loves—but only if her heart can risk the chance of love once more. This is a companion novella to The Winemakers, a full-length historical romance novel.

Bound by Prophecy


Melissa Wright - 2013
    He never wanted to take Morgan’s place among council, never wanted to rule their hidden world. But when the key to the prophecy is found, a young girl named Brianna whom Morgan will destroy, Aern knows he has to take action.What he really wants, is for things to go back to normal. But now he’s kidnapped a girl, and his brother’s men are after him. His only hope is to join with the Division, but they have plans of their own, and it’s the last thing Aern is willing to do.Emily just wants her sister back. She doesn't care about the prophecy, or realize what’s at stake. But when she goes after Aern, the truth of the matter uncoils, and Brianna isn't the only one who’s in danger.Suddenly, they’re at the center of a secret war, and unless they can work together, they’ll both have a sacrifice too big to make.

Tomorrow is Today


Julie Cross - 2011
    The year is 2009. Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, throws lots of parties, is interested in a girl he can’t have, and oh yeah, he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.

Narcissist in the Daffodils


Kristy E. Carter - 2018
    The last thing Leo Solomon wants to do after returning to his hometown is arrest the woman he loves or her cousin, but all the evidence keeps pointing to it being an inside job. Why would anyone commit a crime and then phone 911? Why is everyone so interested in the missing black book last seen in the victim's possession? Rumors swirl as everyone in town decides to weigh in on who they think killed Elizabeth and why. Penelope refuses to sit by and let the people she loves or her family business be put through the mud to protect a killer. Can Penelope and Leo get to the bottom of the crime before anyone else gets hurt?

Deep Blue Secret


Christie Anderson - 2011
    She has great friends, an energetic mother she adores, and the beach practically in her own backyard. But her carefree life is turned upside down when she's rescued by a mysterious and strangely familiar boy who won't even tell her his name.Each time the boy appears, Sadie's unexplainable attraction to him deepens along with her need to unravel his secrets. The boy is there to protect her. But as wonderful and exciting as it might be to have an irresistible boy with crystal green eyes protecting her every move, every minute of the day . . . why does Sadie need one?As Sadie finds answers, she realizes her life isn't as perfect as she thought. Not only is she caught in a world of dangerous secret agents she never knew existed, but it turns out her true identity may be the greatest secret of all.