NOTE: This story has been re-released in the Dark Bites anthology.Celebrity necromancer Jaime Vegas is headlining a sold-out séance tour, but behind the scenes, a disgruntled ghost has a bone to pick, in Kelley Armstrong's The Ungrateful Dead.Plus tales guaranteed to get under your skin - in a good way - from:* Janet Berliner* Don D'Ammassa* Nancy Holder* Nancy Kilpatrick* J. A. Konrath* F. Paul Wilson* Joe R. Lansdale* Will Ludwigsen* Sharyn McCrumb* Mark Onspaugh* Mike Resnick* Steven Savile* D. L. Snell* Eric James Stone* Jeff Strand* Lucien Soulban* Matt Venne* Christopher WelchSo let the blood flow and laughter reign - because when it comes to facing our deepest, darkest fears, a little humor goes a long way!

    P. Kelner, editors of Home Improvement: Undead Edition? Your worst school nightmares—taking that math test you never studied for, finding yourself naked in school assembly, not knowing which door to enter—will pale in comparison to these thirteen original stories that take academic anxiety to whole new realms. In #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris’s story, "Playing Possum," Sookie Stackhouse brings enough birthday cupcakes for her nephew's entire class but finds she's one short when the angry ex-boyfriend of the school secretary shows up. When her guardian, Kate Daniels, sends her undercover to a school for exceptional children, teenaged Julie learns an all-new definition of "exceptional," in New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews's "Magic Tests." For those who like fangs with their forensics, New York Times bestselling author Nancy Holder offers "VSI," in which FBI agent Claire is tested as never before in a school for Vampire Scene Investigation. And in New York Times bestselling author Thomas Sniegoski's "The Bad Hour," Remy Chandler and his dog Marlowe find evil unleashed in an obedience school. You'll need more than an apple to stave off the creatures in these and nine other stories. Remember your first lesson: resistance is fruitless! Includes stories by: ILONA ANDREWS, AMBER BENSON, RHYS BOWEN, MIKE CAREY, CHARLAINE HARRIS, DONALD HARSTAD, STEVE HOCKENSMITH, NANCY HOLDER, FAITH HUNTER, TONI L.P. KELNER, MARJORIE LIU, JONATHAN MABERRY, THOMAS SNIEGOSKI

    Not sure which.Being an undead, eternally pasty fifteen-year-old isn't quite the sexy, brooding, angst-fest Jane always imagined...Helen Keeble’s riotous debut novel combines the humor of Vladimir Tod with Ally Carter’s spot-on teen voice. With a one-of-a-kind vampire mythology and an irresistibly relatable undead heroine, this uproarious page-turner will leave readers bloodthirsty for more.

    That was the thought running through Ellie Dawson's head when her boss offered to escort her to a local vampire bar. Who would suspect that it was owned by him and that he would be the one to introduce her to all the pleasures of a vampire's kiss?Passion is a different beast when vampires are involved and Ellie faces love from two very sensual creatures. Tragedy strikes and Ian relinquishes her into the arms of his best friend - Jasper. Ellie struggles with the feelings aroused in her by both men but she knows nothing can stop the Hunger. Can she survive loving two men and the past that continues to haunt her?

    Unfortunately, the radioactive mineral is exorbitantly expensive and only available to a select few. A new class comprised of the super rich and immortal soon evolves. The Collective, as they're called, rule the universe. Two-thousand-year-old Ricardo Sanchez, vampire and rogue pilot of the space cruiser, El Cazador, can't resist two things: gorgeous women and impossible jobs. When beautiful Skylar Rossaria approaches him to break a prisoner out of the Collective's maximum security prison on Trakis One, Rico jumps at the chance. Being hunted by the Collective has never been so dangerous–or so fun!

    She wakes up and finds she’s in the middle of a storm. Now that she’s become the only female full-blooded werewolf in town, the supernatural world is already clamoring to take a bite out of her and her new Pack must rise up and protect her.But not everyone is on board. The werewolf Rights of Laws is missing text and the superstitious werewolves think that Jessica means an end to their race. It doesn’t help when Jessica begins to realize she’s more. She can change partway and hold her form, and speak directly to her wolf. But the biggest complication by far is that her alpha father can't control her like he can the rest of his wolves.When a mercenary who’s been hired by the vampires shows up to extract information about the newly turned werewolf only days after her change, they find themselves smack in the middle of a war and there's no choice but to run together. When it’s up to Jessica to negotiate her release against her father’s direct orders, she chooses to take an offer for help instead. In exchange, Jessica must now swear an oath she may end up repaying with her life.

    A bartender by trade, a loud mouth by choice, and a necromancer by chance; she managed to keep her nifty talent hidden from those around her—until now.The deliciously good-looking vampire, Disco, knows her secret. When he strolls into her bar to solicit help investigating the mysterious disappearances of his kind from the city, Rhiannon discovers he’s not the kind of person that appreciates the significance of the word no.But in a world where vampires peddle their blood as the latest and greatest drug of choice, it’s only a matter of time before the next big thing hits the market. Someone or something is killing vampires to steal their hearts, and unlike Rhiannon, this isn’t their first stroll around the undead block.

     Find your next red-hot read in this sizzling collection of paranormal romance scenes, featuring werewolves, dragons, vampires, witches, psychics, angels, goblins, aliens, a succubus, and sexy cowboy shifters. Your favorite authors (including New York Times and USA Today best-sellers as well as rising stars) share the steamiest scenes from their latest works!

    He never suspected, his mate would be a human, the same wounded, girl-woman he seduces from the brink of death. Falon is a dangerous combination of Lycan and Slayer—beings bred to destroy his kind. Even more, she’s a mesmerizing beauty whose sensuality tempts the seasoned warrior to take unnecessary risks. The primal heat between them is irresistible, yet surrendering to it could destroy them both…for a vengeful foe stands ready in the shadows to fulfill what is rightfully his by Blood Law.

    While Rhoan is an exalted guardian, a.k.a. assassin, Riley is merely an office worker–until her brother goes missing on one of his missions. The timing couldn’t be worse. More werewolf than vampire, Riley is vulnerable to the moon heat, the weeklong period before the full moon, when her need to mate becomes all-consuming...Luckily Riley has two willing partners to satisfy her every need. But she will have to control her urges if she’s going to find her brother….Easier said than done as the city pulses with frenzied desire, and Riley is confronted with a very powerful–and delectably naked–vamp who raises her temperature like never before.In matters carnal, Riley has met her match. But in matters criminal, she must follow her instincts not only to find her brother but to stop an unholy harvest. For someone is doing some shifty cloning in an attempt to produce the ultimate warrior–by tapping into the genome of nonhumans like Rhoan. Now Riley knows just how dangerous the world is for her kind–and just how much it needs her.

    . . Some are not.What happens when "the happiest day of your life" turns into a nightmare? Forget the drunken best man or the bridesmaid dresses from the '80s . . . none of these wedding day disasters can compare to a cursed bride determined to make it down the aisle, or a vampire who is about to disrupt your wedding.

    With no female Dragons, his only hope of children lies in his grandmother's dying words. "The Swan Princesses may be the Dragons' only hope."Sophia Siyanko is the first Swan Princess without at least one brother to take the throne in Aaron's long memory. However, her father chooses her husband when she's twelve, and sets the date for her twenty-fifth birthday. She is sequestered in her father's mansion, raised by governesses and tutors to be the future King's arm candy, and Aaron's options are limited.But then Sophia escapes her father's compound a few weeks before her twenty-fifth birthday. Determined to escape or die trying, she comes to Aaron for help.To protect her, he'll have to fight every Swan and Eagle on the planet, most of the Wolves, and all of Faerie.98,000 words -- full length paranormal romance novel with elements of BDSM.Warnings:  Lots of hot shape-shifter sex, and sometimes the metaphysics forces this mostly vanilla couple into BDSM. There are some rough non-con scenes to punish the bad guys, most of whom totally deserve what they get. Also, a super sexy, hot, weredragon.

    . . and one unsuspecting woman can change the fate of the Fallen forever. She was just an ordinary mortal . . . “You’re dead” is so not what Allie Watson wants to hear. Unfortunately, it explains a lot. Like the dark, angelically handsome man who ferried her to this strange, hidden land. The last thing she remembers is stepping off a curb in front of a crosstown bus. Now she’s surrounded by gorgeous fallen angels with an unsettling taste for blood—and they really don’t want her around. Not exactly how she pictured heaven. . . . until death catapulted her into a seductive world she never imagined. Raziel is unsure why he rescued Allie from hellfire against Uriel’s orders, but she stirs in him a longing he hasn't felt in centuries. Now the Fallen are bracing for the divine wrath brought by his disobedience, and they blame Allie for the ferocious Nephilim clawing at the kingdom’s shrouded gates. Facing impossible odds at every turn, the two must work together to survive. Raziel will do anything to defend his spirited lover against the forces of darkness—because Allie may be the Fallen’s only salvation.

    They are strong and fierce with the ability to shift into dragon form. But when they encounter the strong and intelligent women of Earth, they must have them. They must mate with them. Through a registry program it is possible, but nothing ever goes at it should. How can any woman resist their silver hard scales, silver wings, and the firm muscular physiques of such tall intense warriors? Follow the journeys of strong heroines as they journey through the Drackon worlds and experience the wildest passions a dragon shifter has to offer in this fantasy hot series! Jarith (Drackon Mates #1) What’s hotter than an alpha alien warrior? An alpha alien dragon shifter, with a body to die for... As a Drackon Prince set to inherit the throne, Prince Jarith Rykor is a dragon shifter reluctant to take on the responsibility of being king. He only wants to fly and indulge in debauchery. But when his father makes him take an assignment that takes him to Earth, Jarith has to do his duty and visit the Gladonetics Corporation, even though he despises the humans of Earth. It all changes when he meets the CEO of Gladonetics, human female Marissa Volander with a desirable pheromone scent that drives him crazy. But Marissa is a femme fatal and has no interest in being anyone’s mate, until she is forced to go on a mission with the prince back to his home planet. Jarith wants her, but he realizes that his father sent him to fetch Marissa for his own needs. Marissa can’t be his because she belongs to his father, the king. But when there’s a mutiny in Jarith’s family, he has to protect her from danger that will forever change her life. Many think Jarith should not be the rightful king and want to take Marissa from him. Can he gather enough forces to fight the battle to end all battles? Or will he fail and expose Marissa to a prison she can never escape from while losing the right to his throne? Terik (Drackon Mates #2) Terik found his match, but she belongs to his enemy. But it’s never too late… Dr. Adriana Adams is a geologist with a chance to study a rock from an alien world. But the only way to get to the alien world is to register as a bride to a Drackon weredragon. She finds a registration match in Captain Mordikye Nezis and follows him to Sala, but she was not expecting to fall for another weredragon, Land Sentinel Terik Vuna in the process. His long dark hair, rugged looks, muscular form and a passion for land have her torn between two desires - her career aspirations and her heart. Land Sentinel Terik Vuna has never found a human female match, but when he sees a photo of Dr. Adriana Adams he knows that she is the one for him. He jumps at the chance to make his first match in her. But it’s too late she’s already matched. Now, he must concentrate on arresting the illegal cargo carrier Captain Mordikye, his enemy. But when he captures the captain he’s surprised to see that the dark haired human female Adriana is with him. Terik knows that Adriana should rightfully be his, but can she be trusted? When Mordikye breaks out of prison and takes Adriana with him, Terik will do whatever it takes to get her back. Even if it means killing his enemy who holds information that can stop illegal trade once and for all... Drin (Drackon Mates #3) Drin couldn’t have her, because of the promise he made. Now they might die… Dr. Felicity Maltra is on board a research vessel that answers a distress call from a Drackonian ship. The wounded Drackon weredragons on board need her care, but their reason for being in a disabled ship seems suspicious. She doesn’t buy into Captain Drin Ky-Vesa’s lies, especially because he is constantly arguing with his younger brother about something that seems to do with her. But although she must do her duty as a doctor, it does not require her to fall so damn hard for this attractive powerful Drackon Captain, but she can’t help herself. Captain Drin Ky-Vesa has had no interest in mating with a human female, especially after the promise he made to his father on his deathbed. But now there is a threat from a radical faction known as the purist who seek to stop the Drackon from mating with human females at all costs, even death. As an alien and human weredragon hybrid, Drin feels more conflicted than ever, but his conflict is escalated when he is drawn to the human female doctor that treats his wounds. Now he must protect her even though it goes against everything he’s ever been loyal too. When the threat of the purist reaches earth, the catastrophic devastation forces war upon the Drackon, the earthlings, and the purist and Felicity and Drin are right in the middle of it, but will they survive? Eniv (Drackon Mates #4) Eniv must find his fiancé, with a sexy detective. Now he might lose them both… Detective Melinda Katiama has finally received the promotion of a lifetime to the Intergalactic Special Forces Agency. But her first case forces her to partner with a Drackonian alien weredragon in the search to find his missing bride to be. She is furious that she has to partner with such an arrogant rogue, but even more so that her body is betraying her every time he is near. He is already promised to another, and not just anyone, he is promised to the very woman they have been assigned to rescue. Commander Eniv Handor is an intelligent agent in the Drackonian battalion. His father has matched him with a diplomat’s daughter from Earth, it is important for his career. But when he shows up to fetch his bride he finds that she has gone missing, along with five other brides. He discovers that brides have gone missing before and the whole thing reeks of a cover-up. Now he is on a mission in space to find the diplomat’s daughter, but he’s not alone. He is with a feisty Latina detective that is unlike any female he has ever known, and her scent drives him wild. How can he fight giving into his temptations when she is so near, and his guilt of betraying his fiancé is so strong? When they crack the case and find themselves in the heart of an outlaw planet, the threat of battle looms near, and Eniv and Melinda must solve the case, rescue the missing women, and keep their feelings from destroying it all. Kuvo (Drackon Mates #5) Andrene put everything at risk, including him. Now, she will lose him forever… Ambassador Representative Andrene Novan is tired of her oppressive and powerful father, so she devises a plan to leave his grasps forever. But her plans are complicated when her father assigns a gorgeous Drackon warrior to be her security detail. Now her plans are put into jeopardy when she allows her desires to get the best of her. Why did it have to be him to guard her? Now she has too much to lose in order to gain her freedom. Special Ops Squadron Leader Kuvo Bane is running away from his past on Mooreah, and goes into the private sector of security detail. He figures guarding a human on Earth would be easier than what he has seen on the Drackonian battlefields. With his shifting abilities into a weredragon, he can guard the best of the best, but he’s not expecting his assignment to look like her. Now he must test his restraint in mixing business with pleasure. But he realises exactly what he would risk for her, when he fails her. When an outlaw Drackonian villain captures them, Kuvo Bane must save them all, but he doesn’t realise that it has all been a trap, a betrayal. Kasian (Drackon Mates #6) Kelly fell hard and fast for weredragon Kasian. Now, her past will destroy it... Kelly Perkins is finally doing it! After having doubt about registering as a bride to a Drackon warrior from the alien weredragon race on Mooreah, she’s finally putting her heart out there. But she never thought that one last fling, as a single woman would jeopardise the relationship with her new husband. It was her personal bachelorette party, what could go wrong? But when she falls hard, fast, and instantly for Commander Kasian Jade, she finds out just how detrimental her one night stand was to her future happiness. Commander Kasian Jade is on Earth to oversee a massive engineering project and decides to take a human female as a bride to offset the loneliness of being out in the wilderness. But Kelly Perkins is unlike any female he has ever met, and her scent lets him no they are a match. It’s so easy for them to slip straight into a passionate romance in a matter of hours. But he has no idea that she has a secret, a secret that will make him feel so much rage that he doesn’t think he can ever be with her again. Until he realises that she was the pawn of a sibling rivalry feud with his brother that goes deep into his past. When his brother Orik steals power receptors from the engineering project, Kasian must hunt his brother, but now it’s a matter of vengeance for what he did to Kelly.

    A murderous rampage by a group of elder vampires has left the Hunter line decimated and the remaining Hunters scattered around the world. With her friends Chris and Melissa’s aid, Cassie struggles to rid the world of the monsters that murdered her parents. Though Cassie knows it is her fate, she chafes against her heritage, and is resentful of the shortened lifespan that has been placed upon her by the circumstances of birth. Struggling to get through every day, Cassie finds herself simply going through the motions of living. That is, until Devon arrives. Tall, dark, and mysterious his arrival turns the school, and Cassie’s life, upside down. Fighting against her fierce attraction to him, and the chaos he represents in her carefully ordered days, she is irresistibly drawn to him. Though worried that what she truly is will place Devon in danger, she is unable to fight her feelings for him. He is the one light, and the only source of hope she has in a world that revolves around death and fear. What she does not know is that Devon has some dark secrets of his own, secrets even more frightening and dangerous than hers. Secrets that threaten to tear them apart forever.Book 1 of 5This is a young adult fictional story that includes some language, violence, and mild sexual situations. Recommended for ages fifteen and up.Cover art by www.EbookLaunch.com