That is, until the day a morning run turns into a living nightmare. When Samantha wakes up to find herself bound to a dirty, pinstriped mattress, she realizes she’s anything but free. With a masked abductor repeatedly injecting her arm with an unknown substance while holding her captive, Samantha tries in vain to find out what he wants, but he refuses to speak. Until the day he breaks his silence and his twisted words are worse than what she’d imagined. He promises her one day she will fall in love with him but the best part will be that she won't know who he is... until it's too late. Finding herself freed from captivity, with her captor still at large, Samantha is on guard against everything and everyone around her. Unfortunately, walling up her heart proves difficult when eighteen-year-old Blake Knightley moves in next door. When Samantha starts experiencing strange changes within her, she realizes her captor may have left her more damaged than she originally thought. Now she must turn to Blake for help in order to unearth the truth behind the monster who started this all... or risk experiencing worse things than just falling in love.

    But things get hotter than he bargained for when he lands on a planet occupied by Travellers. These grisly space pirates have a reputation so dire, even aliens won’t mess with them. But even aliens aren't as badass as Shifters. Mike and his crew are Shifters--alt-humans with the ability to Shift into animal form. When they impulsively rescue three of the Travellers' victims, they stumble on a deadly plot that spans the Cluster—and it's focused like a laser beam on their homeworld. From deep space to the slums of Shiftertown, the chase is on. To untangle the mystery in time, Mike will have to outwit not only the Travellers but the kingpin of his own crime-ridden Shifter community, while staying one step ahead of the police. If he fails, the Travellers will take his planet … and his beloved daughter.Join the crew of the St. Clare as they struggle to put the clues together, battle murderous criminals, and above all, hang onto their humanity. If you’re a fan of Firefly or The Expanse, you’ll love this interstellar adventure set in a cluster of stars far, far away, in a future where we’ve colonized the stars and even altered our own DNA, but remain all too human.Lethal Cargo is the first book of A Cauldron of Stars, a new space opera thriller series from New York Times bestselling sci-fi author Felix R. Savage. It contains swearing, sex, spaceships, unapologetic badassery, shapeshifting wolves, tigers, bears, lions, and one very large snake. You have been warned!

    Now, all seventeen-year-olds are to participate in this Bachelor-style pageant to find their perfect match, marry, and have children. But that's not Ariana's only concern. Thanks to the government-sanctioned memory erase, Ariana has no recollection of Zane, the mystery boy who haunts her dreams. Things are further complicated when the pageant commences and her feelings for fellow Cadet Cal Remus intensify. Together, they start to realize not everything about their new home is not as it seems. Entangled in a dangerous web of deceit, Ariana sets out to identify the truth. Conflicted over warnings that Cal isn't trustworthy and alarmed at the government's increasing interest in her, she doesn't know where to turn. But her search for the truth comes at a high personal price. When her world implodes, discovering the past shapes her future with devastating consequences.

    The colony ship they arrived on is aflame. The rest of their contingent is dead. They've only received half their training, and they are being asked to conquer an entire planet. Before they can, however, they must first survive each other. In this gritty tale of youths struggling to survive, Hugh Howey fuses the best of young adult fantasy with the piercing social commentary of speculative fiction. The result is a book that begs to be read in a single sitting. An adventurous romp that will leave readers exhausted and begging for more.

    They're intent on defying the curse and rebuilding the human race all over again. But can it be done?Is the impossible their only hope? The Curse is a fast-paced post-apocalyptic thriller packed full of shocks and surprises. If you like end of the world, dystopian and horror fiction, you’ll love The Curse.

    He has no idea what to do. A girl, hunted for the crime of being born, almost dies out on the ice. She is rescued by the last polar bear left alive. A library waits for them both, a library built over a span of a hundred years, forgotten in the basement of an ice shack. The world hasn't known hunger or sickness in hundreds of years. It has also forgotten love and beauty. The year is 2525. Inspired by the short stories of Ray Bradbury, this futuristic novel is set in a world where Christmas -among other things- is obsolete and a Clock is what keeps the fragile balance of peace. Written in three installments, this is the breathtaking and sensual story of how two unlikely people change the world, and each other, one book at a time. Immerse yourself into the icy cold world of this scorching hot new novel.

    Now the nobleman, and collector of rare artifacts, has entrusted Bingmei and the skilled team with a treacherous assignment: brave the wilderness’s dangers to retrieve the treasures of a lost palace buried in a glacier valley. But upsetting its tombs has a price.Echion, emperor of the Grave Kingdom, ruler of darkness, Dragon of Night, has long been entombed. Now Bingmei has unwittingly awakened him and is answerable to a legendary prophecy. Destroying the dark lord before he reclaims the kingdoms of the living is her inherited mission. Killing Bingmei before she fulfills it is Echion’s. Thrust unprepared into the role of savior, urged on by a renegade prince, and possessing a magic that is her destiny, Bingmei knows what she must do. But what must she risk to honor her ancestors? Bingmei’s fateful choice is one that neither her friends nor her enemies can foretell, as Echion’s dark war for control unfolds.

    The old ways are slowly fading, but she still believes in the Tuathe De, the Sidhe, even though many scoff at the ancient legends as children's stories. When she finds a wounded man in the forest just before Beltane, Gwyneth must choose between an ordinary life in her village or a chance to train as a daughter of the Blood as the veil thins between the mortal world and the Fae world...

    All she wants to do is make it to graduation, and then she can move back to Michigan for college. That's the plan. That is, until her new neighbor pressures her into playing a mystical card game.And this deck is like no other.With one touch of the cards, Dominique plunges into a vision of a crimson desert inhabited by a dark presence with murderous intent. She desperately tries to convince herself it’s all in her head, but the images refuse to be ignored. And when the apparitions include hints of past lives, Dominique realizes the darkness is really after her. Not only in her visions, but also in her reality. If she’s to survive, she must discover the secrets hidden in her past. If she doesn’t she’ll be dead. For real.

    He's the rebellious nephew of Earth's treacherous Chancellor. Together they'll change two worlds, or die trying. "I can't recommend this story highly enough!" -Nathan Lowell.Saving Mars is a science fiction adventure series set in a dystopian future where a small colony on Mars has survived for centuries without any contact with Earth, until now.

    A space vessel called Schrodinger's Box discovers the creature, brings it back to life, and analyzes its intellectual and physical capabilities. It's not long before the scientists realize the creature is able to manipulate the make-up of objects, including organic matter, at a molecular level. The eyes of the scientific world are on Schrodinger's Box, but not everyone is pleased with the discovery. A group of terrorists attempts to intercept the ship and destroy it.

    Intrusive thoughts begin invading John's mind. And the swirling blue liquid injected into their veins each night does not seem like part of any legitimate study.As the true motive for the research facility is revealed, John's focus shifts from his crippling insomnia to his own horrific imprisonment. Can he and his fellow subjects escape the facility alive, or are they doomed like all the test subjects before them?

    It has a strong female lead, and though it is aimed at adults, it can also be read by a YA audience.Fans of Ted Chiang will like this one, as well as readers who want a book they can read in one sitting.So wake up with Capsel and see what the future holds for us―you will be quite surprised indeed.-J. Shaw, Editor, Cynical Optimist PressFor fans of Ted Chiang, Blake Crouch, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Yuval Noah HarariFor fans of Science Fiction, SciFi, Strong Female Leads, Environmental Fiction, Future Worlds, Young Adult, YA, Humanity and Time Travel

    The Last Watch, where a handful of soldiers stand between humanity and annihilation.The Divide.It’s the edge of the universe.Now it’s collapsing—and taking everyone and everything with it.The only ones who can stop it are the Sentinels—the recruits, exiles, and court-martialed dregs of the military.At the Divide, Adequin Rake, commanding the Argus, has no resources, no comms—nothing, except for the soldiers that no one wanted.They're humanity's only chance.

    The sky looms frigid white. The electricity falters. Airplanes everywhere crash to the ground. But the Givens are saved by mysterious strangers, three fearsome and beautiful beings who force a plain silver bracelet onto each sister’s wrist. Within moments, the sky comes down in a crushing sheet of light and everything around them is gone.Shielded from the devastation by their silver adornments, the Givens suddenly find themselves elsewhere, a strange new Earth where restaurants move through the air like flying saucers and the fabric of time is manipulated by common household appliances.Soon Hannah and Amanda are joined by four other survivors from their world—a mordant cartoonist, a shy teenage girl, a brilliant young Australian, and a troubled ex-prodigy. Hunted by enemies they never knew they had and afflicted with temporal abilities they never wanted, the sisters and their companions begin a cross-country journey to find the one man who can save them—before time runs out.