Their father mysteriously disappeared 16 years earlier, and the story begins when this strange, enigmatic girl shows up and sends all their lives into tumult. It’s kind of a relay race of a love(s) story, with some serious violin playing, food making, grape crushing, break ins and outs, dreams shattered and pieced back together, time lost, love lost and found, and a band called “Hell Hyena and the Furniture.” I’m really excited about it!'

    One of life’s few consolations for Marek is his enduring bond with the blind village midwife, Ina, who suckled him as a baby, as she did so many of the village’s children. Ina’s gifts extend beyond childcare: she possesses a unique ability to communicate with the natural world. Her gift often brings her the transmission of sacred knowledge on levels far beyond those available to other villagers, however religious they might be. For some people, Ina’s home in the woods outside of the village is a place to fear and to avoid, a godless place. Among their number is Father Barnabas, the town priest and lackey for the depraved lord and governor, Villiam, whose hilltop manor contains a secret embarrassment of riches. The people’s desperate need to believe that there are powers that be who have their best interests at heart is put to a cruel test by Villiam and the priest, especially in this year of record drought and famine. But when fate brings Marek into violent proximity to the lord’s family, new and occult forces upset the old order. By year’s end, the veil between blindness and sight, life and death, the natural world and the spirit world, civility and savagery, will prove to be very thin indeed.

    Now all I can think is, "These are the hands that buried my mother."For Ning, the only thing worse than losing her mother is knowing that it's her own fault. She was the one who unknowingly brewed the poison tea that killed her—the poison tea that now threatens to also take her sister, Shu.When Ning hears of a competition to find the kingdom's greatest shennong-shi—masters of the ancient and magical art of tea-making—she travels to the imperial city to compete. The winner will receive a favor from the princess, which may be Ning's only chance to save her sister's life. But between the backstabbing competitors, bloody court politics, and a mysterious (and handsome) boy with a shocking secret, Ning might actually be the one in more danger.

    A battle for dominance is brewing between the elite fae and the privileged humans in Eastern Europe. The prejudice between the sides is bubbling with hate and violence. Nineteen-year-old human, Brexley, has grown up in privilege, but not without heartbreak. After being orphaned, she is taken in by General Markos, living in a walled city rife with power grabs and ruthless political games. Then one night the course of her life changes, and Brexley is thrown into the most feared prison in the east. Halalhaz, the House of Death—where you go in but don’t come out. She must learn to live with the worst of fae and human criminals. The rule of hierarchy puts humans on the bottom, where the only way to survive each day is to make alliances with the fae.Here she meets the sexy, vicious legend, Warwick Farkas. A myth among man and fae. He is as brutal, cruel, arrogant, and as lethal as the lore says he is, ruling the prison with unchallenged authority. Brexley can’t deny an intense draw to him, one that might cost her life.If The Games don’t take her out first—A fight to the death where only one survives.

    Wait, make that four: no one screws with Caith or her stuff. Orlando—land of that famous mouse—is her home and people are either gonna get in line or get the fuc- heck out.Except someone didn’t get that memo. Or, they have a death wish. Either way, she’s gonna bust out her bat and smash some heads. She’s got zombies demolishing her home, vamps chasing her, and on top of the normal violence in her life, she’s quickly falling for an angel. Satan’s niece and a goody-two-shoes angel! And don’t even get her started on corralling her five fathers while trying to keep them from interfering with her life.Caith can handle the blood, gore, and frustration, but can she deal with the pain of loving the angel Samkiel? Probably not, but she’s gonna try anyway.

    Against the rules of my insular wolf pack sequestered in the celestial havens. Against bullies, my horrible parents, and even the pack's strongest wolves who want to claim the town's rebel for their own.I was supposed to keep my head down, but something deep within me refuses to bow.When my entire pack rejects me, I'm delivered to a deadly god with a penchant for murder. An incredibly handsome archangel with black wings and unimaginable power.He was supposed to execute me and end my misery. Instead, he's only keeping me alive for one reason...Vengeance.Now I just need to stay alive long enough to escape his grasp.But as we travel through the world, and every creature seems to want to attack or claim me, I'm realizing I might be something truly special.And the closer I get to my captor, the more I can't resist a dark, sexy side of him that calls to something dark in me.But once the heat between us starts burning, the fate of the entire world might rest on whether we manage to fight, or fall, together.The Demon's Pet is 700 pages of high-stakes action, fantasy adventure, and steamy interludes that just might set your reading device on fire! It's the first book of a trilogy and does NOT end on a cliffhanger.

    What she never planned for was Quinn Donegan—the living, breathing advertisement for sinful behavior that waltzed into her life.

    Zelda was the warrior; Ish could locate people anywhere; Ramon always knew what path to take; Sarah could turn catastrophe aside. Keeping them all connected: Sal, Zelda’s lover and the group's heart.Until their final, failed mission, when Sal was lost. When they all fell apart.Ten years on, Ish, Ramon, and Sarah are happy and successful. Zelda is alone, always traveling, destroying rot throughout the US.When it boils through the crack in the Liberty Bell, the rot gives Zelda proof that Sal is alive, trapped somewhere in the alts.Zelda’s getting the band back together—plus Sal’s young cousin June, who has a knack none of them have ever seen before.As relationships rekindle, the friends begin to believe they can find Sal and heal all the worlds. It’s not going to be easy, but they’ve faced worse before.But things have changed, out there in the alts. And in everyone's hearts.Fresh from winning the Hugo and Nebula Awards, Max Gladstone weaves elements of American myth--the muscle car, the open road, the white-hatted cowboy--into a deeply emotional tale where his characters must find their own truths if they are to survive.

    But an innocent walk home after an evening with friends changes her life forever. When she intervenes in the senseless beating of a homeless man, his attackers turn on her, dragging her into an alley. Raven is only semi-conscious when their assault is interrupted by a cacophony of growls followed by her attacker’s screams. Mercifully, she blacks out, but not before catching a glimpse of a shadowy figure who whispers to her…Cassita vulneratus.When Raven awakes, she is inexplicably changed. She returns to the Uffizi, but no one recognizes her and more disturbingly, she discovers that she’s been absent an entire week. With no recollection of the events leading up to her disappearance, Raven also learns that her absence coincides with one of the largest robberies in Uffizi history – the theft of a set of priceless Botticelli illustrations. When the baffled police force identifies her as its prime suspect, Raven is desperate to clear her name. She seeks out one of Florence’s wealthiest and elusive men in an attempt to uncover the truth about her disappearance. Their encounter leads Raven to a dark underworld whose inhabitants kill to keep their secrets…

    Half a century ago, Joan's grandfather built this majestic house in the historic Black neighborhood of Douglass--only to be lynched days after becoming the first Black detective in Memphis. This wasn't the first time violence altered the course of Joan's family's trajectory, and she knows it won't be the last. Longing to become an artist, Joan pours her rage and grief into sketching portraits of the women of North Memphis--including their enigmatic neighbor Miss Dawn, who seems to know something about curses.Unfolding over seventy years through a chorus of voices, Memphis weaves back and forth in time to show how the past and future are forever intertwined. It is only when Joan comes to see herself as a continuation of a long matrilineal tradition--and the women in her family as her guides to healing--that she understands that her life does not have to be defined by vengeance. That the sole weapon she needs is her paintbrush.Inspired by the author's own family history, Memphis--the Black fairy tale she always wanted to read--explores the complexity of what we pass down, not only in our families, but in our country: police brutality and justice, powerlessness and freedom, fate and forgiveness, doubt and faith, sacrifice and love.

    Elena Soo has always felt overshadowed. Whether by her more successful older sisters, her more popular twin brother, or her more outgoing best friend, everyone except Elena seems to know exactly who they are and what they want. But she is certain about one thing - she has no interest in going to prom. While the rest of the school is giddy over corsages and dresses, Elena would rather spend her time working to save the local community center, the one place that's always made her feel like she belonged. So when international K-pop superstar Robbie Choi shows up at her house to ask her to prom, Elena is more confused than ever. Because the one person who always accepted Elena as she is? Her childhood best friend, Robbie Choi. And the one thing she maybe, possibly, secretly wants more than anything? For the two of them to keep the promise they made each other as kids: to go to prom together. But that was seven years ago, and with this new K-pop persona, pink hair, and stylish clothes, Robbie is nothing like the sweet, goofy boy she remembers. The boy she shared all her secrets with. The boy she used to love. Besides, prom with a guy who comes with hordes of screaming fans, online haters, and relentless paparazzi is the last thing Elena wants - even if she can't stop thinking about Robbie's smile...right?

    Clair’s bodyguard Valdez. Now see what happens when he gets his own story in Rafe and the Redhead. When his best friend gets married, Rafael Valdez realizes it’s time to get his own life in order. His lady, were-cat Lacy, is pregnant and he needs to step up before the babies, triplets, are born. Lacy figures he’s only willing to give her a ring because his true love is no longer available. Rafe is determined to woo and win Lacy. But before that can happen, he’s taken away at gunpoint to his dying grandfather’s bedside. He’d left his shape-shifter clan centuries ago and never wanted to return, but Grandfather needs him now. Can Rafe help save the old man and the clan? Will a woman with an agenda come between Lacy and Rafe? And how can a were-cat and a shape-shifter find their own happily ever after when the families from both sides are dead set against their union? Read Rafe and the Redhead to find out.

    Kind of like that shadow that seems to loom around me at all times probably means I've gone completely crazy. It would also explain how I managed to catch feelings for not one, but three different men.Alexander Despot, a big shot detective from the city, seems to be everywhere I go as of late. He says he's keeping an eye on me for my safety, but the way his eyes travel down my body says another story.Daniel Baccarin, my new boss, is treading the line between professional and personal. I wish he'd just cross it already.I thought I had made Jess Caldwell up, because I would only see him in my dreams. But a chance discovery leads me to find photos of me and him together. Except I would remember my first boyfriend, right?Author's note: Cursed by Darkness, Marked by Darkness and Consumed by Darkness are all romance books where the heroine does not have to choose between love interests. They are supposed to be read in the order just listed.Embraced by Darkness, the prequel novella, is MF and its action takes place centuries before the events in Cursed by Darkness. However, it could spoil it, so it is best read after Cursed by Darkness. The series is in the same universe as the Black Widows Academy series and A Harem of Supernatural Hunters series. There is no set reading order for these trilogies, they simply offer the bigger picture for a fictional world I have created and some characters pop up in different books, across series. Post Scriptum:The series contains gothic and horror elements. If you are very easily spooked or creeped out, do not read.If you are a fan of The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor, you’re in for a special treat!

    Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who'd happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning―it just happens that one is a murderer.Award-winning author Sulari Gentill delivers a sharply thrilling read with THE WOMAN IN THE LIBRARY, an unexpectedly twisty literary adventure that examines the complicated nature of friendship and shows us that words can be the most treacherous weapons of all.

    He and his band Kiss & Tell are on their first major tour of North America, playing arenas all over the United States and Canada (and getting covered by the gossipy press all over North America as well). Hunter is the only gay member of the band, and he just had a very painful breakup with his first boyfriend–leaked sexts, public heartbreak, and all–and now everyone expects him to play the perfect queer role model for teens.But Hunter isn’t really sure what being the perfect queer kid even means. Does it mean dressing up in whatever The Label tells him to wear for photo shoots and pretending never to have sex? (Unfortunately, yes.) Does it mean finding community among the queer kids at the meet-and-greets after K&T’s shows? (Fortunately, yes.) Does it include a new relationship with Kaivan, the star of the band opening for K&T on tour? (He hopes so.) But when The Label finds out about Hunter and Kaivan, it spells trouble—for their relationship, for the perfect gay boy Hunter plays for the cameras, and, most importantly, for Hunter himself.