Book picks similar to
Night Music by Rose Streif


gaslamp-fantasy
gothic
shapeshifters
short-stories

A Curious Invasion


Marie Andreas - 2018
     Dr. Nettie Jones is a new agent for The Society for the Exploration of the Unexplainable, a secret organization protecting England from unnamed sources. Being half-vampire is an added complication. The Society doesn't yet appreciate Nettie but fate steps in when invaders from a dying planet begin following her the same day Queen Victoria chooses to be turned into a vampire. Things become dangerously interwoven when Nettie discovers that a supposed accident was in fact an act of betrayal by one of the agents of the Society. The first shot in a larger conspiracy Nettie and her fellow Society agents must pull together to thwart the alien invaders, fight off the vampire infestation, and rescue the Queen from becoming the longest ruling undead monarch, even if that rescue is against her will.

A Lush and Seething Hell: Two Tales of Cosmic Horror


John Hornor Jacobs - 2019
    P. Lovecraft, The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky examines life in a South American dictatorship. Centered on the journal of a poet-in-exile and his failed attempts at translating a maddening text, it is told by a young woman trying to come to grips with a country that nearly devoured itself.In My Heart Struck Sorrow, a librarian discovers a recording from the Deep South—which may be the musical stylings of the Devil himself.Breathtaking and haunting, A Lush and Seething Hell is a terrifying and exhilarating journey into the darkness, an odyssey into the deepest reaches of ourselves that compels us to confront secrets best left hidden.

Glitter & Doom


Bethany Griffin - 2013
    When a rich teenage girl who spends her nights in the most desirable club and a smart, young inventor meet, they might have more in common than they know.April, niece to the dying city's cruel dictator, is Araby Worth's glittery and frivolous best friend. But she's more than she appears. And when she disappeared in Masque of the Red Death, where did she go? This short novella answers that question, taking us deep underneath the crumbling city, where April crosses paths with Kent, the serious young inventor who is key to rebellion. Glitter & Doom is a story of chilling action, of spies, and of surprising love. Can love be anything but doomed is a city that's burning down around its survivors?A dark, unnerving story about two of the most fascinating characters from Masque of the Red Death.

First Blood


Eliot Grayson - 2021
    His enhanced senses can track human blood in or out of a body, but it doesn’t usually smell like oranges, honey, and temptation. And it’s not usually coursing through the veins of a beautiful back-alley rentboy. That should make it easier, right? Pay, bite and be on his way.While prostitution isn’t Laurie’s dream job, someone has to take care of his sister and her kids. But being a blood donor to a tall, dark and brooding vamp isn’t part of his career plan. Until he agrees…and it’s far more pleasurable than he could have imagined.Nurturing isn't in Victor’s wheelhouse, yet he finds himself tucking the all-too-tempting boy into bed. And feeling things he shouldn’t be. When Laurie's attacked, it's almost a relief: breaking necks is way more Victor’s style and he’s all-too-happy to kill. But Laurie being kidnapped wasn't part of anyone’s plan. Now Victor's determined to save Laurie at any cost. Can he bring them both out alive, or will they die before they’ve even shared their first kiss?This book is set in the world of the Mismatched Mates series, but it stands alone. However, look for cameos of your favorite characters from the other books in the series.

John Charrington’s Wedding


E. Nesbit - 1891
    It was written in 1891 and is included in Nesbit's 1893 anthology Grim Tales. The story's title character is a man who somehow always seems to get what he wants. John makes up his mind to marry May Forster, the prettiest young woman in the village. After John asks her to marry him several times, May finally agrees. John says that his love for May is so great that he would come back from the dead if that was what she wanted him to do. Two days before his wedding, John leaves to visit his seriously ill godfather. May begs him not to go because she has a feeling that something bad will happen. John reassures her that nothing will prevent him from arriving at his wedding on time.

Born of Illusion


Teri Brown - 2013
    A gifted illusionist, Anna assists her mother, the renowned medium Marguerite Van Housen, in her stage show and séances, easily navigating the underground world of magicians, mediums, and mentalists in 1920s New York. As the illegitimate daughter of Harry Houdini—or so Marguerite claims—sleight of hand illusions have never been a challenge for Anna. The real trick is keeping her own gifts secret from her opportunistic mother. Because while Marguerite's own powers may be a sham, Anna possesses a true ability to sense people’s feelings and foretell the future.But as Anna’s powers intensify, she begins to experience frightening visions of her mother in peril, which leads her to explore the powers she’s tried so long to hide. And when a mysterious young man named Cole moves into the flat downstairs, introducing Anna to a secret society that studies people with gifts like hers, she is forced to confront her past and rethink everything she’s ever known. Is her mother truly in danger, or are Anna’s visions merely illusion? And could the great Houdini really be her father, or is it just another of Marguerite’s tricks?From Teri Brown comes a world bursting with magic, with romance, and the temptations of Jazz Age New York—and the story of a girl about to become the mistress of her own destiny.

Lord Arthur Savile's Crime


Oscar Wilde - 1887
    The stories include: "Lord Savile's Crime"; "The Canterville Ghost"; "The Portrait of Mr W.H."; "The Sphynx Without a Secret"; and "The Model Millionaire".

The Mysterious Key and What It Opened


Louisa May Alcott - 1867
    She wondered over this in her childish mind, but proud and willful as she was, she liked it, and obeyed him with unusual meekness when he suggested that it was time to return.

The Visitor


Mark Lawrence - 2018
    The only thing you need to know is that Wild Cards is set in our world, and an alien virus has been infecting people in rare outbreaks. It kills 90% of victims, makes ugly monsters of 9% (Jokers) and gives 1% random superpowers (Aces).A very personal short story that I'm proud of and want to find a wider audience for.There is a sequel story free on the Tor website, The Visitor: Kill or Cure.

Stolen Mate


Kimber White - 2018
    An arranged marriage will cement the peace on Wild Lake and secure her brother’s power among the packs for decades to come. There’s just one problem. Free spirit Lucia’s never been one to do what she’s told. To her brother’s constant frustration, she never misses a chance to raise a little hell. When Lucia finds an outlaw shifter trespassing on pack lands, chasing him off is just the kind of trouble Lucia loves to stir up. But this cat stands his ground and ignites a primal need in her she wasn’t expecting. Acting on it could raise a little too much hell. For Lucia, catching this tiger by the tail might just bring the packs to the brink of war. Clint Yeager wasn’t looking for trouble. After a brutal shifter war in South America, he’s just hoping to lick his wounds and get as far north as he can. But he’s never seen anything like Lucia before. He thought female shifters were extinct. Her feral, passionate nature stirs his inner tiger past the point of control. The smart thing to do would be to keep on running and forget he ever saw her. But, his animal has other ideas and pursuing her might just put Clint in the crosshairs of every wolf shifter in the country. Reader's Note: This is BOOK 2 in the Wild Lake Origins series. Each book in the series as well as the companion series, the Wild Lake Wolves, are standalone books that can be read in any order.

Tales Out of School Collection


Natasha LarryArizona Tape - 2019
    To humor her bestie, Remy goes to the interview and surprises even herself.Now her options are stay with a mother that resents her or brave the Academy’s privileged freshman class. Maybe along the way, she’ll even decide to pick up the white hat and put it on, but in doing so she may lose her best friend.Melanie Karsak - The Princess Of Hearts (Wonderland Academy #0.5)Margo Bond Collins And Fionn Jameson - Matriculation (Shifters U. #0.5)Margo Bond Collins And Deb Christie - Hell Hath No Fury (Dark Harvester University #0.5)Laura Greenwood - Curses Start Somewhere (Grimalkin Academy; Kittens #0.5)All curses start somewhere, and it's not always where you expect.With graduation approaching, Ronnie and Magda need to finish writing their spell book so they can receive the ultimate reward: a place on Grimalkin Academy's honour roll.But when things start to go wrong, it turns out that more than their friendship is on the line, and if Ronnie can't fix it, the consequences won't be worth thinking about.Curses Start Somewhere is the prequel to the Grimalkin Academy: Kittens series, which follows Ronnie's daughter, Mona.S.K. Gregory - The Fall Of Crestwood (Academy For Lost Souls #0.5)Solo Storm - Rising Prince (Faerie Princess Spy Academy #0.5)He Has No Choice But to Take His Family’s Throne Back From the People Who Murdered His Parents...Twenty-year-old Flynn Cormac has his younger sister to protect. To keep her safe, he has to reclaim what was once theirs - the throne to the leprechaun clan, one of the ten clans of the Alliance of Faeries.The only safe place to announce their survival is at the presenting ceremony at Alanza School of International Faerie. Once they have gone public and officially become students of the school, the Fitzgerald family, who currently holds the throne, has no chance of touching them...But when Flynn takes a quick detour before he takes off for school, he runs into much more than he bargained for - and it’s only going to cost him once he learns the truth...If he can’t take back his family’s throne, he may lose everything that matters to him. So why can’t he stop thinking about her?A companion short story to the Faerie Princess Spy Academy prequel novella, Rising Princess, which is told from Darby Fitzgerald’s perspective.Arizona Tape - Wings Of Grief (Afterlife Academy Story #?.5)Skyler Andra - Witch Hunt (To The Guild Of Guardians Academy Series#0.5)Ivy Hearne - Dog Days Of Summer (Hunters’ Academy Summer 1 #?.5)Angela Kulig And Angela Sanders - Mystic Manor (Halloween Academy #0.5)B.C. Palmer And Marie Robinson - Admission To Rosewilde Academy Of Magical ArtsKat Parrish - Wixsted Academy (Full Moon High #0.5)

The Summer People


Kelly Link - 2015
    And hurricanes, astronauts, evil twins, bootleggers, Ouija boards, iguanas, The Wizard of Oz, superheroes, the pyramids...The Summer People is a bite-sized sample of Link's incomparable writing, telling the story of Fran, her friend Ophelia, and their adventures at the house belonging to the mysterious and rarely glimpsed 'summer people'. As the tales Fran tells about the house and its inhabitants become ever stranger and more magical, it gets harder and harder to tell what is real and what exists only in her imagination, and the lines between truth and fantasy become deliciously blurred.

Three Ghost Stories


Charles Dickens - 1998
    Considered one of the English language's greatest writers, he was acclaimed for his rich storytelling and memorable characters, and achieved massive worldwide popularity in his lifetime. The popularity of his novels and short stories has meant that not one has ever gone out of print. Dickens wrote serialised novels, the usual format for fiction at the time, and each new part of his stories was eagerly anticipated by the reading public. Among his best-known works are Sketches by Boz (1836), The Pickwick Papers (1837), Oliver Twist (1838), Nicholas Nickleby (1839), Barnaby Rudge (1841), A Christmas Carol (1843), Martin Chuzzlewit (1844), David Copperfield (1850), Bleak House (1853), Little Dorrit (1857), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Great Expectations (1861) and Our Mutual Friend (1865).

Fever


Lola Taylor - 2014
     Danica has about given up on love. In a last-ditch attempt at finding “the one,” she agrees to a blind date through an online dating service. But instead of finding roses and romance, she finds someone intent on killing her. That is, until the mysterious, brooding Gage shows up to save her…. Gage is running out of time to find a mate. If the Blood Moon sets before he can find her, he’ll lose the rank of packmaster - and the peace within the pack - he’s worked so hard to obtain. When he saves a luscious blonde in the parking lot, he has no idea she is his mate - until he Marks her with his touch. Determined to keep her safe at any cost, Gage whisks Danica away into a hidden world full of lust, unlikely love, and treachery. Someone’s put a hit on his mate, and he’s hell-bent on finding out who, all while the Blood Moon looms closer, threatening to destroy his chances at true love forever. That is, if something - or someone - doesn’t kill the woman he’s falling for first. Recommended 18+ for frequent, explicit sexual situations and language. Book 1 of 6. BBW Werewolf Romance For more information, including a complete list of books and excerpts, please visit lolataylorbooks.com.

Flyaway


Kathleen Jennings - 2020
    In a small Western Queensland town, a reserved young woman receives a note from one of her vanished brothers—a note that makes question her memories of their disappearance and her father’s departure.A beguiling story that proves that gothic delights and uncanny family horror can live—and even thrive—under a burning sun, Flyaway introduces readers to Bettina Scott, whose search for the truth throws her into tales of eerie dogs, vanished schools, cursed monsters, and enchanted bottles.In these pages Jennings assures you that gothic delights, uncanny family horror, and strange, unsettling prose can live—and even thrive—under a burning sun.Holly Black describes as “half mystery, half fairy tale, all exquisitely rendered and full of teeth.” Flyaway enchants you with the sly, beautiful darkness of Karen Russell and a world utterly its own.