Books Tagged With potential trigger - traumatic past

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Summary: Even a pacifist vampire can be pushed too far. Threatening his love is a hard limit. Vampire Creed Lowell’s life was altered fifty years ago at the hands of an ancient being known only as The Source, right before rogue members of the cult he belonged to destroyed their way of life. Just as Creed discovers the identity of the responsible party for that terrible tragedy, temptation is placed in his path in the form of grad student Roman San Angelo, a stubborn, proud, infuriating man who’s everything Creed ever wanted in a partner. When Creed’s past catches up to them, Roman is snatched from his grasp and Creed is forced into hiding, saddled with the care of his former mentor. He’s the only one strong enough to heal them and prevent a catastrophic event, though his rage builds the longer he’s kept from his love. When Roman’s safety is threatened once more, the two are finally reunited, and Creed is devastated to see the physical effects of Roman’s run-in with The Source. He wants nothing more than to secret Roman away and share whatever time they have left on this Earth in peace. But once again, Creed is forced to sacrifice everything when an old enemy sets their sights on his unique genetic makeup and skills. This time, it’s Creed who’s taken, and Roman will do whatever it takes to rescue him, even if it means trusting the being that nearly ended his life. With the help of Roman’s long-suffering uncle, a determined FBI agent, and a mysterious benefactor with a multitude of resources at his disposal, they’ll need to bring down a shadowy financial powerhouse and put an end to their villainy before it’s too late for Creed to have a life with his beloved. Moonwish is a continuation of the events in Sundowners and the books should be read in order. The events of this story are resolved by the end, but Roman and Creed will continue to work towards a resolution of the series’ story arc in future books. For readers 18 and over.

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Summary: WANTED: Counselor for child trauma victims at scenic boarding school in northern Arkansas. Must be open-minded, flexible, and ready to travel at a moment's notice. Patience, extreme vigilance, and discretion required. Generous compensation guaranteed. Veteran teacher and counselor Delaney Frost accepts a job at Havenhart Academy and soon learns that not only are her new charges “gifted," but that within her resides a power so rare and precious, it can be used to heal others. When danger arrives at the academy gates, Delaney and her mysterious yet alluring boss will fight to protect the children from a megalomaniac out for revenge and the destruction of all she holds dear. Welcome to Havenhart Academy.

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Summary: Kris Starr used to be famous. Rock and roll. Sold-out shows. Literal magic. Empathic talents and screaming fans. But he has a problem or two. He's having a hard time writing new music. It's Midwinter, which means he's surrounded by depressing holiday cheer. And he's in love with Justin, his manager, who has a talent for rescuing almost- or once-famous bands ... and who's hiding secrets of his own. Justin Moore, on the other hand, is very good at keeping those secrets -- he's had to be for years. One secret involves a demonic inheritance that would make him a target of suspicion. Another involves his past. And the third involves Justin's feelings for Kris Starr, rock and roll icon and now his client ... and a powerful empath.

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Summary: For three years, Jeth and Kodie and their soldiers have guarded a hostile mountain pass against the invading Dathians in a war that has waged for decades. Jeth has the blood of giants running through his veins, and it has caused bigotry and death to dog his steps his entire life. After a childhood tragedy shatters his world, it takes the courage and loyalty of his best friend, Kodie, to protect him from himself. Jeth knows he’s a danger to everyone around him and joins the army to control and focus the black rage inherited from his bestial bloodline. Kodie follows his friend into the army, determined to stay close to the one he loves most. He has never revealed his deeper feelings for Jeth, and is ignorant of Jeth’s own feelings. Their bond is too precious for either of them to risk rejection. Yet they might have to take the chance when Kodie’s life is threatened, and their enemy forges an alliance with a giant clan. Jeth must call upon his darker heritage to brave the hostile environment to make an alliance of his own—with a giant clan that knows more about him than he does himself.

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Summary: Prince Edmund of Thalassa and Prince Arden of Aither are eagerly anticipating their upcoming wedding, but the danger to their kingdom hasn’t lessened. They have a plan, but they won’t be able to carry it out alone: they need a strong wielder of each Element, whom they can trust implicitly, to carry out the magic. Rhys is a commoner and wielder of Earth magic. He and his sister have made a living from the use of their magic for years and have become highly respected in scholarly circles, though he prefers a more simple life with his plants. When a message from Prince Arden reaches them asking for their help, they don’t hesitate. They stop only to request that Gaz, a strong Fire wielder and the man Rhys has long been enamored of, accompany them on the journey to Thalassa’s royal palace. What no one knows is that Gaz was once known as Prince Gareth of Thalassa and is Edmund’s younger brother, long believed dead. He fled his home after his Fire Affinity made itself known and put him in danger, and he had no intention of ever going back. But he can’t keep himself from going to his brother’s aid, despite the risk of discovery and of the weight of his secrets potentially crushing his fledgling relationship with Rhys. Working against time, they must find a way to come together in a magical working the likes of which none of them has ever imagined, or their homelands will surely burn.

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Summary: I sat up and focused on now, where magic was undoubtedly happening. Rowena must battle both past and present to achieve the future she craves. A WAYWARD WIND is the final volume in TALES OF ARDONNA: WOODSPELL SERIES, a fairy tale for adults.

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Summary: Time travel. For mages, it violates their number one rule: what the Mother has written, let no one unwrite. The Mother writes the destinies of the creatures on the world of Karishian. If her writings were undone, it is feared that Creation itself could be undone. The dark mage Morgorth takes this rule to heart, but there are others who do not. Morgorth is about to claim a stone of power when it is stolen from him by a female mage he hasn't seen in decades. As they struggle for the stone, she activates it, and Morgorth is unwillingly plunged into another time and another place. It isn't long before he realizes what time he's found himself in and there are a few familiar faces. Most notable is a much younger version of Aishe. His mate. Living with a tribe who will be massacred, caring for a young lad who will become his mate, and fighting a battle against a mage who can travel from past to future at a whim—Morgorth's life has never been easy but now he must contend with the will of the Mother. Unable to change the future and the tragedies of Aishe's life, he must decide what his role in his mate's past will be, and ask himself one vital question: how does one defeat time?

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Summary: Every story has more than one point of view. As the mate to the dark mage Morgorth, Aishe has learned a lot about magick, love, and himself. He tries to find a home with Morgorth, to be accepted into his world; to survive in a world full of magick, treachery, and deception. But all the while he struggles to keep a secret about his past and their intertwined destinies. Despite all the obstacles thrown at both of them, Aishe is determined to stay by Morgorth’s side, no matter what the future brings—even if that future turns dark with death should Morgorth embrace his grim destiny. But when Morgorth leaves with his mentor to collect another stone of power, Aishe is left behind. It is then a surprise attack comes and Aishe, determined to protect and defend his new home, decides to take the invaders on by himself. It might prove too much for him to handle...especially when he learns the one who leads the invaders is a mage. This book allows us a glimpse inside the mind of Lord Morgorth’s better half, a dialen named Aishe: his motivations, his personal sorrows, and his struggle to find a place to call home.

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Summary: A child’s memory. A journey’s end. Lance doesn’t remember the time before Ulfr found him. It’s a dark pit in his mind that he avoids at all costs. And yet, despite his best efforts, pieces start to fall, and echoes from the past begin to ring. However, he has little time to comprehend their meaning, since the Captain of the Imperial Army herself has come to collect him and bring him to the capital city of the Nifdem Empire. Whisked away to the gilded streets and glittering court of the Hill of Tarran, and then to the snowy reaches of Swenen, Lance and Gust will learn the answers to questions they’ve had from the start. And be forced to acknowledge their roles in the survival of the empire and the ripple effects of their actions. But such knowledge can come at a steep price. As allies and enemies begin to step from the shadows, Lance will learn the truth of his past and the price of his redemption, and all the pain that comes with them. While Gust will have to decide what he’s willing to sacrifice to safeguard the one he loves.

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Summary: When a change in collective conscious sends the Outsiders, a group of aliens, to the shadows below the city, humans reason that the demonization of their peers is simply more “humane.” There’s no question, nor doubt. Just acceptance. Lydia had embraced that sense of “truth” for as long as she can remember. The daughter of a powerful governor, she has been able to live her life with more comforts than most. Comforts can be suffocating, though, and when the opportunity to teach Outsider children in their private, “humane” community becomes available, she takes it. What she finds beneath the city is far from the truth she had grown to know. There she meets Alessia, an Outsider with the knowledge and will to shake the foundation of all those who walk above ground. The two find a new and unexpected connection despite a complete disconnect from the technological world. Or perhaps in spite of it. Still, it takes a lot more than an immutable connection to change the world. Lydia, Alessia, and a small group of Outsiders must navigate a system of corruption, falsehoods, and twists none of them ever saw coming, all while holding on to the hope to come out alive in the end. But it’s a risk worth taking, and a future worth fighting for.

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Summary: Enter The Game is where it all begins for Justin. As the teenage son of an International Special Forces agent, Justin has seen the dangers in the world first hand. He's been to more high schools than he can count and can't talk to a girl to save his life. But now, when his dad is left for dead by the powers who employ him Justin must somehow find the courage to locate and rescue him by himself. To do it, he will have to infiltrate the Deceivers - the most covert and deadly Black Ops organization in the world. Based on the popular comic book Black Tide. The fascinating story combines science, history, technology, myth, metaphysics and tales of Atlantis with some of the same issues we face in our world today. Unlike the comic book, this novel is set in Justin’s formative teen years. Justin is an old soul and he is haunted by nightmares from what he thinks might be his previous life. If it was, can he forgive himself? How does a soldier go on after violence?

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Summary: A spy lurking in the shadows, a nation on the verge of an invasion, a man desperate to protect his home. Lucian is the Blade of Castrial, the kingdom's spymaster and first line of defence, lauded for his success in repelling an invasion from Garaner. But the war has left Castrial's economy in shambles, and when the neighbouring kingdom of Sarian musters their armies and sends spies into Castrial, Lucian realises two things: they have a spy in their midst, and they can't afford the cost of fighting off another invasion. And if that wasn't trouble enough, there is Alaric, the Shield of Castrial and the only man in the Echelon whose power is equal to Lucian's. Returned from banishment like the vengeful spirit of their long-lost relationship, Alaric carries a deep-set grudge against Lucian, a grudge that may well be justified. Lucian’s desire to protect his nation is nearly equal to his wish to reconcile with Alaric, but if he cannot get his act together and convince the Shield to work with him, Castrial will fall. Blade Broken is a queer, sword-and-sorcery fantasy and the first book in The Echelon Series. If you love flawed characters, betrayals and redemption, and gritty worldbuilding with lots of political machinations, you will love this book.

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Summary: U.S. Marshal James Creed has known loss, starting from the untimely death of his wife and daughter in a sudden fire. His work, chasing down and arresting outlaws across the Wild West, is all he has left to live for. Then one day, in 1876, the infamous killer Corwin Blake catches Creed by surprise and guns him down. Creed awakes after a mysterious young woman resurrects him in a basement laboratory beneath a brothel. Half alive, Creed feels torn between his need for justice and his desire to fall back into the peace of death. Creed's instincts drive him to protect the city of Santa Cruz, California, from the outlaws it harbors while searching for Blake. He uncovers a secret criminal organization, likely protecting Blake, determined to use resurrection technology for its own ends. The former marshal, now faster, stronger, and a more deadly shot than ever before, must work with a brothel madam, a bounty hunter, and the remaining marshals to uncover the criminal syndicate before they can misuse the machines of rebirth and create more mindless zombies. Meanwhile, he must also stop Blake, before the outlaw kills the only people he cares about. His own death can wait.

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Summary: Brute leads a lonely life in a world where magic is commonplace. He is seven and a half feet of ugly, and of disreputable descent. No one, including Brute, expects him to be more than a laborer. But heroes come in all shapes and sizes, and when he is maimed while rescuing a prince, Brute’s life changes abruptly. He is summoned to serve at the palace in Tellomer as a guard for a single prisoner. It sounds easy but turns out to be the challenge of his life. Rumors say the prisoner, Gray Leynham, is a witch and a traitor. What is certain is that he has spent years in misery: blind, chained, and rendered nearly mute by an extreme stutter. And he dreams of people’s deaths—dreams that come true. As Brute becomes accustomed to palace life and gets to know Gray, he discovers his own worth, first as a friend and a man and then as a lover. But Brute also learns heroes sometimes face difficult choices and that doing what is right can bring danger of its own.

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Summary: RELEASING IN AUDIOBOOK FORMAT APRIL 26TH, 2021 Colton is a trans man living in a climate-changed world. He plies the canals that used to be city streets, earning a living taking tourists on illicit journeys through San Francisco's flooded edges beneath the imposing bulk of the Wall. Tris is an elf who comes through the veil to the City by the Bay - the Caille - on a coming of age pilgrimage called the Cailleadhama. He is searching for his brother Laris, who went missing after crossing through the Caille years before. The two men find they have common cause, and together they set off to find Laris in a world transformed by the twin forces of greed and climate change. And in the end, they find out more than they ever expected, both about the warming world and their own selves. Note: This story was originally published in the "Myths Untold: Faery" anthology from Wilde City Press. It is presented here in its original form.

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Summary: Fifteen years ago, the Cyborg uprising fractured the Jovian Empire beyond repair when their freedom fighter leader detonated a devastating biological bomb on Callisto. Now, a chance encounter with a dying human while escaping the decrepit Io Station will force Veracity Veran to question everything believes in – if her human saviour doesn’t kill her first. A tale from the Jovian Empire.

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Summary: Lord Morgorth is haunted by dreams of his father. Though Morgorth killed him, his father's presence and brutality won't completely die. But now he has more to worry about—in the form of the Council of Mages' inquiry into the duel between Morgorth and an elder of the council. Morgorth expects sabotage and prepares accordingly. He fears for Aishe's life, knowing that the best way to sabotage the inquiry is to eliminate the witnesses. He sets into motion a desperate plan that, though it will protect Aishe, could put a strain on their relationship not easily removed. Yet the true danger lurks unseen, and it will take all of Morgorth's skill, strength, and devotion to Aishe, to save his mate from the hold of a foe Morgorth has yet to tangle with: a dream demon. Now Morgorth must throw aside caution, restraint, and fear if he is to save the one most dear to him. He must call upon the power of the one thing he hates more than even his father: a stone of power. But even if he manages to save Aishe, his mate's experiences in Dreamworld—at the mercy of the dream demon—have changed him forever and could shatter their bond irrevocably.

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Summary: It's not easy being the child of legends When her brother goes missing, the first hint of a larger plot against her famous family, Beau must find her inner hero--if she & her friends can avoid getting killed first. CHASING SUNSET is a stand-alone sequel to the WOODSPELL SERIES and one of the TALES OF ARDONNA.

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Summary: After a job gone wrong, Special Agent Olgo is trapped within the bowels of Mars with no means of escape. The device that imprisons the trauma within them is about to fail, and the past terrors kept hidden by it must be contained for Olgo’s sanity and everyone's safety. From the darkness comes a tiny voice, and a tinier hope: "Hello?" *** The first book in the ‘Cold Rush' Verse follows Agent Olgo as their corporate masters give them what could be their big break: a mission to Mars. But trying to change the working conditions in the planet's underground cities proves more challenging than the agent could have imagined. When a wearable device Olgo uses to block emotions begins to fail, an unlikely friendship changes everything as Olgo struggles to prevent spilling more blood on the Red Planet.

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Summary: Can a Warlord and a Prince find love when the galaxy is on the brink of war? Chief Warlord Sohm'lan has a job he loves protecting the family who claims him as one of their own. He has known the loss of a mate and believed he would walk alone for the rest of his life… that is until Prince Mestor demanded more from him than duty. Unable to fathom why Mestor would want a widowed older warrior, Sohm'lan maintains his distance believing Mestor will eventually choose an amor closer in age and experience, even though the thought causes him more pain than it should. Prince Mestor is tired of pretending and his patience is eroding. He needs Sohm'lan to see past their respective ranks and duties to who Mestor is underneath it all. Worried Sohm'lan will be lost to him if he pushes too hard, Mestor and Sohm'lan are caught in a dance of denied desires and tangled obligations. Warlord Sohm'lan and Prince Mestor struggle to find a way to their heart's desire against the backdrop of galactic conspiracies, the dangerous mission escorting the Fal'Amoric royals, and discoveries within the Vondorian family that threaten to tear apart everything they hold dear. The two of them must stand together to fight the coming battle whatever the consequences. *Note: Constant is 250,000 words and is the third book in the series that must be read in order.