fantasy – romance

Word Count: Click here to reveal87200 (Click here to hide)

Summary: What do you do when you finally prove the existence of the otherworld, but the ghosts kick your ass? For Trent Pielmeyer, the answer is run like hell—away from his hostile family, away from the disbelieving cops, and far, far, far away from anything that smacks of the supernatural. After seven years’ captivity in a whacked-out alternate dimension, he is so over legend tripping. When Christophe Clavret spots Trent in a Portland bar, he detects a kindred spirit—another man attempting to outrun the darkness of his own soul. But despite their sizzling chemistry, Trent’s hatred of the uncanny makes Christophe hesitant to confide the truth: he’s a werewolf, one of a dwindling line, the victim of a genetic curse extending back to feudal Europe. But dark forces are at work, threatening more than their growing love. If Christophe can’t win Trent’s trust, and if Trent can’t overcome his fear of the paranormal, the cost could be Trent’s freedom and Christophe’s humanity. Or it might be both their lives.

Word Count: Click here to reveal2500 (Click here to hide)

Summary: Long has spent months recovering from an encounter with dragonsbane. When Nia recalls him to her service, they try to return to the life they knew. But the dragonsbane has permanently weakened Long. Can he find a way to serve his lady, or does Nia's life have no place for her broken dragon?

Word Count: Information not available

Summary: There’s just nothing sexier than a man who loves kids and knows how to show it. Everyone knows that’s a man who can be trusted with your heart. And, as they grew older and hotter (and so do we), it’s equally sexy to see a man treat his teenaged or young adult offspring with love and respect. So curl up in your favorite chair and read these radically different tales of fathers we love from new dads to old dads, gay dads, vampire dads and even some dad ménage! With stories by Guy New York, Trinity Blacio, Ryan Field, Jon Jockel, John Michael Curlovitch, Stacy Brown, Stephen B. Pearl and Misha Martin.

Word Count: Click here to reveal68000 (Click here to hide)

Summary: What price would you pay to rescue a friend from hell? For Logan Conner, the answer is almost anything. Guilt-ridden over trapping his college roommate in a ghost war rooted in Portland’s pioneer past, Logan has spent years searching for a solution. Then his new boyfriend, folklorist Riley Morrel, inadvertently gives him the key. Determined to pay his debt—and keep Riley safe—Logan abandons Riley and returns to Portland, prepared to give up his freedom and his future to make things right. Crushed by Logan’s betrayal, Riley drops out of school and takes a job on a lackluster paranormal investigation show. When the crew arrives in Portland to film an episode about a local legend of feuding ghosts, he stumbles across Logan working at a local bar, and learns the truth about Logan’s plan. Their destinies once more intertwined, the two men attempt to reforge their relationship while dodging a narcissistic TV personality, a craven ex-ghost, and a curmudgeonly bar owner with a hidden agenda. But Logan’s date with destiny is looming, and his life might not be the only one at stake.

Word Count: Click here to reveal69478 (Click here to hide)

Summary: The staff at AURA has had a busy summer. Between chronic understaffing, dealing with warring goblin factions and an unusual number of hazardous Events, everyone is overworked. Sinistrus the incubus, newly hired as an AURA medic, actually enjoys his busy new life of responsible employee and faithful lover to his gorgeous police sergeant, Ness the centaur. Life would be perfect, except for a niggling suspicion about a colleague. Everyone else seems to disagree, but Sin’s certain something’s not right with that pixie. Kellen, a pixie crossover, loves his job working in AURA medical, even if he is something of an outsider. His job and the friends he manages to make are happy spots in an otherwise dark and secretive life. As the rest of AURA tries to discover the root of the inexplicable rise in violence and large-scale Events, Kellen fights to preserve his own life and what dignity he has left. These two unlikely heroes must put their differences aside and navigate tragedy and ever-escalating disaster together in order to stop the sinister forces that hold Kellen in thrall.

Word Count: Click here to reveal125662 (Click here to hide)

Summary: When humans forsake the temples, the gods need to find other employment. Hades opens Brandywine Investigations after his divorce and his subsequent move to the modern world. If he was hoping for boring infidelity cases and lost dogs, he’s sorely mistaken as murder and mayhem find his agency and his extended family at an astonishing rate. Includes: Canines, Crosshairs & Corpses: Brandywine Investigations #1 No Enemy But Time: Brandywine Investigations #2 Dragons, Diamonds & Discord: Brandywine Investigations #3

Word Count: Click here to reveal80,350 (Click here to hide)

Summary: The sun and moon have been devoured by the cosmic wolves Skoll and Hati. Fimbulwinter has enveloped the world in the cold and darkness. Men prey on each other in order to survive. Amid the chaos, in the struggle for the throne, comes a war between brothers. Hakon, the illegitimate heir to the throne of Norveig, has obtained a horn that can summon a terror from the depths of the ocean. This monstrosity has been sinking the vessels of his half-brother, Jarl Erik Bloodaxe. Erik sends a company of untried heroes to infiltrate Hakon’s stronghold and steal the horn. As with all things political, there are other agendas. Fjorn, the leader of the team, is Erik’s half-brother who could challenge Erik for the throne. Erik's wife Gunnhild is a powerful sorceress with her own ambitions- could her goals derail the heroes? In life, sometimes a Jarl wins, and other times a Jarl wins.

Word Count: Click here to reveal98263 (Click here to hide)

Summary: Quinn and Valerian have come through the trials of facing an undead lich queen and the perils of falling in love. Now they work to restore AURA to its previous strength and efficiency while navigating their new life with each other. Fortunately, they’re not in this alone. Kai Hiltas has taken over as the head of the research department at AURA and has become everyone’s favourite workaholic, everyone except his lover Tenzin, who has had enough of his late nights and broken promises. As Kai tries to salvage his relationship, he finds a teacher for Quinn, who also happens to be one of Valerian’s new officers, Flax Wolfheart, a sexy elf with trouble written all over him. Flax has motives beyond simply teaching Quinn to control his magic. He’s trying to recover from his own losses and failures, but he has a plan. The two newest elvish crossovers, Ash and Sage, are sizzling hot and might even like him. With them as backup as he tracks a deadly stone mage and figures out how to teach Quinn, Flax sees his chance to impress Val and snag a place by his captain’s side. On the hunt for both danger and redemption, Flax’s pursuit leads him ultimately down trails he never expected.

Word Count: Click here to reveal166000 (Click here to hide)

Summary: Antuniet Chazillen lost everything the night her brother was executed. In exile, she swore that treason would not be the final chapter of the Chazillen legacy in Alpennia’s history. A long- hidden book of alchemical secrets provides the first hope of success, but her return to the capital is haunted by an enemy who wants those secrets for himself. Jeanne, Vicomtesse de Cherdillac is bored. The Rotenek season is flat, her latest lover has grown tediously jealous and her usual crowd of friends fails to amuse. When Antuniet turns up on her doorstep seeking patronage for her alchemy experiments, what begins as amusement turns to interest, then something deeper. But Antuniet’s work draws danger that threatens even the crown of Alpennia. The alchemy of precious gems throws two women into a crucible of adversity, but it is the alchemy of the human heart that transforms them both in this breathtaking follow-up to the widely acclaimed Daughter of Mystery.

Word Count: Information not available

Summary: Love defies time, crosses the infinite distance of space, and sparks formidable magics in the hearts of those it touches. And immortality? Yeah, it’s got that covered, too. In this powerful volume, Pop Seagull Publishing presents twelve science fiction and fantasy short stories on the theme of love and its role as a force of nature. Follow an ambitious 1930’s journalist and her high-society boyfriend as they defend the world from evil beings that hide in shadows. Can love prevail when science fails? Take a wild ride with Zephraim Cochrane as he searches for his long lost love through inter-dimensional travel. After all, the best inventions are always made to get dates. Embark on a whirlwind romance with a creature of the Fey in seven days, a beautiful story of friendship and finding self-love before all else. Descend into a very Torontonian sort of hell in search of lost love in Melanie in the underworld... just don’t forget to pet the corgi. You’ll find these adventures, and many more, inside.

Word Count: Click here to reveal77241 (Click here to hide)

Summary: After a terrible magical accident at Berkeley created unpredictable holes between realities, all manner of non-human creatures started popping into our world. These displacements, called Random Anomalous Reality Events or RARE, have taken magic out of fiction and relocated it firmly in reality, resulting in a great deal of chaos and confusion. Displaced elf Valerian works with AURA, the Agency of Unnatural Resettlement and Assimilation, to intercept these beings as they appear in the human world, helping the peaceful ones and subduing the violent, malevolent ones. It’s good, satisfying work, and Val would be happy if he wasn’t so lonely. Quinten is a young mage just trying to get by, but New York isn’t the easiest city to make a living in. If his methods are sometimes morally dubious, his heart is still in the right place. Of course, for Quinn, the right place means firmly locked away, protected at all costs. Living by his wits and sometimes magically induced luck, he works as a ‘freelance magic user’, or unregistered mage and small-time con, according to the authorities. The last thing Quinn wants is to draw the cops’ attention, but when an Event happens right on top of him, he’s forced to turn to AURA for help. Valerian isn’t at all what he’d expected in an AURA cop, and he certainly wasn’t expecting to join forces with the sexy elf, a snarky drow and a bitter incubus, when certain individuals in power try to stop the RARE by any means necessary. Things are not all what they seem at AURA headquarters, and a greater evil lurks at the top than anyone could have imagined.

Word Count: Click here to reveal32000 (Click here to hide)

Summary: 11 stories of power exchange, love, and magic, including: Fealty Beloved, The baron, my husband, is dead. I am fighting to secure these lands and title in my own right as his widow. If you still feel as you once did, come to me now. I have need of you and your sword both. With all my love, Myrtle, Baroness Fireridge Eryk folded up the well-worn letter and tucked it away in his jerkin. Six months ago Baron Balmont of Cliffside had invited him to swear fealty and become one of Balmont's knights. For the bastard son of the hated Black Baron, the chance to belong was a dream come true. He accepted the lord's invitation without a moment's thought. Three weeks later, Myrtle's letter reached him. Three weeks… ~~~~ I Vant to Suck... Marcus woke unexpectedly, groggy and disoriented. Before he opened his eyes, he knew he had woken early. Even buried in the basement, the sun's weight sapped his strength. Blinking, he strained to bring the world into focus. A huge man with ebony skin stood over him, holding a stake to his chest. So, the ancient vampire mused, there were still things in the world he hadn't seen. The man met Marcus' eyes and froze. Marcus would have laughed if he could. "Go on, hunter." Speaking against the weight of the mid-day sun was like rolling boulders uphill, but then, nothing came easy. "I couldn't stop you if I wanted to. And I am not sure I do." For a long moment, the hunter stared at him. The sun won, sending Marcus back into darkness. ~~~~ A Hole in the Pack The pack gathered at the end of a successful hunt. Flopping down to rest in a clearing, their bellies matched the curve of the full moon overhead. It had been a good hunt, a good night, a good month. They should have been relaxed and playful until the sun sent them on their way. But they weren't. One of their number was missing. The hole in the pack was an ache that pulled at them. Instinctively they left a space where he should be. At the kill, those below him in rank milled about uncertainly when it should have been his turn to eat. Those near him in rank snarled and snapped, seeking to establish precedence around the hole his absence left. He was one of them, but not one of them, and the pack was broken. Sitting apart from the others, the pack leaders surveyed the world, ever alert for possible threat. But the greatest threat came from within. A glance, a flick of an ear, and a decision was made. It was time.

Word Count: Information not available

Summary: Here you’ll find tales of the supernatural, betrayal and murder; the mistakes that lead to the fall of empires and the constant tug of war that haunts mankind. There’s a blend of science fiction, fantasy and horror - from a modern day detective facing a serial killer to a future utopia filled with disloyalty. Lovers of romance will find a little something for them too, but within these bright sparks of hope shades of darkness lurk.

Word Count: Information not available

Summary: My kid, Romy, says I'm old and she's worried about me. What's to worry about... aside from Jordan, my ex? Really, she didn't have to come all the way home to check on me. It's all good—especially Nova, the girl at the drive-up coffee shop. I keep to my work and surfing the local breaks to keep her out of my head... But it doesn't work. Her perfect skin and brilliant hair crash through my mind and draw me to her—like a super-moon tide. There's something about her... Bodie Catalan knows second chances don't just happen after a hard life, wracked by mistakes. Every now and again, however, the universe throws down a wildcard. Drive-Up is a fabulist, sentimental, 21st century tale. It rides the beach breaks along the shores of several genres and connects the wildcard thrown to entangled, beach-bound lives and the inexorable tidal change that moves all that cross it. Dive into this tale and see what's been served at the Drive-Up.

Word Count: Click here to reveal138000 (Click here to hide)

Summary: Margerit Sovitre did not expect to inherit Baron Saveze's fortunes—even less his bodyguard, a ruthlessly efficient swordswoman known only as Barbara. Wealth suddenly makes Margerit a highly eligible heiress and buys her the enmity of the new Baron. He had expected to inherit all, and now eyes her fortune with open envy. Barbara proudly served as the old Baron's duelist, but she had expected his death to make her a free woman. Bitterness turns to determination when she finds herself the only force that stands between Margerit and the new Baron's greed. At first Margerit protests the need for Barbara's services, but soon she cannot imagine sending Barbara away. And Barbara's duty has become something far more hazardous to her heart than the point of a sword. But greater dangers loom than one man's hatred—the Prince of Alpennia is ill. Deadly intrigue surrounds the succession and the rituals of divine power known as The Mysteries of the Saints.

Word Count: Click here to reveal113,100 (Click here to hide)

Summary: Markus a wizard from a parallel Earth travels to our world in a bid to stop a blight that is destroying his own. Here he meets Alcina, a Wiccan Priestess, who is in a custody battle over her son, Tim, against Carl, the boy’s sire, who abandoned her when she was pregnant eight years before. Carl has the backing of a dangerous religious cult in his bid to take Tim. Together Markus and Alcina face the forces of intolerance and hate to save a child and a world and thaw two warm harts too long trapped in the ice of betrayal. Meanwhile, Markus’ best friend and his ex-fiancée, who is now a vampire, battle the authorities who are likely to hang Markus upon his return because he has done research into forbidden magics.

Word Count: Click here to reveal7718 (Click here to hide)

Summary: Michael Sarver hates Valentine's Day. Between the flowers, the tacky decorations and his sleazy boss, he's certain he's about to experience the worst costumed office party in history. But Cupid's minions and a certain Hawaiian god have other ideas. Let the mayhem begin.

Word Count: Click here to reveal92459 (Click here to hide)

Summary: Ben and Alysia, sole mates, cursed to be separated by age and social norms until they live a life and raise a child together in love, struggle to defeat the curse. Meanwhile, the originator of the curse, Dorry, hounds them from life to life in a selfish and self- destructive vendetta. Follow these souls through Albert, Bernidine and Darius, nobles in fifteen hundreds France when the curse begins. To Abigail and Bernia Sapphic lovers in the year 1774 who are hounded by Donald, a false pretender to Abigail’s Estates. Later still in the Colorado Territories of the American west shortly after the civil war Ada and Bailey, a young emancipated slave and a radical Doctor from the North, struggle to love against the bias of their time and the plots of Deigo. Then in our current times, the lovers strive to break the curse and let love triumph. But is love enough when the world is against you?

Word Count: Information not available

Summary: Master of his destiny, terror of the Caribbean, the pirate known as the Black Angel is also elegant, charming, and seductive. En route to Jamaica to bring her brother news of their father's death, Lady Rosalind Hanshaw is captured by the Black Angel, a legendary French pirate who targets English shipping. TOrn between her loyalty to her homeland and her growing attraction to the one man she should hate above all others, Rosalind must decide whether the Black Angel is nothing more than a despicable pirate or if he holds the key to both her heart and her future.

Word Count: Information not available

Summary: Eclectic, imaginative, and unexpected, Community of Magic Pens features forty genre-spanning flash and short stories--including fantasy, humor, science fiction, romance, historical fiction, satire, and mystery--bringing together a rich group of diverse voices from a wide range of backgrounds and intersections. Fountain pens, markers and ink, charcoals, spy pens, a braille writer, a printing press, virtual reality, and a supernatural pizza: whether revealing unspoken truths, fighting injustice, or finding friendship and love, our pens have power. Join us as a recent graduate of superhero school struggles to understand her gift, a disabled android interviews for a job, a queen’s conscripted artist must pull reality from illustrations on parchment, and a grandmother’s secret room is…better kept a secret. Tales of struggle and triumph, compassion and hope: Community of Magic Pens is a celebration of our shared story.