fantasy – urban and magical beings

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Summary: Never look a mannequin in the eyes! Edi has collected antiques and ghost stories for as long as they can remember. Some old objects buzz with history, and when Edi touches them, they see fragments of the item's story. But are the visions real? Edi desperately wants to believe in the supernatural until a mysterious ghost transforms their mom into a mannequin. Helped by Delilah, a thirteen-year-old psychic, Edi researches local hauntings to untangle how and why their mom became a mannequin. When Edi finally employs their ability to see an artifact’s history, they learn the terrifying truth. The ghost that turned Edi’s mom into a mannequin wants to resurrect herself, and she doesn’t care how many people she murders in the process. If Edi doesn’t put her spirit to rest by the end of the summer solstice, dozens of people will be forever mannequinized, including Edi and Delilah’s moms. Find out what happens in Junk Junction by Sara Codair!

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Summary: Alan I haven't been out with a guy in the last two years. Partly because I'm a gay elementary-school teacher in a fairly small, conservative town. Partly because I'm a sorcerer, and dating ordinary humans only leads to trouble. Sleeping with one though? That's doable, so when my birdbrained familiar Sunny lines up a tall, muscular firefighter for me, I'm not going to say no. Just once, though. Maybe twice. I don't need more trouble in my life. Jason I don't regret moving back to my hometown and my big family. Well, not much. I'm not out to them, and I miss the anonymity of the big city, but I like the local fire house and the slower-paced life. Still, when I see my niece's teacher, Mr. Hiranchai, in gray sweatpants talking to a mini-parrot on his shoulder, something inside me (or maybe something in front of me) perks up and says "I want that one." I can't have an actual boyfriend, but I sure wouldn't mind getting laid, and Alan's slim, dark-haired, smart-assed style rings all my bells. It's no surprise we turn out to be great together, even if my job and his responsibilities make it hard to find time. It is a surprise when I realize I want more than just an occasional night. But some weird fires out in the brush keep us firefighters hopping, and when this strange carnival comes to town and lands me with a pair of magical doll shoes, life gets truly confusing. There's more to Alan than he's telling me, and I'm getting a bad, bad feeling about all this. Magic Burning is a story in the Necromancer universe, 60 years after Marked by Death, and is part of the multi-author Carnival of Mysteries Series. Each book stands alone, but each one includes at least one visit to Errante Ame’s Carnival of Mysteries, a magical, multiverse traveling show full of unusual acts, games, and rides. The Carnival changes to suit the world it’s on, so each visit is unique and special. This book contains a snarky, matchmaking bird, a lonely young teacher, and a gay firefighter finally coming out to his large family.

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Summary: Morgan D'Arcy is an English lord, a classical pianist…and a vampire. He has everything except what he desires most—Isabeau. When she was a child, he appeared to her as the Angel Gabriel, guiding her life and career choice, preparing her to become Lady D'Arcy. Many forces, including Vampyre law, oppose Morgan’s daring plan. If discovered, he faces death—and so does Isabeau. Isabeau Gervase, now a brilliant geneticist, no longer believes in angels. However, Gabriel made a mistake, leaving behind a lock of hair. She sees a Nobel Prize in his DNA. Her work has led to a startling conclusion. Gabriel isn't human, and she fully intends to identify the species she named the Angel Genome. Morgan is ready to claim his heart’s desire. Will he outsmart his enemies, protect his beloved and escape death himself? For the first time in eternity, the clock is ticking.

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Summary: A boy is in danger when he stumbles upon a crime committed by two prominent men of his town, but finds an unusual ally in the form of a castle ghost. Twelve-year-old Haycorn may know all about ghosts of Ohio, but even he is stunned when he and his friend Budge encounter a ghost in a castle. The boys witness a clandestine meeting there between two men involving a kick-back scheme, putting their lives, and that of Haycorn’s mother, in jeopardy. But the ghost may have other plans for all of them.

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Summary: We interrupt our regularly scheduled program to take a side trip down two branching paths. First, we’ll follow Matt and Xander as they take a surprise honeymoon to Hawaii in The Honeymooners. It’s not all private beaches and swimming with the fish, though. Truths from Xander’s past are revealed that give Matt new insight into his mate. Just as they get comfortable, the unforeseen appearance of a new enemy cuts their trip short. Next, we slide over to find out what some mischievous foxes have been doing behind the scenes since they arrived in France. Akira and Koji set their sights on a pair of twin hunky dragons in 2+2=Love. ​​​​​​​ It’s not easy being twin dragons when your other half has been in your head since conception. It’s certainly not easy finding love, but Halvar and Herleif have hope when a pair of foxes cyberstalk their way into their lives. Intermission contains two short stories that occur during the events at the end of First Strike and through Dragon's Hoard. While these stories do not fit into the overall story arc, some bits and pieces may find importance later on down the road. So take a break from the action and breathe in some light-hearted fun and romance. Dragon War Chronicles is a continuous series. It must be read in order.

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Summary: Trapped outside the world, unlikely hero Thaddeus Wright must partner with sexy Secret Agent Peter Pan to save a new generation of Lost Boys. THADDEUS WRIGHT would love to forget his childhood. A bi-racial bastard orphaned at four, he was the very definition of sin, according to the strict and disapproving grandparents who raised him. Twenty years later, Thad works with at-risk youth as both coach and counselor. Even after his grandparent’s spare-the-rod, spoil-the-child parenting, Thad just wants to help people. But when three young boys he coaches go missing, he’s the prime suspect. Especially when he goes missing himself! That’s when paranormal policing agency Borderless Observers Org. (B.O.O.) sends in recent recruit Peter Batique on his first solo mission. Peter had another name once, but he’s all grown up now and looking to prove himself an adult and a capable agent. However, after a hundred years as an unruly boy in Neverland, growing up holds some pretty unique challenges for Peter. Despite their differences, Thad and Peter must learn to work together to rescue a whole new generation of Lost Boys and take down the black market shadow dealer responsible. Can Thad learn he’s worthy of love? Can Peter finally grow up? Can the Lost Boys be found?

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Summary: Teens and their giant robots search for a new home for mankind, but the planet they discover belongs to the dragons. Two hundred years after the Climate Wars left Earth uninhabitable, Johari and his giant robot companion lead a squad of scouts on a quest for a new Goldilocks planet to settle the remnants of the human race. When one of the scouts and his bot go down in a hostile wilderness, Johari's fight to save them reveals complex behavior in the dragon-like dominant species. The scout team fragments as Johari strives to rescue his friends and discover the truth about the aliens. If he's right, mankind will lose its best hope for a home — or sacrifice its own humanity.

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Summary: A magical bookshop holds the keys. When Mason Chynoweth inherits an old house in small-town New Zealand, he hopes to discover what happened to his great-great uncle Lewis after he returned from the war in 1945. Mason’s first encounter with the property is thankfully reassuring—his sensitive psychic powers aren’t triggered and he has a calm sense of coming home. Elijah Whitaker arrives in Kedgetown for an extended visit with his aunts. He’s quickly drawn to Mason and offers to help him try to find some answers in the dusty old house. It soon becomes clear that Mason is keeping secrets, but Elijah has a few secrets of his own. Like his closely guarded knowledge of the hidden supernatural world, and the fact that many of the townspeople are psi and supernaturals. What is the connection between the house and Postscript, the town’s enigmatic bookshop? Mason’s glimpses of the past give some clues, but not enough to make sense of the puzzle. When a hidden journal comes to light, the true story of Lewis’s journey is revealed, and his path and Mason and Elijah’s begin to intertwine.

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Summary: Tales to warm your imagination during the cold winter months Featuring stories by Christina Ardizzone, Matt Bliss, Gustavo Bondoni, Micah Castle, Nestor Delfino, C. M. Fields, Andrew Giffin, Emma Kathryn, Michelle Ann King, Jason Lairamore, Eve Morton, Lena Ng, S. Park, Arlo Sharp, Mar Vincent, and Richard Zwicker

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Summary: Free bird? Don't make me laugh. Mom tossed me out of the nest with five dollars and the clothes on my back. Why? I visited my snitch brother in Danvers Sanitarium. Pariah or not, I refuse to abandon my favorite sibling. Did I forget to mention mom made me homeless on the night before my first day of high school? The principal took pity, but she stuck me in the boarding house with a nosy roommate. I refuse to flunk out of high school like the rest of my family. Breaking the cycle is a tall order. Three of my classmates decide to grief me because of my shady family. The others are part of an exclusive and mysterious clique. My only friend is Ed, a scrawny medium I rescued from a gang of psychic bullies. At least he doesn’t mind my obsession with ghosts. How will I get through the first month at this rowdy school, let alone three whole years?

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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: Armand Tarkanian is trapped in the ultimate dead-end job: embalming decedents under his abusive uncle’s watchful eye. Every day he goes through the motions, making death look beautiful while his life is anything but. A car accident leaves him indebted to Berj, a mysterious man with rune-carved gold teeth and a penchant for worshipping old gods. Blackmailed and desperate, Armand feels more trapped than he was under his uncle’s thumb. But the embalmer harbors his own dark secret, a bloodline curse that allows him to communicate with the dead. When the spirits show him how they were murdered, Armand must choose between fealty to the sadistic and manipulative Berj, or joining the Legion of the Lamb, a monster-hunting biker gang with their own agenda. What began as a dangerous game between secret societies has led Armand on a frightening quest to save the only family he’s ever known and a chance to get closer to the rebellious misfits who saved him.

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Summary: Book 2 in the Hammer Falls Series (should be read in order) Ever since Jin met his demon father, Ashmedai, and noticed how similar they are, he's been plagued by the idea he's bad. He can see it in the deceiving effects of his lust-demon eyes, the friendship he ruined with best friend Sam, and in the many, horribly obvious differences between himself and his noble part-angel boyfriend Nate. And now, even his fledgeling 'good' magic seems to have vanished - smothered and replaced by something with sinister, evil-feeling intentions... As animals turn up mutilated in the woods and Ashmedai's plans to avenge his banishment become clearer, Nate leaves for a place at the oppressive Seminary and Jin begins to spiral - doubting Nate, doubting himself, fighting his own impulses about love, sex, good and evil. But nothing is what he thinks: not the Seminary, not his magic, and certainly not Ashmedai's plans. Can Jin overcome his fears about what being 'good' enough means in time to save not just himself but all the other people implicated, before his father's schemes bear their terrible fruit? Sons of Heaven and Hell contains a prickly, velvet-loving half-demon, hot demon hunters, werebears, angst, messy love and explicit MM sex and steamy MMM polyamory scenes not suitable for younger readers.

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Summary: Wyatt Calder is trapped -- in a rundown neighborhood, in a dead-end job, by the endless string of trouble his brother drags to their door -- and it seems he’s destined to slowly fade away within the aging walls of Picket House, longing for his best friend's cousin. That is until his upstairs neighbor Abel Walters dies on the staircase just outside Wyatt’s door. Saalik has spent most of his existence asleep and waiting for the next person to discover his bottle and claim their wishes. And the last four years playing prized possession to Abel Walters and spying on the downstairs neighbors. But he has a plan. And, like every plan worth planning, it has taken patience. But if life as a Jinn has taught Saalik nothing else, it’s taught him that. When a break-in sends Wyatt out his second-story bedroom window and into his dead upstairs neighbor’s apartment, he finds more than a place to hide. He discovers a magical solution to all his troubles. Or does he? Because really, when is life ever that simple?

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Summary: Alex Philothea thought life would be less complicated now that she was no longer the interim director of KHNM. She was wrong. The Keepers of the Holy and Noble Maat (KHNM) shield the mortal realm from the lethal chaos of the ancient Egyptian Gods. Under a crushing eviction deadline of midnight, the agency is being driven from its headquarters by ongoing litigation with the Gods. The agents of KHNM race against the clock to pack unstable supernatural artifacts they have guarded for centuries. With nowhere to go and only a menu of bad options to choose from, the agency shelves Alex’s plan to return a primordial book of magic to her ancestors in the lost oasis. If this due date isn’t met, the ancient water lore within will be lost forever—a deadly late fee humanity can’t afford to pay. As chaos swirls around her, an artifact stolen by a formidable immortal adversary sets Alex on a perilous quest. All the while whispers from the Gods calling for Alex’s death grow louder.

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Summary: For Evangeline “Evan” Miles, Honeycutt Academy is more than just a prestigious school of magic. It’s home. Before graduating, it was the first place they’d ever felt comfortable enough to be themself. Now, as a school librarian, it’s also where Evan might have finally found the promise of love - with Mimi, the bright and bubbly potions professor. But when Evan meets Hester, the half-sister they never knew they had, everything suddenly changes. Hester is being stalked by their murderous, vampiric father - an experience Evan remembers only too well. United, the two siblings agree that their days of running and hiding from their father are over - and it’s time to finally end his wretched existence. But to do so, they must turn to Svenja - a witch, a wolf-shifter, and the only creature they know powerful enough to take down their monstrous father. However, the paranormal private investigator is also Evan’s former lover - and as the hunt for their father draws them closer together, the flames of their romance begin to rekindle. Evan feels forced to choose between their chemistry with Svenja, and their commitment to Mimi - and that distracts them from a dangerous truth: That as Evan and Hester prepare to confront their centuries-old father, they’ve forgotten he’s also had decades to prepare for them. I Think of You Often is the first installment of the St. Acton series by Sienna Eggler - a small town sapphic PNR by an author praised for writing “engaging tales of emotions and struggles” and “sweet, realistic romance between two people figuring their way in life.”

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Summary: Doc thought treating grumpy house cats was challenging — until her latest patients torched everything she thought she knew. When Dr. Jordyn Blackstone stumbles upon an injured dragon, she can’t resist helping the creature. Before long, dragons from far and wide seek her expertise, and they’re not exactly the kind to sit still for shots. With dragons suddenly very real and no dragon-care textbook in sight, Doc can’t help but question her sanity while she develops dragon medicine on the fly. Amidst dodging horrid dragon breath and fiery sneezes, Doc discovers that the dragons trust her with not only their own lives, but the survival of their entire species. No pressure. Doc rises to the challenge, even though the work is tough, messy, and dangerous. But dealing with disgusting dragon snot is the least of her worries. To protect her extraordinary patients from being hunted to extinction, Doc must keep them secret — or risk not only their safety, but also her career, reputation, and clinic going up in smoke.

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Summary: The seas spell freedom. Pirates and kraken, boats and submarines, deadly sirens, mermaids, and the women who face them all. These are our heroes. High seas adventure, fantasy, and magic weave together in this sapphic anthology focusing on the joy of the unbounded oceans. If you like diverse stories with lesbian and sapphic heroines exploring oceans, battling sea monsters, and seducing pirates, buy Farther Reefs today! With stories by: Sarah Day and Tim Pratt, Kim Pritekel, Kyoko M. Sara Codair, William C. Tracy, N.L. Bates, Robin C.M. Duncan, Vanessa Ricci-Thode, Margaret Adelle, and J.S. Fields Genres: Science Fiction / Fantasy / Adventure / Lesbian / LGBT and Non Binary Market: Adult

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Summary: Michael likes to pretend. When he rescues a tiny elf in his parents' garden, however, a witch threatens to stop Michael from pretending. Can he believe in himself?

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Summary: Clarity (noun) Four definitions to inspire writers around the world and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell: 1) Coherent and intelligible 2) Transparent or pure 3) Attaining certainty about something 4) Easy to see or hear Clarity features 300-word speculative flash fiction stories from across the rainbow spectrum, from the minds of the writers of Queer Sci Fi.