American Short Fiction

Previously published as Deadly Secrets: Hidden Guilt by Madalena Melchior. SECRET GUILT London, 1905. Under the pretext of retrieving some books he has left behind at Number 221B, Sherlock Holmes temporarily trades his small farm upon the Downs, five miles from Eastbourne, and his beehives, for Baker Street. Before he has time to unpack his Gladstone, however, there's already a client at the door asking for his help with a case. So much for retirement...

Following in the successful footsteps of its predecessors, Around the Way Girls 6 features three popular authors presenting their versions of the tough, street-smart girls that everyone loves.

In this anthology, everybody is Black. Filled with epic battles, complicated families, soft kisses, and sharpened blades, Magic in the Melanin is an adult fantasy anthology that showcases Black authors who write magical stories of all kinds.

Sa’id is a man of power in the city of Atlanta and its surrounding counties. Staying low-key while ruling over majority of the region’s drug supply is the least of his concerns. With a family of nine—including himself—Sa’id has six children that he loves very much. As for his wives, Ubah and Yalina, he finds himself ineffably wanting something more that, due to their beliefs, they just can’t provide. After a night of dinner with his family, Sa’id feels the need to get out of the house as a means to cease his nagging verbal stream of consciousness. He hooks up with a trusted ...

In this nail biting sequel, we continue to run into more and more drama as everyone continues to un-wrap lie after lie and secret after secret in their lives. All Deon wants is peace and to live her life with her future husband to be Keven, but as always there are individuals that never want to see you happy. It seems that Deon just may get her peaceful ending; sometimes you should be careful of the words that come out your mouth. Keven is in a place in his life where he knows what and who he wants. Deon is the only one who holds his attention but we all know that God is truly the author of...

She saves lives but doubts her own worth—can his love show her the truth? Lieutenant Miranda "Randy" Keyes has devoted her life to saving others, but when it comes to her own heart, she’s convinced she’s beyond rescue. Haunted by loss and plagued by self-doubt, Randy hides behind the safety of her small-town life in Yuletide, determined to keep love at bay. Luke Logan, a star athlete with a shattered past, has returned to Yuletide searching for a fresh start for himself and his troubled teenage daughter. Yet, he never expected to find hope in the fiery yet compassionate firefighter ...

Shannon Sanders’s sparkling debut brings us into the company of the Collins family and their acquaintances as they meet, bicker, compete, celebrate, worry, keep and reveal secrets, build lives and careers, and endure. Moving from Atlantic City to New York to DC, from the 1960s to the 2000s, from law students to drag performers to violinists to matriarchs, Company tells a multifaceted, multigenerational saga in thirteen stories.

Side-splittingly funny, spine-chillingly spooky, this companion to a Newbery Honor - winning anthology The Dark Thirty is filled with bad characters who know exactly how to charm. From the author's note that takes us back to McKissack's own childhood when she would listen to stories told on her front porch...to the captivating introductions to each tale, in which the storyteller introduces himself and sets the stage for what follows...to the 10 entertaining tales themselves, here is a worthy successor to McKissack's The Dark Thirty.

Detrás de esta selección de cuentos y sátiras de H. Zumbado (La Habana, 1932-2016) se encuentra un criterio casi exclusivamente editorial, un criterio seguro, que deleitará a los lectores a través de lo divertido y lo profundo, dos términos que en el caso de Zumbado, siempre van de la mano. Sus admiradores de siempre, volverán a encontrarse con cuentos tan queridos como “Amor a primer añejo” o “Imagínate tú”, o con sátiras breves tan lúdicas y plenas de lucidez como “Chapucio”, “Ausencio” o “Festivaldo”.

Welcome back to Mill Ridge for a special holiday treat! A woman hiding her beauty - An ex-ranger hiding his flaws - Can these two misfits find the spirit of Christmas this holiday or will they run in the opposite direction? Erin Steel knows the people of Mill Ridge can't stand her and she's not complaining. As the former representative from the Teachers Association, she knows moving to Mill Ridge will enable her to live her life in solitude. Hiding her beauty is one thing, but when a man with an eye patch draws her out of her shell, she is determined to avoid him at all costs. Former Texas ...

In Look For Me and I’ll Be Gone, his sixth collection of stories, John Edgar Wideman imbues with energy and life the concerns that have consistently infused his fiction and nonfiction. How does it feel to grow up in America, a nation that - despite knowing better, despite its own laws, despite experiencing for hundreds of years the deadly perils and heartbreak of racial division - encourages (sometimes unwittingly, but often on purpose) its citizens to see themselves as colored or white, as inferior or superior.

Two Colombian expats meet as strangers on the rainy streets of New York City, both burdened with traumatic pasts. In Cuba, a woman discovers her deceased brother’s bones have been stolen, and the love of her life returns from Ecuador for a one-night visit. A cash-strapped couple hustles in Miami, to life-altering ends.

"Candy-Coated Words Have Led to Sleepless Nights": "Tiffany's marriage is built on a foundation of sweetly spun lies since the day they uttered 'I do.' Overwhelmed by sorrow yet paralyzed by fear, Tiffany witnesses her world unraveling. The truth she concealed has been uncovered, and her husband now holds the fragments of her deception. In the wake of one little white lie, Tiffany confronts the haunting question: Can the cost of that seemingly harmless untruth shatter everything she holds dear?"

I never thought I'd be the kind of guy to obsess over a woman, but then I saw her behind the candy shop counter. Her bright blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, and bubbly personality make everyone around her smile. I know she’s out of my league, but I can't help myself. So, I start watching her every move. I guess you could say I’m stalking her. But I can’t help it because Emily is my obsession, and somehow I’ve got to make her mine.

This second collecton of great American short stories includes titles by Mark Twain, O. Henry, and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Every state has an urban legend that evokes fear and curiosity in equal parts, and we've chronicled all of these logic-defying horrors here in the Haunted States of America anthology. From the Jersey Devil to La Llorona, each story included introduces a new chill inducing, stomach churning monster, specter, or poltergeist certain to keep you up at night. A broad ranging collection of authors, including seasoned veterans and some first timers making a fright-tastic debut, have all united to unearth the scariest lore from each state in the US, as well as D.C. and Puerto Rico.

These 13 stories by the author of The Invisible Man "approach the elegance of Chekhov" ( The Washington Post) and provide "early explorations of [Ellison's] lifelong fascination with the 'complex fate' and 'beautiful absurdity' of American identity" (John Callahan).

AN AFRICAN AMERICAN URBAN ROMANCE AND BESTSELLING SERIESAfter almost six years, Maceo and Chrissy King marriage could be over with. Maceo has completely ignore his vows. Especially the part, ‘forsaking all others.’ Cheating is his side hobby, and been faithful doesn’t exist. With Maceo being extremely sexy, arrogant, and successful, it takes a strong man to turn down some wet panties. Even though he loves his wife Chrissy, he keeps a sidepiece on standby. He can’t help himself. Maceo has a weakness for fine, freaky women. The King’s marriage looks perfect from the outside looking ...

Said Sayrafiezadeh has been hailed by Philip Gourevitch as “a masterful storyteller working from deep in the American grain”. His new collection of stories are set in a contemporary America full of the kind of emotionally bruised characters familiar to fans of Denis Johnson and George Saunders. These are people contending with internal struggles - a son’s fractured relationship with his father, the death of a mother, the loss of a job, drug addiction - even as they are battered by the larger, often invisible, economic and political forces of American society.

This debut collection is a complicated love letter to Washington, DC, and to those who call it home: a TSA agent who's never flown, a girl braving new worlds to play piano, and a teacher caught up in a mayoral race. These characters navigate life's "training school" - with lessons on gentrification and respectability - and fight to create their own sense of space and self.