American Short

All Valentina ‘Valley’ Diallo wanted for Valentine’s Day was to celebrate with the two men in her life. Javel Marley and Nico Galley have been together with Valley for years and had never missed a day, but this year, her two men were away on business. Find out if Valley will be spending Valentine’s Day alone or if her men will find their way back to her before the day ends.

In her debut collection of short stories, Islands of Decolonial Love, renowned writer and activist Leanne Simpson vividly explores the lives of contemporary Indigenous Peoples and communities, especially those of her own Nishnaabeg nation. Found on reserves, in cities and small towns, in bars and curling rinks, canoes and community centres, doctors offices and pickup trucks, Simpson's characters confront the often heartbreaking challenge of pairing the desire to live loving and observant lives with a constant struggle to simply survive....

A war hero on the run. A girl behind barbed wire. A love letter to hope in the darkest times. In 1944 California, Aiko Takeda writes letters to her childhood friend, Takeshi "Taki" Nakamura, a Nisei soldier serving with the famed 442nd Infantry Regiment in Europe. Through their letters, their bond deepens across oceans and gunfire. But when her letters suddenly stop, Taki fears the worst. Learning of the U.S. government's internment of Japanese Americans, Taki makes a life-altering decision: he deserts his unit and sets out on a perilous journey across continents and borders to find Aiko. ...

I am THAT wife. I am Suzy Homemaker. I don't go anywhere; don't do much of anything. I stay home, I cook, I clean, I take care of my man. I am faithful to my man. I am a fraud. I'm not happy, least not completely. I am unfulfilled. I'm missing something. My husband is a great man but he doesn't get my motor running or my heart racing. And when was the last time he made my panties wet? Has he ever made my panties wet? Our sex life, when it happens, is vanilla at best. But I make it work, you know? Because that's what wives do. But then one day, I am accosted by a sexy, demanding, enticing ...

My Confession: “Just the thought of him makes me WET my bed every night.” My name is Pastor Fleming and I’m a straight man. I’m a man of faith and live by a strict moral code. Recently, my morals were put to the test when my church hired a young, handsome, and muscular assistant pastor by the name of David to help assist me with our growing ministry. That’s when the same-sex attraction that I thought I’d hidden so well, reared its ugly head again. It made my HARD job even HARDER than before. Things took an interesting turn for the worst when I began having vivid wet dreams about...

All is well with longshoreman Uncle Eddie, kindhearted Aunt Beatrice and live-in niece Catherine until the secret guests from Italy arrive and Uncle Eddie turns from generous and welcoming to jealous, difficult and self-serving resulting in disastrous encounters and dark consequences, as a Greek modern tragedy. The story is set in working-class 1950s Brooklyn, in the Red Hook neighborhood with “a view from the bridge.” The book is the prose version of Arthur Miller’s 1955 play and it is perfect for a pleasant and intensive reading. It comes with an introduction, with notes and ...

Though the Constitution was ratified in 1788, its impact on our lives is as recent as today's news. Informed by the latest scholarship and exploring the major themes that have shaped American constitutional history: federalism, the balance of powers, property, representation, equality, rights, and security, this book places constitutional history within the context of American political and social history. As our nation's circumstances have changed, so has our Constitution.

Here are four unforgettable stories by Yann Martel, the New York Times best-selling author of Life of Pi. In the exquisite title novella, a very young man dying of AIDS joins his friend in fashioning a story of the Roccamatio family of Helsinki, set against the yearly march of the 20th century.

In Episode 3 of Confessions of a Straight Football Player, Coach James saw his old flame Christian and his sexy friend of over ten years, Dean, getting busy on the balcony and immediately became filled with rage. But, when he confronted Christian about it, the truth came out, and their clothes and egos got left on the bedroom floor. My name is Dillon, and I’m straight, but I occasionally fantasize about doing sinful things to my older, muscular, and chocolate-toned football coach, Coach James. One day, he asked me to visit his office to discuss the game we lost last Friday. I prepared ...

Burri is a fashion designer and icon with a biochemistry background. Her latest pieces are African inspired and crafted to touch the heart. They enable wearers to absorb nanorobotic memories and recount the stories of Black lives and forgiveness. Wenda doesn’t buy it. A protest performance artist, Wenda knows exploitation when she sees it. What she’s going to do with Burri’s breakthrough technology could, in the right hands, change race relations forever.

"Con Men and Carved Birds! Lawmen and artists! Aebelskivers and cabbage. Spur-Award winner Richard Prosch has roped together an exciting new collection of stories with themes as vast as the wide open frontier and as close as the human heart. Waking Face - A sleepless man is tortured by the lost face of his wife's killer-a visage he can't remember, but at the same time, will never forget. Hard Times for the Vanilla Cream Kid - a would-be bank robber invents the perfect heist, but does he have the stomach for it? The Magic of Summerland - Nine year-old enemies of a long gone war forge a ...

Electronic Gags presents a chilling portrait of a dystopian United States ruled by a tyrant. After a military coup, the United States of America becomes an autocracy. To tighten his grip on power, President Brandon Ward, the megalomaniac at the helm of military dictatorship, introduces a new surveillance system that can monitor people’s offline conversations. Privacy is dead. Freddie’s life changes when the government arrests his best friend, Michael, for attending an opposition meeting. Michael’s mother accuses Freddie of betraying her son. Against all odds, Freddie must prove his ...

What does it mean to be other? What does it mean to love in a world determined to keep us apart? These questions murmur in the heart of each of Brenda Peynado’s strange and singular stories. Threaded with magic, transcending time and place, these stories explore what it means to cross borders and break down walls, personally and politically.

Their lives are so horrible Mack asks Len if they're cursed. When does it end? When do the bad things stop happening and when does the fog of trauma begin to lift? People say it gets better. Does it, though? Mack Kolmann and Leonard Manyhorses are orphans living on the mountain. As they get older, they depend on each other for everything. Tragedy brings them together, but another tragedy separates them for years. Mack comes back from the war and finds Len is gone. He sets out on a journey to find Len and bring him back to the mountain. Is it possible they've shared too much trauma? Has ...

Lion, bear, and wolf shifters and their mates heat up the pages in these swoonworthy romances. From crime bosses with hidden agendas to evil doers with plans for a shifter types and brave and curvy women who are ready for their mates, the stories in this series will melt your heart. JACE A lion shifter. In a clan of shifters, the lions are considered most powerful and respected. Jace is headstrong, willful, has fun with women but doesn’t see the big rush to find a mate. His father lays it on the line: If he’s to head the clan one day, he needs to find his bride. He resents being told ...

A mysterious inheritance. A haunted castle. And a dark romance that will unravel secrets long buried. Amelia Whitmore’s life is far from ideal. Struggling financially and desperate for a new start, she receives an unexpected summons that could change everything: an inheritance from a distant relative she barely knew, tied to the enigmatic and reclusive owner of Cadworth Castle, Lucien Blackwood. With little to lose, Amelia journeys to the foreboding castle, hoping for a fresh beginning—but instead, she steps into a world filled with shadowed secrets. Lucien, the brooding and mysterious ...

What would Christmas be without a little Seduction? Two complete strangers enter a whirlwind of mind-blowing sex leading up to Christmas. Hot, steamy, and all so sensual is what you will get as these two strangers ignite a burning flame within. What happens when a gift neither of them expects arise? Will they make the best of the situation or will one of them run scared from what could be the best Christmas gift ever?

The town of Ebonton was well on its way to being the next "Black Wall Street", For the people of that town, the goal was to live lives of peace, to raise families and build up their community. But things are never that simple for Black people it seems. A faction from a couple towns over in a place called Haron Oaks had plans for the men, women and children of Ebonton, and their plans meant a lot of bloodshed.

Romeo’s irrational decision that ended Tiana, Ebony, and Malaysia’s lives has finally come back to haunt him. Now his brothers, and his entire crew are in deadly danger, having been made the targets of a heartless assassin. With a hit list circulating, the brothers must eliminate the threat before the Grim Reaper hits their next target… ROMEO!With Chico recently released from prison, he has no choice but to get his hands dirty once again in order to protect his boys. Racing against time, to find out the true identity of the assassin, Chico orchestrates a plan to draw out the beautiful...

Russia and China are increasingly revisionist in their regions. The Middle East appears to be unraveling. And many Americans question why the United States ought to lead. What will great power competition look like in the decades ahead? What impact will geopolitics have on globalization? And what strategy should the United States pursue to succeed in an increasingly competitive world? In this book, Thomas Wright explains how major powers will compete fiercely even as they try to avoid war with each other.