American Short

An ordinary man wakes one morning to discover he’s a famous reggaetón star. An aging abuela slowly morphs into a marionette puppet. A struggling academic discovers the horrifying cost of becoming a Self-Made Man. In There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven, Ruben Reyes Jr. conjures strange dreamlike worlds to explore what we would do if we woke up one morning and our lives were unrecognizable. Boundaries between the past, present, and future are blurred. Menacing technology and unchecked bureaucracy cut through everyday life with uncanny dread.

On the outside looking in JayCee had what everyone would call the great life. She had a great career as head chef of a five-star restaurant until she met her now husband Sage. He filled her head up with broken promises making her believe that everything was going to be okay. The minute the ink dried on their wedding papers Sage turned into someone completely different. JayCee didn’t know what to expect. She gave her all to try and make her marriage work, but it seems as the years went by the harder it became to be his wife. Trauma after trauma life became hard for JayCee to bear, not even...

Navy Wife: Lindy Kyle flees to Seattle to weather a broken heart, but is unprepared for a roommate like Rush Callaghan. Strong, sensitive, and sexy, the temporarily dry-docked naval officer is everything she’s ever dreamed of in a man...and in a husband. Though they are swept away on a tide of passion, Rush holds duty to his country above all else. Navy Blues: Despite her ex-husband’s stubbornness, Carol knows Lieutenant Commander Steve Kyle would be the perfect man to father the child she so desperately wants.

Though the lives of Mexico's characters are effected by the corrupt and dangerous subculture of their country, these are much more than simple "crime stories". They are complicated and deeply moving tales that tap into universal and enduringly powerful themes: love and loss, religion, family relationships, government abuse, sexual identity, professional ambition, cancer; they introduce us to characters that feel fully realized in their humanity.

With heart-stopping stories by Zane, Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes, Joy M. Copeland, Robert Fleming, Terence Taylor, Francine Lewis, Brandon Massey, and 12 other established or up-and-coming writers, Dark Dreams is a must-have contemporary anthology for fans of the supernatural.

“Call me Miss B*tch. Yes, I screw married men, so what? I love my life. I worked damn hard to get to where I am. I’m a lawyer in a huge law firm and I pay my own bills, besides the ones they pay. Yes, I enjoy what I do and who I do.” Tracy is single and living her best life in California. Coming from a small town in South Carolina, it’s a welcomed change of scenery. It’s also an escape from her past. She is no longer the small town girl with a broken heart; she’s the corporate attorney with several players on her team. Rich, successful players at that. Though her life is ...

Transgressive, foulmouthed, and brutally funny, Brontez Purnell’s 100 Boyfriends is a revelatory spiral into the imperfect lives of queer men desperately fighting the urge to self-sabotage. As they tiptoe through minefields of romantic, substance-fueled misadventure - from dirty warehouses and gentrified bars in Oakland to desolate farm towns in Alabama - Purnell’s characters strive for belonging in a world that dismisses them for being Black, broke, and queer. In spite of it - or perhaps because of it - they shine.

Make your heart merry and unwrap these delightful stories of seasonal romance.

A northern white couple has relocated to the South to operate a vineyard on a North Carolina plantation. There, they pass their idle hours listening to the stories of one Uncle Julius, who has a deep knowledge of the land. These stories, however, are more than mere entertainments. They all have their time and place, and they offer not only a quiet commentary on the events of the day but also a deeper reckoning with the plantation’s disturbing past.

After heartbreak, wine bar owner Cleo vows off romance - until charming Dr. Xavier Grant arrives in town. Just as true love blooms between these soulmates, Cleo’s manipulative ex tries sabotaging their happiness. But Xavier believes in fighting for what matters most instead of folding under pressure. Will their new bond withstand the ultimate test of time?

New York City is not only The New Yorker magazine's place of origin and its sensibility's lifeblood, it is the heart of American literary culture. Wonderful Town, an anthology of superb short fiction by many of the magazine's most accomplished contributors, celebrates the 75-year marriage between a preeminent publication and its preeminent context with this collection of 44 of its best stories from (so to speak) home.

It’s 1974 in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and 15-year-old Justine grows up in a family of tough, complicated, and loyal women, presided over by her mother, Lula, and Granny. After Justine’s father abandoned the family, Lula became a devout member of the Holiness Church - a community that Justine at times finds stifling and terrifying. But Justine does her best as a devoted daughter, until an act of violence sends her on a different path forever.

The small town of Keatchie, Louisiana is growing and the town's folks are falling in love and learning to live by faith. In each of these books, you'll meet members of the Faltime Baptist Church and get a peek into their lives. About: INTENSE She’s been sidelined. And she’s wanting love just as much as me. I feel her… The pain of her past, The fear of letting another person in, And as much as I should be stuck, especially after what I witnessed, I find myself wondering about her story. I understand… The woman I wanted to love is too broken to let anyone in. She was bruised and bent ...

Many black artists nowadays, whether in rap, hip pop, pop, or another genre, have caused American teens and many others to be influenced by their slang, fashion, and their way of entertainment.

In the series of linked stories at the heart of Filthy Animals, set among young creatives in the American Midwest, a young man treads delicate emotional waters as he navigates a series of sexually fraught encounters with two dancers in an open relationship, forcing him to weigh his vulnerabilities against his loneliness.

Here is the preface to 12 magnificent stories, originally part of The John Cheever Audio Collection, in which John Cheever celebrates - with unequaled grace and tenderness - the deepest feelings we have.

Austin Dupree, a widowed pastor from Texas, never thought he would fall for Lyra Levoe, a plus-size supermodel who recently moved to the small town of Finlay. However, as their connection grows into a romance, a jealous church member begins to plot against Lyra. Will this big city Cinderella be able to keep her Prince Charming despite the odds?

Afice is the last of nine generations of women who have survived enslavement, sickness, and hunger. Alone at age seventeen, she sets out through the Louisiana swamps to follow the trail of her ancestors and hear their songs anew. On this journey, Afice must decide how to honor her ancestors while embracing her own future.

The Snow family continues to push through their issues, until Pastor Snow takes a special interest in a prostitute named Candy. His wife, Lady Snow is dying of cancer and that doesn't seem to make him cut ties with Candy, although his reputation is on the line. Will the family have another meltdown or will they persevere? A Christian Fiction Novella that offers healing, deliverance, and restoration.

Living in the same neighborhood sometimes brings people together. Even when there was a time that you thought you had absolutely nothing in common with someone. Damiko was home, fresh off doing a 12-year stretch in the penitentiary. Things had changed drastically. Everybody from the old days were gone. The hood was now run by a bunch of faces that he did not recognize. He did run into two recognizable faces from the days of old though. Mack and Armani. They were not actually friends back in the day, but being the last of a dying breed bought the three together. The three were feeling the ...