Urban Short Stories

Stranded on a desert island, a young man yearns for objects from his past. A local from a small coastal town in England is found dead as the tide goes out. A Norwegian whaling ship is stranded in the Arctic, its crew threatened by mysterious forces. In the nineteenth century, a ship drifts in becalmed waters in the Indian Ocean, those on it haunted by their evil deeds. A surfer turned diver discovers there are things worse than drowning under the sea. Something from the sea is creating monsters on land.

Neri has always had a vivid imagination, but she never dreamed this could be possible... Neri Duke just wanted a weekend alone to think, to enjoy the last bit of summer and a few private moments watching the hottie next door on his private beach. But when the billionaire surprises her by coming home early, he thinks she was sent there for other purposes... Like giving him an heir? At first she's shocked, but Grant Stoughton is a professional argument-maker. Would she trade her innocence and her freedom for everything money can buy? Well, wouldn't everybody?? **Standalone short story! HEA! ...

“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 ...

Tempest Michaels has a zombie problem. Crazy people craving human flesh have been appearing without warning in hoards in towns across Kent. He is just as mystified as everyone else, but when the elderly husband of the recent viral internet sensation known as Zombie Granny asks him to prove she is no such thing, he has to take the case. Then outside his office, people start screaming...

A giant redneck in Fairyland, what could possibly go wrong? Everything. Absolutely everything. Monsters, Magic, & Mayhem collects four novella chronicling Bubba the Monster Hunter's trip through the lands of the Fae in search of his kidnapped sister.

Ryan and Julie’s intimate life has been on a long, slow decline, both in terms of quantity and of quality. But when a chance conversation with friends spurs them to explore their fantasy lives, a possible solution to their marital dilemma presents itself: experimenting with the hotwife lifestyle. Ryan isn’t prepared for how quickly Julie embraces her new role in their marriage. Before he knows it, things are progressing more rapidly than he’d ever anticipated: Julie has found a Bull, a dominant alpha male named Adam, whose endowment is as large as his personality. Will Ryan be ...

Everybody’s favorite over-the-top circus performers travel to Hemlock Cove, where they meet a group of witches they didn’t see coming, before heading to the Detroit area and visiting Poet Parker’s old stomping grounds. There, they come across a family of snarky reapers who challenge their world view...and a group of at-risk street kids who are in danger of being swallowed whole by a dark enemy. Finally, they stop at Mammoth Caves, where vampires (and something a little more sinister) seem to be taking over a small town and leaving nothing but devastation in their wake.

I finally worked up the nerve to ask out Serenity, the cute little blonde girl from my college. The only problem is that the only way she'll date me is if I date her best friend Ada as well. I've never seen this girl before, but, for better or worse, I agree to date both of them...

The first three books in this action-packed, wildly original fantasy series by New York Times bestselling author Jasmine Walt. This kick-ass urban fantasy series has been compared to books by Ilona Andrews, Patricia Briggs, Karen Marie Moning, and more. You're sure to enjoy it if you like spunky heroines, kick-ass fight scenes, wild new worlds, and sizzling, slow-building romance.

Longtime contributor to the Hellboy mythos Christopher Golden brings together a crew of luminaries including Joe R. Lansdale and China Miéville, cross-genre sensation Barbara Hambly, celebrated mystery writer Ken Bruen, best-selling science-fiction and fantasy novelist Tad Williams, and a bevy of other skilled storytellers eager to spin a tale or two about the world's greatest paranormal detective. Some of the biggest names in horror, mystery, and fantasy come together to pay homage to Mike Mignola's Hellboy!

City of elegance and squalor. Of religious fervor and wanton lusts. And everywhere, on the walls of courtyards and churches, an incandescent fungus of mysterious and ominous origin. In Ambergris, a would-be suitor discovers that a sunlit street can become a killing ground in the blink of an eye. An artist receives an invitation to a beheading - and finds himself enchanted. And a patient in a mental institution is convinced he has made up a city called Ambergris, imagined its every last detail, and that he’s really from a place called Chicago.

Frank is my girlfriend's father, and he hates me! He won't let anyone date his daughter unless he believes them to be a real man. After being embarrassed by him yet again, I'm determined to prove to Frank that I am a real man. There's just one problem: Frank doesn't have your ordinary "dad bod." He's an ex-football player and built like a truck. He challenges me to three feats of strength. If I can pass all three of his feats of strength, then he'll admit I have what it takes to date his daughter. But if I fail? Let's just say I have to get down on me knees while he shows me what a real man...

"Playing Possum": Sookie Stackhouse brings enough birthday cupcakes for her nephew's entire class but finds she's one short when the angry ex-boyfriend of the school secretary shows up. "Dahlia Underground": Venerable vampire Dahlia Lynley-Chivers survives an attack by an anti-vampire terrorist group, only to show them they tried to blow up the wrong bloodsucker.

In a world of criminals, thugs, con artists, cheats, and swindlers, there must be a man to stand against the powers of darkness and corruption. A man not afraid to walk the mean streets—whether they be those of 1930s Los Angeles, an ancient fantasy realm, or some far-flung planet of a future star empire. He is a man who knows that a “good man” is not always a “nice guy”. But when the chips are down, he understands that a hero does the right thing, even if it means losing everything.

With the pressure of his promotion on the line, my husband was stressed out beyond belief. I knew what he needed. I knew how to help him unload all of that pent up anxiety. I waited in the living room for him with my hands bound tightly over my head. My body was ready for his personal use. I wasn't expecting his boss to show up with him. Ever the business man, my husband negotiated his promotion using me as his dirty bargaining chip.

This bundle includes books 1-3 in the Hex Files series, a fast-paced paranormal mystery series with a kickass heroine, hilarious sidekicks, and an immersive world that will pull you in faster than you can say pizza: Wicked Never Sleeps, Wicked Long Nights, and Wicked State of Mind.

Alexis Silver has spent a century dancing between two worlds: the deep, dark ocean that made her a mermaid and the human shores she can never fully leave behind. But when a playful midnight swim near a cargo ship reveals a darker truth: a young woman hidden below deck, destined for a nightmare, Alexis knows she can’t turn away. Soon, Alexis launches a daring, high-speed rescue across the waves. Saving one life won’t change the world. But for Alexis, tonight, it’s enough. Fans of Samantha Moon and urban fantasy will love this heart-racing, emotional short adventure in the Alexis Silver...

From cakes to stakes, a celebration of everyone's favorite bloodsucking subculture by a baker's dozen of favorite authors. Each of these 13 original stories offers a fresh and unique take on what birthdays mean to the undead. From Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse attending a birthday party for Dracula to Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden battling bloodsucking party crashers, these suspenseful, surprising, sometimes dark, sometimes humorous stories will ensure paranormal fans will never think of vampires or birthdays quite the same again.

Dragonrider Academy is a secret society I’m not even supposed to know exists. It has knights with talking swords, professors who breathe fire, and a hot guy named Killian who seriously gets on my nerves. It’s his fault I’m stuck here in the first place. He wants me to be his partner and face all the challenges Dragonrider Academy has to offer. He says we’re fated to be together, that I was the one who called him! Crazy talk. Or is it?

My Confession: I’m a straight college jock, and I fell in love with a straight older alpha Professor. Bryce is straight, but when he comes home from his first year of college to stay with his aunt for the summer, he runs into a sexy, alpha hunk and immediately develops a strong and intense attraction for him. There is only one problem. Bryce has a girlfriend and his new male crush, Professor Donovan is engaged to his aunt. Professor Donovan Davenport is Straight, but as soon as he sees Bryce's toned, tall, muscular physique and plump round bottom, he can't wait to break him off of a piece...