Fantasy Patrick

In the twelve unforgettable tales of Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, the strange is made familiar and the familiar strange, such that a girl growing wings on her legs feels like an ordinary rite of passage, while a bug-infested house becomes an impossible, Kafkaesque nightmare. Each story builds a new world all its own: a group of children steal a haunted doll, a runaway bride encounters a sea monster, a vendor sells toy boxes that seemingly control the passage of time, an insomniac is seduced by the Sandman.

When bizarre magical disappearances disrupt shows around the city, Esther receives a mysterious warning not to go on with her off-Broadway show. Desperate to stay on stage rather than resort to waiting tables, Esther turns to her new BFF, Dr. Maximillian Zadok, a 350-year-old mage whose day job is protecting New York from Evil. Determined to get to the bottom of this mystery without losing her job, Esther and Max team up with a conjuring cowboy, a banker with stage aspirations, and a flock of fearless drag queens.

The war with the Tahni has dragged on for over two years, taking its toll on the lives of all involved. On the Aphrodite colony, Marine turned cybernetic commando Ryan Hendrix is readying his civilian militia to make one final strike against the enemy, in what they know could be a suicide mission. Back in Commonwealth space, Travis Miller and his task force have finally been given clearance to take back the occupied colony system, but the Tahni have had a year to prepare their defenses and the price in blood will be dear.

Blue is an alien! Despite only being able to live in water, he has managed to help his soccer team win the championship. Now, his dad plans a party for his team but his best friend doesn’t know how to swim! Will his friend come to the party? Or will Blue have to cancel the party?

Sherlock Holmes is an unparalleled genius. Warlock Holmes is an idiot. A font of arcane power, certainly. But he’s brilliantly dim. Frankly, he couldn’t deduce his way out of a paper bag. The only thing he has really got going for him are the might of a thousand demons and his stalwart companion. Thankfully, Dr. Watson is always there to aid him through the treacherous shoals of Victorian propriety...and save him from a gruesome death every now and again.

The vampires have broken our tentative truce and are threatening to destroy my pack. At the center of their scheme is Sky, an enigmatic lone wolf, who they believe is a weapon that can be used against us. Nothing about the quiet, doe-eyed brunette screams "danger" or "ruthless weapon." And that's the problem. My wolf's instinct says to protect her, especially after a necromancer tries to kill her, the vampires repeatedly attempt to abduct her, and we receive a dire warning about her.

Culley Rune is the perfect guy - as far as anyone can see. Inside, he knows he's unlovable, unworthy, unwanted. He's done terrible things in service to his father, the corrupt leader of the Dark Council - including playing a pivotal role in the mysterious new drug epidemic that's sweeping the human population of the world. Now that Culley''s lost his one chance at a real relationship, there's no reason to change his ways. He might as well take his place at his mercenary father's side.

Terribly wounded during the battle for Hermes, Ryan Hendrix was repaired with cybernetics, transformed into a weapon by Fleet Intelligence...and covertly dropped onto the enemy-occupied colony at Aphrodite to sabotage the enemy and build up a civilian resistance. While Ryan fights the real battle behind enemy lines, Travis Miller and Jessica Leer struggle with politics...and their new commands.

When a massive meteor lights up the sky over the remote island of Kerguelen, the world holds its breath. In Birchwood, Colorado, Dan McCarthy gets to work. Following his incredible experiences of the previous year, Dan knows this was no natural occurrence. The Messengers are back - to finish what they started - and they didn't come all this way for nothing....

We've secretly lived among the humans for centuries. Anonymity is our weapon of choice. But that's about to change. An altercation between were-animals was caught on video and went viral. Now a vital member of our pack is sitting in jail, and if I can't get him out before he shifts during the full moon, then our existence will be discovered. If we are outed, there is a risk we'll take the rest of the supernaturals with us. They'll do anything to prevent this from happening, including ridding the world of were-animals. We were once a pack of hunters. Now we are the hunted.

He needs me to play the role of fake fiancée to appease his family of tentacle-tailed cops. I'll keep up the charade as long as I need if it means being reunited with Abraxas and Rurik. It shouldn't be too hard, right? To play pretend…My life force is now inextricably tied to handsome, gun-totin' Officer Hyt. But do you know what happens if my new in-laws find out that I'm mated to three different males? Intergalactic war, that's what.

Arlo Finch is a newcomer to Pine Mountain, Colorado, a tiny town of mystery and magic, but he has already attracted the attention of dark and ancient forces. At first he thinks these increasingly strange and frightening occurrences are just part of being in Rangers, the mountain scouting troop where he learns how to harness the wild magic seeping in from the mysterious Long Woods. But soon Arlo finds himself at the center of a dangerous adventure, where he faces obstacles that test the foundations of the Ranger's Vow: Loyalty, Bravery, Kindness, and Truth.

Ryan Maxwell built the ultimate survival Bunker in which his family could ride out any disaster imaginable, never thinking that any such disaster would actually come. But disaster did eventually come in the form of the Immuno-Degenerative and Epidermal Decomposition Virus (Strain 2). ImDED2 nearly ended mankind overnight, and fate has largely kept Ryan from enjoying the safety of the Bunker with his family.

Faced with writing college papers, prepping for tests, and teaching testy witches, Declan O'Carroll has enough on his plate. Not to mention the magical withdrawal of leaving his very own magical kingdom behind on Fairie. But when he and his friends are attacked from creatures out of folklore and fable, it seems the Queens of Summer and Winter aren't done with him yet.

Something was coming. Arlo felt certain about that. For Arlo Finch and the Rangers of Pine Mountain Company, summer camp is more than canoeing and hiking. It's also a chance to search for ancient forest spirits and discover mysterious messages encoded in tree bark. But when Arlo and his best friends Indra and Wu stumble upon clues about the long-lost Yellow Patrol, Arlo uncovers a stunning history that leads right back to his very own family.

Tatiana Demidova - natural born vampire, Coven royalty, fighter, CEO, mate of the God Hammer, Fallen Angel... mother. She wears many hats, balances diverse duties, multitasks like any other woman, except most of those don't face demons from Hell, monsters from Fairie, alien invaders, or pissy world leaders. Follow Tanya through a week of her busy life as she works to save the her children, her mate, her friends, stockholders, and the very world, in that order.

Jacob Compass is stuck in the human world, navigating a peaceful treaty so that supernaturals are not exposed. Justice Winter reluctantly finds herself helping him with this task, all the while dreaming about punching him in his perfect, smug face. Suffice it to say, their coexistence is a challenge in many ways. Turns out, though, that during this battle against an enemy that they can't just kill and get rid of - annoying as it may be - they learn that they have more in common than just their fey race.

I used to think my life would be common, boring even. My online guildies and my friends sure thought so. Yet everything I knew to be true in this world all changed drastically one fateful night... or should I say, it shifted. As it turns out, my father passed on more than his name to me. Something feral and mighty awoke within me, and I knew at once, I would never be the same again. Shortly after, I received an invitation that I didn't expect, a call to attend the mysterious Apex Academy.

With Declan O'Carroll on Fairie and Chris Gordon on Earth, what could go wrong? Try everything. Scheming elves, deadly zombies, killer goblins, flaming dragons, and dirty diapers. With a growing, insidious threat to Earth, Chris and Tanya race to save lives while Declan, Stacia, and friends work just as hard to save their own lives on an alien world, far removed from the comforts and safety of home. Only together will they overcome the odds. But, come on, with this team, maybe the odds should look out.

It was every starship captain’s nightmare, and for Travis Miller, it was his own personal hell. He’d done everything by the book, but when the Tahni had attacked him and his crew, there was no choice but to return fire and destroy the first alien vessel humans had ever encountered. Excoriated in the press, his career in shambles, Travis is exiled to a long patrol of the outer colony worlds. Forgotten, except as a bad example...until the Tahni prove him right by declaring war on the human commonwealth.