Paranormal Adventure

It's not easy being the most famous and attractive villain in the United States, but somebody has to do it. And it might as well be Via Rodriguez, aka "Empress." Via's used to outsmarting the ever-so-arrogant Heroes that come her way. Her wicked schemes take an unexpected turn, however, after a getaway gone wrong lands both her and her current foe—the annoyingly perky Electra—in the middle of an unknown land that is definitely not Earth.

After ten years together, Jeremy “Jem” Creed and his wife, Crystal, are looking to give their marriage a fresh start on Paradeisos, a mysterious island off the coast of Oregon. What they find is stranger than they could have imagined: the locals are named after Greek gods, horned thugs lurk in back alleys, and the women are strangely friendly.

John Slater never had any interest in video games. Now he’s got to beat one to save his brother. A battle-hardened, ex-special forces soldier, John was never a fan of games...unlike his brother. But now, he’s got to learn and learn fast if he has any chance of saving his younger sibling. Magic, monsters, and levels are new to him, and his real-world skills aren’t as useful as he thinks.

When the fourth princess of Istalam is due to dedicate herself to a path serving the crown, she makes a choice that shocks everyone, herself most of all: She leaves. In hiding and exiled from power, Miyara finds her place running a tea shop in a struggling community that sits on the edge of a magical disaster zone. But there's more brewing under the surface of this city—hidden magic and hidden machinations—that threaten all the people who've helped her make her own way.

Once, Sarah Bingham's biggest challenge was making her students pay attention in class. Now, after rescuing a wounded stranger, she's landed in the middle of a battle between corrupt vampires and powerful immortals who also need blood to survive. Roland Warbrook is the most compelling man Sarah has ever laid hands on. But his desire for her is mingled with a hunger he can barely control...

Ten years after Blayne Thorpe first encountered Bo Novikov, she still can't get the smooth-talking shifter out of her head. Now he's shadowing her in New York-all seven-plus feet of him - determined to protect her from stalkers who want to use her in shifter dogfights. Even if he has to drag her off to an isolated Maine town where the only neighbors are other bears almost as crazy as he is....

Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life-working hard all day and partying all night - until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She'll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths. Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose - to assassinate his boss' enemies, no questions asked.

Kera Watson never expected to face death behind a Los Angeles coffee shop. Not after surviving two tours lugging an M16 around the Middle East. If it wasn't for her hot Viking customer showing up too late to help, nobody would even have seen her die. In uncountable years of service to the Allfather Odin, Ludvig "Vig" Rundstrom has never seen anyone kick ass with quite as much style as Kera.

When an invitation to try a cutting-edge game promising darkly sensual adventure drops in Abram's lap, it's an offer he can't refuse. After all, as an agoraphobe who never leaves his apartment, his social life is defined by, and limited to, games. Yet an interesting premise quickly shows its dark side as his mind is filled with memories of unspeakable torment, forcing him to rely on his meta-knowledge just to stay sane. The game is like nothing he's ever played: It has no tutorial, no HUD, no levels, no experience system, no respawns, and no mercy.

Ajax Demos finds himself lost in society. Graduating shortly after artificial intelligence is allowed to enter the workforce, he can’t get his career off the ground. He clings to what he believes a responsible adult should pursue, but it just isn’t in the cards. As his last hope for a steady paycheck disappears new opportunities open. Ajax gets a chance to play a brand new Immersive Reality game. Things aren't as they seem. Mega Corps hover over what appears to be a simple game. Two unlikely women hiding their real identities join his party....

It is an age when Valdemar is yet unfounded, its organization of Heralds yet unformed, and magic is still a wild and uncontrolled force. Skandranon Rashkae is perhaps the finest specimen of his race, with gleaming ebony feathers, a majestic wingspan, keen magesight, and sharp intelligence. Courageous, bold, and crafty, Skan is everything a gryphon should be. He is the fulfillment of everything that the Mage of Silence, the human sorcerer called Urtho, intended to achieve when he created these magical beings to be his champions, the defenders of his realm.

Livy Kowalski has no time for idiots. When you shapeshift into a honey badger, getting through life's irritants is a finely honed skill. Until she gets stuck housing her nutso cousin and dealing with her dad's untimely and unexplained demise. That's where Vic Barinov comes in-or his house does. Vic can't step outside without coming back to find Livy devouring his honey stash and getting the TV remote sticky. It gets his animal instincts all riled up. But he'll have to woo her at high speed: All hell is breaking loose, and Livy is leading the charge…

"Kill. Kill them all." It's the first four words Lars usually wakes up to every morning, a voice telling him she's just giving him a "quest" that will help him "level". But even if he wanted to do it, he can't. They're cultivators: beings with ancestral bloodlines that have powers he could only dream of, while he is stuck as a puny human. Even if he could kill them, the people who bullied him, beat him, treated him like a punch-bag pariah for being a "tailless worthless human", he wouldn't. That is, until a vicious group of murderous psychopaths called a "sect" descend on his village.

Harald Darrowdelve has squandered every gift life gave him—until he entered the dungeon beneath Flutic and received a demon's dark blessing. Weak, privileged, and directionless no more, Harald now commands powers forged in darkness. But each new ability and hard-won level drags him deeper into the ruthless politics of noble houses, shadowy rivals, and the celestial war burning beneath the city's streets.

Shelly Laurenston turns up the heat with two sizzling novellas. Christmas Pride: How come all the good-looking ones are insane? That's what runs through NYPD cop Desiree "Dez" MacDermot's mind the minute she hooks up again with her childhood buddy, Mace Llewellyn. Shaw's Tail: Brendon Shaw, hotel owner and lion shifter, has seen better days. He's been beaten, had a gun to the back of his head, and had to be rescued by a Pack of shape-shifting wolves.

Death and reincarnation. Kuroe Makoto, the tomboyish ace of her high school track-and-field club, never spared a thought for these things before. However, when she falls asleep in her Tokyo home after an exhausting marathon and wakes up in a fantasy world, those concepts become her reality. Unlike common light novel settings, she isn't reincarnated as the naturally good-looking and talented human hero who gathers a harem effortlessly. In fact, she isn't reincarnated as a human at all. She is reborn as "Chaos", child of the demon queen and heir to a kingdom at war with humanity.

Twenty years ago, his father saved the world. Or so the history books will probably say once someone gets around to writing them. All Mihalis knows is the world he has been raised into. It's not a bad world, as things ago, he has a big and loving family, but there is the ongoing "war" that promises to be on-going for a good many years to come. Raised to the blade by his mother, and taught not only her ways as well as a good many of the ways of her people, but also the ways of his father's other wives, as well as the ways of his magic, Mihalis has had a very thorough education.

My name is Kvothe. You may have heard of me. So begins a tale told from his own point of view - a story unequaled in fantasy literature. Now in The Wise Man’s Fear, Day Two of The Kingkiller Chronicle, Kvothe takes his first steps on the path of the hero and learns how difficult life can be when a man becomes a legend in his own time.

Tian, a Cultivator at the precipice of ascension, is thwarted in her quest for immortality. Defeated, she escapes to another world with Levels, Classes, magic, and monsters. She becomes a Lost Soul. Her core begins to dwindle, but she does not abandon her goal. Working with a group of rebels in this new world, she opposes the unkillable tyrant Galgom to learn his secrets. Against his army of machines wielding laser guns and laser swords, she will cultivate her new powers, achieving Feats as she seeks her antidote: immortality.

Unbeknownst to him, Ray is about to partake on an adventure filled with magical beasts, warring factions, and a leveling-up system out of this world. He'll encounter filthy bandits, musty crypts, and friendly werewolves. Oh, you heard us right. If only he wasn't given negative charisma points around women, he might have a chance, but you can't win them all.