Urban Short Stories

In the words of Alexander McCall Smith: "You feel the rocking of the train, you hear the sound of its wheels on the rails; you are in the world rather than suspended somewhere above it. And sometimes there are conversations to be had, which is what the overarching story in this collection is all about. It is a simple device: people brought together entertain one another with tales of what happened to them on trains. It takes place on a journey I frequently make myself and know well, the journey between Edinburgh and London. It is best read on a train, preferably that one."

The Fogg River Seminary, a girls’ school in a small Illinois town, is supposed to be just another stop on Maryse and Vasyl’s endless travels. They’ve made lucrative use of Maryse’s “foreign” looks in their melodramatic séance act—and an act is all it is. Then, during their performance, a blizzard sweeps in and cuts them off from town completely. In the freezing halls, there’s a voice speaking the secrets of the dead, and Maryse has no choice but to listen…because this time, the voice is real.

Alortia, an evil and cunning monster collects champions in his menagerie in the underworld. Who's next? Beowulf.

Each of the best-selling writers represented in Legends II return to the special universe of the imagination that its author has made famous throughout the world. Whether set before or after events already recounted elsewhere, whether featuring beloved characters or compelling new creations, these masterful short novels are both mesmerizing stand-alones (perfect introductions to the work of their authors) and indispensable additions to the epics on which they are based.

"Red Wine and Blood": The Blood Wars raged for centuries across Boston. Witness a brief glimpse into the brutal history of the Wars with Ignacio Salvatore and the vampire he loves, Ashwin Metcalfe, in 1897. "A History of Trouble": Angel was joking when he asked O'Malley if someone resurrected a mammoth. Little did he know that was exactly what someone did. "A Dragon in the City": What happens when Eroch goes adventuring in Beacon Hill without Angel? Chaos, pure chaos. "Fae's Gold": Daniel is helping the newly-resurrected fae, Ruairi Brennan, become accustomed to modern-day living.

Betrayal. Ambition. Violence. Magic. Stranded in a winter wilderness, a young girl fights to survive after the massacre of her family. Her motto is simple: Always create opportunity. It's not long before she runs into an old friend, but can she trust him? This majestic fantasy short story defies cliché and stirs the soul.

Black, like a select few other beings, is a soul reaper, whose sole predilection is to claim human souls. However, his life is turned upside down in a chance encounter with a human woman. Black’s memories of his past human life come flooding back to him. Will he continue to hunt human souls or will he turn against the authority and now hunt the hunters? This is the tale of the beginnings of Black’s journey as a changed reaper.

Ever loved and lost? If presented with the chance to get it all back, would you consider it? Zach is a novelist who’d purposefully sequestered himself to a cabin in the lofty pine-filled hills. Yet, not everything is quite what it seems up there, as his revived wife becomes the last of his worries.

Many a confident urban gay man in the Castro, West Hollywood, and Chelsea was once a wide-eyed newcomer. Every year thousands of young men arrive in these queer-friendly neighborhoods, seduced by city life and its sexual possibilities. In Where the Boys Are, Richard Labonté collects raunchy memoirs and stories about these newly arrived country boys. Here are stories of first times, initiations, bars, backrooms, dance clubs, and parties, reading (or misreading) the codes....

Luck has never favored River. She doesn't believe it exists, or she didn't believe until the night it came to her aid in the form of a stray dog. Now, she has company on her journey to find her biological father and try to stay out of the hands of the man who hunts her for the lucky charm she doesn't believe in.

A young boy with special abilities to see a world beyond the veil, and a realm teeming with shadow formed beasts, undergoes an emotional roller coaster ride in this coming-of-age short story tale. Will Tommy forever remain haunted by these demons from beyond, or will he somehow find a way to best them?

Ossie and Baxter are on a mission. They've been sent to conduct a membership interview with Yancey Allyson, the latest applicant to The Society of Super Powered Heroes. But what will they do when they discover that Mr. Allyson is a little bit...unorthodox?

Ever since her dad disappeared five years ago, Persephone has quietly walled off the feelings she’d rather not feel. There’s no room for pain or anger when you’re just trying to get through the hell that is high school. But one day, the crush of taunts and disappointments is finally too much—and a power breaks loose inside her that she never knew was there.

This is the first question Bobby Barnes asks himself as he stands over his dead body at the scene of the tragic car crash that ended his life. He is furious with his girlfriend Brittany, who was the driver and he follows the investigating officers to the hospital to confront her.

In the dark corners of an obscure bookshop, where forgotten tales gathered dust and whispered secrets, there lay a peculiar collection. It was a compendium of bizarre and unsettling tales, shrouded in mystery and curiosity, known only as the “Uncollected Oddities.” Many claimed that these macabre stories were the creation of Edgar Allan Poe himself, his lost works banished from the public eye.

New York Times best-selling author MaryJanice Davidson "continues to put her own unique spin on paranormal romance" ( Fallen Angel Reviews), and in this all-new anthology, she’s three times as outrageous as ever before.…

“Then it stopped. Its head flowed around on its shoulders, as it seemed to have discovered the crib. It loomed there motionless, examining the small cage from across the room. Then Pat knew - it was looking for her.” A true ghost story! Based on a real incident that the author's mother experienced as a child. It's a snowy night in a spooky new house and Pat fears bedtime because when the lights go out a malevolent entity stalks the dark!

Peter, Quinn, Romeo, and Sam are four (lame) shapeshifters (platypus, mosquito, piranha, sloth) who also happen to be best friends and members of a (terrible) garage band. But the local Battle of the Bands is happening on the full moon, and the boys are forced to turn to Sam's non-were (Goth) sister Natalie to help them out.

The best-selling Kiera Hudson Series One. All six novels in one bundle.

By day, Mark Wojcik can be found elbow-deep in engine grease, making cars and trucks safe for the highway. By night, he can be found traipsing through the wilds of Pennsylvania, making the world safe for humans. He's more than just a mechanic, he's a New Templar Knight. He travels the backroads and byways fighting weresquonks, ningen, selkies, ghosts, and . . . gnomes? Is that gnome . . . naked? (Sigh.) Season One collects the first four novellas in the Spells, Salt, & Steel series: Spells, Salt, & Steel; Open Season; Deep Trouble; and Close Encounters.