Similar stories:
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Blood Moon Rising by Amelia Faulkner A pack in turmoil. A ray of sunlight. A moon that demands blood... Randall Carter is in love. If only he could say it to Ellis’ face, but he’s been too busy - or too much of a coward - and now he may never get that chance. With the threat of a blood moon looming in the night sky his Alpha is on the warpath against both a new pack invading his territory and the vampire lover he ordered Randall to destroy. Ellis O’Neill’s problems are mounting fast. Randall’s Alpha wants to kill him, a vampire neighbour invites him to join some sort of coup, and his secrets are stacking up like firewood waiting for a single spark to set them ablaze. The last person he expects to betray his trust is the man he’s fallen in love with. Torn between love and obligation, Randall soon realises that he can’t satisfy both. He’ll have to choose, but the cost may well be more terrible than he can imagine. |
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River in the Galaxy by Natalie Kelda When Merlon's parents disappeared, his world fell apart. When his best friend died, he lost the ability to enjoy life. For Captain Merlon Ricosta, Lanier's death, two years prior, feels like yesterday. But when a map from his parents is discovered, he decides to push aside his grief to get closure and follow the route they vanished along eighteen years ago. Despite political trouble, Merlon leads his crew into the unknowns of strange galaxies in his quest to find out why his parents never returned. In River in the Galaxy Merlon fights to keep his crew alive and suppress his prolonged grief and depression. But he must face his own struggles in order to protect the ship and the people aboard. |
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Child of the Night Guild by Andy Peloquin Robbed of everything she loves, Viola mourns the sudden loss of her mother. Now burdened with an impossible debt to the Night Guild, she’s forced to train as a cunning thief. Subjected to cruelty at every turn, the scrawny criminal apprentice vows to survive long enough to become the kingdom’s best. Thrown together with unlikely allies, her burgeoning skills draw the attention of sadistic bullies and jealous rivals with dark intentions. But fueled by grief-filled rage, Viola won’t let anything distract her from preparing for The Guild’s most treacherous test. In a cutthroat den of thieves, can Viola rise to power and outrun a brutal death? Child of the Night Guild is the first book in the gripping Queen of Thieves epic fantasy series that’s not for the faint of heart. If you like grimdark battles, improbable heroines, and graphic scenes, then you’ll love Andy Peloquin’s unflinching coming-of-age tale. |
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The Dragon’s Reign: Heart of the Depths by Tim Mullins After his mother suffers a life-altering brain injury during a tragic accident, Andy books two tickets aboard The Heart - a luxury cruise ship built for the super-rich, to give her the holiday she had always dreamed of. Shortly after the ship sets sail, catastrophe hits the mainland and the pair can only watch as the life they left behind is turned to ash. The Heart continues out to sea, hoping to put some distance between its passengers and the devastated mainland, but as the ship ventures into deeper waters Andy soon realizes that the ocean may not be the safe haven the ship's Captain first thought... For something lurks below, and now it's rising from the depths... Set during the events of The Dragon’s Reign, this short-story will tell a heartfelt tale about a mother and son that will test their definition of love as they learn just how far they will go for family. |
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Theft of Fire by Devon Eriksen Discover SciFi #5 Best Book of 2023 Atomic Rockets Seal of Approval, for Excellence in Correct Science Prometheus Award Finalist for Best Novel Dragon Award for Best Scifi Novel Finalist “A great read — hard SF by a retired engineer.” —John Carmack, creator of Doom At the frozen edge of the solar system lies a hidden treasure which could spell their fortune or their destruction—but only if they survive each other first. Marcus Warnoc has a little problem. His asteroid mining ship—his inheritance, his livelihood, and his home—has been hijacked by a pint-sized corporate heiress with enough blackmail material to sink him for good, a secret mission she won’t tell him about, and enough courage to get them both killed. She may have him dead to rights, but if he doesn’t turn the tables on this spoiled Martian snob, he’ll be dead, period. He’s not giving up without a fight. He has a plan. Miranda Foxgrove has the opportunity of a lifetime almost within her grasp if she can reach it. Her stolen spacecraft came with a stubborn, resourceful captain who refuses to cooperate—but he’s one of the few men alive who can snatch an unimaginable treasure from beneath the muzzles of countless railguns. And if this foulmouthed Belter thug doesn’t want to cooperate, she’ll find a way to force him. She’s come too far to give up now. She has a plan. They’re about to find out that a plan is a list of things that won’t happen. |
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The Snow Thief’s Amulet by Rowan Redfield An ice-elf seeking redemption. An assassin with hidden magic. A promise struck in blood. Nivia's god is dead, and she is responsible. A magic amulet could redeem Nivia and free her people, the ice-elves, but first she'll have to go through the Queen of Mammoth North. And Nivia may be a thief, but she's no assassin. Mysterious ice-magic thrums in Thane's veins. But assassin life never allowed him a chance to seek answers to his ability, until now. After a heist gone wrong, Thane discovers that the one who might hold the answer to his magic is none other but his mortal enemy: an ice-elf, seeking an amulet. A reluctant bargain is struck, and the heist for the amulet begins. But the bad blood between Thane and Nivia turns to undeniable attraction, and their seething desire begins to melt the ice. |
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The Way of the Wizard by Michael Michel Even gods have their beginnings. Mine starts in the chasm between worlds. In the blink of eternity between life and death. If you wish to follow, let this be your road. First, join your brethren–those others who seek the Power. They are your allies and the key to your success. They will almost certainly try to kill you. Second, slay a wizard and claim their topknot. Be smart, be quick, and never hesitate. They’re the most dangerous creatures alive. If destiny does not favor you, your bones will be added to the piles beneath their feet. Third, acquire the hidden location of the Spirit Gardens. Secrets are worth more than kingdoms. Protect them at all costs or your enemies will win, and you will die. But above all, never look back. Godhood is the goal. If you have the courage and ambition to do so, read on. Your path to power awaits. |
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The Forest Where the Phoenix Sleeps by Brooke Marley Jones Walking home late one night, burned-out barista Nell accidentally incinerates someone. Whoopsie! Now, if this tale began in a fantastic, far-away land, or Nell were, perhaps, a wizard, such a mishap might make some kind of sense. But this is not a wondrous, fantasy world. This is real life, and Nell just wanted to go home and eat macaroni. As Nell stares upon the smoldering corpse, she realizes something with horrifying certainty: She’s magic. And not the cute, pulling-a-rabbit-from-a-hat kind of magic. Unfortunately, during Nell’s little outburst, she suffers a mortal injury. Fortunately, Darragh, a rugged and magical outcast, witnessed the entire incident. To save Nell’s life, Darragh whisks her away to a world where magic reigns. However, as is so often the case with magic, it comes at a price. In this harsh world, the entities that lurk in the darkest corners of Nell's nightmares await her in hungry anticipation. As Nell and Darragh vanquish monsters and ghouls, their affections for one another take root. Just when this treacherous tale is beginning to look like a love story, Darragh is captured by a wretched, cadaverous queen. Now, it’s up to Nell to save him The Forest Where the Phoenix Sleeps boasts portal magic reminiscent of A Darker Shade of Magic, the romance of A Court of Thorns and Roses, the action-packed adventure of Daughter of the Moon Goddess, and the humour of Tress of the Emerald Sea. |
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Shadow Road by A. E. Pennymaker Brenorra Warring's father is going crazy. That's the only conclusion Bren can come to when a fire destroys everything they own, and his only answer is to take a job in the uncivilized Coalition Colonial Region on the other side of the ocean. Then disaster strikes again, and Bren is left with nothing but the clothes on her back, the things in her father's satchel, and the discovery that he was lying about his reasons for leaving. When more of her father's secrets are revealed, it becomes clear that someone powerful is killing innocent people to keep those secrets hidden — and they are hunting for Bren. Now on the run, Bren is pulled into an alliance with two very different men. The first is fighting to bring down the same shadow organization stalking her, no matter the cost. The other is a brilliant but icy war hero who has been branded a wanted man by the enemy. With danger rising on every side, Bren must solve her father's trail of coded messages before the last of his secrets fall into the wrong hands. In the process, she will have to rewrite everything she once knew about her life, and reveal strengths she never thought she had. |
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Under the Dragon Moon by Mawce Hanlin To break the thread of weaver’s fate, those who witness must weave anew… Mael Nguyen doesn’t believe in fate, but he does believe in magic. His entire life revolves around the study of the arcane—spells and rituals, potions and illusions. As far as Mael is concerned, all he needs is a book in one hand and magic in the other. Anything outside of his bookshop, hidden away in the streets of New Orleans, isn’t worth his attention. But when a strange human stumbles into his life and hires him for a job, bringing along his blinding smile and curious magic, Mael finds that Fate is just as dangerous as Magic. Leo Greyson refuses to believe in fate, but he desperately wishes to believe in magic. As a small time rockstar, full time radio host, Leo has never been one to shy away from experience and adventure. He’s always lived his life on the edge—always moving, never standing still. But when his twin sister is murdered, and he gains custody of her strangely magical daughter, that constant motion comes to a screeching halt. Instead, he is launched into an entirely new world hidden right beneath his nose, and Leo finds himself wondering if Fate really does exist, and if she’s led him right where he needs to be. A queer take on magic, murder, and romance, fans of The Dresden Files, Howls Moving Castle, and A Marvelous Light will find family, acceptance, and a fantastical new world to get lost in within the pages of Under the Dragon Moon, the first book in the Belamour Archives Saga. |
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Injustice For All by Jeremy D Savage Damon, a man on death row, finds himself with little time left. He meets his new psychiatrist, Doctor Emily Zurig, who is there to help him find peace before his final days, and convinces her to help him find the truth. While she is initially reluctant, through their sessions, she begins to see Damon in a different light. With the help of her superstar detective husband, Evan Zurig, they work to find the truth about the murders that Damon has been sentenced for. While Damon works to find peace, through fighting the demons of his past, he struggles to understand what it all means and what it's all for. He begins to lose faith as the time gets closer to his death. The ultimate questions arise: Should he even fight anymore? What's the point? Doctor Zurig and her husband work diligently to put the pieces together, but will it be too late? |
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Undead Samurai by Baptiste Pinson Wu Japan, 1625 A new Drum Master has risen, and soon the nation will fall to the curse of Izanagi. Answering the call of his kotsuzumi, dead warriors abandon their peace to once again roam the land of the living, swinging rusty blades and chattering rotten teeth at his behest. Japan’s last hope lies in the hands of the nine warriors gathered by the young daimyō of Owari. To reach Onijima, where the source of the curse’s power awaits, the Nine will not only have to face swarms of undead samurai and waves of shinobi mercenaries but even more dangerous to their mission, their inner demons. Against the undead, the Nine only have two choices, fighting as one or becoming them. |
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The Secrets That They Keep by T.M. Lore The Secrets That They Keep is a gritty and dark thriller with morally complex characters. Alyx Beck is caught in a nasty web. Driven by her determination to care for her neurodivergent twin brother she navigates a treacherous world where sex and money intertwine. As events spiral, both their lives hang in the balance and survival becomes the ultimate goal. Sometimes for the fly to survive it must kill the spider. Alyx has to fake it several times a day. Fake the desire, the lust, and the orgasms. What she doesn't have to fake is her love for her neurodivergent twin brother or her allegiance to her employer. She'll do whatever her handler requires of her. They've taken care of her since her parents died tragically, and they've never steered her wrong. They pay her well so she can care for her brother's needs, too. However, when Alyx's driver/bodyguard-and only friend- Sasha, goes missing with $100K, her devotion can no longer shield her from her handler's wrath. As events spiral Alyx realizes-a little too late-that she has been backing the wrong people. She's caught in a sticky web and there is only one way out-but she may have to get a little blood on her hands.It's Promising Young Woman meets Filthy Rich, with a touch of Haunting Adeline, Gone Girl, and Luckiest Girl Alive.This dark thriller has a female protagonist, neurodivergent and LGBTQ+ characters |
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Caroline's Heart by Austin Chant Caroline is dead, leaving her lover with nothing but the clockwork heart that once beat in her chest. But Cecily, a witch of unconventional reputation, is not one to be defeated by the laws of nature. After years of careful assembly, her resurrection spell is nearly complete and grows more powerful by the day. When Cecily meets Roy, a soft-spoken cowboy who shares a strange kinship with Caroline, Cecily thinks she's finally found the key to bringing her lover back-but when Roy is mortally wounded, she finds herself torn between finishing the resurrection spell and saving the life of a stranger. A queer Weird West romance by the author of Peter Darling in a new, expanded edition. |
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No Place for Peace by Tom Dumbrell As Cyrus rides away from the safety of his family in Highcastle to face his destiny in cunning King Simeon's kingdom, Augustus braces himself for the arrival of a new threat: an invading army is coming for the capital. Easthaven's young king will need the support of those closest to him if there is any hope of saving not just the city but their kingdom. Will Thaddeus and Adaline be able to guide Augustus toward victory, or will a magnetic new influence cloud his judgement? What fate awaits Cyrus in Auldhaven, and is there more to Simeon than meets the eye? As Cyrus's journey takes him farther from home than ever before, his future will become more unpredictable. The outcome seems destined to be explosive. War is coming, but the fiercest battles are often fought within. |
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The Death Bringer (The Tharassas Cycle Book 4) by J. Scott Coatsworth Aik will never be the same … and neither will his world. War is coming. Aik has become the Progenitor, and the Seed Mother has released him to transform the world for her alien brood. Silya and Raven, Aik’s former friends, are the only ones who can save him and the world. But what if the cure is worse than the invasion? As Silya rushes to prepare Gullton for the battle to come, she’s determined to save as many people as she can. But new crises emerge that demand her attention. Raven has his own hands full, keeping the dragon-like verent in line, while helping Silya to save the world. But what if the only way to do so is to sacrifice Aik, the man that he loves? It’s the end of the world … or could it be the start of something new? |
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Fate's Long Shadow by Marcela Carbo Her power was born of a giant's rage. One wrong word could seal her fate. Jassae is destined to wield the dark sorcery of the Mornae. First, she must master her own goddess gift: the power of peace and harmony. Â Enslaved by brutal giants as a child, she finds herself at the center of their political struggle to determine their next chief. Â Ancient grudges fester. War is inevitable. Jassae's survival depends on developing her power to manipulate their rage and put her own master on the chieftain's throne. Can she endure their savagery long enough to fulfill her own destiny as a Mornae priestess? A dark coming-of-age story for readers of character-driven stories in a high fantasy setting. This book is a standalone but also part of a larger story world. |
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A Good Rush of Blood by Matt Phillips A mother's sins haunt a teenage runaway in this scorching mystery of criminal conspiracy, street-level justice, and unlikely courage. Creeley Nash has been running her entire life. That includes running drugs for a wannabe kingpin. On a drug run to Palm Springs—the town where Creeley escaped her no-good mother as a teen—she’ll encounter a sun-drenched facade beneath which lurks a web of dark secrets. A Good Rush of Blood follows Creeley as she unravels the mystery of her estranged mother’s murder conviction. Peopled with bent cops, grizzled reporters, hardened drug dealers, eccentric sidekicks and sexy librarians, this sweaty, fast-paced neo-noir finds stellar noir scribe Matt Phillips (Countdown, Know Me from Smoke) at the apex of his dirty, lethal game. |
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The Thirteenth Daughter by E. O'Meagher With the Thirteenth it will begin… Three centuries ago a Seer spoke of the birth of a witch, her magic an omen of change. It was believed the vision would never come to pass. Soon age-old secrets will reveal how wrong they were. For the thirteenth daughter is about to come into her power… Emaleth Boswell comes from a long line of powerful witches. And for generations they’ve been stalked by a prediction uttered from a long-dead Seer. An inescapable burden since before Em was born, but she–like those before her–has learned to live with it. For twenty-years Em has hidden in a normal life. Ordinary has been her safeguard. She doesn’t have time to worry about an old prophecy: she has grad school to consider, a resume to update, and a travel bucket list to complete with her best friend. Her plan doesn’t involve stepping outside her comfortably simple life. The dawning of her twenty-first birthday, however, could bring an end to her carefully crafted routine. Em has done everything she can to prepare for this eventuality. But, after a chance encounter during a night out, her shield of normalcy is shattered and she’s thrown into a deadly struggle she wasn’t prepared for. Desperate to protect those she loves, Em must embrace the power she’s buried her entire life and risk losing herself. The fight for control is just the beginning… |
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Vanilla Blood: A Novella by S.L. Baron One night changes everything… Livia Hart is a woman gutted by tragedy. Craving escape from her grief and guilt, she travels to Europe for the vacation she's dreamt about for years. In a London pub, she meets a handsome stranger, Lucian Llewellyn. Lucian promises her an unforgettable night of bliss…and more: the gift of immortality, to be reborn as a vampire. Livia embraces her new role as a powerful predator, hiding in plain sight and preying on the dregs of human society—rapists, murderers, abusers. She’s welcomed into a world where vampires refuse to mourn their existence. But secrets from Lucian’s past threaten Livia’s newfound happiness. Can she survive in her new life knowing the truth? Or will the revelations condemn her to an eternity of regret? |
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The Goddess of Nothing At All by Cat Rector A dark fantasy Norse myth retelling for fans of Circe, The Witch's Heart, and The Silence of the Girls

Perhaps you know the myths.
Furious, benevolent Gods.
A tree that binds nine realms.
A hammer stronger than any weapon.
And someday, the end of everything.
But few have heard of me. Looking back, it’s easy to know what choices I might have made differently. At least it feels that way. I might have given up on my title. Told my father he was useless, king of Gods or no, and left Asgard. Made a life somewhere else.
Maybe I would never have let Loki cross my path. Never have fallen in love.
But there’s no going back.
We were happy once.
And the price for that happiness was the end of everything. |
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What Manner of Man by St John Starling What would tempt you to sin? A sweet and naïve priest at war with his desires, tormented by nightly dreams of a wicked demon. A vampire lord forced to do the unthinkable, battling needs he can scarcely control. Father Ardelian has been summoned to a distant, secluded island to perform an exorcism. What will happen when he begins to suspect his host — the mysterious, nocturnal lord of the manor — of wanting him for another reason entirely? Will the piously celibate priest be able to resist his monstrous host’s diabolically seductive charms? What Manner of Man is a blasphemous queer horror romance about a priest and a vampire, inspired by Bram Stoker’s Dracula. A tale of forbidden love with themes of devil worship, demonic possession, and human sacrifice — this is the long-awaited completed version of the widely beloved story which rose to fame and fortune in the form of a newsletter! |
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The Red Woman and the White Bear by Fern A. Ellis It is both the fate and the burden of the Red Woman to bring peace. The Fae are real—this is a fact that Aisling Morrow has believed with varying degrees of certainty since she was a child. Her late mother’s accounts of their beauty still linger in her mind, but always with the caveat: Do not involve yourself uninvited with matters of the Fae. Aisling has no plans to do so—until she discovers an arcane prophecy which names her the Red Woman, destined to turn the tides of war in the realm of WyldraĂocht by ensuring the fall of the Unseelie Court. On a quest to understand her role, Aisling ventures into WyldraĂocht. Except Fae prophecies aren’t so easily interpreted, and she is soon ensnared in a dangerous web of political machinations, opposing religions, and dark magic—at the center of which stands the fierce and vengeful Unseelie King. King Kael Ardhen, a vessel for raw power bestowed upon him by an eldritch god, is consumed by his own unbridled rage—a rage which he would not hesitate to turn on the human woman prophesied to destroy his court. Yet something about the way Aisling calls to his shadows draws him in, at once both granting him control over his violent magic and inviting him to relinquish control over his guarded heart. As unsettling truths about the world her mother so loved challenge Aisling’s convictions and call into question the true purpose of the Red Woman, the Veil between realms grows ever weaker with the echoes of war. Soon, the crueler sorts of Fae will no longer be confined to WyldraĂocht. With time running out to protect those she loves, Aisling finds herself at the crossroads of fate and choice—and the ultimate price of peace may demand more than she is willing to pay. |
