Artist's daughter Penelope Keeling can look back on a full and varied life: a Bohemian childhood in London and Cornwall, an unhappy wartime marriage, and the one man she truly loved. She has brought up three children - and learned to accept them as they are. Yet she is far too energetic and independent to settle sweetly into pensioned-off old-age.
And when she discovers that her most treasured possession, her father's painting, The Shell Seekers, is now worth a small fortune, it is Penelope who must make the decisions that will determine whether her family can continue to survive as a family, or be split apart.
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.
As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.
A God in Ruins is the stunning companion to Kate Atkinson's #1 bestseller Life After Life. In this novel, Atkinson shifts her focus to Ursula Todd's beloved younger brother, Teddy—a would-be poet, RAF bomber pilot, husband, and father—who navigates the perils and progress of the 20th century.
For all Teddy endures in battle, his greatest challenge is living in a future he never expected to have. The narrative switches back and forth in time, exploring Teddy's childhood memories and his post-war life as he grapples with a rapidly changing world and family dynamics.
This ingenious and moving exploration of one ordinary man's path through extraordinary times proves once again that Kate Atkinson is one of the finest novelists of our age. A God in Ruins is a poignant reflection on the loss of innocence, the transition from war to peace, and the enduring power of family bonds.
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage is the remarkable story of Tsukuru Tazaki, a young man haunted by a great loss; of dreams and nightmares that have unintended consequences for the world around us; and of a journey into the past that is necessary to mend the present. This novel gives us a story of love, friendship, and heartbreak for the ages.
Tsukuru Tazaki had four best friends at school, each of whom had a name that contained a color. The boys were Akamatsu, meaning 'red pine,' and Oumi, 'blue sea,' while the girls were Shirane, 'white root,' and Kurono, 'black field.' Tazaki's name was the only one without a color. One day, his friends suddenly announced that they did not want to see him or talk to him again. Since that day, Tsukuru has been floating through life, unable to form intimate connections with anyone. But then he meets Sara, who tells him that it is time to discover what happened all those years ago.
Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth... but he is not alone. Every other man, woman, and child on Earth has become a vampire, and they are all hungry for Neville's blood.
By day, he is the hunter, stalking the sleeping undead through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for dawn.
How long can one man survive in a world of vampires?
This collection includes the following stories:
Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble; it has been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems beside the point now. Maybe that was always beside the point.
Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn't expect him to pack up the kids and go home without her.
When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.
That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts...Is that what she’s supposed to do? Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?
Since You've Been Gone explores the story of Emily, a quiet teenager whose sociable and daring best friend, Sloane, has vanished, leaving behind nothing but a random list of bizarre tasks. Emily would never normally consider completing these tasks, but with the unexpected assistance from popular classmate Frank Porter, she decides to give them a try.
The summer that follows is one of self-discovery and adventure as Emily embarks on each task, hoping that they might somehow lead her to Sloane. What starts as an intimidating challenge becomes an exciting journey that pushes Emily out of her comfort zone and into a series of firsts that could change her life forever.
The Cask of Amontillado is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe and first published in the November 1846 issue of Godey's Lady's Book. The story is set in a nameless Italian city during an unspecified year, possibly in the eighteenth century, and concerns the deadly revenge taken by the narrator on a friend who he claims has insulted him.
Like several of Poe's stories, and in keeping with the 19th-century fascination with the subject, the narrative revolves around a person being buried alive – in this case, by immurement.
When Gia Montgomery's boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school prom, she has to think fast. After all, she'd been telling her friends about him for months now. This was supposed to be the night she proved he existed.
So when she sees a cute guy waiting to pick up his sister, she enlists his help. The task is simple: be her fill-in boyfriend—two hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. After that, she can win back the real Bradley.
The problem is that days after prom, it's not the real Bradley she's thinking about, but the stand-in. The one whose name she doesn't even know. But tracking him down doesn't mean they're done faking a relationship. Gia owes him a favor and his sister intends to see that he collects: his ex-girlfriend's graduation party—three hours, zero commitment, a few white lies.
Just when Gia begins to wonder if she could turn her fake boyfriend into a real one, Bradley comes waltzing back into her life, exposing her lie, and threatening to destroy her friendships and her new-found relationship.
The Night Gardener follows two abandoned Irish siblings who travel to work as servants at a creepy, crumbling English manor house. But the house and its family are not quite what they seem. Soon, the children are confronted by a mysterious spectre and an ancient curse that threatens their very lives.
With Auxier’s exquisite command of language, The Night Gardener is a mesmerizing read and a classic in the making.
Maia D’Apliese and her five sisters gather together at their childhood home, “Atlantis”—a fabulous, secluded castle situated on the shores of Lake Geneva—having been told that their beloved father, who adopted them all as babies, has died. Each of them is handed a tantalizing clue to her true heritage—a clue which takes Maia across the world to a crumbling mansion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Once there, she begins to put together the pieces of her story and its beginnings.
Eighty years earlier in Rio’s Belle Epoque of the 1920s, Izabela Bonifacio’s father has aspirations for his daughter to marry into the aristocracy. Meanwhile, architect Heitor da Silva Costa is devising plans for an enormous statue, to be called Christ the Redeemer, and will soon travel to Paris to find the right sculptor to complete his vision. Izabela—passionate and longing to see the world—convinces her father to allow her to accompany him and his family to Europe before she is married. There, at Paul Landowski’s studio and in the heady, vibrant cafes of Montparnasse, she meets ambitious young sculptor Laurent Brouilly, and knows at once that her life will never be the same again.
In this sweeping, epic tale of love and loss—the first in a unique, spellbinding series of seven novels—Lucinda Riley showcases her storytelling talent like never before.
Lily St. Claire is a southern girl, born and raised, with a soft spot in her heart for Baton Rouge. But when she returns after being out of town for a few years, she finds that things have changed. Hurricane Katrina rearranged the city’s face, there are more people, the streets are meaner, and most importantly, the boy she had a crush on her entire childhood is all grown up. In a big, bad way.
Daniel Kane is the youngest police chief Baton Rouge has ever known. Standing well over two meters high, with a hard body, jet black hair that needs a cut, eyes like blue slate, and a quick mind, not much gets past him. But what could hold more sway than a handsome, young, competent chief of police? A handsome, young, competent chief of police who also happens to be a werewolf. And not just any werewolf, but an alpha.
Yet, all that power doesn’t seem to mean a damn thing when it comes to claiming the one thing he wants more than anything on Earth – the girl who, as far as he is concerned, was meant for him: Lily St. Claire. Not only is Lily head-strong, independent, and more than a little capable of slipping through his tightly gripped fingers, it turns out, Daniel’s not the only one who’s ready to claim her as his mate. And as bad luck would have it for Chief Kane, his competition is also an alpha werewolf. And a notorious cold-blooded killer.
When sixteen-year-old Eden Munro agrees to spend the summer with her estranged father in the beachfront city of Santa Monica, California, she has no idea what she’s letting herself in for. Eden's parents are divorced and have gone their separate ways, and now her father has a brand new family. For Eden, this means she's about to meet three new step-brothers.
The eldest of the three is Tyler Bruce, a troubled teenager with a short temper and a huge ego. Complete polar opposites, Eden quickly finds herself thrust into a world full of new experiences as Tyler's group of friends take her under their wing. But the one thing she just can't understand is Tyler, and the more she presses to figure out the truth about him, the more she finds herself falling for the one person she shouldn't – her step-brother.
Throw in Tyler's clingy girlfriend and a guy who has his eyes set on Eden, and there's secrets, lies and a whole lot of drama. But how can Eden keep her feelings under control? And can she ever work out the truth about Tyler?
An Ember in the Ashes tells the gripping tale of Laia, a slave, and Elias, a soldier, both of whom are shackled in their own ways under the oppressive Martial Empire. In a society where defiance against the Empire equates to a death sentence, Laia resides with her grandparents and older brother in the impoverished backstreets, living a life of fear and subjugation.
Their fragile existence is shattered when Laia's brother is taken prisoner for treason. Faced with his impending execution, Laia makes a perilous choice to seek aid from rebels who vow to save her brother. In return, she must infiltrate the Empire's premier military academy as a spy. It is within these walls that she encounters Elias, the academy's most distinguished—and most reluctant—soldier.
As Laia embarks on her dangerous mission, her path intertwines with that of Elias, leading them both to question their roles in a society rife with tyranny and injustice. Their decisions will have far-reaching consequences, not just for their own fates, but for the future of the entire Empire.
You will have a powerful Gift, but it’s how you use it that will show you to be good or bad.
In a modern-day England where two warring factions of witches live amongst humans, seventeen-year-old Nathan is an abomination, the illegitimate son of the world's most powerful and violent witch. Nathan is hunted from all sides: nowhere is safe and no one can be trusted.
Now, Nathan has come into his own unique magical Gift, and he's on the run—but the Hunters are close behind, and they will stop at nothing until they have captured Nathan and destroyed his father.
Reviled for his half-witch status, Nathan discovers his own magical Gift while fleeing Hunters who would also destroy his father. Nathan's only hope of survival is to join with new allies and old enemies in an alliance to bring down the Council, and they want Nathan's help: they, too, want Nathan to be a killer. Maybe that is the only way out. Maybe that is just who he is now…
For more than a decade, Jenna Metcalf has never stopped thinking about her mother, Alice, who mysteriously disappeared in the wake of a tragic accident. Refusing to believe she was abandoned, Jenna searches for her mother regularly online and pores over the pages of Alice’s old journals. A scientist who studied grief among elephants, Alice wrote mostly of her research among the animals she loved, yet Jenna hopes the entries will provide a clue to her mother’s whereabouts.
As Jenna’s memories dovetail with the events in her mother’s journals, the story races to a mesmerizing finish.
Aza Ray Boyle has always been unique, defined by a mysterious lung disease that makes it increasingly difficult for her to breathe, speak, and live. Her life takes a turn when she glimpses a ship in the sky. While her family dismisses it as a medication-induced hallucination, Aza knows it's real. She can hear someone calling her name from the ship.
Her best friend, Jason, is the only one who believes her. Jason has always been there for Aza, and she harbors feelings for him that might be more than just friendly. But before she can explore these feelings, something goes terribly wrong.
Aza is lost to our world and found by another—Magonia. Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza discovers she is not the weak and dying girl she once was. In Magonia, she can breathe freely for the first time, and she possesses immense power.
As Aza navigates her new life in Magonia, she learns of an impending war between Magonia and Earth. The fate of humanity, including the boy who loves her, lies in her hands. Aza must decide where her loyalties truly lie.
After Mario Puzo wrote his internationally acclaimed The Godfather, he has often been imitated but never equaled. Puzo's classic novel, The Sicilian, stands as a cornerstone of his work—a lushly romantic, unforgettable tale of bloodshed, justice, and treachery.
The year is 1950. Michael Corleone is nearing the end of his exile in Sicily. The Godfather has commanded Michael to bring a young Sicilian bandit named Salvatore Giuliano back with him to America. But Giuliano is a man entwined in a bloody web of violence and vendettas. In Sicily, Giuliano is a modern-day Robin Hood who has defied corruption—and defied the Cosa Nostra.
Now, in the land of mist-shrouded mountains and ancient ruins, Michael Corleone's fate is entwined with the dangerous legend of Salvatore Giuliano: warrior, lover, and the ultimate Siciliano.
Master Dung's study was silent. So silent, in fact, that one might have been able to hear a gnat passing air, if only an obligingly flatulent gnat had happened nearby.
The Scriptlings is the unlikely, yet strangely charismatic lovechild you would expect if Magic and Science were to have one too many drinks during a stand-up comedy show in Vegas.
In short, it follows the story of Merkin and Buggeroff, two magician apprentices in a world where magicians are capitalists, computers are quasi-magical, and goats are sometimes invisible - all under the watchful eye of a wandering tribe of monosyllabic demigods.
Everyone wants to be me. Maybe it’s the sway of my skirt or the way I flip my hair, but I don’t care. Even though their attention is the last thing I crave, I just can’t stop. I dominate the track, the speed rattles my bones, and the wind and the crowd screams my name.
I’m her. The girl driver. The queen of the race. And I’m surviving—something he thought I’d never do. They all talk about him. Did you see Jared Trent on T.V? What did you think of his last race, Tate? When is he coming back to town, Tate?
But I refuse to care too much. Because when Jared does come home, I won’t be here. Tatum Brandt is gone. I’m someone new.
Every girl has that one guy...that one guy who steals her heart and never gives it back.
We were all friends...until we weren't. We depended on each other...until we couldn't. We were in love...until we were ripped apart. We moved on...even when we didn't want to let go.
This is our love story.
This standalone novel contains material that some may find disturbing. Intended for mature readers only.
In the Bone there is a house.
In the house, there is a girl.
In the girl, there is a darkness.
Margo is not like other girls. She lives in a derelict neighborhood called the Bone, in a cursed house, with her cursed mother, who hasn’t spoken to her in over two years. She lives her days feeling invisible.
It’s not until she develops a friendship with her wheelchair-bound neighbor, Judah Grant, that things begin to change. When neighborhood girl, seven-year-old Neveah Anthony, goes missing, Judah sets out to help Margo uncover what happened to her.
Magic, adventure, mystery, and romance combine in this epic debut in which a young princess must reclaim her dead mother’s throne, learn to be a ruler—and defeat the Red Queen, a powerful and malevolent sorceress determined to destroy her.
On her nineteenth birthday, Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, raised in exile, sets out on a perilous journey back to the castle of her birth to ascend her rightful throne. Plain and serious, a girl who loves books and learning, Kelsea bears little resemblance to her mother, the vain and frivolous Queen Elyssa. But though she may be inexperienced and sheltered, Kelsea is not defenseless: Around her neck hangs the Tearling sapphire, a jewel of immense magical power; and accompanying her is the Queen’s Guard, a cadre of brave knights led by the enigmatic and dedicated Lazarus. Kelsea will need them all to survive a cabal of enemies who will use every weapon—from crimson-caped assassins to the darkest blood magic—to prevent her from wearing the crown.
Despite her royal blood, Kelsea feels like nothing so much as an insecure girl, a child called upon to lead a people and a kingdom about which she knows almost nothing. But what she discovers in the capital will change everything, confronting her with horrors she never imagined. An act of singular daring will throw Kelsea’s kingdom into tumult, unleashing the vengeance of the tyrannical ruler of neighboring Mortmesne: the Red Queen, a sorceress possessed of the darkest magic. Now Kelsea will begin to discover whom among the servants, aristocracy, and her own guard she can trust.
But the quest to save her kingdom and meet her destiny has only just begun—a wondrous journey of self-discovery and a trial by fire that will make her a legend... if she can survive.
This book will be a beautifully designed package with illustrated endpapers, a map of the Tearling, and a ribbon marker.
What if you realized the terrifying book you were reading was all about you?
Disclaimer is a brilliantly conceived, deeply disturbing psychological thriller about a woman haunted by secrets—and the price she will pay for concealing the truth.
When a mysterious novel appears at Catherine Ravenscroft's bedside, she is curious. She has no idea who might have sent her The Perfect Stranger—or how it ended up on her nightstand. At first, she is intrigued by the suspenseful story that unfolds.
And then she realizes. This isn't fiction. The Perfect Stranger recreates in vivid, unmistakable detail the day Catherine became hostage to a dark secret, a secret that only one other person knew—and that person is dead.
Now that the past Catherine so desperately wants to forget is catching up with her, her world is falling apart. Plunged into a living nightmare, she knows that her only hope is to confront what really happened on that terrible day... even if the shocking truth might destroy her.
As a sadomasochist, Sade just wants to get and give pain in manageable and somewhat legal doses. All Mercy wants is to walk in her father's footsteps—a man who sacrificed everything to save her from a life of abuse and suffering. When Mercy finds an envelope on her doorstep leading her to Sade, the result is a collision of pain and mercy. For Sade, Mercy's kindness is dessert for his sadism, and her strength has his masochism hot and begging. Exploiting both for his own pleasure is his plan until he realizes that Mercy's got her own game. And playing it requires something he's never had.
We Walker women were born screaming into this world, the beginning of a lifelong quest to find what would quiet us. But whatever drove us away was never stronger than the pull of what brought us back.
When Vivien Walker left her home in the Mississippi Delta, she swore never to go back, as generations of the women in her family had. But in the spring, nine years to the day since she’d left, that’s exactly what happens—Vivien returns, fleeing from a broken marriage and her lost dreams for children.
What she hopes to find is solace with "Bootsie," her dear grandmother who raised her, a Walker woman with a knack for making everything all right. But instead she finds that her grandmother has died and that her estranged mother is drifting further away from her memories.
Now Vivien is forced into the unexpected role of caretaker, challenging her personal quest to find the girl she herself once was. But for Vivien things change in ways she cannot imagine when a violent storm reveals the remains of a long-dead woman buried near the Walker home, not far from the cypress swamp that is soon to give up its ghosts.
Vivien knows there is now only one way to rediscover herself—by uncovering the secrets of her family and breaking the cycle of loss that has haunted them for generations.
The most valuable lesson Emerson Moore ever learned was from her parents: Never get too attached to someone else. That’s why this hard-partying college student plays by her own code of bedroom conduct, refusing to stay with the same guy for too long. She gets all the pleasure of having a good time without the messiness of a relationship. So what if frat house–hopping has earned her a certain reputation around campus? At least no one gets hurt this way—especially her.
When ridiculously gorgeous Jaxon Riley moves in next door, Emerson’s not sure how long her vow against emotional intimacy can last. Jaxon’s tattoo, muscles, and sexy voice make him tempting, but he also seems to really understand her…until his jealous ex-girlfriend and Emerson’s life-changing discovery about her parents get thrown into the mix.
After everything she’s been through, can Emerson handle a real relationship? Or will breaking her rules just lead to a broken heart?
Cruel Beauty is a dazzling fantasy novel that intertwines the romance of Beauty and the Beast with the adventure of Graceling, creating a story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny. This gorgeously written debut is perfect for fans of An Ember in the Ashes and A Court of Thorns and Roses.
Betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom, Nyx has always known her fate was to marry him, kill him, and free her people from his tyranny. But on her seventeenth birthday, when she moves into his castle high on the kingdom's mountaintop, nothing is as she expected—particularly her charming and beguiling new husband. As Nyx tries to save her homeland, she must contend with her feelings for her sworn enemy, who has complicated her mission by stealing her heart.
FRIENDSHIP TO THE MAX! At Miss Qiunzilla Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet's camp for hard-core lady-types, things are not what they seem. Three-eyed foxes. Secret caves. Anagrams. Luckily, Jo, April, Mal, Molly, and Ripley are five rad, butt-kicking best pals determined to have an awesome summer together... And they're not gonna let a magical quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way!
The mystery keeps getting bigger, and it all begins here. Collects Lumberjanes No. 1-4.
Life is almost back to normal for Harper Price. The Ephors have been silent after their deadly attack at Cotillion months ago, and her best friend, Bee, has returned after a mysterious disappearance. Now Harper can focus on the important things in life: school, canoodling with David (her nemesis-turned-ward-slash-boyfie), and even competing in the Miss Pine Grove pageant.
Unfortunately, supernatural chores are never done. The Ephors have decided they’d rather train David than kill him. The catch: Harper has to come along for the ride, but she can’t stay David’s Paladin unless she undergoes an ancient trial that will either kill her . . . or make her more powerful than ever.
Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.
With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.
Once in a Blue Year is a rich, multilayered coming-of-age story that delves into the emotional cost of military life on the families and friends left behind. It follows the lives of Dan and Trevor, two Navy barracks roommates, as they navigate their romantic relationships and come to terms with a dramatic event at sea that forever altered their lives.
Dan is receiving a medical discharge from the Navy and, with nowhere else to go, heads to the home of his good friends Nathan and Heather. Trevor, a true submariner, finds himself stunned as he watches the girlfriends and wives wipe away their tears, left behind as his ship glides down the river.
This lyrical debut novel explores the afflicted mindsets of its Navy men, offering a psychological study that is both thrilling and deeply moving. The narrative captures the essence of their struggles as they search for identity and meaning after being cut from a submarine mission during the Gulf War.
Nothing about Saitama passes the eyeball test when it comes to superheroes, from his lifeless expression to his bald head to his unimpressive physique. However, this average-looking guy has a not-so-average problem—he just can't seem to find an opponent strong enough to take on!
Meanwhile, Class-S hero King is known as the strongest man on earth. Even monsters fear him. But when a mysterious organization sends an assassin after him, the shocking truth about King is revealed!
The Sympathizer explores a life between two worlds and examines the legacy of the Vietnam War in literature, film, and the wars we fight today.
It is April 1975, and Saigon is in chaos. At his villa, a general of the South Vietnamese army is drinking whiskey and, with the help of his trusted captain, drawing up a list of those who will be given passage aboard the last flights out of the country. The general and his compatriots start a new life in Los Angeles, unaware that one among their number, the captain, is secretly observing and reporting on the group to a higher-up in the Viet Cong.
The Sympathizer is the story of this captain: a man brought up by an absent French father and a poor Vietnamese mother, a man who went to university in America, but returned to Vietnam to fight for the Communist cause. A gripping spy novel, an astute exploration of extreme politics, and a moving love story.
Swan Song Like the rest of his family, Louis is a trumpeter swan. But unlike his four brothers and sisters, Louis can't trumpet joyfully. In fact, he can't even make a sound. And since he can't trumpet his love, the beautiful swan Serena pays absolutely no attention to him.
Louis tries everything he can think of to win Serena's affection—he even goes to school to learn to read and write. But nothing seems to work. Then his father steals him a real brass trumpet. Is a musical instrument the key to winning Louis his love?
One single mom. One chaotic family. One quirky stranger. One irresistible love story from the New York Times bestselling author of The Giver of Stars.
Suppose your life sucks. A lot. Your husband has done a vanishing act, your teenage stepson is being bullied, and your math whiz daughter has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you can’t afford to pay for. That’s Jess’s life in a nutshell—until an unexpected knight in shining armor offers to rescue them. Only Jess’s knight turns out to be Geeky Ed, the obnoxious tech millionaire whose vacation home she happens to clean.
But Ed has big problems of his own, and driving the dysfunctional family to the Math Olympiad feels like his first unselfish act in ages... maybe ever.
One Plus One is Jojo Moyes at her astounding best. You’ll laugh, you’ll weep, and when you flip the last page, you’ll want to start all over again.
Trez “Latimer” doesn’t really exist. And not just because the identity was created so that a Shadow could function in the underbelly of the human world. Sold by his parents to the Queen of the S’Hsibe as a child, Trez escaped the Territory and has been a pimp and an enforcer in Caldwell, NY for years—all the while on the run from a destiny of sexual servitude. He’s never had anyone he could totally rely on... except for his brother, iAm.
iAm’s sole goal has always been to keep his brother from self-destructing—and he knows he’s failed. It’s not until the Chosen Serena enters Trez’s life that the male begins to turn things around... but by then it’s too late. The pledge to mate the Queen’s daughter comes due and there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and no negotiating.
Trapped between his heart and a fate he never volunteered for, Trez must decide whether to endanger himself and others—or forever leave behind the female he’s in love with. But then an unimaginable tragedy strikes and changes everything. Staring out over an emotional abyss, Trez must find a reason to go on or risk losing himself and his soul forever.
And iAm, in the name of brotherly love, is faced with making the ultimate sacrifice...
To make Oz a free land again, Amy Gumm was given a mission: remove the Tin Woodman’s heart, steal the Scarecrow’s brain, take the Lion’s courage, and then Dorothy must die... But Dorothy still lives.
Now the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked has vanished, and mysterious Princess Ozma might be Amy’s only ally. As Amy learns the truth about her mission, she realizes that she’s only just scratched the surface of Oz’s past—and that Kansas, the home she couldn't wait to leave behind, may also be in danger.
In a place where the line between good and evil shifts with just a strong gust of wind, who can Amy trust—and who is really Wicked?
My name is Amy Gumm—and I’m the other girl from Kansas. After a tornado swept through my trailer park, I ended up in Oz. But it wasn’t like the Oz I knew from books and movies. Dorothy had returned, but she was now a ruthless dictator. Glinda could no longer be called the Good Witch. And the Wicked Witches who were left? They’d joined forces as the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked, and they wanted to recruit me. My mission? Kill Dorothy.
Except my job as assassin didn’t work out as planned. Dorothy is still alive. The Order has vanished. And the home I couldn’t wait to leave behind might be in danger. Somehow, across a twisted and divided land, I have to find the Order, protect the true ruler of Oz, take Dorothy and her henchmen down—and try to figure out what I’m really doing here.
Before:
Reena Montero has loved Sawyer LeGrande for as long as she can remember: as natural as breathing, as endless as time. But he's never seemed to notice that Reena even exists until one day, impossibly, he does. Reena and Sawyer fall in messy, complicated love. But then Sawyer disappears from their humid Florida town without a word, leaving a devastated—and pregnant—Reena behind.
After:
Almost three years have passed, and there's a new love in Reena's life: her daughter, Hannah. Reena's gotten used to being without Sawyer, and she's finally getting the hang of this strange, unexpected life. But just as swiftly and suddenly as he disappeared, Sawyer turns up again. Reena doesn't want anything to do with him, though she'd be lying if she said Sawyer's being back wasn't stirring something in her. After everything that's happened, can Reena really let herself love Sawyer LeGrande again?
In this breathtaking debut, Katie Cotugno weaves together the story of one couple falling in love—twice.
Listen — Travis Coates was alive once and then he wasn’t. Now he’s alive again. Simple as that.
The in-between part is still a little fuzzy, but he can tell you that, at some point or another, his head got chopped off and shoved into a freezer in Denver, Colorado. Five years later, it was reattached to some other guy’s body, and well, here he is.
Despite all logic, he’s still 16 and everything and everyone around him has changed. That includes his bedroom, his parents, his best friend, and his girlfriend. Or maybe she’s not his girlfriend anymore? That’s a bit fuzzy too.
Looks like if the new Travis and the old Travis are ever going to find a way to exist together, then there are going to be a few more scars.
Oh well, you only live twice.
A man without a name who called himself Pan wanted something more, something better. For as long as he could remember, something or someone was gnawing at him, calling him, draining him, making him hungry, making him strive for more, more of everything. Living the life and pursuing the happiness, Pan lived the "American Dream." Like so many cheerleaders, Pan worked hard to climb the ladder and he bought almost everything that "they" sold. Avoiding the questions and numbing the pain, Pan turned to drink and did drugs, he listened to loud music and had meaningless sex. He was a true consumer and a glutton until all the hedonism and all the materialism could no longer fill the void and help fulfill his life, his liberty and his pursuit of happiness. The sports cars and white picket fences of the picturesque dream were now blurry and misshapen. His dream was shattered and the cracks revealed. Now he waits and watches and fears for the future that he knows is so near. Living in the shadows and preparing for tomorrow, he hopes that he is wrong, but knows that he is right.
This seventh volume of the year's best science fiction and fantasy features over thirty stories by some of the genre's greatest authors, including Elizabeth Bear, Paul Cornell, Cory Doctorow, James Patrick Kelly, Yoon Ha Lee, Kelly Link, Ken Liu, Sandra MacDonald, K.J. Parker, Robert Reed, Peter Watts, and many others. Selecting the best fiction from Asimov's, Clarkesworld, F&SF, Lightspeed, Subterranean, and other top venues, The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy is your guide to magical realms and worlds beyond tomorrow.