I used to think that my life was boring. I resigned myself to the rut I was stuck in. Then my entire existence was turned upside down. In the last six months, I've learned things that would get me committed to an asylum if I repeated them. First, I was kidnapped by vampires. Yes, vampires. Sounds crazy, right? My best friend, Donna, became one of the fanged after that little adventure and hooked up with a hot, Scottish vampire named Conner. They're even planning a wedding. Secondly, I learned not all vampires are evil. In fact, some of them are downright sexy. Alexander Dimitriades has it all. He's tall, dark, and handsome and manages to give me tingles in all the right place and also make me laugh. Unfortunately, to be with him, I would have to give up my humanity and I like being human. Then, there's the fact that the whole drinking blood thing gives me the heebie jeebies. To make matters worse, there are plans in motion to change the place vampires hold in the human world. And I'm caught in the middle, between the vampire I'm falling in love with and a group that wants to create a vampire dictatorship, with humans as slaves. Now, all I want is my calm, normal life back. As my friend, Ricki, likes to say, "Be careful what you wish for because it might come and bite you on the ass." I hate it when she's right. *This work contains BDSM elements/themes, spanking, bondage, anal play, and a bossy, persistent Greek vampire.

Daughter of the Forest is a testimony to an incredible author's talent, a first novel and the beginning of a trilogy like no other: a mixture of history and fantasy, myth and magic, legend and love. Lord Colum of Sevenwaters is blessed with six sons: Liam, a natural leader; Diarmid, with his passion for adventure; twins Cormack and Conor, each with a different calling; rebellious Finbar, grown old before his time by his gift of the Sight; and the young, compassionate Padriac. But it is Sorcha, the seventh child and only daughter, who alone is destined to defend her family and protect her land from the Britons and the clan known as Northwoods. For her father has been bewitched, and her brothers bound by a spell that only Sorcha can lift. To reclaim the lives of her brothers, Sorcha leaves the only safe place she has ever known, and embarks on a journey filled with pain, loss, and terror. When she is kidnapped by enemy forces and taken to a foreign land, it seems that there will be no way for her to break the spell that condemns all that she loves. But magic knows no boundaries, and Sorcha will have to choose between the life she has always known and a love that comes only once. Juliet Marillier is a rare talent, a writer who can imbue her characters and her story with such warmth, such heart, that no reader can come away from her work untouched. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Kalypso Deed is a shotgun, riding the interface between the AI Ganesh and human scientists who solve problems through cyberassisted Dreams. But she's young and a little careless; she'd rather mix drinks and play jazz. Azamat Marcsson is a colorless statistician: middle-aged, boring, and obsessed with microorganisms. A first-class nonentity - until one of his Dreams implodes, taking Kalypso with it. Now Ganesh is crashing, and nothing could be worse. For on the planet T'nane, it is the AI alone that keeps the colonists alive, eking out a grim existence in an environment inimical to human life. To save the colony, Kalypso must persuade Marcsson to finish the Dream that is destroying Ganesh. But Marcsson has gone mad, and T'nane itself has plans for them both that will alter their minds-and their world - forever.

In this conclusion to the Psammead Trilogy, Cyril, Anthea, Robert, and Jane are reunited with the cantankerous Sand-fairy. While the old creature can’t grant them wishes anymore, it points them towards an old Egyptian amulet that can grant their hearts’ desire—in this case the return of their parents and baby brother. While their amulet is only half of a whole, it still acts as a time portal which they use to visit locales like Ancient Egypt, Babylon, Atlantis, and even a utopian future in search of the missing other half. Perhaps one of E. Nesbit’s most personal works, The Story of the Amulet benefited from her interest in the ancient world, particularly Egypt. With the help of A. E. Wallis Budge, to whom the book is dedicated—then Head of the Assyrian Departments of the British Museum and translator of the Egyptian Book of the Dead—she conducted extensive research on the topic and is thus able to bring an exquisite attention to detail. For example, the titular amulet is shaped after the tyet, an Egyptian symbol also known as the “knot of Isis.” Likewise, the inscription at the back of the amulet is written in authentic Egyptian hieroglyphs. A staunch supporter of democratic socialism and a founding member of the Fabian Society, E. Nesbit cultivated friendships with other like-minded writers, such as George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells, whose influence on this book is easy to notice. She practiced what she preached, so much so that despite her literary successes, her acts of charity brought her close to bankruptcy. These political beliefs are prominently displayed in the book. The children encounter memorable characters during their adventures, chief among them the Queen of Babylon, who causes quite a stir when she later pays them a call in their contemporary London. When the visiting Queen witnesses the squalid living conditions of the London working class, she’s amazed at how poorly they’re treated compared to the slaves of her own Babylon. Likewise, the utopian future—which features a wink to her friend H. G. Wells, the “great reformer”—is a striking contrast in terms of the happiness, care, and education of the general populace. The book’s legacy can be found in the works of other writers. Most notably, C. S. Lewis incorporated several elements in his Chronicles of Narnia: the Calormene civilization of The Horse and His Boy draws heavily from The Amulet’s Babylon, and the episode in The Magician’s Nephew where Jadis, the White Witch, causes chaos during her short stay in London is also a direct homage to the aforementioned visit from the Queen. The format of these stories, where a group of people take their audience on adventures through time and space to learn about distant cultures, is an uncanny precursor to the popular British TV series Doctor Who. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.

The last thing I need is another complication.....I’m a witch. My best friends know my secret so I no longer have to hide the truth. I should be relieved. My life should be easier than it was before. Unfortunately, things are rarely that simple.Making matters worse, I feel a profound connection to a vampire named Finn. I see him in my dreams. He’s under my skin and consumes my every thought. I try to resist, but he’s always there and every time I look into his eyes, I find myself drowning in emotions I can’t understand. My mind tells me I shouldn’t be his, but my heart won’t let me walk away, even when my life depends on it.Then I discover the supernatural underworld is on the brink of a war that could destroy us all. As lines are drawn and sides are taken, I face an impossible choice: give up the vampire that’s captured my heart or abandon my Coven when they need me the most?This book is for readers 18 and up. It contains explicit sexual content.

More of New York Times best-selling author Kelley Armstrong's most popular Otherworld characters get a chance to shine in this second short fiction collection, showcasing critical moments from many different lives. Kelley Armstrong's readers have proven themselves a dedicated fan-base: her previous hardcover collection of short stories, Men of the Otherworld, appeared on the New York Times bestseller list, and Canadian lists too—despite three of the stories having been available, unedited and for free, for years on Armstrong's website. With a similar format—a handful of reedited stories and one wholly original novella—Tales of the Otherworld explores the lives of some of Armstrong's most popular characters, giving readers glimpses into how Clay and Elena met, how Eve and Kristof first hooked up (a brand new novella), and how Lucas and Paige got married. Kelley is a superstar of the genre, and Tales of the Otherworld is a great way to begin 2010.

I don't know what happened to my life. Just a few months ago, I was independent and had an exciting job I loved. Now, along with my friends, I'm in hiding. Why? Because I'm one of the Five, a group of human women bestowed with powers and abilities to fight and control supernatural beings. A prophesy was written about us centuries ago. We are supposed to save the world, though none of us knows how. Now, Cornelius, the leader of a malevolent group known as the Faction believes that by killing us and absorbing our power, he will become unstoppable in his bid to control not only the supernatural domain, but the entire world. After evading capture and an attempt on my life forced me into months of hiding, I finally have a chance to take action against the Faction - as bait. Asher Leroux, the vampire tasked with helping me, makes me feel things I don't understand. It's as if he fills the empty places in my soul, spaces that I didn't know existed. As the final battle draws closer, I know that defeating the Faction won't give me back the life I once had, but maybe that's not such a bad deal after all.