An Unusual Occupation: Part One of The Journals of Bob Drifter by M.L.S Weech

Bob Drifter is a substitute teacher with a secret. He seems like no more than a polite young man who loves to read and mentor students in his free time. Yet, on the side, Bob takes part in some rather strange extracurricular activities that soon attract the attention of local police. For some reason, people have a way of dying around him. It’s not his fault. Maybe he just hangs around people who are already dying. Maybe he has bad timing. But Bob knows better. The friends he's making are getting closer to learning his secret, but they're not going to like what that secret means. The police are attributing a number of suspicious deaths to him, but they're not going to like the consequences of getting involved. Bob can't do anything but move forward, but he's determined to change the secret world of which he is a part.

The Catalyst by Anttimatti Pennanen

Jon and Gus comes face to face with the legend of an ancient weapon, the Catalyst. Is this mysterious artefact the answer in the fight against the Breathers, a way home, or something else?

The Century Blade by Rob J. Hayes

Orochi, the king of the dragons, has ordered his brothers and sisters to destroy humanity. It falls to a young hero to assemble a team and stop the dragons' rampage. It falls to the Century Blade. This is a short story set in the world of the award-winning Mortal Techniques. It is designed to be read as a standalone story, completely independent from the full length novels set in the same world.

The Headsman by Christina Mîrzoi

Take a glimpse into the world of a headsman, a gloomy village in which each dweller has a secret: an evil witch, a shrewd florist, a naive young man, a foreign merchant, a dreadful husband, a mischievous maid, and a lustful duke. These stories are intertwined, weaving a dark narrative of love, trickery, brutality, and loss. Under the bleak aesthetic, raw human emotions unravel themselves in a gripping story about moral decay. In a world that belongs to the wicked, how far can one walk this path while keeping a clean conscience? The Headsman is a collection of short stories that focus on interconnected characters, sometimes looking at the same event from a different perspective. As a genre, it falls somewhere under dark fiction territory.

Blanky by Kealan Patrick Burke

In the wake of his infant daughter's tragic death, Steve Brannigan is struggling to keep himself together. Estranged from his wife, who refuses to be inside the house where the unthinkable happened, and unable to work, he seeks solace in an endless parade of old sitcoms and a bottle of bourbon. Until one night he hears a sound from his daughter's old room, a room now stripped bare of anything that identified it as hers...except for her security blanket, affectionately known as Blanky. Blanky, old and frayed, with its antiquated patchwork of badly sewn rabbits with black button eyes, who appear to be staring at the viewer... Blanky, purchased from a strange old man at an antique stall selling "BABY CLOSE" at a discount. The presence of Blanky in his dead daughter's room heralds nothing short of an unspeakable nightmare that threatens to take away what little light remains in Steve's shattered world. Because his daughter loved Blanky so much, he buried her with it. A new novella from the Bram Stoker Award-Winning author of SOUR CANDY and KIN.

I Found Christmas Lights Slithering Up My Street by Ben Farthing

Something festive is growing in the sewer... After last year’s tragedy, Douglas’ parents are ignoring Christmas. But when Douglas finds an eerie strand of lights slithering through the sewer, he unwittingly unleashes merry terror upon his neighborhood’s tacky lights contest. String lights spread like invasive kudzu, turning festive decorations into surreal, predatory nightmares. Determined not to lose both Christmas and his family forever, Douglas gathers his courage to confront the source of the holiday horror: deep in the concrete pipes beneath the street. I Found Christmas Lights Slithering Up My Street is a horror tale from the “darkly inventive” purveyor of uncanny places and wondrous evils, Ben Farthing.

Smoke: A MC Biker Fake Dating OTT Reverse Age Gap Short Dark Romance by Julia Stone

He agreed to be her fake boyfriend to protect her. Now he won’t let anyone else touch her. Bunny: Unwanted love letters began showing up in my work locker, increasing in frequency the longer I ignored them. I’m not interested in the man leaving them. Not even a little. There is only one biker I’ve ever wanted. Smoke. He’s gruff, gorgeous, and he looks at me like I might be trouble he can’t afford. Which is ridiculous, considering I’m the one asking him to pretend to be my boyfriend to deter this stalker of mine. It should be simple. A little convincing touch, a few possessive glances, maybe a kiss or two if we have to sell it. Except Smoke doesn’t touch like he’s pretending. He treats me like I’m really his. The longer I stay by his side, the more I find myself unable to decide what I fear more: my stalker or the end of this act. Smoke: Bunny is sunshine in a world that runs on sin. She flirts like she was made to ruin men, laughs like she doesn’t know the damage she does, and looks at me like I’m the one thing she can’t resist. That should scare me less than it does. I’ve spent my life gambling, taking risks, playing games I know I can win. But Bunny is different. She gets under my skin and makes me want things I never planned on wanting. So when she asks me to play her boyfriend, I say yes before she can ask another man to sweep her off her feet. Now her stalker thinks she’s taken. The problem is, I’m not sure I know where the game ends anymore. When Bunny is cornered, and I finally decide to claim what’s mine, everyone will learn the truth. I’ll never let anyone take her from me. Steelwood MC - Meadow Falls features darker themes throughout. Each book can be read in any order, and all conclude with a happily ever after guarantee!

Curse of Silence: A Retelling of The Goose Girl (The Roumaterra Chronicles) by Erin Halbmaier

A princess with a magic handkerchief. A flirtatious baron’s son. The maid who turned their world upside down. As the possessor of her family’s handkerchief, Princess Daphne should be uncovering the truth behind her father’s murder. But she lacks confidence as a spy, and her mother is sending her off to a neighboring kingdom to look for a husband. It means months lost from her mission, but at least her faithful dog and best friend will be with her. Raoul has been Daphne’s best friend since they were children. But she always laughs off his attempts to confess deeper feelings, and now his father has given him an ultimatum. She’s always been out of his reach, but if Raoul can’t change her mind in the next six months, he’ll lose what little chance he had. When a kitchen maid catches Daphne alone, she steals the handkerchief and uses it to swap their appearances. The only way to undo it is for Daphne to tell someone who she is, but the curse prevents Daphne from both speaking and writing. Will Daphne find a way to free herself from the curse? Or will the maid win, leaving Daphne a mute shepherdess forever? Curse of Silence is a clean, no-spice retelling of The Goose Girl. It is part of The Roumaterra Chronicles, a series of interconnected, standalone fairy tale retellings perfect for readers of Brittany Fichter, Celeste Baxendell, and Annette K. Larsen.

A Sea of Cinders by Adam R. Bishop

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In Cellagor—a land segregated between humans and Elves—fear, manipulation and war are inevitable. Nearly one hundred years have passed since the War of the Fallen, a cataclysmic battle between human and Elf which left both races teetering on the brink of extinction. Now, the Age of Tranquility is finally nearing its end, and the northern King of Havelmir is hungry for power and revenge. The Elven peace of mind remains unchanged—that is, until the Kingdom of Rhan is threatened by unknown forces. Soon it becomes clear that the tranquil Elven existence is once again at risk of crumbling. However, even with the element of surprise, the road to victory is not as smooth as it may seem. Ulterior motives are afoot, ancient magic is resurfacing, and an unlikely friendship between two young men may just pose the biggest threat of them all.

Grim Reflection by A. Lawrence

Ghosts are real. Shay and her friend Max are searching for evidence of ghosts in a haunted house when things go horribly wrong. A spooky house turns out to hold an entity that can not only touch Shay, but tries to drag her into an antique mirror. Trouble escalates when her brother is seemingly possessed and disappears. Someone, or something, is riling up and gathering ghosts in the little town of Teton Falls. Shay, with the help of friends and new acquaintances, has to solve the mystery of who, or what, is responsible for this paranormal activity – before they destroy the town and everyone she cares about.

One Road In by Hannah R. Palmer

'Some say, at night, you can see glowing eyes of fire between the trees, watching. Waiting...' Sadie’s younger brother Ben went missing 5 years ago. No one knows where he went. No one knows who, or what, took him. So explain the look of guilt on Sadie’s face when her mother called with the best news possible: Ben has come home. What does Sadie know about his disappearance? And what has her brother brought home with him? There’s something on the small island off the coast of Rose Bay, and its glowing amber eyes are making its presence known. Sadie needs to reconcile what happened all those years ago with where she finds herself now, before it has the chance to tear her family, and her hometown, apart again.

Renia by Karl Forshaw

The Halls of Venn are the seat of both knowledge and power in the great continent of Luna Ruinam. Renia, a scribe with a tragic past, spends her days expertly copying books that do little to satiate her desire for knowledge. When a fateful commission lands on her desk, she finds herself tasked with transcribing a book coveted by assassins from the southern continent. Its theft throws the scribing halls into chaos and threatens to destroy the fragile peace that exists between their nations. Haunted by dreams of her past, Renia must learn to master her impulses and awaken her long dormant magical abilities if she is to prevent war. Fate, it would seem, is eager to grant her wishes. Yet she must risk everything to pursue it, and pay the bloody price it demands.

We Men of Ash and Shadows by HL Tinsley

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‘We Men of Ash and Shadow’ is the first book in the Vanguard Series and follows the journey of protagonist, John Vanguard, through the dark and corrupt city of D’Orsee. A Grimdark gas lamp novel, ‘We Men of Ash and Shadow’ explores themes of redemption, loyalty, and betrayal against the backdrop of a world where survival often means compromising your values. Amidst the gas lamp shadows former soldier-turned-mercenary John Vanguard hunts criminals at the behest of his corrupt employer, Captain Felix Sanquain. Shamed by his deserter past and seeking to make amends for his many misdeeds, a chance encounter with Tarryn Leersac – a skilled young would-be-assassin fallen from the graces of high society – leads Vanguard to become an unlikely mentor. Charged with hunting down the killer of two guards left washed up on the banks of the canal, the further Vanguard delves into the underbelly of the city the more he finds himself entangled in a web of secrets and lies. A prominent aristocrat is missing. Crime lords, con men and harlots run amok and the city teeters on the brink of another revolution. With his already precarious reputation hanging by a thread, Vanguard must piece together how and why the last war came to pass, find a way to earn redemption for his mistakes and come to terms with the past in a city where few survive, and even fewer can be trusted.

Bite Marks and Broken Hearts by TJ Rose

How to destroy your life: 1. Leave Ireland in the dead of night to flee to London; 2. Get yourself dragged into an alley by a demon, marked, and doomed to die; 3. Gain a mysterious, fatally attractive stalker/saviour. One with strangely sharp teeth… Flynn I never asked for this. Okay, maybe a little. After all, the demon was undeniably hot–the perfect way to mend my broken heart. But I certainly didn’t sign up to become his prey–because now my chest burns with ice as dark magic grows inside me… and he’ll be back to collect it. Thankfully, I have a saviour. Tall, dark and handsome, though his vintage dress sense is slightly pretentious and his aversion to sunlight is a bit strange… But if he keeps looking at me like I'm something worth devouring, I might just let him. What's one more bad decision? Sebastián Five centuries has taught me three rules: stay detached, stay focused, and never, never feel too much. I built Killigrew Street to control London's supernatural underbelly. We keep order in the shadows, we maintain the balance, and we absolutely do not rescue pretty Irish boys and lock them up in our hotel. Except, apparently, we do now. He's marked. He's stubborn. He has an infuriating habit of throwing himself headfirst into danger with zero self-preservation. And he’s my problem to solve. When my protective instincts quickly twist into feelings, I know I should walk away. But my cold, dead heart seems to have other ideas. For how long can I keep my true vampiric nature from him? In the meantime, at least watching him try to figure out why everyone keeps making bat jokes in front of me is… admittedly entertaining. Bite Marks and Broken Hearts is an adult MM PNR romance. It contains one touch-starved, emotionally guarded vampire, the golden retriever human who’s determined to break down his walls, a found family like no other, snarky wolves, sizzling scenes, some serious fang action, and a HEA. The Killigrew Street Case Files is a series of standalone paranormal romances where family is forged in the shadows. Each story features a different couple and mystery, connected by their growing supernatural team and overarching plot threads.

With a Blighted Touch by J. Todd Kingrea

In Scarburn County, Tennessee there is a small mountain community called Black Rock, known for its unusual and prevalent blight that affects all vegetation . . . When an unexpected death forces Christopher "Kit" McNeil to return to his small hometown in the Tennessee mountains after eighteen years, he must confront his past and a secret he's kept since he was twelve. A talented guitarist with a history of bad choices and even worse luck, Kit soon reunites with an old friend and learns about recent disappearances and mysterious deaths in the area. They begin to wonder if it's connected to what they witnessed in the woods when they were kids and if a creepy local family is involved. Stranger still, almost half of their high school graduating class has died. When more shredded bodies begin appearing, Kit becomes a suspect. But what he discovers is even more frightening-evil has set its sights on him and his friends and it won't stop until it gets what it needs. Can Kit and his friends band together in time to stop this ancient evil? Or will a new reign of terror that the Cherokee once called Uyaga be unleashed to roam the earth once more?