Some things can't be saved. What would you do if your guardian angel wasn't sent to protect you from the world but to protect the world from you? For thirteen years, Gracen Sullivan dreamed about a red-eyed demon named Hart Blackwell who tortured her every night. Her mother freaked when she found out about her daughter's "hallucinations" and forced Gracen to go to the doctor, who prescribed some very powerful medication which kept Hart out of her head for five years. A week ago, Hart came back and brought a friend. But something has changed, and Gracen is seeing Hart when she's awake too. And the other "friends" in her dreams? They have been found dead. The police want to talk to her. Her boyfriend has become distant. Her dreams are becoming more and more intense. Hell wants her. Heaven has to stop her. When push comes shoving, can Gracen fight the evil eating away inside her or will she be forced to embrace it and destroy the world?
Jessup Hart Blackwell ate my brain every night. He also ate my spleen, my liver, and my kidneys. Basically, anything he could get to, he ate. My tongue was his favorite. He said liars' tongues were the best.
The leather straps with the weird symbols on them held me down—and quite frankly chaffed the heck out of me—while he cut and ripped away at every bit of skin, muscle, and cell I had.
All but one.
My heart.
He said it was because I didn't have one.
For years this happened until I finally told my mom who took me to the doctor who in turn gave me some medicine to induce a dreamless sleep and offered the alternative of placing me in a mental hospital if I didn't want to take it.
I chose medicine.
The nightmares stopped.
Until a week ago when I started my freshman year at the University of Tennessee at Crimson Ridge campus.Last night, Hart brought a friend.
Kelly Martin writes paranormal, contemporary, historical, and YA fiction. She has been married for over ten years and has three rowdy, angelic daughters. When she's not writing, she loves taking picture of abandoned houses, watching horror gamers on YouTube-- even though she's a huge wimp-- and drinking decaf white chocolate mochas. She's a total fangirl, loves the 80s and 90s, and has a sad addiction to paranormal TV shows. {Basically, she likes creepy stuff.} Her favorite characters are the very flawed 'good guys'--and 'bad guys' who don't know they are evil. She loves giving her readers books with unexpected twists and turns, but (here's a hint) most of her books have the ending spelled out in the first chapter. See if you can figure it out.
On the day of her Presenting, in front of the entire Byern Court, seventeen-year-old Cyrene Strohm's lifelong plans come to fruition when she's chosen as an Affiliate to the Queen.
Or so she thinks. When Cyrene receives a mysterious letter and an unreadable book, she finds nothing is as it seems. Thrust into a world of dangerous political intrigue and deadly magic, Cyrene's position only grows more treacherous when she finds herself drawn to the one man she can never have...
King Edric himself.
Cyrene must decide if love is truly worth the price of freedom. Find out in this first book in USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde’s new Ascension series.
“Let them in.” King Maltrier pulled in a shuddering breath and then coughed raggedly for a minute.
“Your Majesty, are you sure?” his longtime servant asked. He had the same relentless attitude that he always had, but he sounded more earnest than ever, as if he could will the King not to die.
“Get them, Solmis. Now.”
Solmis walked wearily across the darkened room. He heaved open the weathered door to the King’s bedchamber and spoke to the pair of guards standing watch, “Get the boys. The King wishes to speak with them.”
One guard punched his right fist to the left side of his chest in a formal Byern salute and then walked into the outer chamber. A moment later, he returned with two young boys with the same dark hair and blue-gray eyes that marked them as Dremylon heirs.
“This way, boys,” Solmis said. He was one of the few people who could get away with calling the Princes boys.
“Thank you, Solmis,” Edric, the crown prince, said with a smile and the confidence of someone who never wanted for anything.
The second son, Kael, pushed past them both, mimicking his brother’s stride. His face was set in a scowl. Some of his youthful exuberance had already drained out of him, and in its place was cynicism from losing a mother too young and from having a sick father, but mostly, it was from being second.
“Father,” he called out.
“Come here, Kael,” the King said. He patted the side of the bed. “You, too, Edric.”
Edric walked to his side and settled into a chair while Kael hoisted himself up onto the bed.
With Edric being fifteen and Kael at thirteen, both were much too young for this kind of loss.
The King had seen his youngest, Jesalyn, earlier that day. She had cried the entire time, understanding what was coming and knowing she could do nothing to stop it. In tears, she had run out of the room and straight into Consort Shamira’s arms. She had all but raised the child after his wife, Queen Adelaida’s unceremonious death.
But he couldn’t waste thoughts on that now. He was tiring with every passing moment. The boys…they had to know.
“Solmis,” the King said, regaining a shred of strength.
His servant, his old friend, left the room, giving them the privacy they needed.
“Father,” Kael repeated impatiently.
“I’m dying,” King Maltrier said.
Silence followed the declaration. Kael looked aghast. Edric tried to hide the shock of what he knew would be coming next.
“Edric will succeed me.”
“I’m too young to be king,” Edric whispered.
“Fifteen is not too young.” The King thought that was questionable, but he would not dispute it with his son. Edric had to be strong. He had to rule. “You have the Consort and my High Order to help and guide you.”
Edric swallowed and nodded. “Yes, Father.”
“Trust in yourself, and all will go as planned. I have formed an alliance with Aurum for Jesalyn to be queen and another with Tiek, who has offered you their young Princess Kaliana. Honor these matches to keep our people safe. A strong king is one with an heir.”
The King leaned over and coughed into a handkerchief for several minutes. His throat was raw, and his lungs ached. He didn’t know how much more he could take, but he had to pass on their legacy.
But could he put that burden on them?
He had to decide now.
No. He would tell only one. He would pass it on to the boy most like himself—the one who could handle the knowledge, the one destined to rule.
The King turned to one of his sons and said, “I need to speak with your brother alone for a moment.”
His eyebrows knit together as hurt and confusion clouded his features. “But, Father—”
“Go,” King Maltrier commanded.
He clenched his jaw, stood, and left without another word.
It was the last time the King would ever see his son.
The door closed roughly behind him.
King Maltrier turned to his other son. “You know the story of our ancestor Viktor Dremylon.”
He nodded, but the King continued anyway.
“Viktor struck down the evil Doma court that subjugated our people. Then he claimed the throne for himself with the sole purpose of ruling in a fair and just system.”
“Yes, Father.”
“History is told by the winners.”
“What do you mean?” He tilted his head and looked concerned.
Perhaps he thought the King had already lost his mind.
“Viktor did destroy the Doma court, and he ushered in a new era of Dremylon rule that has persisted two thousand years up until you today. But what is not in the stories is that the Doma court had ruled because they had powerful…abilities.”
His son laughed like his father was telling a fairy tale.
“Listen!” the King snapped. That sent him into another fit, and his son helped him sit up, so he could cough into his handkerchief.
When King Maltrier leaned back again, the King saw blood had coated the white silk.
“Father, you should rest.”
“I need to tell you—” He was interrupted by another cough. “—the truth. Viktor beat the Doma court and the most powerful leader they had ever known, Domina Serafina, by stealing magic—dark magic, a magic that cursed Viktor and all his ancestors. It cursed me…and you…the entire Dremylon line.”
His son remained silent and still. The King had gained his attention.
“Now, I must leave you with this, Son.” The King retrieved a heavy gold key from around his neck and placed it in his son’s hands. “A lockbox in the wall in my closet contains Viktor Dremylon’s writings. Collect it, and tell no one. You must continue our legacy. Anyone who has Doma blood and discovers their magic must be eliminated. They threaten our power, your power. They threaten the very world we live in.”
USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde is the author of The Affiliate, the first book in the Ascension Series. As a military brat, she traveled the world with her family, imaginary friends, and ever-increasing supply of books. She has spent much of her life dreaming up new worlds and characters and forcing them into uncomfortable, usually life-threatening scenarios. After graduating from the University of Georgia with a masters degree in political science, she began spending every waking hour putting those characters onto paper.
When not writing, she spends her time dancing, collecting paperbacks in the hopes of filling a Beauty and the Beast style library one day, traveling to visit her friends who live all over the country, and still reading anything she can get her hands on. She currently resides in North Carolina with her husband and two puppies, Lucy and Riker, where she is hard at work on her next novel.
Socialite Trista Patterson has turned her back on her life of privilege and dedicated herself to helping others. Her mission to protect the world’s children often takes her into the bleak and violent underbelly of third world countries. When a kidnapping attempt goes wrong, Trista quickly finds herself running for her life...and married to a man she just met...as she’s placed at the top of the Cartel’s most wanted list.
Some days no good deed goes unpunished.
Dane O’Brien has spent his life in the shadows. Once a lethal assassin he grew tired of losing his soul with every hit, trading his gun and missions for a conference table and office politics as an undercover operative for the CIA. But when visiting his humanitarian sister turns deadly, Dane finds himself swearing to protect her beautiful and passionate friend Trista no matter the cost...even if it means stepping back into the world he swore never to return to. Although falling for the tough-hearted Trista is easy, keeping her alive is hard.
He called to her several more times and then started back to his car to gather supplies to hike a mile or two farther to try to find more evidence of her presence. The swish of a branch behind him caught his attention. Whoever was hiding had emerged.
Relief turned to caution as Trista walked out of the jungle with a layer of mud covering her and a handgun aimed at his head.
“Trista?”
She didn’t speak. Her eyes remained focused on him, and her legs seemed poised to take off at the slightest threat.
“Are you hurt?” he asked.
Hovering in the area between the road and the forest, she shook her head. “You’re Jenny’s brother?”
Her voice sounded stronger than her faltering body appeared. Some of the mud that covered her looked more like blood that had dried on her shirtsleeves and part of her pants.
“Yes. I’m Dane O’Brien.”
“What’s Jenny’s middle name?” Her eyebrows furrowed as they had in the pictures.
“She doesn’t have one.”
She took a tentative step forward. She observed Dane’s movements and fixed her eyes on his like a panther ready to pounce. “What’s her favorite drink?”
“Chocolate milkshakes. Or a margarita if the bar carries fresh limes.”
The tension in her face melted away. She pointed the gun to the ground and walked over to him. His arms opened automatically—after all, the woman had been through hell. She probably needed a hug or a shoulder to cry on.
She crossed her arms over her chest, the gun dangling from her hand. Her breathing pattern switched from a heavy sigh to a shivery exhale. He put his arms down and observed her.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I’ll survive.”
“Let me rephrase. Do you need medical attention?”
“No.”
“Where are the men who took you from the village?”
“Dead.”
“You killed them?”
She nodded. Her gaze dropped to the ground. Most people never recovered from such a nightmare. Yet she’d not only lived through the ordeal, she emerged from the jungle healthy and armed.
Impressive.
He’d placed the odds against her, but now that he saw her in person, he’d have changed his bet. He approached her with caution. Her finger rested just outside the trigger, in a position a skilled shooter would feel comfortable with.
She peered up at him. “I’m glad you’re here. I didn’t know how I’d get down from the mountain. Is Jenny all right?”
“Worried about you.”
“What about Natalia?”
“I don’t know anything about her, except she’s probably alive thanks to you. Did they hurt you?” He placed a calming hand on her shoulder and slipped the gun out of her hand.
“No.” She eyed the weapon, but didn’t reach for it. Not that she’d be capable of taking it back from him.
“I’ve been listening to the group’s radio all night. They’re coming back. For me.” A tear rolled down her cheek. She ignored it and looked toward the hut. “I didn’t mean to kill them.”
“Kill or be killed.” He urged her toward the Land Cruiser with a soft hand still on her shoulder, trying to ease the wretched emotions that would brand her view of the world forever—the same emotions that tortured his soul every night. “You survived a kidnapping by two moronic men. Don’t feel guilty.”
“You’d have killed them?”
More than killed them. That’s why he hid away in an office now. If anyone had threatened to rape a young girl in his presence, he would have flayed their skin and stuffed it down their throats before ripping their hearts out. “I wouldn’t have been as merciful as you.”
A Bostonian by birth, Veronica Forand regrettably lost her Boston accent while moving from state to state and country to country. Cleveland probably had the most profound effect on her ability to pronounce the “r” in the word “park.”
She does try to return now and then to visit family and eat long neck clams and lobster. Summers on Cape Cod are also high on the priority list.
Her experience in crime involves time as a court appointed attorney. Eventually, she switched fields to where bigger crimes take place, corporate tax. The allure of spending mornings in her pajamas homeschooling her children and writing fascinating fiction caused her to change careers again. Now that the kids are out of the house (in school), she writes romantic thrillers by day and is the perfect wife and mother at night.
Her experience in romance is limited to one man. Luckily, he’s still finding ways to charm her by taking her on vacations to the south of France, Fiji, and the Green Mountains when time is short. Avid travelers, they love to roam with their kids across continents in pursuit of skiing, scuba diving, and the perfect piece of chocolate.
She’s lived in London, Paris, Geneva, Washington D.C., and the accent destroying city of Cleveland. She currently resides near Philadelphia.
Her books are published by Entangled Publishing, Boroughs Publishing Group, and The Wild Rose Press.
We started off as neighbours but quickly turned into something more. In what felt like a blink of an eye, I found myself in love and then boom. She was gone.
After that, my life went down a dark and lonely trail. I joined the club my parents ran from and kept my heart shut off from everyone, never entertaining the thought of a relationship. If I couldn’t have her, I didn’t want anyone.
I’ve been in love and have been loved but all too soon it was stolen from me. More accurately, I was stolen from it and my life hasn’t been the same since.
To an outsider, I had it all: money, nice house, friends, anything a seventeen-year-old could want, but inside I was dying. I hated my life with my parents until him and I hate the life I’m forced to live now but I just can’t bring myself to end it. Not if there is a possibility that he is out there and that one day I might have the chance to see him again.
What happens when Nancy and Bennett are reunited once again?
Will Nancy’s past ruin the still present chemistry between them or is it already too late?
Will Bennett be able to see past her secret and find a way to forgive Nancy?
Ayden and Anthony have been best friends forever. They did everything together and grew up around The Last Hangman MC. They've stuck together through the good and the bad, realizing that what they feel for each other is so much more than friendship. They confess their feelings and start dating but their happiness is short lived.
Ayden's life is changed in an instant...One minute she thinks everything is perfect, that she found her happily ever after and the next minute her whole world comes crashing down, forcing her to leave New Orleans.
She starts a new life in New York but realize it's not enough. She needs to go back to her roots, even if it means going back where the MC is.
Anthony let Ayden leave six years ago.
He's always regretted it and seeing her again confirms how much he wants her and needs her in his life.
He'll do all he can to have Ayden back and get the truth about why she took off years ago.
What happens when her past catches up with her and starts messing with her life again?
Will she give into the fear of what took place that night might occur again? Or will she trust Anthony and let him help her get through it?
What happens when she finds out who is behind all the bad things she went through in the past? Will she be strong enough to handle the truth? Or will it destroy her beyond repair?
***This book contains adult material intended for mature readers only***
(New price 99$/£)
Aleck Sanford had everything growing up, absolutely everything, except for the one thing he and his sister desired the most: the love of their parents. After many years of emotional neglect, Aleck only understood the love between siblings, his parents certainly didn’t love them or even each other.
How do you pick yourself up when everything around you falls apart? When the only person to love you has to leave?
Everything changed when he met Charline Dane. Still affected by his past, Aleck doesn’t understand or do relationships but he wants her. He just doesn’t know what to do about it. When Charline’s past catches up with her Aleck is forced to make a decision: fight or flight?
Will Aleck finally give into his feelings for Charline and save her before it’s too late or will their pasts get in the way? Will they both be able to overcome history and start anew?
From the day he was 18, Gabe’s life changed drastically. He lost both of his parents in a tragic car accident and had to raise his 8 years old sister, Nicole.
All he wanted to do was party and enjoy his teenage life and go to college. Instead, he had to mature really fast, find a job that would allow him time with his sister but also bring enough money to keep a roof above their heads, pay the bills, feed them and make her happy.
As if things weren’t bad enough, Gabe finds himself in the middle of two clubs at war. On one faithful night, he meets the one woman that will hold his heart forever, becomes the target of the most vicious MC around Louisiana and becomes a prospect for the Last Hangman.
What happens when the love of your life is taken from you and you have to witness her horrible demise?
From the day he was 18, Gabe’s life changed drastically. He lost both of his parents in a tragic car accident and had to raise his 8 years old sister, Nicole. All he wanted to do was party and enjoy his teenage life and go to college.
Instead, he had to mature really fast, find a job that would allow him time with his sister but also bring enough money to keep a roof above their heads, pay the bills, feed them and make her happy.
As if things weren’t bad enough, Gabe finds himself in the middle of two clubs at war. On one faithful night, he meets the one woman that will hold his heart forever, becomes the target of the most vicious MC around Louisiana and becomes a prospect for the Last Hangman.
What happens when the love of your life is taken from you and you have to witness her horrible demise?
Ever wondered what the Last Hangman get down to during Christmas?
Here is your chance to find out.
Catch up with Ayden & Ant, Line & Aleck, Viv & Gabe, Nicole & Jase.
Muriel Garcia was born and raised in Belgium. She started writing a little over a year ago and never thought she would ever publish; reading and writing weren’t her favorite things to do in high school.
After one of her friends gave her a challenge – the next time they would attend a book signing, she would be a signing author (it did happen!) – she started to take writing a lot more seriously and never looked back. She’s enjoyed every second of it and the friends she’s made along the way.
She loves music, tattoos—especially on hot men, traveling, and cooking. She has always had an overly imaginative and creative mind but never thought of putting words to paper. Now she couldn’t imagine not writing stories that are near and dear to her heart.
Two men with a shared history and a mutual attraction must be honest with themselves and each other so both their dreams come true.
Quiet, unassuming Tanner Sellers spends his time running a diner in Hope, Arizona. Not particularly social, 22-year-old Tanner keeps to himself and enjoys his simple life, but he longs for someone to call his own. In his most secret fantasy, that someone is sexy Steve Faus. But Steve is his friend's father and mentor's widower and therefore off-limits.
Despite some challenges, 39-year-old Steve Faus has had a good life. He's extremely successful at work, has a great relationship with his college-age son, and lives in a wonderful town. Eighteen months after losing his partner, the one thing Steve lacks is someone to share his life with. If Steve is honest with himself, that someone is the young man he has known and cared about for years. Steve and Tanner want one another; all they need is a little push in the right direction to make both their dreams come true.
Short-tempered, arrogant heart surgeon Jason Garcia grew up wanting a close-knit family, but believes he ruined those dreams when he broke up his marriage. The benefit of divorce is having as much random sex as he wants, and it's a benefit Jason is exploiting when he meets a sweet, shy man at a bar and convinces him to go home for a no-strings-attached night of fun.
Eight years living in Las Vegas hasn't dimmed Abe Green's optimism, earnestness, or desire to find the one. When a sexy man with lonely eyes propositions him, Abe decides to give himself a birthday present - one night of spontaneous fun with no thoughts of the future. But one night turns into two and then three, and Abe realizes his heart is involved.
For the first time, Abe feels safe enough with someone he respects and adores to let go of his inhibitions in the bedroom. If Jason can get past his own inhibitions and open his heart and his life to Abe, he might finally find the family he craves.
Controlled Asher didn't expect to fall for free-spirited Daniel, but they'll find what they desperately need in one another.
Police captain Asher Penaz's staunch professionalism bleeds into his home life, down to his neatly pressed attire and Spartan apartment. He enjoys being in charge and in control, so his sudden and powerful attraction to the lighthearted, free-spirited Daniel Tover throws him for a loop. In his entire life, Daniel has never gotten what he needs, so he moves to the next place, the next job, the next attempt to find something worth staying for, always landing at the top of his game, but never feeling like he belongs.
The chemistry between Asher and Daniel sizzles, but with all that fire comes the risk of getting burned. As both men struggle to learn themselves while getting to know each other, the lines of desire and control blur. If Daniel and Asher can walk through the flames together, they might find what they desperately need.
Aggressive, physical, and brave, Jake Owens is a small town football hero turned big city cop who passes his time with meaningless encounters believing he can't have who he really wants: Nate Richardson, his best friend since before forever. Thoughtful, quiet, and kind, Nate is a brilliant doctor who has always known who he is and has never been able to shake his crush on loyal, courageous, straight Jake.
After a passionate night together, Nate realizes Jake isn't as straight as he assumed, but he worries that what they shared was a fluke, a result of too much closeness for too long. For Jake, the question isn't how they ended up in bed together because he has always known that Nate holds his heart; it's how he'll convince Nate that he wants and needs to stay there.
Cardeno C. - CC to friends - is a hopeless romantic who wants to add a lot of happiness and a few "awwws" into a reader's day. Writing is a nice break from real life as a corporate type and volunteer work with gay rights organizations. Cardeno's stories range from sweet to intense, contemporary to paranormal, long to short, but they always include strong relationships and walks into the happily-ever- after sunset.
Cardeno's Home, Family, and Mates series have received awards from Love Romances and More Golden Roses, Rainbow Awards, the Goodreads M/M Romance Group, and various reviewers. But even more special to CC are heartfelt reactions from readers, like, "You bring joy and love and make it part of the every day."
