Showing results by narrator "A. Mason" in All Categories

The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez, one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 13 stories in the cycle collected as The Return of Sherlock Holmes. One wretched November night, Inspector Stanley Hopkins visits Holmes at 221B Baker Street to discuss the violent death of Willoughby Smith, secretary to aged invalid Professor Coram. Coram had dismissed his previous two secretaries. The murder happened at Yoxley Old Place near Chatham, Kent, with a sealing-wax knife of the professor's as the weapon.

Life on a farm planet at the edge of the universe can be dangerous for a human woman alone. That's why I need a husband. Any husband. Unfortunately, all the men I approach keep running off. So I hire a bounty hunter to kidnap me someone capable and strong, someone who will scare off the creeps who are trying to move in on my territory. It'll be a marriage of convenience only. I should have been a little more specific about who I wanted, though....

Sixteen years ago, Princess Halla of Yshrem saved the life of an eight-year-old barbarian boy and watched her kingdom fall to ruin, all on the same day. Now, she is a forgotten spinster in a quiet temple, living her days out in solitude. The last of her line, she exists in the hope that she has been forgotten, for to be remembered by the enemy is to be certain death. One person has not forgotten her. Mathior, now 24, is the fierce warrior king of the Cyclopae. Yshrem is in turmoil and his advisors have a suggestion - kill the last remaining member of the royal line.

Kendra Archer has big dreams in life. Ever since she spent her summers volunteering with neglected animals as a teenager, she's wanted to run her own horse rescue center. And with her new job in the Alaskan mountains, she'll be one step closer to making her dream a reality. Jesse Barnes was born a cowboy and will end his days as one. Passions collide when Jesse rescues a mistreated horse who needs specialty care. Knowing he can't do it alone, he calls in the only person who may be able to save the animal—the town's new horse-whispering vet.

Music is my life. At least, it would be if my father's politics didn't dictate every minute of my day. When I sneak out to live my dream for the night, consequences follow. Papá's second, Eliel, challenges him for the throne, putting me at risk of being forcibly claimed by the devious, disgusting male.

I wanted him, but couldn't find the courage to have him. You know that feeling, the one where you're too scared to go to sleep, too scared to go out, and too scared to do anything? Ever since my assault, I've been functioning, but not living. That was until I met that motorcycle riding man with such a deep gravelly voice that it sent shivers down my spine. He helped me through some of the darkest moments of my life.

The Qur'an is the sacred text of the Muslim religion, also known as the scripture of Muslims and therefore of those who practice Islam. It is the oldest known literary work in Arabic. The Qur'an gathers together the words of Allah ("God"), the revelations (or "Aya") he made to the world through the intermediary of the prophet and messenger Mohammed (Muhammad) until his death in 632. This message corresponds to what man cannot learn on his own, nor discover by his own means: it answers existential questions rather than the physical laws of the universe.

Snark. Jokes. Attitude. These were all things I used to disguise the hole in my heart. I'm not a happy person. I don't live life. I just exist. That is until that beautiful man rides in on his Harley Fat Boy and burns rubber on the way into my heart.

Michael was that guy. The one that everyone was cautious of. Maybe it was the tattoos. Maybe it was the way he gave off a "don't screw with me" vibe. Maybe it was because he just told them to leave him the hell alone. Regardless, people gave him his space. He was screwed up, and everyone knew it. He got tattoos because he liked the pain. He was standoffish. He didn't have many friends outside of work. And the only thing he had going for him was that he was a good cop.

I never expected to spend my days as a dancing girl...but it beats the alternative. In the window of a filthy space station cantina, I gyrate my hips and hope for better days. When I'm bought by the most intimidating alien on Three Nebulas Station, those better days are on their way. Zakoar of the Broken Back is a cyborg who deals in black market prosthetics. He's terrifying to look at, with a metal jaw and a fearsome demeanor. He intimidates everyone in the galaxy...except me.

With everyone bailing on my holiday party, I didn't think the night could get any worse. Then three scorching hot men storm the club and demand I come with them. Thinking they're cops, I run only to discover the flu vaccine is turning people into monsters. Now my survival depends on Mason, Gabriel, and Liam. I should be terrified of their glowing eyes and the way they destroy any threat in our path, but all I can think about is claiming the fierce men as my own. All three of them....

Get out! He yelled those words at the love of his life 12 years ago, and to this day, Reed Hail regrets them. He's always been the type of person to speak before he thinks, and apologies have never come easy. It's been over a decade since she was his, and he stubbornly thinks that he can keep on living without her. He couldn't be more wrong. The last thing he needs is her vagina anywhere near his exam table. But nobody ever asks him what he wants. Maybe he should've gone into the auto-recovery business after all.

Jack "Preacher" Prior is at a crossroads - literally. Left for dead in the Badlands, he's managed to survive. He's stolen a truck, but where can he go? Body broken, mind reeling from betrayal by his own MC brothers, he knows he won't last a day back in Rapid City in his current condition. Erin Walker is at a crossroads of her own. Dealt a bad hand by being the daughter of Buck Walker, ex-rodeo champ, she's made her own way in the world without his help.

All it takes is one ill-fated foul ball, and George Hoffman, Lumberjacks center fielder, falls head over heels in love with Wrigley Field - and yes, that is her real name. From that point forward, George and Wrigley fall into a fast whirlwind love that ends with them eloping to Vegas. And he has his potty-mouth, titty-bar-owning, pain-in-the-ass grandmother to thank for it. Not that he's complaining or anything. Who wouldn't want to be married to a woman that made his heart race like he was in the final game of the World Series?

It's supposed to be simple. Get in, get the girl, and get out. What Tobias isn't supposed to do is fall for the woman he's supposed to rescue. But he can't help being intrigued - and amused - by the defiance rolling off Audrey every time he so much as speaks to her. This fascination only intensifies with every single word from her delectable mouth.

Chase is ready to turn over a new leaf and leave his Hollywood playboy antics behind. He asked the universe for a chance at real love and is confident that Noa is his swift delivery. The only problem? It's near impossible to move forward when there is still a spotlight on the skeletons of his past. Newly single, Noa's focused on one thing and one thing only—and it does not involve a whirlwind summer romance with megastar actor Chase Ford. Armed with a paintbrush and a new blank canvas, she's determined to paint the perfect family picture for her and her four-year-old son.

The dirty little secret Dad left in the basement was supposed to be our salvation. Guess nobody told him you don't take cash from killers without savage consequences. Now the Grizzlies Motorcycle Club owns my sister and me. We're only alive because the rugged hulk with the piercing eyes who won't stop ordering me around says so. He saved us, but he's also an enigma I don't understand.

This collection includes The Alien's Mail Order Bride, When She's Married, Pretty Human, and When She's Bold.

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Ghost [gohst] noun: the soul of a dead person, a disembodied, vague, shadowy spirit wandering among or haunting living persons; a mere shadow or semblance; a trace. That noun sums up Ghost and what his life has become with painful precision. He is barely living, merely existing but never thriving. There wasn't much that could pull him from the darkness he willingly inhabits... except one thing. Her. She is the reason he's done what he's done, and his life has become what it has become.