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The When Swords Fall Silent anthology showcases the imaginations and talents of more than a dozen of the best modern science-fiction and fantasy authors, with each tale centered around one or more characters burdened with a bloody task they will see to completion no matter the cost. Every story takes you for a vicious ride through a world of shadow and death, each as unique in perspective and execution as the contracts carried out within.

August Porter is a lucrative investor, admired for his ethics and respected for his success. Engaged to a beautiful businesswoman, his life looks like the American dream. But August has a secret. His nights are spent fighting for his life—trying to escape talons that drag him into darkness, fleeing monsters promising an end to his future.

There’s never a good time to learn you are your father’s secret child—especially not at the reading of his will. With their father’s affairs laid bare and Nora’s sensible reputation in tatters due to a viral video scandal, she and her free-spirited sister have nothing left but a rustic inn in the middle of nowhere and each other. What’s more, they need to revamp the inn before Labor Day or they lose it all.

On the secluded continent of Edenvale, possessing magic is a death sentence. Those who have it are labeled Cursed, and by order of the king, they are Cleansed—a horrific event utilizing a hot, hungry pyre and an iron collar. Enemy to the king, a group known as the Cursed rebels defend their lands from his reach, creating an ongoing bloodthirsty war. When Sage's brother is conscripted for the war, she is forced to trade in her cozy, peaceful cottage life and join the Cursed rebels to get him back.

Renata Virdaux is a con artist who has come to the sparkling city of Nadezra - the city of dreams - with one goal: to trick her way into a noble house and secure her fortune and her sister's future. But as she's drawn into the aristocratic world of House Traementis, she realises her masquerade is just one of many surrounding her. And as corrupted magic begins to weave its way through Nadezra, the poisonous feuds of its aristocrats and the shadowy dangers of its impoverished underbelly become tangled - with Ren at their heart.

Zeus has finally decreed that the gods may leave Olympus and anonymously mingle with the mortals of the present. With zero warning or waiting for him to consent to this arrangement, Hades is placed in charge of not only helping the gods assimilate, but also financing them.

When Candy arrives home from school to find her entire family murdered, she turns to the only one she trusts, her uncle, Joseph "Rock" Barton. Rock's a reclusive hitman and "cleaner" who's been in service to Candy's father for years. He takes her in, and together they vow to avenge the murders. When she turns 18, her plans go into effect as she knocks off all her father's enemies, one by one, going up against some of the most dangerous killers in the game. But has she put her trust in the right hands?

Inside the classroom, I have plenty of rules. Outside the classroom, I only have one—don’t date shifters. That includes the single father of my new kindergarten student. But limiting myself to sideways glances at Cole’s powerful muscles is proving impossible to do.

From the organization We Need Diverse Books and Dhonielle Clayton, the co-author of Blackout, comes a fantasy collection of short stories from a list of diverse, award-winning, and best-selling authors. This critically acclaimed young adult anthology welcomes every voice to lead, empower, and take command of their universe.

After being released from the prison realm four hundred and ninety-nine years early, Rory finds herself in Erdikoa with no memory of the last three months and orders to keep her release a secret. Feeling like an outsider looking in, she tries to acclimate to her new life, but she can't shake the feeling that something, or someone, is missing. She begins to question her reality when her sister's killer plagues her dreams, insisting he's innocent. But she knows what she saw all those years ago, and she's faced with a choice.

It’s obvious Eli, the alpha-in-waiting, thinks he’s special, but I’m not fooled by his dreamy eyes and British accent. A wolf has gone missing in Eli’s pack, and he doesn’t appreciate that I run my investigations alone.

From a junkie addicted to methamphetamines to a federal judge, Mary Beth O'Connor's memoir shares her inspiring journey from rock bottom to resilience as she forged a personal path to recovery from trauma and addiction. Searing, unsettling, and ultimately triumphant, Judge O'Connor's debut memoir takes listeners on a wild ride through the rock-bottom underbelly of intravenous drug addiction to the hallowed halls of justice, where she rose to the pinnacle of success as a federal judge.

In this edition of Letters to Penthouse, men and women confess every exquisite detail of their torrid affairs, sensual adventures, and wild one-night stands. No adventure is too daring - no kink too dirty. Married couples, perfect strangers, frisky friends, and randy roommates mix and match their desires - and share every sizzling detail of their erotic exploits.

Freedom. Choice. That's all Ainsley yearned for in life. But when she learns her parents betrothed her to Prince Dashiell, she knows those are two things she will never attain. When Ainsley is sent to live in the Palace of Caelum, she is made painfully aware that she is out of her depth and forced to navigate this new world utterly alone. She quickly realizes that her sharp tongue, quick wit, and stubbornness will only get her so far.

"Espero que no te ha yas olvidado de mí. ¿Jugamos?" Cuando Antonia Scott recibe este mensaje, sabe muy bien quién se lo envía. También sabe que ese juego es casi imposible de ganar. Pero a Antonia no le gusta perder. Después de todo este tiempo huyendo, la realidad ha acabado alcanzándola. Antonia es cinturón negro en mentirse a sí misma, pero ahora tiene claro que si pierde esta batalla, las habrá perdido todas.

With The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Six, award-winning editor Neil Clarke provides a year-in-review and 33 of the best stories published by both new and established authors in 2020.

Hidden in the shadow of her controlling father, General Evander of Auryna, Ara has never tasted true freedom. For most of her life, she's been locked away in his estate as he is determined to protect her from the bloodthirsty Fae across the border. As her twenty-sixth birthday comes and goes, he decides it's time for her to marry, against her wishes and completely unbeknownst to her. Ara's fate is sealed the moment he announces her engagement.

Todo lo que Aura Reyes necesita es continuar con vida diez minutos más. No es tarea fácil. Las otras son cuatro, son más fuertes y ella—una fifigura acorralada en el patio de la cárcel—nunca ha sabido defenderse demasiado bien. O tal vez sí.

When I met him, I didn't realize who he was. I still didn't when I let him take me back to his hotel for the night. I never expected to see him again. Until I found him on my father's couch, revealing he and I are connected in more ways than simply a one-night stand. To make it worse, he was a Saint, part of the ruling mafia family that owned the city of Redhill. I should have stayed away at that point. I had a lot at risk and my own mess to deal with, but it wasn't that easy. Not when he kept showing up, and that one night turned to two, and then three.

All of Grady Amos’s brothers are married, and he's feeling left behind. Aja Kermani wants to break away from the man chosen by her parents and marry for love. This leads them both to Tying the Knot, a reality TV show where contestants meet their soulmate. Grady and Aja end up married—yet they have absolutely nothing in common! But there is something—beyond a powerful attraction—that draws them to each other, despite their completely different lives and backgrounds. Is a postshow annulment in their future? Or are two opposites truly meant for each other?