Showing results by narrator "Laura Horowitz" in All Categories

Cleveland Noir joins Columbus Noir as the Akashic Noir series continues its tour of Ohio and navigates the dregs of the North Shore.

Edie Carrigan didn't plan to "get herself" pregnant, much less end up in a home for unwed mothers. In 1950s North Carolina, illegitimate pregnancy is kept secret, wayward women require psychiatric cures, and adoption is always the best solution. Not even Edie’s closest friend, Luce Waddell, understands what Edie truly wants: to keep and raise the baby. Twenty-five years later, Luce is a successful lawyer, and her daughter Meera now faces the same decision Edie once did.

A magical collection of 17 original stories by an amazing list of contributors—including a Dune story by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson!

What would you do if you walked in on your husband cheating? I'll tell you what I did: Ran out the door with nothing but the clothes on my back. A month later, I'm broke, jobless, almost homeless. But then, while filling in as a waitress at a fancy restaurant, I trip and land in the lap of a gorgeous stranger.

My name is Sheena May, and I'm done running. Insidious yellow eyes lock onto the secrets of my magic, and my former best friend shows up with a bombshell that could ruin us all, leaving me to figure out if I'm really the weapon my enemies think I am.

When Caleb Murray, the Harley-riding Irish kingpin, saves my brother and offers me a job, I can't believe my luck. Until he asks me to sign a marriage contract and pretend to be his wife. All to avoid an arranged marriage to his ex, a rival family's mafia princess.

It's the morning of my wedding. I don't look like the ruthless mafia boss who rules the underworld. No matter how fake this marriage might seem, by the end of the day, she'll be my wife. Until…she's gone. They call me the Reaper. Feared. Ruthless. Untouchable. I don't save people. I bury them. Until she stumbled into my world.

Every citizen in the realm knows Witches are the favored Faction. That's why a Witch occupies the throne, and why the laws of the Eternal City grant Witches far more than their fair share. And if any of the other Factions take issue with that? They're likely to meet a swift death at the hands of the fabled Queen's Blades, the four assassins vowed to protect the Queen and the realm. Even among the Queen's Blades, Fey is an anomaly. As a Water Witch, her powers should have led her to a life of healing. But violence always came easier to Fey.

I wasn't supposed to want her. I wasn't supposed to need her. But the second I crash into Ruby Jackson, I'm screwed. She's the enemy's daughter. My father burned her family legacy to the ground. I didn't know. Not that it would matter. One car crash changes everything. Now, we're trapped in a hospital bed, her body against mine. One kiss and she's mine. I propose. She laughs, thinks it's a drugged-up joke. It's not. It's a goddamn promise.

Her brother sold her off, and now she belongs to me—she just doesn't know it yet. Ginevra Bianchi is nothing like the spoiled billionaire princess and politician's fiancée I thought she'd be. She doesn't bow, doesn't break, and that smart mouth of hers is going to get her into serious trouble—my kind of trouble. Her family owes me, and I always collect.

Gia Rossi—off-limits, untamable, my enemy's precious little sister. When our rival families form an uneasy alliance, I become her bodyguard. Nothing new—I've been protecting her for years. In secret. The job is simple: protect her, watch her, never touch her. But one taste of Gia, and I stopped caring about the rules. I make her mine in every filthy, forbidden way that matters. I worship her body like a sinner worships salvation. I command her surrender.

Life should be perfect. I'm engaged to Owen Sharpe. We're having a baby. And my career is finally back on track. But there's one problem: the rookie player everyone's calling the future of the Houston Scythes? He's the man who destroyed my life once before. And now, his father is buying the team. Spencer Santos has always been dangerous. But with his daddy's money behind him, he's lethal. And he's made it clear: my silence comes with a price. I could tell Owen the truth. He'd burn down the world to protect me. But that's exactly what I'm afraid of.

Gerda Jones is no average bridge troll. Sure, she can create riddles like the best of them, but she has skills up her sleeve that no one would expect . . . and a backstory that no one would believe. She uses her fortune-telling talents to change the fate of everyone around her, but avoids getting too close to anyone herself. All of that changes when Gerda catches the eye of Duke Julian von Slyke at his sister's wedding. The tall, dark, and handsome half-elf is making her let down her guard—and inviting a royal heap of trouble into her life.

No pity. Trust no one. Keep it moving. My name is Sheena May, and those are my rules. With secrets worth killing for, I'll do whatever it takes to avoid being caged again. That's why I can't stop running, even if it means I never find out why I have these powers. When fate drags me back into the magical world kicking and screaming, I'm torn between a demon I can't resist and a shifter who tells me we belong together. They promise me things I've never dared to want, but my secrets remain my own.

I woke up married to my archenemy, my dad's billionaire boss. The beast stole my v-card and now… I'm expecting his baby. The grump fired my father, then made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Be his fake fiancée and in return… One million dollars. All so he could mend his bad boy image. Which apparently an innocent wallflower like me can deliver. I took the deal to give my dad a break after Mama died. But in a hazy Vegas moment... he put a ring on my finger. Now I'm his.

Rora Stanley hates Christmas. But when her best friend needs a Santa photographer for her family's toy store, Rora is forced to return to her Christmas-obsessed hometown for the holidays. Henry Whitten loves Christmas. And a few weeks in Wintermore, Wyoming, playing Santa is exactly what he needs as he stands at a career crossroads. Henry isn't prepared for the Christmas-hating photographer to consume his thoughts the second he lays eyes on her. And Rora isn't expecting to be so turned on by her best friend's uncle in his Santa suit…

Nikki Satinn lives a peaceful life running a coffee shop with her best friend. Everything is going according to plan: blend in, keep minimal connections, and find happiness in the simple things. The only problem with her seemingly perfect life is that Nikki Satinn doesn't actually exist. Cam Costello, an illustrious wing of the New York Nighthawks, is a beast on the ice. Having endured enough turmoil and loss, he follows two rules: focus solely on hockey and his team, and allow no emotional attachments.

It was supposed to be a joke: Give my best friend raunchy toys for her bridal shower and embarrass her in front of her family. But when my package is wrongly delivered to my gorgeous, mysterious neighbor, I'm the one who ends up mortified. I sneak over to his place to try stealing it back before he finds it. The problem is I get caught mid-heist... And then he makes me stay for dinner. Dinner leads to dessert, and dessert leads to... other dessert, if you get my drift. Several courses of sweet, sinful temptation.

I know Demyen Zakrevsky is wrong for me. But I can't help hoping... What if he's not? After all, he's saved me time and time again. He's made me a mother twice over. But he's also the one who sold me in the first place. The one who got my baby stolen away from me. The one who broke my heart over and over and over. I can't decide if he's a saint or a sinner. I suppose now's the time we'll find out for good. Because the bad guys have my baby, and they want one thing in return: Me. And for my daughter's sake, I'll give myself up every. single. time. So I take one final step into the shadows.

Demyen stole my freedom to lock me in the worst cell imaginable—His bed. I get it: I'm the liar who put his brother behind bars. And I'm paying for my betrayal, one moan at a time. He promises he's going to ruin me. So why does he pull me into his bed every night? I see the truth behind those icy eyes: He's addicted. Unfortunately for me... So am I. And unfortunately for both of us, there's no ending this now. No clean break. No walking away.