When Chukchi Police Chief Nathan Active discovers dirt on the governor of Alaska, the woman he is appointed to protect, he finds himself in a precarious position: Expose the truth and risk his job or become complicit in her dangerous affairs? Nathan Active, the top cop in a swath of Alaskan tundra larger than fifteen other US states, has been assigned to bodyguard duty for Alaska’s celebrity female governor, Helen Mercer, while her husband runs the Isignaq, a 400-mile sled-dog race through the Arctic wilderness. Against his will, Active is suddenly swept into her bizarre family affairs and outsized political ambitions. And when he connects the death of a local dog musher to Mercer, her countermoves threaten to ruin the lives of Active’s beloved Grace Palmer and her daughter, Nita. With his career on the line, Active must outwit the governor and save the people he cares for most before time runs out.

Featuring 30 of the greatest short stories from the most distinguished writers in the American short-story tradition, this new anthology begins with Washington Irving's tale "Rip Van Winkle" and ranges across more than one hundred years of storytelling, concluding with F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic, "Winter Dreams." Other selections include Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher," Melville's "Bartleby, The Scrivener," Harte's "The Luck of Roaring Camp," "To Build a Fire," by Jack London, "The Middle Years" by Henry James, plus stories by Mark Twain, Sarah Orne Jewett, Charles Chesnutt, Kate Chopin, Stephen Crane, Willa Cather, Ambrose Bierce, Theodore Dreiser, and others. Perfect for classroom use, this outstanding collection of short stories will also prove popular with fiction readers everywhere.

Perfect for fans of Laura Childs and Amanda Flower, this second Bee Keeping mystery takes Bailey Briggs to the brink as murders threaten the future of her granny’s Bee Festival. The small town of Humble Hills, Colorado, is abuzz with excitement over the upcoming annual Bee Festival, sponsored by Bailey’s Granny Bee and the Honeybuzz Mountain Ranch. The long weekend of festivities includes a beauty pageant, beekeeping demonstrations, a local restaurant bake-off, and a 3K Bear Run where all the participants are dressed as bears. The bake-off brings in a television crew from California to film, so it’s the most drama-filled part of the weekend, especially when the famous celebrity host winds up dead. Because the celebrity was holding her bracelet and had been witnessed having an altercation with Bailey’s best friend Evie shortly before his death, everyone suspects Evie of the murder—and Bailey is quickly on the hunt for clues to clear Evie’s name, alongside Granny Bee and her bunch of geriatric misfit friends. Bailey’s potential new honey, Sheriff Sawyer Dunn, is none too pleased to have Bailey buzzing around the investigation, but Bailey’s determined to uncover the truth, rescue her grannie’s beloved Bee Festival, and save her bestie. They say you get more flies with honey, but in this case, more honey may mean you end up dead. And a little competition never hurt anyone—unless it ends up killing you.

Nothing will stop a Cahill cowboy from protecting what’s his After a rocky marriage and even rockier divorce, Sheriff Flint Cahill finally has something good in his life again. Maggie Thompson’s down-to-earth charm and beautiful smile hooked him from the start. When she disappears on the day they plan to start their lives together, all signs point to abduction—and his ex-wife. Functioning on adrenaline and instinct, Flint must call on his every resource to bring Maggie home before it’s too late. His past and future are blurred. Maggie’s only chance at surviving her abductor and a raging winter storm depends on an old vendetta that could destroy it all. But the Cahills don’t give up easily, and Flint’s love will have to be strong enough to conquer anything, including the unimaginable.

Three Stories about Human Actions and Reactions“The child would possibly be scarred badly, but his life was undoubtedly safe. As for the negro Henry Johnson, he could not live. His body was frightfully seared, but more than that, he now had no face. His face had simply been burned away.” - Stephen Crane, The Monster The Monster is the story of an African-American who saves his master’s son from a fire and is severely disfigured in the process. The Blue Hotel tells the troubles of a man after staying at a hotel while His New Mittens presents the world as a young child sees it. This Xist Classics edition has been professionally formatted for e-readers with a linked table of contents. This eBook also contains a bonus book club leadership guide and discussion questions. We hope you’ll share this book with your friends, neighbors and colleagues and can’t wait to hear what you have to say about it. Xist Publishing is a digital-first publisher. Xist Publishing creates books for the touchscreen generation and is dedicated to helping everyone develop a lifetime love of reading, no matter what form it takes.

Americans have had an enduring yet ambivalent obsession with the West as both a place and a state of mind. Michael L. Johnson considers how that obsession originated, how it has determined attitudes toward and activities in the West, and how it has changed over the centuries.

A military man is called to rescue the baby he never knew he had by the child’s mother in this romantic suspense from a New York Times–bestselling author. He gave her his heart. She gave him a daughter. Eighteen months ago, Colt McCloud experienced an unforgettable night of passion. Now his onetime lover is at his door, pleading for help to save the daughter they conceived. Lola Dayton knows Colt is her only hope to infiltrate the kidnapper’s compound and save their baby. His military—and father—instincts kick in. And Colt secretly vows . . . if they survive, he’ll make this threesome a forever family.

9 thrilling vampire stories in one volume 9 sexy heroes. 9 strong heroines. 9 bestselling stories by 9 bestselling authors. This is nine stories from some of today's most exciting authors. A star-studded anthology of thrilling, action-packed and totally swoon-worthy first stories from ten different vampire series by your favorite women authors. (Some stories have been previously published) Book 1 – Blurb: His precious touch could prove deadly… CRUSH by bestselling author Chrissy Peebles of more than ten novels including the popular series The Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series and The Ruby Ring Saga. Book 2 – Blurb: What if courage was your only option? COURAGE RUNS RED by bestselling author W.J. May Book 3 – Blurb: After the inexplicable disappearance of Lilly Taylor's parents, she has no choice but to move to Canada where she unravels some frightening yet intriguing family secrets... RAVEN by bestselling author Suzy Turner. Suzy Turner of The Raven Saga trilogy and The Morgan Sisters series as well as a chick lit novel entitled Forever Fredless. Book 4 – Blurb: An unhappy vampire gets a second chance to be mortal in this dark, yet often humorous tale of creatures at war. VAMPIRES RULE by bestselling author K. C. Blake. She’s the author of two other exciting series which include Bait, Crushed, and Witch Hunt. Book 5 – Blurb: It lurks in the dead of night… BLUR by bestselling author Kristen Middleton Book 6 – Blurb: Rayea is a daughter of Satan, and a vampire. But the good thing is…she’s on our side. THE VAMPIRE FROM HELL by bestselling author Ally Thomas. Her books have been on the Top 100 bestsellers list in Fantasy at Amazon since 2011. Book 7 – Blurb: Sixteen-year-old vampire Tessa's throwback human genes make her an outcast in her world, but fate and near death teaches her that who you are on the inside is more important that what you on the outside. VAMPIRE IN DENIAL by bestselling author Dale Mayer Book 8 – Blurb: A reclusive hybrid vampire is forced to reacquaint herself with the human world in order to rid herself of an accidental slave problem. THIRST by bestselling author Claire Farrell, author of over a dozen speculative fiction novels. Book 9 – Blurb: Sarah reads her grandfather's journal in stunned disbelief. What was once her grandfather's responsibility has passed to her father and now to her. She has become the Warden. Her life will never be the same. THE VAMPIRE’S WARDEN by S.J. Wright

In the 1890s, attracting the wrong man can be undeadly. When Roz is reported to a witch hunter for talking to her cat, the prim and proper Salem librarian leaves town in a hurry. She doesn't have many options, so she takes a job as a dance hall girl in the wild west. One of the girls is murdered, and Jonah, a reserved but hunky deputy, suspects the local vampire. But Roz knows it wasn't him. She was with him at the time being turned into a vampire against her will. Roz wants to get closer to Jonah. But to find the real killer, she'll have to cozy up to the saloon's rough and rowdy customers instead. Being a vampire might be some protection from the murderer if the method of death wasn't a stake through the heart. Prologue from Have Teeth, Will Bite London at midnight, 1886. The tavern door blew open, letting in chill wind and an even colder customer. Natasha, a voluptuous blonde spilling out of a lightweight black cloak, stepped in. The door slammed shut. The bartender looked up and frowned. He met Natasha's gaze across the smoky, dim-lit distance. Then he turned away fast and began furiously wiping the rough wood bar. Natasha sniffed the air, and her red lips curled up. She wove toward the bar through mostly empty tables with a strange sinuous grace for a woman so large. When she reached one end of the bar, Natasha began to walk along its length. One by one, she scanned the occupants of each stool. In turn, they met her eyes, and she moved on, leaving the mark of varying degrees of nervousness or fear on their faces. Finally, Natasha found an appealing target. She stopped at the side of a young pale-haired man. A roughly dressed workingman--big-boned, baby-faced, and reeking of innocence and purity. Natasha glanced once at the older man on the next stool, and he silently vacated it. She sat down and tossed off her cape, drawing the young workman's eyes to flowing blonde curls that brushed overflowing cleavage. Her impossibly tight girdle created an hourglass figure with a tiny waist. Not having to breathe had its benefits. Natasha stared into the young man's eyes. He seemed nervous, but he couldn't break away from her gaze. His pale skin became paler and somewhat clammy. She heard his heart rate speed up, and his breathing become fast and shallow. “I am Natasha,” she purred. “And you are?” “Sam,” he answered in the toneless voice of a person under compulsion. “Come along, Sam.” Natasha rose from her stool in one smooth motion and glided out of the bar. She didn't stop to pick up her cloak from the floor. It was just a bothersome disguise anyway. Natasha didn’t feel the cold, but her husband, Dr. Vandergreest, insisted she wear it. Why go to so much trouble anyway? It wasn’t as if these people had the power to do anything to her even if they suspected what she really was. Her husband’s tiresome rules were hard to live with--or be undead with--so much of the time. Was it any wonder that she needed a little fun in the evenings? A black carriage waited in front of the tavern. The black-cloaked coachman and two enormous black horses blended into the night's dark shadows. Sam had followed her out as commanded. Natasha turned to him. Sweat dripped down his face in the icy-cold London night. She lifted a pale, shapely arm and gestured toward the complete blackness within the open carriage. "Get inside. I hunger!" she ordered. *** Other books by LD Marr Horror on the darker side: Stalked in the City - In the dystopian near future, there are two classes of people—the users and the used. After having psychic experiences, a former drug addict returns to the New York dance club she hung out at in the past to hunt a kidnapper. A hot but wrong guy distracts her from her search. Talking cat stories on the lighter side: Under another pen name, Trisha McNary, LD Marr also wrote the science fiction series Xeno Relations: Alien Pets, hypnoSnatch, and Bonded in Space.