Synopsis
Zombies and vampires and ghosts....oh, my!
From fae assassins to subjugating the dead, Strange and Lovely is a collection of short stories that seamlessly blends spine-tingling chills and swoon-worthy romance.
This young adult paranormal anthology of supernatural creatures from ten talented authors serves up short stories with heart-stopping storytelling that will haunt you long after you've put it down. Open the pages and discover worlds colliding and struggles for life and love. You’ll find a tale of a young incubus desperately fighting his nature (and diet) alongside Ashley who has a choice—run from the vampires who will stop at nothing to kill her, or become one of them. Dipping deep into romance you’ll find enchanting assassins too beautiful and deadly, and a touching tangle of a love story between an angel and a mermaid both struggling to make their love last. This book will be sure to make you believe that even in the darkest of nights love can find a way.
If you love tales of paranormal romance or supernatural thrills but can't decide which ghostly or otherworldly creature to focus on, this is the perfect book for you.
Best-selling authors such as Jenni James, Amber Argyle, Stephanie Fowers, and Cindy M. Hogan craft thrilling new stories filled with engaging characters, while others, like Christine Fonseca, Jennifer Griffith, C. J. Anaya, Jennifer Bryce, M. Leigh Marrott, and Rebecca Gage, explode off the page with unique takes on familiar supernatural favorites.
Whether humorous, suspenseful, or romantic, the stories in Strange and Lovely will leave you feeling wickedly entertained.
From fae assassins to subjugating the dead, Strange and Lovely is a collection of short stories that seamlessly blends spine-tingling chills and swoon-worthy romance.
This young adult paranormal anthology of supernatural creatures from ten talented authors serves up short stories with heart-stopping storytelling that will haunt you long after you've put it down. Open the pages and discover worlds colliding and struggles for life and love. You’ll find a tale of a young incubus desperately fighting his nature (and diet) alongside Ashley who has a choice—run from the vampires who will stop at nothing to kill her, or become one of them. Dipping deep into romance you’ll find enchanting assassins too beautiful and deadly, and a touching tangle of a love story between an angel and a mermaid both struggling to make their love last. This book will be sure to make you believe that even in the darkest of nights love can find a way.
If you love tales of paranormal romance or supernatural thrills but can't decide which ghostly or otherworldly creature to focus on, this is the perfect book for you.
Best-selling authors such as Jenni James, Amber Argyle, Stephanie Fowers, and Cindy M. Hogan craft thrilling new stories filled with engaging characters, while others, like Christine Fonseca, Jennifer Griffith, C. J. Anaya, Jennifer Bryce, M. Leigh Marrott, and Rebecca Gage, explode off the page with unique takes on familiar supernatural favorites.
Whether humorous, suspenseful, or romantic, the stories in Strange and Lovely will leave you feeling wickedly entertained.
Buy Link:
http://amzn.to/Zbf0zq
The Descension
by Cindy M. Hogan
Blurb
The Darken and the Celestine have been battling for supremacy
since the dawn of time—and now, the Darken believe they have in their grasp a
power that will win the war. Darken Lord Invidia will stop at nothing to turn
an Untouchable to the Dark and claim that power. But two regular mortals stand
in his way.
Snippet
Caden walked in, his dark blond hair wet and slightly curly. He wore trendy jeans and a dark green T-shirt. Scarlett took a deep breath in. The smell of soap and cologne settled over the room. He looked at the clock. It was ten after.
“Could
you maybe come twenty minutes early next time to make up the time we’ve lost? I
have play practice at six-thirty, and Shayna called and needs to talk, so
we can’t go late.” He raised his eyebrows in question. Shayna was his best
friend. Scarlett couldn’t be mad at him. He was too good. Too good for her.
That realization made her insides quake. She felt a wicked impulse to torture
him—just a bit—and she gave in before she could talk herself out of it. Why did
he get to have everything good while she was left with nothing?
“Sure,”
Scarlett said, letting her voice get a bit husky. “You know, the spring dance
isn’t that far away. Have you asked anyone yet?” She reached up and played with
her dark brown hair.
“Not
yet.” He opened his copy of the math book.
A smile
tugged at her lips. “You know, no one’s asked me.” She twisted a thick strand
of wavy hair around her fingers.
“Isn’t
Jayce taking you?” He frowned, and his hazel eyes seemed to turn browner than
usual.
She
didn’t want to stop now; she wanted to tease him just a little bit more. “I
don’t know. He hasn’t asked me. Maybe I’ll go with whoever asks me first.” She
tilted her head to the side and blinked slowly. No one could resist her when
she did that.
“Is there
someone else you’d want to ask you?” He bit his lip.
“Seriously,
Caden. You’ve been tutoring me for two years now, and not once have you asked
me out.” She leaned forward, a pout forming on her lips. A part of her fought
what she was doing. It was strange to act this way with Caden, but another part
found it thrilling and fun. Maybe she could find out if he liked her.
It was
his turn to tilt his head. “You want me to ask you out?” A look of complete
surprise registered on his face.
The Crazies Got Me
by Rebecca Gage
Blurb
Beatrice is a Watcher, someone who can see the supernatural,
who keeps an eye on the paranormal in Arizona. Too bad her sister had to go to
college and now Bea is stuck at home without a partner to go Watching. When
Bea's patience and sanity evaporate in the heat, Bea escapes the house only to
find herself trapped and face to face with the deadliest--and
hungriest--supernatural creature.
Snippet
I grabbed my phone and checked the weather. Ugh. Still 98 degrees? Didn’t
matter. I’d walk across the desert barefoot if it meant escaping the house.
Phone. Keys. Water bottle. Quick, Bea. You don’t have much time to think about this.
The thing about having a seer for a mom was that you had to be spontaneous. I’d once spent a whole month planning a party at my house when my mother was out of town. It was the thing to do when your parents left, right? Just when the party was getting started, the police showed up saying that the owner of the house had called in a noise ordinance complaint. At her own house. The party wasn’t even close to reaching the daily noise level in the school cafeteria. The police also informed me that my mother, who had called in, had said that if I didn’t get the party cleared out within 30 minutes, she’d call again to report trespassing. Party over. I acted peeved at the party breakup, but I was secretly glad. The party size had swelled and total strangers were waltzing through the front door. My two takeaways: don’t text, “Party at my house. No parents” to your entire phonebook, and “Be spontaneous.”
Or, Bea spontaneous. I allowed myself a smirk. Ha! I crack myself up.
Time to see what was happening tonight.
I strode over to the window then wrenched it open. Hot air blasted my face, slicking my skin with instant perspiration. I forced a smile and tried to dismiss the heat. Tonight it wasn’t oppressive. Tonight it meant freedom. The air hung heavy and the cicadas buzzed frantically. The full moon washed the desert a pale blue. The perfect night for watching. My night for watching.
I inhaled dusty air then slowly exhaled while humming. The song tumbled over itself, swelling, begging for release. As my song faded, the spell rippled outward like silver flooding the desert. I held my breath, waiting. C’mon Scoprio spell. Scopri something for me. I didn’t have to wait long. As the spell reached the abandoned houses, it flared brown. Gnomes. Not fun and not good news for future homeowners, if they would ever finish the houses. Gnomes were really hard to get rid of. And they smelled like stale cheese.
The spell continued rippling outward. Blue flared near some cacti outside the housing development. Sand sprites. As if sensing my spell, a miniature dust devil swirled then died. I smiled. Did sand sprites cause dust storms or did dust storms bring the sprites? If mother’s prediction was correct, there would be droves of them soon.
Nothing flared pink. My tiny hope died. No vampires tonight. Not like I was surprised. Vampires in outer Phoenix? Please.
I gripped the window sill tighter, ignoring the heat burning my fingertips. I continued to watch the song. By now, the song had traveled far beyond the neighborhood and was racing across the open desert. C’mon, just something. Anything. I’ve got to send in a good report this month. No one is going to care about a report on gnomes and sand sprites. I sighed. My last report had been just that. The comments on the top of my returned paperwork had read “Ms. Revelare, The Watchers are a group dedicated to observing and reporting paranormal activity. While gnomes sand sprites do fall under that category, unless they are stringing someone up the nearest cactus, please only report on something worth our time. Sincerely, Deborah Bridge.”
The song skimmed far across the desert. Maybe I wasn’t going watching after all. I sighed. What a total bust. Guess I’d better resign myself to languishing away and having my dead body eaten by wolves. I started to turn away when something flared black in the distance, then vanished. That had never happened before. I sang again, squinting my eyes to be sure. Watching closely, I saw that the song didn’t flare black. It flared with emptiness. Hungry emptiness.
Suddenly I felt cold despite the heat. I had to see what was out there.
My heart drummed in my ears. I’d never gone so far to watch anything, especially something like this. What could be out there?
I shoved my phone in my pocket then slammed the window shut and sprinted to the garage.
Thankfully, being the only child home meant I got sole possession of the car.
I smiled as I jammed the keys into the ignition and the car roared to life. I tore out of the driveway.
“Yeehaw,” I screamed. The crazy was on.
Phone. Keys. Water bottle. Quick, Bea. You don’t have much time to think about this.
The thing about having a seer for a mom was that you had to be spontaneous. I’d once spent a whole month planning a party at my house when my mother was out of town. It was the thing to do when your parents left, right? Just when the party was getting started, the police showed up saying that the owner of the house had called in a noise ordinance complaint. At her own house. The party wasn’t even close to reaching the daily noise level in the school cafeteria. The police also informed me that my mother, who had called in, had said that if I didn’t get the party cleared out within 30 minutes, she’d call again to report trespassing. Party over. I acted peeved at the party breakup, but I was secretly glad. The party size had swelled and total strangers were waltzing through the front door. My two takeaways: don’t text, “Party at my house. No parents” to your entire phonebook, and “Be spontaneous.”
Or, Bea spontaneous. I allowed myself a smirk. Ha! I crack myself up.
Time to see what was happening tonight.
I strode over to the window then wrenched it open. Hot air blasted my face, slicking my skin with instant perspiration. I forced a smile and tried to dismiss the heat. Tonight it wasn’t oppressive. Tonight it meant freedom. The air hung heavy and the cicadas buzzed frantically. The full moon washed the desert a pale blue. The perfect night for watching. My night for watching.
I inhaled dusty air then slowly exhaled while humming. The song tumbled over itself, swelling, begging for release. As my song faded, the spell rippled outward like silver flooding the desert. I held my breath, waiting. C’mon Scoprio spell. Scopri something for me. I didn’t have to wait long. As the spell reached the abandoned houses, it flared brown. Gnomes. Not fun and not good news for future homeowners, if they would ever finish the houses. Gnomes were really hard to get rid of. And they smelled like stale cheese.
The spell continued rippling outward. Blue flared near some cacti outside the housing development. Sand sprites. As if sensing my spell, a miniature dust devil swirled then died. I smiled. Did sand sprites cause dust storms or did dust storms bring the sprites? If mother’s prediction was correct, there would be droves of them soon.
Nothing flared pink. My tiny hope died. No vampires tonight. Not like I was surprised. Vampires in outer Phoenix? Please.
I gripped the window sill tighter, ignoring the heat burning my fingertips. I continued to watch the song. By now, the song had traveled far beyond the neighborhood and was racing across the open desert. C’mon, just something. Anything. I’ve got to send in a good report this month. No one is going to care about a report on gnomes and sand sprites. I sighed. My last report had been just that. The comments on the top of my returned paperwork had read “Ms. Revelare, The Watchers are a group dedicated to observing and reporting paranormal activity. While gnomes sand sprites do fall under that category, unless they are stringing someone up the nearest cactus, please only report on something worth our time. Sincerely, Deborah Bridge.”
The song skimmed far across the desert. Maybe I wasn’t going watching after all. I sighed. What a total bust. Guess I’d better resign myself to languishing away and having my dead body eaten by wolves. I started to turn away when something flared black in the distance, then vanished. That had never happened before. I sang again, squinting my eyes to be sure. Watching closely, I saw that the song didn’t flare black. It flared with emptiness. Hungry emptiness.
Suddenly I felt cold despite the heat. I had to see what was out there.
My heart drummed in my ears. I’d never gone so far to watch anything, especially something like this. What could be out there?
I shoved my phone in my pocket then slammed the window shut and sprinted to the garage.
Thankfully, being the only child home meant I got sole possession of the car.
I smiled as I jammed the keys into the ignition and the car roared to life. I tore out of the driveway.
“Yeehaw,” I screamed. The crazy was on.
Mind
Warp... A paranormal reality of ghosts, defying the underworld, and
nightmares... a snippet of what's to come next in the Jenni James'
collection.
Snippet
He winked. “I’ve got skills you’ll never fully understand.”
“You’re one intense mind
warp. That’s for sure.”
Chuckling he walked closer
to me. “I don’t know, you’re pretty much an enigma yourself.”
“Me?”
“Oh yeah.” Somehow
his charming grin was starting to calm my frazzled mind. He took another
step. “I’ve been fascinated by you for months now.”
I held a hand out, not
quite touching his chest. Truth be told I was sort of afraid to touch
him. Would I go right through his body? “Look. You’re super
cute. But, I need answers. A lot of answers. Everything in my
life is a huge jumble right now and I’m not sure what to make of this mess.”
“I promise
that tomorrow you will get every answer you could have
imagined.”
About Cindy M. Hogan
Cindy M. Hogan graduated with a BA in education and is inspired
by the unpredictable teenagers she teaches. More than anything she loves the
time she has with her own teenage daughters and wishes she could freeze them at
this fun age. If she's not reading or writing, you'll find her snuggled up with
the love of her life watching a great movie or planning their next party. Most
of all, she loves to laugh.
She is the bestselling and award winning author of the Watched trilogy, a YA suspense series with a dash of romance. She has since branched off to write a mystery, Gravediggers, that won Best YA novel of 2013, a contemporary romance, Confessions of a 16-Year-Old Virgin Lips, and two in a spy series, Adrenaline Rush and Hotwire.
Author Social Media links
About Rebecca Gage
Born in California, transplanted to Canada, Utah, then Arizona, Rebecca
has lots of stories to tell. She also knows a lot about temperatures below zero
and above 110.
Rebecca Gage’s love of reading could only lead to one thing—writing. Of writing she states, “I used to walk into bookstores and stare at the glossy covers on the shelves. It was always a secret dream of mine to find my name among those titles.”
Rebecca taught English for grades 8-10 (8/9th grade were her favorites). She may or may not have cried while finishing studying Tale of Two Cities with her class. She published for a brief time on an unofficial Disneyland Traveler’s blog. Since that time, she has finished her first novel, Wake Not the Dead. Originally it started as a romance paragraph for her writing group but then grew into an entire YA paranormal thriller—romance included. You can read the rough draft of Wake Not the Dead on http://www.wattpad.com/story/18329362-wake-not-the-dead. To be released 2015.
As a mother of soon to be four children she is adept at embroidery, piano, cake decorating, Star Wars, sewing, painting, Just Dance-ing, waterfights, stepping on stray Legos and of course, bedtime tuck-ins.
Rebecca Gage’s love of reading could only lead to one thing—writing. Of writing she states, “I used to walk into bookstores and stare at the glossy covers on the shelves. It was always a secret dream of mine to find my name among those titles.”
Rebecca taught English for grades 8-10 (8/9th grade were her favorites). She may or may not have cried while finishing studying Tale of Two Cities with her class. She published for a brief time on an unofficial Disneyland Traveler’s blog. Since that time, she has finished her first novel, Wake Not the Dead. Originally it started as a romance paragraph for her writing group but then grew into an entire YA paranormal thriller—romance included. You can read the rough draft of Wake Not the Dead on http://www.wattpad.com/story/18329362-wake-not-the-dead. To be released 2015.
As a mother of soon to be four children she is adept at embroidery, piano, cake decorating, Star Wars, sewing, painting, Just Dance-ing, waterfights, stepping on stray Legos and of course, bedtime tuck-ins.
About Jennie James
I'm a mom of
seven rambunctious children (including teenagers!). We currently live in New
Mexico and a few years ago we moved
back to the States after living 9 awesome years in the Azores Islands of
Portugal and England! My kids love the USA!
When I'm not writing up a storm, I
enjoy reading, acting, portrait painting, directing plays, cooking, planning
eleborate parties and chasing my kids around the house. I also find time to
practice my awesome ninja
skills and expert pirating techniques—I
secretly dream of becoming a master at both.
January 10
Book 1:
Huntress by Amber Argyle
January 11
Book 2:
My Fair Assassin by C. J. Anaya
January 12
Book 3:
School Spirit by Jennifer Griffith
January 13
Books 1-3
Huntress, My Fair Assassin, and School Spirit
January 14
Book 4:
The Descension by Cindy M Hogan
January 15
Book 5:
The Crazies Got Me by Rebecca Gage
January 16
Book 6:
Mind Warp by Jennie James
January 17
Books 4-6
The Descension, The Crazies Got Me, and Mind Warp
January 18
Book 7:
Dark Night by Christine Fonseca
January 19
Book 8:
My Big Hairy Romance by Jennifer Bryce
January 20
Book 9:
Broken Tales and Mermaid Wings by Stephanie Fowers
January 21
Book 7-9
January 22
Book10:
Dark to Dust by M. Leigh Marrott
January 23
Book 1-10
The Strange and Lovely Anthology
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