Jordel is regularly bullied as a child, until he stands up for himself and fights back, becoming the protector of the weak at his school in the process. But when school ends and he has to find work, the lack of available jobs makes fighting to the death in the Pit sound enticing...Read it for free at https://stories.osterin.comIn a world we think we know, live other races entirely hidden from the mortal perspective. Creatures of legend, of fable and myth, their very history and nature have allowed them to walk side by side with humans since time immemorial. They are warriors, they are hunters, and they are Algula. Vampire. And in their own midst, a battle is brewing for supremacy, for dominance, that can and will affect all around them. Old hatred never dies and vengeance is a fiery sword that cuts a bloody swath. Views: 541
Impressed by the bravery of an American writer tackling a very British institution, Sherlock Holmes, I reviewed The Case of the Ghostly Accident, but when I tried to post it strange and mysterious events occurred. I passed the matter to Holmes. This is Dr Watson’s account of what followed. Warning: as anyone who has read his stories will be aware, Watson does tend to ejaculate quite a lot.The story centers around a lost girl who only outlet is music. Her talents she keeps hidden because she stays to herself. Left to be raised by her grandmother. She is teased by other relatives. There is a contest for writers and producers looking for new talent. She wants to enter but is mis informed about the qualifications to do so. After realizing she was mis informed she sets out to win the contest no matter what it takes. Views: 539
A night to rememberA man she'll never forget!After her failed engagement, a relationship is the last thing on junior doctor Isla Sinclair's mind. She's focused on her forthcoming new life, working aboard a prestigious cruise ship. But before she even reaches the gangplank, she meets Nikhil... Their connection is unlike anything Isla has experienced before! But Nikhil is clear. One—unforgettable!—night is all he can offer...leaving Isla wholly unprepared for their unexpected reunion aboard ship!From Harlequin Medical: Life and love in the world of modern medicine. Views: 510
Sasha wasn't the boy her father wanted, but he tried to teach her how to hunt anyway. After he was killed, she turned her skill with a bow to different targets. Read it for free at https://stories.osterin.comAydith is a young aetheling whose distrust of the Norsemen often gets dismissed. With the encouragement of a kind hearth companion named Hastings, she might find another way to aid her country."The Lost Tales of Mercia" are ten short tales that can be enjoyed as quick glimpses into the swashbuckling history of ancient England or read alongside the full-length novel, "Eadric the Grasper." Most of the characters are real historical figures inspired by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. Views: 508
At the heart of a playboy......is the man of her dreams.ER doc Anouk Hart wishes she could ignore her traitorous body's reaction to high-flying neurosurgeon Solomon Gunn. Yet beneath his playboy reputation, Anouk sees flashes of compassion, which are even more dangerous than his charm! Especially when the warmth of Sol's Christmas spirit starts to make her long to unleash the real Solomon Gunn and keep him by her side forever!"What an interesting, fast-paced, surprising and entertaining read Ms. Hawkes takes readers on with this book where...the dialogue was riveting and...the chemistry between this couple was strong and tangible from the moment they meet...."—Harlequin Junkie on Christmas with Her Bodyguard"Overall, Ms. Hawkes has delivered a really good read in this book where I smiled a lot because of the growing relationship between the hero and heroine...the romance was well worth the wait because of the building sexual... Views: 493
Tomat is a gambler who would be a degenerate if he didn't have a figurative ace up his sleeve - he can read minds. He finds himself talked into joining a tournament where he has to hide his ability or suffer the consequences. Read it for free at https://stories.osterin.comAn epic WWII saga, for fans of The Bronze Horseman and Outlander. Outcast and despised as a Roma (gypsy) in World War II Romania, all Tsura longs for is a sense of safety and a place to belong. Just when she believes she’s found home in the arms of her lover, for both their safety, she’s forced to leave him and marry another. Against the sweeping backdrop of war-torn Romania, Tsura fights one day at a time to survive the fall of fascism, the unrest of civil war, and the rise of Communism. Yet in spite of all she’s forced to endure, the biggest surprise of all? Home might be found in the last place she ever expected it—with her own husband.Excerpt:“It won’t be a real marriage.” Tsura put her hands to Andrei’s shirt and pulled him in close. “I’ll never share a bed with him. I love you. I only do what I must to keep us all safe. Once the war ends, it’ll be as if it never was.” She caught his face in her hands. “I am only yours, Andrei.” “Yes, you’re only mine,” Andrei bent over and growled in her ear. “When you put on that dress for him and walk down the aisle in that ugly goy church,” he kissed her hard before putting a strong hand to the back of her neck, pulling her forehead to his, “you think of me, here. When you say your vows to that man, you remember that it’s me who has owned your body tonight.” He again pressed his lips to hers. It was a claiming.Book I of II. Views: 476
‘EXQUISITE’ Fiona McFarlane, author of The Night Guest Views: 475
Two innocent sisters from Sinaloa, taken by human traffickers to California, are separated when one is sold to a new master in Colorado. During each sister's desperate search for the other they learn their bond is stronger than the evil men who control their lives. They learn that many possess the power to kill. But only one learns of an even greater, more elusive power. The power to live.Two innocent sisters from Sinaloa, taken by human traffickers to California, are separated when one is sold to a new master in Colorado. During each sister's desperate search for the other they learn their bond is stronger than the evil men who control their lives. They learn that many possess the power to kill. But only one learns of an even greater, more elusive power. The power to live.Characters:Lozen and Elizabeth.Sisters. During a minor skirmish in their father's drug war, they are taken as POWs. Treated as chattel, they are smuggled into California and forced into the sex slave trade. When one is sold to a new master in Colorado, they are separated. But their bond proves stronger than the evil men, on both sides of the border, who barter with their lives.Napolita. Smuggled across the border with Lozen and Elizabeth and sold to the same club in San Francisco. She grows close like a sister, but when the two blood sisters are separated and embark on separate, desperate searches for each other, Napolita is caught in the middle. She is slowly pulled apart by her circumstances until she is left on the pavement, bleeding and alone.O'Groghan.The top of a criminal empire who could snap your neck with one hand, if that's what it takes.Marcos.Club owner, crime boss, and slave master. He owns Lozen, Elizabeth, Napolita, and many other girls in his San Francisco club. He thinks he rules his little world but when he sells Lozen and Elizabeth and the transfer goes awry, he discovers how wrong he is.Richard von Broughton.Doctor. He worked as a surgeon, sometimes skillfully but oftentimes not, for decades. Upon forced retirement, his thirst for money supplants whatever thirst he had, decades previously, for compassion and humanity. Now he will cut out your eyes and your heart between martinis, avec plaisir.Nancy.A nurse who hands him the scalpel. Vestiges of her maternal instincts remain but they don't fare well in the battle raging inside of her between these instincts and her lust for money.Samantha.Kidnapped at 12 and enslaved by Marcos. All her teen years are spent in servitude. As she grows from a girl into a woman, whatever thoughts of resistance she may have once harbored recede until, by her nineteenth birthday, she is Marcos' madam and keeps the new girls in line for him. She is repaid in a way she could never imagine.Bowery. A 300-pound security chief who keeps the girls in line for Marcos. He maneuvers his bulk with dexterity and skill, but would really just like a damn pair of pants.Chase and Serio.Low level soldiers in Marcos' organization. They are responsible for the transfer of Lozen, Napolita, and Samantha to their new owner. When they bungle the job, they are sacrificed without regret.Steve.Works at his dad's roadside barbecue joint in Nevada. His vision passes through the ultraviolet ugliness that swarms around Lozen and Napolita. It is a wavelength he is not equipped to see. Instead, he sees the two girls for what they are, what they should be, and what they may become.Read how their lives all collide during Lozen's and Elizabeth's desperate search for each other. Read of the many who possess the power to kill, and the one with an even greater, more elusive power. The power to live. Views: 461
His wife is back......with his secret son!Since losing his leg on a mission, soldier Zeke Jackson has worked hard and come a long way; now a multi-millionaire he's also committed to helping others. Yet nothing can prepare him for the moment his wife, army doctor Tia Farringdale, walks back into his life and reminds him just how powerful their connection still is... And Tia isn't alone — she's brought his son with her!"I love reading medical romances by Ms. Hawkes and this story was an absolute delight...Ms. Hawkes has delivered a very entertaining and wonderful read in this book...."— Harlequin Junkie on The Surgeon's One-Night Baby"...this story is the best I've read by her yet due to the way it starts and just keeps getting better and better from the moment the hero and heroine meet. Really, there was so much to enjoy about this story including the powerful chemistry between the main characters; and the fast-paced plot had me... Views: 437
A short - and free! - collection of poems from the author of 'War of Nutrition'.John Beresford presents the first volume of his poetry, covering topics as diverse as office boredom, a return visit to first school, the imagined thoughts of a moonlit tree and what makes a true friend, as well as much, much more. Views: 428
Eighteen-month-old Helle was left behind when Chernobyl melted down. Raised by wolves, she was captured by LSU anthropology PhD candidate Janice Grayson, who discovers Wild Girl of Chernobyl's amazing powers, and amazing secrets.Helle's parents were evacuated with the rest of Pripyat when the Chernobyl nuclear power plant melted down. Left behind, she was raised by wolves and remained unnoticed by the world until an internet video brought her to the attention of Louisiana State University anthropology PhD candidate Janice Grayson. Aggressive but insecure, Janice wins a grant to study Wild Girl of Chernobyl and moves quickly to capture the feral girl. Through a series of bold, and expensive, maneuvers, she manages to smuggle Helle back to the university, where the study itself melts in directions she never could have predicted. Views: 388
“The more I think about myself, the more—I say it in all modesty—the subject seems to grow.” So begins The Eliza Stories, and although the book takes Eliza’s name, her husband is revealed to be the true comic hero, as he displays a self-importance that far outstrips his modest station in Edwardian suburbia. Eliza uncomplainingly smoothes over arguments and watches from the sidelines as her other half tries to scramble up the social ladder. From insulting the domestic staff to ill-advisedly lending money to social superiors, our narrator is by turns patronizing and authoritarian. And just when you think you can’t stand anymore, their son Ernest brings a new and sinister twist to the tale. Written and set in the early 1900s, this is a comic gem. Views: 385
From passion, to pregnancy... to a family for real?Betrayed by her cheating fiancé, pediatrician Saskia fell into the arms of brooding entrepreneur Malachi Gunn. Her on-the-rebound encounter has consequences she never could have imagined—she's pregnant! Whisking her away to his Tuscan villa, Malachi makes it clear she must wed him to give their baby the family it deserves. But can Saskia settle for a paper marriage...or should she hope for more?From Harlequin Medical Romance: Life and love in the world of modern medicine. Views: 374
William Shakespeare finds himself brought forward in time from 1612 to 2012. He explores London and tries to come to terms with the challenges of his new situation.William Shakespeare is back!According to ancient Mayan prophecies, 2012 is a portentous year for humanity. On the evening of 20th June, the hallowed midsummer night, William Shakespeare finds himself mysteriously transported from London in 1612 to London in 2012.Whilst exploring this shocking, strange new world, Shakespeare unwittingly becomes the only person who can prevent a cataclysmic disaster hitting the UK on the 21st December 2012, the day the Mayans predicted the end of time.Can the Bard save Britain ...?This is the first of five instalments. Views: 343
John Bedford leads an honest if unremarkable, life as a train station manager.But a chance encounter with a strange woman on the way to work looks set to shake his ordinary world to its core. Forgotten and disturbing events from his past begin to unravel the present as the bizarre Mary takes him on a whistle-stop tour of the OtherWhere, a world that only exists on the flip-side of reality.John Bedford enjoys his work at a busy train station, and leads an honest, if unremarkable, life. But one morning a chance encounter with a strange woman on the way to work looks set to shake his ordinary world to its core. Forgotten and disturbing events from his past begin to unravel the present as the seemingly disturbed but enigmatic Mary takes him on a whistle-stop tour of the OtherWhere, a world that only exists on the flip-side of reality. We follow John and Mary on their strange journey, as John discovers people and places from his hidden past, and Mary attempts to guide him to his destiny.This 11,000 word Novelette is the first story in the OtherWhere series of Novelette/Novella sized stories.Some free short-stores are also available in this series. Views: 335
