Showing titles in Literature & Fiction

'Piercing the shadows of the naked stage was a single shaft of rosy limelight, and in the centre of this was a girl: the most marvellous girl - I knew it at once! - that I had ever seen.' A saucy, sensuous and multi-layered historical romance, Tipping the Velvet follows the glittering career of Nan King - oyster girl turned music-hall star turned rent boy turned East End 'tom'.

Thomas Penrose is a village doctor in rural Cornwall. Popular with patients and friends alike, and handsome into the bargain, he lives in a romantic clifftop tower by the sea. It's a wonderful life - if only Dr. Tom could enjoy it. He's a veteran of the conflict in Afghanistan, fighting a lonely battle against alcoholism and PTSD. Determined not to inflict his troubles on anyone else, Tom keeps himself to himself. But fate has other ideas, and brings a handsome surfer crashing to his feet after a dreadful wipe-out on Porth Beach.

This week hasn’t gone the best for me unless you count Casimir, the sexy ancient vampire, bringing me back from the brink of death (and tying my fate to his in the process). Not that it matters if the werewolves and vampires don’t stop their ridiculous feud, because someone is targeting them and widening the divide between our communities with each body they leave in their wake. But as the alpha’s son, I have a plan to fix everything. I’m going to convince Casimir to fake date me to show the others that we can work together. I mean… what could go wrong?

This remarkable novel begins in 1850s Louisiana, where Gilda escapes slavery and learns about freedom while working in a brothel. After being initiated into eternal life as one who "shares the blood" by two women there, Gilda spends the next 200 years searching for a place to call home. An instant lesbian classic when it was first published in 1991, The Gilda Stories has endured as an auspiciously prescient book in its explorations of blackness, radical ecology, re-definitions of family, and yes, the erotic potential of the vampire story.

Elise Grayson has it all. Money, looks, a comfortable home in an upscale Boston neighborhood, and the social status her family has long enjoyed. She has everything she's ever wanted. Almost. Elise's private life is her one failure. Jan Chase needs a new job and new surroundings—a place where no one will ask questions or judge her ability. Driving a limousine for Boston's privileged elite seems like the perfect answer. Being a chauffeur is something Jan is tailor-made for. At least until she meets Elise Grayson.

Only two things matter to me in this shitty town: freestyle motocross and my best friend. They're my only escape from my father's fists, but one slip in junior high almost changed everything. I confessed a secret to a beautiful boy, and I've been punishing him—and myself—ever since. I can't have Huckslee the way I want, so I take from him in the only way I can—with violence. When my mother wants back into my life, and I'm forced to move in with the object of my obsession, the lines between hate and desire begin to blur. I'm not sure we'll survive each other.

When cynical journalist Joni James gets assigned to cover The Lyon’s Den—a women’s wilderness retreat in the Colorado mountains—she’s armed with sarcasm and ready to write the takedown her boss expects. No phone. No wine. No chance she’ll enjoy a single minute of this nature-loving nightmare. But as obstacle courses turn to opportunities and scavenger hunts spark unexpected joy, Joni finds herself drawn to the very things she planned to ridicule—especially the retreat’s enigmatic and infuriatingly captivating owner, Kendall Lyon.

My life hasn't turned out the way I wanted it to. Because of one stupid stunt by a kid I used to care about, I'm now slinging cocktails in a Miami club instead of getting my degree. In a split second, Everest Hill ruined my future, and I'm too jaded to ever move past it. Only Elton—my best friend and his brother—connects us, but thankfully, Everest has made himself irrelevant in the last four years. Until now. When Elton heads off on a summer European adventure, I'm forced to babysit his little brother through his first semester in college, but I'd rather eat shattered glass.

It’s been over a year since Cassidy Miller retired from the United States Marine Corps, but try telling that to her nightmares. She knew that coming back after eight years in a war zone wouldn’t be easy, but she’d underestimated the real difficulties of transitioning back to civilian life. War is hell, but the aftermath is endless. Looking for a fresh start, she’s left her friends and career in Minneapolis to be a police officer in northern Minnesota. It’s in the tiny town of Embarrass where she learns more about Julia Desjardin.

Despite coming out years ago, twenty-six-year-old Sean Preston has never been one to shout his sexuality from the rooftops. When his relationship of three months comes to a humiliating end, he vows never to become emotionally attached again, falling into a cycle of hook-ups, booze and an unrelenting gym routine. The rest of Sean's life isn't panning out how he hoped either.

Seth spends his days hunting down mystical artifacts. As a curator for the Arcanum College, that's his job. But when an arcanist murders a fellow scholar, Seth finds himself assigned instead to a dusty, thirsty, frustrating manhunt. Why him? Because, he's been told by his superiors, he's the only curator sufficiently tenacious and brutal for the job. (Seth resents that.) When the murderer vanishes at the edge of a deadly desert, Seth finds himself in need of a guide.

When she set Aurora Verderosa free, Hadria thought she was doing the right thing—for once in her life. But now the only light in her dark world has been ripped from her, and Hadria faces a vulnerability she never knew. As Hadria frantically searches the city's underbelly to save her lover, the Syndicate she leads becomes fractured, with some questioning her right to lead.

In the Mood for Love contains seven stories including, "I Still Remember": When Elise bumps into her old best friend Amy, they revisit the past in more ways than one; "A Higher Education": Finding herself in the same room as Professor Joanne Ferguson two nights in a row proves to be more challenging than Gail would like to believe; and "A Hard Day's Work": Jo fancies her straight, married boss Amanda. She's convinced her crush is a hopeless one, until a performance review changes everything.

Nyssa Blacksea is tired of running from the Imperial regime that wants her dead. With a royal bargaining chip in hand, and freedom for her and Quinn finally within reach, Nyssa's ready to take the fight to the Empire's doorstep. She's armed with a desperate plan and a dangerous weapon: hope. But that hope is shattered when Quinn's nemesis, Ceril Anelos, strikes. Always a step ahead, his traitorous intentions soon become clear—master forbidden magick that has been locked away for centuries.

The first time Bee Bannister met Tom Wright, he couldn’t stand him. Everything about the man aggravated him—his perfect hair and body, his confident arrogance, and the way he looked straight through Bee. Which is why it’s such an unpleasant shock to find that he’ll be sharing space with him while on a Christmas holiday with friends in Scotland.

Micky Ferro has lived her entire life according to other people's expectations. She married a man, had two children, and became a dutiful stay-at-home mom in suburban Sydney. Until she realized, with a little help from her best friend, that her picture-perfect life wasn't making her happy. On the first anniversary of her divorce, Micky decides it's time for the next step in her journey and gets a job at her neighborhood coffee shop, The Pink Bean.

I love him. And I’m pretty sure he loves me back...even though he’s straight. When I first met Carter King, I knew he was something special. I imagined us being together, and we are, but only as friends. Best friends! I’m trying to be cool with that, even though I know he has secrets, and there have definitely been mixed signals. I don’t want a crush to ruin what we already have. Then again, if there’s any chance that we can be together, it’s worth the risk, because Carter could be the love of my life. Or he might be the boy who breaks my heart.

January Stirling was one of the principal dancers of London's Royal Ballet. Now he's a climate refugee bound for Tharsis, the notorious terraformed colony on Mars. It's a utopia for the naturalised population. For January, as a dangerous Earthstronger whose body is unadjusted to the weaker Martian gravity, it's a life sentence to hard labour and ferocious discrimination. But he will live....

Seizing his one chance to escape, Ethan Hosking leaves his violent ex-boyfriend, leaves his entire life, and walks into the path of a raging bushfire. Desperate to start over, a new man named Aubrey Hobbs walks out of the fire-ravaged forest, alive and alone. With no ID and no money, nothing but his grandfather's telescope, he goes where the Southern Cross leads him. Patrick Carney is the resident lighthouse keeper in Hadley Cove. After the tragic death of his lover four years ago, he's content with his life until a stranger shows up in town and turns Patrick's head.

Once upon a time, in an alleyway in the slums of the City of Lockes, a young and somewhat lonely boy named Sam Haversford turns a group of teenage douchebags into stone completely by accident. Of course, this catches the attention of a higher power, and Sam's pulled from the only world he knows to become an apprentice to the king's wizard, Morgan of Shadows.