Showing results by publisher "Audible Studios" in Anthologies & Short Stories

I thought losing things was easy - like losing keys, your wallet, your smartphone or your followers on Facebook. But that’s not true. Losing my virginity seems to be the most difficult thing in the world. I live in a decent apartment and have great friends to go out with any night of the week, to pubs full of beautiful girls. And yet, I'm carrying my ‘V’ card.

A fire-eater, a voluptuous masseuse, and a naked game of tag in a forest at twilight: it could only be Best Lesbian Erotica 2007, part of the hottest lesbian erotica series in America. In Andrea Miller's "Heavenly Bodies" an adventurous woman sleeps her way through the zodiac; her 12 lovers include romantic Cancer, exhibitionist Leo, and an unforgettably raw, dominant Scorpio.

It’s Shanaya’s birthday, and there has been a gala party in the office - good food, some drinks and a whole lot of fun. Slightly tipsy and looking forward to a nice evening with her friends, she finds a surprise gift on her desk. It’s beautiful and quite mysterious. No names, no wishes...just a small, seductive note with a couple of unusually sensuous gifts. Who could it be from? A secret admirer who promises a great time, or a prank by her colleagues? She is soon to find out the delicious truth behind The Surprise Birthday Gift.

My life with Damien has never been fuller. Every day is a miracle, and every night I lose myself in the oasis of his arms. But there are new challenges, too. Our families. Our careers. And new responsibilities that test us with unrelenting, unexpected trials. I know we will survive - we have to. Because I cannot live without Damien by my side. But sometimes the darkness seems overwhelming, and I am terrified that the day will come when Damien cannot bring the light. And I will have to find the strength inside myself to find my way back into his arms.

Colm Tóibín's Mothers and Sons is a sensitive and beautifully written meditation on the dramas surrounding this most elemental of relationships. Psychologically intricate and emotionally incisive, each finely wrought story teases out the delicate and difficult strands woven between mothers and sons. This is an acute, masterful and moving collection that confirms Tóibín as a great prose stylist of our time.

Priya has a boyfriend, but her relationship has become boring. She makes a risky sinful plan with her best friend Shanaya to spice up her relationship. Will she lose everything for the sake of one naughty plan? Or will the three of them end up in a sinful party near an isolated lake?

The undead are more alive today than ever. Immortal? Indeed! Nothing has sunk its teeth into 21st century popular culture as pervasively as the vampire. The fangsters have the freedom to fly across all genres and all mediums - there''s even apps for vamps. Whether roaming into romance, haunting horror, sneaking into science fiction, capering into humor, meandering through mystery - no icon is more versatile than the vampire.

Whether they are undeniably heroes and heroines or bloodthirsty monsters (or something in between), the undead are a lively lot. This anthology offers some of the best short fiction ever written by the "blood sisters" who know them best: stories you can really sink your teeth into.

Kash Kamdar is the king of a peaceful but powerful island nation. As Loa Mali's sovereign, he is always in control, the final authority. Until his mother uses an ancient law to force her son into marriage. His prospective queen is a buttoned-up intellectual, nothing like Kash's usual party girl. Still, from the moment of their forced engagement, he can't stop thinking about her. Dayita Samar comes from one of Loa Mali's most respected families.

"A Kingdom and a Horse" is set in the universe of the Valhalla Saga. It contains the story of legendary Viking captain Sigurd and his trusty right-hand man Sven's youthful escapades in England. If your trade is to be looting and pillaging, you have to learn somewhere...right?

Experience the thrill of submission to the woman who dominates you day and night. In this collection, naughty boys get what's coming to them from wicked wives and stern mistresses. From a naked party plaything at the mercy of a room full of powerful women to being tied up and shown how to truly please the woman of your dreams, these men get fully teased and taunted, receiving the punishments they truly deserve and crave.

First published nearly a quarter-century ago and one of the very few short-story collections to win the PEN/Faulkner Award, this is American fiction at its most vital - each narrative a masterpiece of sustained power and seemingly effortless literary grace.

From the Demon Accords universe come six stories that delve behind the curtains. How does the FBI respond to a potential werewolf attack in an awakened world? What is it like to grow up witch? How do you assist a vampire queen? Who else lives on the world of Fairie? What does it take to prepare for alien invasion? As told by Declan, Stacia, Lydia, Chris, and introducing a few new characters to the fold. DA Compendium 3 builds upon and moves the arc of the DA storyline forward toward the battle for Earth.

Vitus Adamson has a second chance at life now that he's no longer a zombie. But after killing his brother, Jamie, Vitus lands in prison on murder charges. Jamie's death exposes secret government projects so deep in the black they cannot be seen - without Vitus, that is. Sprung from jail, the government hires Vitus to clean up Jamie's messes, but tracking down his brother's homemade monsters gone rogue is easier said than done. The first of them is a convicted killer assumed to be safely behind bars.

A classic tale featuring two of the most-memorable characters in sword and sorcery, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Over a span of 50 years, the late Fritz Leiber wrote dozens of adventures, set in the fictional city of Lankhmar, featuring the seven-foot-tall barbarian and the diminuitive thief. The stories were recognized with both the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

I like sex. Kinky sex. The kinkier the better. Every day, it's all I think about as I serve coffee and hand out business agendas to men who have no idea I'm not the prim, proper girl they think I am. With a day job as the secretary to one of New York's most powerful men, Hudson Pierce, I have to keep my double life quiet. As long as I do, it's not a problem. Enter: Nathan Sinclair. Tall, dark, and handsome doesn't come close to describing how hot he is. And that's with his clothes on.

Independent jewelry designer Ivy Marlow had it all - the man, the security, and the ring. Now all she has to her name are a broken engagement, the crushing worry of a flailing business, and the haunting feeling of complete betrayal. The last thing Ivy expected to find attending a posh New York art show was him.

It’s Shanaya’s anniversary with her boyfriend. He has planned a special surprise, and he wants to keep it that way - a surprise! However, Shanaya wants to know more, and on her insistence, he eventually reveals his plan to her.

Jane Austen wrote Love and Friendship (originally spelled Love and Freindship [ sic]) when she was just 14 years old. The three notebooks that contain her early works, including this story, are currently on display at the Bodleian Library and the British Museum. Taking the form as letters written by the heroine to the daughter of her friend, this story resembles a fairy tale that lampoons the conventions of romantic stories at the time.

Whenever we envision a world without war, without prisons, without capitalism, we are producing speculative fiction. Organizers and activists envision and try to create such worlds all the time. Walidah Imarisha and adrienne maree brown have brought 20 of them together in the first anthology of short stories to explore the connections between radical speculative fiction and movements for social change.