Showing results by narrator "Patrick Zeller" in All Categories

That rich, scary devil outbid everyone at the virtual auction and got himself to the top of the list (pissing off a lot of other Hyrrokin) and, gulp, I’m his surrogate. And...now I’m carrying Bergelmir’s baby. But I have my head on straight about this. I’m doing this so my friend can be a father. Because that’s all we are - friends.

There’s something magical about Yarrow, Kentucky. The three empathic witches of the Haywood family are known for their shadow garden—from strawberries that taste like chocolate to cherry tomatoes imbued with the flavors of basil and oregano. Their magic can cure any heartache, and the fruits of their garden bring a special quality to the local bourbon distillery. On one day every year, a shot of Bonner bourbon will make your worst memory disappear. But the Haywoods will never forget the Bonners’ bitter betrayal.

My dad is the literal devil, and he's had enough. With a single impulsive decision, my whole life is turned upside down. I'm no stranger to fending for myself, but when I make an epic mistake, I'm left with no choice but to face my father, Lucifer. I'm eighteen and can make my own decisions, but that doesn't stop him from sending me to my worst nightmare. I might be half angel, but attending an academy full of angels when you don't have wings and your dad is the devil is my own personal hell.

Love wasn’t part of the blueprint when high school sweethearts reunite in their small town. But this former military man never forgot the girl he left behind and he’s more determined than ever for a second chance to rebuild their relationship brick by brick and heart by heart. Getting locked in the men’s restroom during my mother’s funeral wasn’t exactly how I expected to run into my high school sweetheart. The one who got away. The one who broke my heart.

Mason Hill wants one thing: revenge. When Charlotte walks into his office, all innocence and desperation, he knows the perfect way to get it. He makes a sensual bargain. She’ll give him her body to save her family. Little does she know that he plans to ruin both. Charlotte Van Kempt will do anything to keep her family afloat. Even if it means signing a contract with a mysterious billionaire. Except that he has secrets that unravel in front of her. He has threats that bind her to him. And he has pain stitched into his skin.

I’m a corporate whistleblower running for my life, so I take the first job I can find off planet. Now, I’m a lowly assistant for some rich devil named Hannibal Hellstone. And when I say “devil", I mean devil. As in this guy’s skin is dark red, he has shiny black horns, sharp fangs, silver-tipped claws, and a barbed tail. This Hyrrokin is scary AF, and his eight-year-old son looks just like him.

Chuck McArthur is a tall, dark, and handsome man who happens to love books as much as I do. He calls me Cookie, just like his gramps, and I’m more than eager for him to have a taste. Luckily for me, he likes a woman with some curves, and lucky for him, his dirty talk is quickly becoming my favorite sound.

Death had been chasing me my entire life. I survived the horrors of war, but it was the aftermath that truly destroyed me. People called me a recluse, but the only time I didn’t feel like I was suffocating was inside that house. For my daughter, I kept some semblance of normalcy by implementing a rigid routine. Once a week, I forced myself to walk to the diner at the end of the block—a ritual I despised but relied on as my last anchor to the real world.

Hollywood actress, Ashlyn Roberts, just had the worst week of her life. Her ex released a sex tape of them and just when she was convinced her current boyfriend was a keeper for standing by her side, he breaks up with her at a friend's wedding. She's planning to drown her sorrows in booze when she meets a sexy stranger as she's leaving the wedding and they end up in Vegas, married.

How can a human who is set to gain a significant inheritance have anything in common with a foul-mouthed, satanic-looking security specialist? Smoke regularly wafts out of this guy’s nostrils and his shiny barbed tail juts out in the air behind him as he prowls across the military hanger. But…I’m enchanted with Idun’s deep voice, his massive bare chest, and those epic thighs. This Hyrrokin is a handsome red devil and oh so touchable. And I want my tongue in his mouth, immediately. Unfortunately, Idun thinks I’m a spoiled party girl and wants nothing to do with me.

So close. We were so close to getting free. A few more deals here. A few more nasty secrets there. All in the name of the cause, of course. Then she walked in at the wrong place, wrong time. Should we kill her? Keep her? Making the right decision was critical, but we were literally at a crossroads. That’s how the top tier of Alpha Delta Omega inducted our unofficial fourth member. But we weren’t who we said we were. And danger threatened us on every corner. She should be very afraid of us. Or should we be afraid of her?

How did the hottest hockey player in the NHL wind up braiding hair and hosting tea parties? Because someone was foolish enough to name him co-guardian of their children. That's how. Cole Montgomery's living his best life—until he gets a call from an attorney letting him know he's been entrusted with the care of two little girls. He can't imagine why anyone would think he was a good role model. He can't even keep a plant alive.

When it comes to my name, everyone thinks that they know who I am. To some people, I'm the billionaire that just got named CEO of his family's company and has all the money in the world. To others, I'm the guy that opened up his home to his brother's children and raised them as his own. What they don't know is while I am those things, I'm also something else. Something darker. Something more corrupt and I will stop at nothing to get my hands on what I want.

At a party on a rival college campus, I drunkenly stumble into a bathroom just as a tall, muscular man steps out of the shower...naked. Instead of fleeing, I stay put and end up having the hottest bathroom hookup with someone whose name I don’t know. Because I’m still in the closet, I don’t talk about what happened that night, glad that it was with a guy who doesn’t live in the same town. But come Monday morning, the naked man from the bathroom strolls into the locker room and locks eyes with me.

From Lydia Millet—“the American writer with the funniest, wisest grasp on how we fool ourselves” (Chicago Tribune)—comes an inventive new collection of short fiction. Atavists follows a group of families, couples, and loners in their collisions, confessions, and conflicts in a post-pandemic America of artificially lush lawns, beauty salons, tech-bro mansions, assisted-living facilities, big-box stores, gastropubs, college campuses, and medieval role-playing festivals.

Returning home to Grand Junction would not have been Rosie Perkins’ first choice, but with her mother no longer able to take care of herself, it’s the only one she has. As is working the night shift at a local hotel to bring in a much-needed income. Rosie juggles to keep all the pieces of her life together and has no room to add anything more. One morning, after a long shift, when she witnesses a hotel guest crash into a dumpster, her careful control starts to unravel.

My father used to say keep your friends close and your enemies closer. But what if Enzo D'Angelo is the devil? Do I run? Or keep him closest of all? Because Golden Eyes has made one thing mercilessly clear: I owe him. Which means...he owns me.

A tsunami strikes a small island in the Pacific Ocean, leaving destruction, madness, and a deadly disease outbreak in its wake. Under quarantine conditions and without the help of modern equipment, epidemiologists Madeline and Quinn must make sense of the bizarre outbreak. What they discover and what they take home with them will change lives forever.

Firebrook Castle is haunted. I never believe silly ghost stories…until I suddenly inherit the crumbling Firebrook estate. And now I’m a human bravely staying the night in an old ruin to prove that tales of ghostly Hyrrokin soldiers are just that…tall tales. And then I scream like a little girl when I discover a black-horned, satanic-looking male standing at the foot of my bed, who isn’t entirely corporeal. Each night this scary, shirtless apparition with an exquisite six-pack of abs hovers at my bedside. Is this “ghost” stalking me? And…why do I like it?

After retiring at thirty-five, billionaire Matt Coolidge should have it made. Instead, he’s got chronic migraines and high blood pressure. Oh, and during his workaholic years, he completely forgot to have a love life. Now he’s just trying to relax in between arguing with his mother about the fate of the family farm, not to mention his lack of a family of his own. Then Matt’s childhood best friend, Dara Marley, rolls back into town. Ten years after a stupid argument ended a longtime friendship, they’ve both matured, and it’s time to let bygones be bygones.