Showing results by author "S.J." in All Categories

I'm starting to think I've been doing this for too long. The screaming fans. The constant media attention. The fat paychecks. None of it brings me the happiness I yearn for. Yet here I am. Another year. Another holiday special. Another Christmas spent alone in a hotel room. But then the lights go up. And I see her.

I was eight when Nathan moved away. He was my best friend. My only friend. My safe space. And then he was gone. And my life turned into Hell. But I survived. I broke free and made a life for myself. And I tried to forget about the boy who grew up to be Nate Waller, the famous retired football player. I really did try to forget. But then I opened the door, while working at a client’s house, and he was there. Standing before me. My old friend. My unwitting confidant. My Nathan. Except… he doesn’t recognize me.

I caught her staring at me from across the quad, eyes fixed on the football jersey stretched across my wide chest. And if I flexed my muscles, showing off the strength of a defensive tackle, it was just to see her blush. And then she did, and I couldn’t get her out of my mind. Her wide eyes. The freckles on her cheeks. I needed to know her. The girl who scampered away every time we bumped into each other—by accident and by design.

Young Queen Elizabeth II is finding her way in postwar Europe, trying to repair friendships with foreign governments. Advised by her father's old courtiers, the Queen suspects that they may not have her best interests at heart. One of them is trying to sabotage her public appearances: that much she is sure of. When two bodies turn up in Chelsea, the Queen finds herself unwillingly used as the alibi for somebody very close to her. With the reputation of the monarchy at stake, Elizabeth knows she can't face these challenges alone.

This is a nine-book bundle on the Pacific War, the theatre of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean and Oceania. The Pacific War saw the Allies pitted against Japan, aided by Thailand and its Axis allies, Germany and Italy. Fighting included some of the largest naval battles in history, and the war culminated in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

I'm a dangerous man. A man who has spent the last two decades removing so many souls from this earth that it's a miracle my hands aren't permanently stained red. I'm a man who belongs in the shadows. I certainly don't belong in my pretty little neighbor's bedroom when she's not home, touching her things and inhaling her scent. I shouldn't follow her. Shouldn't watch her. No number of cookies on my doorstep will change the fact that love isn't an option for me. The only option left for me is violence.

The galaxy’s worst bounty hunter just might be its most relentless hero. Esper Richelieu is a wizard with a mission: To make the galaxy a better place one lost soul at a time. Donning the trappings of an interstellar bounty hunter, she delves into the galaxy’s underworld to search out those most in need of help. Whether it’s a teenage runaway or an actor kidnapped by cultists, the victim comes first. Money is an afterthought. That confuses a lot of clients. But sometimes the best way to get someone to accept the help they need is to convince them to pay for it.

Maddox Lovelace. The captivating football player I met in college. The one I only knew for a week. A week that was...life-changing. Until my phone rang, and I had no choice but to go home. I left Maddox a letter, putting my feelings on paper, giving him my number, hoping he'd call. But he didn't call. He never called. He got drafted into the professional league and lived like a king while I stayed home and struggled to stay afloat.

The second our eyes connected, I felt the shift in the air. The crackle of fire igniting between us. He was dark, dangerous, and secretive. He came into my life like a storm, ripping apart everything I believed in, everything I thought I knew. With his mischievous smirk, stunning looks, and alluring behavior, I should’ve ran as far away from him as I could. But I was stupid. I trapped myself in his web.

Feel disconnected from your spouse or partner? Struggle to keep your relationship fresh? Worried that everything will end in heartbreak? It's easy to fall in love. The challenging part is keeping that spark alive while you and your partner deal with "the real world." Your relationship can often seem less urgent than the day-to-day emergencies that you deal with - your job, finances, children, and that to-do list full of chores. They all demand your immediate attention. So how do you find the time to nurture your love and intimacy?

Meet the galaxy's unluckiest outlaws. Carl Ramsey is an ex-Earth Navy fighter pilot turned con man. His ship, the Mobius, is home to a ragtag crew of misfits and refugees looking to score a big payday but more often just scratching to pay for fuel. The crew consists of his ex-wife (and pilot), a drunkard, four-handed mechanic, a xeno-predator with the disposition of a 120kg housecat, and the galaxy's most-wanted wizard.

Chuck Ramsey is a traveling con man fronting as a comedian. After a gig on Earth, he picks Mordecai The Brown, a hitchhiking wizard on the run from his own kind. Chuck's ship, the Radio City, is a Winnebego of the stars, serving as both home and transport as he schemes and scams across the galaxy with his family. The pair form an unlikely bond, and "Mort" becomes a part of that family. The Ramseys, wizard in tow, embark on a journey of criminal hijinks, magical mayhem, and evasion of consequences for both.

When I was nine, I went to my first funeral. Along with accepting my father's death, I had to accept new and awful truths I wasn't prepared for. When I was nineteen, I went to my mother's funeral. We weren't close, but with her gone, I became more alone than ever before. Sure, I have a half-brother who runs The Alliance. And yeah, he's given me his protection—in the form of a bodyguard and chauffeur. But I don't have anyone that really knows me. No one to really love me. Until I meet him. The man in the airport.

Kyrus had lived a quiet life as a scribe until his dreams begin seeping into his waking life. Fanciful tales of magic and battle turn out to be real. In his sleep, he witnesses the adventures of his twin. Kyrus is swept up in the intrigues of those who already know of this connection between worlds. As his knowledge of the two worlds grows, so does his entanglement in the intrigues between them. Kyrus discovers friends, lovers, and adversaries among the twinborn. His knowledge of magic grows until he becomes a valuable pawn for masterminds of plots that threaten empires.

Running away from home at 17 wasn't easy. Let's face it, though, nothing before or in the ten years since has ever been easy for me. And I'm doing okay—sorta. I just need to keep scraping by, living under the radar. Staying out of people's way, off people's minds. When a man walks through my open patio door, stepping boldly into my home and my life, I should be scared, frightened, terrified. I must be more broken than I realized because I'm none of those things. I'm intrigued—and I'm wondering if the way to take control of my life is by giving in to him.

It was supposed to be a harmless kiss at a lavish debutante ball. A clandestine moment with a handsome stranger. But unlike his namesake, my Romeo isn’t driven by love. He’s fueled by revenge. To him, I’m a chess piece. Leverage. His rival’s betrothed. To me, he is a man deserving of poison. A dark prince I refuse to marry. He thinks I’ll accept my fate. Well, I plan to rewrite it. And in my story, Juliet doesn’t die. But Romeo? He perishes.

I have a nice life—living in my hometown and owning the coffee shop I’ve worked at since I was 16. It’s comfortable on paper, but I’m tired of doing everything by myself. Tired of being in charge of every decision in my life. I want someone to lean on, someone to spend time with, sit with, hug. And I really don’t want to go to my best friend’s wedding alone. So, I signed up for a dating app and agreed to meet with the first guy that messaged me. Now here I am, at the bar. Only it’s not my date that just sat down in the chair across from me. It’s his dad.

I am the type of woman who always plays it safe. In my professional life as a public relations "fixer", and in my personal life, especially when it comes to the opposite sex. Really, who needs the wild highs and the I-want-to-die-because-he-left-me lows of a relationship? At least, that's what I thought...until I met HIM. Damian No-Last-Name-Given is sexy as sin, and I'd developed some kind of weird, instant attraction to him the moment he settled his chiseled body next to mine on a flight from London to Los Angeles.

My trip to Mexico for my cousin's wedding was only supposed to be a few days of obligation and oceanside. I wasn't expecting Luke. Wasn't expecting the hot hockey player, with the smirks and the tattoos, who kept bumping into me. And I certainly wasn't expecting to spend a night on the beach, under the stars, underneath him. It was magical, but I thought it would end there. Instead, we exchanged numbers and stayed in touch. So when Luke invited me to watch him play in Vegas, I went. And it was great. Until we woke up the next morning and found the wedding certificate in my pocket.

Ghosts, demons, and more monsters. In a world where so many dark things go bump in the night, terror awaits around every corner as these authors take horror stories to the next level. Discover ghosts, demons, and your worst nightmares. Read at your own risk. Featuring twenty-nine stories by Joshua Williams, Stephen A. Roddewig, Joseph Hirsch, Max Blood, Paul Lonardo, Matt Spencer, S.J. Walker, Kelly Barker, Gregory Scott Matics, Gaetan Battaglia, Fred Phillips, Cassandra Jones, Barend Nieuwstraten III, Sean E. Britten, Larry Hodges, Donalee Moulton, Arlo Z. Graves, C.L. Hart, Robb T. White,...