Welcome to the Black Rose Auction where every sin can be yours for a price. Birdie wants nothing more than to escape the clutches of her cruel and wicked stepmother, and to be with the only person she’s ever truly loved—her stepsister, Violet. When her stepmother threatens to auction off Birdie’s hand in marriage to the highest bidder, Birdie sees it as her only way out. Her stepsister has a plan… Enlist the help her rich and powerful ex, Alaric Stone, to bid on their behalf. But when things go awry at the auction, and Birdie is forced give away far more than she expected, Alaric decides he’s playing for keeps. He wants both of them. Can the three of them escape the clutches of Birdie’s selfish stepmother together? And will Birdie be forced to choose between the two who have her heart…or will it be shattered forever? Shattered Innocence is a Cinderella remix meant for mature readers who like fairytales…just dirtier.

He calls me perfect. His flawless pet. His good girl. Broken down and wounded by my emotionally neglectful ex, I wanted someone to tell me I was good enough. Then, I stumbled into a new job with a boss who brings me to my knees—literally. He has me do things a real secretary would never do. Emerson Grant tells me I’m more than just good enough. I’m worthy of his praise. There are a million reasons why I should stay away. The owner of the Salacious Players’ Club is not just my new boss, he’s twice my age. And my ex-boyfriend’s father. With him, I am treasured. I am adored. I am his. I’m a good girl, but I’m falling for the wrong man. Emerson Grant knows what he wants— And he wants me. So how far will I go to hear his approval?

Sebastian Rousseau is a grumpy, hot as hell fire pilot who is too damn good with his hands. It’s the perfect combination. But unfortunately for me, he’s also my ex-boyfriend’s dad. A chance meeting brought us together and a missed connection has kept us apart. One year later, a stroke of fate has us living under the same roof—which makes everything between us downright messy. Because even after all this time, he’s still the man I think about when I fall asleep. The one I can’t get over no matter how hard I try. He’s working on mending a fragile relationship with his son and we both know acting on these urges would be the ultimate betrayal. But I see the heat in his eyes. That look of need that never fails to send a shiver down my spine. The mutual longing is borderline unbearable and the simmering heat between us is downright palpable. We both know there are rules when it comes to situations like this. But then again…following the rules never has been my strong suit.

The LGBT agenda for too long has been dominated by pragmatic issues like same-sex marriage and gays in the military. It has been stifled by this myopic focus on the present, which is short-sighted and assimilationist. Cruising Utopia seeks to break the present stagnancy by cruising ahead. Drawing on the work of Ernst Bloch, José Esteban Muñoz recalls the queer past for guidance in presaging its future. He considers the work of seminal artists and writers such as Andy Warhol, LeRoi Jones, Frank O'Hara, Ray Johnson, Fred Herko, Samuel Delany, and Elizabeth Bishop, alongside contemporary performance and visual artists like Dynasty Handbag, My Barbarian, Luke Dowd, Tony Just, and Kevin McCarty in order to decipher the anticipatory illumination of art and its uncanny ability to open windows to the future. In a startling repudiation of what the LGBT movement has held dear, Muñoz contends that queerness is instead a futurity bound phenomenon, a "not yet here" that critically engages pragmatic presentism. Part manifesto, part love-letter to the past and the future, Cruising Utopia argues that the here and now are not enough and issues an urgent call for the revivification of the queer political imagination.

At the edge of the City of the Void, a massive chasm extends miles into the earth, its treacherous terrain overrun with vicious monsters and carnivorous plants. For orphaned best friends Petra and Jade, guiding treasure-seeking tourists down into the Void is the only way to earn enough to pull themselves up out of the slums for good. Petra prefers to play it safe and take jobs only in the Void’s upper levels, where the dangers are better understood, while Jade wants to risk a descent to the deepest and most mysterious Sixth Layer. Because the deeper they go, the better the payout, and the sooner their dreams can become reality. Their friendship is Petra’s whole world, and Jade’s approval means everything—so Petra agrees to do it Jade’s way. When their job goes wrong and Jade is lost in the Void, Petra must plunge deeper than she’s ever dared to save her friend. But she doesn’t know the truth of the Void . . . or what really waits for her in its depths.

Halla is a housekeeper who has suddenly inherited her great-uncle’s estate… and, unfortunately, his relatives. Sarkis is an immortal swordsman trapped in a prison of enchanted steel. When Halla draws the sword that imprisons him, Sarkis finds himself attempting to defend his new wielder against everything from bandits and roving inquisitors to her own in-laws… and the sword itself may prove to be the greatest threat of all…

A woman donates her fat for money. A woman must buy hormones in secret. A young man survives surgery when he wasn't meant to. Sixteen disabled and chronically ill authors challenge our ideas of who is allowed to survive the end of the world in stories that are by turns visceral, heartbreaking, romantic, and at times, gooey. From deeply speculative to almost too real, these stories not only twist dystopian tropes and narratives on their head, but actually let disabled characters live. From editor Ella T. Holmes who brought us the Amazon Bestselling Artifice & Access anthology, comes this heart pounding disability in dystopian anthology. Why Aren’t You Dead Yet? continues the project of uplifting some of the most marginalised voices in publishing. While Artifice & Access boldly proclaimed “we belong!” This time we’re screaming “you can’t get rid of us!” Stories include: Cat and Mouse by Ashley N.Y. Sheesley Mind For Sale by Morosia Tindilos Someone’s Gotta Shovel It by Sally Sultzman Reduce, Reuse by Ellis Nye Heartbeats by Kara Siert Toward The Light by S. Leigh Ann Cowan If You Go Into The North Today by Shantell Powell Redheads by Gabriella Hassan Opportunity Cost by Alexis Ames A Girl’s Best Friend by Morgan Greensmith Fat Is An Essential Medicine by Ella T. Holmes Soft Edges by Ceinwen Langley Cattle and Mulch by Nora Black Vermin & Whimsy by Casper E. Falls The Storm Runners Julie March The Holes in Her Head by Kate Orman

In December 1972, Jean McConville, a thirty-eight-year-old mother of ten, was dragged from her Belfast home by masked intruders, her children clinging to her legs. They never saw her again. Her abduction was one of the most notorious episodes of the vicious conflict known as The Troubles. Everyone in the neighborhood knew the I.R.A. was responsible. But in a climate of fear and paranoia, no one would speak of it. In 2003, five years after an accord brought an uneasy peace to Northern Ireland, a set of human bones was discovered on a beach. McConville's children knew it was their mother when they were told a blue safety pin was attached to the dress--with so many kids, she had always kept it handy for diapers or ripped clothes. Patrick Radden Keefe's mesmerizing book on the bitter conflict in Northern Ireland and its aftermath uses the McConville case as a starting point for the tale of a society wracked by a violent guerrilla war, a war whose consequences have never been reckoned with. The brutal violence seared not only people like the McConville children, but also I.R.A. members embittered by a peace that fell far short of the goal of a united Ireland, and left them wondering whether the killings they committed were not justified acts of war, but simple murders. Patrick Radden Keefe writes an intricate narrative about a notorious killing in Northern Ireland and its devastating repercussions.

Men view love as a game. One you can walk away from. At least that’s what the men in my life have taught me. My dad ran off when I was young, and just when I thought I was getting my own happily ever after, my ex left me on my own with two kids. Trying to pick up the pieces, I move to a small town where I can have help from my children’s grandparents. I think I know what to expect from small-town life. Until I meet my new neighbor. Knox Madigan. Local hero. Great smile. So hot I'm sure I’d be burned if I got too close. Literally. He and my kids are in a major prank war. From whoopie cushions in my bed to snapping fireworks under my front door mat, I’ve witnessed it all. But I can’t hold it against him because my kids are smiling more than I’ve seen since their dad left. Every meddling person in this town thinks we’d be the perfect match, but I know better. History’s shown men view love as a game, and he’s an expert. But I can’t afford to play with my heart again. Especially since it’s not just my heart on the line.