Chapter 1 Science quantified the mystical, boiled it down to logic, data, and biological processes. But there was a kind of magic to new discoveries, and the discovery that murderous sirens lurked in ocean’s deep captivated the world and brought the New England fishing industry where they’d been found to its knees. Myth had become universal truth, and modern fishermen wanted no part of it. The sirens should have scared away Dawn Chaser’s crew, but stubbornness outweighed fear, and they did not flee the Gulf of Maine like most of their offshore competition. Idle chatter and laughter rang out across the decks as the crew prepared the nets, and Captain Killian Quinn listened to them from the pilothouse, their muffled voices drifting to where he stood at the helm. He couldn’t make out the words, but their cheer was unmistakable, and the corners of his mouth lifted. This could have been just another day at sea. Strong morale was good for crew retention, and these days, that’s what kept him in business. But more than that, his crew was like a family to him, more so than his own flesh and blood, and he liked hearing them in high spirits….
Azure doesn’t show. I toss my shoes and shirt onto the tufts of grass at the edge of the sand, and wade knee deep into the surf to cool the burn of being stood up. I splash water on my sweaty face. Did I make too much of my flirt with Azure? I dunk my head into the lagoon and shake the water off the three braids trailing down my back. I did feel a connection with Azure. Maybe not as strong as the pull toward the woman who yanked me out of the sea, but it was there. I’ve got to stop thinking about the night of the storm. Curse my bud, Juan Luna, and his philosophies about my rescuer being a soulmate, a heart’s fate. My hand rests over the tattoo of a full moon on the right side of my chest. The nondescript silhouette of my mythical heart’s fate, a dream girl, covers the left side, the heart side. A trail of stars rains down between the images. When a member of our artist’s commune turns eighteen, Juan Luna’s grandpa offers to gift them with a unique ink design. No one picks their tattoo. We trust the…
A WICKED GAME – Kate Bateman, teaser exclusive excerpt for Fresh Fiction. The carriage gave a jolt, and Morgan caught her eye. “My business with Mister Crusoe might be done,” he said softly. “But there’s another matter between you and I that needs to be resolved. I seem to remember a certain bet we made, before I left for war.” He made sure to hold her stare. “Since I’m here, safe and well in London, I think it’s fair to say that you owe me three kisses.” Harriet’s heart was pounding with a strange mixture of dread and relief. At last. She hadn’t stopped thinking about their foolish wager since the moment she’d heard Morgan was back in England. Or for any of the months before that, if she was being honest. The secret, scandalous part of her had fantasized that he’d come to her immediately on his return. That he’d be so desperate for her kisses that he’d gallop up to Bloomsbury on his fastest horse, hammer on her door or clamber in through her window, and claim his prize. That, of course, hadn’t happened. She didn’t live in a fairytale. Morgan had been back…
Excerpt from BRATVA ANGEL by Sabine Barclay “You are.” He growls. “F*ck. I can’t last any longer, baby girl.” “Good. I want to know you want me that much.” “I want you more than I should. You’re a drug, Heather. I’d sell my soul for another hit, another chance to be inside you.” “But drugs destroy. That’s not what I want.” “Fine. A multivitamin. I know I’m better when I’m with you.” I can’t help but laugh. My core contracts, and he thrusts hard before going still. He rests his forehead against mine. I cup his jaw. “I have never been called a multivitamin before. That might be one of the weirdest and most romantic things I’ve ever heard.” I sigh as we kiss once more. Part of it is from satisfaction and post-coital bliss. But part of it is regret because I can’t linger. “How late do you think your sister will be out?” “She and Mike’ll probably be back by ten. Danielle isn’t a night owl and never has been. Sleeping Beauty likes her rest. I can’t blame her since she’s home with Cadence all day. He’s exhausting.” I consider what Danielle and Mike would…
CHAPTER ONE BINDU The way a woman wears the color red tells you everything you need to know about how she sees herself. The first time I saw Bhanu, she was wearing a red bikini. From the journal of Oscar Seth It wasn’t every day that someone left you a million dollars, without so much as a warning and no way to give it back, no matter how badly you wanted to. For years Bindu Desai had believed that life was a series of accidents waiting to happen, fragile beads strung together on threads of varying strengths. The only way to keep them from shattering was to stand utterly still and hold them as carefully as she possibly could. Then, twenty-six years ago, her husband had died, two days after Bindu’s thirty-ninth birthday, and she swore to take them off and Move! Dance! She didn’t care if the beads shattered. She was going to live. But everyone in her neighborhood in Mumbai knew her. Mrs. Bindu Desai, wife of Dr. Rajendra Desai, mother of Ashish Desai, who was studying engineering somewhere in America. Sure, her choice to keep wearing bright colors as a new widow was met with tolerant…
Bernie Sanders and I stood at the end of the dock. Although the air was cool, the sky was cloudless and the sun was out. A perfect autumn day in Vermont. Most of the boats usually docked here were out on the water. A steady stream of out-of-state cars were rolling through town now. Some were driving slower than the speed limit so they could take in the leaves, while others were driving slower looking for parking for the fall festival, Champ Days. Most, presumably, hadn’t heard about the dead man who’d floated to the surface less than sixteen hours ago. “Drowning pancakes in syrup is one thing,” Bernie said. “But a person drowning in syrup? How does that happen?” I was just a congressional intern. Was the senator—my boss—really asking me to chime in on this? Sure, we were in my hometown, but Bernie and I had both read the same autopsy report on Mr. Fletcher, the victim. The medical examiner had laid out the facts, but the facts didn’t give us all the answers. Mr. Fletcher didn’t have anything else in his digestive tract besides maple syrup. No pancakes. No waffles. Not even a spoonful of granola. “You…
(c) Lauren Elliott, Kensington Publishing Corp., 2022. STEEPED IN SECRETS excerpt shared with permission from the publisher. “Then see if this is more to your liking.” Julia yanked on the corner edge of the back curtain and revealed an ornate wrought-iron spiral staircase. “Now that’s what I was waiting to see,” Liam said. “Access to the second floor.” “Why?” Shay eyed him warily. “Are you hoping it’s filled with the bodies of her customers?” “Now that would make a good tale to tell tonight in the pub, wouldn’t it?” With a flash of humor in his eyes, he shuffled past her toward the staircase. “Actually, I have a rooftop patio on my second floor, and at night I could hear her singing. When it was a quiet night in the pub, I would just sit for hours, listening to her Irish songs. She had quite the voice, sad but really good.” He stepped up onto the first metal stair. “Always wanted to see what she was working on up here till the wee hours of the morning.” “What’s that?” Shay pointed to the wall behind Liam. “What?” Julia looked to the spot Shay had…
From ASTRID PARKER DOESN’T FAIL published by arrangement with Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2022 by Ashley Herring Blake. Astrid didn’t usually attend demo days. She hated the dust, the chaos, the crew tearing cabinets out of walls and wielding sledgehammers like Neanderthals. But the Everwood Inn wasn’t just any design project, and everything had to be documented for Innside America, including her overseeing parts of the demo—or at least pretending to. Plus, with her reputation already on shaky ground with the lead carpenter, Astrid knew she needed to be involved. Passionate. Maybe peeling off a segment of wallpaper or two might go a long way to repairing things with Jordan. All she had to do was be her usual collected self. Except when she pulled up to the front of the inn and spotted Jordan and Natasha standing on the porch, laughing, Astrid’s nerves quickly rebelled. With the giant dumpster situated in the front yard, coupled with the show’s crew mixing among the demo crew, things were getting real. “You’re here,” Jordan said when Astrid got out of her car and headed toward the porch, her work bag hooked onto her elbow. Astrid made sure…
Excerpt from BEFORE YOUR MEMORY FADES, Copyright © 2022 by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. Reprinted by permission of Hanover Square Press. Summer is fleeting in Hakodate. Not long after the first leaf or two falls, Mt. Hakodate suddenly comes ablaze with the colors of autumn. During this season, a sloping street called Daisan Regalia Rise attracts tourists in droves for its beautifully cobblestoned paving, straddled by the exotic autumn leaves of the roadside mountain ash trees, all of which creates the mood of a faraway land. Autumn had also arrived in the large window of Café Donna Donna, which overlooked Hakodate Port and vast blue sky. The red-and-gold foliage spreading across the base of that panorama filtered into the café’s atmosphere, making it feel quite romantic. Maybe that was why, seated at the counter, Nanako Matsubara was thinking, I’m seeing so many couples. Today was Sunday. With double the number of customers than usual, the café was extremely lively. However, as most were tourists, it was an open question as to how many knew this was a café where you could return to the past. Mixed in with all the couples was a gangling man in his late forties, whose features…
Excerpt from NEVER RESCUE A ROGUE by Virginia Heath. Copyright © 2022 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group. “What about you Diana? Did you miss me too?” I-I…” As she floundered at his unexpected and forthright question, Diana almost—almost—confessed the unpalatable truth. That not only had she missed him, but not a day had gone past that she hadn’t worried about his welfare or recalled his kiss. Fortunately, a sound behind them saved her from herself. She grabbed his sleeve and yanked him behind the topiary then pressed a finger to her lips. “Shhhh!” “We are hiding now because…?” Giles mimicked her covert stance despite being bewildered by it. “Because I just overheard Lady Pamela Beckett and Lieutenant Rory Fitzherbert arrange to meet out here.” Admitting she was working was better than admitting she cared about him. “That is hardly worthy gossip Diana, let alone anything scandalous enough for The Tribune, when everyone knows Rory Fitzherbert has been head over heels in love with that girl for the last year.” “Or so we all thought— but while you were gone, Lady Pamela became engaged to Lord Stifford. They are due to marry tomorrow—on…