Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Penelope Douglas | Exclusive Excerpt PUNK 57
Excerpt / December 18, 2023

1 Misha Dear Misha, So, have I ever told you my secret shame? And no, it’s not watching Teen Mom like you. Go ahead and try to deny it. I know you don’t have to sit there with your sister, man. She’s old enough to watch TV by herself. No, actually, it’s far worse, and I’m a little embarrassed to tell you. But I think negative feelings should be released. Just once, right? You see, there’s a girl at school. You know the kind. Cheerleader, popular, gets everything she wants . . . I hate to admit this, especially to you, but a long time ago I wanted to be her. Part of me still does. You would absolutely hate her. She’s everything we can’t stand. Mean, cavalier, superficial . . . The kind who doesn’t have a thought stay in her head too long or else she needs a nap, right? I’ve always been fascinated with her, though. And don’t roll your eyes at me. I can feel it. It’s just that . . . given all of her detestable attributes, she’s never alone. You know? I kind of envy that. Okay, I really envy that. It feels like…

Kate Oliver | Exclusive Excerpt CYANIDE AND SENSIBILITY
Excerpt / December 11, 2023

Holiday shoppers filled the aisles of the Poison Pen when Phaedra arrived a short time later. “Wow. Busy much?” she asked her harried father as he rang up the last of a line of customers. “It’s been like this all day. We’re offering free gift wrapping in the reading room, and your mother’s been inundated. And the new girl didn’t show up. I haven’t had a break since we opened the doors.” “I’ll take over.” She rounded the counter and tucked her purse into one of the cubbies underneath. “Go.” “Well . . . if I’m not keeping you from anything?” “Not a thing. I’m off this week, remember? Take a break,” she insisted, shooing him away. “Before I change my mind.” He thanked her, answered a question from a customer, and disappeared upstairs. Another line began to form, and she busied herself ringing up one purchase after another. She drew the next stack of paperbacks toward her. On top was Homer’s Iliad. “Will this be all for you today?” “Unless you have a Dog House Special stashed away behind the counter, then yes, that’s all.” “Hector!” Phaedra glanced up, surprised. “No Dog House Specials today, sorry. Just books. What brings you here?”…

Nalini Singh | Exclusive Excerpt: THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN EIGHT
Excerpt / November 27, 2023

(Author’s note: As the scene begins, the characters are about to go through a previously concealed door at the back of the pitch-black room in which they’re standing. The only light comes from two flashlights.) Unlike Aaron, I wasn’t so sure that I could trust all of my friends. Poor Grace. She didn’t even know most of us that well, and she was now stuck with us in a house straight out of a gothic novel. Wanting to hurry this up for her and for myself, I flashed the beam of my light at the spot I thought I’d seen a door. Air rushed out of me. “There it is.” “Did you see these bookshelves?” Grace said from my right at the same time. She pulled out a slim volume as Aaron went to check the door handle. “It’s in Latin,” she muttered, sliding it back while I was still digesting the fact that she could make out anything in this light. “I think I recognized the word ‘demon’ from school.” I wanted to ask what kind of school taught Latin in this day and age, then remembered that she’d been educated at boarding schools in Europe. Answer had to…

Christina Henry | Exclusive Excerpt: GOOD GIRLS DON’T DIE
Excerpt / November 15, 2023

Maybe I drank a lot last night. Or maybe I had a mini stroke or something. The only thing she knew for sure was that her first name was Celia. She stood up again and walked into the dining room. At one side of the room there was a large cabinet with glass doors on top and drawers on the bottom. The cabinet matched the dining set, and she crinkled her nose at it. I hate that matchy‑matchy thing. I bet all the dishes are in a matching pattern, too. When she opened the glass doors, she confirmed that her prediction was accurate. All the tableware and serving plates were in a matching pattern, a kind of country floral that made her think of wedding registries. On the wall opposite the cabinet there was a large, posed photograph of three people. The background was soft gray, like they’d been in a photo studio. There was Celia, sitting next to the tall dark-haired man. They both wore white-cabled fisherman-style sweaters. The lunch-demanding little girl stood in front of them, positioned so that she was halfway between them. She, too, wore a cabled sweater, this one in pink. All three of them…

Laurell K. Hamilton | Exclusive Excerpt SLAY
Excerpt / November 9, 2023

SLAY EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT   “Well, speak up, Fredrick, we are all waiting to hear your secrets.” He stood up straight like he hadn’t realized he was hunching forward. “I didn’t call Anita and tell her that my mother was coming because I knew Anita would have said no.” “No to what?” Grandma Blake said. “To you coming with us, Momma.” “She has no say in this, she is a child, you are her father.” “I’m over thirty, Grandma; I have a say in my own life.” “Both you girls over thirty and no great-grandchildren yet.” I glanced at Andria, who sighed and rolled her eyes like this was a long-standing complaint. I hadn’t spoken to Grandma in so long I hadn’t heard it before. Both Andria and I had still been on the why-aren’t-you-married-yet list for Grandma back then. “You don’t want us to have children out of wedlock, do you, Grandma?” Andria said. “Of course not!” She sounded outraged. “Then you have to wait for Anita and me to actually get married before there’s a chance for great-grandchildren.” Grandma glared at Andria, then turned to me. “Though there will be no children from your marriage. Your demon lover is…

Jaclyn Reding | Exclusive Excerpt WHITE HEATHER
Excerpt / October 30, 2023

Excerpt from WHITE HEATHER by Jaclyn Reding Then came king Arthur unto Galahad, and said, Sir, ye be welcome, for ye shall move many good knights to the quest for the Sancgreal, and ye shall achieve that never knights might bring to an end. Then the king took him by the hand, and went down from the palace to shew Galahad the adventures of the stone. “Catriona?” Catriona MacBryan abruptly raised her head from the small circle of light given off by the single tallow candle she’d been using to read by. She glanced quickly around the shadowed room, her heart thumping in her chest as she half expected to see King Arthur himself standing there before her, swathed in rich velvets, grumbling her name. But he wasn’t there. No one was. The room was dark and she was sitting with legs akimbo on the floor, feet tucked neatly beneath her woolen skirts. The book she’d been reading, the Malory, lay open on her lap while others were scattered around her like fallen leaves from a grand oak tree. The quill and paper she used to scribble her notes rested somewhere among them, lost beneath the burgeoning pile of literature….

Katie Shepard | Exclusive Excerpt SWEETEN THE DEAL
Excerpt / October 27, 2023

Chapter Ten   Adrian got the ball over the net with an underhand serve and then managed to send it back when she re‑ turned it in a high parabolic curve. They passed the ball back and forth for a few minutes. His confidence grew every time he returned the ball. She’d beat him, but he’d probably win a couple points, he decided. He didn’t play tennis or racquetball, but he ran several times a week. He was tall, so he had a good reach. He swung his shoulders to loosen them, smiling back at Caroline as he relaxed into the unaccustomed activity. “If you’re still interested in a match, let’s see your serve,” he told her. “Okay!” Caroline called, voice bright and eager. “Ready?” Adrian bent over as he vaguely recalled tennis players did during matches, holding the racket in both hands. “Ready,” he said. Caroline tossed the ball into the air, going to her full height as she bounced on her toes and slammed the ball in his direction at the approximate speed of a cruising 747. It hit in the left corner of the service box and then careened off the chain‑link fence behind him with such…

Amanda Cabot | Exclusive Excerpt: AGAINST THE WIND
Excerpt / October 4, 2023

Fresh Fiction Excerpt of AGAINST THE WIND by Amanda Cabot   “Where are we headed?” Josh directed his question to the woman who’d rescued him. The water she’d given him had relieved some of his discomfort, but the damage to his head must have been more severe than he’d realized, because he thought he recalled her saying she would set his leg. Obviously, he’d been mistaken. With her caramel-colored hair and those deep blue eyes, not to mention her self-assured air, Miss Vaughn was striking. But she was no more capable of setting his leg than Winifred. Miss Vaughn turned slightly. “We’re going to Sweetwater Crossing. It’s about an hour away. Once we arrive, I’ll be able to set your leg. As far as I can tell, the lump on your head will heal itself.” It hadn’t been his imagination. Miss Vaughn had indeed claimed she would set his leg. “You’re a doctor?” Josh knew there were a few lady doctors, but he hadn’t expected to encounter one here. Grandfather would have approved of Miss Vaughn. She had the cool composure he claimed was essential. If she had the business connections he craved, Grandfather would deem her worthy of being…

Katherine Quinn | Exclusive Excerpt: CROWN OF SALT AND BONE
Excerpt / September 28, 2023

Excerpt from CROWN OF SALT AND BONE by Katherine Quinn   Her heart skipped a beat and excitement pulsed in her veins. Her crew should be here with her, but there wasn’t time to waste, and she suspected they were growing weaker—if the dark circles below their eyes and sallow skin were any indication. Once the portal’s foggy blue mist cleared and she landed on its other side, Margrete scanned the grand foyer of the main floor. There were no lingering guards stationed, which she found peculiar, but Halio had told her that this area was deemed neutral, so armed soldiers would likely go against the agreement. The lone sound arose from the ticking of a clock stationed above the staircase’s first landing, its steady rhythm matching the beating in her chest. On the ground floor, so close to the mysterious hall, Margrete’s skin tingled. She could practically smell Bash’s signature scent of pine and sea, and she yearned to race to the portal and— And what? Fuck. She hadn’t thought it all through, and if this was some fantasy tale she was reading, she’d curse at the heroine and wonder why she hadn’t planned better. Whenever Bash was concerned,…

Andie J. Christopher | Exclusive Excerpt: UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS
Excerpt / September 26, 2023

Chapter Four Jessica needed to pee. And then she needed to go home and sleep for about a thousand years. Last night, she’d had a dream about waking up with white hair and a frail body, surrounded by the loving family that it was now questionable she would ever have. Now that she was single and firmly in her late thirties, she was more likely to end up in a Golden Girls–type living situation. Instead of waking up to loving grandchildren reminiscing about baking cookies or crocheted blankets, she’d be waking up to her best friend Kelly roasting Barbie about what a slut she was being in and around the retirement community. As she made her way through the almost-empty bar, her gaze snagged on a man sitting alone, staring into a glass of amber liquid. He was slumped over the bar, holding the side of his head with one hand. There were two empty glasses in front of him, and the bartender cleaned glasses while giving him a pitying look. She stopped short, which was weird because her bladder was seconds from bursting. She walked past him, toward the bathroom, but she noticed his big hands as she went…