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The Haunting of William Thorn
by Ben Alderson
William Thorn had his life all planned out -- until he discovered his long-term boyfriend Archie in bed with another man. Distraught, William kicks him out of their home, where tragedy strikes when Archie is killed instantly in a car accident. Riddled with guilt, William is shocked to learn that he's inherited a manor in the quaint village of Stonewall, left to him in Archie's will. He leaves the city with plans to make a new start for himself, but is surprised by the rundown state of the manor, and the unwelcoming villagers who want him gone. His only ally is Edward, a seemingly friendly local with secrets of his own... However, it's not only the villagers who are adverse to his presence. A malevolent spirit roams the manor, one that seeks to drive William out for good. But when he uncovers the heartbreaking tale of two men in love in the 1920's, William strives to find peace for the spirit, ending the haunting once and for all. But what dark secrets lie hidden in the manor walls? And will William be able to put aside his own grief to save his new home... and his life?
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Her wicked roots
by Tanya Pell
Cordelia Beecher is on the run. In search of her missing brother Edward, she has fled the oppressive charity school she was raised in, desperate to find the only family she knows. Using clues from hispast letters, she sets off for the sleepy town of Farrow but everyone there claims to have never heard of Edward -- not even the man he was supposedly working for as an apprentice. With nowhere to go, Cordi turns to Lady Evangeline, a local botanist who owns the magnificent Edenfield estate. The benevolent lady of the manor has made it her mission to take young, often traumatized, women into her employ and protect them from man's world of wicked desires and deceits. Hired as a maid and companion to her enigmatic daughters Prim and Briar, Cordi quickly settles into Edenfield. Even as her relationship with Briar blossoms, Cordi can't help but suspect that there are secrets in the estate -- and when she stumbles across evidence that Edward was once there, she's determined to find answers.
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Savage Blooms
by S. T. Gibson
For as long as Adam can remember, the legends passed down from his world-traveling grandfather have called him to a crumbling manor in the Highlands. His closest friend Nicola longs for the same adventure, as well as for Adam himself. She'll follow him just about anywhere -- even to the remote wilds of Scotland -- if it pushes the pair to surrender to their shared attraction. But when a storm strikes and strands them unexpectedly, Adam and Nicola find themselves at the mercy of the eccentric owner of the infamous house, Eileen, as well as her brooding groundskeeper, Finley. Trapped by the weather, and bound by ancient faery magic, Nicola and Adam get more than they bargained for as they become entangled in Eileen and Finley's world of mind games, deceit and forbidden desire. As ancestral sins are unearthed, Adam and Nicola will have to reckon with the spell Eileen and Finley have cast over them -- and whether or not they even want to be free.
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And I'll Take Out Your Eyes
by Allan Martín Nava Sosa
Cría cuervos y te sacaran los ojos: Raise crows and they'll take out your eyes.' Since the age of seven, Christian has been under the thumb of a curse. He reads its dark signs everywhere: in his bedridden mother's wilting plants; in his brother's estrangement; in his father's eager fists and glassy stare. He reads it in his nightmares, in Stockton's soundtrack of sirens and gunshot. Above all, he reads the curse in the mirror, watching himself "turn" into the crow his father always predicted he'd become. Maddened by the city's heatwaves and his own unthinkable desires, often high and drunk, Christian rips through his neighborhood, desperate to escape not only the city but the monster of his pain. But even when he leaves, the curse follows. Can Christian ever be absolved? Or is he condemned to be consumed by the same violence as his father?
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Herculine
by Grace Byron
Herculine's narrator has demons. Sure, her life includes several hallmarks of the typical trans girl sob story -- conversion therapy, a string of shitty low-paying jobs, and even shittier exes -- but she also regularly debates sleep paralysis demons that turn to mist soon after she wakes and carries vials of holy oil in her purse. Nothing, though, prepares her for the new malevolent force stalking her through the streets of New York City, more powerful than any she's ever encountered. Desperate to escape this ancient evil, she flees to rural Indiana, where her ex-girlfriend started an all-trans girl commune in the middle of the woods. The secluded camp, named after 19th-century intersex memoirist Herculine Barbin, is a scrappy operation, but the shared sense of community among the girls is a welcome balm to the narrator's growing isolation and paranoia. Still, something isn't quite right at Herculine. Girls stop talking as soon as she enters the room, everyone seems to share a common secret, and the books lining the walls of the library harbor strange cryptograms. Soon what once looked like an escape becomes a trap all its own.
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Crafting for sinners
by Jenny Kiefer
Ruth is trapped. She's stuck in her small, religious hometown of Kill Devil, Kentucky, stuck in the closet, and stuck living paycheck to paycheck. After her manager finds out that she lives with her girlfriend, Ruth is fired from her job as a cashier at New Creations--a craft store owned by the church that dominates life in the town. In an act of revenge, Ruth attempts to shoplift some yarn but is caught red-handed by a New Creations cashier. Instead of calling the police, the employees lock her in the store--and attack her. When Ruth is forced to stab out one of their eyes with a knitting needle, she realizes she's facing far bigger trouble than a simple shoplifting charge. As Ruth fights for her life, she plunges deeper into the tangled web of the New Creationists, who are hiding a terrible secret that threatens not only her, but the entire town.
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Colin gets promoted and dooms the world
by Mark Waddell
WARNING! If encountered by any unauthorized personnel or otherwise in Dark Enterprises's company elevators, take extra precaution and do not engage or enter into any deals with them. Any such behavior could result in world destruction. Colin, a lowly employee at Dark Enterprises, a Hell-like corporation solving the world's most difficult problems in the most questionable ways, is ready to start exerting his own power...at the top of the corporate ladder. The only problem is he's pretty sure he's gettingfired (aka killed because no one gets an exit interview at DE). Tough, since his bff has just set him up with a great guy...maybe a little too great...and he weirdly likes corporate life. When Colin meets a shadowy figure promising his heart's desire if he agrees to a small favor, he can't resist the urge to fast-track his goals. He asks for the thing anyone would in this situation-a promotion. But that small favor unleashes an ancient evil. People in New York are disappearing. The world might be ending and Management is starting to notice. The ladder to the top is never easy and now it's up to Colin to save the world...or at least get a bonus for doing so.
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Cinder house
by Freya Marske
"Sparks fly and lovers dance in this gorgeous, yearning Cinderella retelling from bestselling author Freya Marske-a queer Gothic romance perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and T. Kingfisher. Ella is a haunting. Murdered at sixteen, her ghost is furiously trapped in her father's house, invisible to everyone except her stepmother and stepsisters. Even when she discovers how to untether herself from her prison, there are limits. She cannot be seen or heard by the living people who surround her. Her family mustnever learn she is able to leave. And at the stroke of every midnight, she finds herself back on the staircase where she died. Until she forges a wary friendship with a fairy charm-seller, and makes a bargain for three nights of almost-living freedom. Freedom that means she can finally be seen. Danced with. Touched. You think you know Ella's story: the ball, the magical shoes, the handsome prince. You're halfway right, and all-the-way wrong. Rediscover a classic fairy tale in this debut novella from "thequeen of romantic fantasy"
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All of us murderers
by KJ Charles
When Zeb Wyckham is summoned to a wealthy relative's remote Gothic house on Dartmoor, he finds all the people he least wants to see in the world - his estranged brother, his loathsome cousins, and his bitter ex-lover, Gideon Grey. Nothing, he is certain, could possibly be worse. Then the grizzled old patriarch announces the true purpose of the gathering: He intends to leave the vast family fortune to whichever of the men marries Cousin Jessamine, setting off a violent scramble for her hand and his wealth. Disinterested in being tied further to a family he can barely stand, Zeb tries to leave only to realize that he's been trapped. The walls are high, the gates are locked, and when the mists roll in, there's no way out. And there may be something trappedwithin the dark monstrosity of a house with them. Fear and paranoia ramping ever-higher, Zeb has nowhere to turn but to the man who once held his whole heart. As the mists descend, the gaslight flickers, and terror takes its hold, two warring lovers mustreconcile in time to uncover the murderous mysteries of Lackaday House - and live to tell the tale.
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The salvage : a novel
by Anbara Salam
It is 1962, and Marta Khoury, a trailblazing marine archaeologist, has been called to Cairnroch, a small island off the east coast of Scotland. A Victorian shipwreck, dragged from arctic waters, holds the remains of a celebrated explorer and the treasures of his final expedition. But on her first dive down to the ship, Marta becomes convinced she has seen a dark figure lurking amid the wreckage. When the Cuban Missile Crisis and the deep chill of a record-breaking winter keeps Marta stranded on Cairnroch, she forms a relationship with Elsie, a local woman working in the island's only hotel. When the ship's artifacts inexplicably disappear, Marta and Elsie have to brave the freezing conditions to search for the missing objects before anyone else catches on. As something eerie seems to follow her at every step, Marta must confront if the haunting is a figment of her imagination, the repercussions from a terrible mistake from her past, or if something more sinister is at play that will trap her and everyone on the island-and their secrets-in an icy wilderness. Perfect for fans of Emma Stonex and Julia Armfield, The Salvage is a twisty gothic thriller that will keep you guessing.
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Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
by Anaïs Flogny
Chicago, 1930. Jules Tivoli is a penniless Italian immigrant doing odd jobs to make ends meet. A twist of fate causes him to cross paths with Adam, a kingpin in Chicago's criminal underworld who sees something in Jules that nobody else does--something special. Under Adam's wing, Jules becomes somebody and falls in love hard with the man who made him. But after an FBI crackdown, he and Jules must flee to New York to escape being caught in the crackdown. In New York, Jules's Italian heritage gains him access, recognition, and power in the Cosa Nostra crime family. As he becomes more important in a city where Adam can't seem to catch a break, he meets Eufrasio-his handsome, violent, and ambitious new partner who insists that Adam is holding Jules back. But Jules would be nothing without Adam-wouldn't he? Torn between his past and his future, a sudden betrayal forces Jules to find a way to protect his love and prove his loyalty-if he can even manage to make it out alive.
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The hearth witch's guide to magic & murder
by Kiri Callaghan
When a rise in London's supernatural crime puts Fey society at risk of discovery, the Winter Council turns to an unlikely solution: Avery Hemlock, the changeling they sentenced to 500 Years of Nightmares. Inherently lacking social grace and missing approximately two centuries of world knowledge, Avery must find a way to acclimate and solve the case or lose her probationary freedom. After being left at the altar and dropping out of medical school, Saga Trygg attempts to rekindle her faith in life, humanity, and witchcraft. But when her new neighbor, Avery, accidentally reveals the Fey that have been living among humanity all along, Saga realizes magic is far more than prayers, intention, and candles. Each faced with navigating an unfamiliar world, the two form an unexpected partnership-but shortly into Avery's investigation, they discover the threat might be closer to Saga than either of them imagined, and Avery will do anything to protect the first friend she's had in more than two hundred years.
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We Are Always Tender With Our Dead
by Eric Larocca
After three faceless intruders commit unspeakable violence on Christmas morning, the haunted residents of Burnt Sparrow, New Hampshire—especially teenage Rupert Cromwell—must reckon with grief, family fracture, and the disturbing realization that vengeance offers no salvation from the town's deepening horror.
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A hexcellent chance to fall in love
by Ann Rose
Cursed to vanish each year with a haunted Halloween store, Pepper finds unexpected hope when Christina walks in and with just ten weeks before she's forgotten again, Pepper must choose between love and breaking the spell for good.
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Best woman : a novel
by Rose Dommu
Hoping to survive her brother's Boca Raton wedding, Julia Rosenberg's role as“best woman” spirals into chaos when a lie to impress her high school crush, the maid of honor, unravels.
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A feast for the eyes
by Alex Crespo
Four teens must track down a local cryptid that is feeding off secrets, before their own hidden truths are exposed.
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Love and Video Games
by Zachary Sergi
In the real world, Keegan Thomas is a gay, eighteen-year-old mythology nerd with undiagnosed chronic pain. But in the myth-inspired,online video game world of Pantheonic, he is the glorious and powerful K.Odyssia, slaying legions of enemies and completing quests for honor and glory along with his team, the Epic Hearts. Despite his closeness to his gamer friends--and the secret crush he has on his teammate, Alix--no one knows that he is struggling with the sudden onset of chronic pain in his lower back and fears it will hinder his ability to move to NYU in the fall. When a quest in Pantheonic turns out to be a secret invitation to an in-person tournament in New York City, Keegan has to battle his fears of concealing and managing his pain so that his team can attend this once-in-a-lifetime event. Competing against six other teams, members of the Epic Hearts must work together to outwit and outplay the others to win the tournament and the hefty cash prize. But can Keegan as K.Odyssia be one of the heroes that Pantheonic needs while he's laser-focused on his own epic battle? Will he be able to level up his relationship with Alix and leadhis team to victory? It's time for the games to begin!
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Exquisite Things
by Abdi Nazemian
Shahriar believes he was born in the wrong time. All he's ever wanted is to love and be loved, but 1895 London doesn't offer him the freedom to be his true self, and Oscar Wilde's trial for gross indecency has only reaffirmed that. But one night -- and one writer -- will grant Shahriar what he's always wished for: the opportunity to live in a time and place where he can love freely. Rechristened as Shams and then as Bram, he finds what feels like eternal happiness. But can anything truly be eternal? Oliver doesn't feel that 1920s Boston gives him a lot of options to be his full self. He knows he could only ever love another boy, but that would break his beloved mother's heart. Oliver finds freedom and acceptance in the secret queer community at Harvard that his cousin introduces him to. When he meets a mysterious boy with eyes as warm as a flame, his life is irrevocably changed forever. Spanning 130 years of love and longing, this tale of immortal beloveds searching for their perfect place and time from Stonewall award-winning author Abdi Nazemian is a vibrant hymn to the beauty of being alive, a celebration of queer love and community, and a reminder that behind every tragic thing that ever existed, there is something exquisite.
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Try Your Worst
by Chatham Greenfield
Seniors Sadie Katz and Cleo Chapman, who have been rivals since birth, are neck-and-neck for valedictorian, but when increasingly serious pranks take over their high school and all signs point to Sadie and Cleo as the perpetrators, they must team up to clear their names and find out who is framing them.
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Extraordinary Quests for Amateur Witches
by Kayla Cottingham
After accidentally cursing his ex-boyfriend, Kieran sets off on a dangerous journey accompanied by his sister Briar, her girlfriend Delilah and a swooney new crewmate, Sebastian, to find a way to undo his spell and turn his luck around.
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The leaving room
by Amber McBride
Gospel, the Keeper of the Leaving Room, where young people pass through when they die, meets a Keeper named Melody, and after their souls become entangled, they try to claw their way back to their bodies.
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He's so possessed with me
by Corey Liu
A boy must save his best friend from a demon that wants to steal his heart--literally.
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Witchlore
by Emma Hinds
As the only shapeshifter at Demdike College of Witchcraft, Lando feels like an outcast, especially after the accidental death of their girlfriend, until a mysterious witch named Bastian arrives, claiming he can cast a spell to bring her back.
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Everything she does is magic
by Bridget Morrissey
In the Halloween-obsessed town of Fableview, sunny Darcy and brooding almost-witch Anya team up in a fake magical pact that turns into something more, as they navigate fall festivities, personal dreams and the surprising power of unexpected feelings. Original.
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