You can run from the past...but the past runs faster.Shamwell Tales, Book 1Behind Robert's cheerfully eccentric exterior lies a young heart battered and bruised by his past. He's taken a job teaching in a village primary school to make a fresh start, and love isn't part of his plans. But he's knocked for six—literally—by a chance encounter with the uncle of two of his pupils.Sean works in pest control, rides a motorbike, and lives on a council estate. On the face of it, he shouldn't have anything in common with Robert's bow-tie, classic-car style and posh family background. Yet Robert is helpless to resist Sean's roguish grin, and a rocky, excruciatingly embarrassing start doesn't keep the sparks between them from flaring.Despite Robert's increasingly ludicrous attempts to keep his past where it belongs, his past hasn't read the memo. And soon his secrets could be the very things that drive Sean away for...

A, B, C: Three Short Novels contains the first three novels of Samuel R. Delany's long and illustrious career. The Jewels of Aptor is a science-fantasy story about a seafaring quest that sets out to find powerful magic jewels on a mystical, forbidden island where unimaginable danger lies. The Ballad of Beta-2 is about a future academic searching for the true story behind an interstellar voyage, a journey over multiple generations that ended in tragedy. They Fly at Çiron is a fantasy about the clash between a marauding army and a peaceful village at the foot of a mountain from which a race of winged people oversees both sides. Presenting these three novels in this omnibus volume for the first time, along with a new foreword and afterword by the author, A, B, C showcases Delany's masterful storytelling ability and deep devotion to his craft.

The epic tale of Torrant Shadow—Triane's Son—and his struggle against the forces of evil.

The five-week New York Times bestseller, now in paperback.Running from a proposal of marriage from Sheriff Paul Davidson, Anna Pigeon takes a post as a temporary supervisory ranger on remote Garden Key in Dry Tortugas National Park, a small grouping of tiny islands in a natural harbor seventy miles off Key West. This island paradise has secrets it would keep; not just in the present, but in shadows from its gritty past, when it served as a prison for the Lincoln conspirators during and after the Civil War.Here, on this last lick of the United States, in a giant crumbling fortress, Anna has little company except for the occasional sunburned tourist or unruly shrimper. When her sister, Molly, sends her a packet of letters from a great-great-aunt who lived at the fort with her husband, a career soldier, Anna's fantasy life is filled with visions of this long-ago time.When a mysterious boat explosion-and the discovery of unidentifiable body parts-keeps her anchored to the...

When a guy in his class looks at him funny, Diego punches him in the face, and ends up on probation. At first he wants nothing to do with his probation officer. But as Diego starts to open up, he begins to realize that Mr. Vidas is the first person in his life who ever really wanted to listen to him. With Vidas's help, Diego begins to make real progress in controlling his anger. He even opens up enough to tell Vidas about the shark tooth that his stepfather gave him that he uses to cut himself. But only if Diego can find the courage to trust Vidas with the darkest secrets from his past will he be able to heal completely. In this bold story of a boy trying to grow beyond a painful past, award-winning author Alex Sanchez calls upon his personal experience as a probation officer to reveal the complexities of one of his most genuinely realized characters to date.

First published in 1989 and taking place in downtown Toronto, one of the earliest of the modern urban fantasies, Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light is the story of a fight against encroaching darkness by a developmentally handicapped young woman, a street musician with no idea of his potential, a bag-lady who's tired of picking up the pieces, and an adept of the light. Mixing actual Toronto ghost-stories with traditional Faire, a police procedural, and a cat, Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light opened a gate at street level to the urban fantasy that followed.REVIEWS"A mentally disadvantaged young woman who sees what other people don't, a street musician, a social worker, and a bag-lady join forces with an 'Adept of the Light' to fight the encroaching darkness that stalks the streets of modern Toronto. In a departure from the 'strict' fantasy of Child of the Grove (LJ 5/15/88) and The Last Wizard, Huff's real-world fantasy presents an...

Giving true love a spin . . .Michelin Moses is a country music star on the rise. With a hit single under his Texas-sized belt buckle and a sold-out concert tour underway, his childhood dreams of making it big are finally coming true. But there's one thing missing—a promise to his dying mother that he'd find it—him—when the time was right. With a little luck, he won't have to wait too long . . .Lucky Ramirez is a hunky boy toy who dances at The Broom Closet, one of West Hollywood's hottest gay bars. He loves what he does, and he's good at it—almost as good as he is at playing dumb when he spots Michelin Moses at the bar. What happens next is off the charts—and keeps Michelin coming back for more. He's just not sure it's the right move for his career. But if Lucky gets his way, Michelin will get Lucky—and no matter how the media spins it, neither of them will be faking it . . .Praise for the Portland Heat...

Six years ago, Billy Grant had a night he never forgot losing his virginity to the jock of his dreams, Mitch Crestfield. But Billy fled afterward, not wanting to hear Mitch's regrets.Now Mitch has hit it big, winning the lottery, and Billy finds himself invited to Mitch's celebration. When Mitch suggests another night of passion, Billy can't seem to resist. But Mitch has something more than one night in mind.

Their biggest challenge is balancing one's vanilla with the other's kink.Joel has finally walked away from his abusive ex and is ready to meet new people. But that isn't easy for a guy who's shy, self-conscious, and struggling with his body image.Andre has wanted Joel since the first time he laid eyes on him, and finally Joel is single. But Andre is a Dom and a sadist, and Joel is unapologetically vanilla. There's no happy medium — either Andre reins in the kinky side that took him years to accept, or Joel grits his teeth and subjects himself to kinks that aren't his thing. No matter who bends, someone's going to be unhappy.They agree to walk away, but they keep circling back to each other. Though their kinks might not line up, the chemistry between them sizzles and the emotional connection keeps getting deeper. But none of that will get them anywhere if they can't find some kind of middle ground in the bedroom.

When Scott Trask gets a job at his law firm, Preston Reynolds begins to feel the same attraction he felt for his best friend's younger brother years earlier. But he couldn't be sexually attracted to the young man. Preston isn't gay.Scott has been in love with Preston for years, but just because Preston is now divorced doesn't mean he's available. Yet soon enough, they surrender to their desires, and begin a passionate affair.At first, Scott thinks he can handle it when Preston wants to keep their private life together a secret but he's wrong. Then when Preston promises to change, there is hope. Sort of. Preston has a tough choice. Learn to accept himself at long last, or risk losing Scott forever.

Nevada Barr's ever-popular Anna Pigeon series is consistently praised as "exceptional" (Denver Post), "stunning" (Seattle Times), and "superb" (New York Times Book Review). In Deep South, Park Ranger Anna Pigeon heads to Mississippi, only to encounter terrible secrets in the heart of the southAnna Pigeon finally gives in to her bureaucratic clock-and signs on for a promotion. Next thing she knows, she's knee-deep in mud and Mississippi. Not exactly what she had in mind. Almost immediately, as the new district ranger on the Natchez Trace, Anna discovers the body of a young prom queen near a country cemetery, a sheet around her head, a noose around her neck. It's a bizarre twist on a best-forgotten past of frightening racial undertones. As fast as the ever-encroaching kudzu vines of the region, the roots of this story run deep-and threaten to suffocate anyone in the way, including Anna...