A broken team. A battle for dignity. A summer of softball that united them against the odds. Marty's fast-pitch softball team is far from typical. He and his unlikely teammates represent the Residence, a haven for chronic alcoholics—where forgotten men, written off by society, drown in their addictions. Yet they find something worth fighting for on a dusty Minnesota baseball diamond: their dignity. As the men square off in a rec league against polished corporate teams with everything going for them, Marty and his gang must battle their inner demons and society's prejudices on an extraordinary path to redemption. The teammates form a fragile bond as they discover that their magical season offers more than just wins and losses—it's a chance to reclaim their identities and find purpose in a world that has long forgotten them. Based on a true story, A Season on the Drink chronicles the raw, unforgettable story of...

For fans of Inkheart and The Land of Stories, a sweeping, timeless middle grade fantasy about reclaiming and redefining homeLan is caught between two countries, and neither one feels quite like home.A recent immigrant to Canada from Vi?t Nam, Lan is lonely in the basement apartment she shares with her dad. Her mom and little brother are still in Vi?t Nam, and she misses them so much. Her books are the only things that bring her comfort.No one is more surprised than Lan when a mysterious wind whisks her right into the pages of her latest fantasy read—and more shocking still is the fact that she summoned the winds herself! Plunged into the magical world of Silva, Lan learns she is a budding witch with the power to help Annabelle and Marlow, the very characters she'd just been reading about, save their home.As Lan faces off against tree guardians, moving corn mazes, heart-eaters, and thoughtless kings, she finds that Silva is not so...

A message from space leads to a desperate race against time and across space to our nearest stellar neighbor in a new hard science fiction thriller from Travis S. Taylor and Les Johnson. THE ANSWER LIES OUT THERE The year is 2072. At the lunar farside radio observatory, an old-school radio broadcast is detected, similar to those broadcast on Earth in the 1940s, but in an unknown language, coming from an impossible source, and originating at an equally impossible location—Proxima Centauri. While the nations of Earth debate making first contact, they learn that the Proximans are facing an extinction-level disaster, forcing a decision: will Earth send a ship on a multiyear trip to provide aid? Interstellar travel is not easy, and by traveling at the speeds required to arrive before disaster strikes at Proxima, humans will learn firsthand the effects of Einstein’s Special Relativity and be forced to ponder the ultimate questions: Are we alone in the universe? What does it mean to be human? About Travis S. Taylor: “[E]xplodes with inventive action.”—Publishers Weekly on Travis S. Taylor’s The Quantum Connection “[Warp Speed] reads like Doc Smith writing Robert Ludlum . . . You won’t want to put it down.”—John Ringo About Stellaris: People of the Stars, coedited by Les Johnson: “[A] thought-provoking look at a selection of real-world challenges and speculative fiction solutions. . . . Readers will enjoy this collection that is as educational as it is entertaining.”—Booklist “This was an enjoyable collection of science fiction dealing with colonizing the stars. In the collection were several gems and the overall quality was high.”—Tangent About Mission to Methone, by Les Johnson: “The spirit of Arthur C. Clarke and his contemporaries is alive and well in Johnson’s old-fashioned first-contact novel, set in 2068. . . . includes plenty of realistic detail and puts fun new spins on familiar alien concepts. . . . There’s a great deal here for fans of early hard SF.”—Publishers Weekly “With equal parts science fiction and international intrigue. . . . an exciting, fast-paced read that you will not want to put down.”—Booklist About Rescue Mode, by Ben Bova and Les Johnson: “. . . a suspenseful and compelling narrative of the first human spaceflight to Mars.”—Booklist

When a "good" child turns "bad," who or what is to blame? After her son commits an atrocity, Gina Clayton will spend her life searching for the answer to this dark riddle.

When Viking Prince Asgar's mother disappears and his life is in danger, he sets off on a quest to find her and discovers the icy fortress of Arctinrod in his father' s Northern Kingdom. The land is like nothing he ever imagined— a world where narwhals are the nobility and snow monsters terrorize the mountainsides. Along with his sister Kari and best friend Tuka, Asgar must navigate a harsh new world of wolf attacks, blizzards, magic swords, stolen gold and assaults from snow monsters— creatures he never dreamed existed. When he learns about the legend of a supernatural tusk of the narwhal king which can shoot lightning-like bolts of fire, Asgar and his friends embark on a dangerous mission to infiltrate the snow monsters' kingdom beneath the mountain to bring peace to a mystical world he never knew existed and fulfill his own noble destiny.

There will be blood.Ace of Spades meets House of Hollow in this villain origin story.Laure Mesny is a perfectionist with an axe to grind. Despite being constantly overlooked in the elite and cutthroat world of the Parisian ballet, she will do anything to prove that a Black girl can take center stage. To level the playing field, Laure ventures deep into the depths of the Catacombs and strikes a deal with a pulsating river of blood.The primordial power Laure gains promises influence and adoration, everything she's dreamed of and worked toward. With retribution on her mind, she surpasses her bitter and privileged peers, leaving broken bodies behind her on her climb to stardom.But even as undeniable as she is, Laure is not the only monster around. And her vicious desires make her a perfect target for slaughter. As she descends into madness and the mystifying underworld beneath her, she is faced with the ultimate choice:...

Hunger. Desperation. Terror. A mother's love knows no bounds - neither does her appetite.A vampire's existence is a delicate balance between predator and pretense. For Trish, that balance includes a loving husband, an innocent son, and a trail of bloodless corpses. When her latest hunt at Miller University goes awry, leaving a witness in its wake, her carefully maintained double life begins to crumble.Months later, Trish sets her sights on a pure-hearted professor, but his death brings unexpected consequences. Captured by the victim's vengeful cousin and her violent friends, Trish faces a harrowing choice. She must either break free to protect her family or watch her perfect life dissolve into chaos. Can she escape before her husband, Randel, discovers the true nature of the monster he married?Blood introduces K.T. Rose's chilling vampire horror thriller series. If you're drawn to dark supernatural tales, complex characters, and blood-chilling suspense, this dark tale of maternal instinct versus monster nature will leave you breathless.Seize your copy now and feed your darkest cravings!

An actor researching a role. A cupcake cake shop owner with a broken heart. Can he convince her she's more than a stand-in heroine?Cassidy Erickson refuses to obsess over the fame-chasing ex-fiancé who left her at the altar. Instead, she's focused on making her new cupcake shop a success. Then the unthinkable happens. Jase Larson—A-list actor and co-star of her heartless ex—shows up at the family ranch to research an upcoming role.Jase's career is taking off, but years of chasing the perfect role hasn't filled the emptiness in his heart. When he visits Sunset Plains to prepare for a cowboy film, it feels like the place he was always meant to be—especially when he meets Cassidy, the stunning cupcake shop owner who can't seem to stand him. Too bad it's all temporary and he's returning to Hollywood in a month.When a freak lighting storm fries the appliances at Cassidy's cupcake shop, Jase becomes her unexpected hero. But...

A reporter running from love. A cruise ship director longing for home. Can a Christmas miracle help them build a relationship before the ship docks for the last time?Natalie James will do anything to land a journalist job with her favorite travel magazine—even report on Toujour's first ever singles cruise the week before Christmas. After a string of one-sided relationships, she's ready for the escape of vacationing around the globe. Even if that means watching professional matchmakers help naïve couples fall in love on a special holiday trip.Shawn Erickson has spent a decade wasting away as a specialty cruise director while coming to terms with the accident that cost him his military ambitions. But now he has a new dream—to open his own travel agency with the bonus he'll get from hosting Toujour. More than anything, he craves a family of his own to make Christmas memories with and the stability of a permanent home.When Natalie...

She's a ballet teacher about to lose her studio. He's a prince hated by his subjects. Can they put aside their pasts to create a future together?Kara's always dreamed of owning a successful ballet studio. But when a government-backed housing program turns out to be a scam, she's left fighting to keep the property while raising her ten-month-old niece alone. The last thing she needs is a drunk and haughty prince who just cost her thousands in property damage.Prince Nicholas of Galia has given up. When his pet housing project collapses due to a scam, he becomes a rebellious playboy instead of cleaning up the mess. But when anti-royalists chase him into the ballet studio of a bewitching brunette, he finds himself desperate to become a man worthy of her love.As Nicholas and Kara repair her damaged studio together, outside forces threaten to tear them apart. Can Kara and Nicholas overlook each other's pasts to plan a future...

She's lost her memory. He's lost his heart. Can they find their happily ever after in the past?Lexi has wasted her entire college career researching a dead-end. Her thesis on the sixteenth-century Durham queen, Alexandra, is going nowhere. How can she defend her doctoral dissertation if she can't even figure out where the queen was born? When she meets Nancy, Lexi doesn't think much of it—until she wakes up in the past without her memory.King Richard's only goal is to keep Durham from war with Galia, even if it means marrying their princess whom he's never met. When his advisers bring news that the princess's ship was attacked, Richard is devastated—until he finds a beautiful girl washed up on shore and assumes she's the missing royal.Lexi has no memory of her past, but Richard's advisers urge him to press forward with wedding plans. As Lexi grows more and more enamored with the kind-hearted king, memories of her past have her...

What happens when you impersonate your deceased identical twin to score a date with your long-lost high school crush?When wedding planner Kelsey makes a late-night ice cream run, the last thing she expects to leave the grocery store with is a date. But when Bryce, her long-lost high school crush, mistakes her for her deceased identical twin, Kelsey's attempts to clear up the misconception fail. Instead, Kelsey agrees to the date under false pretenses. What can it hurt to live out her teen fantasies?After a lifetime of hiding behind his insecurities, Bryce is finally ready to take risks. He's got a fantastic new job as the marketing director of an events center, and now he's got a date with the girl he liked in high school. At least, that's who Bryce thinks he's out with—until Kelsey tells him the truth and their date ends in disaster.When one of Kelsey's brides chooses Bryce's event center for her wedding, they're forced to work together....