Darkness falls so quickly in Howland that the people there have no word for evening. But for thirteen-yearold Annie, the dark is almost soothing compared to the misery of her cruel aunt and uncle's house. When Annie finally escapes, she finds herself on a journey that will take her deep into the forest-where fearsome creatures lurk-and to the glittering halls of a palace. Hints of the Brothers Grimm add magic to this spellbinding and beautifully told story.
From USA Today bestselling author Anthea Sharp, a richly-imagined fantasy romance uniting an adventurous young woman and a fearsome Dark Elf warrior, in a magical tale full of love and adventure. In the shadowed land of the Dark Elves, a hero must risk losing everything... Prince Brannilon Luthinor and his mortal bride, Mara Geary, have returned to the Hawthorne Court, but despite winning the war against the Void, their own personal struggles are just beginning. Shards of the Void remain in the realm, and Bran must hunt them down, leaving Mara to face the poisonous intrigues of the court alone. She soon discovers that the fate of Elfhame is far more precarious than she first believed. While she grapples with mastering her own magic, and the depth of her feelings for her enigmatic husband, Bran chases down the enemy - but his foe has grown more cunning than he ever imagined. As treacherous schemes and dire enemies close in around the couple, they must learn to trust the power of their magic and their hearts... before both their worlds are lost forever.
Magic is forbidden in Myrsina, along with various other abominations, such as girls doing maths. This is bad news for Gretel Mudd, who doesn’t perform magic, but does know a lot of maths. When the sinister masked Huntsmen accuse Gretel of witchcraft, she is forced to flee into the neighbouring Darkwood, where witches and monsters dwell. There, she happens upon Buttercup, a witch who can’t help turning things into gingerbread, Jack Trott, who can make plants grow at will, the White Knight with her band of dwarves and a talking spider called Trevor. These aren’t the terrifying villains she’s been warned about all her life. They’re actually quite nice. Well... most of them. With the Huntsmen on the warpath, Gretel must act fast to save both the Darkwood and her home village, while unravelling the rhetoric and lies that have demonised magical beings for far too long. Take a journey into the Darkwood in this modern fairy tale that will bewitch adults and younger readers alike. Praise for Gabby Hutchinson Crouch: ‘Gabby is one of the funniest writers I know.’ Sarah Millican ‘...very funny. If you like Terry Pratchett, or think gothic fairytales should have more LOLs, ’tis the book for ye.’ Greg Jenner ‘I have read this and it is great. Pratchetty fun for all the family.’ Lucy Porter ‘...magical, surprising and funny.’ Jan Ravens What people are saying about the Darkwood series: ‘Clever and funny and so very very entertaining. I would encourage everyone of every age to go ahead and read Darkwood.’ ‘Completely fabulous, can’t wait for the rest of the series.’ ‘A fun, exciting, action-packed story that once I started reading I couldn't put down.’ ‘I loved the mix of humour and fantasy, the tongue in cheek style of writing and the quirky characters.’ ‘I could go on and on about how much I love this book and why.’ ‘A delightful new mashup of old familiar fairy tale characters and themes, with loads of originality and memorable characters. ... I think this may well turn into one of my all-time favourites.’ ‘...incredible! It made me laugh out loud in several places, but also managed to pull off some intricate themes around power and bigotry – I adored the characters and the fun, genre-savvy writing.’
A self-assured warrior stumbles into a game of Go that turns fatal. An ambitious lord leaves his nephew for dead and seizes his lands. A stubborn father forces his son to give up his wife to his older brother. A powerful priest meddles in the succession to the Lotus Throne. A woman of the Old People seeks five fathers for her five children, who will go on to found the Spider Tribe and direct the fate of the country. As destiny weaves its tapestry in Lian Hearn's Tale of Shikanoko series, an emotionally rich and compelling drama plays out against a background of wild forests, elegant castles, hidden temples, and savage battlefields in Lord of the Darkwood. "Brutally thrilling historical fantasy"- Herald Sun The Tale of Shikanoko Book One: Emperor of the Eight Islands Book Two: Autumn Princess, Dragon Child Book Three: Lord of the Darkwood Book Four: The Tengu's Game of Go
From USA Today bestselling author Anthea Sharp, a richly-imagined clean romantic fantasy uniting an adventurous young woman and a fearsome Dark Elf warrior, in a magical fairytale reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast. Perfect for fans of Tara Grayce's Elven Alliance series! Deep in the Darkwood, a mystic portal awaits... Mara Geary faces a bleak future in the village of Little Hazel until, on the eve of her seventeenth birthday, strange glowing lights beckon her into the mysterious shadows under the trees. She follows, hoping for adventure. What she finds is her destiny... Prince of the Hawthorne Court, Brannon Luthinor has spent his life becoming a powerful warrior in order to save his people. Now, on the eve of war, his fate is rapidly approaching. Thrown together, Bran and Mara forge an unlikely alliance. But in the face of evil, will they be able to trust their lives - and their hearts - to one another? AWARDS: PRISM Contest, Best Young Adult Novel (2nd place) International Digital Awards Contest (2nd place) Book Buyer's Best Contest, Young Adult (3rd place) KEYWORDS: Stolen Fae Bride, Fantasy romance, YA romance, adventure, Beauty and the Beast, portal fantasy, elves, magic, fairy tales, love, prophecy, coming of age, fae, prophecy, fated mates, sweet, clean & wholesome, slow burn, kissing books, warrior, prince, strong hero, strong heroine, series, teenage books, love story, enchanted forest, fairytale retelling, Celtic legend, completed series PERFECT FOR FANS OF: Tara Grayce, Casey L. Bond, Alisha Klapheke, Elise Kova, Sylvia Mercedes, Emma Hamm, Miranda Honfleur, Shari Tapscott, Frost Kay, Deborah Grace White, Shannon Mayer, K.f. Breene, Juno Hart
A weekend away deep in the English countryside takes a sinister turn in this suspenseful and compulsive debut psychological thriller. Sometimes the only thing to fear...is yourself. Leonora (Lee to some, Nora to others) is a reclusive writer, but when an old friend unexpectedly invites her to a weekend away in an eerie glass house, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. But a haunting realization creeps in to the party: they are not alone in the woods. Forty-eight hours later, Nora wakes up in a hospital bed with the knowledge that someone is dead. Wondering not “what happened?” but “what have I done?” she tries to piece together the events of the past weekend. In order to uncover secrets and reveal motives, Nora must revisit parts of herself that she’d rather leave buried where they belong: in the past. In the vein of The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl, this gripping thriller will have readers on the edge of their seats until the very last page.
Will Poppy has always been fascinated with writing - he thinks there’s something almost... magical about it. But when his mother passes away, Will finds himself stuck living with his awful aunt, unable to write a single word (despite the fact that two Muses will not leave him alone), and handed a mysterious package which includes an old picture of his grandparents and a piece of cloth with the words "The Griffin of Darkwood" on it. When his aunt decides to move both of them to a small village, Will is excited for a new adventure, and in a castle no less! But after a rude welcome to the town that includes stories about a curse, and an introduction to the servants of the castle who evidently mean to cause him harm, Will’s sense of dread about the whole village rises. What is the curse the villagers all claim has been on the castle for hundreds of years, and what does it have to do with the disappearance of a young girl forty years ago? More importantly, what’s The Griffin of Darkwood, and what does it have to do with Will and his family?
The world knows me as the Demon's Daughter. He's a famous serial killer. And I may have been his accomplice. But no one knows for sure except for me. The dangerous, cruel men of the Sphinx secret society intend to uncover my secrets...and break me. Stellan, my childhood crush who lost his sister to the Demon. Cain, the boy with the face of an angel to who manipulation comes as easy as breathing; Remington, the playboy soccer star full of secrets. Pax, the dark psycho who hides behind his fists. I hoped for a second chance at Darkwood University, only to have my dream ripped away the first time I kissed one of the handsome bastards. They know who I am. And they're determined to make me pay. They should have thought twice about who they were playing with. Because I am the demon's daughter. And just because they have the power, the connections, the faces and bodies of gods... do they really think they'll win? I wanted a new life, not a war. But if they insist, we'll see who ends up playing.
Elisabeth Tonnard's In This Dark Wood is a study of urban alienation in America. In a haunting, modern-gothic style, it pairs images of people walking alone in nighttime city streets with 90 different English translations, collected by Tonnard, of the famous first lines of Dante's Inferno: "Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita / mi ritrovai per una selva oscura / ché la diritta via era smarrita." ("In the middle of the journey of our life / I found myself in a dark wood / for the straight way was lost"). The images were selected from the Joseph Selle collection at the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York, which contains over a million negatives from a company of street photographers who worked in San Francisco from the 1940s to the 70s. This edition is a reprint of a work originally self-published in 2008.
