Luck is NOT on their side.When a series of bizarre coincidences leaves a man bleeding out in an alleyway, the Ember Guard call on their secret weapon: a takeout-fueled nonbinary vampire and their werewolf partner who's more puppy than beast.Grim knows Embervein like they know their own skeleton—a little too well. They may have a knack for sorting out the arcane, but their freak ability to see every body's bony insides has left Grim hiding from the one thing...

What should a battle-worn 11-foot tall drider do when she's retiring from the Ember Guard and looking for a big change? Open a cafe, of course! Unfortunately, Gwen's skills are highly specialized—she can contain a magical anomaly to protect the innocent without blinking, but taking inventory and tracking profits makes her sweat bullets. It’s not long before she wonders if patrolling the streets of Embervein wasn’t a safer bet.Help comes in the form of the city’s finest—a tireless m...

Welcome to Sweet Fang, the best shop in Embervein that offers what every monster craves… candy!Lillian Perth walks away from everything. Music, homesteading, the hand-painted sign business that was definitely her life's one true calling… After giving up on college, she heads to the monster city of Embervein, a pink slime in search of a new dream. When a crazy old lady ready to travel the world offers her ownership of a failing candy store, how can she say no?

A vampire without their wolf…Grim’s best friend is missing. With the Ember Guard baffled and the list of victims growing by the day, Grim’s going to need a lot more than coffee and takeout to solve this case.Grim can see the bones, but can they learn how to follow them alone? And how do you find a kidnapper whose captives steal themselves away?The Ember Bones novellas feature an honest depiction of platonic intimacy, thrilling mysteries, and...

Since 2005, Murder & Mayhem in Muskego has welcomed and hosted over 150 authors a thousands of fans of crime fiction to the Milwaukee area. Just in time for the 8th annual benefit, a short story anthology featuring bestselling, Edgar and Shamus award-winning writers who have attended the day-long convention has been created. The collection is edited by Jon and Ruth Jordan.Contributors include: Megan Abbott, Dana Cameron, Reed Farrel Coleman, Hilary Davidson, Sean Doolittle, J.M. Ed...

Innkeep, hunter, blacksmith, nurse—Horace has apprenticed for every clan in the domed city of Trenaze, and they've all rejected em. Too hare-brained. Too talkative. Too slow. Ever the optimist, e has joined Trenaze's guards to be mentored. Horace has high hopes to earn eir place during eir trial at the Great Market. That is, until the glowing shards haunting the world break through the city's protective dome, fused together in a single, monstrous amalgam of Fragments.Armed with a s...

A queer, seaside, cozy fantasy, equipped with a bookstore cat.After falling for one another as adventurers, Arileas Damaris and Finnean Goldmark begin a life together travelling around the realm. Almost a year later, they decide to take a vacation in a town called Arrowmount, where the sea and sun calls to them.Once there, they fall in love with the place and its people. Ari and Finn take a leap together and buy the local bookstore and start a life amidst the sun-so...

Why steal a potion when you can steal a potioneer?Grumpy potioneer Ambrose Beake has only one social event marked on his calendar: the country's three-day Potion Convention. Alchemists from all over the world pour in to discuss their life's work, and Ambrose eagerly dives into the excitement. Greeting old friends, speaking on panels, hopping into heated debates…And getting kidnapped by an underground crime syndicate.The criminals demand that Ambrose...

East-ward I lived, near the waves glimmerin' gold, Singing for my people, the stories and tales of old...After the biggest job of her life goes sideways, magical artifact thief Lottie Luck is out of, well, luck. With no job on the horizon and only the clothes on her back, she makes a snap decision to head to Arrowmount, where her estranged sister lives, to regroup and figure out where she's going next.Kirandir Dulra, a favored Arrowmount town bard, is happy enough w...

Falling for her brother's best friend was never part of Katie's plan.Tea witch Brew has always had a thing for his best friend's sister, but the alliance between their families has always held him back from acting on it. But now things are changing, and it's becoming impossible for him to ignore her.Having known Brew for years, Katie has never considered him to be a serious contender for romance, but when hints of his true feelings shine through, she starts...

An autistic necromancer, his undead lover, and the case that could destroy everything.When a necromancer turns up dead, Oliver and Felipe think it will be the perfect, straightforward case for their new partnership. That is, until it leads them to a clinic promising a cure for magic, but they aren't the only ones investigating the Institute for the Betterment of the Soul. Oliver's ex, Ansley, is in town, and he's certain the clinic isn't the paragon of righteousnes...

Homeless. Broke. Shunned by friends and neighbours. This was not what sixty-two was supposed to look like for Barbara Baker.As a member of Toronto’s exclusive Rosedale society, Barb was a fixture on charity committees and an accomplished hostess whose dinner invitations were coveted by Toronto’s elite. Her comfortable life ended when her husband’s criminal activity was discovered—he’d been stealing from everyone for decades, using her exceptional hostess skills to reel in new victi...