When a food critic is found dead in his tiramisu, the restaurant owner asks Anna to help clear him of the crime. Anna never wanted to play Nancy Drew, but Tony is like family. Can an insurance agent from Brooklyn solve the case before she's next on the killer's list?About the Author:LAURA WARE's column "Laura's Look" runs weekly in the Highlands County News Sun. She has sold several short stories; one appeared in a Pocket Books anthology. She lives in Central Florida. Check...

Tales of wise, ancient dragons hoarding treasure, terrorizing villages, and doing battle with noble heroes have long fascinated us. But dragons were not born old and wise, nor were heroes born brave and noble.Wings of Change gathers tales of young dragons growing into their scales and claws, and human youths making choices that shape their destinies – destinies that will be forever changed by their interaction with the dragons that share their world.

What starts off as a fun double date turns deadly for Brenda and her friends. They find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now they have to outrun a killer down a dark deserted road as they flee for their lives.This edition includes the bonus story "What Friends Do" and the first chapter of Laura Ware's debut novel, "Dead Hypocrites."About the Author:LAURA WARE's column "Laura's Look" runs weekly in the Highlands County News Sun. She has sold several s...

Ann hates the house she grew up in. It is filled with memories of a difficult childhood. When her mother's stroke brings her back to the place, she wants nothing more than to put it - and her entire past - behind her. Can an old neighbor help her see the good she can take away from her old despised home?

Jennie Meyers is devastated when chemotherapy causes her to lose her hair. She worries about the reaction of her fifth grade students to her cancer. Can they show her how much they care?

Fear. The word alone evokes a powerful response. And in Feel the Fear, editor Mark Leslie takes readers on a haunting tour of the many ways fear presents itself. From genuine horror stories filled with frightening monsters to the real-life horror of losing a loved one to the terrifying idea of losing one’s own mind, these tales run not only the genre gamut but also the emotional gamut. With each fearful twist, the sixteen talented writers in this volume prove why ...

In this light-hearted fantasy, everyone expects Dayna to follow in her mother's footsteps and become a sorceress. But Dayna's dream is to wield a sword. When her mother offers her a deal - she may study fighting if she also takes up magic - Dayna accepts. Later, a spell-casting ogre attacks the town, and Dayna's dual abilities may be her people's only hope.

History offers many heroic tales of final battles. And in Last Stand, sixteen courageous authors offer their take on the topic. From a heartwarming tale of not-so-friendly business competition to a battle of the gods—sort of—for the fate of the world to a tale of looking for love in all the wrong places. These inventive stories make Last Stand one of the most creative—and memorable—Fiction River volumes yet.“Editor Dean Wesley Smith has compiled an outstanding volume ... I highly r...

Laws change from culture to culture, decade to decade. Strange laws make criminals of ordinary citizens. Like the Massachusetts woman whose brother asks her for help, slave hunters at his heels. Or the little Irish girl who needs to protect a priest from a different kind of hunter. Or the Native American detective searching New York’s Stonewall Bar for a ratfink on the night of a world-changing riot. These stories and more prove that once again, Fiction River’s crime volumes have, in the w...

Apart for ten years, two women reunite to fight a brutal warlord.When evil threatens the rest of their family, estranged twins reunite to rescue them—and save the world.Filled with magic and epic battles, Sisters: Sorcery and Steel shows two siblings torn apart, now struggling to find their way back. Can the soldier and the sorcerer reconcile and combine their talents before a great evil destroys their world?

Editing an anthology can prove tricky business. Wonderful stories sometimes find themselves on the rejection pile simply because they do not fit in the editor’s vision of that anthology. So, editor Mark Leslie decided to save some of those amazing stories for this latest volume of Fiction River: Editor’s Choice. These tales run the gamut from YA fantasy to cozy crime to slipstream to horror. And they represent the incredible diversity of styles, voices, and genre that inspired Adventures F...

Don’t just talk the talk…Walk the walk.The above phrase, familiar to many Christians, simply calls on believers to offer more than lip service to their faith. Christianity challenges those who become part of it to actively live out their beliefs, no matter what.This short story collection tells the stories of five different people – from all walks of life, each with their own strengths and weaknesses – and how thei...