Here be dragons and sorcery, time travel and sorrow.Vicious garden gnomes. A grounded phoenix rider. A new mother consumed with vengeance. A dying god. Soul magic. These stories wrestle with the experience of loss—of loved ones, of relationships, of a sense of self, of health—and forge a path to hope as characters fight their way forward.From bestsellers and SPFBO finalists to rising voices, 13 exceptionally talented authors explore the many facets of grief...

To be fair, everyone was already dead when I got there.My name is Valerie and I’m a traitor . . . At least, that’s what the Valkyries tell me when I arrive in purgatory. I can’t remember, so how the hell can I prove my innocence? In the meantime, the Valkyries are training me to help them keep the darkness at bay, but I’m pretty sure they got the wrong girl. You see, the darkness calls to me, and the closer I get to it, the more I suspect the Valkyries might be rig...

Bend the knee. Take the Oath. Live forever.South Boston, 1970.When Leigh Austen's husband died in the jungles of Vietnam, her world collapsed. But two Halloweens later, she's ready to begin living her life again — starting by making amends with a longtime friend.Charming Dublin expat Michael Kelly runs the most popular Irish pub in Southie. But no crowd of high-tipping revelers has ever been as welcome a sight as that of Leigh walking throu...

Resist the thirst. Protect the Brotherhood.South Boston, 1982.When Sarah McCready quits the music industry, she goes home to Boston to start again. Nothing changed in her old neighborhood, except the creepy house next to hers. Someone reclusive and mysterious is renovating it. Too bad he isn’t the friendly type.After decades of endless war, Cillian Darragh is tired of bloodshed. Determined to re-integrate into the M...

Rhett Hebert has harbored a secret crush on autumn-loving Amelia Murphy since childhood, but one embarrassing incident in high school was enough to make them avoid one another for the last ten years. Now a dying fall festival and a decades-long cold case have inexplicably brought them together once more.Amelia is tasked to serve as organizer of the annual fall festival by her demanding boss at the local chamber of commerce. She hopes to give it new life and prove she has what it ta...

Margie Murphy is fifty-two and doing just fine on her own, thank you very much. She never needed, nor wanted a man. After all, they have only ever hurt or left her. Between Amelia, the niece she raised to adulthood, and her viral YouTube channel that reflects her colorful personality and skills in the kitchen, Margie has everything she ever needed. Almost.After three years, Frank Campbell, is still grieving the wife he lost to cancer. His sons want him to grow and heal, and urge hi...

Retrieving what’s been lost may cost a prize of equal value...Imprisoned by the enemy, Charlotte plots to escape, finding salvation in an unlikely ally. But the home and family at her destination know less peace than her heart.Led by King Arthur, Camelot is closing in, and war is only a matter of time. The question is: can Charlotte protect her daughter while it rages? Morgana’s mysterious power is stronger than ever, and ambitious forces wish to harness it for the battle...

They should've known when they damned me... Hell makes monsters of us all.Nova has lived all her life in The Garden, an island that floats above Earth, undetected. Her secret friendship with the Prince changed to something more and all that stands in the way of the life she’s been dreaming of is her Totem Ceremony–an age-old rite that assigns one of four elements she'll spend her life protecting.When Nova's ceremony goes horribly wrong, she's place...

A Christmas competition will decide who will marry the prince.Seventeen-year-old Holly wants nothing more than full bellies for her family on Christmas. Instead, she's whisked away and tasked to compete against eleven other girls in a series of Christmas-themed contests to win the heart of the reclusive prince. To make matters worse, the prince is an arrogant, servant-hating jerk, or so she thinks. The real prince is hiding in plain sight, waiting for the competiti...

It isn’t when you go but why and on whose terms...I promised myself I wouldn’t trust Valerie again. Not after I watched her betray us. Not after she disappeared. I had no indication that I’d ever see her again, so when she waltzed back into this realm, without remorse or an explanation, I swore I would treat her the way she deserved—like the traitor she is.But dammit, I can’t resist her. Never really could. The only thing left is to follow her to the very end of the world...

A Christmas competition will decide who will marry the prince.Seventeen-year-old Holly wants nothing more than full bellies for her family on Christmas. Instead, she's whisked away and tasked to compete against eleven other girls in a series of Christmas-themed contests to win the heart of the reclusive prince. To make matters worse, the prince is an arrogant, servant-hating jerk, or so she thinks. The real prince is hiding in plain sight, waiting for the competi...

Retrieving what’s been lost may cost a prize of equal value...Imprisoned by the enemy, Charlotte plots to escape, finding salvation in an unlikely ally. But the home and family at her destination know less peace than her heart.Led by King Arthur, Camelot is closing in, and war is only a matter of time. The question is: can Charlotte protect her daughter while it rages? Morgana’s mysterious power is stronger than ever, and ambitious forces wish to harness it for the battlefi...