Showing results by narrator "Joel Leslie" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

Prosperity comes at a price. In Praesidium, that price is freedom. Strict laws and a harsh penal code ensure ordinary criminals become bond-slaves. But the most serious traitors are turned over to the wizard to be suspended in a dreamless frozen state known as Stasis. Miner is one such criminal, suspended forever—until Ennek, the youngest son of Praesidium’s Chief, stirred by the horror of Miner’s fate, sets him free. Ennek has always skirted the edge of the law.

Angelus Salvatore is the only necromancer in all of Boston, and his name is whispered warily by the undead and fellow sorcerers alike. He and his brother Isaac are the lone survivors of an attack by an army of the undead, in which Angel used a spell so powerful it forever marked his place in history. Now, years later, Angel struggles to balance his career as a teacher of the higher magical arts, his role as big brother, and a tenuous relationship with an Elder vampire from the local clan.

I'd lived my whole life with a terminal illness, knowing I'd never be normal. I existed, taking it one day at a time with my dog as my sole, faithful companion. Then one day, Fate intervened and an encounter with a beautiful man gave me something I'd never had before: Hope. Raphael was kind, sweet, and almost...magical. I'd never believed in magic before I met him, but now, I wasn't so sure.

For Lord Everett Stanley, escaping his fate seemed impossible. As the second son, he’s destined for ordination and the life of a Reverend, but he’s hiding a dangerous secret. The laws punishing homosexuality by hanging may have been repealed but he and others of his kind are far from safe. Given no other choice, they take solace in the underground molly houses of London. Now that fragile world is threatened when the East End is rocked by a series of gruesome murders.

For two years, I've been pining over Professor Sarris. I knew the moment I saw him that we were meant for each other, but it's not to be. For one thing, I was his student, and he's the most ethical man I know. For another, he has no idea I'm actually a four-thousand-year-old dragon from another dimension. When my people fled to Earth to avoid extinction, I vowed to clean up my life and stop acting like a fledgling. It's bad enough that nobody takes me seriously...sure, maybe I used to be flighty and irresponsible and caused a few interspecies incidents, but that's all in the past.

It's all a matter of opinion, but Carter's day is going pretty badly. He's an engineer captured by bug aliens, now depending on his large, muscled, naked cage mates for food and warmth. They seem sentient, so that's good. But they're also handsy. Which is...complicated. The military isn't looking for him. Slaves taken by the bug race never come back. Yet, Carter is very much alive, and if he wants to stay that way, he'll need to trust Pykh and Siel, two affectionate aliens with claws, teeth, and size.

Guilt-ridden after the massacre of his family, Isaac Salvatore turned to binge drinking to escape the pain. Now 24 years old, Isaac is a recovering alcoholic woefully out of practice in the magical arts, leaving his fire affinity hanging on the edge of disaster. After a month of rehab, he returns to Beacon Hill and his family, determined to remain sober, learn to control his magic, and figure out a plan for his life that doesn't involve drinking.

Lord Thornby has been trapped on his father's isolated Yorkshire estate for a year. There are no bars or chains; he simply can't leave. His sanity is starting to fray. When industrial magician John Blake arrives to investigate a case of witchcraft, he finds the peculiar, arrogant Thornby as alarming as he is attractive. John soon finds himself caught up in a dark fairy tale, where all the rules of magic - and love - are changed.

Homeless and jobless, Fenn Todd has nearly run out of hope. All he has left are his longing for horses and the strength of his own two hands. But when he's cheated into accepting a very ugly sackcloth horse, he's catapulted into a world of magic, politics, and desire. Fenn's invited to stay at the black tower, home of the most terrifying man in the realm: Morgrim, the court sorcerer. Morgrim has a reputation as a scheming villain, but he seems surprisingly charming—and sexy—and Fenn falls hard. However, nothing is as it seems, and everyone at the tower is lying about something.

My mortal skin is gone. I’m one of them—one of the Folk—and all I feel is anger. I’m going to kill the Carlin and her sons for everything they did to me. It’s all I care about. But first, I have to navigate this new world, my new skin, my new brother, and, when I fall into her clutches, my fae mother—the Brid, the Seelie Queen. I don’t like what I’m becoming, but I can’t stop it. Something’s wrong with me. Something’s missing. There’s a hollow ache in my chest, and I can’t fill it, no matter what I do. It’s like I’ve forgotten something vital from my time on unseelie land.

After powerful psychic Blue Billings fell in love with Levi Black, he believed their biggest challenges would arise from Blue’s ability to see and speak to the dead. So it’s rather alarming when he and Levi are confronted with a spate of new—and frightening—problems that have to do with the realm of the living. A sadistic serial killer is stalking their beloved York, and Blue himself is in the killer’s crosshairs. Blue and Levi must race against time to catch the murderer as the deaths increase in ferocity.

Lloyd Salter has OCD issues with noise and mess, and he's uncomfortable with human interaction. When his ex claimed the only thing perfect enough to live up to his standards was an android, Lloyd dismissed it. SATinc is the largest manufacturer of androids in Australia, including the Fully Compatible Units known as an A-Class 10. Their latest design is the Synthetic Human Android UNit, otherwise known as SHAUN. Shaun is compatible to Lloyd's every need; the perfect fit on an intellectual and physical basis. But Lloyd soon realizes Shaun's not like other A-Class androids.

One demon. One angel. A relationship that's failed so many times. Could it really be just one human they've been missing?

Samuel has one goal in life: fix his broken core. What does he not want? A bossy, overprotective, possessive, teasing dragon sticking his nose in business that is not his. Even if he is sexy and supports Samuel on his quest to find the lost Sousa Mage Clan. Utterly beside the point. He does not need a dragon boyfriend. (Un)fortunately, Dimitri disagrees.

NYPD Detective Alec MacAidan has always been good with weird. After all, his life has been a string of the unexplainable. But when an injured man gives him cryptic clues, then turns to dust in front of him, Alec's view on weird is changed forever. Cronin, a vampire Elder, has spent the last 1,000 years waiting for Alec. He'd been told his fated one would be a man wielding a shield, but he didn't expect him to be human, and he certainly didn't expect that shield to be a police badge.

Everything should be fine. The Brid is dead. I'm the new Seelie king. And Lonan is with me, safe from the Unseelie queen—his mother—and terrible brothers. But it's not fine. Nothing is fine. I can't seem to let go of my old life, even as this new one—and my new responsibilities—overwhelm me. Something is wrong with Lonan. He's closing himself off even more. He's quiet and distant, and every day, the rift between us seems to get bigger, no matter what I do.

For the record, putting the Sousa clan to sleep for five hundred years is not Amaru's fault. At least he's found his two—count 'em two—sexy, hunky, adorable, overprotective dragon mates because of it, and they'll help him wake up his clan. So why are his mates avoiding him? Especially Luka. This should not be as hard as they're making it. What are the proper tools to fix relationship problems? Is it screwdrivers?

My whole life, I thought dragons were majestic, wise, and fearsome creatures. Not to mention fictional. It's been less than a year since that last belief was debunked. Dragons are real, they're now living among us, and I'm the lucky realtor who gets to sell a house to their leader. I just have to impress his representative first. No problem—I'm a professional. Except the dragon rep turns out to be the guy I hooked up with last night, and he's fast disproving everything I believed about dragons. Unless "wise" actually means "addicted to glitter."

In the archaeology community, Christopher “Kit” Sawyer’s family is a legacy. And while he may be a historian, not a treasure hunter, he thinks he does a pretty good job of living up to the Sawyer name. He's a book-smart research fanatic and does his best work at his tidy desk. No fedora and whip for him, if you please—a nice cup of coffee and a comfy chair will do. But decoding an ancient relic soon gives him more adventure than he bargained for.

Twelve months after his change, Alec MacAidan is still getting used to his many vampire talents. While most vampires would give anything to have more than one supernatural power, Alec craves nothing more than peace and time alone with Cronin. But when Alec meets entities from outside this realm, he's left powerless in their presence. Zoan are half-lycan, half-dragon creatures that have slipped through time and reality, seemingly undetected by man and vampire. Or have they?