Modern Fiction

Get eight stories: all seven modern retellings of fairy tale classics in Selena Kitt's Modern Wicked Fairy Tales: Complete Collection - "Beauty", "Briar Rose", "Goldilocks", "Rapunzel", "Red", "Alice" and "Gretel" - plus a bonus story previously unreleased - "Wendy" - a modern take on Peter Pan!

I Shouldn’t Have Survived A Modern Horror Anthology They knocked. I answered. They watched. I waved. They waited… and I stayed. Ten chilling survivor stories. Ten doors you should never open. In this razor-sharp anthology of modern horror, victims recount the unexplainable—and barely escape. Each story is told in haunting first-person detail, plunging you into a world where terror hides in the ordinary: an unlocked apartment, a mirror that fogs from the wrong side, a knock that keeps perfect time, or a window that shouldn’t be there. From forgotten rooms to cursed signals, parasitic...

1945. Struggling for survival in a doomed Corsair fighter plane in the skies over the Pacific Ocean, World War II Marine pilot David Hamilton’s life suddenly and mysteriously takes a strange and ominous turn, leaving him searching for answers as he finds himself lost and alone in a different time, place, and perhaps, identity. With no choice but to enlist the help of two young strangers, David embarks on a desperate journey in a 1941 Ford Coupe that possesses its own secret past and purpose, to find his way back home and keep a promise made to the most important person in his life. As ...

Rome, 1955. The artists gather for a picture at a party in an ancient villa. Bear Bavinsky, creator of vast canvases, larger than life, is at the center of the picture. His wife, Natalie, edges out of the shot. From the side of the room watches little Pinch - their son. At five years old he loves Bear almost as much as he fears him. After Bear abandons their family, Pinch will still worship him, striving to live up to the Bavinsky name.

A Heartless can't fall in love. Arden Archer is cursed: she can see the Unseelie fae, a gift that sends the women in her family to an early grave. Then a handsome and dark fae prince makes her a tempting promise: if she offers herself as his Tithe, the curse will be lifted and her younger sister will be saved from madness. But there can be only one Tithe. Every seven years, the faerie regents pit cursed humans against one another, offering salvation to both the victor and the fae. This year, Arden is one of those human competitors—a Heartless—and with the help of the Midnight Prince, ...

Royalty...it was more than just a word to her. It was her life. But not for long. Marlie loved her family dearly, even when she didn’t like them very much. But their life wasn’t the life she wanted for herself. Maggie had always fulfilled her responsibilities, she’d always done exactly as she was expected to...she knew no other way. Until now...until after reading a letter from her father suggesting she visit her niece and learn how to do as she pleased every once in a while, including the joy of eating pizza at her slightest whim. The last thing Maggie expected when she showed up at ...

The goddess Fuamnach kidnapped me when I was a child, she taught me magic, then she made me her assassin and slave. If that was all she did to me, I might’ve escaped and let it pass. But she changed me—in ways I still don’t completely understand.

"...because in Mistletoe Hollow, love is just one meet-cute away!" Living in a town called Mistletoe Hollow sounds adorable, doesn’t it? Snowflakes, cocoa, warm hugs from neighbors—it’s basically a sappy romance movie come to life. Except when you’re me, Emily Bradford, and your idea of romance is a quiet night with a good book and zero meddling matchmakers. After my ex-boyfriend ditched me with a dozen roses and no wedding ring, I retreated to Mistletoe Hollow to lick my wounds, plant some flowers, and keep my head down. No drama, no distractions—just me and a fresh start. Then ...

Seven tales. One unraveling world. This is horror for those who’ve looked too long into reflective glass, who’ve heard their name whispered from empty rooms, who’ve sensed something watching from the cracks in routine. In this anthology of cosmic and post-Lovecraftian horror, everyday settings become the staging ground for reality’s slow undoing. Roadside diners, coworking spaces, nursery monitors, and forgotten hospital wings—all bend under the weight of something unknowable, ancient, and still evolving.Inside, you’ll find: “Late Night at The Mother’s Way Diner” – A ...

If “Knives Out” did dinner parties….. Take six bestselling Crime novelists, a dinner party of deadly delights, one retired Detective Inspector, one weird gardener, a brooding brother, and a mysterious Japanese blossom. Mix well at a dinner party, add a dash of sex and a pinch of intrigue and gently heat. When suitably simmering mix in a gruesome death and stir. Welcome to Burnham Manor, the Cotswold retreat of bestselling crime writer and television chef Max Wilde. Once a year Max hosts a lavish dinner party for the great and good of the crime writing world and this year is to be no ...

Twenty-three stories, all unabridged, from a diverse group of star writers and readers. A truly memorable collection with a wide appeal. Includes "The Years Midnight" by Helen Simpson, read by Harriet Walter; "On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful Morning" by Haruki Marukami, read by Walter Lewis; "Bablady" by A. S. Byatt, read by Roslaind Eyres; "Hotel des Vaoyaguerus" by William Boyd, read by Martin Jarvis; and "Who?" by Fay Weldon, read by Julie Christie.

Twenty-three-year-old witch Aurelia Schwartz has always had to carefully balance her human life with her secret magical one. With a place at an elite Cambridge university college, she almost has everything she could possibly want within her grasp. Just so long as she follows the rules: Make no promises. Tell no one what you are. And never stay the night. Except Aurelia’s gift of green magic has begun to fade. Worse still, someone is hunting witches – and stealing their powers. Reluctantly, Aurelia needs the help of fellow witch – and dreadfully arrogant classmate – Theodore Ingram.

POV: You built your whole personality around kindness, candles, and curated captions… and now the internet wants your head. Poppy Lennox has it all: a flawless feed, a soft life aesthetic, and a wellness brand built on empathy, affirmation, and artisanal candles. But when a well-meaning act of “performative kindness” spirals into a full-blown public meltdown, Poppy finds herself rebranded — not as an influencer, but as a walking warning sign. Welcome to the downfall era. 🕯️ A charity brand with no receipts. 🥂 A brunch that backfired. 📱 An intern with the receipts. 🔥 ...

In a city where silence speaks louder than words and human connection flickers under the neon haze of nightlife, FRENZY follows the unravelling of Tristan—a mute young man haunted by love, loss, and the noise of a world that refuses to listen. When Ayla, the woman he once loved, moves on, Tristan’s quiet desperation boils into a final act of chaotic clarity. As social media vultures circle and city lights blur into oblivion, a single name, etched in desperation, becomes the story’s heart. Raw, poetic, and unflinchingly modern, FRENZY is a searing portrait of emotional collapse and the...

This is a story from the Canterbury Tales I: Modern Verse Translation collection. Chaucer's greatest work, written towards the end of the fourteenth century, paints a brilliant picture of medieval life, society and values. The stories range from the romantic, courtly idealism of "The Knight's Tale" to the joyous bawdy of the Miller's; all are told with a freshness and vigor in this modern verse translation that make them a delight to hear.

As a widowed, single mom, Lyndsey Allen has a load of financial troubles. Despite her best efforts to stay afloat, she faces foreclosure. With a young son to consider, she needs a miracle - and quick - but pride won't let her accept money from a longtime friend. When handyman Shep Patterson promised his best friend that he'd look after Lyndsey should anything happen to him, he never imagined that would include marriage...yet a proposal slips from his mouth. Lyndsey accepts his proposal, shocking them both.

1922. The town of Evermore off the coast of Ireland is under the protection of a Goddess. She has bestowed power upon village healer Brigid Heron to ensure the heart of magic within the Lough of Brionglóid—the lake of dreams—remains untouched. For the witches of Knight want to absorb its powerful energies and release the Damned from the Otherworld. Brigid has devoted her whole life to being Evermore’s guardian, immersing herself in witchcraft, and sacrificing her own dreams.

Med school dropout Lena is desperate for a job, any job, to help her parents, who are approaching bankruptcy after her father was injured and laid off nearly simultaneously. So when she is offered a position, against all odds, working for one of Boston’s most elite families, the illustrious and secretive Verdeaus, she knows she must accept—no matter how bizarre the interview or how vague the job description. By day, she is assistant to the family doctor and his charge—the sickly, poetic, drunken heir to the family empire, who is as difficult as his illness is mysterious.

Private Investigator James Benoit Heatley, "Heat" to those few he calls friends, has a reputation for being a bit rough around the edges. Heat's reputation for doing what he believes is just is well deserved, even if his brand of justice happens to be illegal. His reputation for not taking women as clients is equally well deserved. Some say there is a woman to blame and they would be right to do so. It is with great reluctance that Heat takes the case of a wife desperate to find her kidnapped husband, a case that forces Heat to confront his bitter past. Murder, kidnapping, and broken hearts...

I thought that learning magic from a druid master was tough, but that was before I started taking lessons from an insane quasi-god. For six long months, I’ve been suffering under Click’s tutelage, boning up on my magic skills so I can survive the wrath of several Celtic gods and find a cure for my druid mentor, Finnegas. It’s my fault that the old man is hanging on by a thread, and I’m determined to save his life.