Urban Christmas

A simple night on the town with Angie Mandarich is all Hal Bailey wants. Dinner and a movie. Hitchcock followed by the Forest City. A classy night with a classy lady. Hal doesn't know he's about to meet the nuttiest collection of con men, swindlers, safecrackers and hustlers this side of the Cuyahoga River. Their screwball plans make this a New Years for Hal to remember. Fans of Westlake, Leonard, and George V. Higgins will enjoy the pace and tone of this book's pitch-perfect dialogue. Cool, funny, sympathetic and gritty. A zany taste of Cleveland in the 80s.

After Dawn Masters hooks up with her longtime crush at their department's holiday party, the last thing she expects is for him to dump her right after Christmas. Devastated, Dawn swears off dating for good until hunky police officer Jude Morales convinces her to give him a chance. He slowly coaxes her into trusting him, tearing down the wall she's built around her heart. But just as Dawn dares to hope she's found her someone special, Jude’s own issues, coupled with a serious injury in the line of duty, threaten her newfound happiness and leave her facing the possibility of yet another ...

In this short novelette, a little girl hires Jonathan to get rid of a ghost that haunts her family every Christmas. The hauntings have escalated from sightings to full possession. It should be an open-and-shut exorcism, but when Jonathan discovers the truth, it's more than he bargained for....

When his sister, Victoria, died in a car accident, Mark Nolan became the guardian of his six-year-old niece Holly. But it hasn’t been easy. Since that tragic night, the little girl hasn’t spoken a word. Mark isn’t sure how to help Holly. All he can do is follow his sister’s wise advice: Start by loving her. The rest will follow.

Be careful who you upset. Tom, Julie, Marc, and Chris head out for a weekend escape to Cape Cod to do some holiday shopping and check out Marc’s new condo. Julie keeps everyone entertained by reading a book of local urban legends. The stories seem humorous until events begin to spiral out of control. As a blizzard approaches, Julie tries to convince everyone that they’re wrapped up in one of the stories from her book. Is the legend real? Or is everything happening to them just a coincidence? Will anyone make it out alive? A slow burn-thriller that builds tension until a terrifying climax.

With Christmas just around the corner, Samantha Moon finds herself taking on a very strange case. A mysterious family treasure has been stolen, something priceless that's been passed down through the generations, something buried in secrets. Samantha's reward is simple: she gets half of whatever it is... if she can find it first. And just as the holidays threaten to consume her, Samantha is approached by a very mysterious man, someone who knows all her secrets, a man who might not be a man at all.

Is Christmas magic real? Nick and Noelle are having a bad holiday. They're both single, lonely, and have no prospects for any bedroom fun. They live an ocean apart, but when both fall asleep and find themselves in a winter wonderland with only 2 hours to do whatever they want to a virtual stranger, they decide to really do whatever they want... to each other. They've never done anything like this before and the winter wonderland might not be real, but the dream sure feels like it is. This short story of about 8.400 words combines a fantasy dream world with real life.

Winter's Night features two Christmas stories included in number-one New York Times best-selling author Sherrilyn Kenyon's short story collection, Dark Bites. From demons to cowboys, from werewolves to mistletoe, this two-in-one will keep you warm during cold December nights.

A group of friends with an incredible bond, A moonlight adventure into the forest, And some suspiciously witchy wish making. What happens when five friends meet up and have a few drinks at a mystical Christmas fair in their hometown? Quite a lot, apparently. They’ve been apart for years, so they talk about what’s been happening in their lives, particularly their tragic romantic endeavours. As they drown their sorrows, the town ‘witch’ appears and motivates them to turn the tide on their fortunes. For better or worse, they stagger into the forest to find a ring of standing stones ...

An unexpected escape. A harrowing hunt. A dark showdown. When a dark fae escapes from Scorchwood, we investigate the breach and discover an old foe has resurfaced to wreak havoc. But the fugitive is deadlier than we expected and begins to leave a trail of bodies in his wake. Tracking him to the fae realm reveals a potential conspiracy, with his ultimate goal linked to his past and the cherished Christmas village. But he has more allies than expected after a three-hundred-year imprisonment, leaving us unsure of whom to trust as he continues to gain power.

Krampus is on the move. Santa needs backup. And Hel’s gates are waiting. Children are vanishing, snatched from their beds by Krampus, the monstrous spirit of Yuletide punishment. But this time, the stakes are bigger than just holiday mischief—Krampus is enacting a sinister plan, and if Ironspell and Vetr don’t stop him, Christmas might never be the same. When Santa himself makes an unscheduled stop to ask for their help, Ironspell and his Jotun partner must journey into Hel, navigating the underworld’s treacherous paths to gain entrance to Krampus’ stronghold. But nothing in Hel ...

'Twas the day before Christmas and Michael Michaels is about to upset his wife. Recent adventures with his son, Tempest, have piqued his need for a little more action in his life...but when he finds himself facing off against a giant ghoul a few hours later, he begins to think he should have listened to Mary and stayed at home.

Colin and Click are headed back from the Hellpocalypse timeline when things go sideways, and they end up somewhere they were never supposed to be. Soon Colin is recruited by none other than The Fat Man himself and tasked with saving Christmas in a small Texas town that's plagued by allies of Krampus. Is Santa really just a jolly old fat man? How much trouble can a few gankerl be? Do lederhosen make Colin's butt look fat? Can Colin save Christmas? Get answers to these questions and more in this wacky Christmas fantasy fiction installment in the Junkyard Druid Novellas series.

Awakened by bloodcurdling screams, Santa Claus springs into action to stop a lethal sickness from infecting his reindeer, only to learn that he's already too late. Christmas is all but ruined. But, when a disgraced alcoholic Christmas elf offers to retrofit the sleigh with highly advanced technology, Santa's hope of saving Christmas is renewed. With a solid plan in place, they hitch the sole surviving reindeer to Santa's sleigh and prepare to launch into the blustery night...until Father Time interrupts Santa's plans with an ultimatum that could kill Christmas forever.

Wounded and left for dead, shifter Kit Linfield is stuck in his eagle form. A Christmas Eve flight with his family turned to slaughter when some hunters took aim. Kit played dead, but he needs help, or he’ll die. He wants to live to have vengeance. Errol Hart is spending Christmas alone for the first time since his divorce. When a badly wounded eagle is delivered to his care, it’s the first animal that Errol can’t communicate with. The eagle is so badly injured Errol isn’t sure it will survive. But the way it looks at him, like it understands every word he says...

Christmas is right around the corner, and Angelica and Vance are finally getting ready to say their vows. But just as they're about to start their happily ever after, a dark cloud appears on the horizon in the form of someone from Angelica's past. This mysterious figure has a dangerous plan and will stop at nothing to silence Angelica forever.

In this irreverent take on the holidays, Ian gets a new quest in a virtual reality video game: kill a monstrous villain named Sinter Klaws. (And no, he is NOT a jolly old elf.) Join Ian, his succubus Alaria, and his imp Stig as they journey through a winter wonderland full of killer reindeer, lecherous elves, and the worst mall Santa in the history of the world.

When Argyle invites his best friend, Simon Kerrigan, home for the Christmas holidays, he wants to save Simon from staying at Guilder Boarding School on his own. Simon comes along and doesn't expect to find much more excitement in the tiny Scottish town where Argyle's family lives. Until he meets Beth, Argyle's older sister. She's beautiful, brash and clearly interested in him.

It's lonely being the queen of the dead. Hela longs for a life among the living and a chance at love. When Loki grants her wish, she's elated...only to discover later that even a trickster god's daughter isn't safe from his deceit. How can she learn to adapt to life on Midgard if her presence disrupts the balance of life and death?

Natalia Chase just wants the first family Christmas with her husband and his pride of unruly lion shifter brothers to be perfect. But a simple trip to pick out a Christmas tree turns into a rescue mission when they discover three shifter wolf cubs abandoned in the forest. Between finding the cubs' parents, a surprise Christmas Eve visit from Mama Chase, and Natalia's increasingly difficult pregnancy, will the Chase pride get everything they've asked for from Santa, or will their perfect holiday be a perfect disaster?