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dreamwritesimagines · 4 years

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Caught In The Fire 1 - The Funeral [Mobster! Bucky Barnes x Reader]

A.N: Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback to the preview my loves! Please don’t forget to tell me what you think of this chapter, kisses!

Summary: Funeral of a mob boss is not the best place to reconnect.

Word Count: 2601

Warnings: Violence, death, funerals, crime, explicit language. This is an AU, friendly reminder that I don’t condone any of the actions depicted on this story and please read with care.

Ever since you were a child, you had always found it strange that one’s family could determine their fates. Granted there were people who could break that cycle and choose what they wanted to do with their lives, but nearly no one around you had been that lucky, including you.

When your father had moved here decades ago, he had used up to his last penny to buy a pub and turned it into a bakery, and only after buying it he had realized that it wasn’t some kind of luck that it had been so cheap. The problem was the location and as he had been informed by two men who dropped by the next day after the opening, the bakery was built on the neutral ground, right in the middle of these gang territories. Each family ruled a different part of the city, and the neutral ground was off limits, so whenever the gangs needed to make sure that they wouldn’t get shot or ambushed, they would meet up there.

Pub served a better purpose, but even they had to admit, a bakery looked much less suspicious.

At first you didn’t even know. You were just a child after all, and your father had made sure to usher you back to the kitchen or to the backyard whenever certain people showed up, and you had never protested because as far as you were concerned when you were six years old, all grown-ups did was talk about boring things and glare at each other. But one of those days when you were sitting on the stairs at the back of the bakery, trailing the spoon in the bowl full of cake batter you had stolen from the kitchen, a boy with bright blue eyes and dark hair walked to the backyard.

“What are you eating?”

You looked up from the bowl, making him stifle a laugh at the sight of the cake batter all over your face and you looked behind you to check your father was nowhere to be seen, then held up the bowl,

“Do you want some?”

“What’s that?”

“Peach cake batter,” you said, “Daddy says it makes you sick if you eat too much but it’s delicious.”

He frowned, “Cake doesn’t make you sick.”

“It does if it’s unbaked. It gives you—“ you thought for a moment, trying to remember what it was called. “It gives you salmons you see.”

“Salmon is a fish.”

“Yeah,” you nodded, “Exactly. It – it makes fish in your stomach, so they make you sick.”

He didn’t look like he believed you, but didn’t say anything as he took the spoon you offered him and dug it into the batter before taking it into his mouth.

“Daddy says customers aren’t supposed to be here.” You said and he shrugged his shoulders.

“My dad is making a deal in there, and I got bored waiting in the car with his men,” he mumbled before he gave you the spoon back “Will you tell them I’m here?”

You smiled at him brightly and shook your head,

“No.” you said, and offered him your hand because you were sure that was what you were supposed to do when you met someone new, “I’m Y/N.”

“James Buchanan Barnes,” he shook your hand and you scrunched up your face.

“That’s a lot.”

He grinned at you, “You can call me Bucky,” he said, “Everyone else does.”

“Miss?” you were pulled out of your thoughts when the woman waiting at the door motioned at you, “Arms up please.”

Right. Of course.

Everyone had to be checked for weapons when they walked into the Barnes household, especially in times like these. You held up the tray so that she could pat you down and once she was sure you weren’t carrying any weapons, she took a look under the foil to see what was in it and let you pass. You tried not to get distracted by the huge house, that familiar pang shooting into your heart at how different it was from your small apartment, but you shook your head and walked into the living room to put the tray next to other food before pulling the aluminum foil off to ball it in your hands. The house was packed with so many people, all there to pay their respects for the deceased mob boss or get on his son Bucky’s good side, since he was about to take over the family business.

Or to make sure their alliances continued.

But the one thing you knew about everyone in this room? They were not to be crossed.

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Steve Rogers sitting beside Rebecca Barnes, Bucky’s sister who was uncharacteristically silent as she stared into space. She muttered something to Steve and he nodded, heaving a sigh and squeezing her hand as if to assure her everything was going to be alright. Tony Stark was by the corner of the room with James Rhodes, speaking in hushed whispers and Natasha Romanoff looked to be in a serious discussion with Sam Wilson as they walked past you.

“I get what you’re saying but it doesn’t change anything in terms of business, Bucky knows that.”

“Doesn’t it? I’ve never had to be checked for weapons at the door until now.”

“It’s a funeral, Nat.” Sam said, “You know it as much as I do that not everyone is here to give their condolences. You’ve seen Winnifred.”

“She just lost her husband, and she’s not the person I’ll do business with, her son is.” Natasha said, “Did you talk to Bucky after the meeting?”

“You know what he’s like.”

You could feel your heart skipping a beat but you scolded yourself in your head, it definitely wasn’t the time for this. You looked around for a trashcan, but of course there was none so you turned around in hopes of finding one outside the huge living room, but crashed into a hard body. He grabbed at your shoulders to help you regain your balance and your eyes snapped up to see who it was, ready to apologize but the words got caught in your throat.

He looked as handsome as you had last seen him. You could feel your heart beating in your ears and his blue eyes searched your face, slowly withdrawing his hand.

“Bucky.” You swallowed thickly, “Hi.”

He stared at you for a couple of seconds, then shook his head as if trying to snap out of his thoughts and motioned at the table.

“Are those black cupcakes?”

Right.

Yeah, that wasn’t the best idea.

“I just,” you cleared your throat, “I figured I couldn’t bring his favorite cake, because cake is for…happier times so I figured, cupcakes—but it’s a funeral so that’s why they’re black.” You let out a breath, closing your eyes for a moment, “I’m being nonsense. I’m sorry for your loss.”

He shifted his weight as if he didn’t want to think about it which was expected because this was probably the hundredth time he was hearing this. You strained your mind to come up with something to say, but before you could find anything he reached out to grab one of the cupcakes to take a bite and nodded at the door.

“Follow me.”

Okay, what was happening?

You didn’t get to ask him as he walked upstairs with you following him closely and he entered one of the rooms in the huge hall. You looked around as you stepped in after him, it looked like some sort of an office with a big mahogany desk, a library and a comfortable couch. The room alone was probably half the size of your whole apartment but you tried to pull yourself together.

“It’s so loud in the living room, impossible to get anything done.” he leaned back to the table, “How’s your dad?”

“He has some health issues.” You said, making him raise his brows “Nothing serious, it’s just…he can’t really stand for so long, and he’s getting older, you know? I took over the bakery a while ago so that he could rest and all.”

He gawked at you, “You did?”

“Yeah.”

“Why did no one tell me?”

“I don’t know,” you confessed, “It’s no big deal, really. He sends his condolences by the way.”

He nodded slowly and you bit inside your cheek to stop yourself from laughing at the sight of the new yet intimidating mob boss holding a cupcake.

“I wanted to tell you,” he cleared his throat, “Even if my father is dead, the deal still stands between him and your dad. Nobody touches the bakery, it’s the neutral ground so you don’t need to worry—“

“Bucky, I’m not here for that.” You interrupted him and he looked almost taken aback.

“What?”

“I’m not here to ask for something or talk about deals, I’m here to pay my respects. Your father was always nice to me and I will miss him, that’s the least I could do.”

He blinked a couple of times in confusion and something told you this was the first time he was hearing something like that without a request following it.

“Oh.” He turned his head to grab the glass of whiskey on the desk which made you think he had been closing deals left and right since the morning at the same office and it probably wasn’t his first glass of the day.

“Would you want some?”

“No thank you.” You said as you watched him down it in one gulp and you shifted your weight, nibbling on your lip.

“Let me guess,” you said softly, “Business doesn’t wait for funerals to end, huh?”

He lowered his gaze, his rings tapping against the glass as he heaved a shaky sigh.

“It really doesn’t.” he murmured but something in his voice was so barely held together that your body moved before you could realize what you were doing. You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug and it was only when his body froze against yours that you realized what you had just done. You were just about to pull back and apologize when you felt his arms sneaking around your body, holding you tight and if you didn’t know any better, you would’ve thought he had pressed his nose into your hair to inhale deeply.

“Do you need anything?” you asked when you pulled back and a small smile graced his lips for the first time.

“No,” he murmured, “Thanks peaches.”

Ah.

That nickname again.

You had almost forgotten about it.

“How’s your uh…” he pinched the bridge of his nose, “How’s your fiancé?”

Your smile faded slightly as it dawned on you, “My-? Oh right, you don’t know. We broke up a couple of months ago.”

His head shot up, “What?”

“Yeah.” You shrugged your shoulders, “He sort of- well, not sort of, he cheated on me, so….”

He frowned. “You should’ve told me.”

“Why?”

“I would’ve sent someone around.”

A small laughter escaped from your lips and you shook your head.

“Bucky, you can’t get a guy beaten up because he cheated on me.”

“Sounds like he deserved it though.”

“No way.” you said, “It’s fine. How about you? Do you…?” you trailed off, and it wasn’t fair that your heart skipped a beat while waiting for an answer, not at all.

“Do I have a fiancée?” Bucky finished the question for you and chuckled, “No.”

“It doesn’t have to be a fiancée.” You said, “You know… a significant other.”

He tilted his head, that amused smile playing on his lips and you scrunched up your face.

“You know what, I’m prying. Just ignore me okay? It’s not a good thing to talk about at a funeral—“

“Peaches, I’ve been listening to people talk about money, deals, or their memories about my father the whole day. Trust me, this…slice of normalcy feels better than you could ever imagine.”

You looked up at into his bloodshot eyes, something in your stomach twisting painfully before you licked at your lips.

“Alright,” you said, “Normalcy then?”

“Yes please.”

“I came up with a new cupcake the other day,” you said, “I mean I’m sure I didn’t come up with it, but I tried it by myself and it’s pretty good, you know?”

“Will it give me salmons?” he asked and you shot him a look, trying to hide your surprise that he still remembered that.

“No.” you said, “It’s a bourbon cupcake, all those moms on Pinterest will worship me.”

He blinked a couple of times and held up the half-eaten cupcake,

“There’s a cupcake out there that can make me drunk and I’m eating a non-alcoholic one on my father’s funeral?” he deadpanned “When did you become so cruel?”

Your jaw dropped and you bit down a smile.

“You should be careful,” you said, “I know a guy who can send people around if someone is mean to me.”

He grinned and held up his hands, mocking surrender.

“I know a threat when I hear one,” he said and someone cleared their throat by the door, making you look over your shoulder to see Steve leaning against the doorframe.

“Sorry for interrupting,” he said, “Sam needs to talk to you Buck.”

“Right now?” Bucky stole a look at you and you waved a hand in the air,

“It’s okay, I gotta get Em from school anyway, I should go.”

Bucky pulled his brows together,

“Your sister goes to school now?” he asked, “Wasn’t she a toddler like yesterday?”

“She’s in first grade now Bucky.”

“Jesus Christ I’m getting old.” He muttered to himself, making Steve chuckle.

“You’ve just realized that?” he asked and you smiled at Bucky.

“Take care, okay?”

“You too. Thanks for…being here.” His eyes searched yours, “Send your dad my regards.”

“Will do.” You said and nodded at Steve before walking out of the room, your cheeks still burning.

All the way to Emma’s school, you couldn’t ignore the way your heart was slamming against your chest, and you bit at your lip, trying to focus on something else, anything else. You took a deep breath, and turned your head when the door to passenger seat opened and Emma got in the car.

“Hi!” she smiled at you brightly and put her seatbelt on, “I have no homework today!”

You let out a small laugh, “Is that right?” you asked and she nodded.

“Can we go and see the aquarium? Please? Please please please? They say there’s a whale there, a huge one!”

“Okay, okay…” you raised your brows, “Breathe, and yes we can go see the aquarium.”

“Then after aquarium can we have a tea party?”

“You might have to wait for that, kiddo.” You winked at her, “I need to drop by the bakery.”

“Wait, then I can come to the bakery too,” she said, “I can help, you said you would let me help if I got a star.”

“Did you get a star?”

“I will!” she insisted, making you smile at her fondly and you hmmed.

“You can help me yes, but you can’t eat what we’re making, okay? Not this time, I’ll give you a cookie instead.”

She pursed her lips, frowning. “Why not?”

You started the car, your stomach making a pleasant flip before you turned the steering wheel.

“Because Em,” you muttered, “We’re making grown up cupcakes for a friend.”

Chapter 2

Taglist: @rhabakoli @theskytraveler @alwaysadreamingoptimist @danyka-fendyr @a-seeker-of-imagination @readingsubtitles @threeeyesslitthroat @alytavzla @sfyri @silverkitten547 @finnickfoxes @lostinmydream-world @sadlittlefairygirl @celestialhayi @superwolfchild-fan @endaglivet @onebatch--twobatch @justnerdystuffs @demigoddesofchimichangagod @iblogabout-stuff @addictedtofictionalcharacters @syrenak @emmalbg @bookloverfilmoholic @god-of-dramatic-death-scenes @raspberrydreamclouds @wellfucksorrymum @meganlpie @dogshemp @actuallyazriel @captain-spandex @chibi-liz05 @thebadasssass @lettersofwrittencollective @buckys-other-punk @a-seeker-of-imagination @valhallaas @anatomyofaclumsymum @efferuse @you-are-my-sunshine-90 @usernamesarebitches @readsalot73 @bellamys @crazyandanonymous4u @elliee1497 @bluebird214 @we-are-all-wild-things @yennewolf @whovianayesha @calumisdaddyaf @awkwardspontaneity @mrsenos08 @some-person-somewhere @thyunnamed @an-awkward-human-1 @supercarricat @rhaelrence @aworldwideapart @lovelynerdytraveler @jooordanharrrop @jbarnesss @starfish-angel @paramorefold @thedaisydeer @pizza-eater-i-ate-the-pizza @mariaenchanted @merelrose @pinkisokay @lady-of-lies @mahleeyuh @dezzylou24

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freedomartspress · 4 years

Text

Three Poems — Tongo Eisen Martin

Kick Drum Only

All street life to a certain extent starts fair

Sometimes with a spiritual memory even

Predawn soul-clap/ your father dying even

Maybe I’ve pushed the city too far

My sensitivities to landfill districting and minstrel whistles/

White supremacist graffiti on westbound rail guards

-all overcome and reauthored

The garbage is growing voices

Condensed Marxism

modal gangsterism for a warrior-depressive

Underpass in my pocket

because I am a deity

or decent bid on the Panther name

revolutionary violence that chose its own protagonists

or muted stage of genius

A merciful Marxism

Disquieted home life

Or metaphor for relaxing next to a person

Who is relaxing next to a gun

I stare at my father for a few seconds

Then return to my upbringing

Return to the souls of Ohio Black folks

Revolution is damn near pagan at this point

You know what the clown wants? The respect of the ant.

Wants a pen cap full of bullets

Wants to see their ancestors in broad daylight

I am not tired of these rooms; just tired of the world that give them a relativity

My only change of clothes prosecuted

The government has finally learned how to write poems

shoot-outs that briefly align…

that make up a parable

white bodies are paid well, I posit

do white men actually even have leaders?

all white people are white men

white men will only ever be metaphors

all I do is practice, Lord

A rat pictures a river

Can almost taste the racial divide

Can almost roll a family member’s head into a city hall legislative chamber

Knows who in this good book will fly

I have decided not to talk out of anger ever again, Lord

Met my wife at the same time I met new audience members for our pain

We passed each other cigarettes and watched cops win

A city gone uniquely linear

Harlem of the West due a true universe

“I will always remember you in fancy clothes,” my wife said

so here I sit… twisting in silk ideation

My rifle made of tar

My targets made of an honest language

This San Francisco poetry is how God knows that it is me whining

Writing among the lesser-respected wolves

Lesser-observed militarization

Dixie-less prison bookkeeping/I mean the California gray-coats are coming

lynch mob gossip and bourgeois debt collection

I mean, it’s tempting to change professions mid-poem

in a Chicago briefing, a white sergeant saying, “blank slate for all of us after this Black organizer is dead.”

standard academics toasting two-buck wine at the tank parade

bay of nothing, Lord

nuclear cobblestones, gunline athleticism

and the last of the inherited asthma

children given white dolls to play with and fear

facial expressions borrowed from rich people’s shoe strings

I can hear hate

And teach hate

And call tools by people names

And name people dead to themselves

no one getting naturalized except federal agents soon

carving the equator into throats soon

I’m sorry to make you relive all of this, Lord

pre-dawn monarchy

friends putting up politician posters then snorting the remainder of the paste

minstrel scripts shoveled into the walls by their elders

my children sharpening quarters on the city’s edge

For these audiences

I project myself into a ghost like state

For these gangsters, I do the same

every now and then, we take a nervous look east

Sleep becomes Christ

Sleep starts growing a racial identity

do you ever spiral, Lord?

has the gang-age betrayed us?

be patient with my poems, Lord

So much pain

there is a point to crime…

There has to be if race traitors come with it

Lord, is that my revolver in your hand?

Better presidents than these have yawned at cages

Have called us holy slaves

Filled the school libraries with cop documentaries

Baby, I don’t have money for food

I have no present moment at all

I Do Not Know the Spelling of Money

I go to the railroad tracks

And follow them to the station of my enemies

A cobalt-toothed man pitches pennies at my mugshot negative

All over the united states, there are

Toddlers in the rock

I see why everyone out here got in the big cosmic basket

And why blood agreements mean a lot

And why I get shot back at

I understand the psycho-spiritual refusal to write white history or take the glass freeway

White skin tattooed on my right forearm

Ricochet sewage near where I collapsed

into a rat-infested manhood

My new existence as living graffiti

In the kitchen with

a lot of gun cylinders to hack up

House of God in part

No cops in part

My body brings down the Christmas

The new bullets pray over blankets made from old bullets

Pray over the 28th hour’s next beauty mark

Extrajudicial confederate statue restoration

the waist band before the next protest poster

By the way,

Time is not an illusion, your honor

I will return in a few whirlwinds

I will save your desk for last

You are witty, your honor

You’re moving money again, your honor

It is only raining one thing: non-white cops

And prison guard shadows

Reminding me of

Spoiled milk floating on an oil spill

A neighborhood making a lot of fuss over its demise

A new lake for a Black Panther Party

Malcom X’s ballroom jacket slung over my son’s shoulders

Pharmacy doors mid-slide

The figment of village

a noon noose to a new white preacher

Wiretaps in the discount kitchen tile

-All in an abstract painting of a president

Bought slavers some time, didn’t it?

The tantric screeches of military bolts and Election-Tuesday cars

A cold-blooded study in leg irons

Leg irons in tornado shelters

Leg irons inside your body

Proof that some white people have actually fondled nooses

That sundown couples

made their vows of love over

opaque peach plastic

and bolt action audiences

Man, the Medgar Evers-second is definitely my favorite law of science

Fondled news clippings and primitive Methodists

My arm changes imperialisms

Simple policing vs. Structural frenzies

Elementary school script vs. Even whiter white spectrums

Artless bleeding and

the challenge of watching civilians think

“terrible rituals they have around the corner. They let their elders beg for public mercy…beg for settler polity”

“I am going to go ahead and sharpen these kids’ heads into arrows myself and see how much gravy spills out of family crests.”

Modern fans of war

What with their t-shirt poems

And t-shirt guilt

And me, having on the cheapest pair of shoes on the bus,

I have no choice but to read the city walls for signs of my life

The Chicago Prairie Fire

First, I must apologize to the souls of the house

I am wearing the cheek bones of the mask only

Pill bottle, my name is yours

Name tagged on the side of a factory of wrists

Teeth of the mask now

Back of the head of the mask now

New phase of anti-anthropomorphism fending for real faces

Stuck with one of those cultures that believes I chose this family

I am not creative

Just the silliest of the revolutionaries

My blood drying on

my only jacket

just as God got playful

the police state’s psychic middlemen

Evangelizing for the creation of an un-masses

An un-Medgar

Blood of a lamb less racialized

or awesome prison sentence

Good God

Elder-abuse hired for the low

dog eat genius

Right angle made between a point

On a Louisiana plantation

And 5-year old’s rubber ball

3 feet high and falling

like a deportee plane

to complete my interpretation

(of garden variety genocide)

I am small talk

about loving your enemies

A little more realistically

About paper tigers

And also gold…

I need my left hand back

I broke my neck on the piano keys

Found paradise in a fistfight

Maybe I should check into the Cuba line

Watching the universe’s last metronomes

some call Black Jacobins

Just wait…

These religions will start resigning in a decade or two

Some colorfully

Some transactional-ly

In a cotton gothic society

Class betrayal gone glassless/ I mean ironically/ my window started fogging over too

Wondering which Haiti will get me through this winter

Which poem houses souls

Which socialist breakthroughs

Breakthroughs like ten steps back

Then finally stillness

Stillness

Then stillness among families

a John Brown biography takes a bow

I’m up next to introduce Prosser to Monk

I remember childhood

Remember the word “Childhood” being a beginning

Scribbling on an amazing grace

I rented this body from some circumference of slavery

Remember being kicked out of the Midwest

Strange fruit theater

Lithium and circuses

Likeminded stomachs

The ruling class blessing their blank checks with levy foam…

with opioid tea

Sentient dollar bills yelling to each other pocket to pocket

Cello stands in the precinct for accompanying counterrevolutionaries

My mother raised me with a simple pain

A poet loses his mind, you know, like the room has weather

Or first-girlfriend gravity

Police-knock gravity

Mind-game gravity

Or revolution languishing behind

The sugar in my good friend’s mind

“The difference between me and you

Is that the madness

Wants me forever”

A pair of apartments

Defining both my family

And political composure

Books behind my back

Bail money paved into the streets

Playing:

Euphoria

Cliché

Bracing for the medicine’s recoil

Sharing a dirty deli sandwich with my friends

Black Jacobins

Underground topography

Or grandmother’s hands

Psychology of the mask now

Teeth of the mask again

—

Originally from San Francisco, Tongo Eisen-Martin is a movement worker and educator who has organized against mass incarceration and extra-judicial killing of Black people throughout the United States. His latest curriculum on extrajudicial killing of Black people, We Charge Genocide Again, has been used as an educational and organizing tool throughout the country. His book of poems, Someone’s Dead Already was nominated for a California Book Award.

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margoshansons · 4 years

Note

OTP Questions: Barry & Jasmine - 3,4,9,15 Ray & Alex - 3,10,13 Alex & Brandon!Superman 9,11,15?

Potential Spoiler warning.

Barry and Jasmine

3. What movies do they watch together?

Back to the Future 1, 2, and 3. Jasmine likes to bring up Flashpoint when they watch it and make fun of Barry’s own time travel exploits

4. It’s time to name the adopted pet! Who gets to name it? How do they come to this decision?

First, they get a dog obviously. And secondly, they have a competition regarding their powers and Central City.

Whoever can save the most people with the least amount of screw-ups gets to name their dog.

By the time the competition is over, baby Nora has already bonded with the pet and named it Peaches after her favorite food.

9. During a thunderstorm how do they react? Is one scared? Do they both love it? Do they take pictures?

They are both incredibly afraid of thunderstorms, especially after the particle accelerator incident.

More likely than not the two of them curl up under the covers together with some candles and snuggle together until they both fall asleep.

15. Who causes the tomfoolery and who has to stop the tomfoolery?

Barry always causes it. 110%

Whether it’s flashpoint, bloodwork, thawne, or some other problem plaguing Central City, Barry either starts it or makes it worse and Jaz always has to stop it.

They have a rule that whenever someone screws up they have to buy the other coffee from Jitters and a full box of doughnuts. Jasmine has only done that once.

Ray and Alex

3. What movies do they watch together?

So many.

Singing in the Rain, The Star Wars Trilogy. Anything George Lucas really.

One time Alex suggested a Howard the Duck drinking game and they ended up accidentally taking the jumpship to try and find a dimension where Howard the Duck existed.

The closest they came was when Drunk Ray ended up stealing a duck from Lord Byron, inspiring the mob scene for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Alex has the whole thing on video too.

10. Who would look lovingly at their partner and call them an idiot?

Alex 100%.

Even though Ray is technically smarter than her when it comes to physics and science, he lacks some street smarts.

Ray would never think about calling his wife an idiot and would fight anyone who thinks she isn’t as smart or capable as him.

13. Who likes to try and prank their partner?

They both do it all the time.

The difference is in what kind of pranks they pull.

Alex’s pranks are very much the kind that make you think you’re going slightly mad. (placing pennies all over their room, stealing tools, etc.)

Ray’s are the classic camp pranks. (pouring a bucket of paint over their head, sneaking up and scaring them, drawing on their faces, etc.)

Unfortunately, they are not allowed to prank each other anymore after another time mishap.

Alex and Brandon!Superman

9. How do they react to thunderstorms?

Alex loves them, she will run out and try to catch the raindrops on her tongue while Clark watches from inside the house.

Occasionally, he’ll join her and they’ll have a dance party in the rain.

Once they have Joanna though, they simply curl by the fire while Clark plays the protective husband and father to both of them.

11. Time to get groceries! Who wants to look at everything and who wants to power through and just get back home?

Clark will walk down every aisle and look through every box to make sure they’re feeding themselves properly. He will sometimes stay out at the store for hours before heading home.

Alex is pretty similar in that aspect, except after two hours she gives up and just checks out.

Joanna just wants to go home.

15. Who causes the tomfoolery and who has to stop the tomfoolery?

They have a pretty even score.

More often than not, Clark’s enemies catch up with them and Alex has to step in to save her himbo husband from Lex Luthor or another Bizarro situation.

SEND ME A NUMBER AND AN OTP!

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uwmspeccoll · 6 years

Photo

Juneteenth, 2018

“Juneteenth”

With her shiny black-patent sandals and her Japanese parasol, and wearing a brand-new Juneteenth dress, Johnnie’s a living doll.

Juneteenth: when the Negro telegraph reached the last sad slave. . . It’s Boley’s second Easter; the whole town a picnic.

Children run from one church booth to the next, buying sandwiches, sweet-potato pie, peach cobbler with warm, sweaty pennies.

The flame of celebration ripples like glad news from one mouth to the next.

These people slipped away in the middle of the night; arrived in Boley with nothing but the rags on their backs. These carpenters, contractors, cobblers. These bankers and telephone operators. These teachers, preachers, and clerks. These merchants and restaurateurs. These peanut-growing farmers, these wives halting the advance of cotton with flowers in front of their homes.

Johnnie’s father tugs one of her plaits, head-shaking over politics with the newspaper editor, who lost his other ear getting away from a lynch-mob.

Today we celebrate Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas that marked the official end of slavery in the United States.

In honor of the day, we share this poem, “Juneteenth,” by Marilyn Nelson (published as Marilyn Nelson Waniek 1978-1998) from her collection of poems The Homeplace (1990). Nelson is a three-time finalist for the National Book Award and an accomplished poet, children’s verse author, and translator. She has won two Pushcart Prizes, two Yaddo residencies, fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation, and the 2012 Frost Medal from the Poetry Society of America.

The poem juxtaposes the joy and celebration of the day with a reminder that the abhorrent treatment of black people in this country did not end with slavery. Nelson touches on this in other poems in the collection as well—in “Hurrah, Hurrah,” a poem about a decorated WWII soldier coming home from the war, the poem ends with the coda “A black man in France / wasn’t the same / as a black man at home.” The fight for equality and justice was not over then, and it isn’t over now.

#Marilyn Nelson #Juneteenth #holidays #abolition of slavery in the united states #Alice #Black women poets

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floggingink · 6 years

Text

Riverdale, “Chapter Twenty-Five: The Wicked and the Divine”

Jughead has seen more “mob movies” than I have, so I can’t verify his “classic trope,” but he’s speaking my language

I found Archie’s Devil Wears Prada errand-montage zippy and playful, much like Hiram Lodge himself

especially the direction of the construction guy’s arm clapping Archie’s shoulder to add movement to the swerving transition (not a technical term) as he steps into the trailer

Hiram’s soft V-neck sweater is, I assume, cashmere

Veronica’s look is so inseparable from collars and pearls that she has a collar made of pearls sewn into her dress

RAS wanted a Veronica-confirmation episode, so by God, he is getting one, and Veronica’s age be damned! Hiram and Hermione wanted “the same monsignor” from Veronica’s baptism, who I guess has been on leave at the Vatican for five years okay!

Archie wants to know if Veronica will have “to memorize stuff”

Veronica’s confirmation sponsor is her grandmother, which is par for the course, as is volunteering at a soup kitchen for her like 8 hours of required community service. I also had to write a report on Saint Lucy and pray a rosary in front of an abortion clinic. Veronica probably won’t have to do that, since you can’t say abortion on Riverdale

do soup kitchens have any actual paid employees, or are they all stocked with kids who just need volunteer hours/Matthew Goode’s character from The Good Wife in his spare time wearing that blue sweatshirt to characterize him as being “just that nice”?

Hiram is such a fucking soap opera star when he says Veronica has made him “the happiest father ALIVE.” like, alive?

“ISN’T SHE A MIRACLE?”

on FP’s kitchen table is the same kind of half-gallon of milk that Jughead was drinking from the morning after his birthday party. the Andrewses kept a spare half-gallon of skim milk just for Jughead in their fridge? the nicest thing Fred ever did for him

Jughead doubts it: Jughead is VERY sassy with Sheriff Keller and FP loves it!!!! because Jughead can have an anti-authoritarian ’tude WITHOUT NECESSARILY being “a gang member” at that particular moment!

FP is so crisp and put together! FP looks GREAT! what up though, Gladys?

wow I can’t believe Jughead’s article wielded so much political power that its legal ramifications echo throughout the entire episode, as if Jughead were Nellie Bly

“CAN I GET A QUOTE?” this is the Jughead that FP plainly adores

Jughead and Betty both drink skim milk, so, their wedding will be soon

are men on webcams actually fool enough to ask the webcam girls if they can MEET IN REAL LIFE? I have no knowledge about this world, but I would imagine the answer would be “Have you ever seen a film, ever?”

50 Shades of Betty: Betty looks pretty great in that severe black fucking wig and I still want an apology from Chuck specifically about dissing the wig

“Catholic chic” means veils optional, like the stole in black tie

What damn high school in America: Jughead doesn’t have to wear the preppy Lodge uniform, I see? shame

Best costume bit: Betty’s heart sweater is possibly my favorite thing she’s ever worn. I want it BADLY

ARE YOU TELLING ME HIRAM LODGE WANTS TO SUE A HIGH SCHOOL NEWSPAPER?

“DEFAMATION OF CHARACTER”? IS THERE SOMETHING HE WROTE THAT WASN’T TRUE? ARE YOU ~NOT~ BUILDING BOWLING ALLEYS ON NATIVE AMERICAN LAND? I will fucking suit up and be Jughead’s lawyer on this. as has been demonstrated, I have seen every episode of The Good Wife and can probably practice law in Illinois (for instance I know that in Illinois you only need one-person consent to secretly record a conversation)

I love Betty and Jughead being in the same room, of course, but Betty’s gentle, poking “And...did you?” is EXCEPTIONALLY cute. Betty is so cute. and sometimes scary

Jughead’s least clueless moment of the season so far is him looking back knowingly at Betty when she says maybe he would do it to “avenge Toni’s grandfather”

“WE’RE PALS.”

Jughead kind of looks great leaning against the window. like the lighting or something. God, please let me one day see the two of them making out with Betty in her cheerleading uniform

okay, I thought Betty and Jughead, IT WAS IMPLIED, had already had sex, because I was shown them waking up together after they had slept together in the trailer. apparently they LITERALLY slept together. APPARENTLY THEY HAVE NOT HAD SEX YET. I should have known, from the sleeper biceps, that Jughead was still pining IN THIS WAY, FOR THAT! I should have KNOWN Betty had not RIDDEN JUGHEAD INTO THE SUNSET YET. fuck! what am I doing!

Every triangle has three corners, every triangle has three sides: I also emotionally defend Betty’s ecru lie about not having “done anything” with anyone since the breakup since, as one will recall, immediately after her and Archie’s kiss they stared in horror at each other and have not talked about it since, thus cancelling it out as a real kiss (this is also a statute of Illinois law)

Hermione Lodge has some sort of skinny gold Lothlórien belt on over her deep merlot blazer

Archie > Dawson: Archie is sweet when he apologizes for making Pop double-check the order: “It’s more to make sure I get everything right.”

Archie hears Pop’s slip about Hiram being “the boss,” but other things happen and he FORGETS! at what inopportune time will he remember? when he’s physically embracing Jughead Jones?

although couldn’t Pop just play it off like Hiram is Archie’s boss? think on your feet, Pop

for the record I love Agent Adams and his whole deal. his plan is so insane that it might be brilliant. I just do still wish he were being played by either Sterling K. Brown or Max Greenfield

he doesn’t appreciate Archie’s attitude: “Is there a problem?” yeah, uh, Archie’s like twelve years old and not a trained undercover field agent? I love this stupid shit

oh, everyone’s being evicted from Sunnyside? if only Jughead hadn’t driven the southside’s only lawyer out of town with Kenickie Murdoch’s switchblade

OH MY GOD HERMIONE’S PANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

according to everyone’s facial expressions, Veronica is under the impression she is doing good political maneuvering inviting the McCoys to her confirmation, Hermione is stunned she did so, Veronica really wanted to sing a solo, and Josie doesn’t know why she has to fucking apologize for anything

Josie being Veronica’s “gift” from Mayor McCoy is horrifying

Sixth period is Intro to Film: Cruel Intentions is a fantastic Catholic standard, containing as it does cocaine, “experimental” girl-on-girl French kissing, Ryan Phillippe’s ass, the line “I'm the Marcia fucking Brady of the Upper East Side and sometimes I want to kill myself,” and implied step-sibling fucking, all of which I think Riverdale should include more of

the blue and red lighting inside the Wyrm is still nice. does the Wyrm even count as a dive? strippers probably wouldn’t waste their time at dives

wow there are some true beards in this crowd

okay…..the idea that Tall Boy is a better suspect than Jughead…...because he’s physically taller…..is singularly the most fantastic thing…..I have ever heard…..

I’ve seen Brick like thirty times: the sound of Archie shifting on the leather of Hiram’s couch is real good

“I RESPECT A MAN WHO WOULD GO TO SUCH EXTREMES.” HIRAM PLEASE!!!!! ARCHIE IS TOO DUMB FOR THIS!!!!!!

Gay?!: Ben? who the fuck is Ben? who is BEN? who the fuck?

OH MY GOD Jughead got in to see the mayor AGAIN! is Ethel Muggs her secretary???

Jughead interrupted Mayor McCoy eating her salad at her desk

for like the third time in the series she says she’s “always liked” Jughead, which, fat lot of good that’s done him

in Riverdale there is a red uniform at the soup kitchen, because even THE POOR must abide by aesthetics

Archie doesn’t know what cutting cigars means

Archie’s shoulders are nice under that polo

Betty’s plan about “treat it like a missing person’s case” and making it like this snooping Blue and Gold intrigue thing is of course welcome as a pretense for the two of them working together (on the show’s part), but in reality it’s just the fucking bare minimum that THE AUTHORITIES should ALREADY BE FUCKING DOING THEMSELVES

at this point I went to bed and had a very gripping, sexy dream about Veronica and Jughead. Veronica and Jughead

“Damn good coffee”: Hiram floating having to “bring Archie in” on the Lodge Family Tammany Hall is only slightly less absurd than the Federal Bureau of Investigation having already done so. what does Archie need to be brought in on, exactly? he’s just Veronica’s arm candy. he barely knows what a cigar is

while it is STILL ODD that Veronica has done a 180 on her accepting her father’s criminality, she still holds Archie up as a beacon of goodness, because, like I said, shoulders, polos

Jughead’s “order of the Ophidians” as he tapes up the Missing poster is either, so far as I can tell, an extremely obscure MMORPG reference or he’s just calling them snakes, but like, in Latin

Penny didn’t die of gangrene from her blistering wound like on the Oregon trail? probably a plus

FP is in some deep pain here. this is so far beyond his worst fears about Jughead joining the Serpents that he like never even fucking considered—I NEVER FUCKING CONSIDERED IT, IT WAS FUCKING RIDICULOUS

I certainly don’t think Penny’s terms are like, PARTICULARLY OUT OF LINE

ooooh Jughead’s little snipe at his father for fridging Jason!

I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH “YOU WILL BE THE DEATH OF US,” THE ANGUISHED REALIZATION IN FP’S EYES, GLADYS STAY AWAY!!!!!

I can’t believe the sixth season of The Wire takes place in Riverdale and doesn’t even have Sonja Sohn playing Agent Adams

Alice’s angel wing-white Founding Father blouse and Betty’s textured peach sweater

Hal is REALLY skittish about Chic, considering that HE’S HIS SON, SO FAR AS WE KNOW. but Hal hordes important information until the bitter end, so he probably just knows some shit

The Blossom Whoever the fuck’s spawn: “He’s a stranger. That’s my beef.”

“It’s been ~some time~ since my last confession” is usually the most accurate clocking I could give as well

I love the very dangerous clusters of candles inside the confessional

These students are legally children: NO ONE is helping Veronica. Veronica is trying to “find her thing” like, in the dark, lit by votive candles

I loved the circle of beautiful mob wives drinking wine and talking about how praying to “the Almighty” for “forgiveness” makes them feel better #aspirational

Hiram isn’t fucking around with Mr. Man “disrespecting Pop Tate.” Pop Tate is an angel, doing his best out here in a chaotic world. his poutine is probably great!

Archie’s stuck using the wrong kind of plunger

Poppa Poutine says Hiram lost his “mojo” in “the joint”

is Poppa right? is Hiram weak? if you subtract the Andrews boys, he doesn’t seem to have any problems

The 2001 Josie and the Pussycats movie was a masterpiece: Josie is back with killer witchy earrings, a lovely dress, and a fierce hold on the remainder of her personal agency

of course it’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony” but with harps. you know the Verve doesn’t get any royalties from that song? are the Rolling Stones the worst band in the world?

I LIKE THE SWOOSH FROM LARRY OR WHOEVER AND POPPA BACK TO ARCHIE WATCHING THEM

the back of the church is bathed in purple, the altar is yellow, the monsignor is in BRIGHT PALM SUNDAY RED, and this is what church should have always been like

Fwoopy hair is the best hair: Hermione’s strong-shouldered structured white jacket is amazing and Jughead forgoed his hat, to be respectful

Cheryl’s a chaos angel from hell: slightly strangely, Cheryl isn’t there at all this episode, but what we are truly robbed of is seeing what she would have worn to the confirmation

Veronica has a SUPER-SWEET very light pink/purple manicure!

Summer + Blair = Veronica: you better believe when Veronica was asked if she renounced Satan I was like, IS SHE GOING TO LOOK AT HER FATHER AND STORM OUT OF THAT CHURCH????? I THOUGHT SHE MIGHT!!!!!

instead I got an amazing thematic light show about Veronica choosing to believe in Archie’s unflagging internal compass and following his light (“the light of the Lord”!)

HE GIVES HER A TINY HAPPY NOD WHILE SHE’S THINKING, LIKE “YEAH BABE I KNOW YOU RENOUNCE SATAN!!!!!”

Veronica was rich: Veronica does look like a fucking angel up there

wow, Dilton isn’t DJing the afterparty? weird

why are Betty and Archie standing together AT ALL?

Abuelita is 100% right about pinching Archie’s cheek and Archie goes with it because he is respectful

Jughead eats: Jughead is so tormented he neglects the buffet!!!!!!

Jughead’s suit is very nice. I like the progression of his wearing better and better suits

Betty takes the news of Jughead’s CONFESSION that he “cut” Penny pretty stoically, as she did boil a guy once

POOR JUG IS RIGHT, IT DIDN’T EVEN MATTER!

Closed Captioning tells me the junkyard guy’s name is “JUNKYARD STEVE,” MY MAN

“If only we lived in a town where the answer could be no.”

Sexy, aesthetic Southside: Jughead in his leather jacket OVER HIS SUIT JACKET is pretty good!

“BY ANY CHANCE WAS THIS GENTLEMAN TALL?” OH MY GOD!!!! CASE FUCKING CLOSED BOYS!!!!!!!

Hermione hauling Veronica back for the photographer

Archie looking up from behind the closing art deco elevator doors

The female gaze: Archie is of course so handsome and perfectly proportioned in his suit. his handsomeness is such a given that I take it wholly for granted, like how when not suffering an allergy attack I can breathe from both nostrils but when one hits and I’m sneezing up my guts I’m like, air coming in from both nostrils? true bliss, I’ll never forget it again

God, did he get rid of his tailored cranberry Blossom suit? not the WORST crime committed in Riverdale, but probably worthy of eviction

Fifth period is AP English: as @hangingonyourwords noted, Archie knowing the word “coup” is VERY surprising! GOOD, ARCHIE

Hiram Lodge is, I think, listening to that song from Carmen while pouring himself a stiff drink, the massive Rory Gilmore portrait of Veronica over one shoulder and the blue light of an antipodean sea streaming in over the other, using a rotary phone to call in A MURDER

Tall Boy having to suffer interrogation by Jughead, whom he surely must have always despised, is his final indignity

Jughead calls Betty “one of us,” which has not been given enough fanfare by ANYONE in the show! Betty is ONE HUNDRED PERCENT as much a Serpent as Jughead, unless Jughead’s mother is a Serpent, except that she hasn’t had to shout their stupid rules into someone’s face yet

I’m writing a scene where it’s gay.: “YOU HAVEN’T ANSWERED MY SON’S QUESTION.”

the poor Serpents have been twisted around rich northsiders’ fingers for so long that they don’t have any fucking idea what to be doing when NOT at the behest of a blackmailer or bribery. I don’t know what it means to be a Serpent except that it means you’re poor and comely. and VERY civic-minded

“You’re a Judas, Tall Boy. And an idiot.”

Gay.: Sweet Pea raises both his arms to vote

FP’s gonna run Tall Boy out of town. a word of advice: one town over is not far enough

hell, Archie’s seen all those mob movies too! he and Jughead must’ve watched them together while Jughead was sleeping in his bedroom

Archie’s speech to Veronica is GOOD, ARCHIE, and what Veronica gets out just reinforces my thought that Hiram is literally starting a second town under Mayor McCoy’s nose, which would concern me expect that it has been definitely shown that even after things are executed on Riverdale I confuse myself and am invariably exactly wrong

I would probably kiss Archie too if he looked at me like that and said “I’m with you,” which I think explains Betty

HAHAAAAAAAAAAA OKAY!!!!!! SOMETHING IN THE WATER IN FP’S TRAILER

Jughead’s suspenders? a startling plus!

I like the quietness of “Maybe we can ask Veronica on Monday.” it reminded me of Archie’s face-saving some-other-time-definitely promise to go to the library with Jughead

“Maybe we should just investigate quietly until we know more.”

BLESSED BE THE CHILDREN and Jughead’s brusque scoff at himself for saying “my darkness”

in a move that the last few episodes haven’t shown him as having enough sense to make, Jughead puts his hand, not on Betty’s hand, but directly on the skirt of her dress

also Jughead knows that dress zippers have a point where you think it’s gone all the way down but really you’ve got a little further to go otherwise you can’t get the waistline over the hips? Jug’s got a little bit of game going on!

I like the silhouette of Jughead’s Adam’s apple

while Jughead is doing an excellent job delicately checking in with Betty’s sacral chakra, with his bare hand, I don’t want to overlook either his own gently crossed ankles as he holds her or his AMAZING SOCKS

when Betty tells him she needs to tell him something, he EXHALES a “What?” before he says “What is it?” WHOOP

she is missing a pretty sick meatloaf or pork of some more at her mother’s dinner table

I didn’t think there was a physiognomically scarier white guy around than Chic himself, but I was wrong!!!! it’s definitely that guy at the door!!!!!!

oh shit, Archie sort of got somebody (else) killed. this is like when Jughead didn’t mean to but definitely got somebody’s face beaten in by Tall Boy and Serpent Baby—holy shit what happened to that kid!!!! where did Serpent Baby go???

Certified pedigree: OKAY SENDING THE STATUE HEAD TO HIRAM LODGE VIA A CONFIRMATION “PRESENT” TO HIS DAUGHTER IS A PRETTY GREAT MOVE. I ASSUME THIS WAS YOU, FP JONES. FP IS REALLY GOOD AT PUTTING WORDLESS THREATENING MESSAGES INTO BOXES

in the shot bingo of Riverdale, the middle box would have to be Betty coming through her front door and pausing because she hears something suspicious

Mädchen Amick, MÄDCHEN AMICK: the squishy sound effect of the rags on the wet floor? her perfect hair? her bright blue turtleneck? “Elizabeth, did you lock the front door?” Alice is already three steps ahead!!! Alice Alice Alice!!!!!

Alice and FP have now both cleaned up somebody else’s murder’s cranial blood (I’m assuming Chic clocked this guy, which means it was probably Melody), further proof they belong together

Please protect Betty: Betty fucking Jughead probably saved her life

Next week: Cheryl shoots a bow and arrow!!! into my heart!!!!!!!!!

#i say #commentary #riverdale #tropes

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falselyprofound · 6 years

Text

got tagged by @argentumsun! ...For two different things! Just gonna compile them into one post because I am lazy.

Rules: not specified but I’m assuming I’m supposed to fill out these prompts!

1. Relationship status: Single, and not lookin’ for a relationship. 2. Favourite colours: yellow, purple 3. Lipstick vs. chapstick: chapstick 4. Last song I listened to: Best Buns In Town - Peggy Suave 5. Last Movie I Watched: uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh fuck 6. Top 3 TV Shows: BoJack Horseman, Gravity Falls, Futurama 7. Top 3 Characters: Timothy Lawrence, Reigen Arataka, Doc Alice 8. Top 3 Bands/Artists: Mystery Skulls, Danny Baranowsky, Ryan Ike 9. Books currently being read: Let’s not kid ourselves here: the only things I’ve been reading lately are D&D handbooks and fanfiction.

Rules: list ten of your favorite female characters in different fandoms and then tag ten people

(first of all, fuck you for limiting me to only ten because the shortlist for this was at least three times as long)

Doc Alice (West of Loathing)

Hazuki “Lotus” Kashiwabara (Zero Escape)

Tome Kuwata (Mob Psycho 100)

Paper Princess Peach (Paper Mario)

Princess Carolyn (BoJack Horseman)

Delilah (Firewatch)

Rake Gal (Penny Arcade Adventures)

Rosangela Blackwell (The Blackwell Legacy)

Molly Sloan (The Intergalactic Nemesis)

The Lookout (Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine)

Melanie Rooke (Gunpoint)

edit: SHIT FUCK I FORGOT Wendy Corduroy (Gravity Falls) AND I DON’T CARE THAT IT BRINGS THE LIST UP TO 12 FUCK YOU

#thanks riv!#pointless post #ask memes #...technically #also as always i'm too tired to tag but y'all are heartily encouraged to fill this out

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trashcanplant · 4 months

Text

Tired of Things - Grover’s POV

Tw: Murder, Thoughts of Self Harm, Cleaning up a dead body, knives

For @cherrythepuppet

Mob AU by @/clownsuu

Grover walked into the bar and immediately felt his body shivering. He hated being inside. He looked around at the bar before he went to Wally’s office. The Boss had called him here for an assignment.

He opened the door, gripping the handle as he walked into the larger than life room. His eye immediately went to a small glass jar sitting on one of the shelves. It was full of ashes. The ashes of his heart. Grover shook his head, walking further into the room. Wally’s back was turned to him and he was muttering to himself. Grover gently leaned down to tap the desk with his red rubber gloved hand.

Wally turned, looking at the scarecrow with a vacant smile. “Oh, hello, Grover. How are you today, neighbor?” He asked in that monotone voice. The scarecrow nodded, taking the cigar that had been burning in his lips out as he exhaled.

“‘M alright. Heard from Ed that ya got a mission fer me?” He prompted Wally who was opening a small notebook.

“Yes.. Antoni made quite the mess while he was out yesterday. Penny’s going to be cleaning it up. She needs an escort. I don’t know how many times I can stand to see my neighbor hurt herself. I’m trusting you to make sure the job gets done in a timely manner. Is this agreeable?” Wally asked, tilting his head as he looked up. It appeared he was doodling hearts in the notebook. Grover sighed heavily as he nodded.

“Whatever you need me ta do, I’ll do it fer you.” Grover said, almost bowing his burnt head to look at his boss. Wally smiled. He loved how he had Grover under his thumb. It only helped that he had his heart, too.

“Good. She should be in her room. Have fun.” Wally said soundly, waving him off. The scarecrow stood for a moment before he retreated from the office.

He stood in the bar for a moment before he walked up the stairs. They creaked and groaned under his weight, unhappy with having him on them. Grover stood in the small hallway where a few bedrooms were. He didn’t know which one was Penny’s. He only knew where Barnaby slept. Grover wasn’t cotton-headed, so he figured he’d be able to tell simply by looking.

He paced the hallway, glancing at each door. One with minor scratches, one that had a dainty “Do Not Disturb” sign written in fine cursive, a door that looked like its been blown down a few times. He kept walking until he came across a sparse door. Pink glitter was on the floor in front of it, which was not to be confused with the red glittery door. Two very different women inhabited those rooms. Grover sighed heavily, feeling a gentle wheeze in his throat as he knocked on the door.

“Penn? Ya in there?” He asked as that thick Appalachian accent rolled off his tongue. He heard a scrambling sound and saw Penny standing at the door in a few seconds. She looked tired. Her pixie cut was ruffled, maybe not as clean as she preferred it and could probably be dyed it’s strawberry blonde again soon. His eye trained on her arms. Those stupid pink opera gloves and pearls. He exhaled as he watched her.

“Yep, I’m right here Scareycrow!” She said with fake enthusiasm. Grover took the cigar out of his mouth as he glared down at her.

“Don’t fuckin’ call me that.” Grover groaned, flicking ash off the butt of his cigar. Penny nodded, brushing off her shoulder where the ask landed. She winced a bit.

“Noted! Did you need to tell me something, or… cause I was doing something.” Penny replied, crossing her arms over her dress. It was pink and glittery with fur lining at the bottom. Grover wheezed an exhale, not bothering to get onto her level.

“Boss wants ya get a cleanup.” He instructed. Penny nodded, taking a step out of her room. Her heels clicked on the floor.

“Great! Then I’ll be on my way!” She said with a chirp. Grover grabbed her by the head. It easily fit in his hand as he stopped her.

“Not so fast, lil’ lady. Ya don’t know where yer going now, do ya? Boss says I go wit’cha.” He said, looking down at her as she frowned. Grover coulda sworn he heard her curse as she pushed his hand off of her and fixed her hair.

“I don’t need a supervisor! I’m a grown woman!” Penny argued at him. She raised her hand toward him, which he casually pushed aside.

“Boss don’t trust ya by yerself. So yer stuck with me. Ain’t my fault.” He groaned. Grover would much prefer to be alone right now than stuck with some short tempered broad he hardly knew. Penny held herself still while she huffed.

“Fine.” And she quickly retrieved a rather fancy sheath and placed an equally fancy knife in it. She slid the sheath into her garter belt, just above her dress line and started walking. Grover took note on how it wasn’t in its holster before she left the room.

“Somethin’ ain’t right with that gal..” He thought to himself, following Penny down the stairs and onto the street. He started walking to the small car park at the side of the bar where a Lincoln Continental sat parked. Grover reached into his pocket and pulled out his key ring. He unlocked the car and got into the drivers seat. The large scarecrow hardly fit inside the vehicle, and he was expected to drive it? There were some days he hates that he was strictly instructed not to be outside without permission.

Penny followed him into the car and sat in the passenger seat. She stared blankly outside as he drove off. Lucky for Grover, he knew exactly where Antoni had been yesterday. He loved having control over that stupid little sea slug. He kept his attention focused on the road. It wasn’t busy, but he still hated driving.

The pair came parked in front of a small candy shop. They exited and walked inside. Grover’s eye fell upon the stairs that went down to the hidden basement. It was just barely ajar. He motioned for Penny to follow him.

He saw the body laying on the floor. It was a woman, with a thick swath of blood matted on her forehead. He could only imagine taking her apart piece by piece. Antoni was always so boring in his executions. Grover relished in making his prey feel every second of it. Penny looked down at the body, a bit blank.

“I knew her. Wally sent me to pickup from her a few times. She was kind to me.” She mumbled, taking the apron off of the corpse and putting it on herself.

“These things happen. Just get it done.” Grover said before turning his attention to the shelves of weaponry.

Penny took the knife out of its sheath as she kneeled on the floor. She raised it above her head. While she was here, she may as well get some anger out. Penny plummeted the knife into the corpse over and over again while she grunted curses.

“Fucking piece of shit..” She hissed as blood inevitably got on her opera gloves. She took off her pearl bracelets and set them on the counter before gently removing her gloves. She looked at her wrists, then the knife as it sat on the counter. It seemed to call her name.

“Y’know I think it’s real fuckin’ borin’ how everyone always uses guns these days. It’s so.. automatic. Whatever happened to getting in there and really feeling yer prey? Takin’ all the connection outta killin’, I swear. Y’know there was this one fella who wasn’t payin’ his dues. I took him inta the warehouse and fucked him up real good I’ll tell ya-“ Grover droned on before he turned his head to look at Penny. She stood still next to the counter with the knife in her hand. She was just looking at it, almost shaking. He acted, taking two steps and grabbing her arm harshly.

“Penny!” He shouted. She snapped awake, eyes wide as she looked at the scarecrow.

“Huh- what?!” She shouted back, struggling in his grasp. He looked at her wrists for a second, but chose not to mention anything.

“Did you… hear a word of what I said?” He asked, trying to keep his tone firm as he took the knife from her hand. Penny took a step back from him and shook her head. She seemed preoccupied.

“No,” She mumbled. “Can I have my knife back?” Penny asked, holding her hand out like she thought Grover was going to just give it to her.

“Naw.. ya look fuckin’ crazy..” He said, shaking his head and pocketing the knife. He looked down at her.

“How bout’cha just go eat summa the candy upstairs? I’ll get her cleaned up.” Grover prompted kindly, kneeling down onto her level and handing her the opera gloves. Penny looked at Grover for a moment before taking them.

“Okay.” She mumbled and took her gloves. Penny put them on slowly and topped them pearl bracelets and started to retreat up the stairs to the candy bar.

And Grover was left alone in the basement. He idly walked to the counter, searching for a trash bag. He took it out, opening it and then setting it on the ground. His low voice filled the small basement as he hummed and ripped limb off this woman.

“I hope that you won’t forget me.. before my road leads back to you…”

He was quiet as he hummed, the sounds of skin, bone, and muscle tearing away as he ripped an arm off of the woman. He normally would use his tools, but unfortunately, he left his sickle in the warehouse. Grover didn’t even notice the blood as it covered his red rubber gloves.

“Though the winter may bring the whole world to its knees the spring shall return with its… fruit..” Grover hummed. He heard a small creak of the stairs and looked up from his work. Penny was standing there with a chocolate bar and wide eyes.

“What, never seen someone rip an arm off with his bare hand?” He asked defensively. Penny shook her head lightly.

“No.. how do you know that song..?” She asked in a quiet whisper.

#welcome home oc #Planty stories #grover haymaker #welcome home mob au #mob wally darling #Mob Grover haymaker #penny peaches #mob penny peaches #angst

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cherrythepuppet · 3 months

Text

The Harvest

Mob au @//Clownsuu

Grover @trashcanplant

Vince @cloudy-dreams

TW: dead deer

CLOUDY YOUR BOY IS TERRIFYING

Penny sat on the ground outside playing in the leaves with Poppy's supervision "Be careful!" Poppy exclaimed while Penny stopped herself form eating a leaf

She could hear some crunching from other footsteps then she heard Poppy talking with someone but Penny didn't care enough to listen

"Penny?" Someone behind her asked, She turned around and blinked looking up to see Wally "Hi" Penny said "Hello to you to Penny" Wally replied

"Care to go for a little walk? I'm afraid I have something to ask of you" He added to which Penny stood up and brushed any leaves or dirt off the bottom of her dress

"You have no proof of me hitting Antoni with the frying pan" Penny told him causing Wally to go 'Ha Ha Ha'

"Oh Penny, I watched you hit him" He mumbled "But that isn't why we're talking. I need you to go tell Grover something" He explained

"Oh, Yeah sure! I like talking to Grover even if he-" Penny paused "Where are we again?" She asked "Oh dear, Your memory must be acting up" Wally sighed

"Come along then. We should get you inside" Wally muttered before he began to walk back inside with Penny following

When the two went back inside Wally went to office to wait for Penny who was in her room looking for a coat

yet all she found was a Boa She put it on her shoulders figuring it would work as a coat so after that she went to Wally's office where she sorta zoned out until he told her to tell Grover to "Feed him"

"Oki Doki" Penny replied then she left looking around for Grover until she found him at the bar, Penny looked over to Howdy

Howdy sighed then walked over to Penny and helped her on the barstool before He walks back behind the bar Penny was kicking her legs slightly until Grover looked over to her Ugh… what do you want.” He grumbled while putting back another cup

Grover let Howdy finish pouring him a anothee one then he turned back to Penny "Hi" Penny grinned spinning around in the barstool

She looked over to Howdy who nodded and began preparing a Shirley Temple "Doesn't answear my question" Grover sighed

"Well scareycrow-" "Not my name"

Penny glared at him "Well anyway, Boss wanted me to tell you to 'Feed Him' whatever that means. Sounded like third person too? Is he gonna start talking like that now?" Penny trailed off

She was fidgeting with her gloves to even notice that Grover had stood up "Where are you going?" She asked grabbing her drink Howdy finished making

"Out" Grover replied "Out? But Antoni..." Penny muttered to herself trying to remember "Your not allowed out thought, Boss said-" She was cut off

"Boss told me that I need to go when he gives the word" Grover told her before turning to look at the sky listening for something "Where the fuck are those birds..” He frowned

Penny hopped off the barstool after finishing her drink and walked over to Him then saw two birds outside "Oooh! I've seen those birds before!" She exclaimed

Grover ignored her before he turned to her "Yer' helping me make a delivery" He said then he grabbed her arm and dragged her to one of the cars

However Penny didn't like this and tried biting him "Hey! Let go of me you overgrown weed!" Penny shouted struggling to free herself

"You help me with this delivery and I'll get ya whatever yer' werid ass wants" Grover replied as he opened the car door and tossed her into the passenger seat

"Fine... Your taking me to the candy shop in the middle of town" She mumbled fidgeting with her pearl bracelets Grover gets into the driver's seat and starts up the car then He began driving to God knows where

Penny stared out the window Watching the lights from the city slowly disappear almost falling asleep with how peaceful everything was away from the city too

But then the car stopped and Penny hit her head "Ow..." She frowned while she saw Griver get out and go to the bed of the truck

Penny unbuckled her seatbelt and got out walking over to him, Something smelled disgusting and she heard a squelch sound

When she saw what the disgusting thing was she saw a ripped in half deer causing her to scream which alerted a few birds

Grover put his glove over her mouth "Shut the fuck up. Vince doesn't like noise" He warned, Penny nodded shivering slightly

Griver removed his glove "Grab the back" He demanded but Penny didn't do anything for a moment, Sure she liked gore but with people! Not animals

"Penny" Grover snapped his fingers snapping her out of her trance "Wha- sorry..." She whispered before reaching down to carry her weight

Grover leaned all the way down and walkes backwards into the trees while Penny was trying to direct him in the dim light

But He was pricked by several brambles and stabbed with sticks Making her giggle slightly

The pair passed the tree line and entered the clearing, Penny looked around and to her she felt like she was walking into the world’s most terrifying sculpture park as the figures were all in the midst of fleeing

To the untrained eye it would look like wood carvings which Penny thought at first but the way that the flies landed on them

How branches grew from the eye sockets and mouths of these people made it obvious that they weren't just sculptures

Grover and Penny continued to carry the deer with the sound of sticks crunching under their shoes until the two approached the center of the field and Grover dropped the deer

He looked around at the stillness, searching for something in the trees as Penny backed away from the deer feeling uncomfortable

She looked around while holding her arms close to her chest as a form of warmth, She thought she saw one of the bodies still breathing"Griver-" Penny paused as Grover whistled then took a step away from the deer

"Watch 'em feast" Grover chuckled Several birds came down and flocked onto the deer carcass, Grover laughed while Penny looked away in disgust

But when she turned over to her shoulder she saw a large hunched back figure with dark eyes and long mouth

Penny screamed and grabbed onto to Grover making him look down at her, Grover looked up and saw Vince in the darkness reaching a hand out for Penny

Grover swatted his hand away “No, Vince" He told him "I getcha real hungry to have someone new join but not her. She’s family.” He added

Grover stared at Vince before Vince opened his mouth muttered something in a tone that terrified Penny more then the deer carcass

“Look, how about next time I bring one here fer ya I’ll letcha do yer tree thing and all that" Grover said "I like them screams too, gotta admit..” Grover chuckled

Vince laughed a raspy laugh, not saying a word while staring at Penny who was doing anything but looking at Vince

Grover looked down at her again. “Her names Penny. I needed an extra set a hands pullin’ the deer" Grover added

Penny looked at Vince for just a breif moment and made a small wave to be polite "I know ya like a bit of a scaredy cat, but I got in trouble when I brought Poppy out here" Grover was the only really speaking

But then Penny spoke up "Poppy was out here?" She asked to which Grover nodded "You remember her, Vince? Real tall bird broad?” Grover asked

Penny seemed to relax just a tiny bit at the mention of Poppy yet she kept a grip on Grover’s pants hoping He would take her home soon

Vince didn't respond instead he reached out a finger to graze against Penny’s skin but then Grover grabbed Vince's hand, holding his gloved hand tightly

“I’ll see what I can fix up fer ya, But not her. Not her.” Grover told him as the crows behind him cawed after they finished their feast and flew back into the trees

Everything was silent again, only thing to be heard was Vince’s ragged breathing. Penny looked up at Grover, then at Vince

“Do ya need help spreading the bones across the field?” Grover asked before be gave Penny a little pat in the head as a way of telling her to head back to the truck

Penny instnatly began to walk away, She got into the truck and took in a deep breath "I don't wanna ever come here again..." She mumbled to herself

As the time passed Penny fell asleep with her head resting against the Window unaware of a small leaf sprouting from under her Opera Gloves...

#welcome home #welcome home oc #welcome home au #penny peaches #wally darling #fanfic #welcome home mob au #mob au #Grover haymaker #mob penny peaches #mob grover haymaker #mob wally darling #vince vineyard #Mob Vince vineyard #welcome home poppy #CLOUDY I FELT FEAR WRITING FOR VINCE WTF

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ffdfsvdsvsdv · 4 years

Text

Three Poems — Tongo

Kick Drum Only

All street life to a certain extent starts fair

Sometimes with a spiritual memory even

Predawn soul-clap/ your father dying even

Maybe I’ve pushed the city too far

My sensitivities to landfill districting and minstrel whistles/

White supremacist graffiti on westbound rail guards

-all overcome and reauthored

The garbage is growing voices

Condensed Marxism

modal gangsterism for a warrior-depressive

Underpass in my pocket

because I am a deity

or decent bid on the Panther name

revolutionary violence that chose its own protagonists

or muted stage of genius

A merciful Marxism

Disquieted home life

Or metaphor for relaxing next to a person

Who is relaxing next to a gun

I stare at my father for a few seconds

Then return to my upbringing

Return to the souls of Ohio Black folks

Revolution is damn near pagan at this point

You know what the clown wants? The respect of the ant.

Wants a pen cap full of bullets

Wants to see their ancestors in broad daylight

I am not tired of these rooms; just tired of the world that give them a relativity

My only change of clothes prosecuted

The government has finally learned how to write poems

shoot-outs that briefly align…

that make up a parable

white bodies are paid well, I posit

do white men actually even have leaders?

all white people are white men

white men will only ever be metaphors

all I do is practice, Lord

A rat pictures a river

Can almost taste the racial divide

Can almost roll a family member’s head into a city hall legislative chamber

Knows who in this good book will fly

I have decided not to talk out of anger ever again, Lord

Met my wife at the same time I met new audience members for our pain

We passed each other cigarettes and watched cops win

A city gone uniquely linear

Harlem of the West due a true universe

“I will always remember you in fancy clothes,” my wife said

so here I sit… twisting in silk ideation

My rifle made of tar

My targets made of an honest language

This San Francisco poetry is how God knows that it is me whining

Writing among the lesser-respected wolves

Lesser-observed militarization

Dixie-less prison bookkeeping/I mean the California gray-coats are coming

lynch mob gossip and bourgeois debt collection

I mean, it’s tempting to change professions mid-poem

in a Chicago briefing, a white sergeant saying, “blank slate for all of us after this Black organizer is dead.”

standard academics toasting two-buck wine at the tank parade

bay of nothing, Lord

nuclear cobblestones, gunline athleticism

and the last of the inherited asthma

children given white dolls to play with and fear

facial expressions borrowed from rich people’s shoe strings

I can hear hate

And teach hate

And call tools by people names

And name people dead to themselves

no one getting naturalized except federal agents soon

carving the equator into throats soon

I’m sorry to make you relive all of this, Lord

pre-dawn monarchy

friends putting up politician posters then snorting the remainder of the paste

minstrel scripts shoveled into the walls by their elders

my children sharpening quarters on the city’s edge

For these audiences

I project myself into a ghost like state

For these gangsters, I do the same

every now and then, we take a nervous look east

Sleep becomes Christ

Sleep starts growing a racial identity

do you ever spiral, Lord?

has the gang-age betrayed us?

be patient with my poems, Lord

So much pain

there is a point to crime…

There has to be if race traitors come with it

Lord, is that my revolver in your hand?

Better presidents than these have yawned at cages

Have called us holy slaves

Filled the school libraries with cop documentaries

Baby, I don’t have money for food

I have no present moment at all

I Do Not Know the Spelling of Money

I go to the railroad tracks

And follow them to the station of my enemies

A cobalt-toothed man pitches pennies at my mugshot negative

All over the united states, there are

Toddlers in the rock

I see why everyone out here got in the big cosmic basket

And why blood agreements mean a lot

And why I get shot back at

I understand the psycho-spiritual refusal to write white history or take the glass freeway

White skin tattooed on my right forearm

Ricochet sewage near where I collapsed

into a rat-infested manhood

My new existence as living graffiti

In the kitchen with

a lot of gun cylinders to hack up

House of God in part

No cops in part

My body brings down the Christmas

The new bullets pray over blankets made from old bullets

Pray over the 28th hour’s next beauty mark

Extrajudicial confederate statue restoration

the waist band before the next protest poster

By the way,

Time is not an illusion, your honor

I will return in a few whirlwinds

I will save your desk for last

You are witty, your honor

You’re moving money again, your honor

It is only raining one thing: non-white cops

And prison guard shadows

Reminding me of

Spoiled milk floating on an oil spill

A neighborhood making a lot of fuss over its demise

A new lake for a Black Panther Party

Malcom X’s ballroom jacket slung over my son’s shoulders

Pharmacy doors mid-slide

The figment of village

a noon noose to a new white preacher

Wiretaps in the discount kitchen tile

-All in an abstract painting of a president

Bought slavers some time, didn’t it?

The tantric screeches of military bolts and Election-Tuesday cars

A cold-blooded study in leg irons

Leg irons in tornado shelters

Leg irons inside your body

Proof that some white people have actually fondled nooses

That sundown couples

made their vows of love over

opaque peach plastic

and bolt action audiences

Man, the Medgar Evers-second is definitely my favorite law of science

Fondled news clippings and primitive Methodists

My arm changes imperialisms

Simple policing vs. Structural frenzies

Elementary school script vs. Even whiter white spectrums

Artless bleeding and

the challenge of watching civilians think

“terrible rituals they have around the corner. They let their elders beg for public mercy…beg for settler polity”

“I am going to go ahead and sharpen these kids’ heads into arrows myself and see how much gravy spills out of family crests.”

Modern fans of war

What with their t-shirt poems

And t-shirt guilt

And me, having on the cheapest pair of shoes on the bus,

I have no choice but to read the city walls for signs of my life

The Chicago Prairie Fire

First, I must apologize to the souls of the house

I am wearing the cheek bones of the mask only

Pill bottle, my name is yours

Name tagged on the side of a factory of wrists

Teeth of the mask now

Back of the head of the mask now

New phase of anti-anthropomorphism fending for real faces

Stuck with one of those cultures that believes I chose this family

I am not creative

Just the silliest of the revolutionaries

My blood drying on

my only jacket

just as God got playful

the police state’s psychic middlemen

Evangelizing for the creation of an un-masses

An un-Medgar

Blood of a lamb less racialized

or awesome prison sentence

Good God

Elder-abuse hired for the low

dog eat genius

Right angle made between a point

On a Louisiana plantation

And 5-year old’s rubber ball

3 feet high and falling

like a deportee plane

to complete my interpretation

(of garden variety genocide)

I am small talk

about loving your enemies

A little more realistically

About paper tigers

And also gold…

I need my left hand back

I broke my neck on the piano keys

Found paradise in a fistfight

Maybe I should check into the Cuba line

Watching the universe’s last metronomes

some call Black Jacobins

Just wait…

These religions will start resigning in a decade or two

Some colorfully

Some transactional-ly

In a cotton gothic society

Class betrayal gone glassless/ I mean ironically/ my window started fogging over too

Wondering which Haiti will get me through this winter

Which poem houses souls

Which socialist breakthroughs

Breakthroughs like ten steps back

Then finally stillness

Stillness

Then stillness among families

a John Brown biography takes a bow

I’m up next to introduce Prosser to Monk

I remember childhood

Remember the word “Childhood” being a beginning

Scribbling on an amazing grace

I rented this body from some circumference of slavery

Remember being kicked out of the Midwest

Strange fruit theater

Lithium and circuses

Likeminded stomachs

The ruling class blessing their blank checks with levy foam…

with opioid tea

Sentient dollar bills yelling to each other pocket to pocket

Cello stands in the precinct for accompanying counterrevolutionaries

My mother raised me with a simple pain

A poet loses his mind, you know, like the room has weather

Or first-girlfriend gravity

Police-knock gravity

Mind-game gravity

Or revolution languishing behind

The sugar in my good friend’s mind

“The difference between me and you

Is that the madness

Wants me forever”

A pair of apartments

Defining both my family

And political composure

Books behind my back

Bail money paved into the streets

Playing:

Euphoria

Cliché

Bracing for the medicine’s recoil

Sharing a dirty deli sandwich with my friends

Black Jacobins

Underground topography

Or grandmother’s hands

Psychology of the mask now

Teeth of the mask again

—

0 notes

inloveandwords · 5 years

Text

It’s always a good day when I open my email and get a sale notification from Audible!

This time first books in series are on sale for US members with prices as low as $4.95.

I’ve compiled a list of all my favorites (some that I have read and some that I haven’t – but will likely buy myself!) here for you in case you’re interested!

Get ready to scroll, because there are a TON of amazing books in this sale!

Books I’ve Read & Loved

CLICK HERE TO REVEAL/HIDE LINKS AND SUMMARIES OF EACH BOOK

Succubus Blues Georgina Kincaid, Book 1 By: Richelle Mead Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers Series: Georgina Kincaid, Book 1

When it comes to jobs in hell, being a succubus seems pretty glamorous. A girl can be anything she wants, the wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything just for a touch. Granted, they often pay with their souls, but why get technical?

But Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid’s life is far less exotic. At least there’s her day job at a local bookstore–free books; all the white chocolate mochas she can drink; and easy access to bestselling, sexy writer, Seth Mortensen, aka He Whom She Would Give Anything to Touch but Can’t.

But dreaming about Seth will have to wait. Something wicked is at work in Seattle’s demon underground. And for once, all of her hot charms and drop-dead one-liners won’t help because Georgina’s about to discover there are some creatures out there that both heaven and hell want to deny. . .

***

Jacob Nightwalkers Series, Book 1 By: Jacquelyn Frank Narrated by: Xe Sands Series: Nightwalkers, Book 1

Since time began, there have been Nightwalkers – the races of the night who live in the shadows of the moonlight. Love with humans is absolutely forbidden, and one man makes certain to uphold this ancient law: Jacob, the Enforcer.

For 700 years, he has resisted temptation. But not tonight… Jacob knows the excuses his people give when the madness overtakes them and they fall prey to their lust for humans. He’s heard every one and still brought the trespassers to justice. Immune to forbidden desires, uncontrollable hungers, or the curse of the moon, his control is total… until the moment he sees Isabella on a shadowy New York City street. Saving her life wasn’t in his plans. Nor were the overwhelming feelings she arouses in him. But the moment he holds her in his arms and feels the soft explosion of her body against his, everything changes. Their attraction is undeniable, volatile, and completely against the law. Suddenly everything Jacob has ever believed is inflamed by the heat of desire. Bring on the night.

***

Priest: A Love Story By: Sierra Simone Narrated by: Jacob Morgan, Elena Wolfe Series: Priest, Book 1

There are many rules a priest can’t break. A priest cannot marry. A priest cannot abandon his flock. A priest cannot forsake his God.

I’ve always been good at following rules.

Until she came. Then I learned new rules.

My name is Tyler Anselm Bell. I’m 29 years old. Six months ago I broke my vow of celibacy on the altar of my own church, and God help me, I would do it again. I am a priest, and this is my confession.

***

Bright Side By: Kim Holden Narrated by: Roger Wayne, Lidia Dornet Series: Bright Side, Book 1

Kate Sedgwick’s life has been anything but typical. She’s endured hardship and tragedy, but throughout it all she remains happy and optimistic (there’s a reason her best friend, Gus, calls her Bright Side). Kate is strong willed, funny, smart, and musically gifted. She’s also never believed in love. So when Kate leaves San Diego to attend college in the small town of Grant, Minnesota, the last thing she expects is to fall in love with Keller Banks.

They both feel it. But each has a reason to fight it. Each has a secret. And when secrets are revealed, some will heal you… and some will end you.

***

Damaged Like Us By: Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie Narrated by: Alexander Cendese, J. F. Harding Series: Like Us, Book 1

Don’t date your bodyguard.

It was the one rule he had to break.

Maximoff Hale is a force of nature. A ship unwilling to be steered. Headstrong, resilient, and wholly responsible – the 22-year-old alpha billionaire can handle his unconventional life. By noon, lunch can turn into a mob of screaming fans. By two, his face is all over the Internet. Born into one of the most famous families in the country, his celebrity status began at birth. He is certified American royalty.

When he’s assigned a new 24/7 bodyguard, he comes face-to-face with the worst case scenario: being attached to the tattooed, MMA-trained Yale graduate who’s known for “going rogue” in the security team – and who fills 1/3 of Maximoff’s sexual fantasies.

Twenty-seven-year-old Farrow Keene has one job: protect Maximoff Hale. Flirting, dating, and hot sex falls far, far out of the boundary of his bodyguard duties and into “termination” territory. But when feelings surface, protecting the sexy-as-sin, stubborn celebrity becomes increasingly complicated. Together, boundaries blur, and being exposed could mean catastrophic consequences for both.

Damaged Like Us can be listened to and enjoyed without listening to any of Krista and Becca’s other novels.

***

Neanderthal Seeks Human A Smart Romance, Knitting in the City, Volume 1 By: Penny Reid Narrated by: Jennifer Grace Series: Knitting in the City, Book 1

There are three things you need to know about Janie Morris:

She is incapable of engaging in a conversation without volunteering TMTI (Too Much Trivial Information), especially when she is unnerved, No one unnerves her more than Quinn Sullivan, and She doesn’t know how to knit. After losing her boyfriend, apartment, and job in the same day, Janie Morris can’t help wondering what new torment fate has in store. To her utter mortification, Quinn Sullivan- aka Sir McHotpants- witnesses it all then keeps turning up like a pair of shoes you lust after but can’t afford. The last thing she expects is for Quinn – the focus of her slightly, albeit harmless, stalkerish tendencies – to make her an offer she can’t refuse.

***

Pucked By: Helena Hunting Narrated by: Nathan Everett, Muffy Newtown Series: Pucked, Book 1

The first standalone novel in The Pucked Series

With a famous NHL player for a stepbrother, Violet Hall is well acquainted with the playboy reputation of many a hockey star. So of course she isn’t interested in legendary team captain Alex Waters or his pretty, beat-up face and rock-hard six-pack abs. But when Alex inadvertently obliterates Violet’s misapprehension regarding the inferior intellect of hockey players, he becomes much more than just a hot body with the face to match. Suffering from a complete lapse in judgment, Violet discovers just how good Alex is with the hockey stick in his pants.

Violet believes her night of orgasmic magic with Alex is just that: one night. But Alex starts to call. And text. And email and send extravagant – and quirky – gifts. Suddenly he’s too difficult to ignore and nearly impossible not to like. The problem is, the media portrays Alex as a total player, and Violet doesn’t want to be part of the game.

***

Tangled The Tangled Series, Book 1 By: Emma Chase Narrated by: Sebastian York Series: Tangled, Book 1, Tangled Series, Book 1

Drew Evans is handsome and arrogant, he makes multimillion dollar business deals and seduces New York’s most beautiful women with just a smile. So why has he been shuttered in his apartment for seven days, miserable and depressed? He’ll tell you he has the flu. But we all know that’s not really true.

Katherine Brooks is brilliant, beautiful and ambitious. When Kate is hired as the new associate at Drew’s father’s investment banking firm, every aspect of the dashing playboy’s life is thrown into a tailspin. The professional competition she brings is unnerving, his attraction to her is distracting, his failure to entice her into his bed is exasperating.

Tangled is not your mother’s romance audiobook. It is an outrageous, passionate, witty narrative about a man who knows a lot about women…just not as much as he thinks. As he tells his story, Drew learns the one thing he never wanted in life, is the only thing he can’t live without.

***

A Little Night Magic By: Lucy March Narrated by: Amanda Ronconi Series: Nodaway Falls, Book 1

Olivia Kiskey needs a change. She’s been working at the same Nodaway Falls, New York, waffle house since she was a teenager; not a lot of upward mobility there. She’s been in love with Tobias, the cook, for the last four years; he’s never made a move. Every Saturday night, she gathers with her three best friends—Peach, Millie, and Stacy—and drinks the same margaritas while listening to the same old stories. Intent on shaking things up, she puts her house on the market, buys a one-way ticket to Europe, and announces her plans to her friends… but then she meets Davina Granville, a strange and mystical Southern woman who shows Olivia that there is more to her life than she ever dreamed.

As Liv’s latent magical powers come to the surface, she discovers that having an interesting life is maybe not all it’s cracked up to be. The dark side of someone else’s magic is taking over good people in town, and changing them into vessels of malevolence. Unwilling to cede her home to darkness, she battles the demons of her familial past and her magical present, with those she loves at her side – and in the cross fire. Can the most important things in life—friendship, love, magic, and waffles—get her through the worst that the universe can throw at her?

***

Daughter of Smoke and Bone By: Laini Taylor Narrated by: Khristine Hvam Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Book 1

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”; she speaks many languages – not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When one of the strangers – beautiful, haunted Akiva – fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

***

Caraval By: Stephanie Garber Narrated by: Rebecca Soler Series: Caraval, Book 1

Welcome, welcome to Caraval – Stephanie Garber’s sweeping tale of two sisters who escape their ruthless father when they enter the dangerous intrigue of a legendary game.

Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved sister, Tella, live with their powerful – and cruel – father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval, the faraway once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show, are over.

But this year Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.

Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. But she nevertheless becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic with the other players in the game. And whether Caraval is real or not, she must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over, a dangerous domino effect of consequences is set off, and her sister disappears forever.

***

Ecstasy The Shadowdwellers Series #1 By: Jacquelyn Frank Narrated by: Kirsten Potter Series: Shadowdwellers, Book 1

Among the Shadowdwellers, Trace holds power that some are willing to kill for. Without a stranger’s aid, one rival would surely have succeeded, but Trace’s brush with death is less surprising to him than his reaction to the beautiful, fragile human who heals him. By rights, Trace should hardly even register Ashla’s existence within the realm of Shadowscape, but instead he is drawn to everything about her-her innocence, her courage, and her lush, sensual heat. After a terrifying car crash, Ashla Townsend wakes up to find that the bustling New York she knew is now eerie and desolate. Just when she’s convinced she’s alone, Ashla is confronted by a dark warrior who draws her deeper into a world she never knew existed. The bond between Ashla and Trace is a mystery to both, but searching for answers will mean confronting long-hidden secrets, and uncovering a threat that could destroy everything Trace holds precious.

***

Poison Study By: Maria V. Snyder Narrated by: Gabra Zackman Series: Study, Book 1

Choose: A quick death…or slow poison. About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She’ll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace, and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly’s Dust and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can’t control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren’t so clear.

Don’t miss Magic Study, the sequel to Poison Study.

***

Sweet Filthy Boy By: Christina Lauren Narrated by: Shayna Thibodeaux Series: Wild Seasons, Book 1

The New York Times best-selling author of Beautiful Bastard, Beautiful Stranger, and Beautiful Player starts a brand new story of friends, love, and lust with Book One of the Wild Seasons series.

One-night stands are supposed to be with someone convenient, or wickedly persuasive, or regrettable. They aren’t supposed to be with someone like him.

But after a crazy Vegas weekend celebrating her college graduation – and terrified of the future path she knows is a cop-out – Mia Holland makes the wildest decision of her life: follow Ansel Guillaume – her sweet, filthy fling – to France for the summer and just…play.

When feelings begin to develop behind the provocative roles they take on, and their temporary masquerade adventures begin to feel real, Mia will have to decide if she belongs in the life she left because it was all wrong, or in the strange new one that seems worlds away.

***

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before By: Jenny Han Narrated by: Laura Knight Keating Series: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Book 1

Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control in this heartfelt novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer I Turned Pretty series.

What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them…all at once?

Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved – five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control.

***

Full Tilt Full Tilt Duet Series, Book 1 By: Emma Scott Narrated by: Nelson Hobbs, Caitlin Kelly Series: Full Tilt, Book 1

Kacey Dawson has always lived life on the edge – impulsively, sometimes recklessly. And now, as lead guitarist for a hot up-and-coming band, she is poised at the brink of fame and fortune. But she is torn between wanting to be a serious musician and the demons that lure her down the glittering but alcohol-soaked path of rock stardom. A wrecked concert in Las Vegas threatens to ruin her career entirely. She wakes up with the hangover from hell and no memory of the night before or how she ended up on her limo driver’s couch….

Jonah Fletcher is running out of time. He knows his situation is hopeless, and he’s vowed to make the most of the handful of months he has left to him. His plans include seeing the opening of his glass installation at a prestigious art gallery…they do not include falling in love with a wild, tempestuous rock musician who wound up passed out on his couch. Jonah sees that Kacey is on a path to self-destruction. He lets her crash with him for a few days to dry out and get her head on straight. But neither of them expects the deep connection they feel or how that connection can grow so fast from friendship into something more.

***

Stray Shifters, Book 1 By: Rachel Vincent Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck Series: Shifters, Book 1

“I look like an all-American grad student. But I am a werecat, a shape-shifter, and I live in two worlds. “Despite reservations from my family and my Pride, I escaped the pressure to continue my species and carved out a normal life for myself. Until the night a Stray attacked.

“I’d been warned about Strays (werecats without a Pride) that are constantly on the lookout for someone like me: attractive, female, and fertile. I fought him off, but then learned two of my fellow tabbies had disappeared.

“This brush with danger was all my Pride needed to summon me back for my own protection. Yeah, right. But I’m no meek kitty. I’ll take on whatever and whoever I have to in order to find my friends. Watch out, Strays, ’cause I got claws, and I’m not afraid to use them.”

***

Heartsick By: Chelsea Cain Narrated by: Carolyn McCormick Series: Gretchen Lowell, Book 1, Archie and Gretchen, Book 1

Damaged Portland detective Archie Sheridan spent 10 years tracking Gretchen Lowell, a beautiful serial killer, but in the end, she was the one who caught him. Two years ago, Gretchen kidnapped Archie and tortured him for 10 days, but instead of killing him, she mysteriously decided to let him go. She turned herself in, and now Gretchen has been locked away for the rest of her life, while Archie is in a prison of another kind: addicted to pain pills, unable to return to his old life, powerless to get those 10 horrific days off his mind. He continues to visit Gretchen in prison once a week, saying that only he can get her to confess as to the whereabouts of more of her victims. When another killer begins snatching teenage girls off the streets of Portland, Archie has to pull himself together enough to lead the new task force investigating the murders. A hungry young newspaper reporter, Susan Ward, begins profiling Archie and the investigation, which sparks a deadly game between Archie, Susan, the new killer, and even Gretchen. They need to catch a killer, and maybe then, somehow, Archie can free himself from Gretchen, once and for all.

Either way, Heartsick makes for one of the most extraordinary suspense debuts in recent memory.

***

Captain By: Lauren Rowe Narrated by: Lauren Rowe, John Lane Series: The Morgan Brothers, Book 2

It wasn’t the way this kind of story was supposed to go…insta-love isn’t supposed to turn into insta-hate. But that’s exactly what happened when the hot-as-hell dreamboat I met in a bar turned out to be a lying, cheating scumbag-player-douche looking for nothing but a little side action. Jerk. And he has the nerve to call me a liar and a “sociopath”? Asshole. And now, three months later, through a mind-blowing series of events I couldn’t have predicted in a million years, it turns out my boss is marrying his sister in Hawaii and I’ve got to play nice with him for an entire freaking week. Okay, sure, I’ll put on a happy face this week and act like I’ve never even met the jerk before – did I mention his sister is marrying my boss? – but that doesn’t mean I’ll like it. And it certainly doesn’t mean I’ll stop secretly hating the cocky bastard’s guts. Because I do. I hate him. I really do. I just wish my brain would explain the situation to my body…because every time he flashes that panty-melting smile at me, it takes all my self-restraint not to jump the bastard’s hot-as-f–k bones.

***

Flat-Out Love By: Jessica Park Narrated by: Julia Whelan Series: Flat-Out Love, Book 1

He was tall, at least six feet, with dirty blond hair that hung over his eyes. His T-shirt read Nietzsche Is My Homeboy.

So, that was Matt. Who Julie Seagles likes. A lot. But there is also Finn. Who she flat out loves.

Complicated? Awkward? Completely.

But really, how was this freshly-minted Boston transplant and newbie college freshman supposed to know that she would end up living with the family of an old friend of her mother’s? This was all supposed to be temporary. Julie wasn’t supposed to be important to the Watkins family, or to fall in love with one of the brothers. Especially the one she’s never quite met. But what does that really matter? Finn gets her, like no one ever has before. They have connection. But here’s the thing about love, in all its twisty, bumpy permutations – it always throws you a few curves. And no one ever escapes unscathed

***

Never Never: Part One By: Colleen Hoover, Tarryn Fisher Narrated by: Kevin Free, Elizabeth Evans Series: Never Never, Book 1

Never Never, a novella series. Book one of three.

Best friends since they could walk. In love since the age of 14. Complete strangers since this morning. He’ll do anything to remember. She’ll do anything to forget. This novella is recommended for readers age 16+ due to mild language and sexual content.

***

Shatter Me By: Tahereh Mafi Narrated by: Kate Simses Series: Shatter Me, Book 1

“You can’t touch me,” I whisper. I’m lying, is what I don’t tell him. He can touch me, is what I’ll never tell him. But things happen when people touch me. Strange things. Bad things.

No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon.

But Juliette has plans of her own. After a lifetime without freedom, she’s finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time – and to find a future with the one boy she thought she’d lost forever.

***

Shacking Up By: Helena Hunting Narrated by: Jacob Morgan, Rose Dioro Series: Shacking Up, Book 1

Ruby Scott is months behind on rent and can’t seem to land a steady job. She has one chance to turn things around with a big audition. But instead of getting her big break, she gets sick as a dog and completely bombs it in the most humiliating fashion. All thanks to a mysterious, gorgeous guy who kissed – and then coughed on – her at a party the night before.

Luckily, her best friend might have found the perfect opportunity: a job staying at the lavish penthouse apartment of hotel magnate Bancroft Mills while he’s out of town, taking care of his exotic pets. But when the newly evicted Ruby arrives to meet her new employer, it turns out Bane is the same guy who got her sick. Seeing his role in Ruby’s dilemma, Bane offers her a permanent job as his live-in pet sitter until she can get back on her feet.

Filled with hilariously awkward encounters and enough sexual tension to heat a New York City block, Shacking Up, from NYT and USA Today best-selling author Helena Hunting, is sure to keep you laughing and swooning all night long.

***

Rule A Marked Men Novel By: Jay Crownover Narrated by: Sophie Eastlake, Michael Rahhal Series: Marked Men, Book 1

Opposites in every way…except the one that matters.

Shaw Landon loved Rule Archer from the moment she laid eyes on him. Rule is everything a straight-A pre-med student like Shaw shouldn’t want – and the only person she’s never tried to please. She isn’t afraid of his scary piercings and tattoos or his wild attitude. Though she knows that Rule is wrong for her, her heart just won’t listen.

To a rebel like Rule Archer, Shaw Landon is a stuck-up, perfect princess – and his dead twin brother’s girl. She lives by other people’s rules; he makes his own. He doesn’t have time for a good girl like Shaw – even if she’s the only one who can see the person he truly is.

But a short skirt, too many birthday cocktails, and spilled secrets lead to a night neither can forget. Now, Shaw and Rule have to figure out how a girl like her and a guy like him are supposed to be together without destroying their love…or each other.

The first Marked Men novel in Jay Crownover’s combustible New Adult series.

***

Royally Screwed By: Emma Chase Narrated by: Andi Arndt, Shane East Series: The Royally Series, Book 1

Nicholas Arthur Frederick Edward Pembrook, Crowned Prince of Wessco, aka His Royal Hotness, is wickedly charming, devastatingly handsome, and unabashedly arrogant – hard not to be when people are constantly bowing down to you.

Then, one snowy night in Manhattan, the prince meets a dark-haired beauty who doesn’t bow down. Instead she throws a pie in his face.

Nicholas wants to find out if she tastes as good as her pie, and this heir apparent is used to getting what he wants.

Dating a prince isn’t what waitress Olivia Hammond ever imagined it would be.

There’s a disapproving queen, a wildly inappropriate spare heir, relentless paparazzi, and brutal public scrutiny. While they’ve traded in horse-drawn carriages for Rolls Royces and haven’t chopped anyone’s head off lately, the royals are far from accepting of this commoner.

But to Olivia, Nicholas is worth it.

Nicholas grew up with the whole world watching, and now Marriage Watch is in full force. In the end Nicholas has to decide who he is and, more importantly, who he wants to be: a king or the man who gets to love Olivia forever.

***

Six of Crows By: Leigh Bardugo Narrated by: Jay Snyder, Brandon Rubin, Fred Berman, Lauren Fortgang, Roger Clark, Elizabeth Evans, Tristan Morris Series: Six of Crows, Book 1

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price – and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone.

A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager. A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith. A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction – if they don’t kill each other first.

***

The Vampire Diaries, Book 1 The Awakening By: L. J. Smith Narrated by: Rebecca Mozo Series: Vampire Diaries, Book 1

Elena: beautiful and popular, the girl who can have any boy she wants. Stefan: brooding and mysterious, desperately trying to resist his desire for Elena for her own good. Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him. Elena finds herself drawn to both brothers….who will she choose?

***

All Lined Up Rusk University, Book 1 By: Cora Carmack Narrated by: Justis Bolding, Dan Bittner Series: Rusk University, Book 1

Dallas Cole loathes football. That’s what happens when you spend your whole childhood coming in second to a sport. College is her time to step out of the bleachers and put the playing field (and the players) in her past.

But life doesn’t always go as planned. As if going to the same college as her football-star ex wasn’t bad enough, her father, a phenom in Texas’s world of high school coaching, has decided to make the jump to college ball…as the new head coach at Rusk University. Dallas finds herself in the shadows of her father and football all over again.

Carson McClain is determined to go from second-string quarterback to the starting lineup. He needs the scholarship and the future that football provides. But when a beautiful redhead literally falls into his life, his focus is more than tested. It’s obliterated.

Dallas doesn’t know Carson is on the team. Carson doesn’t know that Dallas is his new coach’s daughter.

And neither of them knows how to walk away from the attraction they feel.

***

Howl’s Moving Castle By: Diana Wynne Jones Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin Series: Howl’s Castle, Book 1

A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book and ALA Notable and Best of the Year in Young Adult Fiction, Howl’s Moving Castle is by acclaimed fantasy writer Diane Wynne Jones and was transformed into an Academy Award nominated animated motion picture by Hayao Miyazaki. On a rare venture out from her step-mother’s hat shop, Sophie attracts the attention of a witch, who casts a terrible spell transforming the young girl into an old crone.

***

Maybe Someday By: Colleen Hoover Narrated by: Zachary Webber, Angela Goethals Series: Maybe (Hoover), Book 1

At 22 years old, Sydney has a great life: She’s in college; working a steady job; in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter; and rooming with her best friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers Hunter’s cheating on her – and she is left trying to decide what to do next.

Sydney becomes captivated by Ridge, her mysterious neighbor. She can’t take her eyes off him or stop listening to his playing his guitar every day out on his balcony. And there’s something about Sydney that Ridge can’t ignore, either. When their inevitable encounter happens, they soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one.…

***

Me Before You A Novel By: Jojo Moyes Narrated by: Susan Lyons, Anna Bentink, Steven Crossley, Alex Tregear, Andrew Wincott, Owen Lindsay Series: Me Before You Trilogy, Book 1

They had nothing in common until love gave them everything to lose.

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life – steady boyfriend, close family – who has never been farther afield than her tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex-Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life – big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel – and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is.

Will is acerbic, moody, bossy – but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.

A love story for this generation, Me Before You brings to life two people who couldn’t have less in common – a heartbreakingly romantic novel that asks, what do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart?

***

Books I Want to Read

CLICK HERE TO REVEAL/HIDE LINKS AND SUMMARIES OF EACH BOOK

Vicious By: V. E. Schwab Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine Series: Villains [Schwab], Book 1

A masterful tale of ambition, jealousy, desire, and superpowers.

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates – brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), and aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find – aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the arch nemeses have set a course for revenge – but who will be left alive at the end? In Vicious, V. E. Schwab brings to life a gritty comic-book-style world in vivid prose: a world where gaining superpowers doesn’t automatically lead to heroism, and a time when allegiances are called into question.

***

The Belles By: Dhonielle Clayton Narrated by: Rosie Jones Series: The Belles, Book 1

Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orleans, Belles are revered, for they control beauty, and beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orleans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful.

But it’s not enough for Camellia to be just a Belle. She wants to be the favorite – the Belle chosen by the queen of Orleans to live in the royal palace, to tend to the royal family and their court, to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land.

But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the favorite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that the very essence of her existence is a lie – that her powers are far greater, and could be more dangerous, than she ever imagined. And when the queen asks Camellia to risk her own life and help the ailing princess by using Belle powers in unintended ways, Camellia now faces an impossible decision.

With the future of Orleans and its people at stake, Camellia must decide: save herself and her sisters and the way of the Belles, or resuscitate the princess, risk her own life, and change the ways of her world forever.

***

Hate to Want You Forbidden Hearts By: Alisha Rai Narrated by: Summer Morton, Jeremy York Series: Forbidden Hearts, Book 1

One night. No one will know.

That was the deal. Every year, Livvy Kane and Nicholas Chandler would share one perfect night of illicit pleasure. The forbidden hours let them forget the tragedy that haunted their pasts – and the last names that made them enemies.

Until the night she didn’t show up.

Now Nicholas has an empire to run. He doesn’t have time for distractions, and Livvy’s sudden reappearance in town is a major distraction. She’s the one woman he shouldn’t want…so why can’t he forget how right she feels in his bed?

Livvy didn’t come home for Nicholas, but fate seems determined to remind her of his presence – and their past. Although the passion between them might have once run hot and deep, not even love can overcome the scandal that divided their families.

Being together might be against all the rules…but being apart is impossible.

***

Angelfall Penryn & the End of Days, Book 1 By: Susan Ee Narrated by: Caitlin Davies Series: Penryn & the End of Days, Book 1

It’s been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her 17-year-old sister, Penryn, will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels’ stronghold in San Francisco where Penryn will risk everything to rescue her sister, and Raffe will put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

***

Ruthless King The Mount Trilogy, Book 1 By: Meghan March Narrated by: Grace Grant, Joe Arden Series: The Mount Trilogy, Book 1

New Orleans belongs to me. You don’t know my name, but I control everything you see – and all the things you don’t. My reach knows no bounds, and my demands are always met. I didn’t need to loan money to a failing family distillery, but it amuses me to have them in my debt. To have her in my debt. She doesn’t know she caught my attention. She should’ve been more careful. I’m going to own her. Consume her. Maybe even keep her. It’s time to collect what I’m owed. Keira Kilgore, you’re now the property of Lachlan Mount.

***

Three Dark Crowns By: Kendare Blake Narrated by: Amy Landon Series: Three Dark Crowns, Book 1

Fans of acclaimed author Kendare Blake’s Anna Dressed in Blood will devour her latest novel, a dark and inventive fantasy about three sisters who must fight to the death to become queen.

In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born: three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn 16, the battle begins.

The last queen standing gets the crown.

***

The Sapphire Affair A Jewel Novel, Book 1 By: Lauren Blakely Narrated by: Sebastian York Series: Jewel, Book 1

Seduction hotter than stolen jewels in this new series from the New York Times bestselling author of Big Rock.

Bounty hunter Jake Harlowe knows how to track a criminal. So when a group of swindled shareholders hire him to trail their former CEO, Jake expects a quick trip to the Cayman Islands to close another case. Until a devastatingly beautiful woman gets in the way.

Steph Anderson is visiting the Caymans for a rock climbing and dive trip – or so she tells Jake. She’s really trying to find out whether or not her stepfather embezzled money from his company. The last thing Steph needs is the distraction of a sexy, charming man whose kisses drive her wild.

Soon, the pair discover they’re after the same target – and millions in jewels. While Jake can’t be certain Steph isn’t working for her stepfather, and Steph can’t be certain Jake isn’t after the diamonds for himself, they can agree the heat between them is intense, and neither can deny the passion for long.

But the morning after, Steph discovers that she just might have slept with the enemy, and now she’ll have to outwit him to get everything she needs….

***

Hard As It Gets A Hard Ink Novel, Book 1 By: Laura Kaye Narrated by: Seraphine Valentine Series: Hard Ink, Book 1

Five dishonored soldiers. Former Special Forces. One last mission. These are the men of Hard Ink.

Trouble just walked into Nicholas Rixey’s tattoo parlor. Becca Merritt is warm, sexy, wholesome, pure temptation to a very jaded Nick. He’s left his military life behind to become co-owner of Hard Ink Tattoo, but Becca is his ex-commander’s daughter. Loyalty won’t let him turn her away. Lust has plenty to do with it too.

With her brother presumed kidnapped, Becca needs Nick. She just wasn’t expecting to want him so much. As their investigation turns into all-out war with an organized crime ring, only Nick can protect her. And only Becca can heal the scars no one else sees.

Desire is the easy part. Love is as hard as it gets. Good thing Nick is always up for a challenge . . .

***

Mayhem By: Jamie Shaw Narrated by: Andi Arndt, Adam Verner Series: Mayhem Series, Book 1

When college freshman Rowan Michaels meets gorgeous, up-and-coming rock star Adam Everest, she knows a player like him is the last thing she needs after her ex-boyfriend shattered her heart. But she can’t stop thinking about the kiss they shared on his tour bus.

On the first day of school, Rowan is stunned when Adam saunters into her French class. He’s soon failing miserably, and, on a whim, she offers to tutor him. But Adam doesn’t recognize her as a makeup-free, glasses-clad college student – a far cry from the beautiful, mysterious “Peach” he met at his concert.

During a wild weekend on tour with the band, Rowan can’t help falling for the sweet guy buried beneath Adam’s rocker persona. Yet she knows she could never compete with the girls constantly throwing themselves at his feet. She’d just end up hurt… again.

Peach is all Adam thinks about, though, and when Rowan realizes this, she has a decision to make: stay just friends to protect her fragile heart… or reveal the truth about the night they met and admit she’s fallen completely, hopelessly in love with him.

***

Nevernight The Nevernight Chronicle, Book 1 By: Jay Kristoff Narrated by: Holter Graham Series: The Nevernight Chronicle, Book 1

Nevernight is the first in an epic new fantasy series from New York Times best-selling author Jay Kristoff.

In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.

Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father’s former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer and a future she never imagined.

Now, 16-year-old Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic – the Red Church. Treachery and trials await her within the Church’s halls, and to fail is to die. But if she survives to initiation, Mia will be inducted among the chosen of the Lady of Blessed Murder and be one step closer to the only thing she desires: revenge.

***

The Bone Witch The Bone Witch, Book 1 By: Rin Chupeco Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller, Will Damron Series: The Bone Witch, Book 1

In the captivating start to a new, darkly lyrical fantasy series, Tea can raise the dead, but resurrection comes at a price.

When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she’s a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training.

In her new home, Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha – one who can wield elemental magic. But dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles and make a powerful choice.

***

Cruel Crown The Red Queen Series By: Victoria Aveyard Narrated by: Andi Arndt, Jayne Entwistle, Amanda Dolan Series: Red Queen, Book 0.1-0.2

Two women on either side of the Silver-Red divide tell the stories no one else knows.

Queen Coriane, first wife of King Tiberias, keeps a secret diary – how else can she ensure that no one at the palace will use her thoughts against her? Coriane recounts her heady courtship with the crown prince, the birth of a new prince, Cal, and the potentially deadly challenges that lie ahead for her in royal life.

Captain Farley exchanges coded transmissions with the resistance as she travels the land recruiting black-market traders, smugglers, and extremists for her first attempt at an attack on the capital. She was raised to be strong, but planting the seeds of rebellion in Norta is a tougher job than expected – until she stumbles upon a connection that may prove to be the key to the entire operation: Mare Barrow.

Discover the truth of Norta’s bloody past in these two revealing prequels to number-one New York Times best seller Red Queen. Plus a Glass Sword sneak peek! An exclusive excerpt from the hotly anticipated second book in the Red Queen series, Glass Sword, transports listeners to the world of Silver tyranny, a Red dawn rising, and one girl’s resolve to break down the system that will hold her back no longer.

***

A Study in Charlotte Charlotte Holmes, Book 1 By: Brittany Cavallaro Narrated by: Graham Halstead, Julia Whelan Series: Charlotte Holmes, Book 1

The first book in a witty, suspenseful new trilogy about a brilliant new crime-solving duo: the teen descendants of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. This clever detective yarn will appeal to fans of Maureen Johnson and Ally Carter.

Jamie Watson has always been intrigued by Charlotte Holmes; after all, their great-great-great-grandfathers were one of the most infamous pairs in history. But the Holmes family has always been odd, and Charlotte is no exception. She’s inherited Sherlock’s volatility and some of his vices – and when Jamie and Charlotte end up at the same Connecticut boarding school, Charlotte makes it clear she’s not looking for friends.

But when a student they both have a history with dies under suspicious circumstances, ripped straight from the most terrifying of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Jamie can no longer afford to keep his distance. Danger is mounting, and nowhere is safe – and the only people they can trust are each other.

***

The Last Namsara By: Kristen Ciccarelli Narrated by: Pearl Mackie Series: Iskari, Book 1

Kristen Ciccarelli’s debut fantasy explores an intricately woven world of deception, inner darkness, and dragons that fantasy fans won’t be able to resist.

In the beginning there was the Namsara: the child of sky and spirit who carried love and laughter wherever he went. But where there is light, there must be darkness – and so there was also the Iskari. The child of blood and moonlight. The destroyer. The death bringer.

These are the legends that Asha, daughter of the king of Firgaard, has grown up learning in hushed whispers, drawn to the forbidden figures of the past. But it isn’t until she becomes the fiercest, most feared dragon slayer in the land that she takes on the role of the next Iskari – a lonely destiny that leaves her feeling more like a weapon than a girl.

Asha conquers each dragon and brings its head to the king, but no kill can free her from the shackles that await at home: her betrothal to the cruel commandant, a man who holds the truth about her nature in his palm.

When she’s offered the chance to gain her freedom in exchange for the life of the most powerful dragon in Firgaard, she finds that there may be more truth to the ancient stories than she ever could have expected. With the help of a secret friend – a slave boy from her betrothed’s household – Asha must shed the layers of her Iskari bondage and open her heart to love, light, and a truth that has been kept from her.

***

Truly Devious A Mystery By: Maureen Johnson Narrated by: Kate Rudd Series: Truly Devious, Book 1

Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early 20th century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. “A place”, he said, “where learning is a game.”

Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym “Truly, Devious”. It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history.

True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder.

The two interwoven mysteries of this first book in the Truly Devious series dovetail brilliantly, and Stevie Bell will continue her relentless quest for the murderers in books two and three.

***

Etiquette & Espionage Booktrack Edition By: Gail Carriger Narrated by: Moira Quirk Series: Finishing School, Book 1

Etiquette & Espionage: Booktrack Edition adds an immersive musical soundtrack to your audiobook listening experience!*

Booktrack editions are essentially a new genre of digital storytelling entertainment. Music and ambient audio are added to complement and enhance the audiobook experience. It is a synchronized movie-style soundtrack that complements the narration of existing audiobooks; the tempo and rhythm of the score harmonize with action, dialogue, and the characters’ emotional arcs.

Set in the same world as the New York Times best-selling Parasol Protectorate, this best-selling young adult steampunk series debut is filled with all the saucy adventure and droll humor Gail Carriger’s legions of fans have come to adore.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners – and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. So she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine’s, young ladies learn to finish…everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but they also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage – in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year’s education.

*Booktrack is an immersive format that pairs traditional audiobook narration to complementary music. The tempo and rhythm of the score are in perfect harmony with the action and characters throughout the audiobook. Gently playing in the background, the music never overpowers or distracts from the narration, so listeners can enjoy every minute. When you purchase this Booktrack edition, you receive the exact narration as the traditional audiobook available, with the addition of music throughout.

***

Everless By: Sara Holland Narrated by: Eileen Stevens Series: Everless, Book 1

In the kingdom of Sempera, time is currency—extracted from blood, bound to iron, and consumed to add time to one’s own lifespan. The rich aristocracy, like the Gerlings, tax the poor to the hilt, extending their own lives by centuries.

No one resents the Gerlings more than Jules Ember. A decade ago, she and her father were servants at Everless, the Gerlings’ palatial estate, until a fateful accident forced them to flee in the dead of night. When Jules discovers that her father is dying, she knows that she must return to Everless to earn more time for him before she loses him forever.

But going back to Everless brings more danger—and temptation—than Jules could have ever imagined. Soon she’s caught in a tangle of violent secrets and finds her heart torn between two people she thought she’d never see again. Her decisions have the power to change her fate—and the fate of time itself.

Fans of Victoria Aveyard, Kendare Blake, and Stephanie Garber will devour this lush novel’s breathtaking action, incredible romance, and dangerous secrets.

***

Inkmistress By: Audrey Coulthurst Narrated by: Billie Fulford-Brown Series: Of Fire and Stars, Book 0.5

A sweeping, action-packed, and romantic fantasy full of dangerous magic and dark choices, perfect for fans of Tamora Pierce and Kristin Cashore – set in the same world as Of Fire and Stars.

Asra is a demigod with a dangerous gift: the ability to dictate the future by writing with her blood. To keep her power secret, she leads a quiet life as a healer on a remote mountain, content to help the people in her care and spend time with Ina, the mortal girl she loves.

But Asra’s peaceful life is upended when bandits threaten Ina’s village and the king does nothing to help. Desperate to protect her people, Ina begs Asra for assistance in finding her manifest – the animal she’ll be able to change into as her rite of passage to adulthood. Asra uses her blood magic to help Ina, but her spell goes horribly wrong and the bandits destroy the village, killing Ina’s family.

Unaware that Asra is at fault, Ina swears revenge on the king and takes a savage dragon as her manifest. To stop her, Asra must embark on a journey across the kingdom, becoming a player in lethal games of power among assassins, gods, and even the king himself.

Most frightening of all, she discovers the dark secrets of her own mysterious history – and the terrible, powerful legacy she carries in her blood.

***

Bombshell Hollywood A-List, Book 1 By: CD Reiss Narrated by: Andi Arndt, Christian Fox Series: Hollywood A-List, Book 1

Hollywood bad boy Brad Sinclair always gets his way, whether it’s the role he wants or the bikini-clad model he has to have. But when a bombshell gets dropped in his lap in the form of a dimpled five-year-old from a forgotten relationship, he knows his life is about to change forever.

Cara DuMont isn’t exactly thrilled when she gets assigned to be the nanny for the latest box-office king. She has one rule: no celebrity fathers, especially single ones with devilish good looks and rock-hard abs.

But as soon as Cara meets Brad and his adorable little girl, she knows she’s in for a world of trouble. Because there’s something about the way Brad looks at her that makes her believe that some rules are meant to be broken…

***

Passenger, Book 1 By: Alexandra Bracken Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld Series: Passenger (Bracken), Book 1

Violin prodigy Etta Spencer had big plans for her future, but a tragedy has put her once-bright career at risk. Closely tied to her musical skill, however, is a mysterious power she doesn’t even know she has. When her two talents collide during a stressful performance, Etta is drawn back hundreds of years through time.

Etta wakes, confused and terrified, in 1776, in the midst a fierce sea battle. Nicholas Carter, the handsome young prize master of a privateering ship, has been hired to retrieve Etta and deliver her unharmed to the Ironwoods, a powerful family in the Colonies – the very same one that orchestrated her jump back, and one Nicholas himself has ties to. But discovering she can time travel is nothing compared to the shock of discovering the true reason the Ironwoods have ensnared her in their web.

Another traveler has stolen an object of untold value from them, and, if Etta can find it, they will return her to her own time. Out of options, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the mysterious traveler. But as they draw closer to each other and the end of their search, the true nature of the object, and the dangerous game the Ironwoods are playing, comes to light – threatening to separate her not only from Nicholas, but her path home…forever.

***

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Mara Dyer, Book 1 By: Michelle Hodkin Narrated by: Christy Romano Series: Mara Dyer, Book 1

Mara Dyer believes life can’t get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed. There is.

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love. She’s wrong.

***

Alex and Eliza The Alex & Eliza Trilogy By: Melissa de la Cruz Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell Series: The Alex & Eliza Trilogy, Book 1

Albany, New York, 1777.

As battle cries of the American Revolution echo in the distance, servants flutter about, preparing for one of New York society’s biggest events: the Schuylers’ grand ball. Descended from two of the oldest and most distinguished bloodlines in New York, the Schuylers are proud to be one of their fledgling country’s founding families and even prouder still of their three daughters – Angelica, with her razor-sharp wit; Peggy, with her dazzling looks; and Eliza, whose beauty and charm rival those of both her sisters, though she’d rather be aiding the colonists’ cause than dressing up for some silly ball.

Still, she can barely contain her excitement when she hears of the arrival of one Alexander Hamilton, a mysterious, rakish young colonel and General George Washington’s right-hand man. Though Alex has arrived as the bearer of bad news for the Schuylers, he can’t believe his luck – as an orphan, and a bastard one at that – to be in such esteemed company. And when Alex and Eliza meet that fateful night, so begins an epic love story that would forever change the course of American history.

***

Truthwitch A Witchlands Novel By: Susan Dennard Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell Series: The Witchlands, Book 1

On a continent ruled by three empires, some are born with a “witchery”, a magical skill that sets them apart from others.

In the Witchlands, there are almost as many types of magic as there are ways to get in trouble – as two desperate young women know all too well.

Safiya is a Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lie. It’s a powerful magic that many would kill to have on their side, especially among the nobility to which Safi was born. So Safi must keep her gift hidden, lest she be used as a pawn in the struggle between empires.

Iseult, a Threadwitch, can see the invisible ties that bind and entangle the lives around her – but she cannot see the bonds that touch her own heart. Her unlikely friendship with Safi has taken her from life as an outcast into one of reckless adventure, where she is a cool, wary balance to Safi’s hotheaded impulsiveness.

Safi and Iseult just want to be free to live their own lives, but war is coming to the Witchlands. With the help of the cunning Prince Merik (a Windwitch and ship’s captain) and the hindrance of a Bloodwitch bent on revenge, the friends must fight emperors, princes, and mercenaries alike, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.

***

Everneath By: Brodi Ashton Narrated by: Amy Rubinate Series: Everneath, Book 1

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she’s returned – to her old life, her family, her boyfriend – before she’s banished back to the underworld… this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can’t find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance – and the one person she loves more than anything. But there’s just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki’s time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole’s queen.

***

Bad Romeo By: Leisa Rayven Narrated by: Andi Arndt Series: Starcrossed (Rayven), Book 1

Cassie Taylor was just another acting student with big dreams at her prestigious performing arts college – then she met Ethan Holt. She was the good girl actress. He was the bad boy on campus. But one fated casting choice for Romeo and Juliet changed it all. Like the characters they were playing on stage, Cassie and Ethan’s epic romance seemed destined. Until it ended in tragedy when he shattered her heart. Now they’ve made it to Broadway where they’re reunited as romantic leads once again – and their passionate scenes force them they’re forced to confront the heartbreaking lows and pulsepounding highs of their intense college affair. For Ethan, losing Cassie was his biggest regret – and he’s determined to redeem himself. But for Cassie, even though Ethan was her first and only great love, he hurt her too much to ever be trusted again. The trouble is, working with him again reminds her that people who rub each other the wrong way often make the best sparks. And when it comes to love, sometimes it’s the things that aren’t good for us that are the most irresistible. Don’t miss the intoxicating romance beloved by over two million fans online – a story that’ll captivate you and hold you breathless until the final tick.

***

Undead and Unwed Queen Betsy, Book 1 By: MaryJanice Davidson Narrated by: Nancy Wu Series: Undead – Queen Betsy, Book 1

Unwed is a delightful mixture of Sex and the City and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Waking up in a tacky coffin and wearing off-brand shoes, Betsy Taylor can’t believe the horrible turn her life has taken; then she discovers she’s a vampire. Soon, Betsy becomes a participant in a power struggle between the forces of darkness. With only her friend Jessica and the hunky vampire Sinclair to help her, this new “Queen of Vampires” will have a tough time getting her afterlife straight.

***

Wonder Woman: Warbringer By: Leigh Bardugo Narrated by: Mozhan Marno Series: DC Icons, Book 1

“You’ll enjoy this book whether you’re a fan of Wonder Woman comics, the Wonder Woman movie, Leigh Bardugo, or just YA lit in general.” (Hypable)

She will become one of the world’s greatest heroes: Wonder Woman. But first she is Diana, princess of the Amazons. And her fight is just beginning….

Diana longs to prove herself to her legendary warrior sisters. But when the opportunity finally comes, she throws away her chance at glory and breaks Amazon law – risking exile – to save a mere mortal. Even worse, Alia Keralis is no ordinary girl and with this single brave act, Diana may have doomed the world.

Alia just wanted to escape her overprotective brother with a semester at sea. She doesn’t know she is being hunted. When a bomb detonates aboard her ship, Alia is rescued by a mysterious girl of extraordinary strength and forced to confront a horrible truth: Alia is a Warbringer – a direct descendant of the infa

***

Defy the Stars By: Claudia Gray Narrated by: Nate Begle Series: Defy the Stars, Book 1

She’s a soldier.

Noemi Vidal is 17 years old and sworn to protect her planet, Genesis. She’s willing to risk anything – including her own life. To their enemies on Earth, she’s a rebel.

He’s a machine.

Abandoned in space for years, utterly alone, Abel has advanced programming that’s begun to evolve. He wants only to protect his creator and to be free. To the people of Genesis, he’s an abomination.

Noemi and Abel are enemies in an interstellar war, forced by chance to work together as they embark on a daring journey through the stars. Their efforts would end the fighting for good, but they’re not without sacrifice. The stakes are even higher than either of them first realized, and the more time they spend together, the more they’re forced to question everything they’d been taught was true.

***

Hardwired By: Meredith Wild Narrated by: Jennifer Stark Series: Hacker, Book 1

Determined to overcome a difficult past, Erica Hathaway learns early on how to make it on her own. Days after her college graduation, she finds herself face to face with a panel of investors who will make or break her fledgling startup. The only thing she didn’t prepare for was going weak in the knees over an arrogant and gorgeous investor who’s seemingly determined to derail her presentation.

Billionaire and rumored hacker Blake Landon has already made his fortune in software, and he’s used to getting what he wants with very little resistance. Captivated by Erica’s drive and unassuming beauty, he’s wanted nothing more since she stepped into his boardroom.

Determined to win her over, he breaks down her defenses and fights for her trust, even if that means sacrificing a level of control to which he’s grown accustomed. But when Blake uncovers a dark secret from Erica’s past, he threatens not just her trust but the life she’s fought so hard to create.

***

The Girl of Fire and Thorns By: Rae Carson Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda Series: Fire and Thorns, Book 1

Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.

Elisa is the chosen one.

But she is also the younger of two princesses. The one who has never done anything remarkable, and can’t see how she ever will.

Now, on her 16th birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king – a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs her to be the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he’s not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies, seething with dark magic, are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people’s savior, and he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.

Most of the chosen do.

***

Wolfsong By: TJ Klune Narrated by: Kirt Graves Series: Green Creek, Book 1

Ox was 12 when his daddy taught him a very valuable lesson. He said that Ox wasn’t worth anything and people would never understand him. Then he left.

Ox was 16 when he met the boy on the road, the boy who talked and talked and talked. Ox found out later the boy hadn’t spoken in almost two years before that day, and that the boy belonged to a family who had moved into the house at the end of the lane.

Ox was 17 when he found out the boy’s secret, and it painted the world around him in colors of red and orange and violet.

Ox was 23 when murder came to town and tore a hole in his head and heart. The boy chased after the monster with revenge in his blood red eyes, leaving Ox behind to pick up the pieces.

It’s been three years since that fateful day and the boy is back. Except now he’s a man, and Ox can no longer ignore the song that howls between them.

***

Frostblood By: Elly Blake Narrated by: Jennifer English Series: The Frostblood Saga, Book 1

The Frost King will burn.

Seventeen-year-old Ruby is a Fireblood who has concealed her powers of heat and flame from the cruel Frostblood ruling class her entire life. But when her mother is killed trying to protect her, and rebel Frostbloods demand her help to overthrow their bloodthirsty king, she agrees to come out of hiding, desperate to have her revenge.

Despite her unpredictable abilities, Ruby trains with the rebels and the infuriating – yet irresistible – Arcus, who seems to think of her as nothing more than a weapon. But before they can take action, Ruby is captured and forced to compete in the king’s tournaments that pit Fireblood prisoners against Frostblood champions. Now she has only one chance to destroy the maniacal ruler who has taken everything from her – and from the icy young man she has come to love.

Vivid and compelling, Frostblood is the first in an exhilarating series about a world where flame and ice are mortal enemies…but together create a power that could change everything.

***

This Savage Song By: Victoria Schwab Narrated by: Therese Plummer Series: Monsters of Verity, Book 1

There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from acclaimed author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains – and friends or enemies – with the future of their home at stake. The first of two books, This Savage Song is a must-have for fans of Holly Black, Maggie Stiefvater, and Laini Taylor.

Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city – a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent – but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music.

When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives.

In This Savage Song, Victoria Schwab creates a gritty, seething metropolis, one worthy of being compared to Gotham and to the four versions of London in her critically acclaimed fantasy for adults, A Darker Shade of Magic. Her heroes will face monsters intent on destroying them from every side – including the monsters within.

***

Stalking Jack the Ripper By: Kerri Maniscalco, James Patterson Narrated by: Nicola Barber Series: Stalking Jack the Ripper, Book 1

Presented by James Patterson’s new children’s imprint, this deliciously creepy horror novel has a storyline inspired by the Ripper murders and an unexpected, blood-chilling conclusion.

Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord’s daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.

Against her stern father’s wishes and society’s expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle’s laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.

The story’s shocking twists and turns will make this dazzling debut from author Kerri Maniscalco impossible to forget.

***

Reign of Shadows By: Sophie Jordan Narrated by: Phoebe Strole, James Fouhey Series: Reign of Shadows, Book 1

Destiny and darkness collide in this romantic, sweeping new fantasy series from New York Times best-selling author Sophie Jordan.

Seventeen years ago an eclipse cloaked the kingdom of Relhok in perpetual darkness. In the chaos, an evil chancellor murdered the king and queen and seized their throne. Luna, Relhok’s lost princess, has been hiding in a tower ever since. Luna’s survival depends on the world believing she is dead.

But that doesn’t stop Luna from wanting more. When she meets Fowler, a mysterious archer braving the woods outside her tower, Luna is drawn to him despite the risk. When the tower is attacked, Luna and Fowler escape together. But this world of darkness is more treacherous than Luna ever realized.

With every threat stacked against them, Luna and Fowler find solace in each other. But with secrets still unspoken between them, falling in love might be their most dangerous journey yet.

***

Queen of Hearts By: Colleen Oakes Narrated by: Moira Quirk Series: Queen of Hearts, Book 1

The first novel in Colleen Oakes’ epic, imaginative series tells the origin of one of the most infamous villains – the Queen of Hearts.

This is not the story of the Wonderland we know. Alice has not fallen down a rabbit hole. This is a Wonderland where beneath each smile lies a secret, each tart comes with a demand, and only prisoners tell the truth.

Dinah is the princess who will one day reign over Wonderland. She has not yet seen the dark depths of her kingdom; she longs only for her father’s approval and a future with the boy she loves. But when a betrayal breaks her heart and threatens her throne, she is launched into Wonderland’s dangerous political game. Dinah must stay one step ahead of her cunning enemies, or she’ll lose not just the crown but her head.

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