Better Dead Than Wed

Katy McKenna has had enough near-death experiences and heartache to last a lifetime. Now all she wants to do is get her career back on track, find a nice guy, settle down, and live happily-ever-after. But when she hears about a man maliciously exposing innocent young women to HIV, she is compelled to put her plans on hold to stop him. Meanwhile, Katy’s mother is forced to reveal a shattering childhood trauma that has come back to haunt her; her obnoxious little sister is moving in; her scuzzy was-band is stalking her, and Grandma Ruby is still determined to find her a hunky transition man. And she’s beginning to wonder why every rotten person she has recently heard about has suddenly dropped dead. Is it divine providence? Or is it murder?

They called him America's most eligible bachelor, but highpowered executive Michael Fortune didn't want a wife. So he offered his faithful secretary, Julia Chandler, a surprising proposition: become his pretend bride—for a price. Then the world would think he was married, and he could get back to business. Michael never questioned why unassuming Julia agreed to his outlandish charade. Or what would happen once their convenient engagement became a passion-filled affair…producing an unexpected heir to the Fortune dynasty.

A Rom-Com Mystery Suspense Series Katy McKenna gave up her career to follow her husband’s dreams. Then, after nursing him through cancer, the jerk dumped her for a younger woman. Now Katy is in a tailspin, driving her best friend Samantha crazy with her non-stop complaining. Sam suggests Katy air her resentments in a private blog. Katy reluctantly takes her advice, but soon finds a more compelling subject to blog about when she learns the man who murdered their high-school classmate may soon get paroled. Katy does everything she can to keep the dangerous predator behind bars. But she’s petrified when her actions attract the attention of a mysterious stalker that could spell her demise. Meanwhile, her grandmother has her eye on Katy’s hunky new neighbor—thinking he could be the perfect rebound man for her. Dead Girls Don't Blog is the first book in the Murder Blog Mysteries. If you like quirky characters, a hefty dose of humor, a dash of romance, and a story that'll keep you up all night, you'll love Pamela Frost Dennis's award-winning tales.

A Collection of Short Stories including: The London Stone; The Sanctuary - Westminster Abbey; The River Thames; London Bridge; The White Tower; St. Bartholemews; Smithfield; Tothill (Tuttle) Fields; White Friars; The Banqueting Hall at Whitehall; Plague; Hyde Park; The Pilgrims

A dazzling collection of crime and mystery stories by Black authors. Bringing together today's brightest talent from the field—from Walter Mosley, “one of America's best mystery writers” (The New York Times), to the late Hugh Holton, whose “gift for retaining suspense is golden” (Chicago Sun-Times)—it is the first anthology of African-American mystery writers. Shades of Black is not only a tribute to the art of storytelling, it's a fascinating foray into the rich and widely varied Black experience. Includes stories by: Frankie Y. Bailey • Jacqueline Turner Banks • Chris Benson • Eleanor Taylor Bland and Anthony Bland • Patricia E. Canterbury • Christopher Chambers • Tracy Clark • Evelyn Coleman • Grace F. Edwards • Robert Greer • Terris MacMahan Grimes • Gar Anthony Haywood • Hugh Holton • Geri Spencer Hunter • Dicey Scroggins Jackson • Glenville Lovell • Lee E. Meadows • Penny Mickelbury • Walter Mosley • Percy Spurlark Parker • Gary Phillips • Charles Shipps

This book is for the once, never, and much married. For believers and skeptics, love's fools and love's thieves. It is for people with long memories and long histories and for people who reinvent themselves in every new town, new decade, new relationship. This book is for everyone whose heart lies where it should, where it shouldn't, and, in the end, where it must. -Amy Bloom, from the Foreword In these intensely personal essays, contemporary writers probe their experiences in and thoughts about one of our most enduring social and cultural institutions. Husbands and wives celebrate marriages that work, mourn those that don't, and write frankly about adultery. Includes essays by Mark Doty, Gerald Early, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cynthia Heimel, Vivian Gornick, Phillip Lopate, Nancy Mairs, and David Mamet.

Many men aim high; Tom Farrell dares to be average. While his friends accumulate wedding rings, mortgages, and even, alarmingly, babies, Tom still lives alone in his rented apartment with nothing but condiments and alcohol in his refrigerator. He spends Saturday mornings watching cartoons and eating Cocoa Puffs out of an Empire Strikes Back bowl, and devotes the rest of the weekend to his other favorite hobbies: sports and girls. His credo, to think and act like a thirteen-year-old boy at all times, has worked well enough to land him a decent job writing headlines for the New York Tabloid. But neither his personal life nor his professional life has any forward momentum; he's occupied the same cubicle since the first George Bush was president and is currently "between girlfriends." At thirty-two, it starts to occur to him: There's a fine line between picky and loser. Enter a sly, beautiful coworker named Julia. After a few torrid dates, Tom is hooked. "She's like cleaning behind my refrigerator. A once-in-a-lifetime thing." But the closer he gets to Julia, the more elusive she becomes. Frustrated, Tom seeks the dubious advice of his buddy Shooter, a shallow sexual gladiator, and wonders why he keeps getting into arguments with Bran, his smart, sarcastic "default date." But then tragedy strikes, and everyone's attitudes toward life and love change -- and even Tom begins to see himself in a new light. By turns riotous and tenderhearted, Kyle Smith's Love Monkey is the most candid and excruciatingly funny exploration of the male mind and libido since High Fidelity.

Under the best circumstances, terraforming is a tough, dangerous task that pits the hardiest of pioneers against an unforgiving environment. When the terraformers on the planet Paradise fall behind schedule, commander Riker is given temporary leave from the U.S.S. Enterprise™ and sent to assist. Riker's replacement on the Starship Enterprise is a volatile officer named Stone whose behavior soon raises questions about his ability and his judgment. Meanwhile, Commander Riker has become enmeshed in a life and struggle with Paradise's brutal landscape. However, he soon learns that not all of the planet's dangers are natural in origin -- as he comes face to face with Paradise's greatest danger and most hideous secret.