Stay-Home Winter Reads

If you're looking for a blend of dark fantasy and romance, "Dying Wish" might just hit the mark. Jackie's story of emerging from captivity with a newfound purpose is both gripping and heart-wrenching. Choosing Iain, the Theronai warrior who has given up on his own salvation, adds a compelling layer to this tale where love battles the bleakest of fates. Shannon K. Butcher weaves a tale that isn't just about the physical battles against the Synestryn, but also about the internal struggles that can define and change us.

Imagine being so stricken with grief that you'd bring your brother back to life and face all the consequences that follow. "This Monstrous Thing" draws you into such depths, blending the haunting elements of Mary Shelley's world with the gripping emotional ties of brotherhood. The steampunk twist adds a vivid layer to the narrative and gives it a rich, dark atmosphere that is hard to put down. This is for those who appreciate gothic horror reimagined with clockwork hearts.

In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls' lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn't sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with?When Annaleigh's involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it's a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next.

An absorbing collection of dark, sensual, and fantastic stories inspired by the fairy tales and legends of Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, Beauty and the Beast, vampires, werewolves, and more.

Roseblood might be a good read for fans of mystery, music and dark romance. The unique twist of inspiring Phantom of the Opera but with a backstory that is as thrilling and creepy as the original is captivating. The character of Rune and her "mysterious affliction" engages readers to want to learn more of her as the story progresses. The relationships and love plotlines are not any less intense and satisfying.

Elizabeth Lavenza hasn't had a proper meal in weeks. Her thin arms are covered with bruises from her "caregiver," and she is on the verge of being thrown into the streets . . . until she is brought to the home of Victor Frankenstein, an unsmiling, solitary boy who has everything--except a friend.Victor is her escape from misery. Elizabeth does everything she can to make herself indispensable--and it works. She is taken in by the Frankenstein family and rewarded with a warm bed, delicious food, and dresses of the finest silk. Soon she and Victor are inseparable.But her new life comes at a price. As the years pass, Elizabeth's survival depends on managing Victor's dangerous temper and entertaining his every whim, no matter how depraved. Behind her blue eyes and sweet smile lies the calculating heart of a girl determined to stay alive no matter the cost . . . as the world she knows is consumed by darkness.