Showing results by author "SM" in All Categories

My name's Cesar Hawke. I'm a witch working for a division of the government you've never heard about. The world's not what everyone thinks it is - unless you think that our world's a pawn in a game of chess between Heaven and Hell, and riddled with as much magic and wonder as it is with evil. In that case, the world is exactly what you think. My place of employment - the Office of Preternatural Affairs - takes a modern approach to an ages-old problem.

The highest throne in the Kethran Empire lies vacant, its once-ruler now a god-ascending, bringing more chaos and darkness to an already chaotic world. The line between the divine and mortal realms is blurring. The battlefield is set. A final, devastating war is on the horizon.

Romance isn't for the plain, shy, and awkward—a painful truth that Hyacinth knows better than anyone. But Hy refuses to let anything or anyone stop her from living life on her own terms. Independence—and the opportunity to secure her family's future—is finally within her grasp. But then Hy crosses paths with a meddling duke and everything changes.

This is a collection of the first three titles in The Descent Series, which are gritty urban fantasy books about an exorcist, a witch, and their battles against the forces of Heaven and Hell.

It’s been eight years since the Change rendered technology inoperable across the globe. Rising from the ashes of the computer and industrial ages is a brave new world. Survivors have banded together in tribal communities, committed to rebuilding society. In Oregon’s Willamette Valley, former pilot Michael Havel’s Bearkillers are warriors of renown. Their closest ally, the mystical Clan Mackenzie, is led by Wiccan folksinger Juniper Mackenzie. Their leadership has saved countless lives. But not every leader has altruistic aspirations.

Flighty. Stupid. That’s what my sisters think of me. I’m tired of being misunderstood. With a suitcase in hand and the ocean as my beacon, I’m charting my own path. Yet, barely a day on the road, I almost crash and burn. Running into Silas Palmer, a sexy-as-sin rock star, changes my life. Silas makes me feel...exceptional. Aimless. He’s always known his course. And even now, when he’s abandoning fame and fortune, he knows what he wants.

John Fielding is not a gentleman. His brutal past has left him scarred, mind and body. But the scars are a valuable reminder of what's truly important. Revenge. And John will have his vengeance on the man who abandoned him when he was just a child. In fact, he'll make the entire bloodline pay for the sins of his father. No one can stop him. Except maybe Cordelia . . . She's everything John is not-kind and generous. She deserves so much better than living in the shadow of her cruel sister. And she certainly deserves better than a beast like him. But that doesn't stop John from wanting her.

After the factory closed, leaving me and a good portion of the town unemployed, I took a job managing Scarlet Toys. I knew it wouldn't be a typical work environment, selling adult toys in a town more uptight than a constipated nun, but some things you just never see coming. Like the allure of the man standing in the center of all the chaos. Wyatt Lawson, a six-foot-four-inch heap of muscle with a quick smile, ignited my interest in more than the available manager position. Like the missionary one. Or the rodeo. Maybe the side rider. What can I say? I'm an overachiever.

Something is killing innocent people around Rylie Gresham's town. The police think it's a wild animal, but she has other suspicions. There are new kids at school, and they have a lot in common with her: Gold eyes, super strength, and a habit of turning furry. It seems Rylie's not the only werewolf around anymore. It's up to Rylie and her werewolf-hunting boyfriend, Seth, to stop the killings. But saving lives doesn't come naturally to a monster, and territory battles could risk the life of her sickly aunt - not to mention her own.

January Dixon. She's the girl I've lusted after for years. A smart mouth and sharp tongue surrounded by soft beauty and a body I'd give up an organ just to touch. It's a tricky situation since she lives right down the street and dating a neighbor generally isn't a good idea. But this is Violent Circle, where normal may as well be a dirty word. Thanks to an impromptu fashion show where I tossed all self-respect aside and strutted my stuff in full bondage gear in front of our small town, she now owes me a date. And I plan to collect.

In Under the Yoke, S.M. Stirling traces the rise of the Domination of the Draka and its long struggle with the United States and the American-led Alliance for Democracy. In this alternate history, the Americans who reject the Revolution did not scatter to the four winds and Canada; a slight change in the course of events brought them to the new Crown Colony of Drakia instead - starting with the Cape of Good Hope and soon encompassing the whole of the right subcontinent of Southern Africa.

The Change occurred when an electrical storm centered over the island of Nantucket produced a blinding white flash that rendered all electronic devices and fuels inoperable - and plunged the world into a dark age humanity was unprepared to face....

Werewolves are immune to every illness and can heal any wound. It should be impossible for one to become possessed by a demon. But that's exactly what Seth Wilder is facing: a werewolf gone insane from possession. He has no choice but to deliver her to the only exorcist in America, Elise Kavanagh, who also happens to be a powerful demon known as the Godslayer.

Death. Betrayal. Destruction. This was Alaya's destiny, written in the stars on the night she was born. She should have been killed because of it. She wasn't. The once crown prince of the highest throne in Sundolia is now the high king, and all of his advisors agree on one thing: He should have destroyed that dangerous Dragon woman when he had the chance. He didn't. Now war spreads like a wildfire from the southern kingdom. The empire is burning. The day of prophecy is arriving.

Two generations after the Change, Crown Princess Orlaith struggles to preserve the hard-won peace her father brought to Montival - the former Western US. But the Change opened many doors, and through them, powers strong, strange, and terrible walk once more among humankind. With her fire-forged friend and ally Japanese Empress Reiko, Orlaith must take up her sword to stop the spread of the mad malignancy behind the Yellow Raja that has imprisoned her brother, Prince John.

Volume two of the Preternatural Affairs series. This boxed set contains Shadow Burns, Deadly Wrong, Ashes and Arsenic, and Once Darkness Falls.

Lincoln Marshall is a small-town deputy with a very big problem. Six members of his church have been found dead, killed by a rogue werewolf. He'll have to make a deal with the Devil to save victims that have gone missing - maybe literally. Elise Kavanagh, preternatural investigator and exorcist, is the expert when it comes to violent deaths at the jaws of evil. She's also among the most powerful demons that Hell has spawned.

Elise Kavanagh has exorcised demons, slain gods, and come back from the dead. And she's done it all with the help of James Faulkner: a powerful witch, and the only person Elise has ever loved or trusted. But now the worst has happened. The Treaty protecting humanity from war between angels and demons has fallen. Elise has been taken by her greatest enemy. And James may be responsible for all of it....

There's something in the earth deep below Elise Kavanagh's territory. A shadow is falling upon local demons to devour their flesh and harvest their souls. And it's coming for Elise next. The Union has an easy way out. They want to send Elise into hiding again with her former partner, James Faulkner. All she has to do is surrender the territory and trust that they can protect the ethereal ruins, the dark gate, and the city she's come to know as home

Annis Bowman lost everything when she trusted the wrong man. Now, she needs money, and she needs it fast. Finding a wealthy husband is her only viable option. It's just her wretched misfortune that the only man who truly interests her is poor as a church mouse. Henry Singleton, the new Earl of Rotherhithe, is ready for desperate measures. He's tired of not knowing if women are interested in him—or his wealth. Switching identities with one of his employees is the perfect solution.