Hell To Pay Leo Bailey may have been born to poverty, but ruthless business sense and sparkling intelligence have made money worries a thing of his past. It doesn't hurt that the Devil himself has granted Leo the ability to read the future. But even infallible predictions are a déclassé commoner's trick to some members of the ton. They'll never see Leo as their equal--one good reason to prove himself their better. And a noble marriage is an obvious start. Bookish Anne Hartfield, daughter of a baron, is hardly the flashiest miss on the marriage market. But her thoughtful reserve complements Leo's brash boldness in an attraction neither can deny. A whirlwind courtship sweeps Anne and Leo into a smoldering marriage before either can believe their luck. But happiness built on Leo's dark powers can't last. Soon, Anne will have to save her husband. . .or lose her heart. . . "Zoë Archer mixes my two favorite things--paranormal and historical--brilliantly!" --Colleen Gleason Praise for Zoë Archer and Her Novels "Romantic and wonderfully original." --Shana Abé "The action explodes on page one and the pace never lets up."--Ann Aguirre "Crackles with adventure." --Mary Jo Putney

Rachel Proudfoot has enough trouble resisting the temptation of rakish Lord Morden without supernatural intervention. When she plays the traditional role of the Demon's Bride at a Walpurgis Night festival, however, a mighty earth spirit attempts to unite them in passion in order to return to the world.

Webnovel & Chereads provide official version of The Demon's Bride with latest chapter *Slow Burn Historical Fantasy Novel* Elise had about to change into the dress that was lying on the corner of her bed when she heard a knock lightly calling from her door. Curious, she turned the door knob only to have a tall man towering in front of her. “Master Ian!” She called. Ian smiled with the usual mischievous smirk that he always used. His crimson eyes trailing a little over her room and spotted the black dress over her bed and shifted his eyes over to the woman in front of him. He stepped forward and spoke. “Where did you acquire that dress?” “Mr. Harland gave it to me.” Elise replied and strained her neck to see Ian’s brows knitted in its elegance. “Do you know why a man would love to give a woman a dress?” He gave the riddle that she always had to think twice before replying. But this time, she found no answer and instead shook her head. “I don’t know.” His grin grew bewitching as though something had stirred deep inside the scarlet eyes that he had. He slowly slid his hand over the collar of her dress, sending a cold shiver that startled her for a moment due to its freezing temperature. After unbuttoning the first two buttons on her collar, he tilted his head down, whispering to her ears. “Because they want to be the one to undress the cloth.” He paused and kissed her neck, turning the pale skin to red before retracting his move to fix his eyes on her and leisurely replied. “Unfortunately, you can’t wear the dress over there with this.” He chuckled and passed a box over to her hand. “And the fortunate news is I prepared a dress for you.” Elise was a cursed little girl who could see ghosts. Her family hated her and threw her from one adoptive family to another. However, misfortune didn't act alone. When she was brought up by her aunt, she was sold as a slave. When she had thought she would become nothing but a sacrifice to the sorcerer, she was saved by a man whose identity was far different than a normal mythical being. *** This book is ORIGINAL and it is not Translation Join Author's discord: https://discord.gg/YPKueb4

Hiding from her demon lord has always seemed pointless, but she learned on the way. Now, she is ready to face him and her destiny. She has worn a dozen names in her foster parents' efforts to hide her from her demon lord. The name she used at the healer academy was Emrie, so that is how she set up her practice. Tribute night was the demon lord's birthday, and it was while she tended patients that she noted the time. She gets caught at a checkpoint and is forced to cover her presence with magic, but in her haste, she forgets one thing, her tribute. Demon Lord Harrow has been looking for his mate with increasing urgency as the years have gone by. When he is looking over his tribute from the village of Neemin, he catches a familiar scent. He has caught this scent only once before, but he knows it. She is near. He confirms that the guards at the checkpoint came in contact with his mate, and then, he sets out to do what he has been longing for, claiming his bride.

(Dark cover reprint edition, Dec 2013) Book Three of The Witching Pen series. "Two thousand and eleven years after the birth of the Failed One, the Witching Pen will be made manifest on Earth by the Great Shanka Witch of the Old Scrolls. By her hand, the Earth will rumble and shatter, and all dimensions will bleed into one." The true purpose of the Witching Pen has been revealed, and it must be destroyed before an apocalyptic prophecy comes true. There's just one problem - the Pen is indestructible. As everyone searches for much needed answers, Elena lays down plans for a radical mission to save her mother from the Shanka's shadow world. Meanwhile, Mary has finally discovered who she really is, and what that means for the human race. What Mary doesn't know, is that Gwain has been searching for her for over ten thousand years, and had lost all hope of finding her. Now that he has her, he's faced with an impossible choice: does he save the woman who altered his very existence, or does he sacrifice her to save mankind? Contains mature content.Paranormal / Urban Fantasy RomanceBooks 1 to 3 are also available in one large Omnibus Edition.

Now a Netflix Mandarin original drama! From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Tiger, a Reese’s Book Club pick Yangsze Choo’s stunning debut, The Ghost Bride, is a startlingly original novel infused with Chinese folklore, romantic intrigue, and unexpected supernatural twists. Li Lan, the daughter of a respectable Chinese family in colonial Malaysia, hopes for a favorable marriage, but her father has lost his fortune, and she has few suitors. Instead, the wealthy Lim family urges her to become a “ghost bride” for their son, who has recently died under mysterious circumstances. Rarely practiced, a traditional ghost marriage is used to placate a restless spirit. Such a union would guarantee Li Lan a home for the rest of her days, but at what price? Night after night, Li Lan is drawn into the shadowy parallel world of the Chinese afterlife, where she must uncover the Lim family’s darkest secrets—and the truth about her own family. Reminiscent of Lisa See’s Peony in Love and Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter, The Ghost Bride is a wondrous coming-of-age story and from a remarkable new voice in fiction.

"Two thousand and eleven years after the birth of the Failed One, the Witching Pen will be made manifest on Earth by the Great Shanka Witch of the Old Scrolls. By her hand, the Earth will rumble and shatter, and all dimensions will bleed into one." The true purpose of the Witching Pen has been revealed, and it must be destroyed before an apocalyptic prophecy comes true. There's just one problem - the Pen is indestructible. As everyone searches for much needed answers, Elena lays down plans for a radical mission to save her mother from the Shanka's shadow world. Meanwhile, Mary has finally discovered who she really is, and what that means for the human race. What Mary doesn't know, is that Gwain has been searching for her for over ten thousand years, and had lost all hope of finding her. Now that he has her, he's faced with an impossible choice: does he save the woman who altered his very existence, or does he sacrifice her to save mankind? Note: contains explicit scenes intended for a mature audience. This is the third book in Dianna Hardy's humorous paranormal romance / urban fantasy series. Colourful characters, nail biting plot twists, and an earth-shattering conclusion - all spattered with some darkness - characterise this original fantasy series. Reading order: The Witching Pen, The Sands of Time, The Demon Bride, and The Last Dragon. (Also all available in a digital 'Complete Series Boxed Set'.)

Avery Yeung's biological clock just went off early. Thanks to her family's medical history, she's running out of time to get knocked up. And the only guy within donating distance? Her overprotective-and irritatingly hot-best friend. So clearly she needs an anonymous donor... Anonymous donor? Over Sheriff Drew Flannery's dead body. While daddyhood will never be in the cards for a man with his past, Drew won't let Avery shop for a "popsicle pop." He'll do what's right for his best friend by doing his best friend. But only if they do it properly. But there's nothing "proper" about it. Between the bed, the kitchen counter, and against his squad car, Avery and Drew are having the hottest sex ever. They can't get enough of it-or each other. And without knowing it, they've crossed the one line that could ruin their friendship forever... Each book in the Out of Uniform series is STANDALONE: * In Bed with Mr. Wrong * His to Keep * Falling for His Best Friend * His Lover to Protect * His to Take

The early Christian writer Tertullian first applied the epithet "bride of Christ" to the uppity virgins of Carthage as a means of enforcing female obedience. Henceforth, the virgin as Christ's spouse was expected to manifest matronly modesty and due submission, hobbling virginity's ancient capacity to destabilize gender roles. In the early Middle Ages, the focus on virginity and the attendant anxiety over its possible loss reinforced the emphasis on claustration in female religious communities, while also profoundly disparaging the nonvirginal members of a given community. With the rising importance of intentionality in determining a person's spiritual profile in the high Middle Ages, the title of bride could be applied and appropriated to laywomen who were nonvirgins as well. Such instances of democratization coincided with the rise of bridal mysticism and a progressive somatization of female spirituality. These factors helped cultivate an increasingly literal and eroticized discourse: women began to undergo mystical enactments of their union with Christ, including ecstatic consummations and vivid phantom pregnancies. Female mystics also became increasingly intimate with their confessors and other clerical confidants, who were sometimes represented as stand-ins for the celestial bridegroom. The dramatic merging of the spiritual and physical in female expressions of religiosity made church authorities fearful, an anxiety that would coalesce around the figure of the witch and her carnal induction into the Sabbath.