On Meg’s seventeenth birthday, she learns that she only has one year left to live. Her mentor—the Eternal Witch, Faust—explains that she is cursed and the only way to save herself is to grow a seed of life using one thousand tears of joy. Of course, such tears aren’t easy to come by. As Meg begins her quest, she finds herself drawn into the lives of her friends and neighbors in ways she never imagined. By sharing their burdens and using her magic to comfort them, she learns how precious those moments of connection can be even in the face of death.

On the day of her 17th birthday, Meg Raspberry was told by her teacher, Faust, about the curse placed on her. Meg is destined to die in one year...! However, there is a way to lift the curse. If Meg can collect a bottle-full of human tears of joy and create the "seed of life", she could live. Can Meg bring joy to people and avoid the fate of death?

A mythological exploration of identity, gender, body, and sexuality.

Go behind the scenes of the creation of the Fumito Ueda trilogy ! Fumito Ueda has worked on 3 games: ICO, Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian. Each of them was able to express the depth of their author's reflection, his love of purity and showed a real poetry. Are video games art ? This study of the Futimo Ueda's work focuses on the question of the artistic essence of video games. EXTRACT When the game ICO was released in 2001, it had several decades’ worth of video games behind it. The game itself was significantly influenced by video games that had touched its creator, Fumito Ueda: Another World by Éric Chahi and Prince of Persia by Jordan Mechner. Yet, when a player takes the ethereal Yorda’s hand, when they feel this physical contact through the vibrations in the controller, something happens. Something new and profound. Something that can only exist through a video game. A simple idea, attached to the R1 button, and digital interaction opens a new door. Of course, this insignificant-seeming gesture is but a small representation of what can really happen. Its strength lies elsewhere; it draws from everything that makes up ICO: its art direction (everything in chiaroscuro), its vanishing lines, its simple and clear game mechanics, its lack of visual interface, its quest for physical realism, its minimalist narration, its extraordinary sensibilities. It is an opening to an evocative otherworld that lets our imagination soar. Contemplative, slow and nearly speechless, ICO offers an uncommon, poetic adventure, rejecting traditional video game standards while still drawing from them. Many remained indifferent to it. Just as many were touched as rarely before. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Passionate about films and video games, Damien Mecheri joined the writing team of Gameplay RPG magazine in 2004 and wrote several articles for the second special edition on the Final Fantasy saga. With this same team, Damien continued his work in 2006 for another publication known as Background, before continuing the adventure online in 2008, with Gameweb.fr. Since 2011, he has written and co-written numerous works for Third Éditions, including The Legend of Final Fantasy X, Dark Souls: Beyond the Grave and Welcome to Silent Hill: Journey to the Center of Hell and actively participates in the “Level Up” and “Video Game Almanac” collections from the same publisher.

Thirteen O'Clock Press authors have come together to re-invent the horror short story genre with these terrible tales courtesy of the infamous witch's cauldron.

Five medieval romances from USA Today Bestselling Author Demelza Carlton that will sweep you away to a land of castles and kings where fairytales can come true. Including: Enchant: Beauty and the Beast Retold Dance: Cinderella Retold Fly: Goose Girl Retold Revel: Twelve Dancing Princesses Retold Silence: Little Mermaid Retold Enchant: Beauty and the Beast Retold: A beastly prince. An enchanting beauty. Only love can break the spell. Once upon a time… The wicked King Thorn forced the enchantress Zuleika to cast a terrible curse. She fled his court to travel the world, helping those who need her magic most. Until a search for her merchant father’s lost ships leads her to an enchanted island, where Prince Vardan, the island’s ruler, is afflicted by the most powerful curse Zuleika has ever encountered. She’s not sure she can reverse the spell, but she’s determined to try. After all, a prince who fights pirates can’t be all bad…no matter how beastly his appearance. Together, can the enchanting beauty and the beastly prince break the spell? Dance: Cinderella Retold: A dutiful daughter. A prince forced to find a bride. If the shoe fits… Once upon a time… When the Emperor’s army comes recruiting, Mai signs up, seeing it as the perfect escape from her stepmother and a lifetime of drudgery. Armed with her mother’s armour and a pair of magic shoes, Mai marches off to war…only to find herself sharing a tent with the General’s arrogant nephew, Prince Yi. The best swordsman in the Empire, Prince Yi wants to make war, not love, but the Emperor insists this will be Yi’s last campaign before he must marry. Prince Yi has never met his match…until now. Can one woman win the war and the prince’s heart? Fly: Goose Girl Retold: Two princesses. One prince. And the war has just begun. Once upon a time… Princess Ava was sent to a neighbouring kingdom as a lady-in-waiting to her sister, their future queen. Until a runaway horse, a case of amnesia and a cold-hearted king conspire to bring her to the prince’s attention. Now the prince believes Ava is his bride, and her sister is just a serving maid. One thing is certain: the prince must marry one of the princesses, or there will be war. But when all’s fair in love and war…who will win the battle for the prince’s heart? Revel: Twelve Dancing Princesses Retold: Twelve princesses. One wounded soldier. A mystery that must be solved. Once upon a time… Princess Bianca is sent with her sisters to the summer palace, a place no maiden has ever returned from. While her sisters seem perfectly happy, she has only one desire: escape. Vasco, a wounded soldier on his way home from war, stumbles across the summer palace and sets out to solve the mystery no man has managed to yet. If only they let him live long enough… Can the fair maiden and the wounded soldier uncover the sinister secret before it’s too late? Silence: Little Mermaid Retold: A little mermaid. A prince to save. Only silence can break the spell. Once upon a time… The mermaid Margareta saved Prince Erik from a shipwreck. Wanting to see the prince again, Margareta strikes a bargain with the Master of Beacon Isle. If she saves his sons from a terrible curse, he will reunite her with Prince Erik. All she has to do is stay silent until the curse is broken. Silence is a virtue…until Prince Erik arrives early, searching for the mermaid who saved his life. Can two hearts speak louder than words?

Start reading these free fairy tale romance books now! A sword-wielding Cinderella. An enchanting Beauty. A villain who might not be so bad after all… Once upon a time, before the Brothers Grimm, when fairytales were romantic fantasies for entertaining adults and frightening children… Three twisted tales inspired by the classic fairytales…for adults who still love reading fairytales, though they're a little darker now, making that happily ever after so much sweeter. This box set includes: Enchant: Beauty and the Beast Retold A beastly prince. An enchanting beauty. Only love can break the spell. Once upon a time… The wicked King Thorn forced the enchantress Zuleika to cast a terrible curse. She fled his court to travel the world, helping those who need her magic most. Until a search for her merchant father's lost ships leads her to an enchanted island, where Prince Vardan, the island's ruler, is afflicted by the most powerful curse Zuleika has ever encountered. She's not sure she can reverse the spell, but she's determined to try. After all, a prince who fights pirates can't be all bad…no matter how beastly his appearance. Together, can the enchanting beauty and the beastly prince break the spell? Dance: Cinderella Retold A dutiful daughter. A prince forced to find a bride. If the shoe fits… Once upon a time… When the Emperor’s army comes recruiting, Mai signs up, seeing it as the perfect escape from her stepmother and a lifetime of drudgery. Armed with her mother’s armour and a pair of magic shoes, Mai marches off to war…only to find herself sharing a tent with the General’s arrogant nephew, Prince Yi. The best swordsman in the Empire, Prince Yi wants to make war, not love, but the Emperor insists this will be Yi’s last campaign before he must marry. Prince Yi has never met his match…until now. Can one woman win the war and the prince’s heart? Fly: Goose Girl Retold Two princesses. One prince. And the war has just begun. Once upon a time… Princess Ava was sent to a neighbouring kingdom as a lady-in-waiting to her sister, their future queen. Until a runaway horse, a case of amnesia and a cold-hearted king conspire to bring her to the prince's attention. Now the prince believes Ava is his bride, and her sister is just a serving maid. One thing is certain: the prince must marry one of the princesses, or there will be war. But when all's fair in love and war…who will win the battle for the prince's heart? Fans of the following authors will enjoy reading these steamy medieval fairytale romances: Lindsay Buroker Neil Gaiman Skye MacKinnon Kiera Cass Amanda Hocking Sarah J Maas Lidiya Foxglove Anne McCaffrey Tamsin Ley Holly Black Juliet Marillier Kylie Chan Leigh Bardugo Laura Thalassa Elise Kova Cassandra Clare George RR Martin Kathryn Le Veque Andrzej Sapkowski Keywords: romance books free, free ebooks, free romance books full novel, free romance, free romance books full novel standalone, free romance books to read and download, romantic novels, free books to read and download, free fantasy books, free fantasy ebooks, fairy tale books free, beauty and the beast free books, fantasy free books, fantasy romance books free, fairy tales free

The spirits of the dead can confer magical talents, fame, love, and wealth on those brave enough to beseech them. In The Witches' Book of the Dead, modern-day Warlock Christian Day shows you how to build relationships with the spirits of your beloved dead that they may help you discover hidden opportunities and bring blessings and aid to your life. Honor and remember the dead and they will honor and remember you!The Witches' Book of the Dead explores the enduring relationship between Witches and the dead. Learn about Witches of legend who have raised the dead, the tools of necromancy, methods of spirit contact, rituals, recipes, exercises, and more.This revised and expanded 10th anniversary edition offers 70 pages of additional content, including chapters on the deities of the dead and the afterlife, a new preface, a new foreword by Salem Witch Laurie Cabot, as well as updated research, insight, spells, and recipes throughout! Dare to walk between the worlds with Christian Day as he guides you into the shadowy realms where the dead long to connect with us once more!

When a bow and arrow is all that stands between life and death, glory and dishonour, or love and despair... A wounded soldier, a maiden warrior, a witch seeking vengeance, a wolf on a quest for a crown, and an assassin seeking to save a town. Five steamy medieval fairytale retellings from USA Today Bestselling Author Demelza Carlton that will sweep you away to a land of castles, quests and kings where fairytales can come true. Including: Revel: Twelve Dancing Princesses Retold Embellish: Brave Little Tailor Retold Hunt: Red Riding Hood Retold Blow: Three Little Pigs Retold Call: Pied Piper Retold

An assassin who sees the future. A maiden on a crusade. And an enchanted horse that topples cities… Once upon a time, before the Brothers Grimm, when fairytales were romantic fantasies for entertaining adults and frightening children… Three twisted tales inspired by the classic fairytales…for adults who still love reading fairytales, though they're a little darker now, making that happily ever after so much sweeter. This box set includes: Float: Enchanted Horse Retold A brave knight. A lady beset by suitors. An enchanted horse that topples cities. Once upon a time… Disgraced knight Sir Godfrey would do anything to regain his honour. So when the famed Trojan Horse appears at court, Sir Godfrey volunteers to lead a crusade on the magical beast. Lady Penelope is sick of life at a convent, waiting for her father to decide who she shall marry. So when a knight appears in the convent garden with a magic horse, she jumps at the chance to escape. The enchanted horse may have ended one war, but with Penelope missing, it may be about to start another. Can a knight and his lady stop history repeating? Steal: Forty Thieves Retold A shrewd servant. A penniless young woodcutter. A priceless stolen treasure. Once upon a time... Melisende joins a crusade, her head full of glory and victory, only to flee from her first battle. Forced to hide as a housemaid while the enemy army occupies the city she'd hoped to save, she despairs of ever finding her way home. Mithra plans to settle down with the girl of his dreams, but when the war spills into his city, all dreams of the future are shattered. When he finds a Crusader maiden in the woods and they stumble across a priceless treasure, he thinks his luck might have turned…until he discovers the penalty of stealing from the Forty Thieves. Can Melisende and Mithra save his family from the Forty Thieves? Call: Pied Piper Retold A sole survivor. A desperate mother. An impossible quest. Once upon a time... Zoticus the assassin has killed more people than he can count, but when he is the sole survivor in a town wiped out by plague, he vows to stop the scourge before more innocent lives are lost. But what use is one man against a deadly disease? Fans of the following authors will enjoy reading these steamy medieval fairytale romances: Lindsay Buroker Neil Gaiman Skye MacKinnon Kiera Cass Amanda Hocking Sarah J Maas Lidiya Foxglove Anne McCaffrey Tamsin Ley Holly Black Juliet Marillier Kylie Chan Leigh Bardugo Laura Thalassa Elise Kova Cassandra Clare George RR Martin Kathryn Le Veque Andrzej Sapkowski