Showing titles in Short Stories

When a loose dog narrowly avoids getting hit by a car on busy city streets, two drivers pull over and coordinate its quick rescue. What has all the appearance of a kismet connection between heroic dog lovers turns out to be a meet-cute "tail" of a different breed.

I thought I wanted the boy next door, until I figured out his dad is one of the real men I crave. Maybe it’s revenge. Maybe desires can only be repressed for so long. Maybe my brain is just a scrambled mess since my boyfriend cheated on me. This is the same boyfriend who’d insisted we wait until marriage, much to my dismay. The only thing that’s clear is that I’ve waited too long to be with a man, and now I want two of them… My ex’s dad and his friend, whose name I don’t even know. Does that mean I’m wired wrong? Maybe.

The first superhero in a world that doesn't otherwise have them is roundly mocked for his costume and attitude, so decides to strike terror in the hearts of the city by becoming a super-villain, only to discover that there are other people out there who have powers—including his ancient but still sprightly grandmother, who lived through the German occupation of Greece in WWII.

Get ready for seven thrilling short stories with surprising twists that will keep you hooked." Family Meeting" explores why a college student calls her parents for help, as it's a matter of life and death. In "New Year, New Me... Now What?", a woman will do anything to become the perfect woman for her crush. "If You're Reading This Letter" is about a young man who must prove he deserves to die before ending his own life. "Crappy Grandmammy" follows a devout grandmother’s efforts to guide her family toward God.

Blowups Happen is a 1940 science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. It is one of two stories in which Heinlein, using only public knowledge of nuclear fission, anticipated the actual development of nuclear technology a few years later.

The first collection of stories Stephen King has published since Nightmares & Dreamscapes nine years ago, Everything's Eventual includes one O. Henry Prize winner, two other award winners, four stories published by The New Yorker, and "Riding the Bullet", King's original e-book, which attracted over half a million online readers and became the most famous short story of the decade. Intense, eerie, and instantly compelling, they announce the stunningly fertile imagination of perhaps the greatest storyteller of our time.

A sportscaster and a kindergarten teacher vie for the last copy of a bestselling dessert cookbook. To prove how badly they want it, each tries to outdo the other with meme-like, dessert-inspired lines.

The author presents a collection of seven short stories set in the Outlander universe, never before published together, including two original stories and featuring beloved character Jamie Fraser.

There will never be another Western writer like Louis L’Amour. A legendary author and indisputably the greatest storyteller in his genre of all time, L’Amour captivated millions of readers and has sold well over three hundred million copies of his works, which includes nearly ninety novels and countless short stories. Mistakes Can Kill You highlights an essential selection featuring nine of L’Amour’s earlier short stories, sometimes written under the pen name Jim Mayo, that exemplify the rugged morality of the best Western writing.

Ghost Stories of an Antiquary is a horror short story collection by British writer M. R. James, published in 1904 (some had previously appeared in magazines). Some later editions under this title contain both the original collection and its successor, More Ghost Stories (1911), combined in one volume

In a cyberpunk future where water is scarce, rice is one of the first casualties. The recipe for printing natural-tasting, healthy, synthetic rice is a closely guarded corporate secret that a young hacker seeks to steal, for very personal reasons.

Death-shaped entities—with all of their humor and strangeness—haunt the twelve stories in Exit Zero. Vampires, ghost girls, fathers, blank spaces, day-old peaches, and famous paintings all pierce through their world into ours, reminding us to pay attention! and look alive! and offering many other flashes of wisdom from the oracle and author of Beautyland, Marie-Helene Bertino.

The correspondence between Carrie Allsop and David Mayer reveals, piece by piece, the painful details of a devastating affair between their spouses. With each commiserating scratch of the pen, they confess their fears and bare their souls. They share the bewilderment over how things went so wrong and come to wonder where to go from here. Told entirely through the letters of two comforting strangers and those of two illicit lovers, Evidence of the Affair explores the complex nature of the heart. And ultimately, for one woman, how liberating it can be when it’s broken.

Millions of Amor Towles fans are in for a treat as he shares some of his shorter fiction: six stories based in New York City and a novella set in Golden Age Hollywood. The New York stories, most of which take place around the year 2000, consider the fateful consequences that can spring from brief encounters and the delicate mechanics of compromise that operate at the heart of modern marriages.

At the age of 13, Charlie Quinn's childhood came to an abrupt and devastating end. Two men, with a grudge against her lawyer father, broke into Charlie's home - and after that shocking night, her world was never the same. Now a lawyer herself, Charlie has made it her mission to defend those with no one else to turn to.

Just After Sunset - call it dusk, call it twilight, it's a time when human intercourse takes on an unnatural cast, when nothing is quite as it appears, when the imagination begins to reach for shadows as they dissipate to darkness and living daylight can be scared right out of you. It's the perfect time for Stephen King.

The Lady of the Lake (job description: hand out mystical swords to youngsters with potential) has her first dissatisfied customer. This humorous fantasy tale will appeal to anyone who has ever landed a glamorous job, only to find out that the gig has grueling requirements (in this case, confinement in a swamp and the company of wise-cracking toads.)

As if secretly loving one woman wasn’t complicated enough. Best friends for years, Lance is the first person Kavita thinks of, the one person she and Angie can always call for anything, so buying the little beach house next to his when it becomes available is a great idea. Only, the open-door policy between the new neighbors brings a level of intimacy none of them anticipate, laying bare secrets and sentiments on all sides. Is there such a thing as being too close? Can their friendship survive if they redefine what they mean to one another and take their relationship to the next level? ...

“Homecoming” takes us back to Ford County, the fictional setting of many of John Grisham’s unforgettable stories. Jake Brigance is back, but he’s not in the courtroom. He’s called upon to help an old friend, Mack Stafford, a former lawyer in Clanton, who three years earlier became a local legend when he stole money from his clients, divorced his wife, filed for bankruptcy, and left his family in the middle of the night, never to be heard from again—until now. Now Mack is back, and he’s leaning on his old pals, Jake and Harry Rex, to help him return. His homecoming does not go as planned.

A young, naïve but ultimately courageous hedge knight, Ser Duncan the Tall towers above his rivals—in stature if not experience. Tagging along is his diminutive squire, a boy called Egg—whose true name is hidden from all he and Dunk encounter. Though more improbable heroes may not be found in all of Westeros, great destinies lay ahead for these two . . . as do powerful foes, royal intrigue, and outrageous exploits. Featuring more than 160 all-new illustrations by Gary Gianni, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a must-have collection that proves chivalry isn’t dead—yet.