Swan Lake Barbie

What would you do if the man you love so deeply isn’t the man you think he is? What would you do if you found out that he is exactly what you fear the most? What would you do if you turned out to be what he despises the most? The moment Thea Walker saw Damiano Riccardo Chiaramonte, she fell deeply, madly, and truly in love with him. Damiano is everything she ever dreamed of in a man: drop-dead gorgeous, funny, intelligent, mysterious. But he is also the owner of the hotel where she works. So, there can never be anything romantic between them. Or at least she thought so. A dance under the moonlight, a devouring kiss, and their fairytale begins… Some time after, Thea discovers his awful secret life and her dreams of a happy-ever-after crumble into dust at the realization that he is what she hates the most, and her own family is Chiaramonte's greatest enemy… Brokenhearted, Thea decides to disappear, never to be found again. After all, she knows extremely well how to become a ghost. Still, love creates strong bonds, so after one year, Damiano finds her. And he is there not only for her, but also to claim Lorenzo, his son, the little boy Thea carried in secret and has sworn to protect! He leaves her no choice: to stay with her child, she must travel with him to the beautiful and mysterious Sicily and become Damiano’s bride. Still… What kind of marriage can they have when it’s based on secrets, hate, but also a heat too much to bear?

The notorious hacker of the Underworld Misha, who kills more gracefully than the reaper himself, enters into a contractual marriage with Chicago's most dangerous man, Lord of the Crime world Killian Alvarez. Misha can break any cyber lock, and no door in the underworld is beyond Killian's reach. They form a lethal team, but in order to destroy their enemies, they reach an unlikely agreement. The penalty for betrayal in this marriage contract is death, and trust in this world has a cost. Desire was not planned, but it happened anyway. Could two of the most ruthless criminals in the underworld survive falling in love?

After I turn five years of age and have my very own phone, I start receiving strange messages every single day. For some reason, the sender keeps referring to me as their mom. At 3:00 am, they send me another message. "Mom, I saw you in my dreams again. The rain is seeping into the attic. My stepmom told me to use a rag to soak up all the water, but the rag is too small. Even though I tried to wipe it up all night, it still wouldn't dry. Mom, I'm so cold and hungry. I miss you so much…" I tilt my head, looking at the rain pouring outside the window. I then earnestly reply, "Don't be scared, sweetheart. Where are you right now? I will bring you something yummy!"

It’s end of October 1985 and the crumbling river town of Dubois, Iowa is shocked by the gruesome murder of one of the pillars of the community. Detective David Carlson has no motive, no evidence, and only one lead: the macabre local legend of “Boris Orlof,” a late night horror movie host who burned to death during a stage performance at the drive-in on Halloween night twenty years ago and the teenage loner obsessed with keeping his memory alive. The body count is rising and the darkness that hangs over the town grows by the hour. Time is running out as Carlson desperately chases shadows into a nightmare world of living horrors. On Halloween the drive-in re-opens at midnight for a show no one will ever forget. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

Myrene, Lycan Queen, takes an alpha werewolf, again, as her consort. It's not because she loves him, it's simply to prove her power and strength. The hate she harbors for the werewolf nation extends throughout the kingdom, so whoever the pack targets must be alert and prepared for battle. However, the power of the Lycan army cannot be matched. Until everyone realizes that whoever Myrene wants, they have to prepare to lose. Logan is unlucky with his defeat. He can't protect his pack. He is forced to marry the evil queen to protect the rest of his pack. Logan and the former Alphas, who are now Myrene's consorts, must survive in the palace, facing a queen who can be very cruel and spoiled. They must win Queen Myrene's favor if they want to live in peace. The rivalry began without them realizing it. And Myrene enjoys it immensely. But, what the consorts don't know is, why Myrene marries them all? And why is the queen so obsessed with having so many husbands? They only realize it when they have to face one problem after another. And they need Myrene, the Evil Queen. "I desire your loyalty. Fight for me and we will be happy together." _Myrene, the Lycan Queen.

The aloof CEO and his childhood sweetheart bring the tragic novel's female lead to an orphanage to adopt a child. All the children pounce on the childhood sweetheart, saying, "Mommy, pick me! Pick me!" The viewers' comments come flooding in. "She can't birth her own child, and now even the orphans don't want her. The tragic female lead is truly pitiful, humiliated by both her husband and his childhood sweetheart!" "The childhood sweetheart keeps winning—spoiled by the CEO, and the orphans scramble to call her 'Mom.' The female lead is nothing but a piece of decor." "It's not tragic enough! Make her even more miserable! It's even better if she cries on the spot so that later, when the CEO recalls this scene, he'll have to work double time to win his wife back!" I glare at the comments, feeling so mad that my short legs push me forward, landing me right in front of the ignored female lead. I tug at her sleeve. "Missy, can you make stew?" The female lead freezes up. "I… I can." My eyes light up with joy. "That's it then! That's exactly what I love. I'll go with you!"

Eidolon Avenue: Where the secretly guilty go to die. One building. Five floors. Five doors per floor. Twenty-five nightmares feeding the hunger lurking between the bricks and waiting beneath the boards. The sequel to Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast (“a great read...powerful and jarring” - Cemetery Dance) returns to the voracious Eidolon as it savors The Second Feast. A narcoleptic man in apartment 2A battles a vengeful past determined to rob him of everything as he runs from the barbaric disaster of a delusional love. A woman in 2B, reinventing herself to please a callous boyfriend, discovers the horrors that wait in the shadows of her self-renovation. The man in 2C, a teacher at the nearby Catholic girl’s school, collapses beneath the brutal consequences of his lecherous desires. An older woman in 2D, after decades dedicated to the church, is cornered at last by the grisly carnage beating at the hollow center of her faith. And a college student in 2E, hungry to escape an ignored life of invisible anonymity, finds herself captured between the pages of a ravenous book. All thrown into their own private hell as every cruel choice, every drop of spilled blood, every silent, complicit moment of cowardice is remembered, resurrected and relived to feed the ancient evil that lives on Eidolon Avenue. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

The things we want are so very rarely the things we need. Clifton Heights, a modest Adirondack town, offers many unique attractions. Arcane Delights sells both paperbacks and hard-to-find limited editions. The Skylark Diner serves the best home-cooked meals around, with friendly service and a smile. Every August, Mr. Jingo’s County Fair visits, to the delight of children and adults. In essence, Clifton Heights is the quintessential small American town. Everyone knows everyone else, and everyone is treated like family. It is quiet, simple, and peaceful. But shadows linger here. Flitting in dark corners, from the corner of the eye. If you walk down Main Street after dark, the slight scrape of shoes on asphalt whispers you're not alone, but when you look over your shoulder, no one is there. The moon shines high and bright in the night sky, but instead of throwing light, it only seems to make the shadows lengthen. Children disappear. Teens run away. Hunters get lost in the woods with frightening regularity. Husbands go mad, and wives vanish in the dead of night. And still, when the sun rises in the morning, you are greeted by townspeople with warm waves and friendly smiles, and the shivers pass as everything seems fresh and new... Until night falls once more. Handy's Pawn and Thrift sits several blocks down from Arcane Delights. Like any thrift store, its wares range from the mundane to the bizarre. By daylight, it seems just another slice of small town Americana. But in its window hangs a sign which reads: We Have Things You Need. And when a lonely traveling salesman comes looking for something he desperately wants, after normal visiting hours, after night has fallen, he will face a harsh truth among the shelves of Handy’s Pawn and Thrift: the things we want are rarely the things we need. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

Sarah Killian is not your average thirty-year-old single woman. Foul-mouthed, mean-spirited, and a text-book-case loner. Also, she is a Professional Serial Killer. But a wrench is thrown into the clockwork of Sarah's comfortable lifestyle when, on her latest assignment, she is forced to take on an apprentice, Bethany—a bubbly, perky, blonde with a severe case of verbal-vomit. In short, Bethany is everything Sarah is not. Will Sarah be able to adjust and work with her new apprentice, or will she break her contract with T.H.E.M. and murder the buxom bimbo? ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

In the quiet of the forest, the darkest fears are born. The people of Dunballan, harbour a dark secret. A secret more terrible than the Beast that stalks the dense forests of Dunballan. A secret that holds David McCavendish, last in a long line of Lairds, in its unbreakable grip. It’s down to Sally, David’s lover, to free David from the sinister clutches of the Beast. But, with the whole town against her, she must ally herself with an ancient woodland force and trace Dunballan’s secret back to its bitter origins. Those origins lie within the McCavendish family history, and a blasphemous heresy that stretches back to the beginning of time. Some truths are too terrible to face, and the darkest of these lie waiting for Sally, in the Quiet Places. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing