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fantasy – magical realism

Magical realism is a subtle form of contemporary fantasy, in which magical elements are present in the everyday world. Return to general Fantasy

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Word Count: 145,000

Summary: Robert thought becoming a dynamicist would enable him to change the world, starting with saving all his friends from being slaughtered. He was wrong.

Acts of genuine creativity used to bring mortal punishment. But now, wizardry is dead and Robert, Koria and Eloise live in a world where change and invention is possible.
Robert hopes that mathematically-framed dynamics will enable him to change the new world. But he keeps having prophetic dreams where his friends are all murdered by a mysterious cloaked man, and the grain protestors are more menacing than ever. They declare dynamics is dangerous and that the changes must stop. They are right about one thing: dynamics is dangerous, especially for someone so hopeful, angry and impetuous as Robert.
Soon Robert's horrific nightmares come true and a cloaked man appears on campus, stalking and murdering students --his friends are next.
Desperate to change the future, Robert recklessly pushes the bounds of both dynamics and reason. Every crushing failure dampens Robert's hope for the future and pushes him a step closer to the powerful, nihilistic, and merciless Lonely Wizard.

Herald - Lee Hunt - Dynamicist Trilogy
Herald
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Word Count: 126000

Summary: YOUR NEXT READ IS NOW BOARDING She can speak all languages. He can smell evil intent. They're enemies. They crave each other. With international settings, a conspiracy plot, star-crossed lovers, and sharp writing, The Demon in Business Class is a stunning debut novel spanning continents and genres. Zarabeth travels the world for a shady executive, laying the groundwork for global war. Gabriel offers a second chance to the criminals that a visionary leader sees in dreams. One rainy night in Scotland, they meet... Now, it's complicated. There's also the investigator, the witch, the playboy, the gangster, the cultist, the pre-school teacher, the two angels… And, the demon. Fans of Jeff VanderMeer, Michel Faber, and David Mitchell will love this stylish hybrid-genre novel. The Demon in Business Class is an international story of fantasy, intrigue, and love, on the uneasy ground where the human meets the divine.   "If William Gibson wrote paranormal .... weaves the dark worlds of the occult and big business into an intoxicating tale." – D. J. Butler, author of Witchy Eye "Creative spark? Anthony Dobranski ignites a creative bonfire ...A masterwork of invention." – Mary Kay Zuravleff, author of Man Alive! "... a swank cocktail of international intrigue, steeped in the supernatural, mixed with literary flair .... so sleek it flies off the page...." - Zach Powers, author of First Cosmic Velocity  

The Demon in Business Class - Anthony Dobranski
The Demon in Business Class
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Word Count: Information not available

Summary: Step through a portal in time - and steal a piece of history! Iria and Madge, witches extraordinaire, have summoned Joshua Norton I, self-declared Emperor of the United States, back from the nineteenth century to help them save the city of San Francisco from a demon of greed. Mammon, their infernal adversary, is running a real estate scam to end all real estate scams, and he's got his own helping hand from the city's past: Etta Place, famous in her day as the accomplice of Butch Cassidy and partner of the Sundance Kid. As Norton dodges mafia foot soldiers alongside another of San Francisco's larger-than-life figures from yesteryear on the fog-shrouded streets of Chinatown long ago, Iria and Madge find themselves face to face with Mammon and Etta in modern day - and trapped in very different timelines. It'll take all their ingenuity, bravery, and prowess to fix time itself, steal the prize, and get these three heroes back together!

All the Pomp of Earthly Majesty - Michael G. Williams - Shadow Council Archives
All the Pomp of Earthly Majesty
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Word Count: Information not available

Summary:

What’s real? What’s imagined?

Viviane is schizophrenic. It’s genetic—from her mother’s side of the family. She can usually handle her hallucinations, but when one of them starts killing people, Viviane discovers that nothing in her world is as mundane as she thought it was. Especially not her fiancé who brings his own special magic to their relationship. It’s a long fall from the moon, and Reality will never be the same.

Escape with Viviane into the dark of night where romance is thwarted by the sinister machinations of family politics and the clash between two very different worlds.

Stalking the Moon - Angel Leigh McCoy - Wyrdwood
Stalking the Moon
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Word Count: Information not available

Summary:

“Is blood thicker than water?”

The answer seems obvious until a half-millennium-old blood feud ignited between twin brothers of a 16th century Scottish Reiver clan revisits violence generation to generation, pursuing their descendants from island to island and finally onto a new continent ,where the familiar proverb is ultimately pitted against this fluid tale of guilt, blood, water, and time.

Rich with magical realism, Is Blood Thicker taps millennia-old folklore to spin a modern fable of love, pain, and family wisdom consumed by a lived code:

‘Drink, Pray, Fight, Feck’ … and a fox.

Is Blood Thicker - CK Page
Is Blood Thicker
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Word Count: 70000

Summary: With a serial killer on the loose, the baffling mystery of Aiden’s past, and their tenuous budding romance, Aiden and Fouchard tread through a world of magic and myth on padded shoes, terrified to stir up something neither can control or defeat. Aiden Mercer’s life now centers around lounging on the sunny beaches of his adopted country with a beer in one hand and a coffee in the other while admiring the local male population. After a rough life as a respected detective in DC, playing it cool shouldn’t be too hard, right? With the magical community on his case and dead bodies piling up around town, the responsibility of finding their killer seems fated to fall on him and deny him of his easy living. Then there is Naël. Cantankerous merman Naël Fouchard's life is focused on bringing up and protecting his little sister. When DNA found at the scene of the murders mark him as the prime suspect, Naël seeks out the help of Aiden, whose reputation as a detective grossly belies his lazy lifestyle and apparent lack of ambition. The chemistry between the strong, stoic Naël and the easygoing Aiden is undeniable, no matter how many walls Aiden builds. If this unlikely pair can’t come to terms with their feelings for each other long enough to catch the killer, their emotional turmoil might yet allow the murderer to kill them instead.

Of Magic & Scales - Natalina Reis
Of Magic & Scales
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Word Count: 105,000

Summary: Would it kill you to create something genuinely new? In Robert's world, it used to. Supernatural vengeance for invention is now a thing of the past. Young, optimistic, quick of mind and quick to act, Robert thinks being invited to the New School is an invitation to change the world. But change is difficult when there is no history of innovation. He is initially successful in his studies, but nothing is as simple as he naively imagines. His classmates confuse and frustrate him. One is a drunk, while another two constantly stalk him. Is it for love or something more sinister? Robert's optimism is further tested by protestors who circle the campus, decrying the newly invented breed of grain. They claim it is poison and that the New School should be punished by Nimrheal, the god who formerly murdered inventors. Robert suspects foreign business influences are behind the protests, but he quickly finds that investigating their cause is dangerous. Robert's most difficult challenges are his unresolved childhood issues. His mother died while he was a child. Robert's formative helplessness and inability to remember her face projects into a powerful and blinding protectiveness towards all women. When a campus assault pushes Robert over the edge, his hopes of even staying at the New School are jeopardized. He cannot aspire to change the world if he does not even know himself. At the same time as Robert struggles on campus, a powerful, ruthless and emotionally closed man known only as the Lonely Wizard journeys across an empty wilderness to return home. As Robert and the Lonely Wizard move closer together, Robert finds that instead of entering a golden era of invention, he may instead be on the brink of a cold war and an endless, unchanging dark age.

Dynamicist - Lee Hunt - Dynamicist Trilogy
Dynamicist
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Word Count: Information not available

Summary: Genevieve doesn't know if her unhappiness and feelings of not fitting in are different from anyone else's on her college campus. Recovering from a break-up and struggling with depression, she takes comfort in her impulsive sketches of strange creatures to try to escape the dark cloud that looms over her. But the truth is her place in this world is a lot more complicated than she could ever imagine. With two strange men following her, vines that engulf her dorm overnight, and a cactus that overruns the campus library, she is forced to face the possibility that her origins are more mysterious than the fact that she was abandoned as a baby. Especially as a powerful urge takes hold of her to draw something new and frightening. Can it be that her reality is stranger than her imagination? The one thing she can't imagine is that her happiness and talents just might be the key to save or destroy an invisible world.

In the Drawing - Simone Snaith
In The Drawing
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Word Count: Information not available

Summary: You can tell a lot about a person by looking at the people in their life — Mike LeBonte is no exception. Who is Ritter, and why is he so important to Mike? Who is the Grey Man in the Atheneum? And what is Chevalier to the Rosicrucians? Did Reverend Greene really escape? Whatever happened to Becky? Also included in this collection is the first case that Grimaulkin has with his new apprentice, Ash. Re-enter the world of Grimaulkin, where magic is real.

Grimaulkin Tales - L.A. Jacob - Grumaulkin
Grimaulkin Tales
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Word Count: Information not available

Summary: The Hunt is On! When strength becomes weakness… And hope becomes doubt… As the past collides with the future…hard… Can Suzanne—Wild Hunt biker chick and one-time member of the fae High Court—stand strong as her world falls apart? She survived an assault by redcaps, an all-out battle with the High King’s armies, and her first encounter with roller derby… but how will she fare against her inner demons? Caught in the midst of a transformation she scarcely realizes and does not understand, her hard-won convictions are tested as never before. Suzanne is left with only one question—what if they’re wrong? The truth could mean the difference between saving her sanity and losing her soul…

The Redcap's Queen - Danielle Ackley-McPhail
The Redcaps' Queen
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Word Count: 31000

Summary: Daren Novak and Gunny Schuler have known each other since freshmen days at the University of Washington, where they'd started a romance Daren assumed would last. But at the start of winter break, Gunny bowed to the dictates of his lifelong religion and his overbearing father and left UW never to return. After a failed marriage, Gunny built a quiet life embracing his gay identity, and left his North Dakota home, his marriage, and his father's business for a forestry and teaching career in Oregon. Meanwhile, Daren has built up his own life around managing a unique holiday venue, the Holiday Home Hotel, and performing for the guests in drag as "Dare." A decade has passed since they last saw each other, but now winter’s harsh weather brings them face to face—helped along by a minor goddess and powerful forest spirit. Too much hurt might lie between them now to fix things, but interfering supernatural beings are determined to force them to try.

The Holiday Home Hotel - Lou Sylvre - Escape From the Holidays
The Holiday Home Hotel
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Word Count: 40000

Summary: Spells & Stardust is Scott's first anthology - eight sci fi and fantasy shorts that run the gamut from regeneration to redemption. The Bear at the Bar: A gay fish out of water tale with a pinch of magic. Tight: What happens when your lover disappears in midair? Morgan: The year when everything changed. Re-Life: What if you were reborn in a strange new future? A New Year: They met every eleven years. And each time, Hank's life changed. Repetition: What if you wanted to go back in the closet? Gargoyle: Sometimes you get what you deserve. Sometimes it happens on All Hallows Eve. Avalon: A few bright moments in the sun, stolen from outside time. Most of these stories have been previously published in various anthologies and journals. This is the first time they have all been collected in one place.

SALE
Spells & Stardust - J. Scott Coatsworth
Spells & Stardust SALE
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Word Count: 115000

Summary: A group of strangers meets at Ragazzi, an Italian restaurant, for a cooking lesson that will change them all. They quickly become intertwined in each other's lives, and a bit of magic touches each of them. Meet Dave, the consultant who lost his partner; Matteo and Diego, the couple who run the restaurant; recently-widowed Carmelina; Marcos, a web designer getting too old for hook-ups; Ben, a trans author writing the Great American Novel; teenager Marissa, kicked out for being bi; and Sam and Brad, a May-September couple who would never have gotten together without a little magic of their own. Everyone in the River City has a secret, and sooner or later secrets always come out.

SALE
The River City Chronicles - J. Scott Coatsworth
The River City Chronicles SALE
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Word Count: Information not available

Summary: The brutal murder of Lavalé fey Avecath, the King's First Magistrate and advisor, interrupts Constable Inspector Reva Lunaria's day off. The victim's status makes this a high-profile investigation, bringing with it unwanted attention from Senior Inquisitor Ailan Malvaceä of the Sucra, the King's secret police. The manner of the victim's death makes this case even more intriguing. A body cut perfectly in half - from top to bottom - is a rare occurrence, even in a city filled with all manner of magic weapons. All of this would be challenging enough, but Inspector Lunaria must also deal with a new partner, Seeker Ansee Carya, who is clearly not up to her standards. As Reva faces a growing body count, Senior Inquisitor Malvaceä undertakes his own mission to find the same killer, but with a very different agenda. Reva's investigation takes unexpected turns as wild conspiracies, hidden addictions, and Dark Elf soldiers all threaten to distract Reva from tracking down the killer. Reva's only hope of stopping the serial killer from cutting more prominent citizens of Tenyl in half is to figure out how to work with Seeker Carya and overcome her own weaknesses.

Wrath of the Fury Blade - Geoff Haiger & Coy Kissee - Constable Inspector Lunaria
Wrath of the Fury Blade
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Word Count: 85,000

Summary: All Keiron wants is a quiet life. Fat chance with a boyfriend like Bren. But if he thought Bren complicated his life, that was nothing compared to the complications that begin when he opens the door to what he thinks is a naked boy claiming to be his slave. Draven is a fairy with his sights set on the handsome human who keeps a wild place in the garden for fairies. When Draven slips through a fairy gate into the city, he sets in motion a series of events that binds him to Keiron forever, and just might be the end of him. While Draven explores Keiron’s world with wide-eyed wonder, Keiron does everything he can to keep Draven’s at bay, until the only way to save Draven and bring him home is to step into a world that should exist only in children stories.

Fairies at the Bottom of the Garden - Cheryl Headford
Fairies At The Bottom Of The Garden
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Word Count: Information not available

Summary: Rose Titus, author of The Vampire Next Door Trilogy, now brings together a collection of her best short stories. Here in this book you will find tales of vampires, werewolves, witches, ghosts, space aliens, and even a few angels. These stories answer questions such as where do we go after we die? What is the future of this planet? And what is the future of humanity? There are also stories of young runaways, old hippies, worried mothers, troubled families, love gone horribly wrong, selfish billionaires, people who find themselves suddenly homeless, old men with their recollections of days gone by, and girls gone wild! There may even be a murder or two.

Key 13 and Other Stories - Rose Titus
Key 13: And Other Stories
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Word Count: Information not available

Summary: Get Your Bad-Ass On! The rumble of a Harley... The gleam of black leather... The shine of polished chrome... The freedom of the open road.... Motorcycles meet magic and mayhem as Lance Cosain, the halfling leader of The Wild Hunt MC, protects his turf and his people from attacks ordered by Dair na Scath, the high king of the fae. Holding his own against rogue fae, redcaps, and pissed-off road gremlins, all Lance wants to do is settle down with his lady. Instead he goes toe-to-toe with the high king’s champion over an ancient dagger and his claim to the throne. Who will triumph? The king of the road or the king of the realm? Either way, the Hunt is on!

The Halfling's Court - Danielle Ackley-McPhail
The Halfling's Court
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Word Count: Information not available

Summary: WILL YOU BE ONE OF THE INVITED? A forbidden midnight market is coming to town. The Night Bazaar isn't new. In fact, it's as old as civilization. Its first recorded appearance was in Sana'a, around 700 B.C.E. with secretive merchants from the East who presented covered stalls of exotic goods and arcane services. Various mentions appear in obscure and controversial works from around the world. The only common element is that the market opens at midnight, closes before sunrise, and may appear for up to a week in the same city . . . Paris, 1796 . . . London, 1888 . . . Berlin, 1936 . . . San Francisco, 1906 . . . but never in the same venue each night. And never again in the same city. There's just one catch: In order to find it, you must be Invited. Tonight, The Night Bazaar opens in a parking garage somewhere in Manhattan. A whole subterranean city full of antique costumes, alchemical treatments, magical dentistry, palmistry, Tarot, tea leaf-reading, and water-, glass-, and crystal-gazing, oddities and objets d’art, medical curiosities and surgical instruments. Other lost arts and body alterations are offered in certain alcoves. Through the narrow aisles throng jongleurs, freaks, charlatans, mountebanks, faeries, prostitutes, and acrobats. The scents of opium, perfume, tobacco, greasepaint, incense, plastic explosive, alcohol, and sex permeate the air. But each object or service comes with a gift, a curse, or a haunting. (This is the summary of volume one. However, The Night Bazaar anthologies need not be read in any particular order; they are all designed to stand alone as well.) The Bazaar sells that which cannot be had elsewhere. Everything you’ve read about but thought had passed away, or perhaps never existed. How wrong you were! Your guide is Madame Vera, a tall, thin woman of uncertain age, ethnicity, and trustworthiness. The stories within are your invitation to join us. It seems you have already spotted something you desire . . . but don’t head off that way, not just yet. You have all night . . . but not a moment more.

Filter House - Nisi Shawl
The Night Bazaar
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Word Count: Information not available

Summary: With Midwinter just around the corner, Mark's Nanna decides that it is time he learnt more about his family heritage. Learning witchcraft shouldn't be too difficult, right? Balancing school, magic, and the distractions of the gorgeous new guy, should make this a very interesting winter.   Free to download from most ebook retailers.

Winter Trials - K.S. Marsden - Northern Witch
Winter Trials (Northern Witch #1)
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Word Count: 62000

Summary: Sanderson always envied the townies, all smiling faces and holding hands at his performances. He wanted the happy ever after that came with real life, not the pretend one in the twinkling fairy lights of the Moonlight Market. So when the Weaver of Dreams conjured him a normal life, college classes instead of performances, a chance at a boyfriend instead of an audience, he ran for daylight. Now a year later, he’s learned that connecting with someone physically doesn’t always lead to a lasting relationship. To get closer to the man of his dreams, Sanderson offers to help Cory find his missing sister. This means navigating the twists and turns of the Moonlight Market, the disorienting world of performers and hawkers, bizarre sights, sounds—and dangers. The sinister Weaver of Dreams offers to forgive Sanderson’s obligation in return for a lost soul, for Cory, who is still grieving the death of his parents and the disappearance of his sister. Surrounded by both friends and enemies, Sanderson fights doubts about his budding relationship with Cory while guiding them ever closer to his ultimate dilemma. The debt is valid and the choice is clear–his lover, or his dreams. The Moonlight Market, a paranormal finalist for the 2017 Southern Magic Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, is a full-length new adult romance brimming with magical realism, fairy tale villains, and quirky characters. If you like your romance to send a shiver down your spine, you’ll love The Moonlight Market! Buy your copy now and enter a world of dark fantasy and magic!

The Moonlight Market - Aidee Ladnier
The Moonlight Market
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